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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Thursday, March 18, 2010
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to your mailbox.
WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
3/15 Raw TV results from San Diego, CA: Big Show over John Cena; Maryse over Kelly Kelly; Shawn Michaels over Chris Jericho via CO; Randy Orton over Triple H via DQ; and Batista over Kofi Kingston. Dark match was Rey Mysterio over CM Punk.
2/16 NXT results from Los Angeles, CA: CM Punk & Darren Young over Matt Hardy & Justin Gabriel; Great Khali over Daniel Bryan; Heath Slater over Michael Tarver; and Wade Barrett over Skip Sheffield. John Cena didn’t make his advertised appearance. No explanation given.
Superstars TV tonight has Christian, Yoshi Tatsu & Mark Henry vs. Jack Swagger, Zack Ryder & William Regal; The Bella Twins vs. Katie Lea Burchill & Jillian Hall; and Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin.
***
The nine page autopsy report on Edward “Umaga” Fatu was released this week. In addition to what was already known, there was no evidence of alcohol consumption and he wasn’t tested for steroids. However, Fatu, 36, weighed over 400 pounds at the time of his death and there was evidence of cardiomegaly–an enlarged heart–a probable side effect of steroid abuse which has been prevalent in the deaths of several high profile wrestlers over the years, most notably Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and Road Warrior Hawk in 2003.
Chair shots to the head or any blow to the head deemed “intentional”
have now been banned as part of WWE’s Impact Concussion Management Program. The policy was actually instituted in January, according to WWE PR guru Robert Zimmerman who told The Hartford Courant, although this was news to pretty much everyone including more than one wrestler. The policy also states that any talent not adhering to the new rule may be fined and/or suspended by WWE talent chief John Laurinaitis.
Congress confirmed this week that it’s not planning to follow-up on recommendations for government oversight over professional sports and wrestling drug-testing.
Raw on Monday night with Steve Austin did a 3.7 rating and 5.6 million viewers. 4.29 was the highest mark that featured the conclusion of the Bret vs. McMahon contract signing. Surprisingly the lowest rated quarter hour was the Undertaker-HBK video promo and Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho.
NXT on Tuesday night did a 0.9 rating and 1.2 million viewers. Not great by any means as they are back within ECW levels in week four, but simply mind boggling when you consider WWE’s developmental show this week did a better number than TNA Impact with the likes of Hogan, Flair, Sting, Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy.
Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer, 78, will reportedly give the Hall of Fame induction speech for Gorgeous George Wagner. Beyer had Wagner’s last wrestling match before retirement in 1962. The match was billed as hair vs. mask that drew 7,634 people to the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Accepting the award (commemorative plaque and ring) on Wagner’s behalf will be his first wife, 96-year-old Betty Hanson. WWE is hiring a bus to transport her from her residence in Oregon to Phoenix because she doesn’t want to fly. John Capouya, Wagner’s biographer, is not planning to attend the induction but was the intermediary who introduced WWE to Ms. Hanson. He recently optioned the movie rights from his book to WWE Studios and will be listed as Co-Producer. The movie is slated to start production in 2011 with initial plans calling for an actor to portray Wagner, not a wrestler. Capouya’s 2008 book, Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad Boy Wrestler who Created American Pop Culture, is currently available to purchase at www.gorgeousgeorgebook.com.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air on USA Network on Saturday, March 27 at 11pm ET.
Brittany Beede, a model from Saraosota, FL, that we know little about was signed to a developmental deal. She is already listed on the FCW website under the name, Jamie Keyes. I believe she once appeared on a TNA broadcast as the valet of Kevin Nash.
Mickie James wrote a blog at http://tinyurl.com/yattxgm noting her doctor has ruled her out of Wrestlemania following surgery on a staph infection. She has contracted a nasty strain of MRSA which in some cases can be life threatening, but she is doing much better now. She has also pushed back the release of her country album until mid-May.
Several guys were drug tested at television this week.
Melina, who is sidelined following ACL surgery, was backstage visiting at Raw and Smackdown. She took former Diva Candice Michelle to Staples Center as her guest. Candice is heavily pregnant with her first baby due in a few week’s.
Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase in a three-way was added to Wrestlemania.
Chuck Palumbo’s band 3 Spoke Wheel played a downtown sports bar & grill following Raw in San Diego. Dave Batista, Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero were among several WWE people who came out to show their support.
Steve Austin talks returning to Raw at http://ow.ly/16PmL6.
Jim Ross noted he met with Strikeforce’s Scott Coker on Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles during some down time with Steve Austin. Not that this means anything but in a recent interview with heavy.com, Ross, who just signed a WWE contract extension through April, said he thinks he would make a pretty good MMA announcer if given the opportunity. “The mistake made broadcasting MMA, more often than not, is that the broadcasters in general sometimes forget that they are broadcasting to an uneducated MMA audience. Maybe that’s not the right wording. I’m not talking about formal education. I don’t think that’s the case. I think that there are fans who are new to the genre and they are still learning the nuances. And I think a lot of the announcers take for granted that the average fan already knows what they are talking about.” Full interview at http://tinyurl.com/yf32868.
The Arizona Republic has a story on the Bella Twins at http://tinyurl.com/yh8yupp. The story quotes WWE’s John Laurinaitis who says the twins are savvy marketers who often come up with their own storyline ideas.
Tommy Dreamer did an interview with the Poughkeepie Journal at http://tinyurl.com/yhtje9z. Without revealing the real reason he quit WWE, he said, “I had a great time in WWE. I did my 10 years, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I walked away from a five-year deal when I had five months into a five-year deal… I was all just because I was fed up. I was the highest-rated guy on that network. Main event every year.
The networks were talking about the ratings, but they would never come to me. When they wanted ratings, I produced them because I have a great connection with my fanbase. They want to do their thing and say, we’re going to go with younger. Alright, I’m 38 years old no problem. They didn’t want me to leave. They wanted me to stay on board and help teach the other guys, but I didn’t want to do that. I still feel I have something to offer. Financially, I could walk away. I’m just happy. I have no ill feelings. I really, really miss a lot of the men and women.
I just had to something for me and my family.” He says TNA has contacted him but he is still weighing his options and is working on some movie scripts he hopes to sell to a production company. He also noted he is booked solid every weekend through September. On TNA competing with WWE:
“The WWE machine cannot be destroyed. Nor should it be. There’s enough piece of the pie. To go head to head wasn’t the smartest move for a lot of different reasons. Everyone makes their mistakes. The ratings the first week were not good and favorable. Hopefully, they will continue. I think they had their niche on Thursday nights. They should have stayed and maybe just done specials on Monday nights.”
Dreamer noted on his Twitter that he had dinner the other night with Taz, Brother Ray, and Paul Heyman, stating, “Let the rumors start…”
Heyman hasn’t tweeted or mentioned this on his website like the others so I assume it was nothing more than a personal dinner with old friends.
Or maybe not…
Wrong Side Of Town, the new direct-to-DVD film starring Rob Van Dam and Batista is currently advertised on the WWE website. Funny in that they recently removed all mentions of RVD when he signed with TNA.
A new survey by Quinnipiac University shows Linda McMahon leading Republic Senate opponent Rob Simmons 44-34, a change from Simmons leading 37-27 in January. Many observers are putting the change down to her aggressive advertising campaign. The Simmons campaign is still bringing up Attitude Era wrestling angles at every opportunity.
A trailer was posted for the new WWE Heroes comic book at http://tinyurl.com/ycn2cz7.
WWE is putting together a fan focus group at WrestleMania Axxess on March 26. Participants will be compensated with a free ticket to another Axxess session. If you are interested in participating in the group, you can email your name, age, address, phone number, and email address to research@wwecorp.com.
Tickets went on sale today for the new Over the Limit pay-per-view in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena.
Summerslam tickets go on sale Saturday. The show emanates from Staples Center again this year.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
3/15 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: The Nasty Boys over Team 3D;
Kurt Angle & The Pope over Desmond Wolfe & Mr. Anderson; Daffney vs.
Angelina Love was a no contest; Scott Hall over Kevin Nash; Beer Money
over Hernandez; and Jeff Hardy over AJ Styles in a non-title match.
There is a house show tonight at the Convention Center in Hattiesburg,
MS. A TNA crew also runs Friday night at the Civic Center in Pensacola,
FL. The advertised line up for the later show is AJ Styles vs. The Pope;
Jeff Jarrett vs. Desmond Wolfe; Kevin Nash & Eric Young vs. Beer Money;
Tara vs. Daffney; Doug Williams vs. Daniels vs. Homicide in a three-way;
and The Machine Guns vs. Generation Me.
***
Impact on Monday night did it’s lowest rating in three years with a 0.84
and 1.07 million viewers. There was no attempt by anyone to spin the
number this week and Dixie Carter admitted that TNA is David against
WWE’s Goliath. They were down in all the key demos including a 32
percent decline in Males 18-34. Internally reaction is always mixed
because there are TNA people who really care about the numbers (mostly
management) and there are others who simply don’t as long as they get
paid (mostly talent). The lowest rated quarter hour was a real
shock–Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles doing a 0.73 against WWE’s 4.29. The
highest rated quarter was less of a surprise–0.96 for Daffney vs.
Angelina Love in the Knockout’s match.
Eric Bischoff on his Facebook page that he set up for feedback was asked
by a fan called Markus why he wasn’t commenting on this week’s Impact
rating. Bischoff replied with, “Markus…you need to get a life.” Not
sure what to make of that reaction but Markus obviously got under
Bischoff’s skin.
Impact has a replay tonight 9-11 after all. The movie Predator was
originally scheduled. Dixie Carter tweeted earlier that Spike did the
180 because they were happy with ratings from last Thursday.
Jeff Hardy was scheduled back in court on Wednesday to stand trial on
multiple drugs charges. Hardy’s attorney was granted a postponement to
build a defence so the trial has been pushed back until May 10. He is
charged with felony trafficking in opium, two counts of felony
possession with intent to sell or deliver a Schedule III controlled
substance, felony maintaining a dwelling to keep controlled substances,
felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of drug
paraphernalia. If convicted of the opium trafficking charge alone, Hardy
could face six years in prison.
Rob Terry vs. Brutus Magnus for the Global Championship and Tara vs.
Daffney for the Knockouts title was added to Sunday’s Destination X
pay-per-view. Some weird happenings on the TNA website because earlier
this week a graphic listed the Knockout’s match as a First Blood match.
The graphic has since been removed.
A funny note although all evidence has also been removed. A web match
was posted on TNA’s YouTube channel of Awesome Kong & Hamada retaining
the Knockout tag titles over The Beautiful People. Of course this was
posted a few days AFTER it was announced Kong and Hamada were stripped
off the titles and following the TBP winning the belts on the March 8
Impact.
All mentions of Kong have now been removed from the TNA website.
Another funny note. Kevin Nash went on Twitter on Monday afternoon and
encouraged his followers to watch Impact and DVR Raw. He later tweeted
that he was sat in a bar watching Raw. Then he got mad at people for
ripping him and said he was only watching the WWE show to support his
friend, Steve Austin.
Ken Doane was told he wouldn’t be brought back following his tryout
match at the last television tapings.
During the Impact broadcast Monday night, Mr. Kennedy had the initials
“WWLSD” clearly written on his wrist tape–which translates to What
Would Lance Storm Do–apparently a cryptic jibe at the former WWE
wrestler who has been outspoken about Anderson and TNA booking.
Bobby Lashley was interviewed at http://tinyurl.com/ybpfn7p. He said he
doesn’t see himself doing any more pro wrestling for at least 12 months
as his MMA schedule is loaded. He said he doesn’t know who his opponent
will be but confirmed he’s taken a fight on Strikeforce’s April 17 card
in Nashville that will be televised on CBS. Strikeforce has reportedly
submitted an opponent for Lashley and is awaiting approval from the
Tennessee Athletic Commission. The show is headlined by Dan Henderson
vs. Jake Shields.
Dory Funk Jr, Bobby Heenan and Baron Von Raschke were confirmed as
guests at the upcoming Lockdown Fan Interaction event in St. Charles,
MO. Harley Race was extended an invite but apparently declined. Hogan,
Flair, Sting, Jimmy Hart and many other legends will also be on hand.
Various packages are currently on sale at www.shoptna.com.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
There are some incorrect reports circulating that the Iron Sheik was
arrested earlier this month at the Atlanta airport. The reports stemmed
from something Jim Ross wrote on Twitter and took a life of it’s own.
The real story is far more entertaining. Sheik, who just turned 67, was
traveling home on a flight from Las Vegas after attending a bong
convention at Mandalay Bay. He was refused alcohol on the plane, lost
his cool, and cut a typical Sheik promo on the flight crew. When the
plane landed in Atlanta waiting police officers took him to a private
room for questioning. They searched his bags and found a stash of
complimentary bongs that he was given in Vegas. The police thought they
had hit the jackpot. Sheik eventually talked himself out of trouble and
was escorted to his drivers car and sent home. He gave the officers a
signed 8X11 for their trouble.
The Liverpool Echo in England has an astounding story on former wrestler
Buddy Ward, 75, who is coming out of retirement. Ward, real name Alfred
Woodward, last wrestled for money in the 1980s and claims to have 3,999
matches to his name. Local promoter Ian McGregor is quoted as saying,
“When Buddy phoned me up on New Year’s Day and said he wanted to fight
again I said this is not going to be a circus. If you’re going to fight
you’re going to fight the best.” When asked why he would want to step
back in the ring, Ward said, “I looked in the mirror and I decided I
didn’t look too bad. I know I can still do it. Wrestling’s like making
love. You never forget how. I hope so anyway.” He added that he hasn’t
trained in the gym for many years but is working out for his match by
walking his dogs each day.
The Norwich Evening News at http://tinyurl.com/yel4mj2 has a story on
British wrestler The Zebra Kid who pled guilty to trashing a pub last
May. Kid, real name Roy Bevis, is the 29-year-old son of
wrestler/promoter, Ricky Knight. According to prosecutor William Carter,
pool cues were used to cause damage, and one drinker was left
unconscious. Bevis reportedly punched a man. He escaped jail time and
was given a 12 month suspended sentence and 18 months community service.
The reaction of Bevis’ family and friends, upon hearing this sentence,
drew controversy when they applauded the decision in the court room. The
court recorder Jonathan Ferris said, “This is not Celebrity Squares.
It’s not a day out for you, as there are very important matters being
discussed here, so show more respect.” Bevis is well known in the local
community for having a history of violence. In November 2009, Bevis,
along with two acquaintances, was reportedly involved in a fight over
drugs. The victim was hit over the head with a piece of tarmac and
almost died as a result of his injuries. Bevis also assaulted a referee
in 2005 during a local soccer match after the ref sent him off for
fighting on the pitch with another player.
The Miami Herald has a story on Shawn Stasiak at
http://tinyurl.com/yer3zwc talking about his desire to return to
wrestling. He currently works as a back specialist at a chiropractic
office in North Texas. “Really for me, I’m an entertainer. It’s in my
blood. I believe my true purpose here is to make a difference in as many
lives as I can, reaching by the thousands and the millions through
physical fitness and health, chiropractics being part of that. Being in
an office 24/7, I feel like a locked up animal. I feel like a bird in a
cage. I wasn’t meant to do that. I still have wrestling in my blood. I’m
still a healthy 39-year-old. I look and feel better than when I was
wrestling on television seven years ago. That’s what most people say
when they see me. I’ve made good life choices and feel there are still a
few good years left in me.” Stasiak, 39, is the son of the late Stan
Stasiak, a 1960s and 1970s main event heel, who held the WWWF
heavyweight title for 10 days in December 1973.
Roddy Piper got some rave reviews for his role on CBS’ Cold Case that
aired this past Sunday night. The episode was originally set to air the
weekend before but the producers pushed it back so as not to clash with
the Oscars. Piper will be appearing at the Hollywood Improv on Melrose
this coming Saturday. He will also be appearing at the Improv in Tempe,
AZ, on March 24–a few days before Wrestlemania. Ticket and show
information at http://tinyurl.com/yc5kp2a.
Japanese legend Keiji Mutoh, 47, was scheduled to undergo knee surgery
this week which will keep him sidelined for a few months. He’s been
working through the pain for some time. Mutoh, under his Great Muta
gimmick, made a special appearance in January for Pro Wrestling
Guerrilla at WrestleReunion in Los Angeles.
Former WWE Tough Enougn winner Dan Puder debuts for New Japan Pro
Wrestling in June.
Speakers at Sandy Scott’s funeral this past week included former
wrestlers Ron Garvin, Tim Horner, and long-time JCP announcer Bob
Caudle. American Championship Wrestling are holding a Sandy Scott
tribute show on April 10 at the high school gym in Rocky Mount, VA.
ISPW runs on March 27 at the 3-2 Count Athletic Training Facility in
Freehold, NJ, with Dirty Dutch Mantel vs. Doink the Clown (Matt Borne),
along with Nunzio, Tony Mamaluke, Samu, Danny Doring and Bill DeMott.
Ring of Honor runs this weekend in Dearborn, MI and Mississauga, ON.
More info at www.rohwrestling.com.
ROH on HDNet will be preempted for the next two week’s due to coverage
of College Basketball.
Demolition and Hacksaw Jim Duggan will be appearing this weekend at
Wizard World Toronto at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, 100
Princes’ Blvd, Toronto, Ontario.
Bob Saget’s Strange Days A&E series is expected to shoot footage at
Dragon Gate USA’s March 26 show in Phoenix.
Marty “Boogeyman” Wright worked Booker T’s PWA show last weekend. He did
a run in and signed some autographs after the show. When people asked
him about WWE he claimed he was never released but wanted to take some
time off and would be returning soon. He also said he has no interest in
going to TNA.
Slam Wrestling at http://tinyurl.com/ykzn94w has a story on Canadian
wrestler Murray Cummings and his transition from pro wrestling to Cowboy
Action Shooting.
Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theories on TruTV has been picked up for a
second season.
The Barbarian (not sure this is the former WWF/WCW wrestler John Nord)
appears in an ad for North Carolina Educational/Powerball Lottery. He is
dressed as a sumo wrestler and painted blue. The last I heard Nord was
working at his brother’s auto dealership near Minnesota. His son is a
junior this year on the University of Minnesota wrestling team.
Women Superstars Uncensored, the New Jersey-based women’s group, say
they have signed a deal with The Fight Network to launch a television
show called Uncensored in April. Each episode will be 10-15 minutes and
is designed to complement the WSU DVD series. More info at
www.wsuwrestling.com.
Today’s Diva of the Day is Katie Lea at
http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
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