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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Friday December 11, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/10 Superstars TV results: Dolph Ziggler over Finlay; The Hart Dynasty over Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J; and Jack Swagger over MVP.
No house shows this weekend ahead of Sunday's TLC pay-per-view from San Antonio, TX. A strong show on paper. Complete line up is John Cena vs. Sheamus in a Tables match for the WWE title; The Undertaker vs. Batista in a Chairs match for the World title; Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin in a Ladder match for the ECW title; Chris Jericho & Big Show vs. Shawn Michaels & Triple H in a TLC match for the tag titles; John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre for the IC title; and Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James for the Women's title.
Raw on Monday is a live 3-hour show from Corpus Christi with Dennis Miller hosting the Slammy Awards. The Smackdown/ECW tapings are Tuesday in Laredo.
Smackdown TV tonight has Mickie James & Maria vs. Michelle McCool & Layla; Chris Jericho vs. Eric Escobar; Kane vs. Mike Knox; Matt Hardy & R-Truth vs. CM Punk & Luke Gallows; and Rey Mysterio vs. Batista in a street fight.
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Hall of Famer Bobby Heenan is currently hospitalized in Tampa after an infection developed in his jaw stemming from jaw reconstruction surgery following cancer treatments. Heenan, 65, has been forced to pull out of a scheduled appearance this weekend as a result. He was honored last weekend by the Mayor of Milwakee who declared December 5 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Day.
WWE Director Michael Soloman, who was one of the very first institutional investors in WWE, and one of the managing partners in private equity fund Gladwyne, has cashed out of WWE, according to recent SEC filings. He dumped stock worth over $20 million or 5.1 percent of the entire company. There were rumblings for some time that he was unhappy with changes in management so it appears with the recent upswing in the stock price he has cashed out. Soloman has sat on the WWE Board of Directors since 2001.
The Sun at http://tinyurl.com/ybau7bs has a story on wrestling fans angry that WWE didn't acknowledge the passing Eddie "Umaga" Fatu on Monday's Raw. Jim Cornette was quoted as saying: "[WWE] won't even recognize guys who made a contribution to their company, just because it's bad PR. But Ring Of Honor on Saturday night in Chicago opened the show with a 10-bell salute to a guy that had never worked there, just because he is a member of the wrestling fraternity. It's sad every time we lose somebody, which happens way way too often in this business. Something's wrong and something ought to be done." The Sun contacted a WWE spokesperson who declined to comment. "We are not be able to provide comment or clarification on this story," said the rep.
Mick Foley on the TNA website at www.tnawrestling.com was also critical of WWE. He wrote in his blog: "I know WWE has to protect themselves from a public relations standpoint, but from a human standpoint, they really should be doing a better job then just the three sentence standard, which always includes the date the deceased was terminated from their contract. I worked there a long time - I know that they're not heartless. But they sure sound that way in cases like this."
The Greenwich Times at http://tinyurl.com/ydea5z5 has a story on Umaga's death hurting Linda McMahon's campaign for Senate. Linda's spokesperson Ed Patru in her defence credits her for engineering the WWE Wellness Program, and WWE attorney Jerry McDivett is in full attack mode with this quote on former wrestlers bashing her: "It's not a sport. It's entertainment... He's [Linda opposition Rob Simmons] hanging around with people who are con-artists." Actually, Linda, on record, during Congressional questioning on steroids in sports and sports entertainment said she didn't have a hand in creating the Wellness Program.
The Washington Times at http://tinyurl.com/y8f4pgt picked up on the ex- wrestlers knocking WWE and Linda McMahon. A WWE spokesperson not named, which I believe is also Jerry McDivett, gave this quote in response: "The average talent on World Wrestling Entertainment's programs is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. These complaints about health insurance, made by old-timers and other disgruntled former talent, mirror the allegations recently made in a lawsuit against WWE challenging the practice and their status as independent contractors. That lawsuit was dismissed by a distinguished federal judge and there is, therefore, nothing really to address on that meritless issue." The Times story also noted that WWE hired "porn actresses" like Candice Michelle and Jillian Beyor during Linda's reign as CEO and brought up the on-screen kiss between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie from several years ago.
The Day in Connecticut has a story on Linda's campaign contributions at http://tinyurl.com/yd4gwt3. The story claims that Linda isn't being as forthcoming as other candidates when detailing her in-kind contributions to her campaign.
Author Irv Michnick at http://tinyurl.com/ya86ydr reprinted a series of emails between himself and Michael Benoit, the father and father-in-law of Chris and Nancy. Michael Benoit argues that brain injuries were a factor in the deaths of many pro wrestlers. He says: "Andrew Martin [Test] took WWE up on their offer for rehab. Drugs killed Andrew there is no debating that but if Andrew did not have brain damage he would still be alive today. So would my son. Please help me understand why rehab does not work for people engaged in the wrestling industry. It is my personal belief that until you cure the brain damage you will never have a successful drug rehab program for wrestlers." He also asserts that his granddaughter, the daughter of Chris Benoit from another partner, has seven years left to decide on taking legal action against WWE for wrongful death.
Chris Masters' dancing pecs got a mention on VH-1's The Soup last night. Host Joel McHale said: "It started out great for Manboobs when he slapped the Masterlock hold on his opponent, but eventually he was motor-boated into submission."
Jim Ross posted a new blog at www.jrsbarbq.com/blog which is always a good read. He wants people to stop emailing him asking how to get a job with WWE. His contract may have just expired because he wrote, "Honestly, asking me how to obtain work in WWE especially at this particular point is time is humorously ironic," although he did say he expected a new deal to be worked out soon. He suggested Danny Hodge for the WWE Hall of Fame: "The Perry, Oklahoma native represented the USA in two Olympic games, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, never lost a match at Oklahoma University, was a three time national champion before freshmen were eligible to compete for national titles, won the United States Golden Glove Heavyweight BOXING Title, and wrestled professionally for close to three decades as the greatest NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion of all time. Of all the Okies that are in WWE's HOF, The Briscos, Bill Watts, Mae Young and yours truly, no one deserves it more than the amazing Danny Hodge." He also suggested that UFC's Frank Mir has the makings of an excellent pro wrestler once his MMA career concludes: "Mir has a natural delivery that one listens to especially when he is verbally taking down his opponent."
WWE moved their February 5 house show to Philadelphia putting them up against a Ring of Honor TV taping that night. Some websites were actually making a big deal out of this.
Maryse was up in Toronto this morning doing a promotional tour.
WWE talent chief John Laurinaitis cashed in some stock options today to pocket just over $155,000.
Nielsen Media Research released a year-end list of programs with Product Placement Activity. Raw was No. 2 on the list for the whole of U.S. television with 787 occurrences of product-placement ads, just behind Jay Leno.
Raw goes live in Italy for the first time ever starting this coming Monday. Smackdown is also moving to Friday nights.
ECW on Tuesday night did a 0.8 rating, it's lowest rating ever on SyFy. Superstars last night on WGN did a 0.9.
Shawn Michaels at http://tinyurl.com/ybegxvp says he is taking time off after Wrestlemania 26: "I actually don't have to take on the schedule that the other guys have to take on. I wrestle more on a part-time basis. I take four months off in the summer and just spend time with the family... It's a tough line of work. Those injuries hang around longer and those injuries are tougher to deal with. When I stop, my body will have an opportunity to heal and rest. That comes along with the territory."
Mark Cuban on hosting Raw this past Monday: "Yes it hurt when [Sheamus] pushed me [through the table]. The one thing that makes it easier than maybe it looks is the mat’s pad. That is the one thing so when I hit the ground I think I dinged my elbow. It hurt but it was no big deal because the ground was soft. When he hit me in the stomach he hit me in the stomach. I mean there are people ten feet away and if you pull it and he didn’t hit you those guys are not going to get into it and are going to be yelling: Fraud or Fake! Then you see the guys afterwards when they were coming to check on me these guys are black and blue. They take a hit and it maybe that the outcomes are preordained but the physicality is not."
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
12/10 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Chris Sabin over The British Invasion in a 3-on-1 handicap match; Scott Steiner & Awesome Kong over Bobby & Kristal Lashley; Eric Young over Hamada to retain the Global title; ODB over Tara in a trailer park match; Team 3-D, Rhino & Jesse Neal over Hernandez, Suicide & Matt Morgan in a 4-on-3 handicap match; Velvet Sky over Lacey Von Erich in a mud wrestling match; and AJ Styles over Desmond Wolfe to retain the TNA title.
No TNA house shows this weekend.
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Bobby Lashley announced today that he has signed with MMA promotion Strikeforce. He is scheduled to make his debut on Strikeforce's January 30 card against a yet to be named opponent. Lashey's announcement has garnered a lot of interest on MMA websites where most of the stories refer to him as a former WWE champion. He signed a multi-year non-exclusive deal that won't preclude him from continuing to work with TNA if he desired. The deal also reportedly contains a clause that prevents him from going to straight to UFC should he not do well and be cut. In his fledgling MMA career Lashly is 4-0 with wins over Jason Guida and Bob Sapp.
Regarding TNA, Lashley told MMA Fan House: "I'm 100 percent committed to MMA. I don't think people realize that the pro wrestling I do with TNA is very limited. That's just a small amount of time and the owner of TNA wants to help my MMA career. He knows I'm dedicated to MMA and he supports that." I'll assume the "he" is either a miscommunication or Bob Carter, and not Hogan.
The TNA billboard hyping Hogan's January 4 debut is now up, located directly above ABC studios in Times Square.
Hulk Hogan, who is feeling better now, during radio interviews in Toronto promoting his book, predicted that Impact live on January 4 head-to-head against Raw will do a 3.0 rating. For what it's worth, TNA people who aren't deluded believe the show will do 1.3 to 1.5. He said he isn't going to fire Russo but he better not get in his way. He also said he was going to take guys like Matt Morgan and AJ Styles and turn them into stars.
Impact last night dropped to a 1.0 rating. Perhaps Hogan's master plan is to leave Russo in charge long enough so by January 4 when the rating is down to 0.3 he can legit say he tripled the ratings. Genius.
On Canadian talk show The Hour, Hogan told the story of wrestling Antonio Inoki in Japan (New Japan 10-man title torrnament in 1983) that Inoki tried to shoot on him so he shot back with a lariat and knocked him out. He claimed Inoki had called him in his hotel room before the match and threatened him. After the match he said he was surrounded by fifty furious Japanese wrestlers and didn't know whether he would make it out of the country alive. The interview is online at http://tinyurl.com/ycd4y2y.
Jeff Jarrett was keeping a low profile backstage at this week's television taping. One source noted at some point he sat down behind closed doors with Kurt Angle to clear the air.
Kevin Nash noted on his Twitter that he talked to Scott Hall on Monday and said Hall "sounded great." He also mentioned an MRI he had done on his neck and is still waiting for the results.
Mick Foley and Jeremy Borash were representing TNA on Thursday morning at the Toys for Hope event in Long Island, NY.
Tonight is the TNA christmas party, and apparently they have already run out of beer.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Universal Championship Wrestling Promoter Ronnie Gossett was hospitalized yesterday after suffering a heart attack. He reportedly collapsed at his home while getting ready for work. He had an Angioplasty and stints have been placed in two of his heart valves. He is currently listed in stable condition.
A story at http://tinyurl.com/y9zvmvz claims that Nick Hogan, who was in court yesterday testifying over the John Graziano family lawsuit, said that Graziano talked to him about wanting "to kill homos." Reportedly after he said that his lawyer put his head in his hands. The Graziano family wants compensation from the Hogan's after a 2007 car crash that left John Graziano severely injured. Edward Graziano, John's father, was arrested earlier this year on charges of trying to kill his wife by paying off a Hitman with cash and a pizza coupon. You can't even make this stuff up.
There is a wrestling legends convention on Saturday at the Radisson Hotel in Carteret, NJ. Names include Dory Funk Jr., Steve Dr. Death Williams, Superstar Bill Dundee, Danny Spivey, Moondog Rex, Jack Victory, General Skandor Akbar, Outback Jack, Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, Brad Armstrong, Tim Horner, Mike Sanders, Lash LeRoux, Headbanger Mosh, Rick Martel, Tito Santana, former Nitro Girls Spice and Chae, Johnny Rodz, David Sammartino, Sonjay Dutt, Jazz and So Cal Val. For more info you can contact Ken or Steve at 516-473-4944 or visit www.kandswrestlefest.com.
Dutch Mantell has a new blog at http://tinyurl.com/yca9b7u where he recalls the night The Undertaker knocked somebody out in a bar fight: "When I saw the guy laying on the floor of the club, the first thing I thought is that he has to be a complete moron. I knew what had happened. I knew the guy had to have openly messed with Mark and only because Mark was a wrestler. I've never understood why guys, who want to challenge wrestlers, don't challenge guys who are more close to their size instead of, like me, instead of 6'10", 300 pound monsters like Mark. Usually, I try to have some sympathy for guys like that but if they're that stupid, then they need their silly asses knocked out."
UFC President Dana White said during a press conference today that Brock Lesnar may need major surgery stemming from his diverticulitis: "They figured [the illness] out, so the question now is, he’s either going to need major surgery or he’s not and we won’t know for the next couple months... Obviously, I’m hoping that’s not the case, as I’m sure all of you are, but we’ll see what happens."
Lilian Garcia is singing for GoDaddy.com employees at their annual christmas party this weekend in Phoenix. Candice Michelle is also making an appearance.
Sheldon Goldberg's New England Championship Wrestling will tape their first show for Comcast SportsNet on December 19 in Quincy, MA.
Today's Diva of the Day is Karen Angle at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
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Saturday, December 12, 2009
RassleResults: USWO/ATL Nashville, TN 12.11.09
54 attended
Bad Boy Dixon b Tiny Bear
Saint b Chic Canyon
LT Falk b Dyron Flynn by DQ when Flynn used a chair
Nore Havoc b Bryan Casey
USWO Tag Team Champions Josh Crowe & Damien Payne b Crusher Eric Hodge & Harold Knight when Payne pinned Knight
Jeff Daniels b Lee Cross
Nore Havoc won the Holiday Rumble (really a battle royal) last eliminating Canyon. By winning, Havoc will face USWO Champion Jerry Lynn next week for the title.
Credit: Jimmie Daniel
Bad Boy Dixon b Tiny Bear
Saint b Chic Canyon
LT Falk b Dyron Flynn by DQ when Flynn used a chair
Nore Havoc b Bryan Casey
USWO Tag Team Champions Josh Crowe & Damien Payne b Crusher Eric Hodge & Harold Knight when Payne pinned Knight
Jeff Daniels b Lee Cross
Nore Havoc won the Holiday Rumble (really a battle royal) last eliminating Canyon. By winning, Havoc will face USWO Champion Jerry Lynn next week for the title.
Credit: Jimmie Daniel
Friday, December 11, 2009
DCW Crew Walks Out!!
----I sent a message about DCW results this past week and got a message back that said, "We quit." I thought it was a rib and just laughed. But...the rib was on me. Apparently the Walkers ask Derrick King to take 3 weeks off and come back as a babyface [even though he is working heel in Ripley] and were going to get someone else to run the show. In other words, they were replacing him as booker. The boys, knowing that DK was not going to be there, ask for their money upfront before the show started and it didn't happen. So most of the crew did not work last Friday and don't expect them to be there tonight. Derrick King, Cody Melton, Christian Jacobs, Jon Michael, Greg Anthony and Stan Lee are the names that I know will not be working tonight.
----This continues a long history that has been well documented on this site with the Walkers. This is not the first time they have pulled the plug on DK as booker this year. The show has been drawing in 40 to 60 range.
----This continues a long history that has been well documented on this site with the Walkers. This is not the first time they have pulled the plug on DK as booker this year. The show has been drawing in 40 to 60 range.
The Dynamite Blast with "Dynamite" Seth Knight Week 7
----I would like to let everyone know that Knight has his own brand of humor that seems to be getting over. I have not heard one bad thing about this column, since the start of it. Well Shady J said something..but he does not count. LOL Keep reading and I know Seth loves it that everyone likes his column.
Welcome to the “Dynamite Blast” For the week of Dec. 11th. I’m typing this as I sit at my shoot job, watching Adult Swim on Cartoon Network….Never mind I just changed it CMT…Police Academy is on, Awesome!
This week a few more women…and by a few I mean 9, Have come out and admitted and shown proof of affairs with Tiger Woods. Now all I want to know is why it was fine and kept secret until one person got caught? Then all the other women are like “Wow, Now I can be famous too, just for being a slut” So they all go admitting to what they have done…With a married man. Wow and they are looked at like they are innocent. Like they are so brave for coming out about it, when in reality they are doing it because they want to use Tigers notoriety to make themselves known and get on a reality show! Pitiful…
Last week I promised a “Tweet of the week” I’m going to do a top three since I had some great ones this week.
Number 3 – @austinlane1 tweets “Finally over Razorbacks missed field goal. Need Eric Wayne kicking for them!”
Number 2 - @stevejamesmedia tweets “9 women have come forward in Tiger-Tale. I say at least 9 more. Tiger always plays a full 18.”
Number 1 - @danecook tweets “I’m a very sexual person. I just typed this with my penis”
LOFL Dane Cook is a funny mother.
Some people say I suck, those people are simple minded, childish, and can’t come up with a better go off than “You Suck”. Luckily, I will not lower myself to a cheap shot or mean comment like that….
I really enjoyed the first column by Pokerface this week. This is a guy who has all the talent in the world, but is a down to earth guy who respects everyone and treats everyone equally…If you don’t get on his bad side that is. He will quickly tell you exactly where to go if you really ask for it. Awesome guy and an awesome start to a real, truthful column where he holds nothing back and don’t worry about if anyone likes what he’s typing. I for one agree with his opinions of the wrestling situation in this area. No one cares, no one wants to put up fliers, and no one wants to help build a show. They just want the workers to show up and work for whatever they want to give…..But if you don’t advertise how are you gonna pay us!? We keep giving bookers chances because truth be told there isn’t many places to work that have all the pieces a show needs to work. Booking, Talent, and Advertising. If you can get those three things together then you can have a show that draws and makes money. But the problem is there are so many guys who can’t work, out there in the ring that people don’t believe in wrestling anymore… they sit in the crowd saying things like “Why are we here, This sucks” but they come back the next week. Don’t come if it sucks, they might be forced to book some actually talented guys on the show next week. I don’t know if it’s going to get better or just keep getting worse, but I love wrestling and nothing will ever change that. I just wish it was respected like it used to be.
This week column by Jamie Jay was basically just about what he did at the shows he works this weekend. Very interesting read….Ok so this is where I'm supposed to comment of the points and interesting things he said….Ummmm….Well lets look at some quotes from his column..
Jamie is quoted as saying
“When I was at SWA, I wrestled Johnny Morton. I think we had the best match on the card, but it wasn't great, with my knee still a little weak”
Sooo….. it was the best match on the card, But it wasn’t great?...How bad are you saying the other matches were? Maybe it would have been better if you would let your knee HEAL before you start jumping around in a ring. Just an idea…..
Another quote from Jamie is
“This Fri. and Sat. I will be back in Newport for SWA. I will be wrestling the Rowdy Rebel! Damn, who did I piss off? lol!”
You must be saying this guy sucks really bad, that’s why you must have pissed someone off to have to work him. Hope he doesn’t read your column….
Eric Wayne wrote another great column this week. There are a few things I must pick on though because I don’t quite agree with one part of this column. But, I will get to that at the end. First the good parts. There are many wrestlers that are only known because of things like You Tube and other video sharing sites. There are true legendary wrestlers who wrestle on the independents and will never make it to the WWE. But who says the WWE or TNA is where everyone wants to go? I, for one, love performing for a crowd. If every talented wrestler went to the “Big Show” it would leave nothing for these small town wrestling fans to go see. Showing them a good time and making them love or hate me is just as important to me as if it was millions of people. Maybe even more so but I’m sure there are others who feel the same. I love performing and giving the fans, No matter how few there are, a hell of a show…every time. Now….The part I don’t agree on. Eric says this after naming off Alan Steele, Greg Anthony, Derrick King, Motley Cruz, Pokerface, and Austin Lane…
“ But even in Memphis, not many people know the names I just mentioned. But if you ask any wrestler they know those names, or they should. Why is it that we know them but no one else? What is it that makes them so respected and yet no real recognition?”
I have never been with Derrick for five minutes without someone knowing him. EVERYONE in Memphis knows who Derrick King is. I guarantee you if Derrick and you went walking down Beale St. People left and right would recognize him, I’ve seen it. I’m not trying to put Derrick over I just don’t get how you can name off people like tgb, Alan , Poker, and Derrick, and say no one knows them. I know the point you were trying to make, and it’s a good point. I agree with most of it. but I feel like you are saying these guys have worked in this area for over ten years each and not enough people know who they are to even count for anything.
The RRO Awards Race 2009 has now begun. Hopefully this year will be my year to win my first award. *Fingers crossed*
See you next week guys and gals,
3rd most handsome wrestler of ‘09
“Dynamite” Seth Knight
Welcome to the “Dynamite Blast” For the week of Dec. 11th. I’m typing this as I sit at my shoot job, watching Adult Swim on Cartoon Network….Never mind I just changed it CMT…Police Academy is on, Awesome!
This week a few more women…and by a few I mean 9, Have come out and admitted and shown proof of affairs with Tiger Woods. Now all I want to know is why it was fine and kept secret until one person got caught? Then all the other women are like “Wow, Now I can be famous too, just for being a slut” So they all go admitting to what they have done…With a married man. Wow and they are looked at like they are innocent. Like they are so brave for coming out about it, when in reality they are doing it because they want to use Tigers notoriety to make themselves known and get on a reality show! Pitiful…
Last week I promised a “Tweet of the week” I’m going to do a top three since I had some great ones this week.
Number 3 – @austinlane1 tweets “Finally over Razorbacks missed field goal. Need Eric Wayne kicking for them!”
Number 2 - @stevejamesmedia tweets “9 women have come forward in Tiger-Tale. I say at least 9 more. Tiger always plays a full 18.”
Number 1 - @danecook tweets “I’m a very sexual person. I just typed this with my penis”
LOFL Dane Cook is a funny mother.
Some people say I suck, those people are simple minded, childish, and can’t come up with a better go off than “You Suck”. Luckily, I will not lower myself to a cheap shot or mean comment like that….
I really enjoyed the first column by Pokerface this week. This is a guy who has all the talent in the world, but is a down to earth guy who respects everyone and treats everyone equally…If you don’t get on his bad side that is. He will quickly tell you exactly where to go if you really ask for it. Awesome guy and an awesome start to a real, truthful column where he holds nothing back and don’t worry about if anyone likes what he’s typing. I for one agree with his opinions of the wrestling situation in this area. No one cares, no one wants to put up fliers, and no one wants to help build a show. They just want the workers to show up and work for whatever they want to give…..But if you don’t advertise how are you gonna pay us!? We keep giving bookers chances because truth be told there isn’t many places to work that have all the pieces a show needs to work. Booking, Talent, and Advertising. If you can get those three things together then you can have a show that draws and makes money. But the problem is there are so many guys who can’t work, out there in the ring that people don’t believe in wrestling anymore… they sit in the crowd saying things like “Why are we here, This sucks” but they come back the next week. Don’t come if it sucks, they might be forced to book some actually talented guys on the show next week. I don’t know if it’s going to get better or just keep getting worse, but I love wrestling and nothing will ever change that. I just wish it was respected like it used to be.
This week column by Jamie Jay was basically just about what he did at the shows he works this weekend. Very interesting read….Ok so this is where I'm supposed to comment of the points and interesting things he said….Ummmm….Well lets look at some quotes from his column..
Jamie is quoted as saying
“When I was at SWA, I wrestled Johnny Morton. I think we had the best match on the card, but it wasn't great, with my knee still a little weak”
Sooo….. it was the best match on the card, But it wasn’t great?...How bad are you saying the other matches were? Maybe it would have been better if you would let your knee HEAL before you start jumping around in a ring. Just an idea…..
Another quote from Jamie is
“This Fri. and Sat. I will be back in Newport for SWA. I will be wrestling the Rowdy Rebel! Damn, who did I piss off? lol!”
You must be saying this guy sucks really bad, that’s why you must have pissed someone off to have to work him. Hope he doesn’t read your column….
Eric Wayne wrote another great column this week. There are a few things I must pick on though because I don’t quite agree with one part of this column. But, I will get to that at the end. First the good parts. There are many wrestlers that are only known because of things like You Tube and other video sharing sites. There are true legendary wrestlers who wrestle on the independents and will never make it to the WWE. But who says the WWE or TNA is where everyone wants to go? I, for one, love performing for a crowd. If every talented wrestler went to the “Big Show” it would leave nothing for these small town wrestling fans to go see. Showing them a good time and making them love or hate me is just as important to me as if it was millions of people. Maybe even more so but I’m sure there are others who feel the same. I love performing and giving the fans, No matter how few there are, a hell of a show…every time. Now….The part I don’t agree on. Eric says this after naming off Alan Steele, Greg Anthony, Derrick King, Motley Cruz, Pokerface, and Austin Lane…
“ But even in Memphis, not many people know the names I just mentioned. But if you ask any wrestler they know those names, or they should. Why is it that we know them but no one else? What is it that makes them so respected and yet no real recognition?”
I have never been with Derrick for five minutes without someone knowing him. EVERYONE in Memphis knows who Derrick King is. I guarantee you if Derrick and you went walking down Beale St. People left and right would recognize him, I’ve seen it. I’m not trying to put Derrick over I just don’t get how you can name off people like tgb, Alan , Poker, and Derrick, and say no one knows them. I know the point you were trying to make, and it’s a good point. I agree with most of it. but I feel like you are saying these guys have worked in this area for over ten years each and not enough people know who they are to even count for anything.
The RRO Awards Race 2009 has now begun. Hopefully this year will be my year to win my first award. *Fingers crossed*
See you next week guys and gals,
3rd most handsome wrestler of ‘09
“Dynamite” Seth Knight
Shows for the Weekend 12.11 to 12.12.09
----CLICK HERE for the shows of the weekend. Nothing special this weekend, but go out and support your local shows!!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
BTPress.net Book Get A Good Review!!
----This was posted on www.wrestlingobserver.com and I thought I would pass it along. Order your copy today!!! It would make a great Christmas present for a wrestling fan!!
Jeuron Dove talks Joe Babinsack's book Pro Wrestling Intellectual
Professional Wrestling Intellectual
A Compilation of Writings by Joseph L. Babinsack, Jr.
$19.99
Available from www.amazon.com and www.btpress.net
Reviewed by Jeuron Dove
Intellectual is not a word commonly associated with professional wrestling. To the masses, wrestling is seen as little more than a pastime that is looked down upon as being fake. But along with its detractors, professional wrestling has enjoyed a rich history dating back to over a century in North America and has thrived as a major form of entertainment in other parts of the world as well.
For those familiar with the work of Joseph Babinsack from the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly website and other publications, you know what to expect. And from those that don’t, lets just say that you are in store for some of the most passionate and logically sound arguments that anyone has ever brought to the pro wrestling debate ranging on a broad spectrum of well…everything that has to do with wrestling.
This book is unlike many currently on the market in that it’s not a straightforward narrative of a personality or fan of the business. As the title implies, it’s a collection of various writings that Babinsack has accumulated over a span of many years. They’re mainly reviews of notable books, DVDs and there is of course plenty of commentary, but the thing that sets his book apart from other mainstream wrestling works is that he’s aiming for the exact opposite of what society perceives as the mainstream wrestling scene. While there is plenty of focus on the two largest mainstream companies, WWE and TNA, there is even more spotlight given to trailblazing independent promotions such as ROH, FIP, Shimmer, Chikara Pro and Dragon Gate.
In many ways, this book is more of a snapshot of the modern history of the business. It goes through many different eras of wrestling and the sheer scope of this book could perhaps be its biggest drawback. A casual fan who may go into this book expecting stories of modern greats like Steve Austin, HHH, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and the like, will be sorely disappointed. They’re in this book, but it always seems as if the main focus is to introduce fans to a little lesser known star, to a lesser known promotion and even to a lesser conventional thought process as it pertains to the history and future of the business.
Of course, the hallmark of any great writer is their ability to connect with their readers through the authority in which they are able to convey their words. In that sense, Babinsack is easily one of the best of the current crop of wrestling writers. For a person whose never worked in the front office of a major (or minor) promotion, his words speak with a certain credibility that lets you know that he isn’t just making things up as he goes along. He’s a rare breed of fan that’s literally watched and studied as many types of wrestling as possible in order to gain the largest and most appreciative base of knowledge he can. After reading a few pages, you quickly come to realize that this is a man who has a pretty good grasp of what wrestling is, was at particular times throughout its history and what it can be again.
As far as mechanics of the book go, be prepared for a journey. It’s a little over
400 pages, so be ready to invest some much-needed time into reading. It’s broken up into ten sections (I wouldn’t call them chapters since they’re very un-chapter like in a traditional sense) and all of the reviews and commentary on each section fits into a certain theme. Perhaps the greatest part of the book comes when he’s discussing the career of the great Bruno Sammartino.
Sammartino is the legendary wrestler of WWWF (later WWF and now WWE) fame who is unquestionably among the most enduring champions in wrestling history. The most important (and really the only) fact that needs to be said about his career is that his two WWWF world title reigns spanned for over 11 years. That is an accomplishment that hasn’t come close to being matched before or since by any major world champion in wrestling. Babinsack comes across as passionate and knowledgeable on every page, but you can tell that he’s genuinely having fun when discussing the career and life stories of man who is clearly his hero. More weight is given to his words on Sammartino than probably any other wrestling writer (with the possible exception of Dave Meltzer), due to the fact that he actually befriended and formed a great relationship with the man whom he grew up admiring. Sammartino’s long title run isn’t the only thing that makes him a rare figure in history, but maybe more so is the fact that he will likely never be inducted into the hall of fame of the company that he inarguably put on the map. The long story short is that without Sammartino, there would have never been that foundation for guys like Hulk Hogan, Austin and The Rock, to stand on in terms of taking the WWE to new heights of popularity.
Aside from the Sammartino section, if there is one other that I would recommend reading, it would have to be the one on women’s wrestling. Unlike hardcore, technical, strong style and light heavyweight, women’s wrestling is the one genre that hasn’t come close to tapping into its full potential in North America. A big reason as to why is because many promoters and others in power (especially of the current WWE) don’t associate women with wrestling, but as eye candy for the male audience. That is quite different from Japan where women’s wrestling is given much more respect and many of their top stars (Manami Toyota, Akira Hokuto, Crush Gals, Bull Nakano, Aja Kong, etc…) rank among the top wrestlers, male or female, in the world. TNA is the largest North American promotion that has ever come close to fully "getting it" as they have a genuinely competitive division of women wrestlers that can go (as in perform well) in the ring as well as continually draw the highest ratings of their weekly television show.
However, there are some groups on the indie scene that are slowly, but surely, attempting to bring some prestige back to the art form. Among them are Shimmer (the sister promotion to ROH), ChickFight and WSU. Each of these groups put on shows that feature intelligent storylines and women who are capable of delivering matches on par with the most elite male wrestlers of today. A review of a Cheerleader Melissa (currently Alissa Flash of TNA fame) vs. MsChif match, in particular, is a stunning read of a textbook example of what perfect ring psychology should be. Other stars given adequate shine in this section include Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger. Any wrestling fan owes it to themselves to read this section as you will come away with an entirely different perception of what women’s wrestling can be.
Professional Wrestling Intellectual is quite the read. Everything in the book may not be for everyone, but with such variety of subject matter, there is bound to be something for most to get into. If you’re like me, you will come away with the realization that there is way more to this great sport, than what we see every Monday night on Raw, Thursday night on Impact and Friday night on Smackdown. There is a big world out there of undiscovered talent and under-the-radar promotions, and this book does an exceptional job in getting you prepared for that world.
Jeuron Dove can be reached at dove_jeuron0307@hotmail.com.
Jeuron Dove talks Joe Babinsack's book Pro Wrestling Intellectual
Professional Wrestling Intellectual
A Compilation of Writings by Joseph L. Babinsack, Jr.
$19.99
Available from www.amazon.com and www.btpress.net
Reviewed by Jeuron Dove
Intellectual is not a word commonly associated with professional wrestling. To the masses, wrestling is seen as little more than a pastime that is looked down upon as being fake. But along with its detractors, professional wrestling has enjoyed a rich history dating back to over a century in North America and has thrived as a major form of entertainment in other parts of the world as well.
For those familiar with the work of Joseph Babinsack from the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly website and other publications, you know what to expect. And from those that don’t, lets just say that you are in store for some of the most passionate and logically sound arguments that anyone has ever brought to the pro wrestling debate ranging on a broad spectrum of well…everything that has to do with wrestling.
This book is unlike many currently on the market in that it’s not a straightforward narrative of a personality or fan of the business. As the title implies, it’s a collection of various writings that Babinsack has accumulated over a span of many years. They’re mainly reviews of notable books, DVDs and there is of course plenty of commentary, but the thing that sets his book apart from other mainstream wrestling works is that he’s aiming for the exact opposite of what society perceives as the mainstream wrestling scene. While there is plenty of focus on the two largest mainstream companies, WWE and TNA, there is even more spotlight given to trailblazing independent promotions such as ROH, FIP, Shimmer, Chikara Pro and Dragon Gate.
In many ways, this book is more of a snapshot of the modern history of the business. It goes through many different eras of wrestling and the sheer scope of this book could perhaps be its biggest drawback. A casual fan who may go into this book expecting stories of modern greats like Steve Austin, HHH, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and the like, will be sorely disappointed. They’re in this book, but it always seems as if the main focus is to introduce fans to a little lesser known star, to a lesser known promotion and even to a lesser conventional thought process as it pertains to the history and future of the business.
Of course, the hallmark of any great writer is their ability to connect with their readers through the authority in which they are able to convey their words. In that sense, Babinsack is easily one of the best of the current crop of wrestling writers. For a person whose never worked in the front office of a major (or minor) promotion, his words speak with a certain credibility that lets you know that he isn’t just making things up as he goes along. He’s a rare breed of fan that’s literally watched and studied as many types of wrestling as possible in order to gain the largest and most appreciative base of knowledge he can. After reading a few pages, you quickly come to realize that this is a man who has a pretty good grasp of what wrestling is, was at particular times throughout its history and what it can be again.
As far as mechanics of the book go, be prepared for a journey. It’s a little over
400 pages, so be ready to invest some much-needed time into reading. It’s broken up into ten sections (I wouldn’t call them chapters since they’re very un-chapter like in a traditional sense) and all of the reviews and commentary on each section fits into a certain theme. Perhaps the greatest part of the book comes when he’s discussing the career of the great Bruno Sammartino.
Sammartino is the legendary wrestler of WWWF (later WWF and now WWE) fame who is unquestionably among the most enduring champions in wrestling history. The most important (and really the only) fact that needs to be said about his career is that his two WWWF world title reigns spanned for over 11 years. That is an accomplishment that hasn’t come close to being matched before or since by any major world champion in wrestling. Babinsack comes across as passionate and knowledgeable on every page, but you can tell that he’s genuinely having fun when discussing the career and life stories of man who is clearly his hero. More weight is given to his words on Sammartino than probably any other wrestling writer (with the possible exception of Dave Meltzer), due to the fact that he actually befriended and formed a great relationship with the man whom he grew up admiring. Sammartino’s long title run isn’t the only thing that makes him a rare figure in history, but maybe more so is the fact that he will likely never be inducted into the hall of fame of the company that he inarguably put on the map. The long story short is that without Sammartino, there would have never been that foundation for guys like Hulk Hogan, Austin and The Rock, to stand on in terms of taking the WWE to new heights of popularity.
Aside from the Sammartino section, if there is one other that I would recommend reading, it would have to be the one on women’s wrestling. Unlike hardcore, technical, strong style and light heavyweight, women’s wrestling is the one genre that hasn’t come close to tapping into its full potential in North America. A big reason as to why is because many promoters and others in power (especially of the current WWE) don’t associate women with wrestling, but as eye candy for the male audience. That is quite different from Japan where women’s wrestling is given much more respect and many of their top stars (Manami Toyota, Akira Hokuto, Crush Gals, Bull Nakano, Aja Kong, etc…) rank among the top wrestlers, male or female, in the world. TNA is the largest North American promotion that has ever come close to fully "getting it" as they have a genuinely competitive division of women wrestlers that can go (as in perform well) in the ring as well as continually draw the highest ratings of their weekly television show.
However, there are some groups on the indie scene that are slowly, but surely, attempting to bring some prestige back to the art form. Among them are Shimmer (the sister promotion to ROH), ChickFight and WSU. Each of these groups put on shows that feature intelligent storylines and women who are capable of delivering matches on par with the most elite male wrestlers of today. A review of a Cheerleader Melissa (currently Alissa Flash of TNA fame) vs. MsChif match, in particular, is a stunning read of a textbook example of what perfect ring psychology should be. Other stars given adequate shine in this section include Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger. Any wrestling fan owes it to themselves to read this section as you will come away with an entirely different perception of what women’s wrestling can be.
Professional Wrestling Intellectual is quite the read. Everything in the book may not be for everyone, but with such variety of subject matter, there is bound to be something for most to get into. If you’re like me, you will come away with the realization that there is way more to this great sport, than what we see every Monday night on Raw, Thursday night on Impact and Friday night on Smackdown. There is a big world out there of undiscovered talent and under-the-radar promotions, and this book does an exceptional job in getting you prepared for that world.
Jeuron Dove can be reached at dove_jeuron0307@hotmail.com.
Dustin Starr at FCW Camp!!
-----Wrestling Globe Newsletter reported the following..
An FCW/WWE tryout camp in Tampa just wrapped up. There were some interesting names at the camp, which we can't report on just yet, including a Ring of Honor wrestler.
----Not sure who that ROH guy was..but area wrestler, one of the top canditdates for RRO Wrestler of the Year 2009, Dustin Starr was at that camp. The best I can tell it was a great experience for Starr and we here at RRO are hoping for some good things out of him. He wrote the following in his latest blog...
The last four days have been fantastic. I can not even begin to tell you how much I’ve learned on this trip. The knowledge that I was exposed to is amazing. Great minds. Great workers. Great passion. I was subjected to views, opinions and FACTS that I had not only never heard before – but information that I had never even thought about before.
-----CLICK HERE to go to the The Starr Treatment as he has 3 or 4 blogs just about the trip.
An FCW/WWE tryout camp in Tampa just wrapped up. There were some interesting names at the camp, which we can't report on just yet, including a Ring of Honor wrestler.
----Not sure who that ROH guy was..but area wrestler, one of the top canditdates for RRO Wrestler of the Year 2009, Dustin Starr was at that camp. The best I can tell it was a great experience for Starr and we here at RRO are hoping for some good things out of him. He wrote the following in his latest blog...
The last four days have been fantastic. I can not even begin to tell you how much I’ve learned on this trip. The knowledge that I was exposed to is amazing. Great minds. Great workers. Great passion. I was subjected to views, opinions and FACTS that I had not only never heard before – but information that I had never even thought about before.
-----CLICK HERE to go to the The Starr Treatment as he has 3 or 4 blogs just about the trip.
(WGN) Dec 9: Hulk Hogan health update, Jim Ross calls for ban on chairshots and more!
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Wednesday December 9, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
The 12/7 Smackdown/ECW show in Beaumont, TX had Undertaker over Kane in the main event after Kane won an earlier battle royal. We didn't receive any other results.
12/8 ECW TV results from Houston, TX: Vance Archer over Tommy Dreamer; Caylen Croft & Trent Baretta over Mark Franks & Danny Vaughn; and Christian, Shelton Benjamin & Yoshi Tatsu over William Regal, Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson. Pre show dark match was Goldust over Kaval (Low Ki).
***
The Sun at www.the-sun.co.uk/wrestling has a story on today's revelations from the Brain Injury Research Institute that Andrew "Test" Martin may have suffered serious brain damage from thousands of bumps to the head. A lot more on these findings are expected to come out over the next few week's. My personal feeling on this is that WWE as the industry leader should ban needless impact moves that can harm the brain, chairshots being the best example. Sunday's Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view should make for interesting viewing in light of all the negative press WWE is receiving as a result of today's ESPN report, and their dismissal of the Brain Institutes latest findings.
Jim Ross at http://tinyurl.com/yl79xyr is also calling for chairshots in wrestling to be banned: "Concussions are a big issue in sports today and let's not forget that pro wrestling/sports entertainment or whatever in the hell one wants to call it doesn't have the franchise on this dilemma. However, chair shots to the skull should be forbidden in wrestling. Period. End of story. Bottom line."
We have a letter in today's mailbag from former WWE wrestler and President of the Sports Legacy Institute Chris Nowinski who is encouraging past and present pro wrestlers to donate their brain after death for research that could lead to a treatment and cure for CTE.
Charlie Haas is said to be devastated by the death of Umaga. Together they owned a nutrition store in the Houston-area. There were rumors a few weeks ago that Haas asked for his release over a money issue but cooler heads prevailed. The story making the rounds was that Kurt Angle tried to recruit Haas to TNA.
Scott Stanford, a New York sports anchor with WNBC 4, is now hosting some syndicated shows for WWE.
Little People's Court with DX and Hornswoggle has been dropped for now.
Alicia Fox suffered a shoulder injury at a recent house show and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. She is still coming to television tapings and also went to Iraq last week for Tribute to the Troops.
A few of our readers in Ireland are upset with Michael Cole on Raw for referencing Sheamus as from the UK, when in fact he is from Dublin, which is the Republic of Ireland.
Mark Cuban's "security" on Raw were local workers Kristopher Haiden, Ryan Davidson, Danny Matthews, and Mark Vaughn.
An FCW/WWE tryout camp in Tampa just wrapped up. There were some interesting names at the camp, which we can't report on just yet, including a Ring of Honor wrestler.
Welshman Barri Griffiths, who was Goliath on the UK TV series of Gladiators, is working his last UK indy this weekend before moving to the U.S. to start in WWE developmental.
A new "After the Bell" segment on WWE.com teases that Dolph Ziggler may be Vickie Guerrero's latest toyboy.
Linda McMahon is reportedly spending two days this week meeting with GOP leaders in what press are describing as a media charm offensive in Washington, DC. She is fielding questions from concerned Senators about her campaign in Connecticut. Danny Diaz, the advisor for Rob Simmons, her main primary rival, told one reporter: "Simmons has spent his entire career as a public servant and [McMahon] has spent her entire career at the WWE and doesn't even want to discuss it. She is, in fact, distancing herself from her single credential. I think the stature gap in between the two is going to be so readily apparent that the electorate, by large, is going to support Simmons."
IGN.com at http://tinyurl.com/yl4nu6d reviewed The Marine II with Ted DiBiase Jr. which is released on DVD on December 29. They gave the movie 6/10 and said of DiBiase: "While we wouldn't expect Shakespeare any time soon, Ted DiBiase obviously has sufficient acting chops to carry the film. That said, the wrestler-turned-action star lacks the kind of distinct and intimidating visual presence of somebody like [John] Cena." That is probably the kindest review this movie is going to get based on a few others floating around... Ted Jr. is interviewed about the movie at http://tinyurl.com/yamysr9. He said he did all his own stunts apart from one scene jumping off an exploding boat. "I begged and begged to do it," he said. "But I understood it wouldn't have looked too good if I'd gotten blown up."
WWE Studios optioned two more movies which they plan to shoot next year in New Orleans. Big Red is a coming-of-age drama set in the 1960s about a 12-year-old boy who is forced by his teacher to partner with the school outcast on a project. The working title of the other movie is A Chance for Both Barrels but no further information on that one at press time.
Batista visited the Philippines over the weekend to launch a new energy drink called Xplode. The Philippine Star ran a story on his visit at http://tinyurl.com/yjncgyq. When asked to describe the drink he said it was "explosive." Good one. He did a ton of media in country putting over Manny Pacquiao as his friend and also UFC fighter Brandon Vera.
Kelly Kelly on her Twitter noted she is moving from Tampa to Miami.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
The update we have on Hulk Hogan as of a few hours ago was that he is very sick and holed up in his hotel room in Canada. His PR people are hoping he can resume his book tour tomorrow but there is concern on how he would look on live camera. He did some radio interviews from his room this morning but is hacking up and has a fever. Jimmy Hart and his soon-to-be-bride Jennifer McDaniel are both with him. The current plan is to rig up an interview set for press to come to the hotel and interview him...
Hogan was a studio guest on Monday's Bubba the Love Sponge radio show. He talked about being a big fan of Jeff Hardy and would love to recruit him to TNA. He also said he is trying to reach out to Rob Van Dam, Scott Hall and Randy Savage. When asked about Vince Russo, he said they haven't talked to each other yet, but was adamant he is the booker now, not Russo, but may listen to some of Russo's ideas. He said if the current TNA wrestlers feel they need Russo to get them over then they can quit and "go work up north" where they script everything.
Eric Bischoff wrote on his Twitter yesterday: "Expecting WWE to come out with guns blazing on Jan 4. Love making them "sell". That's when you know you're doing it right!" Not exactly sure what he thinks WWE has reacted to.
The New Years Eve four-hour Impact is being billed by Spike as "New Year's Knockout Eve" which is the tag title tournament we alluded to earlier today. The company is looking at bringing in some indy girls for the tournament.
The Miami Herald interviewed Daniels at http://tinyurl.com/yl4od5u mostly putting over matches with AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
The National Football Post at http://tinyurl.com/yz8bolf paid tribute to Lacey Von Erich, Christy Hemme, and Angelina Love in their Eight in the Box feature.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Stacy Keibler did a Twitter chat with fans on her website. She said the only people she still keeps in touch with from wrestling are Torrie Wilson, Gail Kim, Maven Huffman, Lilian Garcia, Shane Helms and Matt Hardy. She said she doesn't watch wrestling on TV any more but put Kim over as the best female worker in WWE. She also noted her 42 inch legs are insured for $1 million.
There is a kayfabe interview with Bob Zmuda who has a book out on Andy Kaufman at http://tinyurl.com/yds8uqo. An interesting recollection on the 1982 Memphis Wrestling feud between Kaufman and Jerry Lawler.
Linda Claridge, Hulk Hogan's ex-wife, through her publicist sent out the following statement this morning in response to Hulk's recent court filings in which he wants Linda to pay for damages caused when she removed items from their Bellaire mansion: "(Terry) knows I’m using the wooden toilet seat as frame for his picture ever sense (sic) I found out he is a serial cheater and liar. Once he comes clean and starts to be honest, he can have it back." So there you go...
Lauren Mayhew is interviewed about her new movie Frat Party at http://tinyurl.com/yjghqpq.
Alicia Webb, the former Ryan Shamrock, is competing in Jennifer Tilly's 2nd Annual 'All In for CP' celebrity poker tournament along with actors Dean Cain, Ken Davitian, Shannon Elizabeth, and Glenn Morshower, TV personality Montel Williams, and Simpsons creator Sam Simon. The event takes place in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Saturday, December 12 from 2pm. The tournament is a charity event to raise money to ease the lives of those who suffer from Cerebral Palsy.
Today's Diva of the Day is Dawn Marie at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
WRESTLING GLOBE MAILBAG
I am sending a select few wrestling writers this letter because I respect your work and the way you have handled the brain trauma issue. If you are so inclined, please help me get the message out there and to wrestlers and fans through your websites. Feel free to add your own commentary.
To the professional wrestling community:
I was saddened today, but not surprised, to learn that Andrew “Test” Martin was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive trauma, when he passed away. I had the honor of wrestling Test on multiple occasions and he had my respect both as a performer and as a person.
Most wrestlers and wrestling fans are aware that since retiring from WWE due to multiple concussions, I have dedicated my life to the study, treatment, and prevention of CTE. Our non-profit Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) was responsible for the diagnosis of CTE in Chris Benoit in 2007, the first professional wrestler diagnosed with CTE. In 2008 I teamed up with the top researchers in this field to start the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) at the prestigious Boston University School of Medicine. Along with Dr. Ann McKee, Dr. Robert Stern, and Dr. Robert Cantu we have now analyzed the brains of over twenty athletes, and are beginning to develop an advanced understanding of this disease
More importantly over 225 active and retired athletes have volunteered to be part of a longitudinal study on CTE. By enrolling in our CONTACT study at the CSTE at Boston University School of Medicine, they will be committing to donating their brain to CTE research after death. CONTACT members also agree to update their medical and trauma histories annually with the CSTE by phone. This study will enable the CSTE to obtain more accurate and detailed histories of donors and compare them to future pathological findings, eventually allowing us to understand the specific risk factors and clinical course of CTE.
Over 20 wrestlers have already enrolled or recently pledged to join the study, including Rob Van Dam, Matt Morgan, Lance Storm, Ken Kennedy, Molly Holly, Tony Garea, Antonio Thomas, Dawn Marie, Kevin Fertig, and other big names who at this point choose to remain anonymous. The only group of professional athletes so far with a greater commitment to this research is NFL players, with over 60 current and retired players involved.
Considering how the CSTE’s research combined with SLI’s advocacy were able to convince the NFL last month to completely change their approach to both concussions and lower-impact repetitive brain trauma, Test’s tragic death provides an opportunity to create change and to prevent this from happening to others.
I would like to encourage current and former professional wrestlers to become part of the research that we expect will eventually lead to treatment and a cure for CTE. I am enrolled and will be donating my brain to help my former colleagues. I hope you will choose to join me and over 20 other members of our fraternity in this important endeavor.
Chris Nowinski
cnowinski@sportslegacy.org
To enroll, call
Megan Wulff, MPH
Research Coordinator
617-638-6143
mawulff@bu.edu
To learn more, visit www.sportslegacy.org
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Wednesday December 9, 2009
=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
The 12/7 Smackdown/ECW show in Beaumont, TX had Undertaker over Kane in the main event after Kane won an earlier battle royal. We didn't receive any other results.
12/8 ECW TV results from Houston, TX: Vance Archer over Tommy Dreamer; Caylen Croft & Trent Baretta over Mark Franks & Danny Vaughn; and Christian, Shelton Benjamin & Yoshi Tatsu over William Regal, Kozlov & Ezekiel Jackson. Pre show dark match was Goldust over Kaval (Low Ki).
***
The Sun at www.the-sun.co.uk/wrestling has a story on today's revelations from the Brain Injury Research Institute that Andrew "Test" Martin may have suffered serious brain damage from thousands of bumps to the head. A lot more on these findings are expected to come out over the next few week's. My personal feeling on this is that WWE as the industry leader should ban needless impact moves that can harm the brain, chairshots being the best example. Sunday's Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view should make for interesting viewing in light of all the negative press WWE is receiving as a result of today's ESPN report, and their dismissal of the Brain Institutes latest findings.
Jim Ross at http://tinyurl.com/yl79xyr is also calling for chairshots in wrestling to be banned: "Concussions are a big issue in sports today and let's not forget that pro wrestling/sports entertainment or whatever in the hell one wants to call it doesn't have the franchise on this dilemma. However, chair shots to the skull should be forbidden in wrestling. Period. End of story. Bottom line."
We have a letter in today's mailbag from former WWE wrestler and President of the Sports Legacy Institute Chris Nowinski who is encouraging past and present pro wrestlers to donate their brain after death for research that could lead to a treatment and cure for CTE.
Charlie Haas is said to be devastated by the death of Umaga. Together they owned a nutrition store in the Houston-area. There were rumors a few weeks ago that Haas asked for his release over a money issue but cooler heads prevailed. The story making the rounds was that Kurt Angle tried to recruit Haas to TNA.
Scott Stanford, a New York sports anchor with WNBC 4, is now hosting some syndicated shows for WWE.
Little People's Court with DX and Hornswoggle has been dropped for now.
Alicia Fox suffered a shoulder injury at a recent house show and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. She is still coming to television tapings and also went to Iraq last week for Tribute to the Troops.
A few of our readers in Ireland are upset with Michael Cole on Raw for referencing Sheamus as from the UK, when in fact he is from Dublin, which is the Republic of Ireland.
Mark Cuban's "security" on Raw were local workers Kristopher Haiden, Ryan Davidson, Danny Matthews, and Mark Vaughn.
An FCW/WWE tryout camp in Tampa just wrapped up. There were some interesting names at the camp, which we can't report on just yet, including a Ring of Honor wrestler.
Welshman Barri Griffiths, who was Goliath on the UK TV series of Gladiators, is working his last UK indy this weekend before moving to the U.S. to start in WWE developmental.
A new "After the Bell" segment on WWE.com teases that Dolph Ziggler may be Vickie Guerrero's latest toyboy.
Linda McMahon is reportedly spending two days this week meeting with GOP leaders in what press are describing as a media charm offensive in Washington, DC. She is fielding questions from concerned Senators about her campaign in Connecticut. Danny Diaz, the advisor for Rob Simmons, her main primary rival, told one reporter: "Simmons has spent his entire career as a public servant and [McMahon] has spent her entire career at the WWE and doesn't even want to discuss it. She is, in fact, distancing herself from her single credential. I think the stature gap in between the two is going to be so readily apparent that the electorate, by large, is going to support Simmons."
IGN.com at http://tinyurl.com/yl4nu6d reviewed The Marine II with Ted DiBiase Jr. which is released on DVD on December 29. They gave the movie 6/10 and said of DiBiase: "While we wouldn't expect Shakespeare any time soon, Ted DiBiase obviously has sufficient acting chops to carry the film. That said, the wrestler-turned-action star lacks the kind of distinct and intimidating visual presence of somebody like [John] Cena." That is probably the kindest review this movie is going to get based on a few others floating around... Ted Jr. is interviewed about the movie at http://tinyurl.com/yamysr9. He said he did all his own stunts apart from one scene jumping off an exploding boat. "I begged and begged to do it," he said. "But I understood it wouldn't have looked too good if I'd gotten blown up."
WWE Studios optioned two more movies which they plan to shoot next year in New Orleans. Big Red is a coming-of-age drama set in the 1960s about a 12-year-old boy who is forced by his teacher to partner with the school outcast on a project. The working title of the other movie is A Chance for Both Barrels but no further information on that one at press time.
Batista visited the Philippines over the weekend to launch a new energy drink called Xplode. The Philippine Star ran a story on his visit at http://tinyurl.com/yjncgyq. When asked to describe the drink he said it was "explosive." Good one. He did a ton of media in country putting over Manny Pacquiao as his friend and also UFC fighter Brandon Vera.
Kelly Kelly on her Twitter noted she is moving from Tampa to Miami.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
The update we have on Hulk Hogan as of a few hours ago was that he is very sick and holed up in his hotel room in Canada. His PR people are hoping he can resume his book tour tomorrow but there is concern on how he would look on live camera. He did some radio interviews from his room this morning but is hacking up and has a fever. Jimmy Hart and his soon-to-be-bride Jennifer McDaniel are both with him. The current plan is to rig up an interview set for press to come to the hotel and interview him...
Hogan was a studio guest on Monday's Bubba the Love Sponge radio show. He talked about being a big fan of Jeff Hardy and would love to recruit him to TNA. He also said he is trying to reach out to Rob Van Dam, Scott Hall and Randy Savage. When asked about Vince Russo, he said they haven't talked to each other yet, but was adamant he is the booker now, not Russo, but may listen to some of Russo's ideas. He said if the current TNA wrestlers feel they need Russo to get them over then they can quit and "go work up north" where they script everything.
Eric Bischoff wrote on his Twitter yesterday: "Expecting WWE to come out with guns blazing on Jan 4. Love making them "sell". That's when you know you're doing it right!" Not exactly sure what he thinks WWE has reacted to.
The New Years Eve four-hour Impact is being billed by Spike as "New Year's Knockout Eve" which is the tag title tournament we alluded to earlier today. The company is looking at bringing in some indy girls for the tournament.
The Miami Herald interviewed Daniels at http://tinyurl.com/yl4od5u mostly putting over matches with AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
The National Football Post at http://tinyurl.com/yz8bolf paid tribute to Lacey Von Erich, Christy Hemme, and Angelina Love in their Eight in the Box feature.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Stacy Keibler did a Twitter chat with fans on her website. She said the only people she still keeps in touch with from wrestling are Torrie Wilson, Gail Kim, Maven Huffman, Lilian Garcia, Shane Helms and Matt Hardy. She said she doesn't watch wrestling on TV any more but put Kim over as the best female worker in WWE. She also noted her 42 inch legs are insured for $1 million.
There is a kayfabe interview with Bob Zmuda who has a book out on Andy Kaufman at http://tinyurl.com/yds8uqo. An interesting recollection on the 1982 Memphis Wrestling feud between Kaufman and Jerry Lawler.
Linda Claridge, Hulk Hogan's ex-wife, through her publicist sent out the following statement this morning in response to Hulk's recent court filings in which he wants Linda to pay for damages caused when she removed items from their Bellaire mansion: "(Terry) knows I’m using the wooden toilet seat as frame for his picture ever sense (sic) I found out he is a serial cheater and liar. Once he comes clean and starts to be honest, he can have it back." So there you go...
Lauren Mayhew is interviewed about her new movie Frat Party at http://tinyurl.com/yjghqpq.
Alicia Webb, the former Ryan Shamrock, is competing in Jennifer Tilly's 2nd Annual 'All In for CP' celebrity poker tournament along with actors Dean Cain, Ken Davitian, Shannon Elizabeth, and Glenn Morshower, TV personality Montel Williams, and Simpsons creator Sam Simon. The event takes place in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Saturday, December 12 from 2pm. The tournament is a charity event to raise money to ease the lives of those who suffer from Cerebral Palsy.
Today's Diva of the Day is Dawn Marie at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
WRESTLING GLOBE MAILBAG
I am sending a select few wrestling writers this letter because I respect your work and the way you have handled the brain trauma issue. If you are so inclined, please help me get the message out there and to wrestlers and fans through your websites. Feel free to add your own commentary.
To the professional wrestling community:
I was saddened today, but not surprised, to learn that Andrew “Test” Martin was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive trauma, when he passed away. I had the honor of wrestling Test on multiple occasions and he had my respect both as a performer and as a person.
Most wrestlers and wrestling fans are aware that since retiring from WWE due to multiple concussions, I have dedicated my life to the study, treatment, and prevention of CTE. Our non-profit Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) was responsible for the diagnosis of CTE in Chris Benoit in 2007, the first professional wrestler diagnosed with CTE. In 2008 I teamed up with the top researchers in this field to start the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) at the prestigious Boston University School of Medicine. Along with Dr. Ann McKee, Dr. Robert Stern, and Dr. Robert Cantu we have now analyzed the brains of over twenty athletes, and are beginning to develop an advanced understanding of this disease
More importantly over 225 active and retired athletes have volunteered to be part of a longitudinal study on CTE. By enrolling in our CONTACT study at the CSTE at Boston University School of Medicine, they will be committing to donating their brain to CTE research after death. CONTACT members also agree to update their medical and trauma histories annually with the CSTE by phone. This study will enable the CSTE to obtain more accurate and detailed histories of donors and compare them to future pathological findings, eventually allowing us to understand the specific risk factors and clinical course of CTE.
Over 20 wrestlers have already enrolled or recently pledged to join the study, including Rob Van Dam, Matt Morgan, Lance Storm, Ken Kennedy, Molly Holly, Tony Garea, Antonio Thomas, Dawn Marie, Kevin Fertig, and other big names who at this point choose to remain anonymous. The only group of professional athletes so far with a greater commitment to this research is NFL players, with over 60 current and retired players involved.
Considering how the CSTE’s research combined with SLI’s advocacy were able to convince the NFL last month to completely change their approach to both concussions and lower-impact repetitive brain trauma, Test’s tragic death provides an opportunity to create change and to prevent this from happening to others.
I would like to encourage current and former professional wrestlers to become part of the research that we expect will eventually lead to treatment and a cure for CTE. I am enrolled and will be donating my brain to help my former colleagues. I hope you will choose to join me and over 20 other members of our fraternity in this important endeavor.
Chris Nowinski
cnowinski@sportslegacy.org
To enroll, call
Megan Wulff, MPH
Research Coordinator
617-638-6143
mawulff@bu.edu
To learn more, visit www.sportslegacy.org
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009
(WGN) Dec 9: Major report on brain injuries looks at pro wrestling, Hogan sick, Umaga services, Linda McMahon defends WWE and more!!
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Wednesday December 9, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/7 Raw TV results from Dallas, TX: John Cena over Carlito; Legacy over Evan Bourne & Primo; Maryse over Gail Kim; Kofi Kingston over Randy Orton with Mark Cubin as special referee doing a fast count; The Miz over Mark Henry; Hornswoggle & Eve over Chavo & Jilian Hall; and Chris Jericho vs. Triple H & Shawn Michaels in a handicap match was a no contest when Big Show interfered. Dark match was Chris Masters over Alex Riley.
We're still looking for reports from the Monday night Smackdown/ECW show in Beaumont, TX to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
Services for Eddie "Umaga" Fatu will take place next weekend at Davis Funeral Home, 6200 South Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas, NV. 89119-3175. Tel: 702-736-6200. A private family viewing will take place on Friday, December 18, followed by an open service on Saturday, December 19. The family has requested that any flowers or cards be sent to the above address. Las Vegas is where Umaga's mother was laid to rest.
Several guys wore black armbands at the TV tapings in Houston last night as a tribute to Umaga. A few people were upset that the company didn't acknowledge his passing on Raw, but most assumed they wouldn't anyway because of the negative press it brings.
The Houston Chronicle story on Umaga is online at http://tinyurl.com/yfeblv5. His aunt, Lynn Anoa'i, and Bruce Prichard share some memories.
ESPN at http://tinyurl.com/ycurkqe has a major report on brain damage to athletes, specifically looking at Andrew "Test" Martin, who passed away earlier this year due to an accidental overdose of oxycodone. Dr. Bennet Omalu, co-director of the Brain Injury Research Institute, told ESPN that after examining his brain he believes that Martin suffered from a similar chemical imbalance to that of Chris Benoit; known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Dawn Marie Psaltis is quoted in the report speculating that Martin and Benoit took more than 50,000 bumps in their career which the Institute believes led to brain damage. "I'm just floored," said Psaltis. "You're telling me that people in my life are brain-damaged because of what we do for a living. That's really sad to me. It's just our ignorance. A child doesn't know that fire can hurt them until they put their finger in the flame." WWE were asked to comment on the institute’s findings and released the following statement to ESPN: "While this is a new emerging science, the WWE is unaware of the veracity of any of these tests, be it for Chris Benoit or Andrew Martin. Dr. Omalu claims that Mr. Benoit had a brain that resembled an 85-year-old with Alzheimer's, which would lead one to ponder how Mr. Benoit would have found his way to an airport, let alone been able to remember all the moves and information that is required to perform in the ring. WWE has been asking to see the research and tests results in the case of Mr. Benoit for years and has not been supplied with them." The Institute said they have never received such a request from the WWE and invited them to review their data at any time.
Politico published an article on criticisms against Linda McMahon and WWE by former wrestlers such as Superstar Billy Grtaham, Larry Zbyszko, Bruno Sammertino, Marc Mero, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, and others. The main issue brought up was the lack of health care benefits citing the independent contractors argument, while others, like Bruno, complained about the content of the WWE TV shows. These days I don't really think you can knock WWE in either regard. The last time Bruno watched wrestling on TV was a decade ago when Steve Austin was chugging beers and flipping the bird. He didn't care for that type of product, but a lot has changed since then. Dawn Marie Psaltis is also quoted in this story defending WWE saying that Linda would make an awesome Senator. When WWE fired her, while on maternity leave, in 2005 she filed a complaint against them with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that her contract had been wrongfully terminated as a result of her pregnancy. The case was settled in 2007 but it's assumed the undisclosed settlement means neither side can make disparaging remarks about the other. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yjv9fov... In some unrelated irony, the campaign manager for Linda's opponent in the Connecticut GOP primary is named Jim Barnett.
The Hill also has a story on Linda McMahon. Regarding the WWE Wellness Program, she said: "It’s as good as it can be for today... But as technology advances and more is known and developed, we’ll continue to develop our policy, as we have done over the years... Unlike football or baseball or basketball, where steroids can actually enhance performance, they do nothing to enhance performance in WWE." The article noted she answers questions on WWE as if she was still running the company. When asked about ex wrestlers coming out of the woodwork to knock her she was very defensive. She was quoted as calling Superstar Billy Graham a "self-confessed liar" and dismissed Bruno Sammartino as someone who has "still got sour grapes because he didn’t make as much money as the guys today are making." Story is at http://tinyurl.com/ybejxlw.
WWE CFO George Barrios participated in the UBS Media Conference on Monday. He presented WWE to potential investors and advertisers in New York City. Nothing very noteworthy. He drove home that the WWE is "family-friendly" these days and claimed 40 percent of their TV audience is female, which is true if you round the real figure up to the highest ten percent. When asked about competition from UFC, Barrios blew it off saying UFC is a "different type of entertainment" and claimed cable companies have told him the same people purchasing WWE PPV aren't purchasing UFC PPV. That's a ridiculous claim. He also talked about WWE wanting to expand into China and said he believes Mexico will be the No. 4 PPV market in the world within the next five to ten years.
CNBC has a story on WWE's international growth plans including possible expansion into Russia and Brazil at http://tinyurl.com/yztwynq.
Jim Ross has a new blog at www.jrsbarbq.com/blog discussing Mark Cubin's involvement on Raw.
Rapper Timbaland was announced as Raw guest host for December 28 in Charlotte. He does have some history with the WWE as he used several Divas in his 2007 music video Throw It On Me... Actors Jon Heder and Don Johnson were also announced as guests hosts for January 18 in Knoxville to promote their upcoming movie When in Rome.
Phil Mushnick in his weekend New York Post column ripped on Dennis Miller for agreeing to guest host Raw.
Rey Mysterio has told friends he plans to hold off on knee surgery until after Wrestlemania. He is said to be in a lot of pain right now with his knee joint virtually bone on bone.
Mark Cubin's appearance on Raw got some decent play on ESPN and a few newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. The original plan was for Orton and Legacy to get physically involved with Cubin and the Mavs players sat ringside but Cubin claimed that the NBA put the kibosh on that.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.2 rating, slightly below the YTD average.
Maryse is being positioned for another Divas title run... Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James for the Women's title was officially added to Sunday's TLC pay-per-view... Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston was also added.
Academy Award Winner Patricia Clarkson, Danny Glover, Devon Graye and Madeleine Martin have joined the cast of John Cena's next movie Brother's Keeper. The film shoots later this month in New Orleans. Clarkson is a major coup. According to someone close to her the price was right and she is a native of New Orleans and was home for the holidays. Cena isn't expected to miss any TV time during filming.
WWE has released Hornswoggle's DX t-shirt on their website.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
Hulk Hogan pulled out of media appearances, including a TV interview, in Canada last night citing illness. He was scheduled for TSN's Off The Record on Thursday but no word yet on whether he will make that show.
The company has paid for a billboard in Times Square which is going up either today or tomorrow hyping the January 4 show with Hogan going head-to-head with Raw.
Lisa Marie Varon is heading to Los Angeles today to pitch her reality show to network execs. She said her show will chart her cross-over from pro wrestling to MMA.
Kurt Angle tweaked his back again at house shows this past weekend. He didn't work a match Monday night at the TV tapings but he was part of a 10-men tag on Tuesday... Thursday's edition of Impact, which some TNA people have described as a train wreck in terms of booking, even the people who usually defend Russo, includes: The British Invasion vs. Chris Sabin in a 3-on-1 handicap match; Bobby & Krystal Lashley vs. Scott Steiner & Awesome Kong; Hamada vs. Eric Young (yes you read that right); ODB vs. Tara in a trailer park match; Team 3D, Rhyno & Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan, Suicide & Hernandez; AJ Styles vs. Desmond Wolfe in a non-title match; and Lacey Von Erich vs. Velvet Sky in a mud wrestling match. There will also be a pre tape segment with Mick Foley at the TNA offices in Nashville in his quest to reach out to Jeff Jarrett.
Following the Impact portion of the tapings this week they taped Xplosion on both days promising those in attendance a free DVD if they stuck around for it.
Former WWE wrestler Chris "Tatanka" Chavis worked Tuesday's taping in the Jay Lethal deal where Lethal jobs to legends. Jessie Godderz of Big Brother reality show fame worked a dark match against Alex Shelley. He had been training in Tampa with FCW and while he wasn't under WWE contract he has been backstage at TNA in recent weeks.
Christy Hemme is returning to television soon in an interviewer role. Her neck is still in bad shape.
Referee Mike Posey was brought in for this week's tapings. He was previously with TNA for several years before leaving and signing with the WWE. He was cut from WWE in January. Most recently he has been working indy shots both as a referee and a wrestler in the south.
Nikki Roxx also returned at the tapings. They are looking at bringing in several women for a tag title tournament at the December 21 tapings.
Jeremy Borash and Mick Foley missed the tapings yesterday as they were in Las Vegas for Playboy radio. You would think they would send a Knockout instead of Borash but I guess someone had to hold the camera... Speaking of which, TMZ cameras caught Foley off guard at LAX baggage claims. The video footage is online at http://tinyurl.com/yc2pls9 with Foley talking about his ear.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Hustler magazine has filed a Supreme Court appeal over the federal court ruling that they used nude images of Nancy Benoit for commercial -- not news -- purposes thus violating her family's right-of-publicity interests. Nancy's mother, Maureen Toffoloni, said Hustler had violated her daughter's right to prevent the commercial use of her image. After some legal wrangling the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that Toffoloni could protect Nancy's rights because the photos were taken 20 years prior to her murder and therefore not sufficiently newsworthy. LFP Publishing Group, Hustler’s publishing company, is arguing that the First Amendment requires a broad interpretation of the newsworthiness standard. Their appeal also stated that Supreme Court cases in the past have found that it is inappropriate for courts to rule on whether an article is newsworthy.
No real update on Brock Lesnar. He was scheduled to check into the Mayo Clinic this week for a battery of tests to determine his next course of treatment for an undisclosed ailment. He has reportedly lost a ton of weight following surgery on November 16 to close a perforation in his intestine that had been leaking into his abdomen; overtaxing his immune system to the point that he contracted mononucleosis.
There is an interesting new wrestling documentary out next year. Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin' is based on Ron Hall's book Sputnik, Masked Men & Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling. The trailer is online at http://tinyurl.com/yzq3hr6.
The former Spike Dudley is interview at http://tinyurl.com/ybdgdjp. He seems to have changed his stance on WWE following his burial of the company when they released him in 2005: "Would I go back if I given the opportunity? Yeah I'd go back. Whether it was with Bubba or D, I really love working with those guys. I'm not sure if they'd ever take me back without those guys. It's nothing I've ever pursued. That's the nature of the beast. My character is forever tied with those guys. I could do it. I would feel comfortable wrestling without them. Who knows? You never know in this business."
Former WWE wrestler Tajiri is helping to launch a new promotion in Japan, called Smash, which debuts on March 26 in Tokyo. Smash is an interesting concept reportedly mixing pro wrestling, kickboxing and MMA. Tajiri heads up the wrestling division.
The Hulkamania show from Sydney airs in Australia on One HD on Sunday night. This includes Umaga's last ever televisied match including a run in during the Hogan vs. Flair main event.
Promoter J.D. Costello announced his NWA Charlotte group will be returning next year with monthly shows.
Today's Diva of the Day is Dawn Marie at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva
WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Wednesday December 9, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/7 Raw TV results from Dallas, TX: John Cena over Carlito; Legacy over Evan Bourne & Primo; Maryse over Gail Kim; Kofi Kingston over Randy Orton with Mark Cubin as special referee doing a fast count; The Miz over Mark Henry; Hornswoggle & Eve over Chavo & Jilian Hall; and Chris Jericho vs. Triple H & Shawn Michaels in a handicap match was a no contest when Big Show interfered. Dark match was Chris Masters over Alex Riley.
We're still looking for reports from the Monday night Smackdown/ECW show in Beaumont, TX to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
Services for Eddie "Umaga" Fatu will take place next weekend at Davis Funeral Home, 6200 South Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas, NV. 89119-3175. Tel: 702-736-6200. A private family viewing will take place on Friday, December 18, followed by an open service on Saturday, December 19. The family has requested that any flowers or cards be sent to the above address. Las Vegas is where Umaga's mother was laid to rest.
Several guys wore black armbands at the TV tapings in Houston last night as a tribute to Umaga. A few people were upset that the company didn't acknowledge his passing on Raw, but most assumed they wouldn't anyway because of the negative press it brings.
The Houston Chronicle story on Umaga is online at http://tinyurl.com/yfeblv5. His aunt, Lynn Anoa'i, and Bruce Prichard share some memories.
ESPN at http://tinyurl.com/ycurkqe has a major report on brain damage to athletes, specifically looking at Andrew "Test" Martin, who passed away earlier this year due to an accidental overdose of oxycodone. Dr. Bennet Omalu, co-director of the Brain Injury Research Institute, told ESPN that after examining his brain he believes that Martin suffered from a similar chemical imbalance to that of Chris Benoit; known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Dawn Marie Psaltis is quoted in the report speculating that Martin and Benoit took more than 50,000 bumps in their career which the Institute believes led to brain damage. "I'm just floored," said Psaltis. "You're telling me that people in my life are brain-damaged because of what we do for a living. That's really sad to me. It's just our ignorance. A child doesn't know that fire can hurt them until they put their finger in the flame." WWE were asked to comment on the institute’s findings and released the following statement to ESPN: "While this is a new emerging science, the WWE is unaware of the veracity of any of these tests, be it for Chris Benoit or Andrew Martin. Dr. Omalu claims that Mr. Benoit had a brain that resembled an 85-year-old with Alzheimer's, which would lead one to ponder how Mr. Benoit would have found his way to an airport, let alone been able to remember all the moves and information that is required to perform in the ring. WWE has been asking to see the research and tests results in the case of Mr. Benoit for years and has not been supplied with them." The Institute said they have never received such a request from the WWE and invited them to review their data at any time.
Politico published an article on criticisms against Linda McMahon and WWE by former wrestlers such as Superstar Billy Grtaham, Larry Zbyszko, Bruno Sammertino, Marc Mero, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, and others. The main issue brought up was the lack of health care benefits citing the independent contractors argument, while others, like Bruno, complained about the content of the WWE TV shows. These days I don't really think you can knock WWE in either regard. The last time Bruno watched wrestling on TV was a decade ago when Steve Austin was chugging beers and flipping the bird. He didn't care for that type of product, but a lot has changed since then. Dawn Marie Psaltis is also quoted in this story defending WWE saying that Linda would make an awesome Senator. When WWE fired her, while on maternity leave, in 2005 she filed a complaint against them with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that her contract had been wrongfully terminated as a result of her pregnancy. The case was settled in 2007 but it's assumed the undisclosed settlement means neither side can make disparaging remarks about the other. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yjv9fov... In some unrelated irony, the campaign manager for Linda's opponent in the Connecticut GOP primary is named Jim Barnett.
The Hill also has a story on Linda McMahon. Regarding the WWE Wellness Program, she said: "It’s as good as it can be for today... But as technology advances and more is known and developed, we’ll continue to develop our policy, as we have done over the years... Unlike football or baseball or basketball, where steroids can actually enhance performance, they do nothing to enhance performance in WWE." The article noted she answers questions on WWE as if she was still running the company. When asked about ex wrestlers coming out of the woodwork to knock her she was very defensive. She was quoted as calling Superstar Billy Graham a "self-confessed liar" and dismissed Bruno Sammartino as someone who has "still got sour grapes because he didn’t make as much money as the guys today are making." Story is at http://tinyurl.com/ybejxlw.
WWE CFO George Barrios participated in the UBS Media Conference on Monday. He presented WWE to potential investors and advertisers in New York City. Nothing very noteworthy. He drove home that the WWE is "family-friendly" these days and claimed 40 percent of their TV audience is female, which is true if you round the real figure up to the highest ten percent. When asked about competition from UFC, Barrios blew it off saying UFC is a "different type of entertainment" and claimed cable companies have told him the same people purchasing WWE PPV aren't purchasing UFC PPV. That's a ridiculous claim. He also talked about WWE wanting to expand into China and said he believes Mexico will be the No. 4 PPV market in the world within the next five to ten years.
CNBC has a story on WWE's international growth plans including possible expansion into Russia and Brazil at http://tinyurl.com/yztwynq.
Jim Ross has a new blog at www.jrsbarbq.com/blog discussing Mark Cubin's involvement on Raw.
Rapper Timbaland was announced as Raw guest host for December 28 in Charlotte. He does have some history with the WWE as he used several Divas in his 2007 music video Throw It On Me... Actors Jon Heder and Don Johnson were also announced as guests hosts for January 18 in Knoxville to promote their upcoming movie When in Rome.
Phil Mushnick in his weekend New York Post column ripped on Dennis Miller for agreeing to guest host Raw.
Rey Mysterio has told friends he plans to hold off on knee surgery until after Wrestlemania. He is said to be in a lot of pain right now with his knee joint virtually bone on bone.
Mark Cubin's appearance on Raw got some decent play on ESPN and a few newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. The original plan was for Orton and Legacy to get physically involved with Cubin and the Mavs players sat ringside but Cubin claimed that the NBA put the kibosh on that.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.2 rating, slightly below the YTD average.
Maryse is being positioned for another Divas title run... Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James for the Women's title was officially added to Sunday's TLC pay-per-view... Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston was also added.
Academy Award Winner Patricia Clarkson, Danny Glover, Devon Graye and Madeleine Martin have joined the cast of John Cena's next movie Brother's Keeper. The film shoots later this month in New Orleans. Clarkson is a major coup. According to someone close to her the price was right and she is a native of New Orleans and was home for the holidays. Cena isn't expected to miss any TV time during filming.
WWE has released Hornswoggle's DX t-shirt on their website.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
Hulk Hogan pulled out of media appearances, including a TV interview, in Canada last night citing illness. He was scheduled for TSN's Off The Record on Thursday but no word yet on whether he will make that show.
The company has paid for a billboard in Times Square which is going up either today or tomorrow hyping the January 4 show with Hogan going head-to-head with Raw.
Lisa Marie Varon is heading to Los Angeles today to pitch her reality show to network execs. She said her show will chart her cross-over from pro wrestling to MMA.
Kurt Angle tweaked his back again at house shows this past weekend. He didn't work a match Monday night at the TV tapings but he was part of a 10-men tag on Tuesday... Thursday's edition of Impact, which some TNA people have described as a train wreck in terms of booking, even the people who usually defend Russo, includes: The British Invasion vs. Chris Sabin in a 3-on-1 handicap match; Bobby & Krystal Lashley vs. Scott Steiner & Awesome Kong; Hamada vs. Eric Young (yes you read that right); ODB vs. Tara in a trailer park match; Team 3D, Rhyno & Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan, Suicide & Hernandez; AJ Styles vs. Desmond Wolfe in a non-title match; and Lacey Von Erich vs. Velvet Sky in a mud wrestling match. There will also be a pre tape segment with Mick Foley at the TNA offices in Nashville in his quest to reach out to Jeff Jarrett.
Following the Impact portion of the tapings this week they taped Xplosion on both days promising those in attendance a free DVD if they stuck around for it.
Former WWE wrestler Chris "Tatanka" Chavis worked Tuesday's taping in the Jay Lethal deal where Lethal jobs to legends. Jessie Godderz of Big Brother reality show fame worked a dark match against Alex Shelley. He had been training in Tampa with FCW and while he wasn't under WWE contract he has been backstage at TNA in recent weeks.
Christy Hemme is returning to television soon in an interviewer role. Her neck is still in bad shape.
Referee Mike Posey was brought in for this week's tapings. He was previously with TNA for several years before leaving and signing with the WWE. He was cut from WWE in January. Most recently he has been working indy shots both as a referee and a wrestler in the south.
Nikki Roxx also returned at the tapings. They are looking at bringing in several women for a tag title tournament at the December 21 tapings.
Jeremy Borash and Mick Foley missed the tapings yesterday as they were in Las Vegas for Playboy radio. You would think they would send a Knockout instead of Borash but I guess someone had to hold the camera... Speaking of which, TMZ cameras caught Foley off guard at LAX baggage claims. The video footage is online at http://tinyurl.com/yc2pls9 with Foley talking about his ear.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Hustler magazine has filed a Supreme Court appeal over the federal court ruling that they used nude images of Nancy Benoit for commercial -- not news -- purposes thus violating her family's right-of-publicity interests. Nancy's mother, Maureen Toffoloni, said Hustler had violated her daughter's right to prevent the commercial use of her image. After some legal wrangling the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that Toffoloni could protect Nancy's rights because the photos were taken 20 years prior to her murder and therefore not sufficiently newsworthy. LFP Publishing Group, Hustler’s publishing company, is arguing that the First Amendment requires a broad interpretation of the newsworthiness standard. Their appeal also stated that Supreme Court cases in the past have found that it is inappropriate for courts to rule on whether an article is newsworthy.
No real update on Brock Lesnar. He was scheduled to check into the Mayo Clinic this week for a battery of tests to determine his next course of treatment for an undisclosed ailment. He has reportedly lost a ton of weight following surgery on November 16 to close a perforation in his intestine that had been leaking into his abdomen; overtaxing his immune system to the point that he contracted mononucleosis.
There is an interesting new wrestling documentary out next year. Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin' is based on Ron Hall's book Sputnik, Masked Men & Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling. The trailer is online at http://tinyurl.com/yzq3hr6.
The former Spike Dudley is interview at http://tinyurl.com/ybdgdjp. He seems to have changed his stance on WWE following his burial of the company when they released him in 2005: "Would I go back if I given the opportunity? Yeah I'd go back. Whether it was with Bubba or D, I really love working with those guys. I'm not sure if they'd ever take me back without those guys. It's nothing I've ever pursued. That's the nature of the beast. My character is forever tied with those guys. I could do it. I would feel comfortable wrestling without them. Who knows? You never know in this business."
Former WWE wrestler Tajiri is helping to launch a new promotion in Japan, called Smash, which debuts on March 26 in Tokyo. Smash is an interesting concept reportedly mixing pro wrestling, kickboxing and MMA. Tajiri heads up the wrestling division.
The Hulkamania show from Sydney airs in Australia on One HD on Sunday night. This includes Umaga's last ever televisied match including a run in during the Hogan vs. Flair main event.
Promoter J.D. Costello announced his NWA Charlotte group will be returning next year with monthly shows.
Today's Diva of the Day is Dawn Marie at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva
RRO AWARDS RACE 2009 begins NOW!!!
----RRO AWARDS RACE 2009 begins NOW!!! I have listed the first 6 categories in this year’s race. If you are a member of the KAYFABE MESSSAGE BOARD, then you may click over and put all your nominations there. Or you may e-mail your picks, if you do not want to post them “in the open” on the board. Send your nominations in ASAP. PLEASE PICK 3 NOMINEES for each category!!! Send your e-mail to brian_tramel@yahoo with subject: RRO Nominees. Deadline for first 6 awards is Wednesday 12.16.09. You may also go over to the RRO AWARDS RACE blog by CLICKING HERE and get all the up to the date info on the awards!!! Below my picks and thoughts are the Columnists Consensus results from a poll I conducted via e-mail last week with them.
----Promotion of the Year 2009. Both the top picks are two different animals, but need the nods. Memphis Wrestling – USA promotion behind the booking expertise of Bert Prentice had a lot of the top crowds of the year. He slacked off on promoting shows because of his health, but MW-USAW done real well the first 6 months. RWA was drawing close to 800 fans every month with a weekly show. I am not sure if MW-USA could do that or not. RWA morphed into DoggCW and continues to draw good crowds. I give the top nod to DoggCW for promotion of the year. Third place I would pick either TIWF [#2 drawing group weekly in area] and NBW.
----Booker of the Year 2009: Who gave you the best storylines?? Who drew crowds because of the storylines?? Who promoted the shows so people would come out to see them?? I would have to go with DoggCW/RWA’s Rodney Mack, MW-USA Wrestling’s Bert Prentice and TIWF Committee here. All three promotions have done something to get the crowds in the building.
----Announcer of the Year 2009: Who is the best on the mic for TV or just announcing at the shows?? Brian Thompson, who worked over half the year at NEW, leads the pack here. He is a first class announcer and just plain good. I would go with Terrance Ward as my second pick as he has that old school feel to him. My third favorite is Michael Ward, who made IWA 10 times better by just announcing. John Steele should be mentioned – I would listen to him with any of the three above, but Steele is not always good alone. Rick The Stick also is good at the shows.
----Gimmick of the Year 2009: Who has the best gimmick?? No doubt about it – if you are been to a live show with the music and casket – The “Baron” Malkavain, who won the award last year, also is the top contender this year. I like the idea of a team name and a manager as part of the gimmick. Weird how this use to be just a tag team, but it is really more of gimmick now – “Midnight Gold”. I also have always liked “The Asylum” and like the “Natural Born Playa” gimmick.
----Manager of the Year 2009: Two of my favorites here are Brian Thompson and Jimmy Tidwell. They both are almost perfect in their roles. The only reason I would not actually pick them as the winners is because of their limited roles for the year. My two top picks are “Hollywood” Jimmy Blaylock and Rashard Devon, who have fought over this award for all the past three years.
----Referee of the Year 2009: 2008 winner Downtown Bruno has to lead the pack here. If you have not seen him work at NEW, then you need to go for a visit. He is not your typical “out of sight out of mind” referee that I usually like, but when it comes to the time in the match where he is needed only for the 3-count, he is there. Second I would go with Chuck Poe, who comes off as a total professional – in and out of the ring. I only seen this third guy do one show and he also works for MLW, but Kellen James is a damn good ref.
-Columnists Consensus
-Promotion: EWE, NEW, RWA/DoggCW
-Booker: Stan Lee, Rodney Mack, Bert Prentice
-Announcer: John Steele, Michael Ward, Terrance Ward
-Gimmick: Malkavain, Playas, Precious
-Manager: “Hollywood” Jimmy, Brian Thompson, Rashard Devon
-Referee: Downtown Bruno, Chuck Poe, Kellen James
----Promotion of the Year 2009. Both the top picks are two different animals, but need the nods. Memphis Wrestling – USA promotion behind the booking expertise of Bert Prentice had a lot of the top crowds of the year. He slacked off on promoting shows because of his health, but MW-USAW done real well the first 6 months. RWA was drawing close to 800 fans every month with a weekly show. I am not sure if MW-USA could do that or not. RWA morphed into DoggCW and continues to draw good crowds. I give the top nod to DoggCW for promotion of the year. Third place I would pick either TIWF [#2 drawing group weekly in area] and NBW.
----Booker of the Year 2009: Who gave you the best storylines?? Who drew crowds because of the storylines?? Who promoted the shows so people would come out to see them?? I would have to go with DoggCW/RWA’s Rodney Mack, MW-USA Wrestling’s Bert Prentice and TIWF Committee here. All three promotions have done something to get the crowds in the building.
----Announcer of the Year 2009: Who is the best on the mic for TV or just announcing at the shows?? Brian Thompson, who worked over half the year at NEW, leads the pack here. He is a first class announcer and just plain good. I would go with Terrance Ward as my second pick as he has that old school feel to him. My third favorite is Michael Ward, who made IWA 10 times better by just announcing. John Steele should be mentioned – I would listen to him with any of the three above, but Steele is not always good alone. Rick The Stick also is good at the shows.
----Gimmick of the Year 2009: Who has the best gimmick?? No doubt about it – if you are been to a live show with the music and casket – The “Baron” Malkavain, who won the award last year, also is the top contender this year. I like the idea of a team name and a manager as part of the gimmick. Weird how this use to be just a tag team, but it is really more of gimmick now – “Midnight Gold”. I also have always liked “The Asylum” and like the “Natural Born Playa” gimmick.
----Manager of the Year 2009: Two of my favorites here are Brian Thompson and Jimmy Tidwell. They both are almost perfect in their roles. The only reason I would not actually pick them as the winners is because of their limited roles for the year. My two top picks are “Hollywood” Jimmy Blaylock and Rashard Devon, who have fought over this award for all the past three years.
----Referee of the Year 2009: 2008 winner Downtown Bruno has to lead the pack here. If you have not seen him work at NEW, then you need to go for a visit. He is not your typical “out of sight out of mind” referee that I usually like, but when it comes to the time in the match where he is needed only for the 3-count, he is there. Second I would go with Chuck Poe, who comes off as a total professional – in and out of the ring. I only seen this third guy do one show and he also works for MLW, but Kellen James is a damn good ref.
-Columnists Consensus
-Promotion: EWE, NEW, RWA/DoggCW
-Booker: Stan Lee, Rodney Mack, Bert Prentice
-Announcer: John Steele, Michael Ward, Terrance Ward
-Gimmick: Malkavain, Playas, Precious
-Manager: “Hollywood” Jimmy, Brian Thompson, Rashard Devon
-Referee: Downtown Bruno, Chuck Poe, Kellen James
Wayne's World "Indy Legend" by "3G" Eric Wayne
Its a term that's only been in existence a short amount of time: "indy legend"
For the most part, we all start wrestling with the same goal and that's to land a full-time job in this business. Very few reach the WWE level, but a lot more actually make a living at wrestling. Whether its going to Puerto Rico, Japan, England, Mexico, Canada, Thailand, or wherever the fact is that there are more opportunities available besides the local show down the road. There are so many avenues available that very few seem to know about. But what does indy legend mean exactly??
Its basically someone who has never really made it the "big show", or not for long, but is still respected by their peers. There is a ton of talent traveling the world today that will probably never be seen on WrestleMania, much less any WWE programming. Does that make them any less of a wrestler? Hell no. In every industry, there are guys that are well-known by the public but just as many that only the true, die-hard fans will know. These are the guys that, in most cases, are WAY better than anyone you're ever going to see in a big time environment.
Guys like Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuiness(Desmond Wolfe in TNA), Mike Quackenbush, KENTA, Jerry Lynn, Jay and Mark Briscoe and countless others have been able to make a living in this business. But no one knows these guys unless you are in the business and actually follow more than the local scene. Locally guys like Greg Anthony, Derrick King, Motley Cruz, Flash Flanagan, Austin Lane, Pokerface, Alan Steele, and others have made a name for themselves. But even in Memphis, not many people know the names I just mentioned. But if you ask any wrestler they know those names, or they should. Why is it that we know them but no one else? What is it that makes them so respected and yet no real recognition? They're all respected for one thing, ability. Plain and simple.
For some reason, some of the most talented never seem to catch on with the general public. It could be a lack of marketability, or desire by that individual to step up to the next level. Whatever it is doesn't matter much to me. The bottom line is, of the guys I've named and the ones I haven't, they will always be respected and looked up to whether 100 people or 100 million people know their name.
For the most part, we all start wrestling with the same goal and that's to land a full-time job in this business. Very few reach the WWE level, but a lot more actually make a living at wrestling. Whether its going to Puerto Rico, Japan, England, Mexico, Canada, Thailand, or wherever the fact is that there are more opportunities available besides the local show down the road. There are so many avenues available that very few seem to know about. But what does indy legend mean exactly??
Its basically someone who has never really made it the "big show", or not for long, but is still respected by their peers. There is a ton of talent traveling the world today that will probably never be seen on WrestleMania, much less any WWE programming. Does that make them any less of a wrestler? Hell no. In every industry, there are guys that are well-known by the public but just as many that only the true, die-hard fans will know. These are the guys that, in most cases, are WAY better than anyone you're ever going to see in a big time environment.
Guys like Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuiness(Desmond Wolfe in TNA), Mike Quackenbush, KENTA, Jerry Lynn, Jay and Mark Briscoe and countless others have been able to make a living in this business. But no one knows these guys unless you are in the business and actually follow more than the local scene. Locally guys like Greg Anthony, Derrick King, Motley Cruz, Flash Flanagan, Austin Lane, Pokerface, Alan Steele, and others have made a name for themselves. But even in Memphis, not many people know the names I just mentioned. But if you ask any wrestler they know those names, or they should. Why is it that we know them but no one else? What is it that makes them so respected and yet no real recognition? They're all respected for one thing, ability. Plain and simple.
For some reason, some of the most talented never seem to catch on with the general public. It could be a lack of marketability, or desire by that individual to step up to the next level. Whatever it is doesn't matter much to me. The bottom line is, of the guys I've named and the ones I haven't, they will always be respected and looked up to whether 100 people or 100 million people know their name.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Food For Thought "Back In The Saddle" by Jamie Jay
Sid Vicious at "Honest" John Benefit show looking for "Shady" Jamie Jay!!
Hello everyone.
I've finally made it back to the ring. I wrestled for Don Bass in West Memphis, AR this past Wed. night. Then I wrestled Sat. night in Newport, AR for SWA. Its great to be back in the ring.
I wrestled Derrick King & Cody Melton. Johnny Morton was my partner. It was a good match. Considering the fact that it was my first in awhile and I also have a bad knee. I had lots of fun though.
What was so funny about Wed. night though was that Sid was there! Everybody was wondering what was gonna go down? lol. Ron Rage went up to Sid and introduced me as SHADY Jamie Jay! Sid said, so this is the infamous Jamie Jay? lol.
I sit down beside him and we talked, and laughed about the situation. I apologized about writing the stuff I did. I do feel bad about airing out personal issues on the internet. We had a great time though. We even did a spot in the ring, where DK said I was shady and I told him, I would powerbomb him! lol. Sid was sitting in the crowd laughing. It was great.
When I was at SWA, I wrestled Johnny Morton. I think we had the best match on the card, but it wasn't great, with my knee still a little weak. We had fun there too. In the back, I really had alot of fun messing with Gunnar (Sid's boy), and Stumpy. It was great to be able to get back in that atmosphere.
This Fri. and Sat. I will be back in Newport for SWA. I will be wrestling the Rowdy Rebel! Damn, who did I piss off? lol!
BTW, Seth Knight SUCKS!!! Chew on that!
Photo by Cheryl Conder
Hello everyone.
I've finally made it back to the ring. I wrestled for Don Bass in West Memphis, AR this past Wed. night. Then I wrestled Sat. night in Newport, AR for SWA. Its great to be back in the ring.
I wrestled Derrick King & Cody Melton. Johnny Morton was my partner. It was a good match. Considering the fact that it was my first in awhile and I also have a bad knee. I had lots of fun though.
What was so funny about Wed. night though was that Sid was there! Everybody was wondering what was gonna go down? lol. Ron Rage went up to Sid and introduced me as SHADY Jamie Jay! Sid said, so this is the infamous Jamie Jay? lol.
I sit down beside him and we talked, and laughed about the situation. I apologized about writing the stuff I did. I do feel bad about airing out personal issues on the internet. We had a great time though. We even did a spot in the ring, where DK said I was shady and I told him, I would powerbomb him! lol. Sid was sitting in the crowd laughing. It was great.
When I was at SWA, I wrestled Johnny Morton. I think we had the best match on the card, but it wasn't great, with my knee still a little weak. We had fun there too. In the back, I really had alot of fun messing with Gunnar (Sid's boy), and Stumpy. It was great to be able to get back in that atmosphere.
This Fri. and Sat. I will be back in Newport for SWA. I will be wrestling the Rowdy Rebel! Damn, who did I piss off? lol!
BTW, Seth Knight SUCKS!!! Chew on that!
Photo by Cheryl Conder
RassleResults: MCW Osceola, AR 12.04.09
MCW opened the show with Newcomers Jeremy Spiker and Youngblood vs Hambones 1&2. The younsters were too inexperienced to overcome and the Hambones took the win.
Wild Bill & Homer Lee vs Bishop and Snuffy. Bishop and Snuffy had things ging their way when out of nowhre Wild Bill hits Snuffy with the Stunner! Wild Bill and Homer Lee took the win.
East Coast Bad Boy C-Money and Chris Day vs V-Man and Officer Hudson. Chris Day leaves C-Money high and dry for the beatdown, what's that all about. The youngsters run in to help and got beat down, Wild Bill runs in and gets powdered in the eyes by Rashard! Big Daddy runs out and helps then Pokerface decides to make his way to the ring but he was brutally stopped by Frankie Tucker! This was a wild and crazy match. C-Money wins by DQ
Big Daddy LaFonce and Miss Candy vs Ray & Nay Nay This was a very entertaining match! Winners were Big Daddy and Miss Candy
Main Event: All American Frankie Tucker vs Pokerface. This was the match of the year with 2 of the best wrestlers in this area! You had wrestling, chopping (and everyone knows Frankie is the best at that!), flopping and everything! Crowd was really into thie match. Frankie sneaks in the All American Flatliner for the win! Then Rashard come in to jump Frankie. Frankie grabs Rashard then here comes the cavalry to beatdown on Tucker! Out comes Big Daddy and C-Money for the save.
The gang at MCW as always would like to thank the fans for their support. The crowd growing every week at MCW.\
Credit: Kim Wallace and MCW
Wild Bill & Homer Lee vs Bishop and Snuffy. Bishop and Snuffy had things ging their way when out of nowhre Wild Bill hits Snuffy with the Stunner! Wild Bill and Homer Lee took the win.
East Coast Bad Boy C-Money and Chris Day vs V-Man and Officer Hudson. Chris Day leaves C-Money high and dry for the beatdown, what's that all about. The youngsters run in to help and got beat down, Wild Bill runs in and gets powdered in the eyes by Rashard! Big Daddy runs out and helps then Pokerface decides to make his way to the ring but he was brutally stopped by Frankie Tucker! This was a wild and crazy match. C-Money wins by DQ
Big Daddy LaFonce and Miss Candy vs Ray & Nay Nay This was a very entertaining match! Winners were Big Daddy and Miss Candy
Main Event: All American Frankie Tucker vs Pokerface. This was the match of the year with 2 of the best wrestlers in this area! You had wrestling, chopping (and everyone knows Frankie is the best at that!), flopping and everything! Crowd was really into thie match. Frankie sneaks in the All American Flatliner for the win! Then Rashard come in to jump Frankie. Frankie grabs Rashard then here comes the cavalry to beatdown on Tucker! Out comes Big Daddy and C-Money for the save.
The gang at MCW as always would like to thank the fans for their support. The crowd growing every week at MCW.\
Credit: Kim Wallace and MCW
RRO's Brian Thompson Starts New Promotion & TV!!
----Earlier in the week, I mentioned a couple of stories we are working on here at RRO including the start of a new promotion along with TV in 2010. RRO's Brian Thompson, who is part of the management team for this project, sent me a few comments earlier today about the promotion. I can not say how excited I am that Thompson will be involved with something like this. Thompson has a great wrestling mind and if he gets the support, then 2010 is going to be a fun year!! Stay tuned here for the exclusive up to the minute news as it becomes available!
----Tell RRO a little about your new project.
I am working on a new wrestling project for 2010. The promotion most likely will be called Ringside Championship Wrestling (RCW), barring any legal issues with that name. Our management team which includes myself, Bobby Eaton and a financial business partner/owner has already purchased a television time slot on KAIT TV-8 in Jonesboro, AR. This is the same station that was the home to Bert Prentice's Ozark Mountain Wrestling/North American All-Star Wrestling in the mid 1990's. Prior to that, Bill Watts' UWF was very successful on the station. Since the end of OMW, several other promotions have had brief stints on there including LAW.
----When will the show air??
Our time slot will be late Saturday nights at 1 a.m., which of course is technically Sunday morning. We will have a 30-minute show each week. On paper, this does not appear to be the best time slot, but the potential to grow is there. I look back at Bert's decent success at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday nights and how ECW for years was on during late hours as a testament that a quality product will attract fans. Plus, we are in the age of DVR so it's not like anyone who wants to watch HAS to stay up late.
----And now, everyone will want to know this one - who is going to be on the roster?
I am in the process of contacting talents to perform and lining up initial dates. There should be a show during the later part of January in Wynne, AR and one possibly in mid-February in Harrisburg, AR. As soon as details are finalized, you will all know. Our TV slot begins Saturday, Feb. 20.
----Tell RRO a little about your new project.
I am working on a new wrestling project for 2010. The promotion most likely will be called Ringside Championship Wrestling (RCW), barring any legal issues with that name. Our management team which includes myself, Bobby Eaton and a financial business partner/owner has already purchased a television time slot on KAIT TV-8 in Jonesboro, AR. This is the same station that was the home to Bert Prentice's Ozark Mountain Wrestling/North American All-Star Wrestling in the mid 1990's. Prior to that, Bill Watts' UWF was very successful on the station. Since the end of OMW, several other promotions have had brief stints on there including LAW.
----When will the show air??
Our time slot will be late Saturday nights at 1 a.m., which of course is technically Sunday morning. We will have a 30-minute show each week. On paper, this does not appear to be the best time slot, but the potential to grow is there. I look back at Bert's decent success at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday nights and how ECW for years was on during late hours as a testament that a quality product will attract fans. Plus, we are in the age of DVR so it's not like anyone who wants to watch HAS to stay up late.
----And now, everyone will want to know this one - who is going to be on the roster?
I am in the process of contacting talents to perform and lining up initial dates. There should be a show during the later part of January in Wynne, AR and one possibly in mid-February in Harrisburg, AR. As soon as details are finalized, you will all know. Our TV slot begins Saturday, Feb. 20.
WGN) Dec 7: Diva notes, Cornette apologizes for working for TNA, latest WWE PPV estimates and more
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday December 6, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/5 Supershow results from Bossier City, LA: Goldust, Tommy Dreamer & Hurricane Helms over Vance Archer, Zack Ryder & Ezekiel Jackson; Sheamus over Evan Bourne; Mickie James over Beth Phoenix with Jillian Hall as guest ring announcer attempting to sing White Christmas; Chavo Guerrero over Alex Riley; Matt Hardy & Kane over Legacy; Kofi Kingston over Jack Swagger; Drew McIntyre defeated Jimmy Wang Yang; Christian defeated William Regal; and Triple H over Randy Orton in a falls count anywhere match. Shelton Benjamin was advertised but didn't appear.
12/6 Raw house show results from Monroe, LA: Hurricane Helms, Tommy Dreamer, Goldust & Alex Riley over Zach Ryder, Vance Archer, Ezekiel Jackson & Chavo Guerrero; Sheamus over Evan Bourne; Christian over William Regal; Drew McIntyre over Jimmy Wang Yang; Kofi Kingston over Jack Swagger; Mickie James over Beth Phoenix with Jillian Hall as guest ring announcer this time singing Jingle Bells; Matt Hardy & Kane over Legacy; and Triple H over Randy Orton in a falls count anywhere match. Show drew 4400.
***
The latest PPV buy estimates has Breaking Point back in September (return of The Undertaker in his first match since Wrestlemania 25) did 195,000 buys. Hell in A Cell in October (the first PPV to feature three Cell matches) did 300,000 buys, up from the No Mercy PPV it replaced, which did 261,000 buys in 2008. Bragging Rights also in October (Raw vs. Smackdown themed show) did 200,000 buys, up from the defunct Cyber Sunday PPV, which did 153,000 buys in the same slot last year.
John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre for the IC title has been added to the TLC pay-per-view.
Jim Ross updated his health at www.jrsbarbq.com. He wrote: "The facial paralysis on the right side of my mouth is still prevalent especially when I tire but it is improving. My right eye is still problematic but is slowly getting better. The new news that I am borderline diabetic was an eye opener but, luckily, with a drastically changed diet and an exercise program in place I think I can nip that issue in the bud. I have two doctor's appointments next week which will hopefully go well. All this stuff sounds serious but I know and see so many folks whose issues are on such a different level than are mine. I am so thankful for my many blessings and have no complaints."
Ross sent a special package of his BBQ sauce to catering today in Dallas.
Mickie James is expected to release her first country music album this spring. She just signed a recording contract with Nashville producer Kent Wells, who has worked with artists such as Dolly Parton, Michael Peterson and Neal McCoy.
There is a 3-disc DVD on Shawn Michaels in the works which will be marketed as his best matches.
Former ring announcer Lauren Mayhew recently signed with the same New York-based talent agency that represents Steve Austin... She talks her new movie Frat Party at http://tinyurl.com/ye7bq7x.
The Fox News affiliate in Tampa covered Vladimir Kozlov officially becoming a U.S. citizen this morning at http://tinyurl.com/yzruxsq. He is quoted as saying: "If you work hard, you can reach whatever you want... I went through a lot to get here to this point, I'm just proud to be here." There is also a video where he is filmed holding Old Glory, and he just looks so happy.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
12/4 house show results from Portland, ME: Amazing Red over Suicide; Hamada & Awsome Kong over The Beautiful People; Abyss over Dr. Stevie; Kurt Angle over Desmond Wolfe; Beer Money & Matt Morgan over The British Invasion & Sheik Bashir; and AJ Styles over Daniels.
12/5 house show results from Amherst, MA: Amazing Red over Suicide; The Beautiful People over Hamada & Awsome Kong; Matt Morgan over Sheik Bashir; Kurt Angle over Desmond Wolfe; Abyss over Dr. Stevie; Beer Money over The British Invasion in a non-title match; and AJ Styles over Daniels. Show drew around 700.
12/6 in Glens Falls, NY had the same results as the night before except AJ Styles & Kurt Angle over Daniels & Desmond Wolfe in the main event. Show drew close to 1,000.
There are TV tapings today and tomorrow in Orlando. We're looking for reader reports from the Impact Zone to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
Bubba the Love Sponge on his Tampa radio show this morning claimed that Hulk Hogan has made the call to revert to a traditional four-sided wrestling ring. I guess it's less corners for him to do his pose downs. I still can't see this happening but this is apparently one of the major changes that Team Hogan plans to initiate.
The company sent out a press release this morning touting the 3-hour live Impact on January 4 with Hogan making his debut. The release listed Sting among those scheduled for the show. Team 3D will be MIA as they are booked for New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show defending the IWGP tag titles against Team No Limit.
Lisa Marie Varon (Tara) has a reality television project in the works. She is reportedly pitching her show to TV execs this week.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Tonight's Ring of Honor show on HDNet includes the television debut of Jim Cornette; the introduction of the Pick 6 Challenge; Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards, Kenny Omega & Roderick Strong in a four-way; and Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoes for a tag title shot.
Cornette wrote a shoot promo for the ROH website at http://tinyurl.com/yjcqqc2. He basically rips on Vince McMahon and apologizes for working as long as he did with TNA: "Even though it’s true that I never publicly praised any part of TNA’s booking or creative direction, dancing around on my interviews, grasping for something positive to say, changing the subject, my very presence in a Vince Russo-booked promotion lent my tacit approval to it. I wasted three years of my life. I worked and sweated over something that ultimately had no chance of success. I abandoned my principles. I took the check. And for that, I hereby apologize to every wrestling fan in the world. I’m sorry. I’m ashamed of myself. Most importantly, I won’t do it again. And I ask for forgiveness."
ROH wrestler Austin Aries at http://tinyurl.com/y9vwkbq talks indy wrestling, TNA and WWE.
Nick Bockwinkel turned 75 on Sunday. He is said to be doing very well following a recent surgery.
Superstar Billy Graham is back in Phoenix and is scheduled for upcoming surgery.
Nick Hogan isn't the only son of Hulk to be training at Rikishi's Knokx Pro Wrestling school in California. Brent Ferrigno, son of Lou, who starred in the TV series The Incredible Hulk has also been coming to the Gym to work out.
Stacy Keibler will appear in the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother on CBS. The episode airs on January 11 with Keibler playing a hot bartender who one of the main characters attempts to bed.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett officially proclaimed December 5, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Day, this past weekend at a Dave Herro show that drew 1500. There is a video online of the presentation, including a King Kong Bundy cameo at http://tinyurl.com/yckvcrr.
Dutch Mantel's upcoming book is about to go to press. His latest blog with a story on traveling with Steve Austin during an ice storm is online at http://theworldaccordingtodutch.blogspot.com/.
Lance Storm, who stopped watching TNA earlier this year because the booking kept him awake at night, says he is going to try them again starting in January. His latest blog is at www.stormwrestling.com.
The Miami Herald interviewed Bruno Sammartino at http://tinyurl.com/ylds36q.
American Wrestling Rampage announced another European tour in March, 2010 with dates in Dijon, Grenoble, and Bordeaux, France.
From Kris Zellner in Mexico: Some weird news about Octagon’s sentence for his recent DUI arrest as he was sentenced to 20 hours jail time for the arrest but only served 6 hours and 20 minutes before being let go early by the jail for some unknown reason where they would allow him to come back after he filed his defense. Octagon never came back and if he doesn’t show up soon then he would have a warrant out for his arrest and could face a stiffer penalty.
Mike Mooneyham has a look at the Gary Hart bio at http://tinyurl.com/yd6gm8w.
Ric Flair is signing autographs at Walmart in D'lberville, MS on Thursday, December 10 from 6 to 8pm.
One of our readers stalking Brian Knobs talking TNA and Hogan in a dark parking lot at http://tinyurl.com/yekvdg3.
Today's Diva of the Day is Beulah at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday December 6, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/5 Supershow results from Bossier City, LA: Goldust, Tommy Dreamer & Hurricane Helms over Vance Archer, Zack Ryder & Ezekiel Jackson; Sheamus over Evan Bourne; Mickie James over Beth Phoenix with Jillian Hall as guest ring announcer attempting to sing White Christmas; Chavo Guerrero over Alex Riley; Matt Hardy & Kane over Legacy; Kofi Kingston over Jack Swagger; Drew McIntyre defeated Jimmy Wang Yang; Christian defeated William Regal; and Triple H over Randy Orton in a falls count anywhere match. Shelton Benjamin was advertised but didn't appear.
12/6 Raw house show results from Monroe, LA: Hurricane Helms, Tommy Dreamer, Goldust & Alex Riley over Zach Ryder, Vance Archer, Ezekiel Jackson & Chavo Guerrero; Sheamus over Evan Bourne; Christian over William Regal; Drew McIntyre over Jimmy Wang Yang; Kofi Kingston over Jack Swagger; Mickie James over Beth Phoenix with Jillian Hall as guest ring announcer this time singing Jingle Bells; Matt Hardy & Kane over Legacy; and Triple H over Randy Orton in a falls count anywhere match. Show drew 4400.
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The latest PPV buy estimates has Breaking Point back in September (return of The Undertaker in his first match since Wrestlemania 25) did 195,000 buys. Hell in A Cell in October (the first PPV to feature three Cell matches) did 300,000 buys, up from the No Mercy PPV it replaced, which did 261,000 buys in 2008. Bragging Rights also in October (Raw vs. Smackdown themed show) did 200,000 buys, up from the defunct Cyber Sunday PPV, which did 153,000 buys in the same slot last year.
John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre for the IC title has been added to the TLC pay-per-view.
Jim Ross updated his health at www.jrsbarbq.com. He wrote: "The facial paralysis on the right side of my mouth is still prevalent especially when I tire but it is improving. My right eye is still problematic but is slowly getting better. The new news that I am borderline diabetic was an eye opener but, luckily, with a drastically changed diet and an exercise program in place I think I can nip that issue in the bud. I have two doctor's appointments next week which will hopefully go well. All this stuff sounds serious but I know and see so many folks whose issues are on such a different level than are mine. I am so thankful for my many blessings and have no complaints."
Ross sent a special package of his BBQ sauce to catering today in Dallas.
Mickie James is expected to release her first country music album this spring. She just signed a recording contract with Nashville producer Kent Wells, who has worked with artists such as Dolly Parton, Michael Peterson and Neal McCoy.
There is a 3-disc DVD on Shawn Michaels in the works which will be marketed as his best matches.
Former ring announcer Lauren Mayhew recently signed with the same New York-based talent agency that represents Steve Austin... She talks her new movie Frat Party at http://tinyurl.com/ye7bq7x.
The Fox News affiliate in Tampa covered Vladimir Kozlov officially becoming a U.S. citizen this morning at http://tinyurl.com/yzruxsq. He is quoted as saying: "If you work hard, you can reach whatever you want... I went through a lot to get here to this point, I'm just proud to be here." There is also a video where he is filmed holding Old Glory, and he just looks so happy.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
12/4 house show results from Portland, ME: Amazing Red over Suicide; Hamada & Awsome Kong over The Beautiful People; Abyss over Dr. Stevie; Kurt Angle over Desmond Wolfe; Beer Money & Matt Morgan over The British Invasion & Sheik Bashir; and AJ Styles over Daniels.
12/5 house show results from Amherst, MA: Amazing Red over Suicide; The Beautiful People over Hamada & Awsome Kong; Matt Morgan over Sheik Bashir; Kurt Angle over Desmond Wolfe; Abyss over Dr. Stevie; Beer Money over The British Invasion in a non-title match; and AJ Styles over Daniels. Show drew around 700.
12/6 in Glens Falls, NY had the same results as the night before except AJ Styles & Kurt Angle over Daniels & Desmond Wolfe in the main event. Show drew close to 1,000.
There are TV tapings today and tomorrow in Orlando. We're looking for reader reports from the Impact Zone to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
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Bubba the Love Sponge on his Tampa radio show this morning claimed that Hulk Hogan has made the call to revert to a traditional four-sided wrestling ring. I guess it's less corners for him to do his pose downs. I still can't see this happening but this is apparently one of the major changes that Team Hogan plans to initiate.
The company sent out a press release this morning touting the 3-hour live Impact on January 4 with Hogan making his debut. The release listed Sting among those scheduled for the show. Team 3D will be MIA as they are booked for New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show defending the IWGP tag titles against Team No Limit.
Lisa Marie Varon (Tara) has a reality television project in the works. She is reportedly pitching her show to TV execs this week.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Tonight's Ring of Honor show on HDNet includes the television debut of Jim Cornette; the introduction of the Pick 6 Challenge; Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards, Kenny Omega & Roderick Strong in a four-way; and Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoes for a tag title shot.
Cornette wrote a shoot promo for the ROH website at http://tinyurl.com/yjcqqc2. He basically rips on Vince McMahon and apologizes for working as long as he did with TNA: "Even though it’s true that I never publicly praised any part of TNA’s booking or creative direction, dancing around on my interviews, grasping for something positive to say, changing the subject, my very presence in a Vince Russo-booked promotion lent my tacit approval to it. I wasted three years of my life. I worked and sweated over something that ultimately had no chance of success. I abandoned my principles. I took the check. And for that, I hereby apologize to every wrestling fan in the world. I’m sorry. I’m ashamed of myself. Most importantly, I won’t do it again. And I ask for forgiveness."
ROH wrestler Austin Aries at http://tinyurl.com/y9vwkbq talks indy wrestling, TNA and WWE.
Nick Bockwinkel turned 75 on Sunday. He is said to be doing very well following a recent surgery.
Superstar Billy Graham is back in Phoenix and is scheduled for upcoming surgery.
Nick Hogan isn't the only son of Hulk to be training at Rikishi's Knokx Pro Wrestling school in California. Brent Ferrigno, son of Lou, who starred in the TV series The Incredible Hulk has also been coming to the Gym to work out.
Stacy Keibler will appear in the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother on CBS. The episode airs on January 11 with Keibler playing a hot bartender who one of the main characters attempts to bed.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett officially proclaimed December 5, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Day, this past weekend at a Dave Herro show that drew 1500. There is a video online of the presentation, including a King Kong Bundy cameo at http://tinyurl.com/yckvcrr.
Dutch Mantel's upcoming book is about to go to press. His latest blog with a story on traveling with Steve Austin during an ice storm is online at http://theworldaccordingtodutch.blogspot.com/.
Lance Storm, who stopped watching TNA earlier this year because the booking kept him awake at night, says he is going to try them again starting in January. His latest blog is at www.stormwrestling.com.
The Miami Herald interviewed Bruno Sammartino at http://tinyurl.com/ylds36q.
American Wrestling Rampage announced another European tour in March, 2010 with dates in Dijon, Grenoble, and Bordeaux, France.
From Kris Zellner in Mexico: Some weird news about Octagon’s sentence for his recent DUI arrest as he was sentenced to 20 hours jail time for the arrest but only served 6 hours and 20 minutes before being let go early by the jail for some unknown reason where they would allow him to come back after he filed his defense. Octagon never came back and if he doesn’t show up soon then he would have a warrant out for his arrest and could face a stiffer penalty.
Mike Mooneyham has a look at the Gary Hart bio at http://tinyurl.com/yd6gm8w.
Ric Flair is signing autographs at Walmart in D'lberville, MS on Thursday, December 10 from 6 to 8pm.
One of our readers stalking Brian Knobs talking TNA and Hogan in a dark parking lot at http://tinyurl.com/yekvdg3.
Today's Diva of the Day is Beulah at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva
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2009 Title Histories!!!
----If you are a promoter or booker in this area and would like for me to have all your title changes for the year posted in Yearbook 2009, PLEASE send me the title histories. I miss results for some weeks and I have noticed that there does not seem to be as many title changes this year or I am missing them all?? Send them in ASAP!!
RassleResults: ASWF Tuckerman, AR 12.05.09
Our show began as patriotically as it has for over 10 years, Rickey Rowland would take to the ring for the playing of the National Anthem. Before the National Anthem would play Announcer Terrence Ward would ask the crowd to bow their heads for a moment of silence for the passing of former WWE Superstar Umanga.
The first match of the night was The Enforcer taking on Lee Michaels. The Enforcer would stay in control for most of the match, but during the match ASWF Owner David Walls and Commissioner Rickey Rowland would make their way down the aisle to watch the match. Walls would then begin to distract The Enforcer and Michaels would get the roll up pin after a push from Walls.
Our second match is one that we thought would never happen. Former tag team partners Kalaiki and Mark Wolf would go head to head. These two would start off before the ring announcer could even finish Kalaiki's introduction. Mark would dominate his match against his former partner, but Kalaiki would get back in the match and get the pin over Mark Wolf.
Tonight's third match would be the debut of another addition to the ASWF Roster. Idol Bane would take on 3G Eric Wayne. Both would exchange control, showing incredible strength. Idol would take over and would deliver his finisher to Wayne and get the win via pinfall.
Our fourth match was scheduled as a Tag Team Match. X-Kaliber and Tommy Wayne would take on Dan Matthews and Kevin Charles. X-Kaliber and Tommy Wayne would wait with Athena Eclipse in the entrance way. Athena would blast them with an aerosol spray blinding them. They would not have a strong foot hold in the match because of what had happened. X-Kaliber would get the pin after a low blow from Tommy Wayne. Commissioner Rowland would interrupt their celebration to tell them that since they like to blind people, they too would see what it was like. They would take on Kevin and Dan in a Blindfold Match next week.
Tonight's Feature Match was for the ASWF Title. The reigning champion Austin Lane would defend his title against former ASWF X-Division Champion Joshua Cross. Austin and Cross would fight for control over their opponent, but Cross would lose after a spear from Austin and a pin. Idol Bane would come out after the match and attack Austin and state that he is the "True" champion with the old title in hand.
Our Semi-Main Event was the upcoming tag team, Seth Sabor and Morgan Williams taking on Demon X and Johnny Hawk. Although Morgan and Seth were quicker than their opponents, you can never win fairly against Demon X and Johnny Hawk. Demon X would pin Seth Sabor after a brutal match.
Our Main-Event was for the Tag Team Titles. LSD (Cody Only and Deadly Dale) would take on CM2 (Cody Murdoch and Cason McClain). Before the match even began to get hot Only would plant the LTO on McClain but CM2 would be quick to recover and get a foot in the door, figuratively speaking. However Deadly Dale would pin McClain and win the titles from CM2. After the match Commissioner Rowland would again come to the ring and announce that after watching video footage in the back both shoulders were pinned and that this match was technically a draw. He would announce that CM2 was still the champions.
Credit: Terrance Ward @ www.wrestlingnewscenter.com
Monday, December 07, 2009
Thompson's Markives 12.07.2009: Ozark Mountain Wrestling's debut in Dexter, MO (1995)
As a new feature here at RasslinRiotOnline, I'd like to present "Thompson's Markives." What is a markive you ask? Well, I've taken the liberty of combining the word "mark" in the sense of a wrestling mark and the word "archive." I surely hope everyone reading this knows the definition of a mark. If not, please exit stage left. As for "archive," that is a term that generally refers to a collection of historic data. Well, "Thompson's Markives" is a collection of my wrestling data that I will now share with you from my more than 23 years as a fan of professional wrestling.
The image above is from a newspaper ad in the Dexter, MO "Daily Statesman" advertising a Dec. 14, 1995 card at the National Guard Armory in Dexter. For those who don't know, Dexter is my original hometown. I grew up and spent all my school days there until leaving for Arkansas State University in the fall of 2001.
The promotion running Dexter was Ozark Mountain Wrestling, owned and operated by Bert Prentice and The Colorado Kid. The company was based in Jonesboro, AR. Initially, OMW ran Jonesboro every Monday night at the Arkansas State National Guard Armory. At this point in time, OMW was starting to branch out of Jonesboro and began running towns in Southeast Missouri.
OMW began in 1994. Sometime that year, the company obtained television on Jonesboro TV station KAIT Channel 8, an ABC affiliate. The show ran late Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. It was a 30-minute broadcast.
I first discovered the promotion sometime in the spring of 1995. Around that time, I was fortunate to get a true wrestling fix. I was able to watch OMW along with the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Memphis' United States Wrestling Assocation (USWA) and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) to go along with the national presentations of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). While OMW really didn't compare to the others, it was still a fun company to follow.
I remember being extremely excited to hear that OMW would be coming to Dexter. My best friend Jody Howard and I HAD to go to the show. Like true marks, we did everything we could to get a ringside seat. Basically, we waited three hours before the show just to make sure we were first in line. I miss those days sometimes!
The results from the card were as follows: The Giant Warrior defeated Justin St. John; Samantha defeated Debbie T. Wild; OMW North American Champion The Colorado Kid defeated "Slick" Rikki Burton; "Wildfire" Tommy Rich defeated "Superstar" Bill Dundee; 6-man Tag Team Main Event: Kid, Dundee & Warrior defeated Brickhouse Brown, Burton & St. John.
As you can see, this was a solid show. You had three top Memphis area names in Dundee, Rich and Brown plus the up and coming Colorado Kid. Samantha is the former wife of Dundee. She also managed Bull Pain at one time and was known as "Samantha Pain." That is also indeed the same Rikki Burton who still wrestles in this area on occasion. He last regularly appeared for Frank Martin's Royal Wrestling Alliance and Jamie Jay's Professional Wrestling Alliance. In the post-match between Rich and Dundee, Rich took an atomic drop on a steel chair. The chair bent up and my dad popped huge for that.
My only negative really from this show was the non-appearance of Terry Golden. Terry was my favorite OMW wrestler and I was looking forward to seeing him work. Little did I know that I would work for Golden in Memphis Championship Wrestling just a little more than five years later!
Below is a ticket stub from the event.
I hope you have enjoyed the debut of "Thompson's Markives." Be sure to catch the next edition when I review my first USWA card from 1993 at the American Legion Building in Kennett, MO. It was a big night with a main event of Jerry "The King" Lawler against the Honky Tonk Man.
(Brian Thompson may be reached by e-mail at bptbookings@yahoo.com)
The image above is from a newspaper ad in the Dexter, MO "Daily Statesman" advertising a Dec. 14, 1995 card at the National Guard Armory in Dexter. For those who don't know, Dexter is my original hometown. I grew up and spent all my school days there until leaving for Arkansas State University in the fall of 2001.
The promotion running Dexter was Ozark Mountain Wrestling, owned and operated by Bert Prentice and The Colorado Kid. The company was based in Jonesboro, AR. Initially, OMW ran Jonesboro every Monday night at the Arkansas State National Guard Armory. At this point in time, OMW was starting to branch out of Jonesboro and began running towns in Southeast Missouri.
OMW began in 1994. Sometime that year, the company obtained television on Jonesboro TV station KAIT Channel 8, an ABC affiliate. The show ran late Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. It was a 30-minute broadcast.
I first discovered the promotion sometime in the spring of 1995. Around that time, I was fortunate to get a true wrestling fix. I was able to watch OMW along with the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Memphis' United States Wrestling Assocation (USWA) and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) to go along with the national presentations of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). While OMW really didn't compare to the others, it was still a fun company to follow.
I remember being extremely excited to hear that OMW would be coming to Dexter. My best friend Jody Howard and I HAD to go to the show. Like true marks, we did everything we could to get a ringside seat. Basically, we waited three hours before the show just to make sure we were first in line. I miss those days sometimes!
The results from the card were as follows: The Giant Warrior defeated Justin St. John; Samantha defeated Debbie T. Wild; OMW North American Champion The Colorado Kid defeated "Slick" Rikki Burton; "Wildfire" Tommy Rich defeated "Superstar" Bill Dundee; 6-man Tag Team Main Event: Kid, Dundee & Warrior defeated Brickhouse Brown, Burton & St. John.
As you can see, this was a solid show. You had three top Memphis area names in Dundee, Rich and Brown plus the up and coming Colorado Kid. Samantha is the former wife of Dundee. She also managed Bull Pain at one time and was known as "Samantha Pain." That is also indeed the same Rikki Burton who still wrestles in this area on occasion. He last regularly appeared for Frank Martin's Royal Wrestling Alliance and Jamie Jay's Professional Wrestling Alliance. In the post-match between Rich and Dundee, Rich took an atomic drop on a steel chair. The chair bent up and my dad popped huge for that.
My only negative really from this show was the non-appearance of Terry Golden. Terry was my favorite OMW wrestler and I was looking forward to seeing him work. Little did I know that I would work for Golden in Memphis Championship Wrestling just a little more than five years later!
Below is a ticket stub from the event.
I hope you have enjoyed the debut of "Thompson's Markives." Be sure to catch the next edition when I review my first USWA card from 1993 at the American Legion Building in Kennett, MO. It was a big night with a main event of Jerry "The King" Lawler against the Honky Tonk Man.
(Brian Thompson may be reached by e-mail at bptbookings@yahoo.com)
Memphis Wrestling documentary in the works
Check out the link above to a YouTube trailer for the upcoming documentary "Memphis Heat," which takes a look at Memphis Wrestling. This looks like a fun piece that all Memphis Wrestling fans will want.
Also, there is an article online on the Memphis Commerical Appeal praising the documentary. Check it out here.
(WGN) Dec 7: WWE vs. TNA, Hogan creative plans, granddaughter of wrestling legend in school sex and more!!
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday December 6, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/1 ECW TV results from Hampton, VA: Goldust over William Regal; Trent Baretta & Caylen Croft over Bobby Shields & Tyler Hilton; and Christian & Shelton Benjamin ovr Ezekiel Jackson & Kozlov.
12/3 Superstars TV results: Legacy over Primo & Evan Bourne; Hurricane over Zack Ryder; and Dolph Ziggler over Matt Hardy.
12/4 Smackdown TV results from Hampton, VA: R-Truth over CM Punk; Kane over Mike Knox; Mickie James over Natalya & Beth Phoenix in a three-way to win a title shot; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison; The Hart Dynasty over Eric Escobar in a handicap match; and JeriShow over Cryme Tyme.
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Funeral arrangements for Eddie "Umaga" Fatu were finalized last night and are expected to be announced later today. I understand the family has made plans for a service Wednesday in Houston following WWE's Texas television tapings so WWE people can attend. The family are also planning a tribute show for January 16 in Leesburg, FL.
Fatu's passing has attracted a lot of press around the world. CNN at http://tinyurl.com/yzb294l ran a story that was their front page headline splash for most of Saturday. Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun, Dawn Marie and Terri Runnels are all quoted talking about wrestlers dying young. Dawn Marie, due to her charity, Wrestler's Rescue, seems to have become the unofficial spokesperson to the mainstream media for these types of stories. She was also booking Umaga for indy shows and they used to be travel together back when they both worked for WWE.
Tomorrow's Houston Chronicle has a nice piece on Umaga with quotes from his aunt, Lynn Anoa'i, and Bruce Prichard, the former Brother Love.
The company sent a press release to local press in Dallas teasing a confrontation between tonight's Raw guest host and Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Cody Rhodes. The release noted that Cuban is looking for "payback" on Randy Orton for the RKO he received back at Survivor Series in 2003. Rhodes was quoted saying that Cubin can bring some Mavs or Cowboys players and they have a 6 man tag match against him, DiBiase, and Orton.
DX vs. Hornswoggle in Little People's court will apparently air on tonight's Raw. At least that was the plan at the end of last week.
Big Show underwent arthroscopic knee surgery two weeks ago in Tampa. He was back at work a few days later and told people he was feeling great.
Ukranian-born Oleg Prudius, better known as Vladimir Kozlov, is taking the Oath of Allegiance this morning at the Tampa Convention Center.
Several WWE talents voiced their disappointment over not being booked for the Tribute to the Troops show, including Mickie James on her Twitter. The show was taped last week at Balad Airbase in Iraq. The roster for the show is actually finalized months in advance as all the talents included are subject to FBI screening. There is also limited space on the cargo plane with all the production equipment and crew.
Tribute to the Troops which airs December 19 on NBC has MVP vs. Chris Masters; Rey Mysterio & Mark Henry vs. CM Punk & Carlito; John Morrison vs. The Miz; and John Cena vs. Chris Jericho as the main event. The show opens with the troops singing the national anthem. There is also a segment with R-Truth dressed as Santa with some babyface Divas as helpers giving out merchandise.
There is a lot of internal talk recently that SyFy is unhappy with ratings for ECW. SyFy has asked WWE to look at rebranding the show sans the E-C-W initials, according to a well-placed source.
Kaval (Low Ki) is expected to debut soon under a mask. That was the creative plan talked about as of last week.
Rey Mysterio did a rare interview with the Daily Star at http://tinyurl.com/yjx4byu. He talked about checking himself into rehab last year for pain killer addiction, which is noted in his new book. He said: "I had to do the right thing, I was so tired of taking medication to keep me away from the pain; now I’ve learned how to cope with that day to day, and it feels great to be a new man! ... When you realize you’re in the right moment – that you haven’t lost your family, or lost your job it’s a good thing, and with the support and help of my wife and kids, I’ve moved on to something better." He also talked about how the business has evolved and believes some of the younger talents in WWE haven't paid their dues: "It’s a lot easier to become a wrestler now, in WWE, the head person in charge of bringing talent in has a look at you and if he thinks you have something they’ll put you in their camp in FCW, which makes it easier. When you don’t have the suffering, everything is easy, but after that suffering you feel like you have accomplished something when you get there. There are still a few guys who have that desire, but not as many.”
Raw last Monday did a 3.2 rating, ECW last Tuesday did a 1.0, Superstars last Thursday did a 0.9 rating, and Smackdown back on November 20 did a 2.1 rating.
WWE was granted an extension until December 15 to respond to Jody Hamilton's breach of contract lawsuit over Deep South Wrestling being cut as developmental back in 2006.
Jeff Hardy's probable cause hearing was continued until January 27. The prosecution asked the judge for more time to produce evidence.
The Hartford Courant covered Jesse Ventura's criticism over the lack of unionization in professional wrestling. WWE PR executive Robert Zimmerman was quoted in response saying that Ventura was a hypocrite for saying such things after he recently hosted Raw: "We find it highly hypocritical that Jesse had no problem coming on Monday Night Raw last week to promote his new project or was happy to be paid all those years by the WWE as a performer,'' Zimmerman said. "He is just looking to garner additional press for his fledging show, appropriately entitled Conspiracy Theory." Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yjbymvd.
Ventura walked off an appearance on the Opie and Anthony radio show. Comedian Jim Norton got on his case again when talking about 9/11 and conspiracy theories. They ended up in a heated argument and Ventura walked off. There is a video clip online at http://tinyurl.com/yz55x5w... Ventura also went on Colin Cowherd's ESPN show and bragged about defeating Vince McMahon in court years ago over video tape royalties. He said he still receives checks from WWE to this day and refers to them as his "wrestling retirement fund"... The premiere of Conspiracy Theory last week averaged 1.6 million viewers, the highest series launch audience ever on truTV.
Steve Austin will appear in the fifth episode of NBC series Chuck scheduled to air January 25. He plays a close quarters combat expert.
The latest unwritten Twitter policy for talent is that they can't Tweet from bars after midnight or Tweet to/about friends in TNA.
Former announcer Kevin Kelly is interviewed at http://tinyurl.com/ltcdyz talking about what it's like to work closely with Vince McMahon. Very interesting interview. Kelly also talks about the passing of Eddie Fatu.
There is an interview with the former Kizarny (Nick Cvjetkovich) at http://tinyurl.com/y8t7n2s talking about his brief WWE run: "Working at WWE was also awful because there is so much politics and back stabbing you never know who your enemies are because they are all gutlessly and unaccountably hiding in the shadows... I wasn’t given a straight reason why I was released. One minute I was being told how unique I was and how great of a work ethic I had the next minute they had nothing for me. I have heard many different theories. I guess I just didn’t fit their mold of cookie cutter. Not enough abs showing I guess even though in the ring I can run circles around every ex-NFL player or jacked-up underwear model collecting a paycheck in the WWE developmental system." He added: "Vince and his billion dollar case of ADD wants Ken Dolls sports entertaining against other Ken Dolls at the moment. Me looking weird or different didn’t compute with the tunnel vision that WWE sometimes has even though Rob Zombie, Marlylin Mason and Hot f**king Topic retail stores are all the rage with the kiddies. I have no idea why different isn’t a good thing at WWE. If everyone looks and wrestles the same -- where is the fun in that? When you go to the circus you want the variety of elephants, tight rope walkers, clowns, monkeys, fire eaters, so why does that not apply to wrestling as well?"
Former WWE Canada president Carl DeMarco has taken a job on the Board of Directors with Multiplied Media Corporation, a Calgary-based provider of mobile local search services. He also interviewed recently with UFC in Las Vegas. DeMarco had worked for WWE since 1995 and before that he was the personal manager of Bret Hart. He was instrumental in WWE's evolution in Canada and internationally during the last decade, and brought Wrestlemania to Toronto in 2002.
No new update on Sean Mooney returning to WWE as an announcer. His colleagues at Fox Sports Arizona say they haven't seen him around lately.
The new Raw theme Burn it to the Ground by Nickelback has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance along with War Machine by AC/DC which was used as a theme for WrestleMania 25. Also, Bruce Springsteen's The Wrestler has been nominated for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
Wisconsin's WKBT is running a create a wrestler contest to win ringside tickets to WWE's January 11 show in La Crosse. More info at http://tinyurl.com/ygm7h3x.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
12/3 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Alex Shelley over Doug Williams; Suicide over Homicide; D’Angelo Dinero over Jesse Neal; Eric Young & Kevin Nash over Beer Money; Daniels over Abyss; and Hamada over Sarita.
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Hulk Hogan announced Saturday night during the Ultimate Fighter finale on Spike that Impact will go live on January 4 with a 3-hour special head-to-head against Raw. In case you missed it you can watch Joe Rogan's interview with Hogan at http://tinyurl.com/y9g7wv2. The best part is Rogan saying that Hogan has been in some MMA fights before, and Hogan doesn't even flinch. He sat cageside for the fights with Dixie Carter and Eric Bischoff. Jimmy Hart, Brutus Beefcake and The Nasty Boys were also at the show but not shown on camera.
Obviously this is somewhat major news in that this is the first shot that could spark another Monday Night War. For now the live show on January 4 will be a one off special and Spike execs will be evaluating whether it's in their best interest to make the permanent move to Monday nights. The timing is interesting as January 4 was the date talked about as the night that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would host Raw, which would be his first live in-person Raw appearance since 2004. January 4 is also the scheduled date of the Fiesta Bowl, which does strong ratings, coincidentally with John Cena as Grand Marshal.
The current creative plan is for a faction led by Hogan to feud with a faction led by Mick Foley. Most of the talent involved have been kept in the dark but Hogan has been trying to recruit major names from the past outside of the company for the storyline. He has also been telling people that he plans to ditch the six-sided ring, but I can't see that one happening. Hogan's PPV debut will be Genesis on January 17 from Orlando.
The company randomly drug tested at the last television tapings. TNA has never publicly released any information on their policy although last year talent were given booklets detailing the supposed policies they have in place. The last time they randomly tested the fail rate was high but nobody was punished in terms of fines or suspensions.
Lacey Von Erich and her partner Grant officially announced their engagement this past weekend.
Jeff Jarrett makes his storyline return to Impact this week when Mick Foley visits his home. Will Karen Angle be there?
Impact last Thursday did an 1.0 rating. No real new interest so far sparked by the Hogan hype in terms of ratings.
Sarita took part in the Freestyle Fitness 2009 this past week in Mexico City. It's a model-athlete competition involving a catwalk in a bikini, cocktail dress, and an obstacle course.
One of our readers noted ordering 12 DVD's from the TNA website but in error they sent out 24. Our reader then sent an email to TNA customer support to report the error and send back the extra DVD's, but three week's later no response, so they sold them on eBay and made a profit. The reader says they are going to spend the money on a ticket to a WWE house show.
TNA has a special offer to help push soft ticket sales for the tour in the UK early next year. They have a family package which includes 4 tickets, plus two free children’s T-shirts, for £97.50 ($162)... They are also giving away a free DVD to fans who come to the TV tapings at Universal Studios on December 7, 8 or 21. Traditionally the park is at it's lowest attendance of the year in December and they may struggle to fill the Impact Zone.
TNA Epics will air on Spike TV beginning in January. The show, hosted by Mick Foley, ran earlier this year for a first season run of ten episodes in international markets. It's a copycat version of WWE's Vintage Collection with matches and events from the history of TNA. In the UK, nine original episodes aired between May and September this year but mysteriously a Jeff Hardy special was pulled for undisclosed reasons, but you can probably guess what they were.
The fallout from the Hogan divorce battle continues. The Tampa Tribune reports that Hogan, in recent court fillings, claims that ex-wife Linda stripped their Belleair mansion of valuable fixtures before she moved to California, including the bath tub and toilet seat, and damaged some property in the process. "We're talking about tens of thousands of dollars in property and repairs," Hogan's attorney, David Houston was quoted as saying. The mansion is currently up for sale with a $13.9 million asking price. Linda's attorney, Raymond Rafool claims that the couple had agreed that the fixtures in question were not to be sold with the house. He said Linda has offered to repair the damage but Hulk refused. "Linda wants him just merely to comply with what they agreed to," Rafool said. An interesting note is court filings also revealed Hogan received $2,285 in royalties from WWE from July 28 to October 15, 2009. Linda wants a piece of that as she says her divorce settlement entitles her to a percentage of all of Hogan's future earnings, but Hogan denied her countering that for that period he recorded a net loss of $120,000 due to attorney fees.
Hogan is a guest on the Canadian TV talk show The Surf on Tuesday night at 10pm pushing his book.
Chelsea Handler on her E! show Chelsea Lately last week ripped on Brutus Beefcake. She said they recently shared an airport lounge in Australia and called him "f***ing disgusting... the grossest person I have ever seen". She said he was wasted and running around first class yelling like a moron. Handler was on the same flight as Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, Eric Bischoff, Beefcake, Ric Flair, The Nasty Boys, and others.
Alex Marvez interviewed Ric Flair on possibly working for TNA. He said he never gave a thought to working here before because of his loyalty to WWE. He said, "I don't want to make any predictions, but I've certainly got a lot left to offer. I think I would be a good addition to (TNA's) program," adding, "Everything is about money, timing, what they want me to do and the job description. There's a lot up in the air. I haven't talked to them yet, but I've had conversations with people who work there. I've stood by WWE, but if they're not going to use me anymore, I'm ready for any kind of action." Story is at http://tinyurl.com/ycp97ok.
End Game starring Kurt Angle and Jenna Morasca was released on DVD this past week. Kurt plays a serial killer who likes to stalk beautiful women. The movie was produced by Northshore Pictures, a company based in Pittsburgh and is a partnership between Kurt, Bruce and Bryan Kohler, and Dave Hawk, Kurt's agent.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
The daughter of Greg Gagne and granddaughter of Verne Gagne, is accused of having sex with a student while working as a high school substitute teacher and assistant basketball coach, reports The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Gail E. Gagne, 27, is facing two counts of third-degree criminal-sexual conduct for alleged incidents with a 17-year-old student. The alleged sexual contact is said to have occurred during the summer of 2008 when the boy was 16 and Gagne was 25 and is alleged to have taken place in Gagne’s home in Bloomington and at a hotel where the two allegedly spent the night together and had sex. Attorney Earl Gray (what an awesome name), who is reportedly representing Gagne, said she would enter a plea of not guilty and go to trial. Gagne is not in custody and St. Paul, MN police say they believe she is living in the Chicago area.
British wrestler Nik Bali was badly injured during a match in Cardiff for Celtic Wrestling on November 27 after a double-team Styles Clash move went wrong. He was reportedly paralysed from the neck down. His family have asked for privacy and are not releasing any further details about Bali's condition at this time. UK promoter Greg Lambert told us: "Nik is very well-liked on the UK wrestling scene. He is perhaps best known as 'The Bollywood Dream' RJ Singh's tag team partner in several UK promotions."
Dr. Death Steve Williams, who is currently battling cancer, got some good news this past week when a PET Scan indicated that the cancer in his Stoma was getting smaller. He said he has several more chemo treatments and is more determined than ever to beat the disease.
WHPR TV-33 and AWWL Big Time Wrestling announced a deal to resurrect the original Big Time Wrestling program in Detroit after a 35-year hiatus. The show airing Saturday and Monday nights in Detroit includes classic wrestling not seen on TV for decades featuring legends such as The Sheik, Bobo Brazil, and Dick The Bruiser. The show will also air next year on The Fight Network in Canada. AWWL is operated by Ed Farhat Jr., the son of the original Sheik.
A story from Australia at http://tinyurl.com/ylbx7us with people up in arms over a midget wrestling show. Martin Fathers, a lecturer from RMIT University in Melbourne, criticised the event run by New Age Wrestling, saying that he was horrified that little people are used for entertainment purposes. He said: "People say it’s all in good fun, but it sends a very poor message that you can use people of different abilities for the entertainment of able-bodied people... It’s an appalling way for children to learn about diversity."
Lilian Garcia recently did a photo shoot for the No H8 campaign in support of same sex marriages.
Gene Snitsky appears in a new music video for rock band Vyrus at http://tinyurl.com/yz8w9l9.
Yahoo! Sports ranked the XFL No. 2 in their list of the worst flops in football for the decade.
New York Magazine reviewed two lucha libra themed restaurants in the Manhattan area at http://tinyurl.com/ydtymt3.
The Sun at http://tinyurl.com/yl46lzl has a story on UK rock band Kasabian who have been checking into hotels on tour using the names of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Steve Austin, among others to avoid groupies. They may attract a different type of groupie with those names...
Rene Dupree and Portia Perez who are among those out in Europe touring with American Wrestling Rampage subjected themselves to a bizarre interview on a late night Bulgarian chat show. The host asked some really weird questions including whether Dupree had injured himself sexually while wrestling. Footage is at http://tinyurl.com/yz8t8w2 ... Dupree also did media interviews in Bulgaria ripping on WWE for making him a "Mickey Mouse cartoon character", and said he's now making more money than when he was with WWE and is glad he doesn't work there anymore. The AWR tour concludes later this week in France with shows in Toulous and Marseille.
Former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski is giving a presentation on brain injuries tonight at Wayland Middle School in Wayland, MA. He is presenting the latest research showing the risk of brain damage which can cause depression and premature Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. This forum is free to the public.
Today's Diva of the Day is Beulah at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva
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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday December 6, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
12/1 ECW TV results from Hampton, VA: Goldust over William Regal; Trent Baretta & Caylen Croft over Bobby Shields & Tyler Hilton; and Christian & Shelton Benjamin ovr Ezekiel Jackson & Kozlov.
12/3 Superstars TV results: Legacy over Primo & Evan Bourne; Hurricane over Zack Ryder; and Dolph Ziggler over Matt Hardy.
12/4 Smackdown TV results from Hampton, VA: R-Truth over CM Punk; Kane over Mike Knox; Mickie James over Natalya & Beth Phoenix in a three-way to win a title shot; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison; The Hart Dynasty over Eric Escobar in a handicap match; and JeriShow over Cryme Tyme.
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Funeral arrangements for Eddie "Umaga" Fatu were finalized last night and are expected to be announced later today. I understand the family has made plans for a service Wednesday in Houston following WWE's Texas television tapings so WWE people can attend. The family are also planning a tribute show for January 16 in Leesburg, FL.
Fatu's passing has attracted a lot of press around the world. CNN at http://tinyurl.com/yzb294l ran a story that was their front page headline splash for most of Saturday. Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun, Dawn Marie and Terri Runnels are all quoted talking about wrestlers dying young. Dawn Marie, due to her charity, Wrestler's Rescue, seems to have become the unofficial spokesperson to the mainstream media for these types of stories. She was also booking Umaga for indy shows and they used to be travel together back when they both worked for WWE.
Tomorrow's Houston Chronicle has a nice piece on Umaga with quotes from his aunt, Lynn Anoa'i, and Bruce Prichard, the former Brother Love.
The company sent a press release to local press in Dallas teasing a confrontation between tonight's Raw guest host and Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Cody Rhodes. The release noted that Cuban is looking for "payback" on Randy Orton for the RKO he received back at Survivor Series in 2003. Rhodes was quoted saying that Cubin can bring some Mavs or Cowboys players and they have a 6 man tag match against him, DiBiase, and Orton.
DX vs. Hornswoggle in Little People's court will apparently air on tonight's Raw. At least that was the plan at the end of last week.
Big Show underwent arthroscopic knee surgery two weeks ago in Tampa. He was back at work a few days later and told people he was feeling great.
Ukranian-born Oleg Prudius, better known as Vladimir Kozlov, is taking the Oath of Allegiance this morning at the Tampa Convention Center.
Several WWE talents voiced their disappointment over not being booked for the Tribute to the Troops show, including Mickie James on her Twitter. The show was taped last week at Balad Airbase in Iraq. The roster for the show is actually finalized months in advance as all the talents included are subject to FBI screening. There is also limited space on the cargo plane with all the production equipment and crew.
Tribute to the Troops which airs December 19 on NBC has MVP vs. Chris Masters; Rey Mysterio & Mark Henry vs. CM Punk & Carlito; John Morrison vs. The Miz; and John Cena vs. Chris Jericho as the main event. The show opens with the troops singing the national anthem. There is also a segment with R-Truth dressed as Santa with some babyface Divas as helpers giving out merchandise.
There is a lot of internal talk recently that SyFy is unhappy with ratings for ECW. SyFy has asked WWE to look at rebranding the show sans the E-C-W initials, according to a well-placed source.
Kaval (Low Ki) is expected to debut soon under a mask. That was the creative plan talked about as of last week.
Rey Mysterio did a rare interview with the Daily Star at http://tinyurl.com/yjx4byu. He talked about checking himself into rehab last year for pain killer addiction, which is noted in his new book. He said: "I had to do the right thing, I was so tired of taking medication to keep me away from the pain; now I’ve learned how to cope with that day to day, and it feels great to be a new man! ... When you realize you’re in the right moment – that you haven’t lost your family, or lost your job it’s a good thing, and with the support and help of my wife and kids, I’ve moved on to something better." He also talked about how the business has evolved and believes some of the younger talents in WWE haven't paid their dues: "It’s a lot easier to become a wrestler now, in WWE, the head person in charge of bringing talent in has a look at you and if he thinks you have something they’ll put you in their camp in FCW, which makes it easier. When you don’t have the suffering, everything is easy, but after that suffering you feel like you have accomplished something when you get there. There are still a few guys who have that desire, but not as many.”
Raw last Monday did a 3.2 rating, ECW last Tuesday did a 1.0, Superstars last Thursday did a 0.9 rating, and Smackdown back on November 20 did a 2.1 rating.
WWE was granted an extension until December 15 to respond to Jody Hamilton's breach of contract lawsuit over Deep South Wrestling being cut as developmental back in 2006.
Jeff Hardy's probable cause hearing was continued until January 27. The prosecution asked the judge for more time to produce evidence.
The Hartford Courant covered Jesse Ventura's criticism over the lack of unionization in professional wrestling. WWE PR executive Robert Zimmerman was quoted in response saying that Ventura was a hypocrite for saying such things after he recently hosted Raw: "We find it highly hypocritical that Jesse had no problem coming on Monday Night Raw last week to promote his new project or was happy to be paid all those years by the WWE as a performer,'' Zimmerman said. "He is just looking to garner additional press for his fledging show, appropriately entitled Conspiracy Theory." Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yjbymvd.
Ventura walked off an appearance on the Opie and Anthony radio show. Comedian Jim Norton got on his case again when talking about 9/11 and conspiracy theories. They ended up in a heated argument and Ventura walked off. There is a video clip online at http://tinyurl.com/yz55x5w... Ventura also went on Colin Cowherd's ESPN show and bragged about defeating Vince McMahon in court years ago over video tape royalties. He said he still receives checks from WWE to this day and refers to them as his "wrestling retirement fund"... The premiere of Conspiracy Theory last week averaged 1.6 million viewers, the highest series launch audience ever on truTV.
Steve Austin will appear in the fifth episode of NBC series Chuck scheduled to air January 25. He plays a close quarters combat expert.
The latest unwritten Twitter policy for talent is that they can't Tweet from bars after midnight or Tweet to/about friends in TNA.
Former announcer Kevin Kelly is interviewed at http://tinyurl.com/ltcdyz talking about what it's like to work closely with Vince McMahon. Very interesting interview. Kelly also talks about the passing of Eddie Fatu.
There is an interview with the former Kizarny (Nick Cvjetkovich) at http://tinyurl.com/y8t7n2s talking about his brief WWE run: "Working at WWE was also awful because there is so much politics and back stabbing you never know who your enemies are because they are all gutlessly and unaccountably hiding in the shadows... I wasn’t given a straight reason why I was released. One minute I was being told how unique I was and how great of a work ethic I had the next minute they had nothing for me. I have heard many different theories. I guess I just didn’t fit their mold of cookie cutter. Not enough abs showing I guess even though in the ring I can run circles around every ex-NFL player or jacked-up underwear model collecting a paycheck in the WWE developmental system." He added: "Vince and his billion dollar case of ADD wants Ken Dolls sports entertaining against other Ken Dolls at the moment. Me looking weird or different didn’t compute with the tunnel vision that WWE sometimes has even though Rob Zombie, Marlylin Mason and Hot f**king Topic retail stores are all the rage with the kiddies. I have no idea why different isn’t a good thing at WWE. If everyone looks and wrestles the same -- where is the fun in that? When you go to the circus you want the variety of elephants, tight rope walkers, clowns, monkeys, fire eaters, so why does that not apply to wrestling as well?"
Former WWE Canada president Carl DeMarco has taken a job on the Board of Directors with Multiplied Media Corporation, a Calgary-based provider of mobile local search services. He also interviewed recently with UFC in Las Vegas. DeMarco had worked for WWE since 1995 and before that he was the personal manager of Bret Hart. He was instrumental in WWE's evolution in Canada and internationally during the last decade, and brought Wrestlemania to Toronto in 2002.
No new update on Sean Mooney returning to WWE as an announcer. His colleagues at Fox Sports Arizona say they haven't seen him around lately.
The new Raw theme Burn it to the Ground by Nickelback has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance along with War Machine by AC/DC which was used as a theme for WrestleMania 25. Also, Bruce Springsteen's The Wrestler has been nominated for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
Wisconsin's WKBT is running a create a wrestler contest to win ringside tickets to WWE's January 11 show in La Crosse. More info at http://tinyurl.com/ygm7h3x.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
12/3 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Alex Shelley over Doug Williams; Suicide over Homicide; D’Angelo Dinero over Jesse Neal; Eric Young & Kevin Nash over Beer Money; Daniels over Abyss; and Hamada over Sarita.
***
Hulk Hogan announced Saturday night during the Ultimate Fighter finale on Spike that Impact will go live on January 4 with a 3-hour special head-to-head against Raw. In case you missed it you can watch Joe Rogan's interview with Hogan at http://tinyurl.com/y9g7wv2. The best part is Rogan saying that Hogan has been in some MMA fights before, and Hogan doesn't even flinch. He sat cageside for the fights with Dixie Carter and Eric Bischoff. Jimmy Hart, Brutus Beefcake and The Nasty Boys were also at the show but not shown on camera.
Obviously this is somewhat major news in that this is the first shot that could spark another Monday Night War. For now the live show on January 4 will be a one off special and Spike execs will be evaluating whether it's in their best interest to make the permanent move to Monday nights. The timing is interesting as January 4 was the date talked about as the night that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would host Raw, which would be his first live in-person Raw appearance since 2004. January 4 is also the scheduled date of the Fiesta Bowl, which does strong ratings, coincidentally with John Cena as Grand Marshal.
The current creative plan is for a faction led by Hogan to feud with a faction led by Mick Foley. Most of the talent involved have been kept in the dark but Hogan has been trying to recruit major names from the past outside of the company for the storyline. He has also been telling people that he plans to ditch the six-sided ring, but I can't see that one happening. Hogan's PPV debut will be Genesis on January 17 from Orlando.
The company randomly drug tested at the last television tapings. TNA has never publicly released any information on their policy although last year talent were given booklets detailing the supposed policies they have in place. The last time they randomly tested the fail rate was high but nobody was punished in terms of fines or suspensions.
Lacey Von Erich and her partner Grant officially announced their engagement this past weekend.
Jeff Jarrett makes his storyline return to Impact this week when Mick Foley visits his home. Will Karen Angle be there?
Impact last Thursday did an 1.0 rating. No real new interest so far sparked by the Hogan hype in terms of ratings.
Sarita took part in the Freestyle Fitness 2009 this past week in Mexico City. It's a model-athlete competition involving a catwalk in a bikini, cocktail dress, and an obstacle course.
One of our readers noted ordering 12 DVD's from the TNA website but in error they sent out 24. Our reader then sent an email to TNA customer support to report the error and send back the extra DVD's, but three week's later no response, so they sold them on eBay and made a profit. The reader says they are going to spend the money on a ticket to a WWE house show.
TNA has a special offer to help push soft ticket sales for the tour in the UK early next year. They have a family package which includes 4 tickets, plus two free children’s T-shirts, for £97.50 ($162)... They are also giving away a free DVD to fans who come to the TV tapings at Universal Studios on December 7, 8 or 21. Traditionally the park is at it's lowest attendance of the year in December and they may struggle to fill the Impact Zone.
TNA Epics will air on Spike TV beginning in January. The show, hosted by Mick Foley, ran earlier this year for a first season run of ten episodes in international markets. It's a copycat version of WWE's Vintage Collection with matches and events from the history of TNA. In the UK, nine original episodes aired between May and September this year but mysteriously a Jeff Hardy special was pulled for undisclosed reasons, but you can probably guess what they were.
The fallout from the Hogan divorce battle continues. The Tampa Tribune reports that Hogan, in recent court fillings, claims that ex-wife Linda stripped their Belleair mansion of valuable fixtures before she moved to California, including the bath tub and toilet seat, and damaged some property in the process. "We're talking about tens of thousands of dollars in property and repairs," Hogan's attorney, David Houston was quoted as saying. The mansion is currently up for sale with a $13.9 million asking price. Linda's attorney, Raymond Rafool claims that the couple had agreed that the fixtures in question were not to be sold with the house. He said Linda has offered to repair the damage but Hulk refused. "Linda wants him just merely to comply with what they agreed to," Rafool said. An interesting note is court filings also revealed Hogan received $2,285 in royalties from WWE from July 28 to October 15, 2009. Linda wants a piece of that as she says her divorce settlement entitles her to a percentage of all of Hogan's future earnings, but Hogan denied her countering that for that period he recorded a net loss of $120,000 due to attorney fees.
Hogan is a guest on the Canadian TV talk show The Surf on Tuesday night at 10pm pushing his book.
Chelsea Handler on her E! show Chelsea Lately last week ripped on Brutus Beefcake. She said they recently shared an airport lounge in Australia and called him "f***ing disgusting... the grossest person I have ever seen". She said he was wasted and running around first class yelling like a moron. Handler was on the same flight as Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, Eric Bischoff, Beefcake, Ric Flair, The Nasty Boys, and others.
Alex Marvez interviewed Ric Flair on possibly working for TNA. He said he never gave a thought to working here before because of his loyalty to WWE. He said, "I don't want to make any predictions, but I've certainly got a lot left to offer. I think I would be a good addition to (TNA's) program," adding, "Everything is about money, timing, what they want me to do and the job description. There's a lot up in the air. I haven't talked to them yet, but I've had conversations with people who work there. I've stood by WWE, but if they're not going to use me anymore, I'm ready for any kind of action." Story is at http://tinyurl.com/ycp97ok.
End Game starring Kurt Angle and Jenna Morasca was released on DVD this past week. Kurt plays a serial killer who likes to stalk beautiful women. The movie was produced by Northshore Pictures, a company based in Pittsburgh and is a partnership between Kurt, Bruce and Bryan Kohler, and Dave Hawk, Kurt's agent.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
The daughter of Greg Gagne and granddaughter of Verne Gagne, is accused of having sex with a student while working as a high school substitute teacher and assistant basketball coach, reports The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Gail E. Gagne, 27, is facing two counts of third-degree criminal-sexual conduct for alleged incidents with a 17-year-old student. The alleged sexual contact is said to have occurred during the summer of 2008 when the boy was 16 and Gagne was 25 and is alleged to have taken place in Gagne’s home in Bloomington and at a hotel where the two allegedly spent the night together and had sex. Attorney Earl Gray (what an awesome name), who is reportedly representing Gagne, said she would enter a plea of not guilty and go to trial. Gagne is not in custody and St. Paul, MN police say they believe she is living in the Chicago area.
British wrestler Nik Bali was badly injured during a match in Cardiff for Celtic Wrestling on November 27 after a double-team Styles Clash move went wrong. He was reportedly paralysed from the neck down. His family have asked for privacy and are not releasing any further details about Bali's condition at this time. UK promoter Greg Lambert told us: "Nik is very well-liked on the UK wrestling scene. He is perhaps best known as 'The Bollywood Dream' RJ Singh's tag team partner in several UK promotions."
Dr. Death Steve Williams, who is currently battling cancer, got some good news this past week when a PET Scan indicated that the cancer in his Stoma was getting smaller. He said he has several more chemo treatments and is more determined than ever to beat the disease.
WHPR TV-33 and AWWL Big Time Wrestling announced a deal to resurrect the original Big Time Wrestling program in Detroit after a 35-year hiatus. The show airing Saturday and Monday nights in Detroit includes classic wrestling not seen on TV for decades featuring legends such as The Sheik, Bobo Brazil, and Dick The Bruiser. The show will also air next year on The Fight Network in Canada. AWWL is operated by Ed Farhat Jr., the son of the original Sheik.
A story from Australia at http://tinyurl.com/ylbx7us with people up in arms over a midget wrestling show. Martin Fathers, a lecturer from RMIT University in Melbourne, criticised the event run by New Age Wrestling, saying that he was horrified that little people are used for entertainment purposes. He said: "People say it’s all in good fun, but it sends a very poor message that you can use people of different abilities for the entertainment of able-bodied people... It’s an appalling way for children to learn about diversity."
Lilian Garcia recently did a photo shoot for the No H8 campaign in support of same sex marriages.
Gene Snitsky appears in a new music video for rock band Vyrus at http://tinyurl.com/yz8w9l9.
Yahoo! Sports ranked the XFL No. 2 in their list of the worst flops in football for the decade.
New York Magazine reviewed two lucha libra themed restaurants in the Manhattan area at http://tinyurl.com/ydtymt3.
The Sun at http://tinyurl.com/yl46lzl has a story on UK rock band Kasabian who have been checking into hotels on tour using the names of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Steve Austin, among others to avoid groupies. They may attract a different type of groupie with those names...
Rene Dupree and Portia Perez who are among those out in Europe touring with American Wrestling Rampage subjected themselves to a bizarre interview on a late night Bulgarian chat show. The host asked some really weird questions including whether Dupree had injured himself sexually while wrestling. Footage is at http://tinyurl.com/yz8t8w2 ... Dupree also did media interviews in Bulgaria ripping on WWE for making him a "Mickey Mouse cartoon character", and said he's now making more money than when he was with WWE and is glad he doesn't work there anymore. The AWR tour concludes later this week in France with shows in Toulous and Marseille.
Former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski is giving a presentation on brain injuries tonight at Wayland Middle School in Wayland, MA. He is presenting the latest research showing the risk of brain damage which can cause depression and premature Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. This forum is free to the public.
Today's Diva of the Day is Beulah at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva
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