----The continuing Dustin Starr story ended up with him coming back to TCLW. Apparently rumors from last night at the WTWA were that Dell Walker had a restraining order against Starr and I am assuming Starr just didn’t want to deal with the crap. That is NBW's loss as Starr returns to TLCW and within 10 minutes is the #1 contender for the belt and the biggest heel of the company. He also has a list of good workers to feud with: Stan Lee, Flash Flanagan and DK.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
RassleResults: TLCW Ripley, TN 2.03.07 - DUSTIN STARR RETURNS TO TLCW!!!
Memphis Wrestling TV Report 2.03.07
----Derrick King comes out on crutches. King says he slipped on ice and hurt his knee. King said he can not wrestle Jerry Lawler today because of his knee. Then King says, “When my ankle gets better, I will be ready.” Get it??
, Pro Wrestling Resource and http://prowrestlingpress.com/
RassleBits: Gene Jackson, FOP retire, Coach BT appearance, WWE Broadband and DVD releases
----I would like to thank Gene Jackson for his compliments in his “Cheap Heat”. It is good to read that someone out there actually gets what I am doing on this site. Believe me I did not just wake up one morning and say, “I am doing a site!!” I have planned to do this for a few years and after finally deciding I was retired for good, then I started the site. The only thing I never considered was the work it goes into the actual structure of the site. I am still not happy with it and very soon you will see another change in the format as I hope this site will become your one stop site for wrestling news.
More Spoilers for Tonight!!
----Corey Maclin came out before the show started taping and promoted the Sam’s Town show. Some of the fans were say “we are going to be busy” talking about the Sid Vicious show. Tickets are going to be $20 and $15…Rumor is that Chris Masters will be on the show…”American Idol” contestant was in the crowd and did an angle with Koko Ware after Ware had jumped the Memphis Grizzlies mascot…They promoted Moondog Cujo coming in next week. Ugh!!!...Brown/White were fighting and then Mr. Hughes jump Brown. Dundee tried to make the save, but they piledrove him on the concrete doing an injury angle. So, it is going to be Hughes/White vs Brown/Dundee. That is a really weird combo. I thought White turned on Starr???????...Posse, Fire/Flame, and BOS were there also and did not get used. Why did they not call someone to tell them they were not booking all these guys??
RassleResults: WTWA Dyersburg, TN 2..02.07
----"Cosmic Cowboy" Brian Steele beat "Outlaw" Don Bass; Tank/Rockin Randy/Drew Evans beat Pretty Boy James/Tim Alfonzo/Erik Hayes; “Black Out Squad” [Oz/Bishop] beat Slim "the Bulldog" Pickens & Dell Tucker; “The Posse”[Simon/Lil Chris] beat “Family of Pain” [Sarge O’Reilly/Mickey Ray];The Southern Hillbillies beat A.C. Havoc & Ernest T. Fletcher; Flash Flanagan beat Tracy Smothers and in the Main Event: Derrick King/Dustin "Five" Starr beat Chris Rocker/Tatt2
ATTENTION MCW and TFW!!
----ATTENTION MCW and TFW!! I have tried more than once to provide results and storylines from your show. You have either told people not to send results or you would rather not be covered. This site was seen by over 70, 000 wrestling fans in the month of January and this could only help you. But, I am not going to continue to list your shows, if I can not receive results. As of 2.17.07, neither MCW nor TFW will be featured on the “Shows for the Weekend” page every Thursday, unless you contact me with results.
Memphis Wrestling TV Spoilers!!!
----They aired the whole concession stand brawl…Jerry Lawler sent in an interview and Derrick King did a promo; Mr. Hughes/Brickhouse Brown/Bill Dundee/Kevin White were all involved in an angle that further the heel turn…Starr/Tatt2/Dotson vs 2CoolToo/Flash with Starr doing the job…Jethro squashed someone.
Friday, February 02, 2007
RassleTalk: Mark Bravura - Confessions of a Script Writer Part 1
an interview with WWE as a script writer, his trip to Titian Towers and everything about it. He returned with something that is more like a story than an interview, but I plan to present it here on Fridays for RassleTalk for the next few weeks.
some money and moved out there. He didn't have a
fulltime job so whenever I heard about a gig out there
I would email it to him. One day he emails me back and
said, "Since you find all these jobs for me, here's
one for you." He attached a link to a Hotjobs.com
listing for a Creative Writer for the WWE. At the time
I was really looking to move from Memphis and was
sending resume tapes and dvds out all over the place.
Well I knew from the Observer the kind of people the
WWE was looking for and knew that I didn't fit the
description, but I thought what the hell I'll just
send it in as a joke. So I sent in a resume, and a
couple writing samples and they asked for a sample of
segment you would right for one of their shows so I
wrote a Jericho/Christian/Trish bit and sent that in.
This was like January/February 2005.
Well a month or so later I’m at work up at Channel
Three. I’m dicking around checking my email and I see
in my inbox “Stephanie McMahon.” I was sure someone
was fucking around with me, but I opened it up and
sure enough. It was an email from Stephanie and Kathy
from Human Resources. It said they were impressed with
my resume and liked my writing samples and that they
wanted to continue the interview process. They would
be contacting soon with further information. It was
really weird. Honestly, I still thought someone was
messing with me, but there was WWE letterhead on the
email and a Steph Signature at the bottom. Well when I
opened up the attachment and found a Confidentiality
Agreement I figured it was for real.
Not two minutes later my phone rings and it’s an
“Unavailable Number.” I never answer those, but I knew
something was up so I answer. “Hello.” “Hello. Is this
Mark?” “Yep.” “This is Kathy ******** with the WWE.” I
wanted to say HOLY SHIT, but managed to keep from
cussing. Anyway, she was really cool and very nice.
She told me how much they liked my writing sample and
just asked some more about my background with tv,
film, and wrestling. She said I’d be getting a packet
of information soon about the next step in the
process. She said basically it would be a longer
writing sample. They would send it out to me then they
usually like to get it back within two weeks of
sending it out. She then told me a little more about
the job and some other junk. We talked for probably 45
minutes and she told me to expect the email within the
hour then she would call in the next few days to set
up phone interviews for me with the Head of Human
Resources and with Stephanie then we got off the
phone. At first I just sat around kinda of in a daze
then I called my then fiancée and my two best friends
to be like “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!”
Later that day I got the email and took a look at
it. It said that they wanted me to write an in-ring
interview, a backstage vignette, and “some in ring
physicality, but not necessarily a match.” I was
supposed to do one for Raw and one for Smackdown. It
said that all of this should take place in one show
and I should try to be succient and not write too
much. Try to keep it under 20 pages. Well later I
would find out they didn’t really want it all in one
show or under 20 pages, but that’s later. I
immediately started working. Brainstorming. Writing
down ideas. All kinds of crap. I knew I wanted to use
established guys, but try to give something to guys I
thought were being underused. The ideas I liked best
were ideas I had for JBL, Angle, and the Bashams, Edge
and Bautista, Tomko, Victoria, and Snitsky, and the
Jericho/Christian/Trish thing. At first I decided to
continue the Jericho/Christian/Trish thing that I’d
started. This was a big storyline. It went almost a
year. It involved Kane and Bischoff and all kinds of
twists and turns that eventually led to Jericho and
Trish getting back together after Trish proved that
she was sorry for turning on him and reearned his
trust. I really dug it. I plotted it out then that
weekend I was flying to New York to see one of our
movies in the New York International Independent Film
Festival and wrote the script for everything on the
plane. I let my friend who I worked on the movies with
read it (he’s a big wrestling fan) and he loved it. I
edited it on the flight back and I really dug it. I
thought I was all set to go, but wanted to talk to a
couple people first.
I had only told one person I knew in wrestling
about what was going on, Reno Ruegar. He’s like my
wrestling dad and a great guy. I just didn’t want it
all getting out and having to talk to everyone about
it so I was keeping it quite. I knew there was one
other person I wanted to talk about it with. He’d done
a lot of booking and had been as close to the WWE as
anyone and knew more people in the WWE than anyone I
knew. He and I almost NEVER agreed on booking, but
still I knew talking to him would help. So I called
him up. I called up Derrick King.
People can say whatever they want about him. Some
people love him. Some people hate him. He can be a
genius. He can be an idiot. I like the guy and I
respect his opinion. We hung out and talked and he was
really cool about it. He totally understood me not
wanting to tell everyone about it and said he’d talk
to the guys he knew up there to see what they thought.
I kicked around some ideas with him. Finally, right
before I left he said something with me that really
stuck. He said, “Remember they don’t want a wrestling
booker they want a television writer.”
I went home and broke out my script and realized
it was all wrong. It was fantasy booking. Good fantasy
booking, but still fantasy booking. I started over. I
went back to square one and rewrote everything. I went
with the Edge/Bautista Angle, and the
Angle/JBL/Bashams Angle. I only wrote what happened in
one show and kept it simple. I wrote little synopsizes
of what would come before and where everything was
going. I also wrote some little promo videos and
vignettes for some other guys. Just to show some of my
other ideas. I sent my scripts off to several of my
friends. Wrestling fans. Non-wrestling fans. TV
people. Film people. I even gave it to Reno and
Derrick. Most everyone liked it. Some people had some
other ideas. Some I stole others I ignored. I cleaned
everything up and sent it in the day before my
deadline.
In the meantime, my phone interviews were
scheduled. About a week after I sent in my script I
had my first phone interview with Palma, the Head of
Human Resources. At first it was like every other job
interview I’ve ever had. “Why are you interested in
our company?” “What do you have to offer?” “How would
you operate when you first start working with the
other people on the team?” Yada, yada. Then she got
into some other stuff. “Is there any talent on the
roster you would particularly like to work with?”
“Why?” “What would be the first thing you would do if
you were put in charge of a show?” “Which show would
you prefer to work on?” My answers to these questions
and her reactions should have clued me in that it
would never work with me there. I told her I would
want to work with the undercard guys. The guys who
haven’t been given much who have all the talent in the
world, but just need that angle or storyline that
brings out their personality. I told her I thought
that you earn your way up to working with the top guys
by proving yourself with the undercard guys. This
shocked her. I think you’re supposed to say that you
want to work with just HHH and Undertaker, but
honestly I don’t think I mentioned either guy.
Her shock to that question paled in comparison to
my answer about the first thing I would do. I told her
the first thing I would do is get all the general
managers, commissioners, owners, ect. off tv. The idea
was great for a while, but its run its course and now
it makes people groan. I said pardon my language, but
the number one complaint I hear from fans about the
show is “What the fuck is a co-general manager?” I
told her that kind of stuff is just alienating your
core audience. Your core audience is wrestling fans
who want to suspend their disbelief and pretend that
it’s a real competition. Paul Tagliabue doesn’t show
up at every NFL game to change who’s playing who and
what the rules are. We need to get the heat off of
figureheads and back on the heels. She said, “Don’t
you think you need someone to control all the chaos?”
I said, “No, you need to turn down the chaos. If
everything is crazy then nothing is crazy. We need to
make the things we do mean more by doing them less.” I
know none of that got over with her, but the rest of
the interview went really well and she seemed to like
me so she said she’d be back in touch soon to schedule
another interview with her, an interview with
Stephanie, and a session with some of the writer’s to
go over my scripts.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Shows for the Weekend 2.2.07 to 2.3.07
with the Main Event – Derrick King/Chris Rocker with Nikki Lace vs Tracy Smothers/Flash Flanagan; “The Posse” vs “Family of Pain”, Brian Steele vs Don Bass with Southern Hillbillies, AC Havoc, Dell Tucker, JR Long, Pretty Boy James and more. Tickets are $7 and kids 5 and under get in for free. ----Friday night in Osceola, AR for MCW includes The Hambones, Loose Cannon, Chris Hollywood, Big Daddy LaFonce, Austin Lane, and more.
----Friday night in Tupelo, MS for TFW has Tony Dabbs, The Gold Diggers, POPULAR [Shawn Reed/Ryan Williams] with Anita Page, and more.
----Saturday night in Paragould, AR for Arkansas Championship Wrestling with “Family of Pain”, Arnez, Buster Johnson, Loose Cannon, Adrian Banks, Big Indian, “Hambone Express”,Blakster, Idol Bane, Deadly Dale and more.
----Saturday night @ True Force Arena 256 Gill Street Jackson, TN at 7:30 PM for TIWF with TIWF Heavyweight Championship vs TIWF Cruiserweight Championship – Wildside vs PK Riper; TIWF Tag Team Title Match: “Genocide” vs Dixie/Lawman vs Big Boys in a triple threat and more.
----Saturday night New Blood Wrestling @ Country Nights 1901 Saint John Ave - Bell time 8:00 PM in Dyersburg, TN – Tank, “Real Deal” Tim Edwards, “Kountry Homeboyz” [Gunner & Weezy], Kilo, Jeremy Moore, Slim Pickens, Sir Mo and they are billing Dustin Starr in a No DQ Match vs Allen Steele.
----Saturday night in Jumpertown, MS for JWS with Chris Styles, Little Stevie Davis, Homeless Joe, Mario, Devon Raynes, Dalton Storm, Kage, Cyrus, Chaz, and more.
----Saturday night in New Albany, MS 107 McGill ST [right off the square] with XWO will have Storm, "Pure Destruction"[Brody & Cody Hawk],Thomas Knox, Danny B, Psycho, Brett Michaels, Pappy, Izzy Rotten, Nick Grymes and more.
----Saturday night in Ripley, TN with TLCW 207 Washington Street – with “The Golden Boy” Greg Anthony, Stan Lee [if he is not at the casino],Rockin Randy,Motley Cruz, 187,Tasha Simone, Dell Tucker, Black Out Squad” [Oz/Bishop], Brian Steele, Buckwheat, Tim Alfonzo, Seth Knight, “Jawbreaker” Jones Christian Jacobs, Derrick King, Alex Krisis, Jon Michael, Tatt2 and more.
---- Saturday night Batesville, AR at the Old Miller Gym for Main Event Wrestling. Admission is free Crazy Luke Graham Jr. & Gerry "Chubby" Graham Casino Kid, “Righteous Punishment” [Byg Daddy and Jack “Lockdown” Johnson], “Hot Rod” John Ellison, Johnny Harper, Matt Boyce and more.
"Rant of The Week Part II "by "Phantom Lord" Joseph Davis
The woman’s division as it stands right now has the potential to be great but for what ever reason to the WWE all they see it as is filler material. I think all one has to do is listen to the pop Mickie James got at Wrestlemania 22 to see that they are missing out on something. Mickie by far got the loudest ovation of the night and she was easily getting louder reactions then anyone else on the show. Mickie James easily could be the new Trish Stratus for the WWE, but for what ever reason they refuse to get behind her. Maybe it’s because of her nude fetish career before wrestling maybe it’s because she was popular outside the WWE. Who knows...all I know is a Mickie James Playboy would be a lot better then an Ashley Massaro Playboy.
But as I said the woman’s division has the potential to be great. It only has the potential if the WWE at least adds some more women who can actually wrestle into the mix.
Now where the WWE always fails, TNA manages to win or at least try to. There are plenty of rumors that TNA will be starting a woman’s division in the near future. As it stands right now their division is Gail Kim, Jacqueline (Miss
Christy for some unknown reason decided to carry the torch of feminism in TNA (there has to be irony in that combination of words). She took on Kip James at the last PPV. She went on to defend Chyna and asked why VKM don’t put her over since she was as important to DX as they were and Kip trying to be cool did the old women are only good for two things line and told her to go back to the strip club. Despite TNA’s shall we say questionable booking with this angle (mainly making Kip James act like a 20 year old frat boy…doesn’t work when he’s 43), it shows a lot of promise. Mainly because we will finally get to see women’s wrestling in TNA again. They had some good matches back in the weekly PPV days with Trinity and Alexis Laree and right now they are building a heated feud with Gail Kim and Miss
Normally I’m not fond of women fighting men just for the simple fact that a man is inherently stronger then a woman and in the end it’s really no match. But when there is good story telling in the angle and match it makes up for what ever believability there is with a man fighting a woman. James Storm comes off basically as an abusive prick and the way he handled Gail Kim last week proves that. When Chris Harris comes back to save her the heats gonna be off the charts and it will be a good starting point for the women’s division.
As I said the TNA Women’s division currently has Christy, Traci, Gail, and Jacqueline. Rumor has it TNA is seriously going to try and bring in Amy Dumas a.k.a. Lita to be the centerpiece of this division. If Amy can wrestle like she used to a few years ago with out killing herself or her opponent then it’s gonna be great if they manage to snag her. Trish Stratus is also a name talked about but it’s doubtful she would go considering her loyalty to the WWE.
But there are plenty of women out there who would be perfect for this division. So right now here is my shortlist of women I want to see in TNA as part of this division once it gets up and running full blast.
April Hunter (I know she was there in the beginning, but those days don’t really count)
Sumie
And last but not least
Daffney She’s the current NWA Alabama Light Heavyweight Champion and she’s Rob Fuller’s Million Dollar Baby…plus she’s a proven ratings winner.
REUNITE DAFFNEY, CROWBAR, AND DAVID FLAIR DAMN IT
Well maybe just Daffney and Crowbar.
Point is any of those women in the TNA Women’s division would be great. I know I didn’t name many other women that deserve to be mentioned, but I was just going from people off the top of my head. Besides odds are any women TNA uses will be approached by the WWE if they aren’t under a long term deal. While working for the WWE might sound nice since it’s better money and all, unless your in need of getting breast implants I’d stay with TNA.
I should also point out that knowing how TNA gets anyone who was in the WWE instead of getting one of the throw away diva’s I suggest bringing in Lisa Moretti and Nora Greenwald (Ivory and Molly Holly). I mean if your going to bring anyone in you might as well bring in women who know how to work.
Women’s wrestling in
Back in the old days of wrestling, women’s wrestling used to be a major draw for the card. I highly suggest anyone reading this should watch Lipstick and Dynamite. Granted a lot of it is in kayfabe (mostly Moolah tooting her own horn, but I love the line from I want to say Gladys Gillem about Diamond Lil being the worlds largest dildo), but that aside it shows what women’s wrestling was and it shows what it could be again.
Of course if you ask Moolah, a lot of the girls today can’t work. But then again most of the girls today aren’t going to be 60 when they finally have their big break. I mean lets face it, Moolah was Women’s champion for 28 years simply because she controlled the belt…not because she was the best women’s wrestler. It’s questionable as to how much money Moolah really drew compared to other women of her era, but I would think any number of women today could easily be as big of a draw as any of the old timers.
Back then it was about girls who were tough. Today the women can still be tough but they also have to be sexy and to pull off being tough and sexy is quite an accomplishment. In the end those are the kind of women who will draw and if the WWE wants to boost ratings they are sadly mistaken as I said before if they think for a minute bikini models are the solution to their problems.
I mean the last thing we need is more Kelly Kelly’s on television. If women’s wrestling is going to have a chance at the very least it needs women with character and charisma and just because Johnny Ace spanks one off to pics in the Victoria Secret catalogue does not mean these women will have either.
Well on that note I am done with this epic column. You have no idea how much time and energy I put into this column compared to my usual ones. I have a respect for women’s wrestling and it pains me to see talented women used simple as eye candy and filler material. I mean we’ll never see women’s wrestling on the scale that it is in
It’s a simple matter of who has the better product and the first one to realize this will be on their way to the next upswing in pro wrestling.
Hopefully if all goes well I will be back next week with a post Rumble thought’s piece. Worse comes to worse I might just start doing columns on stuff that’s on WWE 24/7 now that I have it. I find it funny how shows 20 years ago are eons better then shows today.
So until next time take care and remember someone has to give you this information and it DAMN well has got to be me.
You can click here to send me any and all feedback at phantomlordnyc@yahoo.com or leave me some feedback in my Live Journal
And now the Plugs
If your bored bug me on that Myspace thing at Myspace.com/phantomlordlop
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
It is snowing like crazy here!!!
----If you live in the area, I just want to wish everyone a safe next few days. It is snowing and they are promising ice. So, stay safe and stay in the house!!!
Dustin Starr slated to remain with NBW
----Dustin Starr will be in Dyersburg, TN @ NBW on Saturday night. I am not sure how excited the owners of the building [Dell & Sandra Walker] will be, but Sir Mo and Jeff McDonald have stated that Starr will be booked.
"Rant of The Week Part I "by "Phantom Lord" Joseph Davis
Greetings conversationalists all across the fruited plain, it is I your personal Harvester of Sorrow Phantom Lord and this is The Rant of the Week. As always I am coming to you from my bunker in the urban cesspool that is Brooklyn, New York and this El Nino stuff is really starting to piss me off. First it’s all warm and now it’s freezing. Would the damn jet stream just make up its mind? Either its winter or spring, it can’t be both. Now don’t get me wrong. I love the cold weather. I love nothing more then a good old Nor Easter that rolls through and wreaks havoc with the city. I love it when there are those lovely 50 mph winds whooshing in the alley next to my house. But I don’t know about the rest of you global warming deniers out there, but if 70 degree weather in January in New York isn’t proof that something is way off then what is?
Well as I sit here freezing because the damn heat isn’t coming up I can’t help but think of the year ahead. For the world of wrestling much like the world around us things are not looking good. Now before I get another “Oh Phantom if you hate wrestling so much why do you watch it” e-mail I’m not going to go in that direction today. I’m throwing the usual format of “Fuck the WWE, Fuck Vince McMahon, Fuck John Cena, and well Fuck everyone else for that matter” out the window…well for the most part anyway.
This week I figured I would try something different and write about a subject in wrestling that I actually care about and that’s women’s wrestling. I have been toying with doing this column for a while. But for one reason or another I put it off. I originally had planned to do this column along with my interview of former W.O.W. star Riot, but I figured it was now or never after I read the flowing news blurb.
Several more bikini models are about to be signed by WWE very shortly. The feeling within the company is that they need more good looking people on the show to get ratings up.
Credit to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
I often ask myself how wrestlers can drink the way they do. I totally understand now. I to would be a full blown alcoholic if there was a level of stupidity in a company I was working for. Now because I know for a fact that people from the WWE do read this column, I’m gonna give you guys a bit of advice.
Bikini models will not boost the ratings. What it will do is cause me and a lot of other viewers to pick up the remote and see what else is on. Of course the ratings are going to fall anyway due to the fact that the WWE has the unfortunate task of being up against 24 and some X-Man rip off called Heroes. Of course the WWE still believes that having the women go out in next to nothing is all that we want to see. Apparently Vince and company still haven’t gotten the memo as to how the internet works and this amazing thing called GOOGLE on it. If I want to see scantly clad women I know where to look. I don’t need to see you waste television time by trotting out another dumb blonde who doesn’t have a clue to the business around her.
Now what we want to see is women actually wrestling. By wrestling I don’t mean a catfight or a pillow fight match or anything else that some fat oily guy who can’t laid thinks of. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind the occasional match where all it is the women in next to nothing. But the WWE has some pretty talented women’s wrestlers and they don’t bust their very nice asses just to be fluff material. It’s a proven fact that there is a market for women’s wrestling. Now to the WWE’s credit they have given the women’s division a bit of credibility with the Victoria/Mickie James feud. The only problem is they are the whole division.
I could watch Victoria and Mickie wrestle and beat the hell out of each other for hours on end, but after a while it will get boring. If I had the chance to book the women’s division I would do the following reshuffling because God knows anything would be an improvement if I never have to see Ashley attempt to wrestle again. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind her, but seeing her attempt a monkey flip is one of the saddest sights you’ll ever see.
Now bare in mind while my fantasy booking is not perfect and by no means a fix, it as I mentioned before it would be a fast improvement. In the end I only care about money and the WWE is sadly mistaken if they think more bikini models will make them money. I mean with the way they cleaned house last week you would think they would want to use all that money they just freed up for something good rather then for something they’ll get bored with in six months.
What I would do is pretty simple. I would take all the non-wrestling diva’s and stick them on Smackdown which is the land of bikini contests. So the likes of Torrie, Candice, and Maria go to Smackdown and Jillian would come to RAW along with Trinity (ECW is pretty much part of Smackdown anyway)..
Smackdown would have
Torrie Wilson
Candice Michelle
Maria
Layla
Kristal Marshall
Ashley Massaro
RAW would have the Women’s championship division and it would consist of
Mickie James
Victoria
Melina
Jillian Hall
Trinity
And bump up Beth Phoenix back to the main roster assuming they don’t release her because “creative has nothing for her” which by the way I’ve always found to be a crock of shit. These people get paid to be creative. It’s not that hard to think of something. I mean I’m doing more thinking right now in this column then they do in an entire month.
But with those rosters everyone would be happy. Smackdown would get the fluff material and RAW would get the women’s wrestling. It would be win/win for the fans and it would give a shot in the arm to women’s wrestling.
The last time women’s wrestling had a bit of credibility to it at least in the mainstream had to be in the mid 90’s when Madusa went back to WCW and WCW had a decent women’s division. It mostly consisted of Madusa and Sherri Martel and the likes of Bull Nakano and Akira Hokoto when they would be flown in from Japan for PPV’s. But in 97 they pretty much ended it when Madusa lost a retirement match to Hokoto. The WWE brought back woman’s wrestling around the same time and we had the Sable era.
To Rena Mero’s credit she was actually pretty good back then. But after a while the division became a joke and we were treated to title runs from Debra and The Kat. Chyna was given the title in 2001 but that was really a joke because the entire women’s division was dwarfed by her.
From there we had the best WWE Women’s division since the days of The Fabulous Moolah and Wendy Richter in the 80’s with the Trish and Lita era. With out a doubt Trish and Lita became the be all end all of women’s wrestling in America and every women’s wrestler who comes forward from this point on will be influenced by either one of them. Trish showed that you can be the blonde bombshell sex symbol and Lita showed that you could be sexy and still be a dare devil.
The Ratings Are In!! The News is Good...and Bad!!!
----The Memphis Wrestling TV show scored a 4.1 [ 68163 viewers], which is the best rating they have scored since the 12.23.06 show, which was also a 4.1 rating, but had just a few more viewers.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Memphis Wrestling TV Report 1.27.07 - More detailed report
Show opens with Cory talking about who's on the card for today, and
about Samstown.
Cory calls out Kevin White. White says all of his partners have
turned on him and he needs someone who can watch his back and that is
Bill Dundee(I guess he forgot Bill turned on him before). Dundee
comes out and says he doesn't know what's wrong with Dustin and
Kevin, talks about Kevin dancing. Kevin tells Bill that Bill used to
dance in the ring. Bill and Kevin head to the ring as Rashard and the
Blackout squad come out.
Kevin White and Bill Dundee beat the Blackout squad: Kevin basically
handled the whole match. After the match Bill complains about Kevin
showboating but they can work it out. Bill begins to leave and Kevin
jumps and throws him in the ring. Tatt2 comes out to try and help and
gets beat up. Dustin finally came out and ran Kevin off.
Flash Flash Flanagan/Tim Grind come out. Tim asks Cory if he knows a
good bailbondsman to bail Flex out of 201. Flash tells Flex not drop
the soap. Funny stuff.
Flash Flanagan/Tim Grind beat "Picture Perfect" [Jon Michael/Chris
O'Neal]. Not a great match. Tim used the title to hit Michael I
believe and Flanagan pinned him but he was so close to O'Neal, O'Neal
could made the save, it looked stupid.
Cory announces Sam's Town March 2nd(all family show). Lawler and him
will be there the Feb. 10th(I believe) to promote and giveaway Free
night hotel stay, buffet coupons and ringside tickets for the event.
Eyewitnessnews.
register who knows.
Jimmy Hart taped interview. suppossedly still in Dallas. Has wrestlig
figures of him, Hogan and Ed Leslie, says they should throw Leslie out
(couldn't agree more) and put Lawler in the place and they sell at
the Hogan/Lawler, which we still don't know when or if it will
happen. Hart says it could be at Sam's Town, Coliseum(nope, they're not
even going to the Schools use it) or outdoors(well it better be in
the Spring when it's not to cold or way to hot).
Cory is back inside at Sam's Town, talks about the stuff again. At the
end, some old lady is going to walk through but hesitates Cory says
go ahead and then says he likes her poker shirt. Woman and Cory laugh
(weird moment)
Lance Russell Opening the vault. Talks about Stan and Steve, Then
shows video of Stan and Steve fighting the Sheepheaders(
Bushwackers)
week it's the Moondogs should be good(this has to be my favorite part
of the show).
Battle Royal for TV Title: Cory says that it's a new title since UPN
switched to CW30(no mention of Brian Christopher)
Pokerface and his partner were in there so hopefully the Clowns
gimmick will be over soon. It gets down to Jethro, Lawler and DK, Nat
hands DK a cane while he distracts the ref, while Jethro holds
Lawler. Lawler ducks as DK hits Jethro and knocks him out of the
ring. Lawler and DK are the winners and will face off next week for
the TV title.
Thoughts: Glad Sam's Town will be a family show would hate to see the
kids locked out of this, plus I haven't seen a wrestling show do a
good gate without the whole family being let in. Also hope people
know that Hogan/Lawler is not headlining the first show but I think
that's what Cory is counting on though that people will think that.
Opening the vaults reminds ya how things were so good when we had a
tag team division.
White turning heel is a good thing, he still can't do a good
interview with exception of a few, who can really can in Memphis
wrestling.
I hope DK wins the title, he needs to, if the King wins then the
title is meaningless.
Credit: Andrew from Mempho Yahoo Group
RassleResults: JWS Jumpertown, MS 1.27.07 - New Champ!!
RassleResults: TLCW Ripley, TN 1.27.07
Jethro beat Jackhammer/Shannon Lee after chokeslamming Jackhammer and powerbombing Lee; “Blackout Squad” [Oz/Bishop] beat Chris Lexx/Rockin Randy ; Tim Grind beat Seth Knight with a spinebuster after Matt Foley interfered and in the Main Event: Stan Lee beat “The Golden Boy” Greg Anthony with a roll up.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Good to be King!!
Lawler drawn to Super-dream job
By Mike McAvennie
Written: January 26, 2007
For Jerry “The King” Lawler, it’s not a dream, not an imaginary story…but it is what he calls “the fulfillment of a lifelong fantasy.” DC Comics has summoned The King to draw Superman for an upcoming project. Needless to say, Lawler—an accomplished artist, a huge comics fan and a lifelong Superman enthusiast—accepted the job faster than a speeding bullet. Check back with WWE.com next week when The King reveals the secret origins behind his super-art assignment, his artistic influences, and how he compares drawing the Man of Steel to WWE Superstars.
Site Notes
RassleResults: MAW Memphis, TN 1.28.07
Pimpin' Antoin Smooth w/Ms. Jade; “Genocide” [Maxx Corbin & Albino Rhino] beat The D.O.C. [Madman & Duke] w/Azreal; Gabriel Stalker w/The Movement beat A.J. Bradley to retain the MAW Junior Heavyweight Championship; The Front Office [The Crime, "Juicy" Johnny Morton & K.C. Gold] beat “High Society” ["God's Gift" Jason Richards/ "Pimp Glorious" Jeremy Killz], "New Blood" Dave Anthony, and Precious w/Ms. Jade; Chris Lexx beat "The Sharpest Card in the Deck" Big Ace to become the MAW Southern Champion in a Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight; and "Big CA" Carnage Antwane beat "Punisher" Dre Black, Big Country, & Raven become MAW Heavyweight Champion.---- I was told 40 paid, so a gate close to $400. Very sad. ...Precious sat in the crowd during the KC vs Smooth match (in full regalia: pink wig, feather boa, and dress). KC scanned the crowd during his entrance, and shook his head at Precious upon seeing him. Precious begins to heckle Gold, complaining about the fact that he no longer works for the company and has to buy a ticket to see the show….In the “Genocide” tag match, Madman started off the match against both Corbin and Rhino, while Duke waited outside the ring. Madman was pinned shortly into the match after a reverse powerbomb followed
by a Boston crab/leg drop combo. Azreal berates Madman after the match, and Duke gives him a chairshot. Genocide returns to the ring and decimates both men before heading to the back…Ms Jade [pictured] got spanked after the Front Office match and Precious turned baby with TFO or are they baby??…Reno Diamond, who was special ref, helped Chris Lexx win the belt, which surprised everyone…Antwane pinned Raven to win the title, but after the main event, TFO took the belt from Carnage Antwane, which did nothing but confuse everyone. Who is baby and who is heel?? This group is trying to run too many angles and confusing their fans. I talked with several people that were at the show and they were confused….Match of the night was Lexx vs Big Ace…Raven apparently did very little in his match and had a “Raven sucks” chant going.
RassleResults: MEW Batesville, AR 1.27.07 - New Champ!!!
Krazzy;“Danger Zone” Dangerous Dave Cox with Johnny Harper beat Byg Daddy Moose/Venom; Rozzi beat “Hot Rod”John Ellison to win the MEW cruiserweight title; Eric Wayne [pictured] beat Kid Nikels; Scotty Graham/Matt Boyce retained the MEW Tag Team Champions beating “The Playboy Club” and in the Main Event: Grave Digger beat Casino Kid in a non-title match.
RassleResults: TIWF Jackson, TN 1.27.07 - RAVISHING RANDY DEMANDS STERIOD TESTING!!
Danny Morris;TIWF TV Championship;Razor beat Overkill via DQ after a Steven Rampage Interference; Lawman Willams Vs Dazzlin Dixie went to a no contest after Big Boys interfered; TIWF Heavyweight Championship: P.K. Ripper def. Steven Rampage via DQ after Wildside interefered; and in the Main Event: “Genocide” [Maxx Corbin/Albino Rhino - pictured] Vs Reno Diamond/Kaut!on was a no contest due to Big Boys interference. ----125 in the crowd for “Fan’s Appreciation” with $1 tickets with a gate of $125. So, they really didn’t draw more with just $1 tickets. My theory is charge them $7!!!...Ravishing Randy is running a heel commish gimmick here and doing some funny stuff. He came out during one part of the show to call for mandatory testing of steroids on all TIWF members. He then appointed Wildside the interim Commish for rest of the night, because he said he had a date…Rampage brought “The Sample” [clean urine] to ringside with him again this week and got it in the face again. LOL The crowd was chanting “Pee Pee Head”. That is funny. Who is writing this stuff???...”Genocide” team seems to be tons over here. Steroids abusers they are not, which makes Randy’s rants even funnier….Even though I have criticized this group for being low on talent in the past, this steroid storyline is fun and original.
RassleResults: XOW New Albany, MS 1.27.07 - Danny B Loses Hair!!!
----Thomas Knox beat Buzz Harley; The Freakshow beat 24/7 to retain the XOW Tag Team Titles; Pappy /Colton Anderson vs. Cassanova Kidd/Nick Grymes went to a double countout when they all fought into the crowd and around the ring. The Comissioner set up a street fight for the 2 teams next week; Psycho beat Soultaker; DC beat Cassanova Kidd after Nick Grymes ran out, hit the roll of the dice on DC, when Nick left, Pappy ran out and hit a Samoan drop on Cassanova, and DC made the pin first; Justin Rhodes/ Bonecrusher/Kross beat “Pure Destruction” [Brody & Cody Hawk]/Jay Webster; and in the Main Event: Izzy Rotten beat Danny B. Goode to retain the XOW Championship in a hair vs. title match.
RassleResults: NBW Dyersburg, TN 1.27.07
----Ca$hFlow [Tank, A.C. Havoc & Big Red] went to a double count out with "Real Deal" Tim Edwards/”The Kountry Homeboyz” [ J.Weezy/G. Thompson]; Slim "the Bulldog" Pickens defeated Loose Cannon; Gaylon Ray defeated "American Superstar" Weasel after the "Side Effect"; "Upset Kid" Jeremy Moore defeated Gryffon X after an "Ace Crusher"; NBW Heavyweight Champion "Southern Outlaw" Kilo defeated "Luscious" Jesse Lee after the "Southern Comfort" and the Main Event: "All That" Allen Steele & Dustin "5" Starr went to a double DQ after 2 ref bumps and Commissioner Allen Walker stopping the match.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
A few added items!!
----I have added a video clip on RassleTube of the “Battle of the Sexes” match last night. Listen to the crowd when BB steps out. You can access it also by hitting the home page and hitting the KISSFM logo.
Site Notes
----I would like to let everyone know I will be posting results and such tomorrow. I got results from all the regular shows in the area. I am just exhausted from doing two shows in two days. I will also have tickets for sale tomorrow afternoon for the return of Sid Vicious to Memphis.
Arena Report: ASWF Walnut Ridge, AR 1.27.07
can do moves and have the potential to be good. Leveigh is over. But, there is no psychology – no reasoning for doing any of the moves they do. [*] 
beat “Family of Pain” [Sarge O’Riley/Mickey Ray] to win the ASWF Tag Team Titles. Good match with both teams working hard. Double heat with heat on Simon first, and then Chris. Hot tag to Simon. Hollywood Jimmy handcuffed Chris to the ropes and Sarge/Micky went to finish off Simon. They laid Simon’s head on a chair and Sarge jumped from the second rope with a diving headbutt. He missed hitting the chair and come up with juice. Ray then held Simon as Sarge went to hit Simon with a chair, but Simon ducked and Sarge hit Ray. Simon pinned Ray for the win. Crowd popped huge for the title change. [***]
----Chris Rocker beat Austin Lane by DQ. I actually went to this show just to see this match. You got two of the top 5 guys in this area in a match. They did not disappoint. A very good match with every move looking fluent and the psychology was right on the mark. Lane started the heat on Rocker when Rocker hit a dive outside the ring and Lane caught him with a kick. The major difference in these guys and the spot monkeys in the first match is they put the big moves in the right place and build for the finish. Rocker came out of heat with a big pop and dove ¾ the way across the ring with a frogsplash. Hollywood then jump in hitting Rocker with the cane for the DQ. Lane/Hollywood/Nikki beat up Rocker until Brandon Baxter ran out for the save. [***1/2]
BATTLE OF THE SEXES
was fortunate enough to be asked to MC this event as it took place between matches last night during the ASWF event in Walnut Ridge, AR. It has been a long time since I have been in front of a crowd, but I had a good time.
My god the roof went off the building. This guy is so freakin over!! My job was over as Baxter took over. He informed Booger that it would be a blindfold match with him blindfolded vs Lane. Booger walked around the ring feeling around and he finally grabbed Lane and pushed her down. He then grabbed Brandon on mistake and Brandon pushed him away with Lane pinning him with a roll up. The crowd popped for the finish. After the match, BB/Lane were hugging in the ring when Nikki’s husband Austin Lane came out. He ended up jumping BB and BB started his comeback beating Lane when Nikki came up from behind with a nut shot. The crowd was shocked on the turn. Rocker made the save for BB.