----CLICK HERE for a funny pic of Yearbook 2009's biggest fan Neil Taylor.
----CLICK HERE for some photos from Tia at the Legends show.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
RassleResults: SWA Newport, AR 4.17.10
1.TJ Wells(IC Champ) vs Mark Wolf vs Joshua Cross
Winner: Joshua Cross New Champ
2. Big Al vs Logan Adams
Winner: Logan with Scott Fury's help
3. JR Special vs Kid Krazzy
Winner: JR Special
4. Battle Royal for a shot at the SWA Title later in the night
Winner: Ray Ray, Big Dog Harley left him laying afterwards
5. Scott Fury(US Champ) vs Tommy "WHO'S DA MAN!" Drama
Winner: Tommy Drama New Champ
6. Big Dog Harley(SWA Champ) Vs Ray Ray
Winner: Harley, when Ray passed out from a submission move
7. LSD vs Asylum(Psycho/Pappy/Suicide)
Winners: LSD, afterwards Sexy Sam Dollar and his clan(all the heels) left LSD laying. Sexy even came out of the wheelchair that LSD had put him in. Sexy said that he was going to put LSD out of SWA
Tonight: 4 team Gauntlet for Tag Titles featuring LSD, Ray Ray/Big Al, Scott Fury/Logan Adams, and Big Dog Harley/JR Special
----I am happy to be able to cover this promotion on a weekly basis now. They are about 10 minutes away from ASWF in Tuckerman, AR and seem to be drawing 80 to 100 people on a regular basis. I am told the crowd is rowdy and the show is pretty good. Where did all the good talent from ASWF go?? They are working SWA along with some others they have added. It looks like a solid crew. They got Fury, Adams, Asylum, LSD, Ray Ray, Krazzy and of my all time favorite managers - Sam Dollar. Is this THE Tommy Drama from the LAW days?? CLICK HERE for some photos from the group by Tia Blaylock.
Friday, April 23, 2010
In Case You Missed It: IWA and Legend Payoffs
----CLICK HERE for a huge report by my friend D-Rock about a recent IWA show he attended.
----CLICK HERE for a post on some checks that were given out to the workers in the heyday. I know ALOT of guys that would love to be making that money right now!!
----CLICK HERE for a post on some checks that were given out to the workers in the heyday. I know ALOT of guys that would love to be making that money right now!!
Shows of the Weekend 4.23 to 4.24.10
----CLICK HERE for regular scheduled shows. Below are a couple of other special shows.
-RCW is in Augusta, AR Saturday night with TV tapings.
-CLICK HERE for an XOW show./
-RCW is in Augusta, AR Saturday night with TV tapings.
-CLICK HERE for an XOW show./
Thursday, April 22, 2010
RassleResults: DCW Jonesboro, AR 4.17.10
Show starts off with National Anthem like always with Casey Rinaldi and Jeff Perryman welcoming everyone to another exciting night of DCW Action in the Dogg House..then Rick Ruby comes out with clippers wanting to know why he didn't get to cut Tejano Kid's hair last week..Ruby looks up to Jeff Perryman and asks him why hasn't anything been done about what happened? Perryman tells Ruby that it is wrong, with what happened, and hopefully everything will work out and Rick Ruby says that isn't good enough!! Rick says Jeff, you know a lot of people in the business and know how things work, can you find out what is going on and who is going to give me satisfaction because this is b/s...Perryman tells Ruby that he will make some phone calls to the DCW Board and see what he can do and Ruby says that is fine with him and Ruby goes back to the dressing room....
Match 1: Ross vs Ron McClarity
-most people would get sick of seeing this match over and over, but I can tell you what these two do work well together! Ross is yound and inexperienced in the ring and McClarity is the "wiley veteran" who can still bring it at 110%..Ross has really grown in the ring these past few months and can really work and maintain a match! McClarity is great as always with his psychology and his great technical wrestling ability!! Match was great, back and forth...McClarity finally gets Ross in his new submission hold he has been perfecting of late...almost a arm bar/kamura type move, and McClarity gets the win...winner via Submission Ron McClarity
Match 2: JD Kerry vs Jon Allen (Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match)
-absolutely amazing...match was phenominal from start to finish! These two work just as good in the ring together as anyone is this area...1st Fall takes a while to happen, both men use very quick arsenal of moves and the match goes back and forth...finally JD Kerry scores the first fall via pinfall!!
Kerry 1 Allen 0
Second fall starts of quick with both men doing some quick arm drags and dropkicks...both guys start turning up the tempo with quick mover after quick move...with Jon Allen using some moves I have never seen before (and that is saying something)!! Finally Allen rolls Kerry up for the 1-2-3..winner of the 2nd fall is Jon Allen...
Kerry 1 Allen 1
Third fall starts off a little slower..both men are feeling each other out and they had been wrestling for about 30 minutes up to this point...then they pick up the pace with Allen hitting a few arm tackles and a sunset flip and almost winning but Kerry kicks out at the last second..then Kerry regains control of the match with a rake of the eyes and Kerry shoots Allen into the rope and hits him with a beautiful drop kick, then after Allen bounces back, Kerry rolls up Allen using the tights for th 1-2-3...winner of the match via
pinfall JD Kerry!!
Kerry 2 Allen 1
Match 3: Tejano Kid w/Dangerous Dominique vs Ron Rage
-absolutely over when both men's music hits...people hate Tejano sooo much and everyone loves Ron "by God" Rage...this match was easy, they had the crowd for the sound of the bell! Match went back and forth but Tejano using Rage's injured leg against him..Tejano really worked that leg over until Rage finally snapped and took the medical boot off and beat Tejano with it within an inch of his life...Rage hit him soo much I don't think Tejano will ever want to see a medical boot again..winner via DQ Tejano Kid! After the match Tejano sneaks back into the ring and hits Rage in the back of the head! Then Tejano handcuffs Rage to the rope but Ron McClarity comes out with a chair and challeges Tejano to a match next week..Ron Rage and Ron McClarity vs Tejano Kid and whoever he wants to get be his partner!
Intermission
Match 4: the Gorilla vs Southside Brawler (for the DCW Heavyweight Championship)
-really good match..man the big guy (the Gorilla) is really coming along in the ring! He is def starting to understand this business and how to work...Southside was great as always and came out to a big pop as the DCW Champ..match went back and forth with Southside gaining the upperhand and hitting the big super-kick...winner via pinfall Southside Brawler and still DCW Champion!
Main Event: #1 Contender's Battle Royal
-Southside joined Jeff and Casey in the booth for the match and Ron McClarity and Ross come out to start the match...they go back and forth until Jon Allen comes out to beat up on Ross...Ron McClarity decides to sit back and relax while Allen works over Ross..then Kerry comes out and starts to beat on Allen so McClarity starts to help out Allen..then Tejano comes out to HUGE HEAT, and after a few minutes Ron Rage comes out...both men work over each other and then Ross gets elliminated and then Rick Ruby comes out to beat on Tejano..Then Tejano gets elliminated and Ron Rage, Rick Ruby, and Ron McClarity elliminate themselves to chase after him...so they leave Jon Allen in the ring with JD Kerry! These two basically have another match before both men almost go over the top rope with JD Kerry's feet almost touching the floor but he gets back into the ring and then he elliminates Allen..winner and NEW #1 Contender for the DCW Heavyweight Championship JD Kerry
Southide then looks down at Kerry and holds the belt up...crowd was into the show from start to finish!! Crowd was about 75..card was good from top to bottom!
Biggest Pop: Rick Ruby and Jeff Perryman
Biggest Heat: Tejano Kid
Credit: JP Perryman & DCW
Match 1: Ross vs Ron McClarity
-most people would get sick of seeing this match over and over, but I can tell you what these two do work well together! Ross is yound and inexperienced in the ring and McClarity is the "wiley veteran" who can still bring it at 110%..Ross has really grown in the ring these past few months and can really work and maintain a match! McClarity is great as always with his psychology and his great technical wrestling ability!! Match was great, back and forth...McClarity finally gets Ross in his new submission hold he has been perfecting of late...almost a arm bar/kamura type move, and McClarity gets the win...winner via Submission Ron McClarity
Match 2: JD Kerry vs Jon Allen (Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match)
-absolutely amazing...match was phenominal from start to finish! These two work just as good in the ring together as anyone is this area...1st Fall takes a while to happen, both men use very quick arsenal of moves and the match goes back and forth...finally JD Kerry scores the first fall via pinfall!!
Kerry 1 Allen 0
Second fall starts of quick with both men doing some quick arm drags and dropkicks...both guys start turning up the tempo with quick mover after quick move...with Jon Allen using some moves I have never seen before (and that is saying something)!! Finally Allen rolls Kerry up for the 1-2-3..winner of the 2nd fall is Jon Allen...
Kerry 1 Allen 1
Third fall starts off a little slower..both men are feeling each other out and they had been wrestling for about 30 minutes up to this point...then they pick up the pace with Allen hitting a few arm tackles and a sunset flip and almost winning but Kerry kicks out at the last second..then Kerry regains control of the match with a rake of the eyes and Kerry shoots Allen into the rope and hits him with a beautiful drop kick, then after Allen bounces back, Kerry rolls up Allen using the tights for th 1-2-3...winner of the match via
pinfall JD Kerry!!
Kerry 2 Allen 1
Match 3: Tejano Kid w/Dangerous Dominique vs Ron Rage
-absolutely over when both men's music hits...people hate Tejano sooo much and everyone loves Ron "by God" Rage...this match was easy, they had the crowd for the sound of the bell! Match went back and forth but Tejano using Rage's injured leg against him..Tejano really worked that leg over until Rage finally snapped and took the medical boot off and beat Tejano with it within an inch of his life...Rage hit him soo much I don't think Tejano will ever want to see a medical boot again..winner via DQ Tejano Kid! After the match Tejano sneaks back into the ring and hits Rage in the back of the head! Then Tejano handcuffs Rage to the rope but Ron McClarity comes out with a chair and challeges Tejano to a match next week..Ron Rage and Ron McClarity vs Tejano Kid and whoever he wants to get be his partner!
Intermission
Match 4: the Gorilla vs Southside Brawler (for the DCW Heavyweight Championship)
-really good match..man the big guy (the Gorilla) is really coming along in the ring! He is def starting to understand this business and how to work...Southside was great as always and came out to a big pop as the DCW Champ..match went back and forth with Southside gaining the upperhand and hitting the big super-kick...winner via pinfall Southside Brawler and still DCW Champion!
Main Event: #1 Contender's Battle Royal
-Southside joined Jeff and Casey in the booth for the match and Ron McClarity and Ross come out to start the match...they go back and forth until Jon Allen comes out to beat up on Ross...Ron McClarity decides to sit back and relax while Allen works over Ross..then Kerry comes out and starts to beat on Allen so McClarity starts to help out Allen..then Tejano comes out to HUGE HEAT, and after a few minutes Ron Rage comes out...both men work over each other and then Ross gets elliminated and then Rick Ruby comes out to beat on Tejano..Then Tejano gets elliminated and Ron Rage, Rick Ruby, and Ron McClarity elliminate themselves to chase after him...so they leave Jon Allen in the ring with JD Kerry! These two basically have another match before both men almost go over the top rope with JD Kerry's feet almost touching the floor but he gets back into the ring and then he elliminates Allen..winner and NEW #1 Contender for the DCW Heavyweight Championship JD Kerry
Southide then looks down at Kerry and holds the belt up...crowd was into the show from start to finish!! Crowd was about 75..card was good from top to bottom!
Biggest Pop: Rick Ruby and Jeff Perryman
Biggest Heat: Tejano Kid
Credit: JP Perryman & DCW
(WGN) April 22: Hogan files lawsuit against insurers, TNA injury notes, Raw crew arrives home, Bill Goldberg update, Bret Hart's trainer passes, 80s legends may form a band, former WWE Diva dating former WWE wrestler, another TNA legal letter, much more by Mike Aldren
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
4/20 NXT TV results from Uncasville, Connecticut: Justin Gabriel over David Otunga; Darren Young over Michael Tarver & Skip Sheffield in a three-way; and Heath Slater over Chris Jericho.
Superstars tonight on WGN has John Morrison vs. Carlito; Goldust vs. Shas Gaspard; and Yoshi Tatsu vs. Zack Ryder.
***
The Raw crew finally arrived home on U.S. soil last night after being stranded in Belfast for several days. John Cena did media interviews on Tuesday noting that he's been on the road since the last week of March and was looking forward to seeing his family. He told Sky Sports News: "I haven't had a vacation in 8 years, so like I said, this was an unscheduled holiday and I was certainly happy to have it."
The title belts used on Raw and Smackdown this week were replicas as the real belts were in Europe due to travel constraints.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.1 rating and 4.15 million viewers. NXT on Tuesday did a 0.9 and 1.2 million viewers.
JTG vs. Shad Gaspard in a strap match and Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix for the Women's title was added to Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
There will be Supplement Draft next Wednesday on WWE.com hosted by Howard Finkel.
Negotiations with Bill Goldberg have stalled. He did an interview this week where he was quoted as saying, "I'm going to stand my ground and a deal will be done if it's to my liking and to my liking only." Goldberg was among nine inductees into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday in Commack, NY. "I wanted to try my best to give the Jewish youth something to look up to, someone who's persevered and somehow made a difference," Goldberg said during his induction speech. "What better way to help Jewish youth in dealing with adversity than to parade around the ring on national television in my underwear, demolishing every single person in my path?"
The NXT rookies got a tour of Titan Towers on Wednesday. Many of them were tweeting about getting free DVD's and T-Shirts.
People Magazine posted a blurb on Ryan Phillippe hosting Raw with his MacGruber costars Kristen Wiig and Will Forte. They wrote he was "geeking out backstage" after meeting one of his childhood idols: Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat.
Joey Mercury worked a dark match at the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday. He told people he was signing back earlier this year as part of The Straight Edge Society. He's changed his look somewhat since his last run. He shaved his head and appears to have bulked up slightly.
Ox Baker was outside the arena at the tapings signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
The second autobiography of Chris Jericho has been officially titled Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps, due for release in February 16, 2011. I assume they pushed back the release date as Jericho was talking before Wrestlemania about having just a few week's to make the publishing deadline. A description of the book reads: "The eagerly awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling A Lion's Tale documents Chris Jericho's meteoric rise to wrestling glory in the WWE. A Lion's Tale gave readers a portrait of Jericho as a young man. Fighting his way through Mexico, rinky-dink leagues and a battery of thieving, sleazy promoters/managers, the book ended with the author's WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) debut. Never one to leave his fans hanging, as demonstrated by his recent return to wrestling glory, Jericho now tells the story of life in the big leagues. But "making it" in the premier wrestling league in the world comes with its own set of obstacles and hard lessons. Jericho, in his witty, hilarious, and surprisingly endearing manner, lays it all out: the good, the bad, and the spandex."
Jericho's band Fozzy will be playing at B.B. Kings in New York City next Wednesday.
Jim Ross was in Las Vegas this week for the annual Cauliflower Alley Club banquet. He wrote about meeting Awesome Kong and put her over as a future WWE pickup saying Kong would make a great opponent for Beth Phoenix or Nattie Neidhart. Ross also wrote about his desire to re sign with WWE and asked his blog readers to ignore speculation to the contrary.
The WWE stock closed yesterday at $18.50, a $0.92 increase so far this week, taking the stock to it's highest mark in several years.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
TNA is back on the road this weekend in Georgia with shows tonight in Macon and Friday in Albany. Line up is Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles; Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Anderson; Tara vs. ODB; Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe; Matt Morgan & TBA (probably Jay Lethal) vs. The Machine Guns; and more.
Jeff Jarrett appeared on the NBC news affiliate this morning in Macon pushing tonight's show. They are doing a promotion where kids 12 and under get in free. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
Hulk Hogan filed a lawsuit today against Wells Fargo Insurance Services, reports the Tampa Tribune. The newspaper reports that the suit relates to the 2007 car wreck involving Hogan's son Nick Bollea and John Graziano. Hogan claims that his former insurance company failed to upgrade his insurance when his exposure to risk grew, so had to use his own money to settle an out-of-court lawsuit filed by the estate of Graziano, who was left severely disabled as a result of the car wreck.
A funny note regarding legal letters since the subject was a major story this past week. Bill Behrens, who at one time was TNA's Bookings Director answering to Terry Taylor, noted during his latest audio show that he received a certified letter from a TNA attorney last year. Apparently the company was unhappy that he was writing blogs for a wrestling website and warned him about breaching his TNA confidentiality agreement. The funny note is that he never signed a confidentiality agreement. In fact, he never signed any type of contract with the company during the years he handled third-party talent bookings and assisted in booking live events.
Daffney was injured during a dark match Tuesday night at the Impact tapings requiring an ambulance trip to the hospital. She was working a girl called Betsy Ruth who was on a tryout. Not sure what went wrong. Daffney suffered a bruised sternum and a stinger but would be OK, according to Dixie Carter on her Twitter page. Betsy, a large girl, is a student from Team 3D's wrestling school who works a Baseball gimmick on Florida indies. Local TV news covered the story as well as the Orlando Sentinel. Angelina Love was also injured at the tapings. She suffered a biceps tear and also tore the ulnar collateral ligament in her elbow which will likely require surgery and sideline her for several weeks. The injury happened when she somehow got her arm caught on Tara's knee brace during a match. Daffney and Angelina were scheduled to wrestle each other on the house show loop this weekend but have been replaced by Tara and ODB.
Impact on Monday night did a 0.95 rating and 1.3 million viewers. An improvement on last week. I would except tonight's replay on Spike to do a solid number now that word has spread about the title change.
The Styles-RVD title change was originally slated for the Sacrifice pay-per-view on 5/16. Creative brought the match forward to try to take advantage of WWE's travel plight. Styles wasn't very happy with the way things went down but the idea is that RVD as champion would sell more tickets at house shows.
Hogan is talking about wrestling again. No idea who against but Abyss will be turning at some point.
Jim Cornette talks more Eric Bischoff plus his thoughts on Paul Heyman or Jim Ross ever working for TNA at WhosSlammingWho.podomatic.com.
Dr. Stevie is sat out at home as he's not been in creative plans of late. He was last seen on television trying to calm down an out-of-control Daffney, and was squashed a few months ago when he teamed with Raven against Matt Morgan and Hernandez. If they do the ECW angle one would assume he would be brought back.
Hermie Sadler is racing in the Bubba Burger 250 next Friday at Richmond International Raceway. Sadler will pilot RAB Racing’s TNA Wrestling Ford Fusion.
Ian Hamilton sent in the latest UK ratings data. For the week ending 4/11 Impact did 110,000 viewers (+ 35,000 viewers) plus an extra 89,000 viewers watching replays. Raw did 127,000 viewers for it's live airing and 83,000 viewers watching replays. Smackdown did 104,000 viewers for its first airing and 67,000 viewers watching replays.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Mr. Hito (Katsuji Adachi), who trained Hashimoto and others in Canada, passed away two days ago at his home in Calgary. He was 67. Hito is best known for his work in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, where he won multiple championships. He was highly regarded by Bret Hart as his most significant trainer, who he trained with extensively in Stu Hart's Dungeon. Hart wrote in his book, "People often say to me, where would wrestling be without Bret Hart. But my answer to that is, where would Bret Hart be without Mr. Hito." His death was believed to be related to diabetes, which caused the amputation of his right leg in October 2009.
George Grant, a Gorgeous George impostor from the 1950s and 1960s, passed away yesterday in Columbia, PA at the age of 85.
Scotty 2 Hotty (Scott Garland) underwent back surgery on 3/3. He's needed the surgery for a long time. People who toured with him in Europe last year said it hurt to look at him and he was in constant pain.
LuFisto (Genny Goulet, 30) suffered a minor stroke last Saturday night following a match in Montreal. Goulet, who has a family history of heart problems, will decide whether to continue her career or not, after going through some more tests. Luckily she said she didn't suffer any permanent damage and was back to full strength as of two days ago. She explains the full story in her blog at http://tinyurl.com/22wfywc.
Stacy Carter, formerly Miss Kitty/The Kat in WWE, did an interview this week on Tampa radio. She is working a match this weekend for CCW in St. Petersburg. She noted that she is currently dating Nick Cvjetkovich, formerly WWE's Kizarny, and has been training at Brian Knobbs' wrestling school in Clearwater.
The latest wrestlers writing books are Manny Fernandez and Sean Waltman.
Dutch Mantell posted a new blog detailing his recently new wrestling school at www.dutchmantell.com.
Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Hart, Hillbilly Jim and Koko B. Ware are talking about forming a band and touring as a singing group at summer music festivals. This sounds like money.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is replacing Clive Owen in action-thriller Protection, according to several reputable movie websites. The film is about a twenty-one-year-old daughter of a Mexican judge who's targeted by mobsters (after she sees them kill her father and other family members), and must stay on the run, while an agent (Johnson) tries to protect her and the bad guy is hot on her trail.
Colt Cabana reviews Wrestlicious at www.wrestlingroaddiaries.com... Cabana also talks Ring of Honor returning to Chicago this weekend at http://tinyurl.com/26dur7b.
Dory Funk Jr., 69, teams with Jimmy Hart, 66, on Saturday in Ocala, FL. More info at www.dory-funk.com.
Universal Championship Wrestling is promoting "Slamboree" this Saturday night in Palestine, TX at the Civic Center. Tommy Dreamer, Charlie Haas, Scott Putski and TNA's Rob Terry are all advertised as appearing. More info at www.ucwtv.com or call 903-729-8106.
This is a strange one. Terri Runnels is scheduled for Dragon Gate USA's 5/8 show in Ontario, Canada. More info at www.dgusa.tv.
Big Time Wrestling is promoting a convention on 5/22 in California with Bret Hart, Jake Roberts, The Iron Sheik, Tommy Dreamer, Bob Holly, Paul London, Brian Knedrick, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Awesome Kong, Daffney, and many more. Details at www.btwrestling.com.
Maria Kanellis is doing a photo shoot today for the Chicago-based magazines Complete Woman and Sophisticate's Hairstyle Guide.
Today's former Diva of the Day is Joy Giovanni at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
4/20 NXT TV results from Uncasville, Connecticut: Justin Gabriel over David Otunga; Darren Young over Michael Tarver & Skip Sheffield in a three-way; and Heath Slater over Chris Jericho.
Superstars tonight on WGN has John Morrison vs. Carlito; Goldust vs. Shas Gaspard; and Yoshi Tatsu vs. Zack Ryder.
***
The Raw crew finally arrived home on U.S. soil last night after being stranded in Belfast for several days. John Cena did media interviews on Tuesday noting that he's been on the road since the last week of March and was looking forward to seeing his family. He told Sky Sports News: "I haven't had a vacation in 8 years, so like I said, this was an unscheduled holiday and I was certainly happy to have it."
The title belts used on Raw and Smackdown this week were replicas as the real belts were in Europe due to travel constraints.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.1 rating and 4.15 million viewers. NXT on Tuesday did a 0.9 and 1.2 million viewers.
JTG vs. Shad Gaspard in a strap match and Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix for the Women's title was added to Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
There will be Supplement Draft next Wednesday on WWE.com hosted by Howard Finkel.
Negotiations with Bill Goldberg have stalled. He did an interview this week where he was quoted as saying, "I'm going to stand my ground and a deal will be done if it's to my liking and to my liking only." Goldberg was among nine inductees into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday in Commack, NY. "I wanted to try my best to give the Jewish youth something to look up to, someone who's persevered and somehow made a difference," Goldberg said during his induction speech. "What better way to help Jewish youth in dealing with adversity than to parade around the ring on national television in my underwear, demolishing every single person in my path?"
The NXT rookies got a tour of Titan Towers on Wednesday. Many of them were tweeting about getting free DVD's and T-Shirts.
People Magazine posted a blurb on Ryan Phillippe hosting Raw with his MacGruber costars Kristen Wiig and Will Forte. They wrote he was "geeking out backstage" after meeting one of his childhood idols: Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat.
Joey Mercury worked a dark match at the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday. He told people he was signing back earlier this year as part of The Straight Edge Society. He's changed his look somewhat since his last run. He shaved his head and appears to have bulked up slightly.
Ox Baker was outside the arena at the tapings signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
The second autobiography of Chris Jericho has been officially titled Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps, due for release in February 16, 2011. I assume they pushed back the release date as Jericho was talking before Wrestlemania about having just a few week's to make the publishing deadline. A description of the book reads: "The eagerly awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling A Lion's Tale documents Chris Jericho's meteoric rise to wrestling glory in the WWE. A Lion's Tale gave readers a portrait of Jericho as a young man. Fighting his way through Mexico, rinky-dink leagues and a battery of thieving, sleazy promoters/managers, the book ended with the author's WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) debut. Never one to leave his fans hanging, as demonstrated by his recent return to wrestling glory, Jericho now tells the story of life in the big leagues. But "making it" in the premier wrestling league in the world comes with its own set of obstacles and hard lessons. Jericho, in his witty, hilarious, and surprisingly endearing manner, lays it all out: the good, the bad, and the spandex."
Jericho's band Fozzy will be playing at B.B. Kings in New York City next Wednesday.
Jim Ross was in Las Vegas this week for the annual Cauliflower Alley Club banquet. He wrote about meeting Awesome Kong and put her over as a future WWE pickup saying Kong would make a great opponent for Beth Phoenix or Nattie Neidhart. Ross also wrote about his desire to re sign with WWE and asked his blog readers to ignore speculation to the contrary.
The WWE stock closed yesterday at $18.50, a $0.92 increase so far this week, taking the stock to it's highest mark in several years.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
TNA is back on the road this weekend in Georgia with shows tonight in Macon and Friday in Albany. Line up is Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles; Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Anderson; Tara vs. ODB; Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe; Matt Morgan & TBA (probably Jay Lethal) vs. The Machine Guns; and more.
Jeff Jarrett appeared on the NBC news affiliate this morning in Macon pushing tonight's show. They are doing a promotion where kids 12 and under get in free. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
***
Hulk Hogan filed a lawsuit today against Wells Fargo Insurance Services, reports the Tampa Tribune. The newspaper reports that the suit relates to the 2007 car wreck involving Hogan's son Nick Bollea and John Graziano. Hogan claims that his former insurance company failed to upgrade his insurance when his exposure to risk grew, so had to use his own money to settle an out-of-court lawsuit filed by the estate of Graziano, who was left severely disabled as a result of the car wreck.
A funny note regarding legal letters since the subject was a major story this past week. Bill Behrens, who at one time was TNA's Bookings Director answering to Terry Taylor, noted during his latest audio show that he received a certified letter from a TNA attorney last year. Apparently the company was unhappy that he was writing blogs for a wrestling website and warned him about breaching his TNA confidentiality agreement. The funny note is that he never signed a confidentiality agreement. In fact, he never signed any type of contract with the company during the years he handled third-party talent bookings and assisted in booking live events.
Daffney was injured during a dark match Tuesday night at the Impact tapings requiring an ambulance trip to the hospital. She was working a girl called Betsy Ruth who was on a tryout. Not sure what went wrong. Daffney suffered a bruised sternum and a stinger but would be OK, according to Dixie Carter on her Twitter page. Betsy, a large girl, is a student from Team 3D's wrestling school who works a Baseball gimmick on Florida indies. Local TV news covered the story as well as the Orlando Sentinel. Angelina Love was also injured at the tapings. She suffered a biceps tear and also tore the ulnar collateral ligament in her elbow which will likely require surgery and sideline her for several weeks. The injury happened when she somehow got her arm caught on Tara's knee brace during a match. Daffney and Angelina were scheduled to wrestle each other on the house show loop this weekend but have been replaced by Tara and ODB.
Impact on Monday night did a 0.95 rating and 1.3 million viewers. An improvement on last week. I would except tonight's replay on Spike to do a solid number now that word has spread about the title change.
The Styles-RVD title change was originally slated for the Sacrifice pay-per-view on 5/16. Creative brought the match forward to try to take advantage of WWE's travel plight. Styles wasn't very happy with the way things went down but the idea is that RVD as champion would sell more tickets at house shows.
Hogan is talking about wrestling again. No idea who against but Abyss will be turning at some point.
Jim Cornette talks more Eric Bischoff plus his thoughts on Paul Heyman or Jim Ross ever working for TNA at WhosSlammingWho.podomatic.com.
Dr. Stevie is sat out at home as he's not been in creative plans of late. He was last seen on television trying to calm down an out-of-control Daffney, and was squashed a few months ago when he teamed with Raven against Matt Morgan and Hernandez. If they do the ECW angle one would assume he would be brought back.
Hermie Sadler is racing in the Bubba Burger 250 next Friday at Richmond International Raceway. Sadler will pilot RAB Racing’s TNA Wrestling Ford Fusion.
Ian Hamilton sent in the latest UK ratings data. For the week ending 4/11 Impact did 110,000 viewers (+ 35,000 viewers) plus an extra 89,000 viewers watching replays. Raw did 127,000 viewers for it's live airing and 83,000 viewers watching replays. Smackdown did 104,000 viewers for its first airing and 67,000 viewers watching replays.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Mr. Hito (Katsuji Adachi), who trained Hashimoto and others in Canada, passed away two days ago at his home in Calgary. He was 67. Hito is best known for his work in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, where he won multiple championships. He was highly regarded by Bret Hart as his most significant trainer, who he trained with extensively in Stu Hart's Dungeon. Hart wrote in his book, "People often say to me, where would wrestling be without Bret Hart. But my answer to that is, where would Bret Hart be without Mr. Hito." His death was believed to be related to diabetes, which caused the amputation of his right leg in October 2009.
George Grant, a Gorgeous George impostor from the 1950s and 1960s, passed away yesterday in Columbia, PA at the age of 85.
Scotty 2 Hotty (Scott Garland) underwent back surgery on 3/3. He's needed the surgery for a long time. People who toured with him in Europe last year said it hurt to look at him and he was in constant pain.
LuFisto (Genny Goulet, 30) suffered a minor stroke last Saturday night following a match in Montreal. Goulet, who has a family history of heart problems, will decide whether to continue her career or not, after going through some more tests. Luckily she said she didn't suffer any permanent damage and was back to full strength as of two days ago. She explains the full story in her blog at http://tinyurl.com/22wfywc.
Stacy Carter, formerly Miss Kitty/The Kat in WWE, did an interview this week on Tampa radio. She is working a match this weekend for CCW in St. Petersburg. She noted that she is currently dating Nick Cvjetkovich, formerly WWE's Kizarny, and has been training at Brian Knobbs' wrestling school in Clearwater.
The latest wrestlers writing books are Manny Fernandez and Sean Waltman.
Dutch Mantell posted a new blog detailing his recently new wrestling school at www.dutchmantell.com.
Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Hart, Hillbilly Jim and Koko B. Ware are talking about forming a band and touring as a singing group at summer music festivals. This sounds like money.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is replacing Clive Owen in action-thriller Protection, according to several reputable movie websites. The film is about a twenty-one-year-old daughter of a Mexican judge who's targeted by mobsters (after she sees them kill her father and other family members), and must stay on the run, while an agent (Johnson) tries to protect her and the bad guy is hot on her trail.
Colt Cabana reviews Wrestlicious at www.wrestlingroaddiaries.com... Cabana also talks Ring of Honor returning to Chicago this weekend at http://tinyurl.com/26dur7b.
Dory Funk Jr., 69, teams with Jimmy Hart, 66, on Saturday in Ocala, FL. More info at www.dory-funk.com.
Universal Championship Wrestling is promoting "Slamboree" this Saturday night in Palestine, TX at the Civic Center. Tommy Dreamer, Charlie Haas, Scott Putski and TNA's Rob Terry are all advertised as appearing. More info at www.ucwtv.com or call 903-729-8106.
This is a strange one. Terri Runnels is scheduled for Dragon Gate USA's 5/8 show in Ontario, Canada. More info at www.dgusa.tv.
Big Time Wrestling is promoting a convention on 5/22 in California with Bret Hart, Jake Roberts, The Iron Sheik, Tommy Dreamer, Bob Holly, Paul London, Brian Knedrick, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Awesome Kong, Daffney, and many more. Details at www.btwrestling.com.
Maria Kanellis is doing a photo shoot today for the Chicago-based magazines Complete Woman and Sophisticate's Hairstyle Guide.
Today's former Diva of the Day is Joy Giovanni at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
Coach's Corner: "I Watched More Than 60 Seconds of RCW TV" By Brian Tramel
---I have been fortunate enough to be able to join RCW for two of their TV tapings and recently sit down to watch all of the TV shows that have aired up to this point. Is the show good?? Yes..it reminds me of old TV show that use to air [ a lot like Continental] and it features some of the best local talent in the area. If you have not had the chance to watch the show, then take a few minutes out [30 to be exact] every week to sit down and enjoy a really fun wrestling TV show. I have seen a few mistakes and will make note of them below, but this is minor stuff. The quality of the show is better than anything that aired so far this year [I had to quit IWA after the infamous “music” show]. As I have seen on various web sites before, this is my opinion and mine alone, but it is coming from a guy that sit down and watched all the shows, not from someone that tried to form an opinion by watching just “60 seconds.”
[NOTE: Hit the RED words and go directly to the matches/angles mentioned]
GOOD
-Seth Knight has been a total trooper for this show. His three TV bouts have been some of the best TV bouts in a while. First against Christian Jacobs, then a great match against Justin Smart and then a good interview followed by him putting over Rodney Mack like a million bucks. Smart has also improved tons working for NEW in a TV setting and really shined in that bout.
-Bobby Eaton is put in the perfect position here – whether he is teaming with Greg Anthony or receiving the key to the city, this is the kind of role you would want a “legend” to have.
-Matt Riviera is a star. The viginette that aired along with his angle against Ron Rage – all top notch. His interview with the dog food – “Bacon!! Bacon!!” was just so bizarre and funny – it was off the charts. That interview would have been something that in the 1980s all my friends and I would have went around school yelling “Bacon!! Bacon!!” at each other.
-Casino Kid is in the perfect role here also. Not too much wrestling – a lot of talking.
-“The Golden Boy” Greg Anthony is one of the best talker..or maybe THE best talker in the area. Great skills.
-Brian Thompson takes the time to get over all the angles. Rodney Mack walks out and Thompson puts him over like a true star. Thompson also [even though he is trying to get over SO MUCH is happening] doesn’t give you too much to digest.
-“Premiere Brutality” [Eric Wayne/Kid Nikels] looked really good as a team. Please give Kid more mic time!! His stuff is so fun!!
-Check out the intensity of Rodney Mack!! He comes off with just an edge above the pack. Just think – Mack, Riviera and Worthington as a heel trio??
-The build for a Jon Michael Worthington vs Christian Jacobs RCW Title Tournament Final – could there be a better final??
BAD
-The mic needed to be plugged to the camera for the Casino/TGB angle. Hard to hear everything.
-You could see the top of the backdrop on some of the interviews.
-Thompson cut himself off before one of matches.
-Rivera and Worthington have almost the same gimmick, but that will probably put them together.
-You could see empty chairs.
-Thompson talked about speaking with Ron Rage before the match, but they should have aired an actually interview with him.
-Two camera video shoot!!
----I was being a bit picky on some of my BAD comments, but it is just a few things that would then make this from being a good TV show to a GREAT TV show. If you are a wrestling fan in this area, do yourself a favor – search the archives or go to http://www.rcwwrestling.com/ and check out all the shows up to this point.
[NOTE: Hit the RED words and go directly to the matches/angles mentioned]
GOOD
-Seth Knight has been a total trooper for this show. His three TV bouts have been some of the best TV bouts in a while. First against Christian Jacobs, then a great match against Justin Smart and then a good interview followed by him putting over Rodney Mack like a million bucks. Smart has also improved tons working for NEW in a TV setting and really shined in that bout.
-Bobby Eaton is put in the perfect position here – whether he is teaming with Greg Anthony or receiving the key to the city, this is the kind of role you would want a “legend” to have.
-Matt Riviera is a star. The viginette that aired along with his angle against Ron Rage – all top notch. His interview with the dog food – “Bacon!! Bacon!!” was just so bizarre and funny – it was off the charts. That interview would have been something that in the 1980s all my friends and I would have went around school yelling “Bacon!! Bacon!!” at each other.
-Casino Kid is in the perfect role here also. Not too much wrestling – a lot of talking.
-“The Golden Boy” Greg Anthony is one of the best talker..or maybe THE best talker in the area. Great skills.
-Brian Thompson takes the time to get over all the angles. Rodney Mack walks out and Thompson puts him over like a true star. Thompson also [even though he is trying to get over SO MUCH is happening] doesn’t give you too much to digest.
-“Premiere Brutality” [Eric Wayne/Kid Nikels] looked really good as a team. Please give Kid more mic time!! His stuff is so fun!!
-Check out the intensity of Rodney Mack!! He comes off with just an edge above the pack. Just think – Mack, Riviera and Worthington as a heel trio??
-The build for a Jon Michael Worthington vs Christian Jacobs RCW Title Tournament Final – could there be a better final??
BAD
-The mic needed to be plugged to the camera for the Casino/TGB angle. Hard to hear everything.
-You could see the top of the backdrop on some of the interviews.
-Thompson cut himself off before one of matches.
-Rivera and Worthington have almost the same gimmick, but that will probably put them together.
-You could see empty chairs.
-Thompson talked about speaking with Ron Rage before the match, but they should have aired an actually interview with him.
-Two camera video shoot!!
----I was being a bit picky on some of my BAD comments, but it is just a few things that would then make this from being a good TV show to a GREAT TV show. If you are a wrestling fan in this area, do yourself a favor – search the archives or go to http://www.rcwwrestling.com/ and check out all the shows up to this point.
Two "Coach's Corner" Columns Today!!
----I know it has been a while since I posted a Coach's Corner, so I thought I would post two today!! Enjoy!!
Coach's Corner: "BT The Booker Strikes Again!!" by Brian Tramel
----Below are the results from the CWA Ripley, MS show from this past Saturday night. I have heard reviews from fans and workers. I have been told that the show was really below par for this area. [It was in Mississippi guys – what do you expect?? Sorry I could not resist!!] I have tried my best to be positive on wrestling in this area [more so this year than ever before], but at times you really have to ask yourself why?? Why not focus on the “legends” in roles that they will not be exposed in [like Dutch Mantell]?? Why if you are 90 lb midget promoter, do you put yourself in the main event?? Also remember this group had close to 1000 fans last time in Ripley, so that is at the least a 35% drop. As I stated in an earlier post, you can’t bring legends in time after time and expect them to draw, when they are exposed as old guys.
----You can CLICK HERE to read a full write up by Randall Lewis. His report seems a bit “glossed” over, but give him his due – he likes what he likes. I am posting the results below along with comments that I heard about those matches. I am then [since I can hear someone saying, “Since you know so much about wrestling what would you have done?”], I am posting the card that I would presented with the whole roster [since every promoter has his own "crew" he likes to use] by just adding one worker.
-Don Bass with Jim Casey beat Chris Kilgore. Good opener. Not bad for what it was.
-Su Yung beat Destiny. Match was real bad. Destiny messed up almost everything in the match.
-Johnny Morton/Chris Lexxus with Dutch Mantell beat Michael Gilbert/Mark Anthony. Second best bout on the show.
-Gary Valiant beat Jeff Daniels. Best bout on the show.
-Ricky Morton over Max Steel. Morton looked good.
-Rodney Grimes/Jerry Lawler with Jackie Fargo beat Bobby Eaton/Don Bass with Jimmy Blaylock, Su Yung, Jim Casey, Papa Smurf, the three wise men and Moses. Horrible match. Grimes is just not believable. Not one person involved in this bout [maybe Grimes] thought this bout was good.
BT’s version of the CWA show
-Don Bass with Jim Casey beat Chris Kilgore
-Su Yung vs Destiny [Make the match simple to put over Yung with maybe Blaylock interfering.]
-Dutch Mantell/Chris Lexxus over Mark Anthony/Michael Gilbert [protect Mantell for just the hot tag]
-Gary Valiant over Jeff Daniels. [It was considered the best bout by everyone I talked with – not going to mess with that one.]
-“Midnight Gold” [Bobby Eaton/Greg Anthony] with Brian Thompson over Ricky & Johnny Morton. [Or you could put the Mortons over and then leave them lying to set up something for possible match next time. You can say what you want about me adding the “Gold” team, but they come off as stars and you have the Eaton vs Morton feud to build off of. ]
-Jerry Lawler with Rodney Grimes/Jackie Fargo beat Max Steel with Jimmy Blaylock/Su Yung. [I would actually only put Fargo out there with Lawler and Blaylock with Steel, but since Grimes wants to be involved, why not put him in a manager role?? After seeing their version of the main event – what would make you want to return?? After Lawler beat Steel, then he could get a hold of Blaylock/Yung. Blaylock could have then promised to bring someone bigger and badder against Lawler the next show. There you have something for them to come back and see – the old Lawler/Hart gimmick, but fans would leave knowing Blaylock is going to try to get his revenge. Or you could even do an angle where you turn Valiant to have a Lawler/Valaint.]
----You can CLICK HERE to read a full write up by Randall Lewis. His report seems a bit “glossed” over, but give him his due – he likes what he likes. I am posting the results below along with comments that I heard about those matches. I am then [since I can hear someone saying, “Since you know so much about wrestling what would you have done?”], I am posting the card that I would presented with the whole roster [since every promoter has his own "crew" he likes to use] by just adding one worker.
-Don Bass with Jim Casey beat Chris Kilgore. Good opener. Not bad for what it was.
-Su Yung beat Destiny. Match was real bad. Destiny messed up almost everything in the match.
-Johnny Morton/Chris Lexxus with Dutch Mantell beat Michael Gilbert/Mark Anthony. Second best bout on the show.
-Gary Valiant beat Jeff Daniels. Best bout on the show.
-Ricky Morton over Max Steel. Morton looked good.
-Rodney Grimes/Jerry Lawler with Jackie Fargo beat Bobby Eaton/Don Bass with Jimmy Blaylock, Su Yung, Jim Casey, Papa Smurf, the three wise men and Moses. Horrible match. Grimes is just not believable. Not one person involved in this bout [maybe Grimes] thought this bout was good.
BT’s version of the CWA show
-Don Bass with Jim Casey beat Chris Kilgore
-Su Yung vs Destiny [Make the match simple to put over Yung with maybe Blaylock interfering.]
-Dutch Mantell/Chris Lexxus over Mark Anthony/Michael Gilbert [protect Mantell for just the hot tag]
-Gary Valiant over Jeff Daniels. [It was considered the best bout by everyone I talked with – not going to mess with that one.]
-“Midnight Gold” [Bobby Eaton/Greg Anthony] with Brian Thompson over Ricky & Johnny Morton. [Or you could put the Mortons over and then leave them lying to set up something for possible match next time. You can say what you want about me adding the “Gold” team, but they come off as stars and you have the Eaton vs Morton feud to build off of. ]
-Jerry Lawler with Rodney Grimes/Jackie Fargo beat Max Steel with Jimmy Blaylock/Su Yung. [I would actually only put Fargo out there with Lawler and Blaylock with Steel, but since Grimes wants to be involved, why not put him in a manager role?? After seeing their version of the main event – what would make you want to return?? After Lawler beat Steel, then he could get a hold of Blaylock/Yung. Blaylock could have then promised to bring someone bigger and badder against Lawler the next show. There you have something for them to come back and see – the old Lawler/Hart gimmick, but fans would leave knowing Blaylock is going to try to get his revenge. Or you could even do an angle where you turn Valiant to have a Lawler/Valaint.]
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Mama Says It Bees That Way Sometimes "Wrestlefest" by Downtown Bruno Lauer
It actually had a Wrestlemania type vibe to it – lots of commotion and so many faces from the past. So many fans also. The differences are obvious as well. Naturally comparing ANYTHING to Wrestlemania is like comparing high school football to the Super Bow. The pressure of Wrestlemania doesn’t exist at these gatherings, which makes it quite different. Remember I am one of the only people at the these fests that still makes my living in the industry and Wrestlemania is THE EVENT OF THE YEAR, since the WWE is my living. The pressure to perform above and beyond the normal high level is there in spades. But at these gathers, there is only pressure that one of the 1000 plus hands I’ve have shaken has swine flu, tuberculousis..lots of sanitizer on hands!! Let’s face it – SOMEBODY didn’t wash their hands and SOMEBODY is sick!! But, hey, a washed up guys..I mean “legend” like me is glad to see all the fans that remember the glory days of Downtown Harney Whippleman Bruno’s career. Also it was great to see all the guys from the my past..
-Scott Casey – who I sat with most of the day. What a great guy!! I have barely seen him since 1981!!
-Adrian and Linda Street – I had a major angle in 1988 with them in Memphis . They shaved my head and beat my ass!!
-Dutch Mantell - who I was in Alabama and Memphis . And even his stint in WWE as Zebakiah. We always got along great.
-Jimmy Snuka – besides the WWE, I was in actually in Hawaii with him in 1983 or 84 working for the Maivias in Polynesian Pro Wrestling.
-Buddy Roberts – he passed through Memphis with the Samoan Swat Team in 1988.
-Stacy “the Cat” Carter – I worked with her many times in the Memphis years. She looks fantastic!!
-Dawn Marie – I worked with her in the WWE, but also for Doug Flex’s IPW years ago.
-Marty Jenatty – I have known him since the Bob Geigel Kansas City territory back in the early 1980s.
- Tracy Smothers – I worked with him in a major angle with Tony Falk in Memphis back in 1986 and again in Alabama for Continental.
And others including Matt “Doink” Bourne, Paul Bearer, Sylvan Grenier, Scott Putski, Hassan and Davari, Ox Baker, Johnny Valiant and so many old good names that I go soooo far back with. I wish we could put something like this together in the Memphis area for the old timers in OUR area. Think about it RRO – the ball is in your court.
----“Downtown” Bruno Lauer is a legend in Memphis Wrestling. He surprised everyone last year winning RRO Referee of the Year 2008 from his work at NEW. 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.
----Bruno I would love to do one of these for the area, but we would probably have to line up some major sponsors for the event. Any promoters out there want to “sponsor a legend”?? We got at least 12 small groups in this area that could all bring in at least one guy for something like this. E-mail – let’s do it!! I would love to let the legends just hang out and sign autographs for the fans and then have the local guys put on a show for the legends/fans that night.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
(WGN) April 20: RVD wins TNA heavyweight title, Raw crew update, WWE DVD notes, details on Kurt Angle's new business venture, Steve Austin latest movie trailer, more...by Mike Aldren
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
4/19 Raw TV results from East Rutherford, NJ: Drew McIntyre over Matt Hardy; The Undertaker over Jack Swagger in a non-title match; MacGruber & Khalgruber (Great Khali) over Kozlov; and Triple H, Edge & Rey Mysterio over CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Chris Jericho.
The Smackdown/NXT tapings are tonight at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
***
The Raw crew is still holed up in a hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At last word WWE had chartered a flight to get them home on Wednesday morning if, keyword IF, the airspace is open, which isn't the case at press time. Last night some of the crew watched Raw (2-4am UK time) from the hotel. John Cena was in the lobby bar wearing a T-shirt that read "Official Belfast Drinking Team Captain" along with several others apparently in good spirits enjoying a steady stream of Jack Daniels. WWE agent Mike Rotunda was also in the bar complaining that some of the younger guys were posting Tweets from their cell phones which basically let fans know the crew wasn't in New Jersey which they were told not to do. The crew has been passing the time with different activities each day while others have locked themselves away in their hotel room.
Lilian Garcia returned to Raw for one night only last night as announcer Justin Roberts is stranded in Belfast. They flew her in on a red eye from California where she spent the weekend doing personal appearances with Candice Michelle. I don't know why, but you would Fink it would have been easier to utilize someone else. One WWE person reasoned that they were trying to make it up to the live crowd and Lilian was a nice surprise. She got a huge pop from the live crowd when they announced her.
The Undertaker and Khali were also called in as a special favor. Both are currently on a sabbatical. Tiffany was called in too but they didn't use her.
Ticket refunds were offered for Raw attendees due to most of the crew missing the show.
WWE Studios issued a press release on it's upcoming film Killing Karma starring Triple H, Michael Rapaport, and Parker Posey, currently filming in New Orleans, LA. Batista is reportedly upset that Triple H replaced him in the film and may be leaving the company when his contract expires. He's made it clear to people that he wants to scale back on wrestling and make some movies.
There are several new DVD's in the works including a three-disc set on Randy Orton--the standard documentary and matches, and also a special on the Divas with matches, interviews, and photo shoots.
Eve Torres talks about her BJJ training with Rener Gracie at http://tinyurl.com/yyjo6gs. Eve and Rener Gracie have been dating for some time now.
Melina Perez wrote a lengthy WWE blog airing her feelings on the other Divas at http://tinyurl.com/y62ybnj. In short, everyone is awesome but some girls she feels are not utilized enough by the creative team.
TMZ cameras at http://tinyurl.com/y7nlcvx attempt to coax former Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder to say something bad about Vince McMahon. They fail.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/19 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: The Beautiful People over Daffney & and the returning ODB; Rob Van Dam over Jeff Hardy to win a title shot; Team Hogan of Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Terry & the returning Samoa Joe over Team Flair of Sting, Desmond Wolfe & Beer Money; and RVD over AJ Styles to capture the TNA heavyweight title.
There are television tapings today for the 4/26 show including Ric Flair vs. Abyss for Hogan and Flair's WWE Hall of Fame rings; Kazarian vs. Shannon Moore for the X Division title; Matt Morgan & TBA vs. Team 3D for the tag titles; plus Eric Bischoff unveils a new heavyweight title rankings system.
***
Sean Waltman's absence from Lockdown was explained last night on Impact saying that Dixie Carter gave him special permission to miss the pay-per-view.
The Pope may have suffered a shoulder injury at Lockdown, which is why he wasn't used on television last night.
Kurt Angle is opening "Kurt Angle’s Foodies Café" this coming Monday located at 3100 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15201. Kurt will be there from Noon. A press release reads: "Kurt Angle’s Foodies Cafe is a convenient, casual, quick serve restaurant, offering breakfast and lunch to guests in the Pittsburgh area. Owned and operated by Angle Foods, LLC, founded on an 'Eat Right, Be-Fit' philosophy, Angle’s Foodies Café is a unique and convenient dining experience for active individuals on-the-go, wanting to enjoy healthy and gourmet dining with family and friends. Kurt Angle’s Foodies Cafe offers a casual atmosphere featuring a cutting edge, innovative menu of options for all ages, ranging from tasty hot breakfast items such as breakfast sandwiches and waffles, to lunch items such as sandwiches, soups, hand crafted salads, whole grain wraps, smoothies, mouthwatering sweets and Mariana’s Gourmet Italian specialties, just to name a few! We also offer High Protein – High Fiber Angle Signature Series meals and shakes, designed for the active athlete or fitness individual on-the-go, wanting great taste and quality nutrition in one. Guaranteed to produce a WOW with a Smile!" More info at www.AngleFoods.net.
The company has reportedly hired a consulting firm to do a study on TV viewing patterns and ratings on Spike. This is something both WWE and WCW has toyed with in the past but when they got results they didn't like they ignored the feedback and decided the fans didn't know what they were talking about.
A correction from yesterday. Lockdown results should have read Nash over Young and Team 3D over The Band.
June house show dates were announced in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota with AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Shannon Moore, Jeff Hardy, Kevin Nash and Angelina Love all advertised as appearing. More info at www.tnawrestling.com.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
A trailer for Steve Austin's upcoming film The Stranger is online at http://tinyurl.com/y4cftao.
Bill Goldberg will be a guest today on the syndicated Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Montgomery, PA News has a story on Tom "Salvatore Sincere" Brandy at http://tinyurl.com/y3bw5gr. He's promoting a show in King of Prussia on 5/2 in support of autism awareness that also includes Jimmy Snuka and TNA's Terry Taylor.
Reader Matthew Janicke writes, "Nothing earth-shattering but Sunday during the Red Wings-Coyotes playoff game on NBC, while previewing the Coyotes, NBC used the old Sable music circa 1998ish for the announcers to talk over. Complete with the feline growl. I guess they don't know what a coyotes sounds like."
Today's Vintage Diva of the Day is Ivory at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
4/19 Raw TV results from East Rutherford, NJ: Drew McIntyre over Matt Hardy; The Undertaker over Jack Swagger in a non-title match; MacGruber & Khalgruber (Great Khali) over Kozlov; and Triple H, Edge & Rey Mysterio over CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Chris Jericho.
The Smackdown/NXT tapings are tonight at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
***
The Raw crew is still holed up in a hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At last word WWE had chartered a flight to get them home on Wednesday morning if, keyword IF, the airspace is open, which isn't the case at press time. Last night some of the crew watched Raw (2-4am UK time) from the hotel. John Cena was in the lobby bar wearing a T-shirt that read "Official Belfast Drinking Team Captain" along with several others apparently in good spirits enjoying a steady stream of Jack Daniels. WWE agent Mike Rotunda was also in the bar complaining that some of the younger guys were posting Tweets from their cell phones which basically let fans know the crew wasn't in New Jersey which they were told not to do. The crew has been passing the time with different activities each day while others have locked themselves away in their hotel room.
Lilian Garcia returned to Raw for one night only last night as announcer Justin Roberts is stranded in Belfast. They flew her in on a red eye from California where she spent the weekend doing personal appearances with Candice Michelle. I don't know why, but you would Fink it would have been easier to utilize someone else. One WWE person reasoned that they were trying to make it up to the live crowd and Lilian was a nice surprise. She got a huge pop from the live crowd when they announced her.
The Undertaker and Khali were also called in as a special favor. Both are currently on a sabbatical. Tiffany was called in too but they didn't use her.
Ticket refunds were offered for Raw attendees due to most of the crew missing the show.
WWE Studios issued a press release on it's upcoming film Killing Karma starring Triple H, Michael Rapaport, and Parker Posey, currently filming in New Orleans, LA. Batista is reportedly upset that Triple H replaced him in the film and may be leaving the company when his contract expires. He's made it clear to people that he wants to scale back on wrestling and make some movies.
There are several new DVD's in the works including a three-disc set on Randy Orton--the standard documentary and matches, and also a special on the Divas with matches, interviews, and photo shoots.
Eve Torres talks about her BJJ training with Rener Gracie at http://tinyurl.com/yyjo6gs. Eve and Rener Gracie have been dating for some time now.
Melina Perez wrote a lengthy WWE blog airing her feelings on the other Divas at http://tinyurl.com/y62ybnj. In short, everyone is awesome but some girls she feels are not utilized enough by the creative team.
TMZ cameras at http://tinyurl.com/y7nlcvx attempt to coax former Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder to say something bad about Vince McMahon. They fail.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/19 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: The Beautiful People over Daffney & and the returning ODB; Rob Van Dam over Jeff Hardy to win a title shot; Team Hogan of Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Terry & the returning Samoa Joe over Team Flair of Sting, Desmond Wolfe & Beer Money; and RVD over AJ Styles to capture the TNA heavyweight title.
There are television tapings today for the 4/26 show including Ric Flair vs. Abyss for Hogan and Flair's WWE Hall of Fame rings; Kazarian vs. Shannon Moore for the X Division title; Matt Morgan & TBA vs. Team 3D for the tag titles; plus Eric Bischoff unveils a new heavyweight title rankings system.
***
Sean Waltman's absence from Lockdown was explained last night on Impact saying that Dixie Carter gave him special permission to miss the pay-per-view.
The Pope may have suffered a shoulder injury at Lockdown, which is why he wasn't used on television last night.
Kurt Angle is opening "Kurt Angle’s Foodies Café" this coming Monday located at 3100 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15201. Kurt will be there from Noon. A press release reads: "Kurt Angle’s Foodies Cafe is a convenient, casual, quick serve restaurant, offering breakfast and lunch to guests in the Pittsburgh area. Owned and operated by Angle Foods, LLC, founded on an 'Eat Right, Be-Fit' philosophy, Angle’s Foodies Café is a unique and convenient dining experience for active individuals on-the-go, wanting to enjoy healthy and gourmet dining with family and friends. Kurt Angle’s Foodies Cafe offers a casual atmosphere featuring a cutting edge, innovative menu of options for all ages, ranging from tasty hot breakfast items such as breakfast sandwiches and waffles, to lunch items such as sandwiches, soups, hand crafted salads, whole grain wraps, smoothies, mouthwatering sweets and Mariana’s Gourmet Italian specialties, just to name a few! We also offer High Protein – High Fiber Angle Signature Series meals and shakes, designed for the active athlete or fitness individual on-the-go, wanting great taste and quality nutrition in one. Guaranteed to produce a WOW with a Smile!" More info at www.AngleFoods.net.
The company has reportedly hired a consulting firm to do a study on TV viewing patterns and ratings on Spike. This is something both WWE and WCW has toyed with in the past but when they got results they didn't like they ignored the feedback and decided the fans didn't know what they were talking about.
A correction from yesterday. Lockdown results should have read Nash over Young and Team 3D over The Band.
June house show dates were announced in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota with AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Shannon Moore, Jeff Hardy, Kevin Nash and Angelina Love all advertised as appearing. More info at www.tnawrestling.com.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
A trailer for Steve Austin's upcoming film The Stranger is online at http://tinyurl.com/y4cftao.
Bill Goldberg will be a guest today on the syndicated Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Montgomery, PA News has a story on Tom "Salvatore Sincere" Brandy at http://tinyurl.com/y3bw5gr. He's promoting a show in King of Prussia on 5/2 in support of autism awareness that also includes Jimmy Snuka and TNA's Terry Taylor.
Reader Matthew Janicke writes, "Nothing earth-shattering but Sunday during the Red Wings-Coyotes playoff game on NBC, while previewing the Coyotes, NBC used the old Sable music circa 1998ish for the announcers to talk over. Complete with the feline growl. I guess they don't know what a coyotes sounds like."
Today's Vintage Diva of the Day is Ivory at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
RCW Late Nite Wrestling from April 17, 2010
Check out the April 17, 2010 edition of RCW Late Nite Wrestling. Part 1 features the RCW debut of former WWE/ECW Superstar Rodney Mack. Part 2 contains a replay of the savage attack of Ron Rage by Matt Riviera and then Matt's promo about the attack. Part 3 includes the RCW Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match between Rage and Jon Michael Worthington.
Monday, April 19, 2010
(WGN) April 19: Former WWE wrestler suffers stroke, Sean Waltman update, Doug Williams, Lockdown notes, Hogan booked on major talk show, Angle to open cafe, Dusty Rhodes talks 80s wrestling, Goldberg fired from Celeb Apprentice
Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news and analysis direct to your inbox. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from around the world.
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Please send all news tips to: you2us@wrestlingglobe.com
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
The Smackdown/NXT tapings are Tuesday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
***
Restrictions on flights across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until Tuesday, air traffic control company Nats has said. That means the Raw crew is not getting back for television this week and they possibly won't be able to return to the U.S. for a few more days.
Former WWE wrestler Matt Wiese, 36, better known as Luther Reigns, suffered a stroke last year, reports the Arizona Republic. Wiese has been pretty much retired from pro wrestling since 2006. He currently attends an outpatient clinic three times per week and is taking sessions with a speech therapist. He says he hopes to recover enough to eventually relocate to Los Angeles and become an actor. He cites steroid abuse and pain pill addiction as a contributing cause to his stroke saying that when he worked for WWE he abused pain meds to get through the travel schedule. "We wrestled every night, damn near every night," he said. "We were beat to hell. So we needed pain pills to do our job." The story notes that WWE now operates a Talent Wellness Program. Dr. Joseph Maroon is quoted saying that since the introduction of the program he has seen a 90 percent drop in detection of banned substances in WWE talent. Former WWE wrestler Armando Estrada is also quoted defending the company saying that it's personal choice whether guys choose to take drugs and abuse their bodies. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/y53u5wj.
Dos Caras Jr. received some good reviews by his peers on the European tour. People who have worked with him say he speaks great English which obviously is a huge plus. The plan to eventually establish him on television and promote him on WWE's Mexican tours where his father, Don Caras, was a legend in the 1970s and 80s, and was one of the greatest heavyweights ever to come out of Mexico. Caras Jr. is also the nephew of legendary Luchador Mil Mascaras. Before entering the family business he earned a degree in architecture and competed on the Mexican national team in Greco-Roman wrestling during the late 90s. He won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games in 1999. He was also on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia, but due to lack of funding and support Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year.
There is talk of doing a King of the Ring tournament this year as a dual-brand tournament to give one of the younger guys a rub. Regal won the last KOTR in 2008 which took place during a 3-hour Raw in Greenville, SC.
The Monctun Times & Transcript in Canada has a story on Ted DiBiase Sr. at http://tinyurl.com/y5o23za. He talks about his ministry work and surviving the rock-n-roll lifestyle of an 80s wrestler. He recalled, "The divorce rate in wrestling was huge. Similar to other people in other fields of either athletics or entertainment, you get hurt out there on the road, but the show's got to go on, so you take pain pills. And (some would) get addicted to pain pills and then mix it with booze. How many stories have you heard about guys dying by mixing the two? I did my share of drinking, and I did some drugs too. But I was never addicted to any of that stuff." He also said he wrestled his last match years ago. "Hulk Hogan is a good guy. Ric Flair ... I've known these guys for a long time. I consider them friends, but I'm 56 years old... I'm the same age as Hulk Hogan. And he's still trying to (wrestle). Ric Flair is over 60. I think he's 61 or 62, and he's still trying to go out there. Both those guys had tremendous careers, and to me, what they're doing now, it just tarnishes what they had."
Dusty Rhodes talks Jim Crockett Promotions and 80s wrestling at http://www.sportstownchicago.com/insidesqcir.cfm. He said he enjoyed his famous feud with Ric Flair but his favorite feuds were the deals with Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk and Tully Blanchard.
Maryland Championship Wrestling is doing a meet and greet with Jerry "The King" Lawler on Saturday from 1pm-3pm inside the North Point Flea Market in Dundalk, MD. For more info, call 240-832-8378.
Lawler is also advertising as signing autographs this Friday at the Reading Phillies game.
The Nasty Boys are hosting a WWE PPV party at the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach, FL on Sunday.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/18 Lockdown Pay-Per-View results from St. Charles, MO: Rob Van Dam over James Storm to gain the Lethal Lockdown advantage for the babyfaces; Homicide over Brian Kendrick, Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley in an escape the cage match to win a spot in the X title match; Eric Young over Kevin Nash; The Beautiful People over Angelina Love & Tara with Madison Rayne capturing the Knockout singles title; Kaz over Shannon Moore & Homicide in a three-way to capture the X title; The Band (Nash replacing Waltman) over Team 3D in a Falls Count Anywhere (yes really) cage match; Kurt Angle over Mr. Anderson in an escape the cage match; AJ Styles over The Pope to retain the TNA heavyweight title; and Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, RVD, Jeff Hardy) over Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, James Storm) in Lethal Lockdown.
The show drew approximately 3,000 people. Not sure what the paid attendance was as they gave away many free tickets.
Impact is live tonight back in Orlando with The Beautiful People vs. Daffney & TBA for the Knockout's titles as the only announced match at press time. Eric Bischoff is also promising a big surprise. It's not that big.
There are also tapings on Tuesday for the 4/26 show.
***
Doug Williams was stripped of the X Division title after he was unable to make Lockdown due to UK travel restrictions. There were people unhappy with this decision because they felt the move devalues the title belt and it wasn't like fans wouldn't understand delaying the match knowing the situation. One TNA person noted at the very least they could have done a No. 1 contenders match using Kaz, Moore and Homicide rather than hot-shot the belt around.
Sean "Syxx-Pac" Waltman missed the pay-per-view which TNA announced online as a no show. No announcement was made to the live crowd so people there didn't understand what was going on with the card changes. All we know is that Waltman worked an indy show in Minnesota on Saturday and told people that he was heading home to address a personal matter. He used a return ticket to Tampa so one would assume he's in Florida right now. Some wrestling websites are speculating that he may have taken a call from WWE as they are light on personnel for tonight's Raw. Waltman was working on a pay per appearance basis but signed something that precludes him from jumping straight to WWE if he ever decided to leave.
The Jim Cornette story was a talking point among TNA people over the weekend. One person joked that if Vince Russo is planning to move to Nashville then he would probably take out a restraining order against Cornette as a move to Music City puts him within driving distance of Kentucky.
As noted, Kurt Angle is taking some time off to rest his body. He carried Anderson to a really great match last night including the same cage bump that nearly killed him in WWE about 10 years ago. He is opening a cafe soon in Pittsburgh and recently signed deals with GNC and 7-11 to distribute his food products.
Hogan is booked on The View on NBC on 4/29.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Ring of Honor tonight on HD Net has Kenny King vs. Davey Richards in the second semi-final of the TV title tourament; Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Raymond & Christin Able; and Colt Cabana vs. Ricky Reyes. More info at www.rohwrestling.com.
Bill Goldberg last night became the seventh celebrity to leave The Celebrity Apprentice. He was fired by Donald Trump after the men's team lost a challenge to give two country music stars - Emily West and Luke Bryan - a makeover, while also creating a press kit and giving them media training. Goldberg wrote on his Twitter: "Sorry I didn't win everyone...If I would have stayed any longer they would have put me in jail for murdering someone." Wow, someone else threatening murder. Someone call NBC. The remaining celebrities still left in the competition are: Curtis Stone, Bret Michaels, Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Holly Robinson Peete, Summer Sanders, and former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis.
Goldberg is doing a media tour this week as part of the deal for being eliminated.
Maria is interviewed at http://tinyurl.com/y6wbq3g. She said the ugliest relationship break up of her life wasn't with WWE, but was with CM Punk. She said: "Yeah, it sucked. I had to see him every day, I had to see how our lives were changing around each other, and I was so in love with him, and still, I think there’ll always be a part of me that does love him, but I thought he was my soulmate, he thought otherwise and it’s weird because I accidentally went to the same restaurant that I went to with him, today. I went to this Greek restaurant, he took me there, but I didn’t have a clue where it was, and today when I was lost I accidentally drove there, parked, went inside, and looked up and went “wait a minute, is this the same restaurant?” And it was. I ate at the same exact Greek restaurant, and I’m lost again. I have no idea where I am. It’s weird. He’s like the background music in my life sometimes. It’s very strange how he leads me into different things." She added that her debut album was inspired by split from Punk, who is now dating the former Lita, Amy Dumas.
Christopher Daniels is heading to Mexico soon to work for AAA.
Promolast released another video of Lex Luger to promote his appearance at the Atlanta Reunion Fanfest in June. Luger says his health has improved somewhat of late and he may step back in the ring one day. In 2007, he suffered a nerve impingement in his neck that led to temporary paralysis. Video is at http://tinyurl.com/yyaxz6r.
Mike Mooneyham remembers Chris Kanyon with some quotes from Jim Mitchell at http://tinyurl.com/y67d6ak.
Phil Shatter is interviewed on The Wrestling Hotseat at www.myvirtualbc.com.
MovieWeb.com has some action stills from Steve Austin's next movie The Stranger at http://tinyurl.com/y78s5om. The film is direct-to-DVD on 6/1.
Stacy Keibler is hosing a Kentucky Derby party in Louisville at the The Sports and Social Club on 4/30. For more info, call 502-568-1400.
The Blue Meanie was spotlighted at Friday's Philadelphia Phillies doing the Meanie dance while on-screen.
Mike Lano has a story on Mr. Universe Earl Maynard at http://tinyurl.com/y2oag73 after he left the wrestling business for acting 35 years ago.
The fourth-annual Hall of Heroes Dinner Banquet and Awards Ceremony will take place on 8/6 at the NWA Legends Fanfest Weekend in Charlotte, NC. Hosted by Jim Cornette, the awards ceremony follows a dinner buffet with many of the honorees, presenters, and other featured guests from the weekend. More info at http://www.nwalegends.com/2010/vip.htm
The IWF group in New Jersey are bringing in Dr. Tom Prichard and Bushwhacker Luke for it's 13th anniversary shows next weekend. More info at www.wrestlingiwf.com.
Today's Diva of the Day is Sable at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
To subscribe email: wrestlingglobe-subscribe@topica.com
Please send all news tips to: you2us@wrestlingglobe.com
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
The Smackdown/NXT tapings are Tuesday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
***
Restrictions on flights across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until Tuesday, air traffic control company Nats has said. That means the Raw crew is not getting back for television this week and they possibly won't be able to return to the U.S. for a few more days.
Former WWE wrestler Matt Wiese, 36, better known as Luther Reigns, suffered a stroke last year, reports the Arizona Republic. Wiese has been pretty much retired from pro wrestling since 2006. He currently attends an outpatient clinic three times per week and is taking sessions with a speech therapist. He says he hopes to recover enough to eventually relocate to Los Angeles and become an actor. He cites steroid abuse and pain pill addiction as a contributing cause to his stroke saying that when he worked for WWE he abused pain meds to get through the travel schedule. "We wrestled every night, damn near every night," he said. "We were beat to hell. So we needed pain pills to do our job." The story notes that WWE now operates a Talent Wellness Program. Dr. Joseph Maroon is quoted saying that since the introduction of the program he has seen a 90 percent drop in detection of banned substances in WWE talent. Former WWE wrestler Armando Estrada is also quoted defending the company saying that it's personal choice whether guys choose to take drugs and abuse their bodies. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/y53u5wj.
Dos Caras Jr. received some good reviews by his peers on the European tour. People who have worked with him say he speaks great English which obviously is a huge plus. The plan to eventually establish him on television and promote him on WWE's Mexican tours where his father, Don Caras, was a legend in the 1970s and 80s, and was one of the greatest heavyweights ever to come out of Mexico. Caras Jr. is also the nephew of legendary Luchador Mil Mascaras. Before entering the family business he earned a degree in architecture and competed on the Mexican national team in Greco-Roman wrestling during the late 90s. He won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games in 1999. He was also on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia, but due to lack of funding and support Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year.
There is talk of doing a King of the Ring tournament this year as a dual-brand tournament to give one of the younger guys a rub. Regal won the last KOTR in 2008 which took place during a 3-hour Raw in Greenville, SC.
The Monctun Times & Transcript in Canada has a story on Ted DiBiase Sr. at http://tinyurl.com/y5o23za. He talks about his ministry work and surviving the rock-n-roll lifestyle of an 80s wrestler. He recalled, "The divorce rate in wrestling was huge. Similar to other people in other fields of either athletics or entertainment, you get hurt out there on the road, but the show's got to go on, so you take pain pills. And (some would) get addicted to pain pills and then mix it with booze. How many stories have you heard about guys dying by mixing the two? I did my share of drinking, and I did some drugs too. But I was never addicted to any of that stuff." He also said he wrestled his last match years ago. "Hulk Hogan is a good guy. Ric Flair ... I've known these guys for a long time. I consider them friends, but I'm 56 years old... I'm the same age as Hulk Hogan. And he's still trying to (wrestle). Ric Flair is over 60. I think he's 61 or 62, and he's still trying to go out there. Both those guys had tremendous careers, and to me, what they're doing now, it just tarnishes what they had."
Dusty Rhodes talks Jim Crockett Promotions and 80s wrestling at http://www.sportstownchicago.com/insidesqcir.cfm. He said he enjoyed his famous feud with Ric Flair but his favorite feuds were the deals with Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk and Tully Blanchard.
Maryland Championship Wrestling is doing a meet and greet with Jerry "The King" Lawler on Saturday from 1pm-3pm inside the North Point Flea Market in Dundalk, MD. For more info, call 240-832-8378.
Lawler is also advertising as signing autographs this Friday at the Reading Phillies game.
The Nasty Boys are hosting a WWE PPV party at the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach, FL on Sunday.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/18 Lockdown Pay-Per-View results from St. Charles, MO: Rob Van Dam over James Storm to gain the Lethal Lockdown advantage for the babyfaces; Homicide over Brian Kendrick, Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley in an escape the cage match to win a spot in the X title match; Eric Young over Kevin Nash; The Beautiful People over Angelina Love & Tara with Madison Rayne capturing the Knockout singles title; Kaz over Shannon Moore & Homicide in a three-way to capture the X title; The Band (Nash replacing Waltman) over Team 3D in a Falls Count Anywhere (yes really) cage match; Kurt Angle over Mr. Anderson in an escape the cage match; AJ Styles over The Pope to retain the TNA heavyweight title; and Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, RVD, Jeff Hardy) over Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, James Storm) in Lethal Lockdown.
The show drew approximately 3,000 people. Not sure what the paid attendance was as they gave away many free tickets.
Impact is live tonight back in Orlando with The Beautiful People vs. Daffney & TBA for the Knockout's titles as the only announced match at press time. Eric Bischoff is also promising a big surprise. It's not that big.
There are also tapings on Tuesday for the 4/26 show.
***
Doug Williams was stripped of the X Division title after he was unable to make Lockdown due to UK travel restrictions. There were people unhappy with this decision because they felt the move devalues the title belt and it wasn't like fans wouldn't understand delaying the match knowing the situation. One TNA person noted at the very least they could have done a No. 1 contenders match using Kaz, Moore and Homicide rather than hot-shot the belt around.
Sean "Syxx-Pac" Waltman missed the pay-per-view which TNA announced online as a no show. No announcement was made to the live crowd so people there didn't understand what was going on with the card changes. All we know is that Waltman worked an indy show in Minnesota on Saturday and told people that he was heading home to address a personal matter. He used a return ticket to Tampa so one would assume he's in Florida right now. Some wrestling websites are speculating that he may have taken a call from WWE as they are light on personnel for tonight's Raw. Waltman was working on a pay per appearance basis but signed something that precludes him from jumping straight to WWE if he ever decided to leave.
The Jim Cornette story was a talking point among TNA people over the weekend. One person joked that if Vince Russo is planning to move to Nashville then he would probably take out a restraining order against Cornette as a move to Music City puts him within driving distance of Kentucky.
As noted, Kurt Angle is taking some time off to rest his body. He carried Anderson to a really great match last night including the same cage bump that nearly killed him in WWE about 10 years ago. He is opening a cafe soon in Pittsburgh and recently signed deals with GNC and 7-11 to distribute his food products.
Hogan is booked on The View on NBC on 4/29.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Ring of Honor tonight on HD Net has Kenny King vs. Davey Richards in the second semi-final of the TV title tourament; Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Raymond & Christin Able; and Colt Cabana vs. Ricky Reyes. More info at www.rohwrestling.com.
Bill Goldberg last night became the seventh celebrity to leave The Celebrity Apprentice. He was fired by Donald Trump after the men's team lost a challenge to give two country music stars - Emily West and Luke Bryan - a makeover, while also creating a press kit and giving them media training. Goldberg wrote on his Twitter: "Sorry I didn't win everyone...If I would have stayed any longer they would have put me in jail for murdering someone." Wow, someone else threatening murder. Someone call NBC. The remaining celebrities still left in the competition are: Curtis Stone, Bret Michaels, Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Holly Robinson Peete, Summer Sanders, and former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis.
Goldberg is doing a media tour this week as part of the deal for being eliminated.
Maria is interviewed at http://tinyurl.com/y6wbq3g. She said the ugliest relationship break up of her life wasn't with WWE, but was with CM Punk. She said: "Yeah, it sucked. I had to see him every day, I had to see how our lives were changing around each other, and I was so in love with him, and still, I think there’ll always be a part of me that does love him, but I thought he was my soulmate, he thought otherwise and it’s weird because I accidentally went to the same restaurant that I went to with him, today. I went to this Greek restaurant, he took me there, but I didn’t have a clue where it was, and today when I was lost I accidentally drove there, parked, went inside, and looked up and went “wait a minute, is this the same restaurant?” And it was. I ate at the same exact Greek restaurant, and I’m lost again. I have no idea where I am. It’s weird. He’s like the background music in my life sometimes. It’s very strange how he leads me into different things." She added that her debut album was inspired by split from Punk, who is now dating the former Lita, Amy Dumas.
Christopher Daniels is heading to Mexico soon to work for AAA.
Promolast released another video of Lex Luger to promote his appearance at the Atlanta Reunion Fanfest in June. Luger says his health has improved somewhat of late and he may step back in the ring one day. In 2007, he suffered a nerve impingement in his neck that led to temporary paralysis. Video is at http://tinyurl.com/yyaxz6r.
Mike Mooneyham remembers Chris Kanyon with some quotes from Jim Mitchell at http://tinyurl.com/y67d6ak.
Phil Shatter is interviewed on The Wrestling Hotseat at www.myvirtualbc.com.
MovieWeb.com has some action stills from Steve Austin's next movie The Stranger at http://tinyurl.com/y78s5om. The film is direct-to-DVD on 6/1.
Stacy Keibler is hosing a Kentucky Derby party in Louisville at the The Sports and Social Club on 4/30. For more info, call 502-568-1400.
The Blue Meanie was spotlighted at Friday's Philadelphia Phillies doing the Meanie dance while on-screen.
Mike Lano has a story on Mr. Universe Earl Maynard at http://tinyurl.com/y2oag73 after he left the wrestling business for acting 35 years ago.
The fourth-annual Hall of Heroes Dinner Banquet and Awards Ceremony will take place on 8/6 at the NWA Legends Fanfest Weekend in Charlotte, NC. Hosted by Jim Cornette, the awards ceremony follows a dinner buffet with many of the honorees, presenters, and other featured guests from the weekend. More info at http://www.nwalegends.com/2010/vip.htm
The IWF group in New Jersey are bringing in Dr. Tom Prichard and Bushwhacker Luke for it's 13th anniversary shows next weekend. More info at www.wrestlingiwf.com.
Today's Diva of the Day is Sable at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
RassleResults: EWE Ripley, TN 4.17.10
The Beginning of the show started out with the "Child like Star" Commissioner Dylan talking to the crowd getting the ready for the show. Then, Dustin Baker comes out w/ V man. Dustin takes the microphone away from Dylan and tells him to leave the ring. As Dustin is explaining to the people that he was the culprit behind everything with all the hostile take overs from different people, Dylan kept tugging on his shirt. Dylan finally got his last words in by telling the people, and Dustin, that he doesn't like cheaters and that he is going to put two cheaters in a match. The match would be Chris Lexx vs Tommy Redneck. Then Dylan handed the mic back to Dustin and left the ring. Dustin and V man stood in the ring astonished by the child standing his ground and reinforcing his power to keep his match made for the evening.
Ravishing Biscuit vs Precious
Precious wins
Chris Lexx vs Tommy Redneck
Double DQ - no winner declared
"Tatt2" comes out for an interview. Rude comes in to attack him from behind, then the REAL Tatt2 comes out from the back and chases Rude out of the ring. Tatt2 makes a statement saying that he purposely set that up because he knew Rude would try to interfere with his match. Tatt2 then continues to say that Rude's actual opponent will be Dynamite Seth Knight.
Rude vs Seth knight
Knight whens by count out
Tag Team Match
Officer Hudson & V man w/ Dustin Baker vs Devil's Rejects
Devil's Rejects win. Officer Hudson took the pin fall. V man and Dustin get in the ring and scold Officer Hudson for losing then Dustin proceeded to set an example and had V man punish Hudson with two massive choke slams.
Tag Team Match
Tucker & Randy vs Bishop & Motley
Bishop and Motley win
----Not sure who the "fake" Tatt2 was and how they fooled the crowd unless he was under a mask?..."Rejects" here are 187 and C-Money...I was told they are still having problems with building owner JC with him and Baker getting into it...Who is Dylan??...Why wasn't Christian Jacobs here?? Is he gone now??
Ravishing Biscuit vs Precious
Precious wins
Chris Lexx vs Tommy Redneck
Double DQ - no winner declared
"Tatt2" comes out for an interview. Rude comes in to attack him from behind, then the REAL Tatt2 comes out from the back and chases Rude out of the ring. Tatt2 makes a statement saying that he purposely set that up because he knew Rude would try to interfere with his match. Tatt2 then continues to say that Rude's actual opponent will be Dynamite Seth Knight.
Rude vs Seth knight
Knight whens by count out
Tag Team Match
Officer Hudson & V man w/ Dustin Baker vs Devil's Rejects
Devil's Rejects win. Officer Hudson took the pin fall. V man and Dustin get in the ring and scold Officer Hudson for losing then Dustin proceeded to set an example and had V man punish Hudson with two massive choke slams.
Tag Team Match
Tucker & Randy vs Bishop & Motley
Bishop and Motley win
----Not sure who the "fake" Tatt2 was and how they fooled the crowd unless he was under a mask?..."Rejects" here are 187 and C-Money...I was told they are still having problems with building owner JC with him and Baker getting into it...Who is Dylan??...Why wasn't Christian Jacobs here?? Is he gone now??
Sunday, April 18, 2010
(WGN) April 18: WWE travel update, Shane McMahon update, Lockdown notes including two wrestlers missing the show, RVD talks Paul Heyman, AJ Styles on TNA's decision to release Daniels, Iron Sheik meets Kermit the Frog, more...
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
4/16 Smackdown TV results from London, England: Drew McIntyre over Kane via DQ; Dolph Ziggler over R-Truth; Michelle McCool over Mickie James; The Hart dynasty & Rey Mysterio over CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Darren Young; JTG over Caylen Croft; and Jack Swagger over Edge & Chris Jericho in a three-way.
4/16 Raw house show results from Belfast, Northern Ireland: Evan Bourne over Chavo Guerrero; Christian over Dos Caras; Eve Torres over Maryse with Kelly Kelly as referee; Mark Henry over William Regal; The Miz over MVP & Kofi Kingston in a three-way; Sheamus over Ted DiBiase; and Randy Orton & John Cena over Batista & Big Show.
4/16 Smackdown house show results from Zurich, Switzerland: R-Truth over Dolph Ziggler; Mickie James & Beth Phoenix over Michelle McCool & Layla; Matt Hardy over Shad Gaspard; The Hart Dynasty over The Dudebusters; Kane over Luke Gallows; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison; Rey Mysterio over C.M. Punk; and Jack Swagger over Chris Jericho & Edge in a three-way. The show drew around 8,000.
4/17 Raw house show results from Belfast, Northern Ireland: Kofi Kingston over William Regal; Evan Bourne over Dos Caras; Christian over Chavo Guerrero; Eve Torres over Maryse; ShoMiz over MVP & Mark Henry; Randy Orton over Ted DiBiase; and John Cena over Seamus & Batista in a three-way.
Raw is live on Monday from the Izod Arena in East Rutherford, NJ with the cast of MacGruber as guest hosts. The Smackdown/NXT tapings are Tuesday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
***
WWE postponed the weekend shows in Innsbruck, Austria and Istanbul, Turkey due to the volcanic ash, and announced plans to return in November. Most of the Smackdown crew (main event guys at least) arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday at around 1am ET. The Raw crew is currently stranded in Northern Ireland with no outbound transatlantic flights expected to take off until early Monday morning. There is talk of chartering a plane to get them out at the earliest opportunity. If they don't make it out Monday's TV is expected to feature a mix of Raw (those who didn't go on the tour) and Smackdown talent.
Jim Ross wrote a new blog at www.jrsbarbq.com. He noted talking to Paul Heyman a few days ago and asked him for some pointers on his book projects. "Paul is presently writing two books including one that includes Paul's career and, more importantly, his family. This includes the amazing story of Paul's mother's journey that included narrowly avoiding losing her life in a Nazi concentration camp." Ross also writes about Leon "Vader" White and his son Jesse who stopped by his restaurant on Friday. "Vader has really made some significant changes in his life including becoming a Born Again Christian and dropping about 60 pounds or so. Leon is still a big man but at 340 he looks great for a guy who still wants to occasionally step in the ring. He's training differently and certainly eating differently these days. Some indy promoters, etc may be missing some unique opportunities by not using Big Van Vader on selected cards with the right creative around him."
Vince and Shane McMahon did some father-son bonding over the weekend and were spotted together at the New York Yankees game.
Edge vs. Chris Jericho in a steel cage was added to next Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The match is expected to be the blow off with one of these guys rumored to be drafted back to Raw.
USA are doing another commercial free Raw on 5/17 from Toronto which will be advertised as Bret Hart's return to Canada. This will be Bret's first WWE appearance in the city since 1997.
Several Golf websites picked up on our note last week about WWE wanting Tiger Woods to host Raw in Miami. His publicist told us today that this would be unlikely but they are open to at least discussing working together on something in the future.
Superstars on Tuesday night did a 0.8 rating and 837,000 viewers.
Patrick Lennon interviews Chris Jericho at http://tinyurl.com/yyhlaja. He says he could leave WWE tomorrow if he wanted but is sticking around because he loves the business and wants to help the younger guys. "I want to help with that. To take the money and run, that’s a shitty attitude, but there were guys like that when I came in, and there are guys like that in the business now. I love wrestling, and I want to leave knowing I left a business there for the future."
There are plans to release three different versions of Wrestlemania 26 on DVD and Blu Ray. The basic version will include the Hall of Fame ceremony; another version is exclusive to K-Mark which includes a bonus DVD of the Greatest Superstars of Wrestlemania; and another version is exclusive to Best Buy which includes the HOF and the 3/22 Raw and 3/26 Smackdown go-home shows plus Shawn Michaels' retirement speech.
WWE Magazine is planning a special issue answering 1001 burning questions with submissions accepted from fans. I wonder if any questions will address Randy Savage.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/16 house show results from Independence, MO: Kaz over Brian Kendrick; Rob Terry over Orlando Jordan; Angelina Love over Velvet Sky; The Pope over Desmond Wolfe; Jeff Jarrett & Abyss over Beer Money; and Kurt Angle over Ken Anderson. The show drew around 1,600 people. Knockout's match was said to be very poor while MOTN was Pope-Wolfe.
Lockdown tonight from St. Charles has AJ Styles vs. The Pope for the TNA heavyweight title; Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, James Storm) vs. Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy) in Lethal Lockdown; Shannon Moore vs. Kaz vs. Doug Williams in a three-way for the X Division title; The Beautiful People vs. Angelina Love & Tara with both the Knockouts title and tag titles on the line; Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle in an escape the cage match--a new stip; Kevin Nash vs. Eric Young; and The Band vs. Team 3D. RVD vs. James Storm will open the show to determine who gets the numbers advantage in Lethal Lockdown. The Machine Guns vs. Brian Kendrick & Homicide was added as a special bonus match.
***
The Amazing Red missed the house show and fanfest this weekend due to a personal matter. There is also an issue with Doug Williams who like most of the Raw crew is still stranded in the UK. No word on how they are working around this as he's booked on the PPV.
There was some debate as to which match was going on last tonight but it appears Team Hogan vs. Team Flair won out.
Rob Van Dam talks life in TNA at http://tinyurl.com/y7o4qp8. He said he's happy to be here noting that the timing and deal was right. He's especially looking forward to some matches with Jeff Hardy. "We enjoy each other's company but we also both feel like we rose to the top of the business against the odds, against the preconceived notions of the promoter that actually did try to hold us down. We did it through connecting with our fans in such a way that the fans brought us to the top. When I was in WWE, there was no way I was ever going to be WWE Champion. There's no way that ever went through Vince's mind or any of those guys' minds. For Jeff, same thing, but eventually through sticking to our guns that happened. We manifested it. We understand that and we vibrate in a similar fashion. Yeah, we click. It's so natural it's organic and we like that out here in Cali." He also talked about Paul Heyman as they are friends and stay in touch. He said he would love Heyman to join TNA one day. "Of course, I would be thrilled to have him there and I think that he really, I know that he really has a way of staying on the pulse of people and staying really connected in what they want. He's a little bit ahead of them. He knows what the people want next week, what they're going to be listening to next, what kind of music is going to be coming around. That's something that is really important and he would make it cool. His name does come up a lot by fans or some of the other wrestlers or by people that are curious, wondering if he is going to come in. To the best of my knowledge, no. I don't know if he is. That would be nice but I have no reason that he is."
AOL FanHouse has a Q&A with Styles at http://tinyurl.com/y28xo3p. Some interesting comments. He's happy Spike moved Impact 8-10 and thinks the company should go after a younger demographic with less blood and violence. "... I'm hoping we slow down on the whole blood thing. You know, it was what it was, and I think that we've gotten past that. I think we're going to have to slow down on that stuff, and I think we are, it's not that big of a deal. And I monitor what my kids watch, I'm not going to let them watch anything too gruesome or too stupid. So some things, I wouldn't let them watch because it's pro wrestling, and it's geared toward the 18-to-30-something-year-old guy, so I have to make sure that we'll [as parents] watch it first. We're gonna watch it because my kids love wrestling, they love it, especially my 3-year-old. I would hope that we actually gear a little bit toward those kids, because whether we like it or not, they are our fanbase." When asked about Daniels' departure he wouldn't comment because he couldn't answer the question without saying anything bad. "I think Ring of Honor has made one of the greatest acquisitions in a long time, and I'm happy for them and I'm happy for Chris going back there. I'd definitely love to see him back in TNA, but that's not up to me." He also wishes the office would let him have some input on talent acquisitions. "The fact that they've brought in some guys that, I don't know if they were the greatest thing we could have done for TNA, but there are some great pickups with Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam and Brian Kendrick coming over. Those are good pickups for us, there's no doubt about it. But there's definitely something missing in the X Division. I almost feel like there's not many X Division guys, and I'd like to see a little bit more of that come into play. But I'm not running the show and I'm just there to do my best and do what I can to make sure that TNA is the best product that we can put out there."
Channel 5 in St. Louis interviews Ric Flair and AJ Styles at http://tinyurl.com/y6p7z24. Nice publicity. Flair talks about wrestling Bruiser Brody in the old Checkerdome which he says were his best matches in the city. He also puts over Terry Funk and says he stole his patented chops from the Funker.
Flair threw out the first pitch at Friday night's Cardinals game. He didn't pitch too well.
The Impact replay on Thursday night did a 0.7 rating and 986,000 viewers. Epics that followed did a 0.4 and 533,000 viewers.
The TV taping on 6/1 has been removed from the Universal Studios schedule, so they will be filming 4 weeks worth of Impact at the tapings 5/17 through 5/19.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
The May tour of Australia with Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney, Sonjay Dutt, Paul London, and several others was canceled as one of the financial backers pulled out. A group in Perth is still promoting some of the talent saying Balls Mahoney, Sonjay Dutt, Paul London and Colt Cabana will be coming in. The whole deal is said to be a mess. Only one of ticket companies has been offering refunds, while others are still listing events and selling tickets.
Kermit the Frog interviews the Iron Sheik about Hulk Hogan at http://tinyurl.com/y3vtsnc. Seriously. Sheik says that Sesame Street with the Cookie Moster is one of his favorite shows of all time. I had a friend who once tried to tell me that too. I think he was high on something.
The Edmonton Journal has a nice story on Gene Kiniski at http://tinyurl.com/y2q6hcv.
Wrestling magazine writer/photographer Roger Baker remembers Kiniski at http://tinyurl.com/y5mgrqu.
Kayfabe Commentaries is accepting questions for Maria Kanellis for a future interview at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
Today's Diva of the Day is Chyna at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
4/16 Smackdown TV results from London, England: Drew McIntyre over Kane via DQ; Dolph Ziggler over R-Truth; Michelle McCool over Mickie James; The Hart dynasty & Rey Mysterio over CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Darren Young; JTG over Caylen Croft; and Jack Swagger over Edge & Chris Jericho in a three-way.
4/16 Raw house show results from Belfast, Northern Ireland: Evan Bourne over Chavo Guerrero; Christian over Dos Caras; Eve Torres over Maryse with Kelly Kelly as referee; Mark Henry over William Regal; The Miz over MVP & Kofi Kingston in a three-way; Sheamus over Ted DiBiase; and Randy Orton & John Cena over Batista & Big Show.
4/16 Smackdown house show results from Zurich, Switzerland: R-Truth over Dolph Ziggler; Mickie James & Beth Phoenix over Michelle McCool & Layla; Matt Hardy over Shad Gaspard; The Hart Dynasty over The Dudebusters; Kane over Luke Gallows; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison; Rey Mysterio over C.M. Punk; and Jack Swagger over Chris Jericho & Edge in a three-way. The show drew around 8,000.
4/17 Raw house show results from Belfast, Northern Ireland: Kofi Kingston over William Regal; Evan Bourne over Dos Caras; Christian over Chavo Guerrero; Eve Torres over Maryse; ShoMiz over MVP & Mark Henry; Randy Orton over Ted DiBiase; and John Cena over Seamus & Batista in a three-way.
Raw is live on Monday from the Izod Arena in East Rutherford, NJ with the cast of MacGruber as guest hosts. The Smackdown/NXT tapings are Tuesday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
***
WWE postponed the weekend shows in Innsbruck, Austria and Istanbul, Turkey due to the volcanic ash, and announced plans to return in November. Most of the Smackdown crew (main event guys at least) arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday at around 1am ET. The Raw crew is currently stranded in Northern Ireland with no outbound transatlantic flights expected to take off until early Monday morning. There is talk of chartering a plane to get them out at the earliest opportunity. If they don't make it out Monday's TV is expected to feature a mix of Raw (those who didn't go on the tour) and Smackdown talent.
Jim Ross wrote a new blog at www.jrsbarbq.com. He noted talking to Paul Heyman a few days ago and asked him for some pointers on his book projects. "Paul is presently writing two books including one that includes Paul's career and, more importantly, his family. This includes the amazing story of Paul's mother's journey that included narrowly avoiding losing her life in a Nazi concentration camp." Ross also writes about Leon "Vader" White and his son Jesse who stopped by his restaurant on Friday. "Vader has really made some significant changes in his life including becoming a Born Again Christian and dropping about 60 pounds or so. Leon is still a big man but at 340 he looks great for a guy who still wants to occasionally step in the ring. He's training differently and certainly eating differently these days. Some indy promoters, etc may be missing some unique opportunities by not using Big Van Vader on selected cards with the right creative around him."
Vince and Shane McMahon did some father-son bonding over the weekend and were spotted together at the New York Yankees game.
Edge vs. Chris Jericho in a steel cage was added to next Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The match is expected to be the blow off with one of these guys rumored to be drafted back to Raw.
USA are doing another commercial free Raw on 5/17 from Toronto which will be advertised as Bret Hart's return to Canada. This will be Bret's first WWE appearance in the city since 1997.
Several Golf websites picked up on our note last week about WWE wanting Tiger Woods to host Raw in Miami. His publicist told us today that this would be unlikely but they are open to at least discussing working together on something in the future.
Superstars on Tuesday night did a 0.8 rating and 837,000 viewers.
Patrick Lennon interviews Chris Jericho at http://tinyurl.com/yyhlaja. He says he could leave WWE tomorrow if he wanted but is sticking around because he loves the business and wants to help the younger guys. "I want to help with that. To take the money and run, that’s a shitty attitude, but there were guys like that when I came in, and there are guys like that in the business now. I love wrestling, and I want to leave knowing I left a business there for the future."
There are plans to release three different versions of Wrestlemania 26 on DVD and Blu Ray. The basic version will include the Hall of Fame ceremony; another version is exclusive to K-Mark which includes a bonus DVD of the Greatest Superstars of Wrestlemania; and another version is exclusive to Best Buy which includes the HOF and the 3/22 Raw and 3/26 Smackdown go-home shows plus Shawn Michaels' retirement speech.
WWE Magazine is planning a special issue answering 1001 burning questions with submissions accepted from fans. I wonder if any questions will address Randy Savage.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/16 house show results from Independence, MO: Kaz over Brian Kendrick; Rob Terry over Orlando Jordan; Angelina Love over Velvet Sky; The Pope over Desmond Wolfe; Jeff Jarrett & Abyss over Beer Money; and Kurt Angle over Ken Anderson. The show drew around 1,600 people. Knockout's match was said to be very poor while MOTN was Pope-Wolfe.
Lockdown tonight from St. Charles has AJ Styles vs. The Pope for the TNA heavyweight title; Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, James Storm) vs. Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy) in Lethal Lockdown; Shannon Moore vs. Kaz vs. Doug Williams in a three-way for the X Division title; The Beautiful People vs. Angelina Love & Tara with both the Knockouts title and tag titles on the line; Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle in an escape the cage match--a new stip; Kevin Nash vs. Eric Young; and The Band vs. Team 3D. RVD vs. James Storm will open the show to determine who gets the numbers advantage in Lethal Lockdown. The Machine Guns vs. Brian Kendrick & Homicide was added as a special bonus match.
***
The Amazing Red missed the house show and fanfest this weekend due to a personal matter. There is also an issue with Doug Williams who like most of the Raw crew is still stranded in the UK. No word on how they are working around this as he's booked on the PPV.
There was some debate as to which match was going on last tonight but it appears Team Hogan vs. Team Flair won out.
Rob Van Dam talks life in TNA at http://tinyurl.com/y7o4qp8. He said he's happy to be here noting that the timing and deal was right. He's especially looking forward to some matches with Jeff Hardy. "We enjoy each other's company but we also both feel like we rose to the top of the business against the odds, against the preconceived notions of the promoter that actually did try to hold us down. We did it through connecting with our fans in such a way that the fans brought us to the top. When I was in WWE, there was no way I was ever going to be WWE Champion. There's no way that ever went through Vince's mind or any of those guys' minds. For Jeff, same thing, but eventually through sticking to our guns that happened. We manifested it. We understand that and we vibrate in a similar fashion. Yeah, we click. It's so natural it's organic and we like that out here in Cali." He also talked about Paul Heyman as they are friends and stay in touch. He said he would love Heyman to join TNA one day. "Of course, I would be thrilled to have him there and I think that he really, I know that he really has a way of staying on the pulse of people and staying really connected in what they want. He's a little bit ahead of them. He knows what the people want next week, what they're going to be listening to next, what kind of music is going to be coming around. That's something that is really important and he would make it cool. His name does come up a lot by fans or some of the other wrestlers or by people that are curious, wondering if he is going to come in. To the best of my knowledge, no. I don't know if he is. That would be nice but I have no reason that he is."
AOL FanHouse has a Q&A with Styles at http://tinyurl.com/y28xo3p. Some interesting comments. He's happy Spike moved Impact 8-10 and thinks the company should go after a younger demographic with less blood and violence. "... I'm hoping we slow down on the whole blood thing. You know, it was what it was, and I think that we've gotten past that. I think we're going to have to slow down on that stuff, and I think we are, it's not that big of a deal. And I monitor what my kids watch, I'm not going to let them watch anything too gruesome or too stupid. So some things, I wouldn't let them watch because it's pro wrestling, and it's geared toward the 18-to-30-something-year-old guy, so I have to make sure that we'll [as parents] watch it first. We're gonna watch it because my kids love wrestling, they love it, especially my 3-year-old. I would hope that we actually gear a little bit toward those kids, because whether we like it or not, they are our fanbase." When asked about Daniels' departure he wouldn't comment because he couldn't answer the question without saying anything bad. "I think Ring of Honor has made one of the greatest acquisitions in a long time, and I'm happy for them and I'm happy for Chris going back there. I'd definitely love to see him back in TNA, but that's not up to me." He also wishes the office would let him have some input on talent acquisitions. "The fact that they've brought in some guys that, I don't know if they were the greatest thing we could have done for TNA, but there are some great pickups with Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam and Brian Kendrick coming over. Those are good pickups for us, there's no doubt about it. But there's definitely something missing in the X Division. I almost feel like there's not many X Division guys, and I'd like to see a little bit more of that come into play. But I'm not running the show and I'm just there to do my best and do what I can to make sure that TNA is the best product that we can put out there."
Channel 5 in St. Louis interviews Ric Flair and AJ Styles at http://tinyurl.com/y6p7z24. Nice publicity. Flair talks about wrestling Bruiser Brody in the old Checkerdome which he says were his best matches in the city. He also puts over Terry Funk and says he stole his patented chops from the Funker.
Flair threw out the first pitch at Friday night's Cardinals game. He didn't pitch too well.
The Impact replay on Thursday night did a 0.7 rating and 986,000 viewers. Epics that followed did a 0.4 and 533,000 viewers.
The TV taping on 6/1 has been removed from the Universal Studios schedule, so they will be filming 4 weeks worth of Impact at the tapings 5/17 through 5/19.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
The May tour of Australia with Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney, Sonjay Dutt, Paul London, and several others was canceled as one of the financial backers pulled out. A group in Perth is still promoting some of the talent saying Balls Mahoney, Sonjay Dutt, Paul London and Colt Cabana will be coming in. The whole deal is said to be a mess. Only one of ticket companies has been offering refunds, while others are still listing events and selling tickets.
Kermit the Frog interviews the Iron Sheik about Hulk Hogan at http://tinyurl.com/y3vtsnc. Seriously. Sheik says that Sesame Street with the Cookie Moster is one of his favorite shows of all time. I had a friend who once tried to tell me that too. I think he was high on something.
The Edmonton Journal has a nice story on Gene Kiniski at http://tinyurl.com/y2q6hcv.
Wrestling magazine writer/photographer Roger Baker remembers Kiniski at http://tinyurl.com/y5mgrqu.
Kayfabe Commentaries is accepting questions for Maria Kanellis for a future interview at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
Today's Diva of the Day is Chyna at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
RassleResults: ASWF Tuckerman, AR 4.17.10
1st--Enforcer vs. Dante Cain "Strap Match"--The Enforcer got his revenge this week from being strapped by the MMA specialist. The crowd surrounded the ring with straps and whipped Dante any time he touched the ground. The Enforcer put Dante to sleep with the Cobra Clutch to win the match. After the match the Enforcer used duct tape to tape Dante to the ropes and strapped him again and again and again.
2nd--Mike Anthony vs. Seth Sabor vs. Christopher Lee (X-Division Championship)--High octane match. High flying moves to creative counters. Each competitor showed why the wanted to win the X-Divsion championship and why they deserved it. After such a competitive match it was a disappointment to see Mike Anthony hit Christopher Lee with the title belt and win in such a cheap way.
3rd--Hot Rod John Ellison vs. Lee Michaels (European Championship)--Lee Michaels had a strong outing against the ASWF original, but the veteran is crafty and took over on Lee. Michaels 18 week undefeated streak was ended tonight by the New European Champion, John Ellison.
4th--Kevin White vs. Rick Rage--Rage returns to ASWF at the 11 year anniversary show but unfortunately he came up short against Kevin White.
5th--CM2 vs. The American Degenerates (Tag Team Championship)--The champions have beat everyone coming into this match. There isn't a tag team in this area that has escaped their wrath. Tonight it looked like the champions would win again after a brutal beat down on Morgan Williams by Murdoch and McClain, but the reformed American Degenerates got an upset win when X-Kaliber hit a high crossbody off the top rope on Cason McClain.
6th--Johnny Hawk vs. "Boogie Woogie Boy" Gary Valiant (Battle of the Legends)--The Boogie Boy played hard and his antics got under the skin of the Best Thing to come over the Border. The more Valiant played and made light of Hawk the madder the Mexicano got. He took it to Valiant in a brutal beat down but in the end Valiant won with the Boogie Blaster.
7th--CCR vs. Casino/"Too Sexy" Brian Christopher--The match was made if CCR lost Demon X would lose his mask but if Casino or Christopher lost the one who was pinned would have to leave town. The match spilled to the floor and the four fought all over the arena. The Grand Master of Sexiness hit a leg drop from the top rope on Demon X but the refree was indisposed on the outside. Wild Bill slid in and hit Christopher with a chain and rolled Demon X on top for the 3 count.
8th--"The New Show" Jerry Lynn vs. "The Human Highlight Reel" Austin Lane (ASWF Championship)--This match was built as Austin Lane's greatest moment or his final stand at ASWF. If he lost he would never return to ASWF. Back and forth match which may be known as Austin Lane's greatest title defense. After such a great match the crowd grew into an uproar when "The No Tan Superman" Cason McClain made his way to ringside. The distraction wouldn't work as Austin Lane hit his finishing move the Spear and pinned the man he has never beat 1-2-3!
----350+ in the building...Ricky Morton told everyone at the CWA show on Friday night that he was not confirmed for this show, so he was not here...Funny to see Brian C losing to Demon X...I was told that Lynn vs Lane was really good.
2nd--Mike Anthony vs. Seth Sabor vs. Christopher Lee (X-Division Championship)--High octane match. High flying moves to creative counters. Each competitor showed why the wanted to win the X-Divsion championship and why they deserved it. After such a competitive match it was a disappointment to see Mike Anthony hit Christopher Lee with the title belt and win in such a cheap way.
3rd--Hot Rod John Ellison vs. Lee Michaels (European Championship)--Lee Michaels had a strong outing against the ASWF original, but the veteran is crafty and took over on Lee. Michaels 18 week undefeated streak was ended tonight by the New European Champion, John Ellison.
4th--Kevin White vs. Rick Rage--Rage returns to ASWF at the 11 year anniversary show but unfortunately he came up short against Kevin White.
5th--CM2 vs. The American Degenerates (Tag Team Championship)--The champions have beat everyone coming into this match. There isn't a tag team in this area that has escaped their wrath. Tonight it looked like the champions would win again after a brutal beat down on Morgan Williams by Murdoch and McClain, but the reformed American Degenerates got an upset win when X-Kaliber hit a high crossbody off the top rope on Cason McClain.
6th--Johnny Hawk vs. "Boogie Woogie Boy" Gary Valiant (Battle of the Legends)--The Boogie Boy played hard and his antics got under the skin of the Best Thing to come over the Border. The more Valiant played and made light of Hawk the madder the Mexicano got. He took it to Valiant in a brutal beat down but in the end Valiant won with the Boogie Blaster.
7th--CCR vs. Casino/"Too Sexy" Brian Christopher--The match was made if CCR lost Demon X would lose his mask but if Casino or Christopher lost the one who was pinned would have to leave town. The match spilled to the floor and the four fought all over the arena. The Grand Master of Sexiness hit a leg drop from the top rope on Demon X but the refree was indisposed on the outside. Wild Bill slid in and hit Christopher with a chain and rolled Demon X on top for the 3 count.
8th--"The New Show" Jerry Lynn vs. "The Human Highlight Reel" Austin Lane (ASWF Championship)--This match was built as Austin Lane's greatest moment or his final stand at ASWF. If he lost he would never return to ASWF. Back and forth match which may be known as Austin Lane's greatest title defense. After such a great match the crowd grew into an uproar when "The No Tan Superman" Cason McClain made his way to ringside. The distraction wouldn't work as Austin Lane hit his finishing move the Spear and pinned the man he has never beat 1-2-3!
----350+ in the building...Ricky Morton told everyone at the CWA show on Friday night that he was not confirmed for this show, so he was not here...Funny to see Brian C losing to Demon X...I was told that Lynn vs Lane was really good.
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