WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
2/12 Smackdown TV results: Rey Mysterio over CM Punk; Kane vs. Drew McIntyre was a double count out; Michelle McCool & Layla over Mickie James in a handicap match; Matt Hardy & Great Khali over The Hart Dynasty; R-Truth over John Morrison; and Chris Jericho over Undertaker.
2/12 Smackdown house show results from Guayaquil, Ecuador: Matt Hardy & R-Truth over The Hart Dynasty; Goldust over Zack Ryder w/ Rosa Mendes; Beth Phoenix over Michelle McCool; Christian over Ezekiel Jackson; Kane over CM Punk; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison; Rey Mysterio over Chris Jericho; and The Undertaker over Batista. The show drew over 12,000 people.
2/12 Raw house show results from East Lansing, MI: Yoshi Tatsu over William Regal; Evan Bourne over Chavo; Chris Masters w/ Eve Torres did a Masterlock challenge over Santino; The Miz over Kofi Kingston & MVP in a three-way; DX over Cody Rhodes & Jack Swagger; Gail Kim & The Bella Twins over Maryse, Jillian Hall & Alicia Fox; Mark Henry over Carlito; and John Cena over Sheamus via DQ. Ted DiBiase missed the show due to the airport shutting down because of bad weather.
The Smackdown crew are in the midst of a South American tour. They run tonight in Costa Rica then Sunday night in Mexico. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com as well as reports from the Raw show tonight in Madison, WI and Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Raw TV is Monday from Des Moines with Jerry Springer as guest host, plus John Cena vs. Triple H, Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton vs. Sheamus in a non-title match. Smackdown TV is taped Tuesday in Kansas City with the death of ECW which includes Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson in a hardcore match for the ECW title; MizShow vs. Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu for the tag titles; and some surprises. Edge vs. Batista is advertised as the Smackdown main event.
***
Just to clarify a report from yesterday--Survivor Series in November will be rebranded under a new name. "Survivor Series, many years ago was one of the original four pay-per-views, but it's outlasted its usage," said Vince McMahon during Thursday's WWE investors conference call. "That is one of the things in terms of rebranding this year going forward. That will be rebranded. No longer will we have that title, Survivor Series."
Drew McIntyre vs. Kane for the IC title was added to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
The Ottawa Sun has a story on Monday's Raw host Jerry Springer at http://tinyurl.com/yce27c9. He talks about watching wrestling with Antonino Rocca and Haystacks Calhoun as a kid: "It's all a circus and it's all entertainment. If you're prepared to take it in the spirit in which it's given, then you can really enjoy it and have a great time. If you're going to sit back and just be in judgment of all this, then you're not going to have a good time. The fact is, particularly young people enjoy it, love it [and] they don't grow up to be dysfunctional because they see it. A whole nation has watched wrestling for the last 50 years on television. One thing that is very clear when you watch professional wrestlers is what phenomenal athletes they are."
The main talking point following Jack Brisco's funeral service on Thursday was the absence of Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. As noted, Brisco broke Hogan into the business after discovering him playing in a rock band in the 1970s. People at the service couldn't believe Hogan would not show up. Another talking point was Mike Graham and the attire he was wearing.
The Miz at http://tinyurl.com/yho7fbe talks about his recent money promo claiming the reason he was kicked out of the locker room a few years ago was because he was an outsider.
WWE Studios has another new movie in the works called Killing Karma which starts shooting on April 13 in New Orleans. The film is about an ex-con who wants to make a new life for himself. However, his best friend accidentally shoots a gangster and he scrambles to protect his friend's family while trying to avoid a mob boss. No word on WWE talent attached to the project but they are currently casting for several roles.
Jim Ross' thought of the day via his Twitter: "Wondering why so many young wrestlers have such eye rolling ring names? Lame monikers become silly... ill thought ring names become negatives. If a name doesn't sound WMania main event worthy, rethink it." I don't know, but I assume this came to mind after his FCW visit earlier this week.
The Peoria Journal Star has a Q&A with Kofi Kingston at http://tinyurl.com/yd6vlzv. He noted Mike Tyson was his favorite Raw host. "My first Wrestlemania I got to watch live was Wrestlemania 14 in Boston. That was the one Tyson was involved with. When he was here a couple weeks ago, I was in the ring with Tyson. That was kind of coming full circle to me. I remember being in the crowd watching that Wrestlemania and knowing someday I’d be there. And Tyson was one of the many motivators that got me where I am today."
Kelly Kelly and Lalya break kayfabe and talk about playing "video games" at http://tinyurl.com/ycw65bm.
A fun interview with Chris Jericho ripping TMZ at http://tinyurl.com/ygjafbh.
Superstars on Thursday night did a 1.0 rating and 1.2 million viewers... WGN America on it's website are giving away an all expenses paid trip to Wrestlemania 26.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
2/12 house show results from Norfolk, VA: Generation Me over Lethal Consequences; Jesse Neal over Homicide; Tara & Angelina Love over The Beautiful People; Jeff Jarrett over Daniels; Beer Money over The British Invasion; The Poper over Desmond Wolfe; and AJ Styles w/ Ric Flair over Kurt Angle. After the show, Angle thanked everyone for watching Impact on Thursday's and to continue watching on Monday night, "real soon." Flair signed autographs before and after the show for $20 a pop.
Against all Odds is Sunday from Orlando with AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA heavyweight title with Eric Bischoff as special referee; The Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D for the tag titles; and an 8-man tournament to determine the No 1 contender for the heavyweight title at April’s Lockdown PPV. The winner of Pope-Wolfe and Hernandez-Matt Morgan faces the winner of Abyss-Foley and Anderson-Angle.
The television tapings are Monday and Tuesday also in Orlando.
***
There are a several TNA talents having travel issues today. Ken Anderson wrote on his Twitter that he is on stand by to fly out of Minneapolis. He was told there are no flights until Monday, and obviously he is booked on Sunday's pay-per-view. It's a 20-hour plus drve to Orlando so that doesn't sound too promising. Airports are jammed in different areas of the country right now with many flights delayed or canceled due to the weather.
Impact on Thursday night did a 1.2 rating and 1.6 million viewers--back to the pre Hogan/Bischoff numbers.
Ric Flair is reportedly looking at opening a gym and wrestling school in Charlotte. Not sure how this would work. Several years ago he owned some Gold's Gyms but they were poorly managed and basically went out of business. He was bought out of his leases for very little and also lost a lawsuit when he sold one gym and it turned out that the equipment was rented and not owned, but he had not mentioned that in the sale. Somebody close to Flair said that he has long talked about opening a training facility and is very hands on and intense in his training. But they couldn't envision him setting up any type of new business right now as he has many creditors and both of his daughters are getting married over the next few weeks.
The Miami Herald interviewed Brian Diamond of Spike TV at http://tinyurl.com/yampvvy. He said TNA producing live or taped show works for him either way although there are cost and logistic issues involved with going live. "At the end of the day, as long as you're putting out a strong product, it's fine either way," he said. When asked about the Monday, March 1 date that recently listed Impact on Spike's TV schedule, he claimed: "It's accurate that it went out. It's inaccurate as to the fact that there was a date. That was an error. There is nothing carved in stone at this point.'' Diamond also said he has a great relationship with Eric Bischoff and was talking to him about other programming ideas but nothing specific at this point and time.
IGN interviewed Desmond Wolfe about his time in TNA so far, leaving Ring of Honor, Hulk Hogan and more at http://tinyurl.com/ycjgwqf.
Heavy.com did an interview with Bobby Lashley. When asked about his status with TNA, he said: "I don't really know much man. I had a talk with the guys a while back about doing both. Everything seemed to be working well. I think maybe there were some complications there towards the end. I got back home and got all these calls from people saying that I had been released from wrestling. So as far as I know, I've been released, so yes, I can focus full time on MMA."
The second part of Brian Fritz' interview with Mick Foley was posted at http://tinyurl.com/yc3r2mm. On Impact moving to Monday night: "I certainly think it would bring out the best in Vince. I think that material I wrote about in my last book [The Hardcore Diaries] and I think I clearly stated that I thought the WWE product suffered when they lost their competition and I think Vince is a guy that strives on competition. He may not outwardly want it but I think it will bring out the best in him and that's ultimately good for everybody – WWE, TNA, the wrestlers and the fans."
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
A Legends show with Jerry Lawler, Dutch Mantell and Bill Dundee drew over 1,000 paid last night in Ripley, Mississippi about 75 miles south of Memphis--a town that has a population of 6,000. The show was promoted by Rodney Grimes who is regarded as one of the best independent promoters in the south. Fans came from as far away as Alabama and Arkansas.
Dave Meltzer has an awesome story on Danny Hodge at http://tinyurl.com/y9g54g6.
Mike Lano has a review of the recent WrestleReunion convention in Los Angeles focusing on the Iron Sheik, TNA's Daffney, and former WWE valets Terri Runnels and Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, who is in the process of writing a book. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/ycqd8o5.
Ring of Honor is looking to syndicate it's weekly television show in the UK where they haven't had a presence since 2008.
Former WWE wrestler and MMA fighter Glenn Kulka made his acting debut as Charles the Wrestler in the Third Wall Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's As You Like. the production runs until February 14 at the Irving Greenberg Centre in Ottawa. Apparently his tongue-cheek-performances have brought down the house.
Today's Diva of the Day is Gail Kim at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
RassleResults: USWO/ATL Nashville, TN 2.12.10
125 attended
Saint b Convict
Kevin Dunn b Kevin Jones
ATL Jr. Champion Steven Green b Shawn Hoodrich
Seven & Psycho Medic & Crusher Eric Hodge b Slacker J & Tiny Bear & Dyron Flynn when Medic pinned Tiny Bear. Post-match, Seven attacked his teammates.
ATL Champion Chrisjen Hayme b Phil Macchio
Johnny Punch b Bad Boy Dixon
USWO Tag Team Champions Josh Crow & Damien Payne b LT Falk & Ricochet (w/Cody Weatherby) by DQ when ref Jamey Ferrari spotted Ricochet with a chair that Payne had originally brought to the ring
Credit: Jimmie Daniel
Saint b Convict
Kevin Dunn b Kevin Jones
ATL Jr. Champion Steven Green b Shawn Hoodrich
Seven & Psycho Medic & Crusher Eric Hodge b Slacker J & Tiny Bear & Dyron Flynn when Medic pinned Tiny Bear. Post-match, Seven attacked his teammates.
ATL Champion Chrisjen Hayme b Phil Macchio
Johnny Punch b Bad Boy Dixon
USWO Tag Team Champions Josh Crow & Damien Payne b LT Falk & Ricochet (w/Cody Weatherby) by DQ when ref Jamey Ferrari spotted Ricochet with a chair that Payne had originally brought to the ring
Credit: Jimmie Daniel
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Shows for The Weekend 2.12 to 2.13.10 - First Two Dates of BOOK TOUR Announced!!
----CLICK HERE for regular scheduled events. A couple of big shows in the area are listed below courtesy of www.wrestlingnewscenter.com.
-RRO will be at NEW in West Memphis, AR Friday night for their first official TV tapings!!
RRO Yearbook Tour 2010 - Book ordering info and more dates posted next week!!
-NEW West Memphis, AR 2.26.10 - including Awards Ceremony!!
-NBW Newbern, TN 2.27.10
-RCW Trumann, AR 3.5.10
Big Night Of Wrestling at the TIPPAH COUNTY COLISEUM in Ripley Ms.
BELL TIME 7:30 PM.
FEB. 12 (FRIDAY NIGHT) 2010
-RRO will be at NEW in West Memphis, AR Friday night for their first official TV tapings!!
RRO Yearbook Tour 2010 - Book ordering info and more dates posted next week!!
-NEW West Memphis, AR 2.26.10 - including Awards Ceremony!!
-NBW Newbern, TN 2.27.10
-RCW Trumann, AR 3.5.10
Big Night Of Wrestling at the TIPPAH COUNTY COLISEUM in Ripley Ms.
BELL TIME 7:30 PM.
FEB. 12 (FRIDAY NIGHT) 2010
Jerry "The King" Lawler
Buff "The Stuff" Bagwell
"The Outlaw" Don Bass
Bill "Superstar" Dundee
Boogie Woogie Boy Gary Valiant
Tommy Mercer
Cameron Valentine
Max Steel
"Hollywood" Jimmy Blaylock
Marc Anthony
and many many more.
Save $2.00 on Advanced Tickets on Sale at Fun World in Tupelo & Grant's Electronics & Trade Day Mall In Ripley.
LSD Leaves ASWF: The Story
----I got this last night in my e-mail and it says it is post at LSD's myspace blog, but I can't get that site to work, so I am just posting it here. David Walls may respond at anytime, if he wishes. Also, posted on myspace - LSD debuts at EWE in Ripley, TN this coming Saturday night!!
While training with a "trainee" of David Walls and Tommy Wayne's. We were running the guantlet with him. He was getting blown up and wasn't getting up to finish the round of moves. We told him that there isn't time in a match to stop and take a break. The "trainee" also said we had to take it easy on him because he's a seizure patient. Deadly Dale said, "Well maybe you're in the wrong business". Cody Only may have used some "colorful" language to get their message across. The so-called "trainee" took offense to Only's coaching and some other words were exchanged...the "trainee" then said he was quitting and attempted to get out of the ring and was kicked out of the ring by Deadly Dale. The "trainee" threatened to call police for being kicked by Deadly, then proceeded to say we were being too rough on him and we were disrespecting him. To which Cody Only replied, "You don't deserve any respect! Respect has to be earned! I was shit on the whole time I trained, and for the next two years after that! You're nobody special!" Another witness to the incident told LSD that David Walls was at the concession stand watching the entire incident and walked away when his name was mentioned.
The "trainee" then went running to David Walls. David then comes out to the ring bitching at Tommy Wayne saying he's the only one that's suppose to be working with this guy. He's acting all pissy about this and is clearly talking about US, but the whole time does not even look at us. This was the thing that topped off a whole pile of stupid stuff that's been stacking up for a while. The fact that he chose this guy, who is mentally challenged and the biggest mark in the building, over us was total disrepect. Deadly responded, "Well Fuck it, we'll leave!" At this point, Idol stopped David as he was walking toward the front door and tried to explain the situation. David spouted off, "We don't need you!" in response to Deadly saying, "I'm out of here!" This was the point where Idol had had enough and said, "Fuck it, we're out of here!" So we grabbed our bags and left right then.
This was the final straw in a long list of disrespectful and idiotic things that we have had to endure during our tenure there at ASWF. David Walls, plain and simple, DOES NOT belong in the wrestling business. If he actually had any clue about this business then maybe he wouldn't be losing three of his most over guys due to a "trainee" that WILL NOT do anything in this business and shouldn't. David X has never trained to wrestle. So how does he have any clue of what the training process for this business should be like? When training, aren't you supposed to push the trainees to see if they have the guts to make it in this business. Always thought that was how it was done.
For the people that continue to attend ASWF shows...please know that and every time that he puts on his Demon X mask and steps into the ring, he disgraces this business and showing his total lack of respect for the boys and the business. In conclusion, we want to once again say thank you to all the LSD fans in the Tuckerman area for your support and watch for updates on where LSD will be appearing nex
-Labeled Social Deviants-
While training with a "trainee" of David Walls and Tommy Wayne's. We were running the guantlet with him. He was getting blown up and wasn't getting up to finish the round of moves. We told him that there isn't time in a match to stop and take a break. The "trainee" also said we had to take it easy on him because he's a seizure patient. Deadly Dale said, "Well maybe you're in the wrong business". Cody Only may have used some "colorful" language to get their message across. The so-called "trainee" took offense to Only's coaching and some other words were exchanged...the "trainee" then said he was quitting and attempted to get out of the ring and was kicked out of the ring by Deadly Dale. The "trainee" threatened to call police for being kicked by Deadly, then proceeded to say we were being too rough on him and we were disrespecting him. To which Cody Only replied, "You don't deserve any respect! Respect has to be earned! I was shit on the whole time I trained, and for the next two years after that! You're nobody special!" Another witness to the incident told LSD that David Walls was at the concession stand watching the entire incident and walked away when his name was mentioned.
The "trainee" then went running to David Walls. David then comes out to the ring bitching at Tommy Wayne saying he's the only one that's suppose to be working with this guy. He's acting all pissy about this and is clearly talking about US, but the whole time does not even look at us. This was the thing that topped off a whole pile of stupid stuff that's been stacking up for a while. The fact that he chose this guy, who is mentally challenged and the biggest mark in the building, over us was total disrepect. Deadly responded, "Well Fuck it, we'll leave!" At this point, Idol stopped David as he was walking toward the front door and tried to explain the situation. David spouted off, "We don't need you!" in response to Deadly saying, "I'm out of here!" This was the point where Idol had had enough and said, "Fuck it, we're out of here!" So we grabbed our bags and left right then.
This was the final straw in a long list of disrespectful and idiotic things that we have had to endure during our tenure there at ASWF. David Walls, plain and simple, DOES NOT belong in the wrestling business. If he actually had any clue about this business then maybe he wouldn't be losing three of his most over guys due to a "trainee" that WILL NOT do anything in this business and shouldn't. David X has never trained to wrestle. So how does he have any clue of what the training process for this business should be like? When training, aren't you supposed to push the trainees to see if they have the guts to make it in this business. Always thought that was how it was done.
For the people that continue to attend ASWF shows...please know that and every time that he puts on his Demon X mask and steps into the ring, he disgraces this business and showing his total lack of respect for the boys and the business. In conclusion, we want to once again say thank you to all the LSD fans in the Tuckerman area for your support and watch for updates on where LSD will be appearing nex
-Labeled Social Deviants-
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Wayne's World "Achieving Perfection" by "3G" Eric Wayne
"Achieving Perfection"
On February 1 and 2 I had the opportunity to work for WWE in Nashville and Memphis. I wasn't the only one but I thought I'd share what I took away from the experience.
Even though none of the extra talent made tv appearances, the learning experience was invaluable. Besides being able to workout in their ring, watching the other guys workout and work on different techniques was just as good as the exposure of being on tv. For around two hours, we either had the chance to have a match or simply watch and listen. Even though I'm proud of the two matches I had, its hard to accept that it wasn't WWE quality.
After listening to the advice being given to the tv talent, I realized exactly how much perfection means to these guys. Not to say I didn't before, but its a reminder how much everyone there strives to perfect EVERYTHING. The talent in WWE, even the ones that we might think aren't that good, are damn good. It might not come across on tv, but watching the workouts proves just how hard these guys work.
Achieving perfection seems to be the motto in WWE and it should be the motto for everyone that gets into the business. Unfortunately, it's not. The motto seems to be "just enough to get by" which is sad when you think about it. A lot of the "wrestlers" today started because of what they saw on tv. The biggest difference between what was on tv and what's at pretty much every show on the weekend, is a lack of dedication and heart. WWE is full of guys with the biggest heart and dedication to be the best. You can only say that for a handful of guys around here, or anywhere for that matter.
When it comes to this business, I can't help but notice that at shows on the weekend, its ok to be bad at your craft. Almost like its a rib on the audience to make them watch how bad a certain wrestler is. Instead of remedying the problem by kicking that person not only out of the ring, but out of the business until they learn their craft. Does no one realize the reason WWE and a select few promotions are drawing? Its because they don't expose the business when they have a match! But go to pretty much ANY show on the weekend and what do you see? Guys that call themselves wrestlers, trying to have a match. Hell, I have a drivers license...but I'd never attempt driving in a NASCAR race. Why should wrestling be any different?
Maybe its because there aren't many people today that actually want a career in wrestling. They just want to say they've wrestled. Well that's a horrible reason to get in this business and a slap in the face to some of us because you're only making it harder for people that take it seriously. You're making it harder for companies to draw because no one wants to see you in the ring. You're making it harder for the audience to sit there and wait for a good match, or even a good wrestler to come to the ring. No one pays to watch "wrestlers" pretend they're wrestling. No one pays to watch something you consider a hobby. They pay to watch professionals. Which is exactly why WWE and TNA draw like they do. Because they hire professionals.
It all comes down to this, if what I've said has upset you...I don't care. If you are booked on the weekend and you consider wrestling a hobby, don't show up! If you have been "wrestling" for 15, 20, 25 years and your no better than the day you started or a guy with LESS THAN A YEAR of experience, don't show up! No one will miss you and the house won't go down. If anything it'll go up because that's one less bad wrestler on the card. It all comes down to achieving perfection, which is something you're not willing to do. If you wrestle once or twice a week, for 10 minutes because its all your stamina will allow...QUIT! No one will miss you. And if anything, people will applaud you for realizing YOU are the one that hurts this business. All because achieving perfection is something you've never considered.
On February 1 and 2 I had the opportunity to work for WWE in Nashville and Memphis. I wasn't the only one but I thought I'd share what I took away from the experience.
Even though none of the extra talent made tv appearances, the learning experience was invaluable. Besides being able to workout in their ring, watching the other guys workout and work on different techniques was just as good as the exposure of being on tv. For around two hours, we either had the chance to have a match or simply watch and listen. Even though I'm proud of the two matches I had, its hard to accept that it wasn't WWE quality.
After listening to the advice being given to the tv talent, I realized exactly how much perfection means to these guys. Not to say I didn't before, but its a reminder how much everyone there strives to perfect EVERYTHING. The talent in WWE, even the ones that we might think aren't that good, are damn good. It might not come across on tv, but watching the workouts proves just how hard these guys work.
Achieving perfection seems to be the motto in WWE and it should be the motto for everyone that gets into the business. Unfortunately, it's not. The motto seems to be "just enough to get by" which is sad when you think about it. A lot of the "wrestlers" today started because of what they saw on tv. The biggest difference between what was on tv and what's at pretty much every show on the weekend, is a lack of dedication and heart. WWE is full of guys with the biggest heart and dedication to be the best. You can only say that for a handful of guys around here, or anywhere for that matter.
When it comes to this business, I can't help but notice that at shows on the weekend, its ok to be bad at your craft. Almost like its a rib on the audience to make them watch how bad a certain wrestler is. Instead of remedying the problem by kicking that person not only out of the ring, but out of the business until they learn their craft. Does no one realize the reason WWE and a select few promotions are drawing? Its because they don't expose the business when they have a match! But go to pretty much ANY show on the weekend and what do you see? Guys that call themselves wrestlers, trying to have a match. Hell, I have a drivers license...but I'd never attempt driving in a NASCAR race. Why should wrestling be any different?
Maybe its because there aren't many people today that actually want a career in wrestling. They just want to say they've wrestled. Well that's a horrible reason to get in this business and a slap in the face to some of us because you're only making it harder for people that take it seriously. You're making it harder for companies to draw because no one wants to see you in the ring. You're making it harder for the audience to sit there and wait for a good match, or even a good wrestler to come to the ring. No one pays to watch "wrestlers" pretend they're wrestling. No one pays to watch something you consider a hobby. They pay to watch professionals. Which is exactly why WWE and TNA draw like they do. Because they hire professionals.
It all comes down to this, if what I've said has upset you...I don't care. If you are booked on the weekend and you consider wrestling a hobby, don't show up! If you have been "wrestling" for 15, 20, 25 years and your no better than the day you started or a guy with LESS THAN A YEAR of experience, don't show up! No one will miss you and the house won't go down. If anything it'll go up because that's one less bad wrestler on the card. It all comes down to achieving perfection, which is something you're not willing to do. If you wrestle once or twice a week, for 10 minutes because its all your stamina will allow...QUIT! No one will miss you. And if anything, people will applaud you for realizing YOU are the one that hurts this business. All because achieving perfection is something you've never considered.
RassleResults: NBW Newbern, TN 2.06.10 - Vendetta Features Reunion of Tag Team!!
The show opened with the induction of "Just Joe" into the NBW Hall of Fame.
The Anarchy [Jason the Brain, Jeremy Moore, Syn, DJ Stunner] came out for an interview promising victory in their matches tonight. Moore said he would walk out a Tag Team Champion tonight!
The opening match was a ladder match for the vacant NBW High Risk Championship bewtween Weezy and Shannon Lee. This match was crazy and all over the place. The crowd was very into this match as the guys left everything they had in he ring, but in the end it was Shannon Lee who was victorious after he knocked Weezy off the ladder through a table and he retrieved the High Risk Title!
Winner and New High Risk Champion - Shannon Lee
Tim Davis/Big Daddy LaFonce/KoKo Anderson def. The Mo. Badd Boys/Void in a 6-man tag team match!
The Kid/Kid J def. Ron Rage/Lil Devil in a very entertaining mixed tag team match. The crowd enjoyed the midgets and everyone worked hard here.
Mark Justice def. Lord Humongous after a schoolboy. Post match High Society jumped Mark for a little payback and had Lord Humongous deliver a chokeslam to Mark. After Hugo left, High Society continued the beating until The Kid delivered a double cross body block to High Society. Mark and The Kid ran the duo off and Mark said next week he and the little SOB The Kid would take them on in a tag team match!
Jason Reed/Chris Rocker def. Syn/Stunner after some miscommunication between Syn and Stunner leading to Syn getting a codebreaker/frogsplash combo to take the loss. Post match Syn and Stunner were arguing as The Brain tried to calm them down, He called out the leader of The Anarchy, Jeremy Moore. Moore demanded they stop fighting and told them to hug. After they hugged Moore blast DJ Stunner with a right hand and then Syn, Suicide and Moore delivered their finishing moves to Stunner. The Brain was upset at what just happened but Moore told him to get back. Moore then spray painted the signature Anarchy symbol on Stunner's back. Billy Russ then made the save with a Kendo stick.
Crazy Train def. Motley Cruz to retain the NBW Championship to finally put their feud to rest.
The Family of Pain ( sarge/mickey ray) def. Jeremy Moore/Sid Vicious to retain the NBW Tag Team Titles after Moore was ordering Sid around until Sid got angry and delivered a huge Chokeslam to Moore and the Sarge made the cover. After the match Sid raised Sarge and Mickey's hands and out of nowhere Mickey Ray blasted Sarge and Sid, Mickey, and Ron Rage beat Sarge until he bled. Some baby faces tried to make the save but it didn't help as Sarge was hopeless. The show ended with Sid, Mickey Ray and Ron Rage standing tall over a beaten Sarge!
Show was awesome and the crowd was hot for pretty much everything. The crowd was 270+ and it was packed. The faces were over and the Heels got heat. Everyone worked hard to produce a great night!
----Sounded like a good show and I hate I missed it. The reunion of the "Blond Bombers"?? Wow!!
The Anarchy [Jason the Brain, Jeremy Moore, Syn, DJ Stunner] came out for an interview promising victory in their matches tonight. Moore said he would walk out a Tag Team Champion tonight!
The opening match was a ladder match for the vacant NBW High Risk Championship bewtween Weezy and Shannon Lee. This match was crazy and all over the place. The crowd was very into this match as the guys left everything they had in he ring, but in the end it was Shannon Lee who was victorious after he knocked Weezy off the ladder through a table and he retrieved the High Risk Title!
Winner and New High Risk Champion - Shannon Lee
Tim Davis/Big Daddy LaFonce/KoKo Anderson def. The Mo. Badd Boys/Void in a 6-man tag team match!
The Kid/Kid J def. Ron Rage/Lil Devil in a very entertaining mixed tag team match. The crowd enjoyed the midgets and everyone worked hard here.
Mark Justice def. Lord Humongous after a schoolboy. Post match High Society jumped Mark for a little payback and had Lord Humongous deliver a chokeslam to Mark. After Hugo left, High Society continued the beating until The Kid delivered a double cross body block to High Society. Mark and The Kid ran the duo off and Mark said next week he and the little SOB The Kid would take them on in a tag team match!
Jason Reed/Chris Rocker def. Syn/Stunner after some miscommunication between Syn and Stunner leading to Syn getting a codebreaker/frogsplash combo to take the loss. Post match Syn and Stunner were arguing as The Brain tried to calm them down, He called out the leader of The Anarchy, Jeremy Moore. Moore demanded they stop fighting and told them to hug. After they hugged Moore blast DJ Stunner with a right hand and then Syn, Suicide and Moore delivered their finishing moves to Stunner. The Brain was upset at what just happened but Moore told him to get back. Moore then spray painted the signature Anarchy symbol on Stunner's back. Billy Russ then made the save with a Kendo stick.
Crazy Train def. Motley Cruz to retain the NBW Championship to finally put their feud to rest.
The Family of Pain ( sarge/mickey ray) def. Jeremy Moore/Sid Vicious to retain the NBW Tag Team Titles after Moore was ordering Sid around until Sid got angry and delivered a huge Chokeslam to Moore and the Sarge made the cover. After the match Sid raised Sarge and Mickey's hands and out of nowhere Mickey Ray blasted Sarge and Sid, Mickey, and Ron Rage beat Sarge until he bled. Some baby faces tried to make the save but it didn't help as Sarge was hopeless. The show ended with Sid, Mickey Ray and Ron Rage standing tall over a beaten Sarge!
Show was awesome and the crowd was hot for pretty much everything. The crowd was 270+ and it was packed. The faces were over and the Heels got heat. Everyone worked hard to produce a great night!
----Sounded like a good show and I hate I missed it. The reunion of the "Blond Bombers"?? Wow!!
Flag this message (WGN) Feb 10: WWE injury, Hall of Fame notes, Taz on Vince McMahon, Bret Hart interview, bizarre Tod Gordon claim, Lashley-TNA, Destination X PPV, Piper, Sgt. Slaughter, more...
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
2/9 ECW TV results from Baton Rouge, LA: Yoshi Tatsu & Goldust over Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft; Ezekiel Jackson over Perry Wallace; and Shelton Benjamin over Vance Archer.
The Smackdown crew are on tour in South America this weekend with large arena shows Thursday and Friday in Ecuador, Saturday in Costa Rica, and Sunday in Mexico. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
WWE are looking to induct another celebrity at this year's Hall of Fame. NFL legend William "The Refrigerator" Perry was the last celebrity inductee in 2006, and there was also Baseball legend Pete Rose in 2004. Mike Tyson would be an obvious pick as he has already worked with the company this year when he hosted Raw. Another pick could be Lawrence Taylor, who went over the late Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event at Wrestlemania 11, who is recently back in the spotlight due to a run on Dancing with the Stars. One name we have heard suggested to Vince is former Bseball player and broadcaster Bob Uecker, 75, who was ringside announcer at WrestleMania III, followed by a return at WrestleMania IV as both a ringside announcer and backstage interviewer with the famous segment that saw André the Giant choking him. Uecker actually turned down the chance to appear at WrestleMania 23 a few years ago when he was contacted about doing a skit with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. One name that can be ruled out for sure is Mr T--who felt "insulted" that WWE would induct Pete Rose before him and did interviews last year saying he would never accept an invitation.
ECW founder Tod Gordon gave a bizarre interview about the end of the ECW brand to the Monday Night Mayhem radio show. Jerry Lynn and Danny Doring were on the show as well, but Gordon went off on a tangent about how he and Paul Heyman are working on the "greatest collaboration ever" that will be announced in July 2011 before they go public in August 2011. Then he kept saying how Jerry Lynn "will be there" as well, but blew off Doring, whose name he couldn't seem to remember. Regarding the end of the ECW name, Gordon stated: "ECW was never about the letters. It was about the symbol of people who worked their ass off every night. It was about a work ethic; ECW isn't about a title It's a metaphor for hard work." As for the collaboration with Heyman, no one seems to know anything about it, so either it's Gordon just talking or it's a well kept secret. Heyman has turned down every media request, from Monday Night Mayhem to The UK Sun [which offered him unlimited space for a blog] to this very newsletter, all seeking his comments on the end of ECW. He hasn't mentioned it on his website, so either he's just not talking about it, or he's planning on posting something or saying something once it's gone.
John Morrison injured his ankle last night during the Smackdown tapings in a match with R-Truth. He was in a lot of pain but it's not thought to be serious as he flew out to Ecuador this afternoon with the rest of the WWE crew. He joked on Twitter that his ankle was broken in three places, I guess in response to an online report somewhere that he may have broken his ankle.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.6 rating and 5.3 million viewers. The show did hours of 3.48 and 3.69. Hour two was the top rated show on cable for the night.
Edge vs. Batista is penciled in for Smackdown TV next week in Kansas City. This would be Edge's first singles match since returning from Achilles surgery.
Alex Marvez interviewed Bret Hart at http://tinyurl.com/ych6wg5 who appears to be high on life. Regarding Montreal and returning to WWE, he said: "I made a big fuss out of all that happened. I wrote a book about it. There was a documentary [Wrestling with Shadows]. I held out [from WWE] for a long time because of my pride. In the end, I think I made my point. Some people feel it wasn't the right thing for me to go back. But there's only one person in Bret 'The Hitman' Hart's shoes and it's me." He said there is no way he can work a match like he used to but would be able to do a street fight against Vince: "I'll never put on the performance I want to have, but I'll be able to do enough to entertain and give a good show... I don't want to go out there in a wheelchair like Hogan. I know people watching me are saying, 'He's not exactly a cheetah out there.' But at same time I do remember being in a wheelchair when I had my stroke. The thought of doing what I'm doing right now is beyond everything I imagined." Bret says he may even stay on with WWE after his current deal ends in April.
Jerry Springer and The Miz did a conference call this morning with [non-wrestling] media to promote Raw next Monday in Des Moines. Miz said if he never did The Real World reality series he never would have pursued wrestling. "I'd probably be flipping burgers," he said. "I credit reality television a lot. It gave me the opportunity to have that feeling that I can follow any dream I wanted." When asked about hosting Raw, Springer simply said he was asked, and he agreed: "I was a fan of wrestling more so when I was a kid. I would always watch wrestling. We would watch it and play it. I haven't seen that much recently, though I know about it... The only difference between this and my show is that these guys have teeth!" He said he was bringing lie detectors, cat fights, and all the things people love about The Jerry Springer Show to Raw.
Forbes published a story on Vince McMahon at http://tinyurl.com/ya2u5sd putting him over as the heavyweight champion of marketing. They noted the WWE brand now has a global market cap of $1.2 billion saying they attribute 30 percent of that value to the WWE name alone. There was no explanation of how they came up with that percentage. They wrote, "[Vince McMahon] has an incredible knack for building brands. By cultivating different images and personas for each of WWE’s weekly TV shows, monthly pay-per view events and stable of wrestlers, McMahon constantly reinvents his company in order to stay relevant. The cartoonish heroes vs. villians story lines of 1980s gave way to an edgier product in the '90s. Now WWE has moved back towards more family friendly shows, often guest hosted by celebrities like William Shatner and Shaquille O'Neal."
Chris Jericho wrote on Twitter that his upcoming book won't be titled The Highlight of the Night. This is despite his publisher releasing advance promo material to the contrary. He said the book is still 250 pages away from completion even though the deadline is three week's away. The book will focus on his return to WWE, his band Fozzy, and also touch upon the premature birth of his twins, as well as the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.
Jim Ross is giving a speech at the FCW training facility today as he's in early for the Jack Brisco funeral. He will be one of the speakers during Thursday's memorial service.
WGN in Chicago has decided not to air WWE Superstars after all. The show was originally pulled because of low ratings but then the station said they would bring it back due to complaints. Now they are encouraging viewers to tune into WGN America, which means Superstars is effectively dead in Chicago and Canada--because Canada uses the Chicago feed.
Linda McMahon's campaign sent out mailers to Connecticut voters this week pushing the idea of women making the difference in the Senate race, where she is the only female running on either ticket.
Somebody worked out that Triple H has only lost clean to 13 different guys since 2001. The list doesn't include tags or three-ways where he didn't physically lose but does include ones where he did, as well as Survivor Series, Elimination Chamber and other matches where he took a clean pin or submission: Five losses to Randy Orton and John Cena, three to Batista, two to The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Bill Goldberg, and once to Kane, Edge, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Jeff Hardy.
Smackdown TV back on January 22 did a 2.0 rating and 3.4 million viewers. Ratings for the show are hard to come by these days as MyNetwork is no longer considered a network and Nelson--the company that measures ratings--don't monitor MyNet day-to-day any more.
A wacky commercial for Batista's energy drink in the Philippines at http://tinyurl.com/yc2penc.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
Taz was interviewed on ESPN radio in Orlando last night. Of course, he put over working for TNA stating, "I'm being very sincere when I say I can't wait to go to work Sunday [Against All Odds PPV]... In WWE, toward the end, I didn't want to pack my bags and get on a plane and go to work. Now, I pack my bags two, three days before I have to go to work." He said after he left WWE he almost landed a major gig on Sirus radio but is glad things came together with TNA. On the demise of WWE's version of ECW: "Most true pro wrestling fans or purists will not remember ECW for being on Syfy, but ECW from the gritty days. That's what ECW is going to be remembered for. That's no disrespect for the ECW wrestlers that are in WWE. It's no disrespect to WWE. ECW was re-created in WWE's vision and now that it's dead and buried, people will remember ECW as a bunch of guys that nobody really wanted and Paul Heyman was a genius for using that as a motivation. There were times when our checks wouldn't clear and we'd still go out there and give 150 percent. That's good leadership, or we were a bunch of marks -- one or the other. I like to go with it was good motivation." On Vince McMahon going nuts in the headsets: "It's his show. I get that. It's cool... But why pay me all the money you pay me when you can get anyone who can understand English and speak it--which you can argue I'm not really speaking English either. I've even said it to Vince, 'You're getting all over me about something, but you can hire anyone to sit there and repeat what you say.' It's very hard to be creative and it's hard to be a performer and entertainer and have your own instincts in WWE."
Bobby Lashley's profile was removed from the TNA website. He is still under contract so apparently they are playing up to the television storyline. He is expected back down the road.
Promotional material for the March 21 Destination X pay-per-view confirms the show will feature all X-Division matches. A blurb on InDemand's website reads, "The past, present, and future collide when the young guns of TNA take center stage in an all X-Division Pay-Per-View! TNA Wrestling presents Destination X LIVE! Sunday, March 21, 2010 on Pay-per-View." Not sure how this will play out but it's an interesting concept.
Tara celebrates a birthday today.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Roddy Piper was a guest on Adam Carolla's podcast yesterday discussing his life in wrestling at http://tinyurl.com/yzk269y. A lot of kayfabe thrown in during their conversation. He said Vince McMahon wanted him to "take a dive" at the first Wrestlemania but he refused so Paul Orndoff orchestrated the whole deal and agreed to lay down for Hogan and Mr. T.
There is a story on George "The Animal" Steele at http://tinyurl.com/ydz373c who at age 72 is still active and making personal appearances across the country. The story notes his battle with Crohn's Disease--an inflammatory disease of the intestines-- that he has been free from now for over a decade.
Sgt. Slaughter has his first ever website in the works.
TMZ cameras filmed Dwayne Johnson leaving a gym in California yesterday. He said he co-owns his Rock gimmick with WWE. Footage is online at www.tmz.com.
Today's Diva of the Day is April Hunter at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
2/9 ECW TV results from Baton Rouge, LA: Yoshi Tatsu & Goldust over Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft; Ezekiel Jackson over Perry Wallace; and Shelton Benjamin over Vance Archer.
The Smackdown crew are on tour in South America this weekend with large arena shows Thursday and Friday in Ecuador, Saturday in Costa Rica, and Sunday in Mexico. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
WWE are looking to induct another celebrity at this year's Hall of Fame. NFL legend William "The Refrigerator" Perry was the last celebrity inductee in 2006, and there was also Baseball legend Pete Rose in 2004. Mike Tyson would be an obvious pick as he has already worked with the company this year when he hosted Raw. Another pick could be Lawrence Taylor, who went over the late Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event at Wrestlemania 11, who is recently back in the spotlight due to a run on Dancing with the Stars. One name we have heard suggested to Vince is former Bseball player and broadcaster Bob Uecker, 75, who was ringside announcer at WrestleMania III, followed by a return at WrestleMania IV as both a ringside announcer and backstage interviewer with the famous segment that saw André the Giant choking him. Uecker actually turned down the chance to appear at WrestleMania 23 a few years ago when he was contacted about doing a skit with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. One name that can be ruled out for sure is Mr T--who felt "insulted" that WWE would induct Pete Rose before him and did interviews last year saying he would never accept an invitation.
ECW founder Tod Gordon gave a bizarre interview about the end of the ECW brand to the Monday Night Mayhem radio show. Jerry Lynn and Danny Doring were on the show as well, but Gordon went off on a tangent about how he and Paul Heyman are working on the "greatest collaboration ever" that will be announced in July 2011 before they go public in August 2011. Then he kept saying how Jerry Lynn "will be there" as well, but blew off Doring, whose name he couldn't seem to remember. Regarding the end of the ECW name, Gordon stated: "ECW was never about the letters. It was about the symbol of people who worked their ass off every night. It was about a work ethic; ECW isn't about a title It's a metaphor for hard work." As for the collaboration with Heyman, no one seems to know anything about it, so either it's Gordon just talking or it's a well kept secret. Heyman has turned down every media request, from Monday Night Mayhem to The UK Sun [which offered him unlimited space for a blog] to this very newsletter, all seeking his comments on the end of ECW. He hasn't mentioned it on his website, so either he's just not talking about it, or he's planning on posting something or saying something once it's gone.
John Morrison injured his ankle last night during the Smackdown tapings in a match with R-Truth. He was in a lot of pain but it's not thought to be serious as he flew out to Ecuador this afternoon with the rest of the WWE crew. He joked on Twitter that his ankle was broken in three places, I guess in response to an online report somewhere that he may have broken his ankle.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.6 rating and 5.3 million viewers. The show did hours of 3.48 and 3.69. Hour two was the top rated show on cable for the night.
Edge vs. Batista is penciled in for Smackdown TV next week in Kansas City. This would be Edge's first singles match since returning from Achilles surgery.
Alex Marvez interviewed Bret Hart at http://tinyurl.com/ych6wg5 who appears to be high on life. Regarding Montreal and returning to WWE, he said: "I made a big fuss out of all that happened. I wrote a book about it. There was a documentary [Wrestling with Shadows]. I held out [from WWE] for a long time because of my pride. In the end, I think I made my point. Some people feel it wasn't the right thing for me to go back. But there's only one person in Bret 'The Hitman' Hart's shoes and it's me." He said there is no way he can work a match like he used to but would be able to do a street fight against Vince: "I'll never put on the performance I want to have, but I'll be able to do enough to entertain and give a good show... I don't want to go out there in a wheelchair like Hogan. I know people watching me are saying, 'He's not exactly a cheetah out there.' But at same time I do remember being in a wheelchair when I had my stroke. The thought of doing what I'm doing right now is beyond everything I imagined." Bret says he may even stay on with WWE after his current deal ends in April.
Jerry Springer and The Miz did a conference call this morning with [non-wrestling] media to promote Raw next Monday in Des Moines. Miz said if he never did The Real World reality series he never would have pursued wrestling. "I'd probably be flipping burgers," he said. "I credit reality television a lot. It gave me the opportunity to have that feeling that I can follow any dream I wanted." When asked about hosting Raw, Springer simply said he was asked, and he agreed: "I was a fan of wrestling more so when I was a kid. I would always watch wrestling. We would watch it and play it. I haven't seen that much recently, though I know about it... The only difference between this and my show is that these guys have teeth!" He said he was bringing lie detectors, cat fights, and all the things people love about The Jerry Springer Show to Raw.
Forbes published a story on Vince McMahon at http://tinyurl.com/ya2u5sd putting him over as the heavyweight champion of marketing. They noted the WWE brand now has a global market cap of $1.2 billion saying they attribute 30 percent of that value to the WWE name alone. There was no explanation of how they came up with that percentage. They wrote, "[Vince McMahon] has an incredible knack for building brands. By cultivating different images and personas for each of WWE’s weekly TV shows, monthly pay-per view events and stable of wrestlers, McMahon constantly reinvents his company in order to stay relevant. The cartoonish heroes vs. villians story lines of 1980s gave way to an edgier product in the '90s. Now WWE has moved back towards more family friendly shows, often guest hosted by celebrities like William Shatner and Shaquille O'Neal."
Chris Jericho wrote on Twitter that his upcoming book won't be titled The Highlight of the Night. This is despite his publisher releasing advance promo material to the contrary. He said the book is still 250 pages away from completion even though the deadline is three week's away. The book will focus on his return to WWE, his band Fozzy, and also touch upon the premature birth of his twins, as well as the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.
Jim Ross is giving a speech at the FCW training facility today as he's in early for the Jack Brisco funeral. He will be one of the speakers during Thursday's memorial service.
WGN in Chicago has decided not to air WWE Superstars after all. The show was originally pulled because of low ratings but then the station said they would bring it back due to complaints. Now they are encouraging viewers to tune into WGN America, which means Superstars is effectively dead in Chicago and Canada--because Canada uses the Chicago feed.
Linda McMahon's campaign sent out mailers to Connecticut voters this week pushing the idea of women making the difference in the Senate race, where she is the only female running on either ticket.
Somebody worked out that Triple H has only lost clean to 13 different guys since 2001. The list doesn't include tags or three-ways where he didn't physically lose but does include ones where he did, as well as Survivor Series, Elimination Chamber and other matches where he took a clean pin or submission: Five losses to Randy Orton and John Cena, three to Batista, two to The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Bill Goldberg, and once to Kane, Edge, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Jeff Hardy.
Smackdown TV back on January 22 did a 2.0 rating and 3.4 million viewers. Ratings for the show are hard to come by these days as MyNetwork is no longer considered a network and Nelson--the company that measures ratings--don't monitor MyNet day-to-day any more.
A wacky commercial for Batista's energy drink in the Philippines at http://tinyurl.com/yc2penc.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
Taz was interviewed on ESPN radio in Orlando last night. Of course, he put over working for TNA stating, "I'm being very sincere when I say I can't wait to go to work Sunday [Against All Odds PPV]... In WWE, toward the end, I didn't want to pack my bags and get on a plane and go to work. Now, I pack my bags two, three days before I have to go to work." He said after he left WWE he almost landed a major gig on Sirus radio but is glad things came together with TNA. On the demise of WWE's version of ECW: "Most true pro wrestling fans or purists will not remember ECW for being on Syfy, but ECW from the gritty days. That's what ECW is going to be remembered for. That's no disrespect for the ECW wrestlers that are in WWE. It's no disrespect to WWE. ECW was re-created in WWE's vision and now that it's dead and buried, people will remember ECW as a bunch of guys that nobody really wanted and Paul Heyman was a genius for using that as a motivation. There were times when our checks wouldn't clear and we'd still go out there and give 150 percent. That's good leadership, or we were a bunch of marks -- one or the other. I like to go with it was good motivation." On Vince McMahon going nuts in the headsets: "It's his show. I get that. It's cool... But why pay me all the money you pay me when you can get anyone who can understand English and speak it--which you can argue I'm not really speaking English either. I've even said it to Vince, 'You're getting all over me about something, but you can hire anyone to sit there and repeat what you say.' It's very hard to be creative and it's hard to be a performer and entertainer and have your own instincts in WWE."
Bobby Lashley's profile was removed from the TNA website. He is still under contract so apparently they are playing up to the television storyline. He is expected back down the road.
Promotional material for the March 21 Destination X pay-per-view confirms the show will feature all X-Division matches. A blurb on InDemand's website reads, "The past, present, and future collide when the young guns of TNA take center stage in an all X-Division Pay-Per-View! TNA Wrestling presents Destination X LIVE! Sunday, March 21, 2010 on Pay-per-View." Not sure how this will play out but it's an interesting concept.
Tara celebrates a birthday today.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Roddy Piper was a guest on Adam Carolla's podcast yesterday discussing his life in wrestling at http://tinyurl.com/yzk269y. A lot of kayfabe thrown in during their conversation. He said Vince McMahon wanted him to "take a dive" at the first Wrestlemania but he refused so Paul Orndoff orchestrated the whole deal and agreed to lay down for Hogan and Mr. T.
There is a story on George "The Animal" Steele at http://tinyurl.com/ydz373c who at age 72 is still active and making personal appearances across the country. The story notes his battle with Crohn's Disease--an inflammatory disease of the intestines-- that he has been free from now for over a decade.
Sgt. Slaughter has his first ever website in the works.
TMZ cameras filmed Dwayne Johnson leaving a gym in California yesterday. He said he co-owns his Rock gimmick with WWE. Footage is online at www.tmz.com.
Today's Diva of the Day is April Hunter at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
Wrestling Shorts: Sid Vicious with Downtown Bruno
----Bruno has decided to do something a little bit different with a look at wrestlers that he has worked with through the years. I will try to post a photo with some fun facts from http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/ and then Bruno will try to give us his views in a short story or profile on the worker.
FIVE FUN FACTS
-Sid wins NWA Southeastern Heavyweight title -as Lord Humongous- defeating "Nightmare" Danny Davis (December 25, 1987)
-Sid wins WWF World Heavyweight title defeating Bret "Hitman" Hart (Febuary 17, 1997)
-October 28, 1993: Arn Anderson & Sid Vicious got into a fight after hours in a hotel in England. Both men are rushed to the hospital after Arn Anderson suffered multiple puncture and stab wounds to the chest and stomach
-January 14, 2001 - WCW Sin: Scott Steiner defeated Sid and Jeff Jarrett and Animal in a 4-WAY to retain the World title. Sid jumped off the second rope and snapped his leg, a double compound fracture, in a truly frightening moment.
-Sid's son Gunnar debuted last year under the Lord Humongous gimmick.
-Downtown Bruno talks about Sid.
----“Downtown” Bruno Lauer is a legend in Memphis Wrestling. He is two time RRO Referee of the year. He can be seen every Friday night working for NEW in West Memphis, AR. He appears bi-weekly with his non controversial column. Lauer had his biography published last year “Wrestling with The Truth” and can be purchased at www.crowbarpress.com. Lauer is also currently employed by the WWE.
-Sid wins NWA Southeastern Heavyweight title -as Lord Humongous- defeating "Nightmare" Danny Davis (December 25, 1987)
-Sid wins WWF World Heavyweight title defeating Bret "Hitman" Hart (Febuary 17, 1997)
-October 28, 1993: Arn Anderson & Sid Vicious got into a fight after hours in a hotel in England. Both men are rushed to the hospital after Arn Anderson suffered multiple puncture and stab wounds to the chest and stomach
-January 14, 2001 - WCW Sin: Scott Steiner defeated Sid and Jeff Jarrett and Animal in a 4-WAY to retain the World title. Sid jumped off the second rope and snapped his leg, a double compound fracture, in a truly frightening moment.
-Sid's son Gunnar debuted last year under the Lord Humongous gimmick.
-Downtown Bruno talks about Sid.
I cannot say enough good things about Sid Vicious. Let’s face it; he was born to be in this industry. He paid his dues in full to get to the top of the mountain. Before he became world champion in both WCW and WWE, he slaved away in a lot of small promotions in Arkansas and Missouri Memphis
In this first Mid South Coliseum appearance, he was a ringside enforcer for the “Fabulous Ones” [Stan Lane/Steve Keirn] as they took on the “Sheepherders”. [who later became the “Bushwackers”] Jonathan Boyd was in the corner of the “Herders”. Legend has it that Sid was not trained 100% in the doings and going of the business yet. Bill Dundee told him that his job was to be sure Boyd did not interfere in the match and that’s exactly what he did!! I am sure a 300 lb, near 7 foot tall 20 something year old giant of a man built like a brick shithouse coming at you was not a pleasant site for Boyd.
Sid and I went on to Alabama and Knoxville
----“Downtown” Bruno Lauer is a legend in Memphis Wrestling. He is two time RRO Referee of the year. He can be seen every Friday night working for NEW in West Memphis, AR. He appears bi-weekly with his non controversial column. Lauer had his biography published last year “Wrestling with The Truth” and can be purchased at www.crowbarpress.com. Lauer is also currently employed by the WWE.
RassleResults: EWE Ripley, TN 02.06.10
Show starts with DK and his "Entourage" (Cody Melton and Micheal Gilbert) in the ring. DK starts off asking the audience if they came up with a name for the newly changed February big event. He takes ideas form the audience only to reveal that he has already thought of his on name for the event. It will be called "February Fallout" Feb 27th. He then goes on to call Mark Tipton into the ring to question him about why he reversed his decision last week causing DK to lose to Ike Tucker in a karaoke sing off. Mark Tipton says he stands by his decision. DK threatens to fire Tipton when Stan Lee's music hits and he enters the ring. Lee tells DK that he has done everything he's asked since he won total control of EWE last month at Aftermath. Lee goes on to say that he may have lost last week against DK and his entourage, but he did get what he asked for which was a match and that's all he could ask for. Lee says that this is a new week and he's showed up to work again and he wants another match. Apparently either DK admires or is annoyed by Lee's resilience so he tells him he has another match this week against Micheal Gilbert. Lee leaves the ring as DK goes on to briefly talk about Jon Michael and how he must have quit because he walked out on him last week and he's nowhere to be found tonight. DK starts to say that nobody cares about Jon Michael anyways so onto other news. At that point, the EWE champion, Christian Jacob's music hits and he enters the ring. CJ is obviously irritated by DK and tells him that he's sick of hearing him talk, sick of him abusing his power, and sick of him threatening everyone. CJ tells him if he wants to pick on someone, why doesn't he pick on the EWE champ himself. DK says that if he's trying to say he wants a match with him tonight then it's... NOT going to happen. But.. What CJ is going to do is defend his EWE title tonight against the #1 contender, Cody Melton. CJ says that's fine and that two things are going to happen. He's going to remain EWE champion, and as long as he's the champ and DK is still the boss, he's going to make his life a living hell!
-Dell Tucker/Rockin Randy vs JR Manson/Tommy Jones-
Tucker/Randy make their way to the ring. They take the mic and tell the audience that there are no tag teams left in EWE because they've beaten them all. They go on to say that since there are no legitimate tag teams in EWE, besides them, they are openly challenging any team, make-shift or legitimate, to a match right now. A few seconds pass and JR Manson/Tommy Jones make their way to the ring to answer the challenge. The match goes back and forth until Tucker/Randy get the advantage on Jones. Jones manages to get the tag to Manson. Manson cleans house and tags Jones back in. Jones off the top with a double cross body. Jones hits Tucker with a finishing maneuver near the ropes. Jones makes the pin and gets the win. Ref raises a shocked Manson/Jones arms for the win. Meanwhile, Randy is placing Tucker's foot on the rope. Ref turns around and notices it and is forced to restart the match. Manson/Jones are caught off-guard. Tucker/Randy toss Manson out of the ring as Jones turns around into their finisher. Tucker/Randy get the win on Jones.
-Tommy Redneck vs Rude-
Redneck gets himself intentionally disqualified, which he's been doing alot lately. Rude is highly aggravated and tells the audience, ref, and Redneck that he wasn't leaving until he beat Redneck fair and square. He storms the ring and picks up where he left off. Meanwhile the ref has started a new match apparently. Rude winds up getting a fair win.
-Stan Lee vs Micheal Gilbert-
Lee hits the Frog Splash and goes for the pin when DK comes running down the ramp. Lee spots DK and cuts him off on the outside. Lee chases DK around and through the ring. As Lee is chasing DK through the ring he runs into a spinebuster from Micheal Gilbert. Gilbert gets the win. After the match, DK orders Gilbert to give Lee two more spinebusters. As Lee's lying in ring, DK tells him he has another match next week. Only this time he's wrestling the 7ft tall giant.. Scott Adams!
-Derrick King vs Ike Tucker-
Great match between these two. Alot of heat stemming from the lose of the karaoke sing off last week. DK hits the superkick for the win in the end.
EWE Title Match
-Cody Melton vs Christian Jacobs-
Another great, back and forth match. CJ hits the spear on Melton for a near fall. CJ locks in the Sharpshooter with Melton about to tap when DK runs in and causes the disqualification. DK delivers a superkick to Jacobs for his actions earlier that night and leaves the ring.
-Flash Flanagan vs Brian Christopher-
BC has apparently aligned with DK and his entourage at the beginning of the match. Alot of twists and turns, match is thrown out, Jacobs winds up hitting the ring, and BC eventually turns on DK and his entourage. Flash, Jacobs, and BC clean house leaving DK and entourage steaming on the floor while they celebrate in the ring.
----Not sure what the crowd was, but the booking sounds like a lot of fun. Flash looks to be back for now and they are pushing CJ hard as the new champ. Jon Michael possibly turning??
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
RassleResults: MCW Osceola, AR 02.05.10
The night started out in a bang! A couple of weeks ago Pimp and Southside got furious at Rashard. If we'll think back, Pimp and Southside were competing against VMan and Officer Hudson for the tagteam belts and to their surprise Rashard has made a deal with Big Daddy that the Losers of the match got no pay and the winner's got double pay. Well that night Vman and Officer Hudson won the match and got the big payoff. They all had a little disagreement and they threw Pimp and Southside's bags out in the crowd. Well tonight's opening match was VMan vs Pimp. Pimp entered through the front door and Vman was waiting on him with winning in his eyes. The match was intense and Officer Hudson ran in and hit Pimp with a chain so the Pimp took the win by DQ
The second match was a Handicapp match Black Jack, Jeremy Spiker and AC Styles vs Hambones 1& 2, TJ was distracted and Pedro took a cheap shot and hit Black Jack with the bone and the Hambones won. First intermission brought about a big surprise. Big Daddy and Nat made an announcement that tickets were on sell for someone to lose their hair. The crowd was allowed to buy tickets and Nat was going to pull a ticket and whoever got their ticket pulled got to choose anyone that worked for MCW to get their head shaved. Rashbard freaked out because he knows the crowd hates him and if someone pulled a ticket he would be the one to get his hair cut. He came out and bought 25 tickets. Then Ms. Sandra's music came on right as intermission was over and Ms. Sandra made an entrance. She got the biggest pop of the night!!!!!!!!!! She had the Ladies Champion Belt on her shoulder. She made an announcement that she was allowing the belt to be brought out of retirement. Stated she felt like it was time for MCW to have a ladies champ but that she wanted the new Ladies Champ to respect the art of wrestling as well as the belt and the fans. Ms. Sandra gave respect and tribute to Moondog Spot for training her and alot of the MCW wrestlers. Before Ms. Sandra could finish her interview, Ms. Innocent and Rashard came to the ring trying to stir trouble. Ms. Innocent thought she was going to be bad and threaten Ms. Sandra, she told Ms. Sandra she was a Has Been in the wrestling world. Everybody knowing Ms. Sandra, some little punk kid was NOT going to intimidate her. She told Ms. Innocent that she wasn't sure she even qualified as a contender for the belt, because she was so manly, flat chested and looked more like a man than a woman, and people didn't know if she was a she or a he or a He/She!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ms. Innocent jumped up in the ring like she was going to do something and Ms.Sandra give her that Ms. Sandra trademark "The big forearm" and off the ring she went. Then Rashard thought he was going to be bad and jump on Ms. Sandra and she body slammed him like he was a wet noodle. Ms. Sandra announced after all the excitement she would be the special referee for the first title shot match for the women's belt.
3rd match was Homer Lee and Ms. Candy vs Miss or Mr. Innocent (who knows) and Ms. Nay Nay.The match was intense but the pin was the greatest, Ms. Candy came off the top rope and pinned Ms. Innocent. With a move like that Ms. Candy may wrap up that Ladies Belt.
Semi main was Pokerface and Bishop vs Jeremy Spiker and C-Money. Pokerface put a submission hold on Jeremy Spiker and he tapped out. At intermission, the ticket was pulled and Rashard's ticket was pulled and he chose Jesse the security guard to have his head shaved.
The Main Event was Officer Hudson and VMan vs Pimp and Southside in a title match. VMAN and Officer Hudson are out for blood. These guys are big and have shown to be pretty bad over the last couple of weeks. Pimp and Southside have met their match I think. VMan and Officer Hudson won the title match and retained the belts by pinfall. These guys are vicious and mean business. One more exciting thing is to come to MCW in the upcoming weeks and that is MCW comes to TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Frankie Tucker was away this weekend on a big engagement but will return next week!!!!!!!!!!!!
Credit: Kim Wallace & MCW
The second match was a Handicapp match Black Jack, Jeremy Spiker and AC Styles vs Hambones 1& 2, TJ was distracted and Pedro took a cheap shot and hit Black Jack with the bone and the Hambones won. First intermission brought about a big surprise. Big Daddy and Nat made an announcement that tickets were on sell for someone to lose their hair. The crowd was allowed to buy tickets and Nat was going to pull a ticket and whoever got their ticket pulled got to choose anyone that worked for MCW to get their head shaved. Rashbard freaked out because he knows the crowd hates him and if someone pulled a ticket he would be the one to get his hair cut. He came out and bought 25 tickets. Then Ms. Sandra's music came on right as intermission was over and Ms. Sandra made an entrance. She got the biggest pop of the night!!!!!!!!!! She had the Ladies Champion Belt on her shoulder. She made an announcement that she was allowing the belt to be brought out of retirement. Stated she felt like it was time for MCW to have a ladies champ but that she wanted the new Ladies Champ to respect the art of wrestling as well as the belt and the fans. Ms. Sandra gave respect and tribute to Moondog Spot for training her and alot of the MCW wrestlers. Before Ms. Sandra could finish her interview, Ms. Innocent and Rashard came to the ring trying to stir trouble. Ms. Innocent thought she was going to be bad and threaten Ms. Sandra, she told Ms. Sandra she was a Has Been in the wrestling world. Everybody knowing Ms. Sandra, some little punk kid was NOT going to intimidate her. She told Ms. Innocent that she wasn't sure she even qualified as a contender for the belt, because she was so manly, flat chested and looked more like a man than a woman, and people didn't know if she was a she or a he or a He/She!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ms. Innocent jumped up in the ring like she was going to do something and Ms.Sandra give her that Ms. Sandra trademark "The big forearm" and off the ring she went. Then Rashard thought he was going to be bad and jump on Ms. Sandra and she body slammed him like he was a wet noodle. Ms. Sandra announced after all the excitement she would be the special referee for the first title shot match for the women's belt.
3rd match was Homer Lee and Ms. Candy vs Miss or Mr. Innocent (who knows) and Ms. Nay Nay.The match was intense but the pin was the greatest, Ms. Candy came off the top rope and pinned Ms. Innocent. With a move like that Ms. Candy may wrap up that Ladies Belt.
Semi main was Pokerface and Bishop vs Jeremy Spiker and C-Money. Pokerface put a submission hold on Jeremy Spiker and he tapped out. At intermission, the ticket was pulled and Rashard's ticket was pulled and he chose Jesse the security guard to have his head shaved.
The Main Event was Officer Hudson and VMan vs Pimp and Southside in a title match. VMAN and Officer Hudson are out for blood. These guys are big and have shown to be pretty bad over the last couple of weeks. Pimp and Southside have met their match I think. VMan and Officer Hudson won the title match and retained the belts by pinfall. These guys are vicious and mean business. One more exciting thing is to come to MCW in the upcoming weeks and that is MCW comes to TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Frankie Tucker was away this weekend on a big engagement but will return next week!!!!!!!!!!!!
Credit: Kim Wallace & MCW
(WGN) Feb 9: NXT-ECW update, Ric Flair wants to wrestle, Hogan doesn't, Piper DUI, Jericho jokes about recent arrest, Steiner-TNA update, memories of Jack Brisco, and more...
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
2/8 Raw TV results from Lafayette, LA: Sheamus over Christian; ShowMiz over DX and CM Punk & Luke Gallows to capture the tag titles, Gail Kim over Jillian Hall, Cody Rhodes over Randy Orton, and John Cena vs. Ted DiBiase Jr never happened.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are tonight in Baton Rouge. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase was the first name announced on television for the 2010 Hall of Fame. WWE also hosted a press conference today in Tokyo to present Antonio Inoki with an invitation to accept his Hall of Fame award during Wrestlemania weekend in Phoenix. Press in Japan are hailing Inoki as the first Japanese wrestler ever to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame. His presenter wasn't named but it's believed to be Stan Hanson.
Maryse vs. Gail Kim for the Divas title will now take place at the pay-per-view in St. Louis. For those wondering, Maryse' promo in French last night loosely translates to: "You smell like garbage, it's terrible, I can smell you from 100 feet away, I pity you, you are a little girl, a nobody, you are a nobody!"
Chris Jericho did some media in Tampa on Monday to promote his band Fozzy and a Smackdown live event in June. He did both the Cowhead and Bubba the Love Sponge radio shows. He noted his next book, The Highlight of the Night, goes to the printers next month. He said he has been working on the book for several hours each night to meet the upcoming deadline. He also talked a little about his arrest last month joking that the reason he was smiling on his mug shot was because he was signing autographs for the cops while they were taking his picture. He said he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and if TMZ didn't exist then nobody would have known he got arrested.
Christian announced on Raw that the ECW talent roster will become free agents when the show is rebranded as NXT in two week's. That will suck for some people and put many more on the endangered species list. The announcers are safe. Abraham Washington is also safe as Vince loves the gimmick. Tiffany may be Smackdown bound as they just did the angle where Michaels superkicked Teddy Long. Everyone else appears to be in the dark about their future although it's understood NXT will be a reality-based series where young talent compete to win a spot on Raw or Smackdown--like a recycled version of Tough Enough. WWE producer Kevin Dunn is spearheading the new show.
Brother's Keeper, the upcoming WWE Studios movie with John Cena was tentatively renamed Legendary. Apparently the name change was due to a potential legal issue with New Line Cinema, because of the similarity of the title to the movie My Sister's Keeper, released by New Line last year starring Cameron Diaz.
The Raw house show this past Saturday night in Alexandria, LA, drew 5,400 paid, plus 500 comps. A story in the local newspaper noted the show generated more than $19,000 in concession sales. That's a lot of nachos.
Due to inclement weather the Raw house show on Thursday in Philadelphia has been moved again to Valentine's Day. As a result, Sunday's Raw show in Peoria has been postponed until July 9. All tickets will be honored for both events.
The Smackdown tapings originally scheduled for today in New Orleans but bumped to Baton Rouge due to the Super Bowl celebrations was rescheduled for May 28.
Upcoming Raw guest hosts Cheech and Chong were interviewed on Arizona's KQRS-FM radio station. When asked about WWE they didn't appear to know anything about the company other than their agent booked them after WWE requested them.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
Hulk Hogan was interviewed on the Monday Night Mayhem radio show at www.mondaynightmayhem.com. He said he learned a valuable lesson during his recent Australia tour: He shouldn’t be wrestling anymore, because of the condition his back, hips and legs are in. "I found out in Australia that me wrestling in a ring in not the place to be," he said. "If I was to wrestle in TNA, the hardest part of my night is walking down that ramp and staying straight-faced, because my back, and my hips, and legs hurt so much. If you watch closely, I'm doing a bit of a shuffle out there, so if I was crazy enough to wrestle in that ring, they might be using a broom and a dustpan to sweep out the ring at the end of the match, so not anticipating going in the ring." On TNA moving to Monday nights, he didn't give anything away, but said, "It looks much better than it did yesterday." He claimed everyone in WWE is calling him up around the clock to try to come to TNA. Not sure about that one. He said, "Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, even if [John] Cena wants to play that game down the road, he can get real. I'm looking for guys who can get real with me and not a bunch of posers." On working with Russo, he said: "My mother told me if you can't say something good, don't say nothing at all. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture, and sometimes if things get real nasty, you don't want to step in s--t, you want to step over it." On daughter Brooke becoming an on-screen character: "Her just sitting in the crowd, hanging out in the crowd is good enough for me. I don’t want to see her crawling around half-naked on WWE. I don’t want to see her getting chest-slapped or drop kicked by the Beautiful People. At the end of the day, I love Brooke to death and I wouldn’t wish this life on anyone."
For what it's worth, Hogan said this morning on Bubba the Love Sponge that he would be turning heel soon on television.
Ric Flair says he'll wrestle "sooner than later," in an interview with the Virginian-Pilot. "The feud thing with Hogan will play out later," he said. "The story line right now is that they’ve made all these changes to be competitive, and I’m just a part of that." Flair added: "I wasn’t sure if [wrestling again] was something I wanted to do. But I’m a big fan of Kurt Angle, and working with Hulk in Australia really showed me how much I missed things." Full interview at http://tinyurl.com/yzoglre.
The word on Scott Steiner is that his contract expired and the company opted not to renew his deal. Steiner has just released a wacky workout DVD. The trailer is online at http://tinyurl.com/ybt5ww3.
The Against All Odds count down show is now online at http://tinyurl.com/yd49g59 complete with an interesting ranking system of heavyweight title contenders. Bischoff says on the show, "There needed to be some order, some organization, and some reason that's justifiable to the wrestlers themselves and to the audience so that everyone understood when someone gets a title shot in TNA, they've earned it."
Tara's Impact wardrobe malfunction aired unedited in the UK over the weekend. I guess that means TNA production people missed it and it was actually Spike who made the final edit.
TNA Epics this week will be a special on Sting.
Kurt Angle has launched his own range of food products. Story is at www.the-sun.co.uk/wrestling.
There is a story on Matt Morgan in the March edition of Men's Exercise magazine. The story focuses on his diet and workout regime.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Former WWE wrestler Ken Doane survived week two of the FOX Reality show, Seducing Cindy. You can watch the first two episodes online at www.insidetv.aol.com.
Roddy Piper's DUI charge from last summer in Los Angeles was recently expunged.
There is a story on Colt Cabana on the Chicago Tribune website promoting his comedy improv with Mick Foley and Bruce Prichard. Cabana has a show Wednesday at the ComedySportz Theatre. He said he is using comedy to keep himself in the spotlight and hopes to go back to WWE. He said: "A lot of guys get released by WWE and vanish. I’m staying on and wrestling full time [with Ring of Honor] and I’m doing comedy. I like to think that by doing comedy, it shows I’m an asset to [WWE] in and outside of the ring."
Candice Michelle wrote a blog revealing that she will give birth to a baby girl in April. She is planning a home birth.
Today's Diva of the Day is Shelley Martinez at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
The Golden Circle "Missing Moondog" by Greg Anthony
The other night here in town I ran into James Booker, one of Moondog Spot's sons, we chit chatted, talked a little wrestling, shook hands and said goodbye. As he was walking away I began thinking how much his Dad helped me. I thought about how much his Dad helped a lot of us in this area. Everyone here has a "Moondog Story" and that's why I and I'm sure alot of you out there are missing Moondog.
Larry was truly a class act, he was business but not a prick about it. When I had the opportunity to work with him he was at a time trying to teach young guys the importance of the old school way. He was trying the best he knew how to teach guys respect for the business he had given his life to. Some took his words to heart, others were just hard headed or at least they thought they were until Moondog Spot swung something at them.
Nobody cared more, knew more or made more out of their gimmick than Moondog Spot. He knew without any doubt how a "moondog" should be presented to the crowd. And he wasn't afraid to tell people when they had it wrong. I first hand saw the difference between doing it right and doing it wrong. I saw Larry let a promoter book him one way, then I saw the difference when Larry booked it the way he felt it should be. The difference was undeniable.
Larry and I worked a program with each other for 4 months. Larry had little ways of testing you, to see if you had what it took. We did a pull apart during this time and he had two handfuls of my hair as wrestlers were trying to pull him away, it was yanking on my every so tender head. For ,I swear, a straight 5 minutes he had me by the hair as tears welled up in my eyes. When the actually "pull apart" actually happened I headed to the back. My scalp was throbbing, it hurt like crazy. Larry came to the back and said "They were really trying to pull me away, so I had to grab your hair.. that was a shoot, are you ok?". I shook his hand and said "I'm fine, felt fine.. thank you."
That's the way he tested a lot of us. Some guys would get hit with chairs, boards, exc... and just cower away and that's when he'd really hit them. When Larry hit me, I hit him just as hard. Larry didn't want anyone to cower away, he wanted you to stand up and work with him. That's how you earned his respect. Some thought just by taking his hits, that was his respect, that wasn't the case. He joked about those that would just go out there and let him eat their lunch.
I remember the night he passed away. Chris Rocker got the call from Will Gibson that Larry had a heart attack working a match in Memphis. We didn't know the extent of it all yet, we just kind of were in shock. When news came that he had actually passed away it was a tough thing for all of us. I went to the funeral, as we all did, to pay our respects. Larry was well respected and it showed on that day. There were legends there and they openly wept for their friend as did I and knowing Larry like I did, I know that he wouldn't have wanted to leave his family that early but I know in my heart that he found solace that he died doing what he loved. We all could only be that lucky, I promise.
Larry was truly a class act, he was business but not a prick about it. When I had the opportunity to work with him he was at a time trying to teach young guys the importance of the old school way. He was trying the best he knew how to teach guys respect for the business he had given his life to. Some took his words to heart, others were just hard headed or at least they thought they were until Moondog Spot swung something at them.
Nobody cared more, knew more or made more out of their gimmick than Moondog Spot. He knew without any doubt how a "moondog" should be presented to the crowd. And he wasn't afraid to tell people when they had it wrong. I first hand saw the difference between doing it right and doing it wrong. I saw Larry let a promoter book him one way, then I saw the difference when Larry booked it the way he felt it should be. The difference was undeniable.
Larry and I worked a program with each other for 4 months. Larry had little ways of testing you, to see if you had what it took. We did a pull apart during this time and he had two handfuls of my hair as wrestlers were trying to pull him away, it was yanking on my every so tender head. For ,I swear, a straight 5 minutes he had me by the hair as tears welled up in my eyes. When the actually "pull apart" actually happened I headed to the back. My scalp was throbbing, it hurt like crazy. Larry came to the back and said "They were really trying to pull me away, so I had to grab your hair.. that was a shoot, are you ok?". I shook his hand and said "I'm fine, felt fine.. thank you."
That's the way he tested a lot of us. Some guys would get hit with chairs, boards, exc... and just cower away and that's when he'd really hit them. When Larry hit me, I hit him just as hard. Larry didn't want anyone to cower away, he wanted you to stand up and work with him. That's how you earned his respect. Some thought just by taking his hits, that was his respect, that wasn't the case. He joked about those that would just go out there and let him eat their lunch.
I remember the night he passed away. Chris Rocker got the call from Will Gibson that Larry had a heart attack working a match in Memphis. We didn't know the extent of it all yet, we just kind of were in shock. When news came that he had actually passed away it was a tough thing for all of us. I went to the funeral, as we all did, to pay our respects. Larry was well respected and it showed on that day. There were legends there and they openly wept for their friend as did I and knowing Larry like I did, I know that he wouldn't have wanted to leave his family that early but I know in my heart that he found solace that he died doing what he loved. We all could only be that lucky, I promise.
(WGN) Feb 8: Raw tonight, Bret Hart on Eric Bischoff, latest on Gene Kiniski, Diva buries Lauper, Knockout injured, WWE stars party in Lafayette, Shane Douglas talks TNA, ROH, GLOW reunion, more...
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
2/6 Raw house shows results from Alexandria, LA: Chris Masters over Carlito; Jack Swagger over Santino to win his first match of 2010; Paul Burchill over Johnny Curtis; Divas match but we didn't get names; The Miz over MVP; Mark Henry & ? over Legacy; Randy Orton over Kofi Kingston; and John Cena over Sheamus via DQ.
2/6 Smackdown house shows results from Waco, TX: Kane over Mike Knox; Goldust & Koslov over William Regal & Tyler Reks; Mickie James over Michelle McCool with Beth Phoenix as referee; Cryme Tyme & Maria over The Hart Dynasty & Natalya; Matt Hardy over Finlay; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison & R-Truth in a three-way; Christian over Ezekiel Jackson; and Rey Mysterio over CM Punk.
We didn't receive any reports from the 2/7 Supershow in Lake Charles.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are tonight in Baton Rouge. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
WWE production designer Jason Robinson did an interview with Sky magazine in the UK to promote the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. He noted that the chamber cost $250,000 to construct, takes around 24 ring crew to assemble, and costs the company $10,000 each time they use the chamber as they replace the Perspex in each pod after every match. Robinson also said the chamber is housed in storage in Newark and they have to hire a special 500-foot flatbed truck for trans as it's too wide for the typical WWE ring trucks. "It weighs 16 tons so we're pushing maximum weight limit," said Robinson.
The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is being marketed in Germany as No Way Out. I assume this is for the obvious reason.
A story on Ted DiBiase Sr. and Jr. at http://tinyurl.com/yjkctrt where they discuss the Wellness Program and suggest wrestlers don't party anymore like they did in the 80s and 90s. I think that's probably true in some respects. Sr. said: "Today, the business has changed, it’s much more corporate... When you go back to the hotel, there is nobody. I don’t know if it’s a well-kept secret, or what. The WWE has changed so much now. They work four days a week, then they go home to their families."
John Cena had his publicist call Hooters in Lafayette yesterday to reserve a table to watch the Superbowl. Cena didn't show up until 11pm but gave the servers a huge tip when he did. Those on his table included DiBiase Jr., Masters, Kingston, Michaels, and a couple of the Diva's. The Super Bowl last night was the most watched show in U.S. television history with 106.5 million viewers. The previous most-watched show was the 1983 finale episode of MASH that did 106.0 million viewers.
Maria Kanellis did an interview on Arizona radio to promote Wrestlemania. She also talked Celebrity Apprentice and noted she got on well with all the other celebs aside from Cyndi Lauper. "It was more like, girls just wanna be mean, than girls just wanna have fun... I still like [Cyndi], I just don't want to work with her again... EVER!"
Mickie James‘ debut country album is titled Strangers & Angels’ and is due for release/download on March 23. She is releasing a track from the album called Are You With Me on February 16 which will be played on country radio stations in Virginia and Tennessee.
The Paisley Daily Express in Scotland at http://tinyurl.com/yln89vc has a story on the NXT Wrestling group noting they have used the name NXT since 2006 and have offered to fight it out in the ring with Vince McMahon for rights to the name. The story noted that McMahon had to ditch the WWF acronym in 2000 due to losing the court ruling to the World Wildlife Fund. On a related note, the change from World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment made No. 7 on Time's new list of Top Top Worst Corporate Name Changes at http://tinyurl.com/m3d72u.
Ron Simmons worked what was billed as his retirement match this past weekend before 900 fans at the Historic Purks International Championship Wrestling show in Cedartown, GA. Lot's of talk that he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. He will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame on February 20.
Bret Hart commented on meeting with Jeremy Borash in Nashville last week shooting down rumors he has plans to do anything with TNA. He said: "Why anyone would ever think I'd let Hogan and Bischoff anywhere near my Hitman persona again is truly beyond me."
The postponed house show Friday night in Philadelphia was rescheduled for Thursday. Some WWE people are not happy as they will miss Jack Brisco's memorial service... The service is Thursday at 1pm at St. Lawrence Church, 5221 N. Himes Ave Tampa, FL 33614. Phone: 813-875-4040.
WWE talent flying from Los Angeles to Philly on Friday were notified of the house show cancelation at 6am. They had to deboard from their 6.30 flight, but unfortunatley their luggage didn't leave the plane with them. They eventually got their bags back later that night.
Superstars last Thursday night did a 1.0 rating and 1.1 million viewers
Foxy Brown's latest song Let 'em Know contains a line referencing John Cena.
Former Diva Jazz was recently added to WWE's Alumni website.
Chris Jericho's band Fozzy is touring the UK in May with dates in Glasgow, Nottingham, and a double shot in London. More info will be posted soon at www.chrisjericho.com.
Jim Ross noted he was heading to Tampa this week to check out recruits in WWE developmental.
Edge is appearing on Friday night in Melbourne, FL, at the FCW show at the Melbourne Auditorium. The show includes the main event of Justin Angel, Kaval & Bryan Danielson vs. Curt Hawkins, Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft. More info at www.fcwwrestling.info.
Beth Phoenix tweeted over the weekend that a Texas state trooper pulled her over while driving to Dallas and gave her a ticket.
The city of Vancouver has formed a bid committee and is attempting to bring WrestleMania to Vancouver, British Columbia, in either 2013 or 2014. More info at www.wrestlemaniavancouver.com.
Big Show turns 38 today.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
2/4 house show results from Topeka, KS: Chris Sabin over Jay Lethal; Tara over ODB with Shark Boy as referee; Hernandez & Matt Morgan over Team 3D; Samoa Joe over Abyss; The Pope over Desmond Wolfe; and Jeff Jarrett over Mr. Anderson. Earl Hebner is on the road but they are playing up to the suspension storyline so he comes out to referee a match but Jeremy Borash has security eject him from the building.
2/5 in Wichita and 2/7 in Joplin had the same results. We didn't get anything by way of numbers but Joplin was close to sold out.
***
Impact last Thursday night did a 1.2 rating and 1.6 million viewers, down around 15 percent in viewership from the week before.
Jimmy Hart did an interview at http://tinyurl.com/ykl7bzr talking about going to TNA. He tongue-in-cheek tells the story of how Jerry Lawler once told him that Hulk Hogan would never draw a dime in wrestling. Technically Lawler is right, because Hogan was Terry Boulder when he said that in Memphis and the Boulder gimmick never did draw a dime. When asked whether he thinks Hogan will wrestle again, he said: "Please, brother. You know he will. Come on, man. Hulk Hogan, I tell him all the time, every time he walks by that ring he gets goosebumps. You know he’s going to. Those boots’ll be back on before long."
The Honky Tonk Man did a radio interview saying it was Jeff Jarrett who called him in December about the Jakks action figure deal.
Tara chipped some teeth in Wichita over the weekend and underwent dental surgery today. She tweeted this afternoon that she can't do BJ tonight as a result--Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for those with their minds in the gutter.
Ric Flair makes his house show debut this weekend in Norfolk in the corner of AJ Styles.
Brian Fitz interviewed Shane Douglas at http://tinyurl.com/yk6elud. He was fairly critical of TNA television saying Dixie and Bob Carter have made a huge investment on a product that is vastly underachieving. I am not sure many people will completely agree with his assessment, but he said: "I think fans want to see something more realistic with the storylines, force them to think a little bit and get to something that's a lot more old school. That's one portion of the formula that Vince [McMahon] has steadfastly refused to try and Dixie Carter has been unwilling to try. They've tried everything else. They've tried ever flip-flopping move, every kind of iron cage they can build, every tower they can build, every kind of storyline and vignette that can do off of 'sports entertainment' and we're down 10, 15 million fans over the last 10 years. My belief is that old school is where it has to go to bring some of those fans back and create new fans." Again, I personally don't believe in this new school vs. old school mentality. Bottom line--there is good wrestling and bad wrestling. It's just that some people book or write it better than others. Anyway, Douglas also rips on Vince McMahon for his treatment of the ECW brand.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Gene Kiniski is still hospitalized in Bellingham, WA, battling pneumonia and undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer. He has lost a lot of weight, but is resting comfortably and is in amazing spirits, according to a close friend. He said on Saturday night: "What a great life--I wish I could do it all over again, I have been everywhere, and got paid to do it, it is just the sh--ts to go out like this." He was very sad to hear about the passing of Jack Brisco and joked that you could make up a hell of a territory with all the wrestling talent that came out of Oklahoma.
There was a G.L.O.W. [Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling] reunion last weekend in Los Angeles to honor Emily Dole [Mountain Fiji] who has been in poor health recently. Many of the original crew were in attendance including Lisa "Ivory" Moretti, Little Egypt, Americana, Gremlina, Beastie, Hollywood, Tulsa, Vine, Evangelina, and Daisy. Former G.L.O.W. director Matt Cimber also stopped by for a few minutes. He is the youngest child of 1960s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and brother of actress Mariska Hargitay. The reunion was filmed for a documentary. Jimmy Hart, Larry Zbyszko and Johnny Fairplay all gave interviews for the film.
Ring of Honor tonight on HDNet has The American Wolves vs. The Young Bucks; Steve Corino & Kevin Steen vs. Alex Payne & Bobby Dempsey; The Dark City Fight Club vs. The Bravado Brothers; plus an interview with Tyler Black regarding the title match he had with Austin Aries in New York City.
ROH taped television Friday night in Philly for HDNet and quite smartly put the word out they would allow free admission to any WWE ticket holders. Former WWE and TNA wrestler Shawn Daivari made his debut. The Saturday night taping was canceled due to the snow storm and potential electrical issues.
Roderick Strong just signed a contract renewal with ROH.
The controversy surrounding Davey Richards and The Young Bucks [TNA's Generation Me] pulling out of Dragon Gate USA's Wrestlemania weekend shots in Phoenix intensified last week. Richards had verbally agreed to multiple dates with Dragon Gate and Evolve for the rest of the year despite being under contract to Ring of Honor. Dragon Gate had advertised his name for months in Phoenix, but it seems Richards balked on his commitments when confronted recently by ROH lawyers. ROH had previously agreed Richards could work for Dragon Gate although Richards had misrepresented himself to the company and claimed he wasn't under a contract. Richards released a short statement a few days ago saying ROH was his home and he wouldn't be working for Dragon Gate or Evolve. Regarding The Young Bucks, TNA decided to pull Matt and Nick Jackson from their Dragon Gate bookings when they signed with the company. They like Richards had also been advertised for months in Phoenix. However, cooler heads prevailed and now TNA are allowing the Bucks to honor their remianing dates. Dragon Gate booker Gabe Sapolsky wrote a blog praising TNA while alluding to his dealings with ROH as "just plain ugly" writing, "I know my place in the food chain. The issue was finishing up the dates a talent let himself be advertised for. That is all that can and should be expected. Even WWE, which could squash any independent promotion like an ant including DGUSA and EVOLVE, makes sure its wrestlers keep their word and finish advertised dates. That's something I always respected about this corporate giant."
Well-regarded indy wrestler Human Tornado just announced his in-ring retirement from wrestling.
Dwayne Johnson lost an NFL bet with Regis Philbin and made good on it this past week by appearing in a pink tutu in a video on his show.
Tooth Fairy starring Johnson finished at No. 5 at the box office this past weekend grossing $6.5 million for a domestic total of $34 million after three week's.
John Graziano's family is now seeking additional punitive damages from Hulk and Nick Hogan. The family say Nick's driving and Hulk's parenting skills amount to gross negligence. Nick was involved in a serious car accident in 2007 when he wrecked Hulk's Toyota Supra, allegedly in a street race, severely injuring his best friend and passenger, John Graziano, an Iraqi war veteran, who now requires 24-hour-a-day care. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yaukwnl.
Hulk Hogan's nephew David Bollea and Roddy Piper's son Colt Toombs fought on the same MMA card last Thursday in Lemoore, CA. Bollea beat Tim Denham with an armbar submission while Toombs lost a unanimous decision to Art Becerra. Toombs has recently been training under MMA legend Matt Lindland in Oregan.
Dan Severn talks Brock Lesnar at http://tinyurl.com/yl3pab2.
The Miami Herald interviewed Julie Hart [former wife of Bret] about a book she wrote at http://tinyurl.com/yzpnwas. She told the Herald: "My book is going to be dark. It will obviously surprise a lot of people and family, of course, because those are the first people who are not going to like what you say or don't remember it that way." She said she has been working on the book for six years based on journals she kept since the 80s. Originally her book was a joint project with her sister Michelle [who was once married to Tom Billington, The Dynamite Kid] but her sister backed out. "Biographies are really hard to write. You're really bearing your soul to people, especially your family. They're either going to agree or disagree with what you've written. They'll like it. They'll deny it. It's a tough decision what you're going to say in a book. You want to be remembered for good things because once the story is out, it's out. That's it. There's no turning back." Hart said the book is complete and she is looking for a publisher.
There are a number of wrestling-related items up for sale at http://tinyurl.com/yzbxgp2 -- all previously owned by Georgiann Makropoulos to help defer her funeral costs.
The Las Vegas Review has a Q&A with Colt Cabana at http://tinyurl.com/y85hyoh. Cabana was in town with Mick Foley and Bruce Prichard for a comedy benefit at the Hilton this past weekend. The local CBS news affiliate also interviewed Foley at http://tinyurl.com/yb7bdhd which included some TNA talk.
Mark Nulty has some interesting facts on Jack Brisco at http://jackbrisco.com/thingstoknow.html.
RVD's upcoming movie Wrong Side of Town will be released on February 23 direct to DVD. Dave Batista co-stars with Van Dam and is featured all over the promotional material.
Chris Nowinski of The Sports Legacy Institute did a lot of media during Super Bowl weekend to raise awareness of the institute's research on brain injuries among professional athletes. He said in recent years the NFL and it's players have mostly been supportive of his work. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interviewed Nowinski at http://tinyurl.com/yhobmcz.
Jim "Sinister Minister" Mitchell has reappeared on Jeff Katz' Geek Week website at http://tinyurl.com/ye74537.
Tijuana Entertainment is looking for backyard wrestlers [18 and over] in Southern California to be part of a documentary. For more information, email Anna Zukowski at AMZCasting@gmail.com.
The latest edition of www.thewrestlingpress.com is now online with interviews with Desmond Wolfe and Cody Deaner.
Today's Diva of the Day is Karen Angle at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
2/6 Raw house shows results from Alexandria, LA: Chris Masters over Carlito; Jack Swagger over Santino to win his first match of 2010; Paul Burchill over Johnny Curtis; Divas match but we didn't get names; The Miz over MVP; Mark Henry & ? over Legacy; Randy Orton over Kofi Kingston; and John Cena over Sheamus via DQ.
2/6 Smackdown house shows results from Waco, TX: Kane over Mike Knox; Goldust & Koslov over William Regal & Tyler Reks; Mickie James over Michelle McCool with Beth Phoenix as referee; Cryme Tyme & Maria over The Hart Dynasty & Natalya; Matt Hardy over Finlay; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison & R-Truth in a three-way; Christian over Ezekiel Jackson; and Rey Mysterio over CM Punk.
We didn't receive any reports from the 2/7 Supershow in Lake Charles.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are tonight in Baton Rouge. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
WWE production designer Jason Robinson did an interview with Sky magazine in the UK to promote the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. He noted that the chamber cost $250,000 to construct, takes around 24 ring crew to assemble, and costs the company $10,000 each time they use the chamber as they replace the Perspex in each pod after every match. Robinson also said the chamber is housed in storage in Newark and they have to hire a special 500-foot flatbed truck for trans as it's too wide for the typical WWE ring trucks. "It weighs 16 tons so we're pushing maximum weight limit," said Robinson.
The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is being marketed in Germany as No Way Out. I assume this is for the obvious reason.
A story on Ted DiBiase Sr. and Jr. at http://tinyurl.com/yjkctrt where they discuss the Wellness Program and suggest wrestlers don't party anymore like they did in the 80s and 90s. I think that's probably true in some respects. Sr. said: "Today, the business has changed, it’s much more corporate... When you go back to the hotel, there is nobody. I don’t know if it’s a well-kept secret, or what. The WWE has changed so much now. They work four days a week, then they go home to their families."
John Cena had his publicist call Hooters in Lafayette yesterday to reserve a table to watch the Superbowl. Cena didn't show up until 11pm but gave the servers a huge tip when he did. Those on his table included DiBiase Jr., Masters, Kingston, Michaels, and a couple of the Diva's. The Super Bowl last night was the most watched show in U.S. television history with 106.5 million viewers. The previous most-watched show was the 1983 finale episode of MASH that did 106.0 million viewers.
Maria Kanellis did an interview on Arizona radio to promote Wrestlemania. She also talked Celebrity Apprentice and noted she got on well with all the other celebs aside from Cyndi Lauper. "It was more like, girls just wanna be mean, than girls just wanna have fun... I still like [Cyndi], I just don't want to work with her again... EVER!"
Mickie James‘ debut country album is titled Strangers & Angels’ and is due for release/download on March 23. She is releasing a track from the album called Are You With Me on February 16 which will be played on country radio stations in Virginia and Tennessee.
The Paisley Daily Express in Scotland at http://tinyurl.com/yln89vc has a story on the NXT Wrestling group noting they have used the name NXT since 2006 and have offered to fight it out in the ring with Vince McMahon for rights to the name. The story noted that McMahon had to ditch the WWF acronym in 2000 due to losing the court ruling to the World Wildlife Fund. On a related note, the change from World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment made No. 7 on Time's new list of Top Top Worst Corporate Name Changes at http://tinyurl.com/m3d72u.
Ron Simmons worked what was billed as his retirement match this past weekend before 900 fans at the Historic Purks International Championship Wrestling show in Cedartown, GA. Lot's of talk that he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. He will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame on February 20.
Bret Hart commented on meeting with Jeremy Borash in Nashville last week shooting down rumors he has plans to do anything with TNA. He said: "Why anyone would ever think I'd let Hogan and Bischoff anywhere near my Hitman persona again is truly beyond me."
The postponed house show Friday night in Philadelphia was rescheduled for Thursday. Some WWE people are not happy as they will miss Jack Brisco's memorial service... The service is Thursday at 1pm at St. Lawrence Church, 5221 N. Himes Ave Tampa, FL 33614. Phone: 813-875-4040.
WWE talent flying from Los Angeles to Philly on Friday were notified of the house show cancelation at 6am. They had to deboard from their 6.30 flight, but unfortunatley their luggage didn't leave the plane with them. They eventually got their bags back later that night.
Superstars last Thursday night did a 1.0 rating and 1.1 million viewers
Foxy Brown's latest song Let 'em Know contains a line referencing John Cena.
Former Diva Jazz was recently added to WWE's Alumni website.
Chris Jericho's band Fozzy is touring the UK in May with dates in Glasgow, Nottingham, and a double shot in London. More info will be posted soon at www.chrisjericho.com.
Jim Ross noted he was heading to Tampa this week to check out recruits in WWE developmental.
Edge is appearing on Friday night in Melbourne, FL, at the FCW show at the Melbourne Auditorium. The show includes the main event of Justin Angel, Kaval & Bryan Danielson vs. Curt Hawkins, Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft. More info at www.fcwwrestling.info.
Beth Phoenix tweeted over the weekend that a Texas state trooper pulled her over while driving to Dallas and gave her a ticket.
The city of Vancouver has formed a bid committee and is attempting to bring WrestleMania to Vancouver, British Columbia, in either 2013 or 2014. More info at www.wrestlemaniavancouver.com.
Big Show turns 38 today.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
2/4 house show results from Topeka, KS: Chris Sabin over Jay Lethal; Tara over ODB with Shark Boy as referee; Hernandez & Matt Morgan over Team 3D; Samoa Joe over Abyss; The Pope over Desmond Wolfe; and Jeff Jarrett over Mr. Anderson. Earl Hebner is on the road but they are playing up to the suspension storyline so he comes out to referee a match but Jeremy Borash has security eject him from the building.
2/5 in Wichita and 2/7 in Joplin had the same results. We didn't get anything by way of numbers but Joplin was close to sold out.
***
Impact last Thursday night did a 1.2 rating and 1.6 million viewers, down around 15 percent in viewership from the week before.
Jimmy Hart did an interview at http://tinyurl.com/ykl7bzr talking about going to TNA. He tongue-in-cheek tells the story of how Jerry Lawler once told him that Hulk Hogan would never draw a dime in wrestling. Technically Lawler is right, because Hogan was Terry Boulder when he said that in Memphis and the Boulder gimmick never did draw a dime. When asked whether he thinks Hogan will wrestle again, he said: "Please, brother. You know he will. Come on, man. Hulk Hogan, I tell him all the time, every time he walks by that ring he gets goosebumps. You know he’s going to. Those boots’ll be back on before long."
The Honky Tonk Man did a radio interview saying it was Jeff Jarrett who called him in December about the Jakks action figure deal.
Tara chipped some teeth in Wichita over the weekend and underwent dental surgery today. She tweeted this afternoon that she can't do BJ tonight as a result--Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for those with their minds in the gutter.
Ric Flair makes his house show debut this weekend in Norfolk in the corner of AJ Styles.
Brian Fitz interviewed Shane Douglas at http://tinyurl.com/yk6elud. He was fairly critical of TNA television saying Dixie and Bob Carter have made a huge investment on a product that is vastly underachieving. I am not sure many people will completely agree with his assessment, but he said: "I think fans want to see something more realistic with the storylines, force them to think a little bit and get to something that's a lot more old school. That's one portion of the formula that Vince [McMahon] has steadfastly refused to try and Dixie Carter has been unwilling to try. They've tried everything else. They've tried ever flip-flopping move, every kind of iron cage they can build, every tower they can build, every kind of storyline and vignette that can do off of 'sports entertainment' and we're down 10, 15 million fans over the last 10 years. My belief is that old school is where it has to go to bring some of those fans back and create new fans." Again, I personally don't believe in this new school vs. old school mentality. Bottom line--there is good wrestling and bad wrestling. It's just that some people book or write it better than others. Anyway, Douglas also rips on Vince McMahon for his treatment of the ECW brand.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Gene Kiniski is still hospitalized in Bellingham, WA, battling pneumonia and undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer. He has lost a lot of weight, but is resting comfortably and is in amazing spirits, according to a close friend. He said on Saturday night: "What a great life--I wish I could do it all over again, I have been everywhere, and got paid to do it, it is just the sh--ts to go out like this." He was very sad to hear about the passing of Jack Brisco and joked that you could make up a hell of a territory with all the wrestling talent that came out of Oklahoma.
There was a G.L.O.W. [Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling] reunion last weekend in Los Angeles to honor Emily Dole [Mountain Fiji] who has been in poor health recently. Many of the original crew were in attendance including Lisa "Ivory" Moretti, Little Egypt, Americana, Gremlina, Beastie, Hollywood, Tulsa, Vine, Evangelina, and Daisy. Former G.L.O.W. director Matt Cimber also stopped by for a few minutes. He is the youngest child of 1960s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and brother of actress Mariska Hargitay. The reunion was filmed for a documentary. Jimmy Hart, Larry Zbyszko and Johnny Fairplay all gave interviews for the film.
Ring of Honor tonight on HDNet has The American Wolves vs. The Young Bucks; Steve Corino & Kevin Steen vs. Alex Payne & Bobby Dempsey; The Dark City Fight Club vs. The Bravado Brothers; plus an interview with Tyler Black regarding the title match he had with Austin Aries in New York City.
ROH taped television Friday night in Philly for HDNet and quite smartly put the word out they would allow free admission to any WWE ticket holders. Former WWE and TNA wrestler Shawn Daivari made his debut. The Saturday night taping was canceled due to the snow storm and potential electrical issues.
Roderick Strong just signed a contract renewal with ROH.
The controversy surrounding Davey Richards and The Young Bucks [TNA's Generation Me] pulling out of Dragon Gate USA's Wrestlemania weekend shots in Phoenix intensified last week. Richards had verbally agreed to multiple dates with Dragon Gate and Evolve for the rest of the year despite being under contract to Ring of Honor. Dragon Gate had advertised his name for months in Phoenix, but it seems Richards balked on his commitments when confronted recently by ROH lawyers. ROH had previously agreed Richards could work for Dragon Gate although Richards had misrepresented himself to the company and claimed he wasn't under a contract. Richards released a short statement a few days ago saying ROH was his home and he wouldn't be working for Dragon Gate or Evolve. Regarding The Young Bucks, TNA decided to pull Matt and Nick Jackson from their Dragon Gate bookings when they signed with the company. They like Richards had also been advertised for months in Phoenix. However, cooler heads prevailed and now TNA are allowing the Bucks to honor their remianing dates. Dragon Gate booker Gabe Sapolsky wrote a blog praising TNA while alluding to his dealings with ROH as "just plain ugly" writing, "I know my place in the food chain. The issue was finishing up the dates a talent let himself be advertised for. That is all that can and should be expected. Even WWE, which could squash any independent promotion like an ant including DGUSA and EVOLVE, makes sure its wrestlers keep their word and finish advertised dates. That's something I always respected about this corporate giant."
Well-regarded indy wrestler Human Tornado just announced his in-ring retirement from wrestling.
Dwayne Johnson lost an NFL bet with Regis Philbin and made good on it this past week by appearing in a pink tutu in a video on his show.
Tooth Fairy starring Johnson finished at No. 5 at the box office this past weekend grossing $6.5 million for a domestic total of $34 million after three week's.
John Graziano's family is now seeking additional punitive damages from Hulk and Nick Hogan. The family say Nick's driving and Hulk's parenting skills amount to gross negligence. Nick was involved in a serious car accident in 2007 when he wrecked Hulk's Toyota Supra, allegedly in a street race, severely injuring his best friend and passenger, John Graziano, an Iraqi war veteran, who now requires 24-hour-a-day care. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yaukwnl.
Hulk Hogan's nephew David Bollea and Roddy Piper's son Colt Toombs fought on the same MMA card last Thursday in Lemoore, CA. Bollea beat Tim Denham with an armbar submission while Toombs lost a unanimous decision to Art Becerra. Toombs has recently been training under MMA legend Matt Lindland in Oregan.
Dan Severn talks Brock Lesnar at http://tinyurl.com/yl3pab2.
The Miami Herald interviewed Julie Hart [former wife of Bret] about a book she wrote at http://tinyurl.com/yzpnwas. She told the Herald: "My book is going to be dark. It will obviously surprise a lot of people and family, of course, because those are the first people who are not going to like what you say or don't remember it that way." She said she has been working on the book for six years based on journals she kept since the 80s. Originally her book was a joint project with her sister Michelle [who was once married to Tom Billington, The Dynamite Kid] but her sister backed out. "Biographies are really hard to write. You're really bearing your soul to people, especially your family. They're either going to agree or disagree with what you've written. They'll like it. They'll deny it. It's a tough decision what you're going to say in a book. You want to be remembered for good things because once the story is out, it's out. That's it. There's no turning back." Hart said the book is complete and she is looking for a publisher.
There are a number of wrestling-related items up for sale at http://tinyurl.com/yzbxgp2 -- all previously owned by Georgiann Makropoulos to help defer her funeral costs.
The Las Vegas Review has a Q&A with Colt Cabana at http://tinyurl.com/y85hyoh. Cabana was in town with Mick Foley and Bruce Prichard for a comedy benefit at the Hilton this past weekend. The local CBS news affiliate also interviewed Foley at http://tinyurl.com/yb7bdhd which included some TNA talk.
Mark Nulty has some interesting facts on Jack Brisco at http://jackbrisco.com/thingstoknow.html.
RVD's upcoming movie Wrong Side of Town will be released on February 23 direct to DVD. Dave Batista co-stars with Van Dam and is featured all over the promotional material.
Chris Nowinski of The Sports Legacy Institute did a lot of media during Super Bowl weekend to raise awareness of the institute's research on brain injuries among professional athletes. He said in recent years the NFL and it's players have mostly been supportive of his work. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interviewed Nowinski at http://tinyurl.com/yhobmcz.
Jim "Sinister Minister" Mitchell has reappeared on Jeff Katz' Geek Week website at http://tinyurl.com/ye74537.
Tijuana Entertainment is looking for backyard wrestlers [18 and over] in Southern California to be part of a documentary. For more information, email Anna Zukowski at AMZCasting@gmail.com.
The latest edition of www.thewrestlingpress.com is now online with interviews with Desmond Wolfe and Cody Deaner.
Today's Diva of the Day is Karen Angle at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Jason Reed Picture of the Weekend: NBW Draws 250 for Vendetta Last Night In Newbern, TN
----Below are three pics from last night. Jason with Chris Rocker, Jason with Sid Vicious and then a pic of Jeremy Moore/Reed. Sid apparently hit Moore with a big boot and looks like he might have broke his nose. 250+ in the building - Standing Room Only!!
RassleResults: NEW West Memphis, AR 02.05.10
-Dustin Starr beat Jason Rose
-Austin Lane beat Shawn Reed
-Kid Nikels beat Matt Justyce
-Eric Wayne beat Alan Steele by DQ when Shawn Reed interfered - Nikels made the save!
----50 in the crowd...Downtown Bruno was the ref...Terrance Ward and John Steele did commentary...This group tapes their first official show to air on TV this coming Friday night...I seen some photos of Starr from the show. OMG!! The guy is even in better shape than the last time I seen him...Be there with RRO!!
-Austin Lane beat Shawn Reed
-Kid Nikels beat Matt Justyce
-Eric Wayne beat Alan Steele by DQ when Shawn Reed interfered - Nikels made the save!
----50 in the crowd...Downtown Bruno was the ref...Terrance Ward and John Steele did commentary...This group tapes their first official show to air on TV this coming Friday night...I seen some photos of Starr from the show. OMG!! The guy is even in better shape than the last time I seen him...Be there with RRO!!
RassleResults: USWO/ATL Nashville, TN 02.05.10
125 attended
Chrisjen Hayme b Tommy Mercer to win the ATL Championship
Seven & Crusher Eric Hodge b Convict & Kevin Jones when Seven pinned Convict
Steven Green b Shawn Hoodrich to win the vacant ATL Jr. Championship
Tasha Simone vs Miss Rachel went to a double countout as they brawled to the back
Rudy Switchblade & Johnny Punch b Dyron Flynn & Tiny Bear when Punch pinned Tiny Bear
Kevin Dunn b Bad Boy Dixon
USWO Tag Team Champions Josh Crow & Damien Payne b LT Falk & Cody Weatherby when Payne pinned Falk
USWO Champion Nore Havoc b Jeff Daniels (w/Dominique) by DQ when Dominique interfered
Credit: Jimmie Daniel
Chrisjen Hayme b Tommy Mercer to win the ATL Championship
Seven & Crusher Eric Hodge b Convict & Kevin Jones when Seven pinned Convict
Steven Green b Shawn Hoodrich to win the vacant ATL Jr. Championship
Tasha Simone vs Miss Rachel went to a double countout as they brawled to the back
Rudy Switchblade & Johnny Punch b Dyron Flynn & Tiny Bear when Punch pinned Tiny Bear
Kevin Dunn b Bad Boy Dixon
USWO Tag Team Champions Josh Crow & Damien Payne b LT Falk & Cody Weatherby when Payne pinned Falk
USWO Champion Nore Havoc b Jeff Daniels (w/Dominique) by DQ when Dominique interfered
Credit: Jimmie Daniel
RassleResults: ASWF Tuckerman, AR 2.06.10
Austin Lane started the show stating that the previous night he suffered an injury to his left forearm. He was wearing a soft cast, Austin stated that he would go to the doctor immediately after the show, but since the fans paid to see him, he wanted to make an appearance before he went to have his arm checked. Lane was interrupted by “3G” Eric Wayne, stating that Lane was faking his injury to avoid having a match. Eric stated that all he ever heard was the crowd chant “Austin, Austin” at every ASWF show, which brought the crowd to it’s feet chanting Austin’s name. Wayne asked Austin about his match of the year award, that they won against each other. Wayne then asked who won that match. Leading to Eric Wayne challenging Austin to a match for the ASWF title. Commissioner Ricky Roland then came saying that Austin and Eric could not wrestle tonight due to Austin’s injury. The match was eventually made as a non-sanctioned, non-title match to take place later that night.
First match: Lee Michaels and Kaliki defeated The Enforcer and Sancho Libre in tag action
First match: Lee Michaels and Kaliki defeated The Enforcer and Sancho Libre in tag action
Second match: Christopher Lee retained his Xtreme Divison Championship against Joshua Cross
Third Match: “ The Odd Couple” Dan Matthews/Kevin Charles defeated “Team Old School” Johnny Hawk/Hot Rod in 2/3 falls match when Hot Rod tapped to Dan’s cloverleaf submission
Fourth match: Demon X lost to “Superstar” Bill Dundee in a Loser wears a dress match after Kid Nikels came from the back to knock Demon X out with a flapjack. Demon X must now wear a dress every week until he wins a match.
Fifth match: In a non-sanctioned, non-title match, Eric Wayne defeated Austin Lane after making Austin pass out with an arm bar submission to Austin’s injured arm. Afterwards, Eric attempted to injure Austin’s arm further by placing it in between a steel chair and climbing to the second rope. Several ASWF wrestlers came to Austin’s aid to protect him. Austin was eventually helped to the back to a standing ovation.
Fifth match: In a non-sanctioned, non-title match, Eric Wayne defeated Austin Lane after making Austin pass out with an arm bar submission to Austin’s injured arm. Afterwards, Eric attempted to injure Austin’s arm further by placing it in between a steel chair and climbing to the second rope. Several ASWF wrestlers came to Austin’s aid to protect him. Austin was eventually helped to the back to a standing ovation.
Sixth match: Steel Cage Match: “Southern Submission Machine” Wild Bill defeated European X-Caliber by escaping through the cage door.
Seventh match: Steel Cage Tag Title Match: CM2 defeated Kid Nikels/Seth Sabor by exiting the cage after Seth and Cason escaped. Afterwards Cody Murdoch defeated Kid Nikels by hitting his Jake Brake finisher for a pin fall
Next week, fallout from cage match. Demon X in a dress. Austin’s possibly broken arm.
Next week, fallout from cage match. Demon X in a dress. Austin’s possibly broken arm.
Credit: Terrance Ward @ www.wrestlingnewscenter.com
----I am getting all kinds of stories coming out of this show - even some of rumors of a ASWF superstar going to jail?? This has not be confirmed yet!!
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