Trent Acid Dead at 29
Troubled Northeast indy wrestler Michael Verdi, who wrestled as Trent Acid, has passed away. He was found by his mother at around 9am this morning where he was living in Philadelphia. He was 29. Verdi had been battling various demons which derailed what was once a promising career several years ago. He will probably be best remembered as one half of the Backseat Boyz tag team with Johnny Kashmere. He had just completed a stint in court mandated rehab. This followed a parole violation and subsequent plea deal after he was arrested for heroin possession earlier this year.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
6/17 Superstars TV results: Kofi Kingston over Trent Barreta; Primo over Yoshi Tatsu; and Jimmy & Jey Uso over Goldust & Mark Henry.
Just the one house show this weekend ahead of Sunday's pay-per-view. Madison Square Garden is sold out on Saturday night with John Cena vs Sheamus; Jack Swagger vs. Big Show; Randy Orton vs Edge; MVP, Kane & Christian vs. CM Punk, Luke Gallows & The Mystery Man; R-Truth vs. The Miz; Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre; and Eve Torres & The Bellas vs. Maryse & LayCool with Santino as special referee.
Fatal 4-Way from Long Island on Sunday has John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge vs. Sheamus for the WWE title; Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk vs. Big Show for the World title; Eve Torres vs. Gail Kim vs. Maryse vs. Alicia Fox for the Divas title; The Miz vs. R-Truth for the U.S. title; and Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre for the IC title. Expect more involvement from the NXT season one rookies. And at least two title changes.
Smackdown tonight includes Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk & Jack Swagger; Layla vs. Kelly Kelly in a non-title match; Drew McIntyre vs. Teddy Long, if Long is pinned then he is fired as GM; MVP & Christian vs. Vance Archer & Curt Hawkins; JTG vs. Chavo Guerrero; and Chris Masters vs. Dolph Ziggler. The show airs at 11pm in the NYC market due to the Yankees game.
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Regarding Vince McMahon showing up to the TV tapings two week's ago with black eyes, one source who would know was under the impression that Vince recently underwent some type of facial cosmetic surgery.
Kelly Kelly and Tiffany who were recently paired together on Smackdown are calling their tag team Blondetourage.
There is at least talk of Cody Rhodes joining Punk's Straight Edge Society.
The July 4th weekend shows in Mississippi, Kansas, Missouri and Florida were all postponed and rescheduled for December. WWE told the buildings that this was due to a schedule conflict, which is strange because nothing else is scheduled. Poor advance ticket sales was likely a factor. This now means a rare weekend off for talent and road crew.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
6/17 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Ink, Inc. over Kevin Nash & Eric Young in the tag title tournament; Samoa Joe over Hernandez; Douglas Williams over Max Buck; Lacey Von Erich over Angelina Love via DQ; Beer Money over Team 3D in the tag title tournament; Jay Lethal over Desmond Wolfe; and Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Abyss was a triple count out.
6/17 house show results from Dayton, OH: Jay Lethal over Homicide; Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne over Sarita & Taylor Wilde; Rob Terry over Orlando Jordan; Mr. Anderson & Kurt Angle over Matt Morgan & Eric Young; Douglas Williams over Shannon Moore; and Jeff Hardy over AJ Styles. Show drew an estimated 1,500. There was a nice moment when Hardy kissed a women celebrating her 81st birthday.
The Midwest loop continues tonight at the Dispatch Ice Haus which is housed within Columbus' Nationwide Arena. The crew also run Saturday night at the Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IN.
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Spike TV has picked up the newly revamped Xplosion show, a well-placed source at Spike has told us. The show has not aired in the U.S. since 2006 but is a regular fixture in many international markets. We understand that the show will air Thursdays 8-9pm before Impact which will eventually complete a four hour block of TNA wrestling on Spike as the new show Reaction is set to premiere at 11pm post-Impact from 7/15. An official announcement is expected soon.
Dixie Carter, before Impact aired last night, wrote on Twitter that she talked to Scott Hall and together they decided he needed time away to focus on his personal issues. Earlier this week, when news broke that Hall was gone, even though almost everyone was weary of him, several TNA people brought up the double standard in that Hall was let go due to his alcohol-related arrest, while Jeff Hardy was indicted in January and is facing serious drug-related charges which could see him in jail by the end of the year.
Hulk Hogan has another new gig as a spokesman for 1-800-LoanMart. The company sent out a release yesterday to announce Hogan as it's new voice and face.
Former WWE wrestlers Rosey (Matt Anoa'i) and Jimmy Yang were backstage hanging out at the show last night in Dayton.
For the time being, Suicide will be portrayed by Kiyoshi.
The entertaining Ric Flair-Jay Lethal segment from Impact is online at http://tinyurl.com/2ud8tfj.
A new wacky Flair commercial for the Tennessee State lottery is online at http://tinyurl.com/369zrnu.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Jerry Jenkins, 66, who wrestled and managed on shows for American Championship Wrestling out of Boaz, Alabama, passed away this morning after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Women Superstars Uncensored posted a new episode of it's web show at http://tinyurl.com/3x9w9gf. WSU is promoting Uncensored Rumble 3 in Union City, NJ on 6/26 with Mercedes Martinez, Awesome Kong, Nikki Roxx, Angel Orsini, Jazz, Daizee Haze, Amber O'Neal, Mickie Knuckles, Brittney Savage, Becky Bayless, many more.
James Guttman interviewed John "Berzerker" Nord about Bruiser Brody, Undertaker, meeting fans and more at www.clubwwi.com.
Today's Babe of the Day is Amy Weber at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
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