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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Saturday November 28, 2009
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
11/27 Smackdown TV results from Bridgeport, CT: The Hart Dynasty over Cryme Tyme; Matt Hardy over CM Punk via DQ; Batista over Kane; John Morrison over Eric Escobar; and The Undertaker over Chris Jericho via DQ. The former Festus, as Luke Gallows, debuted as a bodyguard for CM Punk which is something that has been long talked about.
There is a Smackdown/ECW house show tonight in Upper Marlboro, MD. The TV tapings are Sunday in Hampton, VA because WWE are flying out a crew to Iraq following Monday's Raw in Baltimore for the annual Tribute to the Troops show. The Raw crew also has a house show Sunday night in Charlottesville, VA. We're looking for reader reports from all these shows to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
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To those celebrating, I hope you all had a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
WWE has paid to film footage in a Baltimore courtroom on Monday afternoon which I assume will involve DX vs. Hornswoggle, guest host Verne Troyer, and many other little people they have booked for Raw.
Advertising Age at http://tinyurl.com/yzbksrj has an interview with WWE EVP of Marketing Michelle Wilson. She claimed that live event attendance is up this year because they cut ticket prices, and that PPV revenue is down because of the economy. While the later may be true, live event attendance has increased on average this year mostly due to running more events overseas in large arenas and less shows on home soil.
WWE ranked No. 182 on Forbes' list of the 200 Best Small Companies, down 60 spots from last year's rank of No. 122.
Some significant WWE stock filings this past week. More on this in the next few days... The stock closed out the week at $15.81 on the NYSE.
A WWE Diva just got engaged.
Kaval (Low-Ki) started on the road with ECW this past week and worked a dark match with Paul Burchill at Tuesday's tapings in Bridgeport.
Maria Kanellis starts back on the road today.
The plan right now is for Tony Chimel to handle the ring announcements for ECW until a new replacement is found for Lauren Mayhew. There was some talk of Savannah (Angela Fong) but Vince wants to groom someone who can also sing the national anthem like Lilian Garcia.
The Miz has lost his voice. Several people are said to be hoping it doesn't return anytime soon or at least before the WWE crew fly out to Iraq.
WWE.com on Friday was selling the new Hulk Hogan DVD with a 57% discount.
Tommy Dreamer who is hosting new episodes of ECW on 24/7 noted the most legit craziest people he has ever met in wrestling are Paul Heyman, Balls Mahoney, Little Guido, The Iron Sheik, and Victoria - now Tara in TNA.
Former Indiana police officer David. L. Scudder was convicted of theft and misconduct this past week. He pocketed $154 from a promoter who was selling autographs for a men posing as Steve Austin. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yzt7umh.
The Slam Wrestling website interviewed Batista about his DVD at http://tinyurl.com/yerb2v6.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
The next TNA show is December 4 in Portland, ME at the Cumberland Civic Center which is the house show debut of Desmond Wolfe.
The TNA show in Lyon, France on January 31 was canceled. The building said it was due to low ticket sales.
A NSFW photo of a bare-ass Ric Flair at http://tinyurl.com/yk72jdu from the Hulkamania tour which concluded tonight in Sydney, Austrailia before an estimated 6000 fans... Thursday night in Brisbane before 3500 fans, mostly who purchased two-for-one tickets, had Rikishi & Brian Christopher over Rock of Love; Shannon Moore vs. Spartan 3000 Matt Cross in a time limit draw; Rosey over Val Venis & The Godfather in a three-way; Heidenreich, Black Pearl & Vampire Warrior over The Nasty Boys & Eugene; Kiara Dillon won a bikini contest; Orlando Jordan over Mr. Kennedy; Umaga over Brutus Beefcake; and Hulk Hogan managed by Jimmy Hart over Ric Flair managed by Lacey Von Erich.
Australian filmmaker Keith Loutit combined tilt-shift and time lapse photography to create an unusual video of the Hulkamania show in Melbourne. Story and video is at http://tinyurl.com/yhp3gs2.
The Chicago Sun Times ran a story quoting Angelina Love saying, "Don't believe everything you hear, and don’t believe everything you read," claiming she will be back in TNA very soon.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Mike LeBell passed away in Los Angeles on Tuesday of respiratory failure. He was 79. LeBell, in Southern California, was one of the most influential and predominant wrestling promoters of the 1960s and '70s. Greg Oliver has a nice story on him at http://tinyurl.com/yhmufgn. Mike was the older brother of Judo Gene LeBell, 77, who still to this day runs a MMA/Grappling Dojo in Burbank, CA... Ric Dasin interviews Gene LeBell at http://tinyurl.com/yheeaem.
Alexis Pillman, the late Brian Pillman's stepdaughter, passed away on Thanksgiving at age 26 as a result of an auto accident. She had been working indy shows in Georgia and Ohio, and worked a TNA show last year in Cincinnati as a ring card girl. A serious knee injury prevented her from wrestling but of late she had been managing Sean Casey. Our deepest condolences to the Pillman family.
Gordon Lambert, an indy wrester out of Mississippi, passed away last night. No details are known at press time. He ran shows out of Ruth, MS where he helped many schools, churches and other charitable organizations with fundraisers.
Sid Eudy has left the American Wrestling Rampage tour in Europe. He suffered an arm injury, thought to be a torn bicep, and is heading back to the U.S. for medical attention. The travel conditions on this tour are said to be very tough with long bus rides that are getting the better of some of the crew.
Dragon Gate USA tapes PPV tonight at the Arena in Philadelphia. More info at www.dgusa.tv.
Dutch Mantel is interviewed at www.WhosSlammingWho.podomatic.com along with Podcasts from Jim Cornette, Kenny Bolin, Bill Behrens, Lanny Poffo, and more.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has proclaimed December 5 as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Day. Bobby will be appearing on December 5 at Dave Herro's Bliuzzrd Brawl show at the Waukesha County Expo with a 7:30pm belltime. Among those booked are Mick Foley, Mr. Ken "Kennedy" Anderson, Road Warrior Animal, and King Kong Bundy. More info can be found at www.BlizzardBrawl.com or by calling Dave Herro at 262-573-5397.
Alex Marvez has a story on Dr. Death Steve Williams at http://tinyurl.com/ygwhyk5.
Dwayne Johnson's film Planet 51 finished its first week with a gross of $18.3 million.
The LA Times at http://tinyurl.com/yeth7tr has a story on Kai Maiava, a nephew of Dwayne Johnson, who is playing football for the Bruins at UCLA.
Eric Bischoff's production company has a new reality show which premieres on December 12 on CMT. Posse: The Young Guns of PBR follows eight professional bull riders trying to become the next PBR champion. One of the contestants, 24-year-old Kasey Hayes from Liberal, KS rides with a special face mask after a serious injury after going head to head with a bull at age of 12. More info at http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/posse/series.jhtml.
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