May 25 2009 Observer Newsletter: Flair and HBK wrestling future, Judgment Day, WWE vs. NBA, business
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 ISSN10839593 May 25, 2009
WWE JUDGMENT DAY PPV POLL RESULTS
Thumbs up90 (93.8%)
Thumbs down 0 (00.0%)
In the middle 6 (06.2%)
BEST MATCH POLL
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho66
Edge vs. Jeff Hardy17
John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin10
WORST MATCH POLL
John Cena vs. Big Show78
Umaga vs. C.M. Punk 8
Based on phone calls, e-mails and fax messages to the Observer as of Tuesday, 6/19.
It is almost official Ric Flair will be coming out of retirement and wrestling. The only question is whether it will be in a WWE ring, overseas for another promoter, or both.
Flair first told Alex Marvez last week that he wanted to wrestle again. Flair’s people had been in negotiations last year with New Japan Pro Wrestling to come out of retirement and wrestle at the 1/4 show at the Tokyo Dome against Masahiro Chono, but in the end, New Japan didn’t offer him enough to where he wanted to ask Shawn Michaels for the green light. He has turned down big money offers for more than a year, and not even entertained the idea of wrestling in the U.S., unless it would be with WWE. Vince McMahon, whose idea it was for Flair to retire at Wrestlemania last year, had not wanted to ruin the greatest send-off they ever did.
Flair was willing to wrestle Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania when the Mickey Rourke match fell through, but the company didn’t seriously consider it, largely because of the stipulation of the previous year. Flair had before Wrestlemania texted Vince McMahon or John Laurinaitis notes from time-to-
time, noting he was training hard, benching 300, and a few pounds lighter than when he retired and ready to take high backdrops.
“I want to wrestle again,” Flair told Marvez on 5/12. “I watch (WWE) and I can still do better than 90 percent of the guys there. I weigh one pound less than the day I retired. I still work out really hard and I wrestle my kid (Reid) all the time. It’s not like I haven’t been in the ring.” At the last ROH taping, when fans were chanting for Flair to wrestle another match, Flair reacted to it and noted he was working on it.
“People in Europe are offering me a fortune,” he said. “I’m tired of singing autographs. I can make more money wrestling.”
Flair returned to WWE for the first time since Wrestlemania in a surprise appearance, making the save for Batista, when he was being beaten down by Legacy at the 5/17 Judgment Day PPV show in Chicago. He also appeared on Raw the next night in Louisville, doing two interview segments as well as a run-in at the end of the main event. He was also pushed for the 5/25 Raw, where he was going to fight Randy Orton, but it was noted that it would not be a wrestling match.
On that show, in a backstage segment with Flair and Batista, Flair was scripted to note that it was not his choice to retire, that the company retired him (which was the storyline at the time) and that he wanted to wrestle. It’s unlikely the segment would have been done that way, with Flair, noting he was 60, saying he could still beat 90% of the guys on the roster, if there were no plans for him to wrestle on this latest return. It may be a situation where the company recognizes Flair is going to wrestle again, and if that’s the case, the first coming out of retirement match is usually the one people remember, and it may as well be in their ring and not somewhere like the U.K. or Spain.
The deal for his return was put together for a number of reasons, largely the falling ratings of Raw and the belief the reason the ratings have fallen is because of a lack of star power, in particular Shawn Michaels and HHH. At this point, Michaels has no plans to return at any time in the near future. It’s not definite how long HHH would be out, but four-to-six weeks has been talked about over the past few days, with the idea Flair would be used on the show to up the star power so he doesn’t have to come back early. Plus, there are a lot of potential ways to go, such as when it’s time to write him out, Orton could kick him in the head as a way to bring back HHH, with the idea fans really like Flair, as opposed to the McMahons, who people really didn’t care much when HHH went for revenge for them. He could also be used to have Batista turn on him if the move is to turn Batista after his program with Orton runs its course.
The idea was first broached in a creative meeting a couple of weeks ago and approved a little over a week ago, from a combination of Flair suggesting it because HHH and Michaels were out, and from the WWE side, as a response to the ratings falling (which may still be more a result of too much television, as since the addition of Superstars, ECW, as well as Smackdown have shown very noticeable decreases in audience, and Smackdown has gotten rave word-of-mouth while the numbers have fallen).
Flair admitted in the article that part of the reason he did ROH was to set the stage for son Reid working there. However, ROH did not want to use Reid Flair after his arrest for heroin possession a few weeks ago in Chicago. Reid’s situation is very bad right now. Reid is getting outpatient rehab and going for treatment several days per week. Flair said that he was told at the clinic that Reid had a chromosome deficiency.
As expected, the publicity and situation Reid is in has led to the Flair reality show being put on ice. Reid’s arrest was a big one day story in Charlotte, but didn’t garner much after that. It has affected a few of his endorsement deals as well. Flair is in a position where he has to make a lot of money because of huge alimony payments to ex-wives.
It’s pretty clear Flair wants approval from Michaels, and McMahon to return, even if it’s only for overseas events. He’s said at this point he won’t wrestle in North America unless it’s with WWE, and for the money he’s asking for a match, it wouldn’t financially work out in North America anyway due to fact the only company that could possibly break even on the deal would be TNA for a television show, and at this point, Flair has not considered going with TNA because that’s burning the bridge with WWE that he doesn’t want to do.
The reality is Flair, like Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Roddy Piper or Randy Savage and pretty much everyone else, unless they are doing something on WWE television, they are far more valuable posing for photos and signing autographs because people are willing to pay so much per for keepsakes, than they are willing to pay to watch them doing a match on an independent show these days.
Flair would be in demand for appearances at wrestling shows with or without the WWE exposure from 2002 to 2008. Virtually all the Carolinas- based endorsement deals he’s gotten are more due to his wrestling from the 70s and 80s, when the decision makers in the area were watching regional wrestling that was far bigger in the market than the wrestling today, and he was the biggest draw, and later the world champion. However, the last month of his career, and in particular, the week of Wrestlemania and the next day, made him a hot commodity again and likely allowed him to be able to charge $15,000 per appearance for the first several months, particularly outside his home area and made him a more relevant current star to the overseas market, after he left the company on 8/3. His split with WWE was largely because for the short-term, he could earn significantly more money as a free agent than he could working as a goodwill ambassador for WWE, since WWE would not allow him to take a number of lucrative bookings. He’s still getting regular bookings, although not as many as at the beginning at that original price. He is working with promoters like ROH for better rates because they’ll give him multiple bookings. There is no guarantee how long that run would continue, and I think most people assumed at some point, whether it was one year or five years, that he’d wind up back with some sort of a deal with WWE at some point, which is one of the reasons he never considered doing anything with TNA.
As things stand right now, and this is really strange, Flair will be working this program, like the pre-Mania program, without signing a contract. He is still scheduled to work dates for ROH, and WWE was not keen on him doing ROH television, a deal which wasn’t announced until after Wrestlemania, at which point he had no more WWE dates scheduled. But he’s scheduled to do exactly what they don’t want, which is springboard after several weeks of television going all over the world, and then possibly wrestle independent dates as the only featured performer on WWE television who would be available.
Flair is in negotiations with a series of promoters to wrestle a total of 30 matches on several different tours, starting in late July, through March, in Europe, South Africa, China and Egypt. WWE has eyes on all of those markets except for Egypt, and regularly runs in Europe, has planned to run China but the original plans have been delayed, and has ran South Africa in a few times in recent years. Flair has noted to those close to him that he simply can’t afford to turn down the amount he’s being offered for the tour.
He has said the people putting together the tour are those who he has already worked with doing autograph sessions and has had good experiences with. And the idea of going on the tour and getting burned, because whenever in life there looks to be a financial deal too good to be true, usually it’s not true, Flair’s dealings since going independent are to get half his money up front as a deposit when securing the date, and the other half as a general rule before the event. The problem with paying huge money for Flair is that for a personal appearance, it’s one thing, but to wrestle on a show, you need an opponent and a packaged card. Roddy Piper will work some of those dates, but he is unlikely to wrestle on them. Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff have talked for years of doing an international tour, and although Hogan’s money demands are significantly higher than Flair’s, Hogan is a bigger name worldwide and they’ve never been able to get anything off the ground. So one has to wonder about how an international house show tour booked around Flair, and committed to needing to gross significant dollars to pay Flair, would be able to do without more name wrestlers involved and without the banner of a major promotion. At least some of the dates, if not most, are scheduled with existing promotions in Europe that Flair has done autograph sessions for, that ended up being successful sessions.
*******
A unique double-booking that turned into a national news story, turned into a publicity campaign for WWE.
WWE officials learned on 5/17, after the Los Angeles Lakers win over the Houston Rockets, that the fourth game of the Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Denver Nuggets was scheduled for 5/25 at the Pepsi Center for a game scheduled for a live broadcast on ESPN, the same night that WWE had booked the building for next week’s live Raw event.
It was clearly a screw-up by the arena people, as once it became apparent the Nuggets were in the playoffs, and that it was a possible night for a game, WWE should have been alerted. WWE officials claimed no such thing happened. For 6/7, the night of the Extreme Rules PPV, at first WWE did a back-up booking at a different arena in New Orleans when the New Orleans Arena, originally booked for the PPV, could have hosted a Hornets playoff game. But once the Hornets were eliminated by the Nuggets, the 6/7 date no longer had a conflict and WWE switched back.
WWE claims, and the Pepsi Center, owned by Stan Kroenke, who also owns the Nuggets, have not disputed this, that they booked the date in August, and signed a contract on 4/15 that did not include a potential out clause, which if true, puts them in good legal footing. It is commonplace in the arena business when you have a major sports franchise as a tenant that at least once it becomes obvious the team was going to make it to the playoffs, all possible playoff dates are put on hold at your home arena. It’s mind boggling if WWE was never contacted about a potential problem until 5/17, eight days before the event and when there already was a guaranteed problem.
At that point in time, the Pepsi Center made the recommendation to have the WWE show moved to the Denver Coliseum, a 10,000 seat arena. There would be problems, such as the changing in seating. About 10,000 tickets had been sold for Raw at that point in time, and with comps, the Coliseum would be too small. WWE also would have no space for its usual production that cuts off almost 30% of the capacity of an arena.
At press time, six days before the event, no new location was announced for Raw. WWE was playing it up as a publicity stunt, sending out a press release saying that the Raw television show was “in jeopardy of being canceled by the Denver Nuggets,” when there was never a chance there wouldn’t be a Raw taping. At press time, they claimed they were coming to Denver and would run the show in the parking lot of the Pepsi Center if they weren’t allowed in the building. There may be a possibility, although nobody has brought it up, of WWE taping in the afternoon, but whether the arena could set up in time for the game would be a factor. The argument would be that WWE could tape its show and it would make no difference in the ratings, but if the NBA taped the game in the afternoon to air in prime time, the same wouldn’t be true.
At Raw, none of the talent was told anything about the schedule for this coming Monday. The company had called up several hotels in Colorado Springs, about 70 miles outside of Denver, looking for hotel rooms on Sunday night, indicating the World Arena in Colorado Springs, where Smackdown was being taped on 5/26, would be a possible location. Of the two suggestions that were being talked about behind the scenes on 5/18, that would have made the most sense. The problem is that arena set up for Raw would only hold 6,000 people, so going there instead of the Denver Coliseum would be inconvenient for fans having to travel significantly longer distances in most places to get there, and have less seats open. Another idea talked about was taping Raw on 5/23 at the scheduled house show in Salt Lake City. The negative is the crew would have to stay in the area on Sunday and Monday, because they’d also have to work the Smackdown taping on Tuesday.
McMahon was quick to paint Kroenke as the enemy. On Raw on 5/18, the situation was never directly talked about, and when plugging upcoming shows, only listed the Friday through Sunday Raw dates, not mentioning an arena for Monday. Jim Ross, who came in to the show late to replace Jerry Lawler, doing an injury angle since it’s Louisville (not his home town, but still his old territorial stomping grounds), was clearly fed remarks to rip on Kroenke during the show that came out forced in delivery.
McMahon was on ESPN News, being interviewed by former employee Jonathan Coachman, which was interesting on a number of levels.
“Quite frankly, it’s my view that Stan Kroenke should be arrested, should be arrested for impersonating a good businessman, because he’s not a good businessman. A good businessman doesn’t book a World Wrestling Federation (yes, he said World Wrestling Federation) live televised event on Monday night realizing that his team in all likelihood would not make the playoffs.”
Yet, that actually didn’t make sense. He tried to push the idea Kroenke, whose name he mispronounced several times, had no confidence in his team getting far in the playoffs to paint him as a villain to Nuggets fans. He tried to make a joke of challenging him in a cage match for the rights to the arena that night. McMahon did not come off well, to say the least, on the late night appearance after a long day of taping, even though he was clearly the wronged party. His delivery of jokes was terribly stiff that they didn’t come off funny. Coachman opened the segment pretty much noting he once worked with WWE, always called McMahon, “Sir,” and even acted like a WWE announcer at the end, doing the total out of control laughing at McMahon’s scripted comedy lines that wasn’t being delivered well. McMahon never acknowledged Coachman, or even gave a smile of recognition at his voice.
Probably one of the reasons they haven’t announced a new location is because the more they go on the tact they thought they could play the arena, the stronger their legal case becomes down the line when asking for damages for a last-minute move.
Of course, it’s ironic about the scheduling conflicts in a sense, since WWE routinely changes dates on arenas, although usually not a week before an event. In just the past few weeks, WWE booked and canceled events in Huntsville and Montgomery, AL scheduled for 5/29 and 5/30, because of plans to cancel the Mexico tour. Then, the decision was made to keep the Mexico tour and cancel the Alabama shows. It’s just part of doing business in a weird time. It wasn’t their fault, or their incompetence that caused it, but it still happened and you didn’t see the arena owners trying to cry publicly about it.
In 2007, on a European tour, WWE moved a show to a new date and a bad starting time because they changed their minds regarding a television shoot and wanted most of the people booked at the house show going on head-to-head with the shoot, at television and didn’t feel they would have enough stars for a house show. So the house show was moved back a few days and ended up as an afternoon show as part of a double-shot for the crew. It wasn’t a disaster and one can argue they did the best thing for all concerned, but you didn’t see the arenas crying foul about changing a date at the last minute for something WWE should have been more organized ahead of time about.
Earlier this month, because of a scheduled concert at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, as well as a WWE event, the NHL made a minor change to the Penguins vs. Washington Capitals dates at the arena for the Stanley Cup playoff series. The difference is television. The NHL isn’t highly rated programming. The NBA playoffs are doing the best they have in years, probably due partially to the economy, and the ESPN game is a significantly bigger television event than Raw. WWE even claimed in a web site story that Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center had offered to host Raw. I’m not sure why they would say that, because even as a publicity stunt, it makes them look bad when they have a chance to run MSG if they run the World Arena in Colorado Springs when all is said and done, but at this point it’s all for publicity.
In 1975, the NBA championship finals were between the Golden State Warriors and the Washington Bullets. However, the Ice Follies booked a long run at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, the home of the Warriors. So the Warriors switched their home games to the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and then had to switch again because their was a Kung Fu/Karate event scheduled the night before a game at the Cow Palace and the arena felt they couldn’t convert it back to a basketball arena in one day. The playoffs ended up instead of two games at the Capital Centre and two games in the Bay Area, of game one at the Capital Centre, two and three at the Cow Palace, and four back at the Capital Centre.
UFC on several occasions was in a position where they may have had to move a live PPV event at the last minute. Shows in Bayamon, PR and Detroit’s Cobo Arena ended up in court fights, in one case, a few days before the event and in the latter case, hours before the event, which ended up with the show going on as planned. However, another show in Denver in 1995 saw national publicity with the Mayor of Denver wanting the show moved. It ended up being a publicity stunt as UFC officials and city officials worked out a deal where the mayor would get the show moved out of the McNichols Arena and into Mammoth Gardens, which only held 2,800. That was less seats than the advance for the show. But by the time of the event, UFC was just happy to get the event done and the mayor was happy to have at least a public victory because they were out of the major arena.
The biggest disaster was a 1997 show scheduled for Niagara Falls, NY. Just days before show time, after a law was passed to legalize the sport, and then the New York Times, which was incredibly powerful at the time, started running daily editorials criticizing the legislature for passing the law, saw the legislature do an about face. There was no legal way to rescind the law before the show (the law was rescinded shortly after the show, which is why New York is one of only two states to actually have a law on the books banning events). So the New York State Athletic Commission a few days before the event, came up with a rule book, which included a size specification for the Octagon which was much larger than the one in place and they wouldn’t have time to build a new one. They also had new rules mandating boxers’ headgear and changing rules to not allow much of what is legal in either wrestling or Jiu Jitsu. UFC went to court two days before the show, since clearly they were in the right when it came to this, because you can’t change the rules of the game two days before the game when athletes have trained for what was an entirely different sport. Still, the court ruled against them. The day before the show, they had to find a building in a non-commission state and ended up running at the Dothan, AL, Civic Center, and doing a few hours of advertising and letting the audience in free, and managed to get 3,100 fans, while also having to refund about $200,000 worth of ticket revenue in Niagara Falls. Because they went to a state with no commission, they didn’t have to deal with licensing issues and the usual red tape that would have made a show at the last second in a commission state impossible. They flew the Octagon, the fighters, some of the entourages (but not all) on a charter jet from Niagara Falls to Birmingham, and then everyone drove to Dothan, and got in to the hotels booked at 5 a.m. Worse, everyone had to check out of their rooms at noon because every hotel in the area was booked the next day due to a religious convention. Under those circumstances, they had to then set up a building and fighters had to fight. They actually did a show where TV viewers wouldn’t know the difference, such as that they were painting the Octagon canvas just minutes before the PPV went on the air. But in the end, the show went on.
*******
WWE’s Judgment Day on 5/17 at the All-State Arena in Chicago paper looked like a top-notch show, and while no matches are going to be remembered in a few weeks or at the end of the year, it was a solid nearly three hours of entertainment.
No titles changed hands, and at the end, the major stories on the show were the Ric Flair return, and using Matt Hardy as the reason that Edge kept the world title over Jeff Hardy. No matches really exceeded expectations, and the lone bad match on the show, John Cena vs. Big Show, figured to be bad based on their recent television interaction.
They come back in three weeks with the Extreme Rules PPV on 6/7 from New Orleans. Matches announced so far are Edge vs. Jeff Hardy for the title in a ladder match, Randy Orton vs. Batista for the title in a cage match, John Cena vs. Big Show in a submission match, Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho for the IC title in a no holds barred match and C.M. Punk vs. Umaga in a strap match. The ECW title could end up in a three-way with Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger, or some sort of combination of those. They are also pushing Melina vs. Michelle McCool and Maryse vs. either Mickie James or Kelly Kelly as title programs, although those could both just be TV programs.
The show drew a sellout crowd announced at 14,822 to the All-State Arena in Chicago. As for the PPV, we had the lowest level of responses in years for a WWE show, and checking around in PPV, very early indications were not good at all. It wouldn’t surprise me because everything worthwhile was built on Smackdown, which a large percentage of the fan base doesn’t watch. And the Raw go-home show had the reverse desired effect, because when it was over, it made me not want to see the promoted main event. It’s another example that even after putting on a great show three weeks earlier, and having a strong lineup, there are no indications either of those things helped sell this show. Plus, it had the handicap of having four Smackdown matches, which meant good for the wrestling, but Smackdown is clearly seen as the “B” show to the public even though it has been by far the better show.
A. In the dark match, Mickie James pinned Beth Phoenix with a DDT.
1. Umaga pinned C.M. Punk in 11:52. This result is hard to fathom, other than the company’s usual directive of always wanting to make the guy look bad in his home town. It’s been ingrained in the writers that, in particular when you have a babyface in his home town, you make him look bad because it’s easy to get heat that way. But to me, that’s backward thinking other than the idea that home town fans will make their guy appear to be a bigger star than they are slotted to be more often than not, and there seems to be an aversion to allowing that unfair competitive advantage. It was a good idea to open with this match, and the idea that since Punk has the briefcase, he can put people over right now is sound. But for a company that is dying for mainstream acceptance, and here they have a guy who was grand marshal of the Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago and it doesn’t get anymore acceptable than that, you should throw the local fans a bone. Putting Punk out first got the crowd into the show. Punk was kicking Umaga so much lighter than he does with almost everyone else he faces. It was almost funny, because he was doing 10% of his usual velocity and it was way too apparent. Both worked hard and it was a strong opener. The story was Punk continually trying to get the Go to sleep, and Umaga just being too big. Umaga escaped it one last time, hit a thrust kick, a running hip attack and the Samoan spike for the pin. ***1/4
2. Christian pinned Jack Swagger in 9:33 to retain the ECW title. Maybe a slight disappointment in quality. Crowd was into Christian early. Christian used a Silver King dive early. Swagger threw him into the post to get some heat. Christian came back until missing a splash off the top. Swagger got a near fall with a belly-to-belly superplex. They went back-and-forth with near falls. Swagger tried to use the trunks but was caught by the ref. Christian pulled Swagger’s straps down, causing a reverse Lawler effect, and then used a rolling reverse cradle holding the trunks for the pin. Storyline is that Christian continually outsmarts his less experienced opponent. **½
3. John Morrison pinned Shelton Benjamin in 10:08. Morrison tried a springboard 450 splash to the floor and he was very lucky he was wrestling a guy who was national JC champion in the 100, because he was falling down way short and with a slower man, he would have been hurt bad, but Benjamin reacted swiftly and made the save. A lot of good athletic stuff here. They tried to tell the story that these may be the two best athletes in the company, but that Benjamin doesn’t even think Morrison is in his league. I can see that mentality, a guy who was a star in football, wrestling and track, being compared with a guy who looks good in the ring because he did gymnastics growing up. Funny thing is the gymnastics is more applicable to today’s pro wrestling. Crowd was quiet in the middle as Benjamin was working on Morrison. Morrison did a springboard Thesz press, that Benjamin blocked and the idea was to hold him and run toward the corner and give Morrison a power bomb into the turnbuckles. The idea was a letter better in the dressing room setting it up and live they couldn’t overcome the degree of difficulty factor. Morrison won with a springboard high kick into his split legged corkscrew, which is called the Starship pain. So was he a geek for Star Trek or the Jefferson Starship? ***1/4
The Miz came out and did some of the best mic work of his career, although the constant running down of John Cena without Cena coming out has to get explained at some point. He acknowledged Morrison calling him “Marty Jannetty.” You know, the guy in a tag team that ends up with his career going nowhere when the more talented partner becomes a superstar. Or maybe he was saying that his former partner got way loaded last night. Either way, the lack of crowd reaction was cringe worthy, as in he was way too inside for his audience. But he started getting over when he ripped on the Chicago Cubs never winning a World Series. He then pointed out Alphonso Soriano of the Cubs in the front row, who is a big Cena fan and does the “You can’t see me” when he hits a home run. Miz said to him, “You can’t see a World Series as long as you play for the Cubs.” He challenged Soriano, who didn’t get in the ring. He explained that since Soriano is a Cena fan and didn’t get in the ring, then that’s another win for him over Cena, making him 4-0. He explained four wins is more than the Cubs have seen since 1908 in the World Series. Eventually Santino Marella came out. I miss the days when they actually did dramatic turns that people remember for years. Marella is now a babyface because he insulted Vickie Guerrero on Raw, and now came out against Miz, who he called Fiz. He thought Soriano was Italian and wanted to go out to dinner, and mentioned Vickie Guerrero was a pig. He showed photos on the screen making fun of Guerrero as a pig and Vladimir Kozlov, and then Miz asked what animal would he be, and Marella said a jackass. They went at it, with the crowd very much into Marella’s milliseconds of offense before Miz laid him out with a DDT. The segment was good, but went way long. After Miz left, Chavo Guerrero came out and gave Marella a frog splash. That stemmed from earlier in the show, Edge told Chavo he was a loser and told him he should do something about the cross-dresser who called his aunt a pig.
4. Rey Mysterio retained the IC title pinning Chris Jericho in 12:37. Best thing on the show. The story here is Jericho guaranteed he would not get hit with the 619 and would win the title. Jericho was doing his Nick Bockwinkel big words interview. Crowd was hot at the beginning, except the loud chants were “Y2J.” Mysterio wasn’t booed, although when Jericho late in the match had Mysterio in the Walls in the middle, they reacted big like they wanted to see a title change. Mysterio did a Thesz press off the apron and a legdrop off the top for a near fall. First time he tried a 619, Jericho got out of the way and backdropped him as he came running. Jericho used the Abyss shock treatment move and Jim Ross noted he was doing Lucha Libre. Well, the way he got Mysterio on his shoulders and was running around in the torture rack was an Atlantis spot. Ross noted that the referee in this match was the same one who disqualified Jericho in the four- way in Madison Square Garden. It made for such an awkward moment when he wasn’t allowed to say Charles Robinson even though a decent percentage of the crowd probably knows his name. Jericho used the spinning backbreaker for a near fall (the quebradora). Mysterio tried a huracanrana but Jericho blocked it into the Walls, but Mysterio escaped. Jericho blocked a 619 in to the Walls, and pulled Mysterio in the middle. Fans were cheering Jericho like crazy here. Mysterio got a near fall with an inside cradle. He tried a huracanrana, but Jericho turned it into a power bomb for a near fall. Mysterio then won clean when, after his fourth attempt, he hit the 619 and won with the springboard splash. ***3/4
5. Batista beat WWE champ Randy Orton via DQ in 14:44 so Orton retained the title. Batista had a nasty cut above his left eye that needed eight stitches visible as he came to the ring. It was the dreaded mystery cut, as nobody was saying what the real story was, and it played no part in this match as Batista never bled. Orton got the early edge and then Batista made his comeback. The story here was that Orton continually tried to get counted out to save the title. Batista would have to go outside the ring and throw him back in. At one point Orton was outside and grabbed the ringpost and held on. But Batista still managed to get him back in by the ten count. A third time Orton tried to get counted out and Batista threw him back in. They did a spot where they kept blocking each others’ big moves, including Batista pushing Orton off an RKO attempt. Orton then grabbed his belt and tried to hit Batista, but instead Batista speared him. Orton then slapped the ref for the DQ. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes hit the ring for the beat down, until Ric Flair made the save chopping everyone in sight. The finish would have gotten over terribly except they went right to the heat and then brought in Flair, so by that point people, surprised by Flair, didn’t react badly to the DQ. ***
6. John Cena pinned Big Show in 14:57. It started with the “Let’s Go Cena, Cena sux” dual chant, but not nearly as loud as usual. Mostly it was Show working over Cena’s ribs. He rammed Cena’s ribs into the post. He continued on him until Cena countered a choke slam attempt into a DDT. The story here, which incidentally, was getting old considering it was the same story basically in the Batista match and Jericho match and Punk match, is that Cena kept trying to do the STF, but Show was too big. They pushed the idea, which was a build for the submission match at Extreme Rules, that it is physically impossible for Cena to get the STF on Show. This would be a lot more logical of Cena hadn’t put the STF on Show 500 times over the past several years. Show did a Vader style reverse splash off the topes, but Cena kicked out. He missed the second one. Another STF that didn’t work. Cena came back with yet another STF that didn’t work. Finish saw Show go for the knockout punch and Cena ducked and used the Attitude Adjustment for the pin. Match was boring but the finish got over big just because Cena picked up a guy who was so big after Punk couldn’t do the same with a guy 130 pounds lighter. Cena hugged Soriano on the way out. That makes even less sense why he didn’t come out earlier in the show when Miz spent so long challenging him. *1/4
7. Edge pinned Jeff Hardy in 19:53 to retain the World title. Hardy used a flip dive early, but when outside the ring, Edge sent Hardy into the post. He also speared him off the apron to the floor. Not sure where it happened, but Edge had a nasty cut on his right shoulder that was bleeding most of the match. Crowd seemed tired here. It may have been they were taken out of the show by the prior match not getting over. These two did get the crowd by the end, but it took a lot of work. Edge tried a power bomb, but Hardy countered into a Toyota roll for a near fall. Edge was put on the announcers table and Hardy started running the barricades, but Edge got up and jumped off the table with a spear knocking Hardy off the barricades. That was a great spot. They teased Hardy losing by count out but he got back in time. Hardy came back with a legdrop off the top but Edge got his foot on the ropes. Hardy used a whisper in the wind for a near fall. They ended up fighting on the floor. Hardy used a poetry in motion off the ring steps on Edge. Both ended up fighting in the stands when Matt Hardy came from the stands and clocked Jeff with his cast. Edge threw Jeff into the ring and went for the pin, but Jeff kicked out. Edge went for a spear, but Jeff ducked and Edge speared the turnbuckles. Jeff went to climb to the top, but was acting all groggy and dazed and lost his balance. Edge climbed up the ropes and brought him off the top with a DDT and got the pin. These two always have a good match. ***3/4
******
As the Ultimate Fighting Championship prepares to debut in Germany with a June 13 show in Cologne, it’s suddenly 1997 all over again.
A front page article on 5/17 in “Frankfurter Allgemeiene Sonntagzeitung,” one of the country’s biggest newspapers, has led to a slew of negative publicity in the country, which has resulted in UFC agreeing to ban anyone under the age of 18 from attending the show at the Lanxess Arena after the head of a local child protection commission pushed for it. The Lanxess Arena made the concession perhaps to keep the media from spiraling out of control.
Marek Lieberberg, the local promoter of the show, said in the 5/18 edition of BILD, the country’s biggest newspaper, that stemming from the bad publicity, child protective services of Cologne asked for a ban of people under 18 from attending the show, and he accepted that. However, the article itself was misinformed, stating that everything is legal in UFC fights with the exception of biting and eye poking.
The language is different and it’s a different country, but it’s very similar to the press that nearly killed the UFC in the United States in 1997, resulting in it being taken off by most major cable companies and only surviving on life support over the next few years.
“The U.K. was the same way,” said Dana White. “People are scared of this. You can tell people there’s never been a death, never been a serious injury, all day long. It’s a never-ending job.”
The story noted that the city council in Cologne back in March tried to ban the event, claiming it was too violent. Cologne mayor Manfred Wolf was quoted as saying that there was no law in place that would allow them to ban the show. Several citizens started a petition to try and ban the event, claiming that by virtue of it being held in a major arena, that would give the message that MMA is socially acceptable.
Armin Laschet, the youth minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, the federal state Cologne is located in, told the paper that UFC is trying to make money off young people with a perverted glorification of violence.
“We have to ban this insanity,” said Werner Schneyder,” a well- known German boxing announcer from the past. “We have to accept crippled fighters and deaths. They are trying to sell brutality as something impressive.”
Generally speaking, UFC doesn’t draw many spectators at live events under the age of 18, with the vast majority of spectators between the ages of 25 and 40.
More than 7,200 tickets have been sold for the event headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin, in the 18,000-seat arena. It wasn’t the overwhelming success the debut in the U.K. was, nor the type of sales people close to the situation had predicted going on. But the company has only had television in the market for a short period of time. We’d heard as of a couple of weeks ago, the company’s goals were to end up at around 12,000 paid and 15,000 total. White also confirmed the return of Mirko Cro Cop, a member of parliament and a national sports hero in his native Croatia, to face England’s Mostapha Al Turk. Cro Cop replaces Todd Duffee, who apparently got the word about being replaced by reading web site rumors of Cro Cop facing his originally scheduled opponent.
At this point no local media has tied in the history of boxing people being negative toward MMA because of the fear it could erode their fan base, particularly in Germany where boxing is at a high point of popularity.
“No doubt about it,” said White when asked if he believes the German boxing community has something to do with all the controversy. “They make a lot of money off big fights there. It’s the same thing we’ve battled everywhere. It was even worse when we started in the U.K. Television, politicians, venues, they were all against us. They tear it down. It takes time.”
“It’s a long fight. We’re not allowed in New York,” White noted. “As big as we are in Canada, we’re not allowed in Toronto.”
UFC’s highest television ratings in Europe are actually in France, another country where fights under the modern MMA rules are banned. UFC is actually not even allowed on television in the country, but garners a huge audience on a television station that broadcasts into France from Luxembourg. Still, White talked this past week that after Germany, France is their next international target market.
On the flip side, White finalized a deal to bring back Cro Cop (24-6- 2, 1 no contest) back to the company.
“I’ve been working on it for a couple of days,” said White. “He’s back and he’s all fired up. He wants to erase his previous UFC record.”
Cro Cop signed with UFC at the end of 2006, after winning the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix tournament, stopping Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett in the first round on the same night. At the time he was generally considered the No. 2 heavyweight in the world behind Fedor Emelianenko, and many were conceding the UFC heavyweight title to him as soon as he got a match with then- champion Tim Sylvia. When Randy Couture captured the UFC heavyweight title from Sylvia, it was thought one of the biggest matches in MMA history was inevitable. Also discussed was the possibility of Cro Cop vs. Chuck Liddell.
But those plans evaporated a few months later. Cro Cop, 34 was knocked out in stunning fashion in his second UFC match, by a head kick from Gabriel Gonzaga, and he later lost a decision to Cheick Kongo. Due to his high contract, both sides parted ways after the second loss. He fought three times last year in Japan, scoring knockouts over a totally overmatched Tatsuya Mizuno in less than one minute, and lethargic giant, Choi Hong-man. In between was a no contest with Alistair Overeem in a fight Cro Cop was losing, before he was unable to continue after being injured by an illegal kick to the groin.
“I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division,” Cro Cop said on his web site on Monday. “I didn’t do well in my first three appearances. I wasn’t myself. By returning to the cage, I want to prove that I can still fight at the highest level, no matter when or where.”
Another change in the show is the Cain Velasquez vs. Heath Herring fight is off because Herring has been ill and unable to train. Velasquez has been the most difficult fighter this year for UFC to find opponents for.
******
El Hijo del Santo showed up as a surprise on the 5/18 AAA TV tapings in Leon, to be on the babyface team in the main event at TripleMania. It was the company’s first tapings in several weeks, since the swine flu outbreak shut down the country.
Santo, who left the promotion about 14 years ago after being one of its top four babyfaces (with Konnan, Octagon and Perro Aguayo Sr.) in the company’s early years, had come to a verbal agreement to start at TripleMania several months ago. The Santo deal had been all but finalized even before negotiations to get Dr. Wagner Jr. had started.
Of course the crowd went crazy for him as an unannounced surprise, being brought out by Joaquin Roldan after the ending of the main event when Konnan asked Roldan who his team would be. Santo did a promo saying he had his reasons for leaving the promotion in 1995, but he’s been watching and seeing what Konnan has done and he can’t let the promotion he helped build go down the tubes so he has to come in and help the Pena family.
AAA also opened up talks to get Los Perros Del Mal at about the same time they made the deal with Santo, but that was never agreed to and there has been little talk in that direction for several weeks.
Santo was probably Mexico’s biggest drawing card for much of the period from 1984 through 2005, aside from probably 1989 through 1995, and he was always among the elite draws even during that period. In recent years he’s garnered a reputation for being difficult to do business with because he charges so much to appear on live shows. He also has had a different attitude about booking himself, which worked for years but has not worked as well in the last two years. He doesn’t like appearing on television on a regular basis, coming from the mentality that it makes him less special. He liked his CMLL role which was go maybe a month of television, and then disappear from TV for six months, and thus it was always special when he was on television, and he was never overexposed. But like in the U.S., the business has changed to where people want the entertainment package, and don’t go out to see the individual superstar on his own.
His drawing power over the last year or so has waned greatly with no television, but he still seemed to have gotten fairly regular bookings. He’s 45, so he’s not the wrestler he once was, but in AAA, he’s still going to be a lot better than most.
This is what has been announced for TripleMania on 6/13 at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City. The show will be built around a ten man match in a cage for full ownership of the company. If the babyfaces win, Konnan’s reign as General Manager is over, but if the heels win, the Roldans are out of power and Konnan “owns” the company. The Roldan team will be La Parka & Octagon (used because he’s I believe the only guy who has been with AAA from the start in 1992 and never left) & El Hijo del Santo & Vampiro & Elegido against Silver King & Electroshock & Kenzo Suzuki & Chessman and one wrestler to be announced.
One would suspect Silver King will be wrestling without his mask because the original plan for the show was also to have Parka vs. Silver King in a mask vs. mask match, with Silver King losing. But Fantasma, the head of the Box y Lucha commission in the Distrito Federal will not allow Silver King to wear his mask and they must have made a compromise if they are advertising him to appear because as of last week he was suspended. The fact Konnan is not wrestling on the heel side also shows the company is respecting the commission since Konnan is under suspension over the Juventud deal (then again, Fantasma did suspend Silver King as well). Konnan would be at ringside managing most likely. They really can’t cross Fantasma too much because he could nix them being able to even run the show.
Also announced is a title vs. title match with Mesias defending the AAA World Super Mega heavyweight title against the UWA world heavyweight title held by Dr. Wagner Jr. Canek is apparently furious at this, because the UWA title is Canek’s belt from when the promotion folded, but he dropped it to Wagner with the idea that when the time was right, Wagner would give it back. But if Wagner loses to Mesias, it becomes an AAA title.
Nicho & Joe Lider defend the AAA tag titles against Latin Lover & Marco Corleone. Two other matches announced are X-Pac & Rocky Romero & Charly Manson vs. Zorro & Dark Ozz & Derk Cuervo, and a man, transvestite and woman trios match with Billy Boy & Polvo de Estrellas & Sexi Star vs. Gran Apache & Pimpinela Escarlata & Fabi Apache.
******
Ion Croitoru, known these days as Jon Croitoru and formerly a pro wrestler known as Johnny K-9 in WWF and Bruiser Bedlam in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, was arrested on 5/15 in one of the biggest murder conspiracy cases in British Columbia history.
Croitoru, 43, was one of eight members of the United Nations gang charged with plotting to kill several members of the rival Red Scorpion gang including its leaders, the Bacon brothers, Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon, of Abbotsford, BC. Five men were arrested on 5/15 after three had been charged as part of the conspiracy a few weeks ago. A ninth person is expected to be charged and indicted shortly.
The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit began probing the gang after a 2006 drug seizure, which included confiscating more than 20 firearms, explosives including grenades, more than $265,000 in cash as well as cocaine, heroin, ephedrine, Oxycontin, marijuana, ecstasy, methamphetatimes and other drugs.
He had been working as a bodyguard for Lion’s Gate Entertainment, including protecting Jack Nicholson and Cyndi Lauper.
Croitoru, originally from Hamilton, ONT, was well known to police in that area as “K-9,” his WWF ring name, for a number of brushes with the law as president of the Hamilton chapter of Satan’s Choice, a motorcycle gang.
He served ten months on a cocaine trafficking charge and seven months on an assault charge in the 90s. He was allegedly involved in shaking down strip clubs in the Hamilton area, and police confiscated his gang’s headquarters. Later, police kicked him and gang members out of a strip club in Sudbury, ONT. In what was believed to have been a response to that, he was convicted of planting a bomb, which exploded, to blow up the police headquarters, for which he served another 33 months. The bomb caused $133,000 worth of damages to the police station and a nearby bank.
In 2005, he was charged with the November 16,1998, gangland style double murder of lawyers Lynn and Fred Gilbank. Police believed the couple was killed because Lynn Gilbank aided in getting William and Angie Smith into a witness protection program after William Smith gave the police information on the Gravelle crime family. Croitoru was believed to be connected with the Gravelles, including a belief that they had given him the contract to kill a police inspector who was on the case against the Gravelles. Croitoru was charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, and spent seven months in prison before being released on $100,000 bail, which was raised by his sister and her husband by taking out a mortgage on their home.
He was later brought back in for violating his bail terms when he was arrested and charged with extortion. However, the murder case was thrown out by Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant 18 months after being charged due to a lack of evidence. Croitoru claimed he would file suit against the prosecution, but did plead guilty to both extortion and violating the terms of his probation.
The government failed in an attempt to get his sister to forfeit her bond money, but Judge Thomas Lofchik ruled she had simply made an honest effort to keep her brother in line and shouldn’t be blamed for the crimes he committed while on bail. Croitoru had to forfeit $10,000. At the time he lost his home renovation business because no bank would lend him money due to the murder charge, and was working selling used cars, but eventually moved to Vancouver to take his job with Lion’s Gate Entertainment.
Croitoru was a thick powerlifter, who was once shown on Smoky Mountain television bench pressing in the neighborhood of 600 pounds. He began his career as Orhan Turgedan, the Terrible Turk, for Stampede Wrestling in 1984 just as the original version of the promotion closed after being sold by Stu Hart to Vince McMahon. In 1985, he went to Memphis as Johnny K-9 and worked on top feuding with Jerry Lawler over the Southern title. He then worked independents all over Canada. He ended up as a regular on WWF television in a jobber role in the last 80s beginning when they taped in Brantford, Ontario, but he was also regularly brought in for U.S. tapings. Largely because of his gimmicked name, he was one of the best known job guys of the era. He also toured Japan for several different promotions.
His career peaked in 1994-95 with Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where Jim Cornette tried to remake him as a modern version of Dick the Bruiser, who Cornette watched off Indianapolis television as a kid and was that area’s promoter and top babyface after a long run as a heel. The similarities were that both were relatively short, thick, powerhouses. Bruiser Bedlam was at one time the name of the television show, so he gave him the name, and his gimmick was that he was a union buster and an all-around thug for hire. He wrestled through the late 90s.
*******
Raw on 5/18 did a 3.59 rating. We should have more details on it next week. The increase looks to be Flair related, since they’ve been in the 3.29 to 3.41 range in recent weeks, and they did three title changes the day before to get to the 3.41, so a PPV that had the lowest interest level in a long time and no title changes (even though a solid show) isn’t going to add .3 to the ratings. TNA Impact on 5/14 did a 1.23 rating and 1.6 million viewers. The show did a 0.91 in Males 18-34 and 0.99 in Males 35-49.
In the segment-by-segment, Daniels vs. Chris Sabin and some backstage Foley stuff gained 195,000 viewers. Eric Young vs. Samoa Joe gained 91,000 viewers. Mike Tenay’s sad music sit down with Sting plus Daffney attacking Taylor Wilde at the restaurant lost 52,000 viewers. The freak show worked. Kip James vs. Awesome Kong gained 234,000 viewers and did a 1.37 quarter, the best quarter hour in several weeks. The British Invasion vs. Amazing Red & Suicide lost 104,000 viewers. Kevin Nash vs. Team No Limit gained 26,000 viewers. Booker T vs. Jethro Holliday in an I Quit match and the final segment showing the DVD they had spent two hours building actually lost 13,000 viewers and finished with a 1.30 quarter.
WWE Superstars on 5/14 did a 0.95 rating, beating ECW for the first time, although ECW had significantly more viewers.
Ultimate Fighter on 5/13 did a 1.08 rating and 1.5 million viewers. The show did a 1.59 in Males 18-34 and 1.15 in Males 35-49. It was way up from usual with teenagers doing a 1.06 in male teens, and that’s a demo that UFC rarely does well with on television.
ECW on 5/12 did a 0.93 rating and 1.2 million viewers.
For Raw on 5/11, which drew a 3.29 rating, the segment-by-segment breakdown went like this. After the long opening segment which built the opener, Batista vs. DiBiase & Rhodes lost 156,000 viewers, which is terrible for an early show segment. The women’s tag with James & Kelly vs. Hall & Maryse gained 242,000 viewers. Carlito vs. Kendrick lost 128,000 viewers. The Miz deal with Cena and the backstage stuff with Santina, Phoenix, Mendes, the kiss, the lesbian story and Chavo & Vickie gained 498,000 viewers to a 3.55 quarter, which was the peak number for the show. However, Santina vs. Phoenix turned them away losing 369,000 viewers. The MVP VIP lounge segment and MVP & Kingston vs. Regal & Matt Hardy tag lost 185,000 viewers. The Batista vs. Orton TV main, which is the same main as the PPV, gained 14,000 viewers and only did a 3.17 rating.
The final number for Smackdown on 5/8 was a 1.89 rating and 2.97 million viewers. The rating isn’t that much lower than usual, but the number of viewers was really bad so for some reason fewer viewers per household than usual were watching.
******
This is the second issue of the current four-issue set. That means if you’ve got a (1) on your address label, your subscription expires in two more issues.
Renewal rates for the printed Observer in the United States are $11 for four issues (which includes $4 for postage and handling), $20 for eight, $28 for 12, $36 for 16, $54 for 24, $72 for 32, $90 for 40, $117 for 52 up through $144 for 64 issues.
For Canada and Mexico, the rates are $12.50 for four issues (which includes $6 for postage and handling), $22 for eight, $32 for 12, $40 for 16, $60 for 24, $80 for 32, $100 for 40 issues, $130 for 52 and $160 for 64.
For Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to Moonsault, P.O. Box 3075, Barnet, Herts EN4 9YR, England, or by sending e-mail orders to moonsault@mediaplusint.com. Rates are £9 per set of four issues. U.K. readers ordering at least six sets can get them for £8.50 per set.
For the rest of the world, the rates are $14.50 for four issues (which includes $9 for postage and handling), $28 for eight, $40 for 12, $50 for 16, $63 for 20, $76 for 24, $87.50 for 28, $125 for 40 issues and $162 for 52 issues.
You can also get the Observer on the web at www.wrestlingobserver.com for $9.99 per month for a premium membership that includes daily audio updates, Figure Four Weekly, special articles and a message board.
If you are a premium member and still want hard copies of the Observer, you can get them for $7 per set in the U.S., $8 per set in Canada and $10.50 per set for the rest of the world.
All subscription renewals should be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228. You can also renew via Visa or MasterCard by sending your name, address, phone number, Visa or MasterCard number and expiration date to dave@wrestlingobsever.com or by fax to (408)244-3402. You can also renew at www.paypal.com using dave@wrestlingobserver.com as the pay to address. For all credit card or paypal orders, please add a $1 processing fee.
All letters to the editor, reports from live shows and any other correspondence pertaining to this publication should also be sent to the above address.
We also have copies of our latest book, "Tributes II," a 293-page hardcover full color book which features biographies right out of the pages of the Observer. Those featured are Wahoo McDaniel, Lou Thesz, Miss Elizabeth, Freddie Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods. The book is available for $12.95 plus $3.50 for postage and handling in the U.S., $10 for postage and handling in Canada and $12 for postage and handling for the rest of the world.
This publication is copyright material and no portion of the Observer may be reprinted without the expressed consent of publisher/writer Dave Meltzer or deputy managing editor Scott Williams.
Fax messages can be sent to the Observer 24 hours a day at (408)244- 3402. Phone messages can be left 24 hours a day at (408)244-2455. E-mails can be sent to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
*********
For back issues of the Observer, the "Wrestling Observer Index" lists almost every issue in our history going back 27 years with the major headlines by the week. Besides as a guide for ordering back issues, the Index is also a great way to keep a catalog of past issues and use for historical purposes. It is available for $18 from Grant Zwarych, 151 Hart Ave., Peterborough, ON K9J 5C5 Canada. Virtually every back issue from 1982-91 is available from him at prices listed, plus $5 for postage for overseas orders. Issues from 1991 to present are available from us at $4 per issue. If you are ordering back issues from us, please denote back issues on the envelope to insure the quickest response. All payments to Grant or to us must be made in U.S. funds.
He also has released a full collection of 1990 Observers for $230 in the U.S. and Canada and $299 internationally (until 3/15). Other current specials are a history of Starrcade covering every Observer Starrcade issue from the first to the last (1983-2000) for $84.95 U.S./Canada and $104.95 international ; and a Survivor Series special covering 1987-2001 Survivor Series, which includes our most read issue in our history (1997) for $59.95 U.S. and $74.95 international.
The fully updated 2008 Wrestling Observer Index is now available. For those with prior indexes, you can update with every 2008 issue main stories listed for $5 in the U.S. and Canada or $8 overseas. You can also get the supplement free with a $25 back issue order. The complete index of every issue dating back to 1982 is available for $18 in the U.S. and Canada or $28 overseas.
He also has re-issues of some of the most popular Wrestling Observer publications of the past. He has the 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 Observer yearbooks and the 1986 Wrestling Observer's Who's Who in Wrestling book. For more info you can e-mail grantsindex@nexicom.net.
*******
RESULTS
5/12 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL TV tapings - 1,500): Metalico & Astro Boy b Zaiko & Apocalipsis, Princesa Sugei & Princesa Blanca & Raven Hiroka b Lluvia & Estrella Magica & Lady Apache, Shockercito & Tzuki & Ultimo Dragoncito b Pierrothito & Universito 2000 & Pequeno Damian 666, Metro & Maximo & Valiente b Sangre Azteca & Misterioso Jr. & Dragon Rojo Jr., Mr. Niebla & Negro Casas & Felino b Hector Garza & El Hijo del Fantasma & Blue Panther-DQ
5/15 Florence, SC (TNA - 1,000): X title: Suicide b Kiyoshi, Madison Rayne b Daffney, Rhino b Sheik Abdul Bashir, Jeff Jarrett & Daniels b Robert Roode & James Storm, Eric Young b Cute Kip, Legends title: A.J. Styles b Booker T
5/15 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL TV tapings - 8,500): Shockercito & Bam Bam & Mascarita Dorada b Pequeno Damian 666 & Pequeno Violencia & Pequeno Black Warrior, Amapola b Marcela, Mictlan & Stuka Jr. & Mascara Dorada b Shigeo Okumura & Arkangel de la Muerte & Euforia, La Mascara & La Sombra & Sagrado b El Texano Jr. & El Terrible-COR, Shocker & Mistico & Blue Panther b Dos Caras Jr. & Averno & Mephisto
5/15 Fresno (Strikeforce - 3,000): Ben Holscher b Cody Cantebury, Thomas Diagne b Kaleo Kwan, Fabricio Comoes b Torrance Taylor, Spencer Herns b Chad Sutton, Bao Quach b Tito Jones, Aaron Rosa b Anthony Ruiz, Lavar Johnson b Carl Seumanutafa, Sarah Kaufman b Miesha Tate, Mike Aina b Billy Evangelista-DQ
5/15 Edmonton (Maximum Fighting Championship - 1,500 sellout): Marvin Eastman b Aron Lofton, Ryan Jimmo b Mychal Clark, John Alessio b Andrew Buckland, Travis Galbraith b David Heath, Bobby Lashley b Mike Cook, Light heavyweight title: Trevor Prangley b Emanuel Newton to win title
5/15 Lincolnton, NC (Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling - 1,300): Raven b Chris Hamrick, Amber O’Neal b Jayme Jamison, Jeff Justice b J.W. Boss, Bobby Eaton b Donnie Dallars, David Flair & Ricky Morton b Buff Bagwell & Rikki Nelson
5/15 Bayamon, PR (WWC Honor vs. Traicion tour): Hiram Tua b Johnny Styles, Shawn Spears b Angel, Thunder b Huracan Castillo, Chicky Starr b Mr. Mac (Guillotine LeGrand)-DQ, Steve Corino & La Pesadilla b Ray Gonzalez & B.J., Idol Stevens b Lightning, Sabu b Rico Suave
5/16 Bloomington, IL (WWE tri-branded show - 5,000): C.M. Punk b Shelton Benjamin, Tyson Kidd b Evan Bourne, Sheamus O’Shaunnessy b Jimmy Wang Yang, Tag titles: Carlito & Primo Colon b Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes-DQ, Nikki & Brie Bella b Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes, R-Truth b Dolph Ziggler, ECW title: Christian b Jack Swagger, Jeff Hardy & Batista & John Cena b Big Show & Edge & Randy Orton
5/16 Greenville, NC (TNA - 1,000): X title: Suicide b Kiyoshi, Madison Rayne b Daffney, Eric Young b Sheik Abdul Bashir, Jeff Jarrett & Daniels b Robert Roode & James Storm, Rhino b Cute Kip, Legends title: A.J. Styles b Booker T
5/16 Caguas, PR (WWC Honor vs. Traicion tour): Love Adonis b Rick Adonis, Tag titles: Thunder & Lightning b Shawn Spears & Mr. X, Rico Suave b Hiram Tua, Loser dresses like a woman: Chicky Starr b Mr. Mac, Jr. title: Tommy Diablo won three-way over Angel and Carlitos, Puerto Rican title: Idol Stevens b B.J., Ray Gonzalez b La Pesadilla-DQ, Hardcore match for Universal title: Steve Corino b Sabu
5/16 Bayamon, PR (IWA Juicio Final - 900): Cuervo won four-way over Vertigo, Super Atomo and Empio, Chris Joel b Kahagas, Carribean title: Golden Boy b Ravishing Richard to win title, Dominican Republic tag team titles: Bacano & Eli Rodriguez b La Cruz del Diablo, New Arabians b Lynx & Niche, IC title: Rick Stanley b Super Crazy to win title, Blitz b Noel Rodriguez, Joe Bravo won three-way to win vacant IWA title over Jerry Lynn and Chicano, Savio Vega NC Dennis Rivera
5/17 Tokyo Differ Ariake (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 1,800 sellout): Kenta Kobashi b Genba Hirayanagi, Ricky Marvin b Atsushi Aoki, Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue & Makoto Hashi b Mitsuharu Misawa & Kentaro Shiga & Kishin Kawabata, Akihiko Ito vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru three-way ended with no contest, Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki b Ishimori & Ito, Go Shiozaki b Shuhei Taniguchi, Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura d Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone 30:00, Jun Akiyama b KENTA
5/17 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (All Japan - 900): Masa Fuchi b Nobutaka Araya, Joe Doering & Minoru b Shuji Kondo & Ryota Hama, Taiyo Kea b Zodiac, Manabu Soya & Seiya Sanada b Kai & Hiroshi Yamato, Taru & Hate & Toshizo b Osamu Nishimura & Kaz Hayashi & Phil Atlas, Minoru Suzuki & Mazada b Yoshihiro Takayama & Nosawa, Keiji Muto & Masayuki Kono b Satoshi Kojima & Suwama
5/18 Louisville (WWE Raw/Superstars TV tapings - 10,000): Sheamus b Jamie Noble, C.M. Punk b Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston b William Regal, Kelly Kelly won Battle Royal, Santino Marella b Chavo Guerrero, Non-title: Carlito & Primo Colon b Goldust & The Brian Kendrick, U.S. title: MVP b Matt Hardy, Vickie Guerrero b Santina Marella, Batista & John Cena b Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
5/18 Leon (AAA TV tapings): Decnis & El Brazo & Billy Boy b Pimpinela Escarlata & Argenis & Gato Eveready, Alan Stone b Laredo Kid, Extreme Tiger b Jack Evans, Alex Koslov b Nicho, La Parka & Super Fly & Dr. Wagner Jr. b Dark Ozz & Dark Cuervo & Dark Escoria, Kenzo Suzuki & Electroshock & Chessman b Mesias & Latin Lover & Marco Corleone-COR
5/18 Tokyo Differ Ariake (Pro Wrestling NOAH SEM - 530 sellout): KENTA b Akihiko Ito, Takashi Sugiura b Genba Hirayanagi, Ricky Marvin b Taiji Ishimori, Mitsuharu Misawa b Atsushi Aoki, Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki b Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi
5/19 Cincinnati (WWE Smackdown/ECW/Superstars tapings - 8,000): Sheamus b Jimmy Wang Yang, ECW title: Christian NC Tommy Dreamer, John Morrison & Cryme Tyme b Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas & Ricky Ortiz, Michelle McCool b Gail Kim, C.M. Punk b Chris Jericho-DQ, Dolph Ziggler b R-Truth, Non-title: Jeff Hardy b Edge, Cage match for IC title: Rey Mysterio b Chris Jericho
Special thanks to: Bryan Alvarez, Leo Avila, Ken Bank, Mark Coale, Devin Cutting, Scott Decker, Diane Devine, Joe Dombrowski, Trevor Down, Robert Fahrmeier, David Farmer, Ari Goldstein, Manuel Gonzalez, Larry Goodman, Tim Graefe, Daryl Grandy, R.L. Green, Roger Gribbins, Brian Hoops, Mike Kuzmuk, Alex Marvez, Rob Moore, Tim Noel, Jorge Ocampo, Shannon Rose, Ron Schniller, Mark Schreiner, Steve “Dr. Lucha” Sims, Anthony Sullivan, Mark Tyler, Paul Verlander, Joan Volpe, Kevin Witt, Kris Zeller
FEBRUARY BUSINESS COMPARISONS
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
Estimated average attendance 2/08 8,308*
Estimated average attendance 2/09 6,452* (-22.3%)
January 2009 5,000
Estimated average gate 2/08 $282,462*
Estimated average gate 2/09 $202,573* (-28.3%)
January 2009 $170,759
Percentage of house shows sold out 2/0 838.5*
Percentage of house shows sold out 2/08 17.4*
January 2009 3.4
Average Raw rating 2/08 3.60
Average Raw rating 2/09 3.81 (+5.8%)
January 2009 3.60
Average Smackdown rating 2/08 2.69
Average Smackdown rating 2/09 2.21 (-17.8%)
January 2009 2.12
Average ECW rating 2/08 1.36
Average ECW rating 2/09 1.30 (-4.4%)
January 20091.26
*Shows outside U.S. and Canada not included in averages
February 2008: No Way Out (13,500 sellout/$800,000 live gate/365,000 buys/est. $6.52 million PPV revenue)
February 2009: No Way Out (11,200 sellout/$644,000 live gate/272,000 buys/est. $4.52 million PPV revenue)
Buys -22.7%; Estimated overall PPV event revenue -29.5%
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION
Estimated average attendance 2/08 1,800
Estimated average attendance 2/09 1,833 (+1.8%)
January 2009 1,300*
Average Impact rating 2/08 1.09
Average Impact rating 2/09 1.23 (+12.8%)
January 2009 1.10
*Overseas shows not included in averages
MARCH BUSINESS COMPARISONS
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
Estimated average attendance 3/08 6,105
Estimated average attendance 3/09 6,472 (+6.0%)
Estimated average gate 3/08 $207,555
Estimated average gate 3/09 $203,221 (-2.1%)
Percentage of house shows sold out 3/08 27.3
Percentage of house shows sold out 3/09 31.0
Average Raw rating 3/08 3.59
Average Raw rating 3/09 3.63 (+1.1%)
Average Smackdown rating 3/08 2.47
Average Smackdown rating 3/09 1.98 (-19.8%)
Average ECW rating 3/08 1.26
Average ECW rating 3/09 1.32 (+4.8%)
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION
Estimated average attendance 3/08 1,833
Estimated average attendance 3/09 1,396 (-23.8%)
Average Impact rating 3/08 1.09
Average Impact rating 3/09 1.28 (+17.4%)
Notes: From a WWE standpoint, the live attendance and PPV were already talked about in detail last week. Live attendance remains strong, particularly with 9 of the 29 March events selling out, although grosses were down due to the lowering of ticket prices. Ratings for Raw were a little up from last year, while ECW was even, but the drop in Smackdown overrode the minor increases in the other two shows. However, the drop in Smackdown of 18% in February and 20% in March was at least a lower drop than the 25% drop in January. The lower current numbers are as much the seasonal pattern of the Friday night show, that has, unlike Raw, traditionally dropped when the weather gets better. But those good signs are tempered because of the drop in the No Way Out PPV year-over-year. The No Way Out number is still strong, as it’ll probably wind up No. 4 or No. 5 for the year, depending on how Survivor Series comes in. The double elimination chamber idea for a Mania title shot has become a great idea, transforming what in the past had been one of the lower bought shows to one of the big events of the year. But it didn’t mean nearly as much this year as it did the year before.
For TNA, February attendance was even while March was down per show significantly, but ratings were up significantly both months. However, it appears PPV numbers dropped. The February number was terrible, but March is believed to have done an average number. So their conversion of viewers to PPV buyers has actually gotten worse, and the new viewers are just TV viewers and haven’t translated to any increases in customers. As far as actual viewership, Raw in March averaged 5.32 million viewers, down from 5.62 in February. January was 5.29 million, which bounced back from 4.92 million in December going against football.
Smackdown averaged 3.37 million viewers in March, a big drop from the 3.82 million viewers in a strong February. January was 3.84 million and December was 3.63 million. ECW averaged 1.82 million viewers in March, 1.71 million in February, 1.74 million in January and 1.72 million in December. So March showed a slight increase in the same month when both Raw and Smackdown showed decreases.
So once football season was over, for the three big shows, January averaged 10.87 million, February averaged 11.15 million and March averaged 10.51 million. Impact in March averaged 1.78 million, February averaged 1.68 million, January averaged 1.56 million and December averaged 1.60 million. So even with the best ratings the show has ever done, they are still on a monthly basis slightly behind ECW.
If there is a good sign, it is that TNA house shows are averaging considerably more than the 1,100 that the old ECW house shows under WWE were doing a few years back before WWE dropped ECW as a separate touring brand.
CMLL
The 5/15 show at Arena Mexico drew 8,500 fans (at this point in time that has to be considered a good crowd) headlined by Mistico & Blue Panther & Shocker over Dos Caras Jr. & Averno & Mephisto when Panther pinned Mephisto after a huracanrana and Mistico made Averno submit to La Mistica at the same time. The Shocker vs. Dos Caras Jr. feud is being pushed hard, but the match didn’t have as much heat as you’d expect and it hasn’t really caught on. Shocker was a huge draw here years ago, but these days, he’s yesterday’s news. Semi saw La Mascara & La Sombra & Sagrado beat Ephesto & El Texano Jr. & El Terrible in two straight falls and only 6:00 when the heels were all counted out of the ring in the second fall. This led to an angle. Rey Bucanero was at ringside in a chair for no reason other than an angle alert, sitting there with some strippers. Ephesto, not looking, slid backwards right into Bucanero. Bucanero got mad and poured his beer on Ephesto. Then the heels all attacked Bucanero, and one of them hit him over the head with his own beer bottle. Bucanero was laid out after some chair shots. There was a drunk fan who saw Bucanero down, and I guess not realizing that he’s a face after this angle, kicked him. After the match, Rey Bucanero was doing a stripper dance and the heels got mad at him getting a big reaction from the women so they attacked him. Sensei in the opener went for a tope, his foot got caught in the ropes going through, causing him to land badly on the floor. He was carried out on a stretcher and initial reports are some torn ligaments in either the knee or ankle. The best match of the show, Amapola, the current CMLL women’s champ, beating former champ Marcela in a non-title match, was said to be ****. They did hair and title challenges back-and-forth on the mic after the match. For whatever reason, Vicky Palacios, whose name surfaced a few weeks back ripping on Konnan (Palacios was really well known in the early 90s as the Queen of Wrestling and is still a dancer on TV shows at the age of 46) was at the card, saying that on behalf of the company, they are giving out calendars to fans at ringside. In May? Anyway, she gave out some calendars and left. You’d think this is an angle alert but I’ve got no idea where it would be going.
The 5/22 Arena Mexico show has Mistico & Hector Garza & Shocker vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Atlantis & Caras Jr. on top, and Blue Panther & Sombra & Volador Jr. vs. Averno & Mephisto & Ephesto.
They are interested in getting two wrestlers from TNA on the 6/12 show, since it’s the day before TripleMania, with the idea of having them challenge Volador Jr. & La Sombra for the CMLL tag team titles.
Toscano is three weeks away from returning after breaking his lack two months ago. He said he started training two weeks ago and his recovery is going well. He has a metal plate and six screws in his fibula.
Jose Arguello Luna, who wrestled from the 60s through the 80s under a number of names, most notably Polaris, passed away last week at the age of 64.
They started back wrestling in Guadalajara on 5/19, so now every place is running a full schedule.
Lots of second generation wrestlers are starting here, including Ultraman Jr., El As Jr., Rene Guajardo Jr. and El Hijo del Sicodelico.
AAA
Lots of controversy because apparently AAA is trying to claim ownership of the name Super Porky. Brazo de Plata said even though the company trademarked the name, they have no right to it because the fans own the name. All I know is that guy has been Super Porky for more than a decade before he ever came to AAA. But he was always billed as Brazo de Plata and nicknamed Super Porky. In AAA, they often used Super Porky, which he became more famous as, rather than Brazo de Plata, as his name. He admitted that when he signed his AAA contract, he signed over the name Super Porky, but said he believed Antonio Pena would have allowed him to use the name if he left on indie shows. He called Joaquin Roldan a thief for not doing the same. He said he was going to continue to work indies using the names Super Porky and Elvis Porky.
Joaquin Roldan told Record that it’s just a matter of time before Wagner Jr. signs his exclusive contract with AAA. He said just a few details need to be ironed out. To me, knowing the history of Wagner’s negotiations with AAA, until the contact is signed, you don’t count on anything. Once the contract is signed, because Paco Alonso is so stubborn, it’s like signing away your chance to return to CMLL, and even though CMLL is down now and AAA and WWE are the popular promotions in Mexico, there is the feeling CMLL will always be there, because, well, it’s always been there, and for most of the wrestlers, they still consider it the “real” wrestling promotion. He also has a 6/20 date in Guadalajara against Perro Aguayo Jr. for Los Perros Del Mal.
Notes from the 5/18 tapings in Leon. They had three matches in the cruiserweight title tournament. Alan Stone pinned Laredo Kid. Then, Extreme Tiger pinned Jack Evans, and they finally did the Evans babyface turn. Evans was in trouble and Teddy Hart came out. Evans yelled at Hart that he didn’t need any help and told him to go to the back. Later in the match, as Evans was about to lose, Hart came out again to interfere, but the interference backfired and Evans ended up getting pinned. Evans then attacked Hart for costing him the match. The Foreign Legion came out as Hart and Evans were fighting, and paused, and then all attacked Evans and they kicked Evans out of the group. Hart said he didn’t want to team with Evans any longer. In the third tourney match, Alex Koslov pinned Nicho. After a ref bump, Marco Corleone came out. Did he attack Nicho and help Koslov? Not at all. He did his stripper dancing and Nicho acted grossed out, and when he turned around, it was a small and a pin. La Parka & Super Fly & Wagner Jr. beat Dark Ozz & Dark Escoria & Dark Cuervo when Wagner Jr. pinned Ozz with a Michinoku driver. Main event was Kenzo Suzuki & Electroshock & Chessman over Corleone & Latin Lover & Mesias via count out. Crappy match. Wagner Jr. was at ringside announcing and kept distracting Mesias. Everyone was brawling on the floor when Electroshock managed to beat the count so his team won. The rest of the Foreign Legion came out for the usual end of the show beatdown. Konnan came out and told everyone to stop the beating, which they did. Konnan said that Joaquin Roldan had promised on this show to reveal his team. Roldan noted that they had already announced Parka & Octagon on his team, and said he was announcing the third member as Santo. He didn’t announce the last two members, believed to be Vampiro and Elegido according to the newspaper Reforma.
5/21 taping in Aguascalientes has Wagner Jr. & Parka vs. Silver King & Cuervo, Latin Lover & Corleone vs. Joe Lider & Suzuki and Mesias & Manson & X-Pac vs. Zorro & Electroshock & Hart, as well as the finals of the cruiser title tourney with Koslov vs. Extreme Tiger vs. Stone. 5/25 taping in Tlaxacalunes has Koslov & Wagner Jr. & Parka vs. Electroshock & Konnan & Silver King.
Julio Gomez, who worked as El Canibal in 2007 here, passed away on 5/10 when he lost control of his motorcycle, hit a truck, was knocked flying and landed with his head on the pavement.
The injuries to Mini Charly Manson were not as serious as first thought, and they were able to fix him up with arthroscopic knee surgery and expect him back in the ring in three months instead of the originally thought six months.
The plan for TripleMania is to air it on PPV in Mexico.
There is an Abismo Negro tribute show on 5/24 in Culiacan with Mesias & La Parka vs. Nicho & Silver King on top.
The final TV before TripleMania will be 5/25 in Tlaxcala headlined by Konnan & Silver King & Electroshock vs. Parka & Wagner Jr. & Alex Koslov, and Rocky Romero & X-Pac & Charly Manson vs. Zorro & Dark Ozz & Dark Escoria.
PUERTO RICO
We got ratings from last week (5/9 and 5/10) which showed the WWC one hour show doing a 6.9, the IWA two-hour show did a 5.1, and WWE Smackdown did an 11.4. WWC and IWA were both building up big shows over this past weekend. WWC had the Honor vs. Traicion tour with the big show on 5/16 in Caguas. Steve Corino kept the Universal title beating Sabu in a barbed wire match. Ray Gonzalez faced the masked La Pesadilla. Gonzalez unmasked him, revealing a second mask. Gonzalez tore up his second mask so people could see it was Orlando Colon (Carlito & Primo’s cousin). Heel manager Jose Chaparro handcuffed Gonzalez to the ropes and Pesadilla was beating on him until getting DQ’d, and then tried to cut his hair until the faces made the save. Idol Stevens beat B.J. for the Puerto Rican title when Corino and Chaparro interfered. Tommy Diablo ended up as jr. champ winning a three-way over Carlitos and Angel. Chicky Starr beat Mr. Mac (Guillotine LeGrand) in a match where the loser had to dress up like a woman. Thunder & Lightning kept the tag titles beating Shawn Spears & Mr. X (subbing for Huracan Castillo). IWA ran the same night in Bayamon with Chicano defending the IWA title against Joe Bravo and Jerry Lynn. Kahagas from Florida challenged Chris Joel for their Puerto Rican title. The only outsider brought in besides Lynn was Super Crazy. WWC ran on 5/15 in Bayamon at the same Pepin Cestero Arena that IWA ran its Juicio Final show at, and Savio Vega (IWA’s biggest star) went to the WWC show and was passing out flyers for the IWA show.
The IWA show was built around Savio Vega facing his younger brother, Dennis Rivera in a street fight with all of the family members at ringside. Three referees were knocked out so the match was a no contest. All the family members as well as booker Luke Williams jumped into the ring to stop it. Rivera then left to the dressing room. Vega started celebrating with his family when the heel Dominican Revolution came out toward them and Joe Bravo said that Savio’s sister was pregnant from a Dominican man. Vega attacked Bravo, but all the Dominican guys beat him down. Savio’s pregnant sister ran to the back to get Dennis, but he refused. They continued the beatdown. Then Savio and Dennis’ mother went to the dressing room and asked Dennis to help. He came out with a bunch of weapons and cleaned house. The IWA title was vacant when Bravo was stripped of it a week earlier. Bravo regained it in a three-way over Jerry Lynn and Chicano when he pinned Chicano. Two title changes underneath as Golden Boy beat Ravishing Richard to win the Caribbean title and Rick Stanley beat Super Crazy to win the IC title. They also announced the return of Ricky Banderas (Mesias in AAA) on 7/18. He was at the show when announced and got a pop.
DRAGON GATE
The second show was announced for 9/6 in Chicago at the Congress Theater, where they have regular Lucha Libre events. Tickets will go on sale on 5/27.
They ran 5/15 at Korakuen Hall. Masato Yoshino beat Cyber Kong, and then challenged tag team partner Naruki Doi for a shot at his Open the Dream Gate championship. Gamma also asked for a title shot, so they are doing Gamma vs. Doi for the next shot on 5/29 in Osaka. The winner gets the shot on 6/11 at Korakuen Hall. The show’s main event was a three-way elimination match where Shingo Takagi & Dragon Kid & Kenshin Chikano & Akira Tosawa won over Ryo Saito & Kennichiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda & Genki Horiguchi and Cima & Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora in 31:11.
Cima vs. Tosawa for the Open the Brave Gate title will be on 5/31 in Kobe.
ALL JAPAN
They are doing a storyline where Minoru Suzuki is training with Sengoku lightweight champ Satoru Kitaoka and Pancrase light heavyweight champ Ryo Kawamura for his 5/30 Nagoya title defense against Yoshihiro Takayama.
The new tour opened on 5/17 at Korakuen Hall but only drew 900 fans. They ran a few angles. Masayuki Kono, who started his career with All Japan and was thought to have promise because of his size and athletic ability, but then quit to do MMA, returned in the main event. Kono had been training at Scott D’Amore’s gym in Windsor, Ontario and working area indies. It’s clear they want to make him a top star of the future since he started as Keiji Muto’s partner in the main event, beating Satoshi Kojima & Suwama when Kono made Kojima submit to an armbar in 25:09. Kono laid out Suwama with a brainbuster, and Muto really finished Kojima with four shining wizards before Kono put on the armbar. To build up the next title match, they had Suzuki team with Mazada against Takayama & Nosawa. Suzuki fought like an MMA fighter, getting the mount and throwing punch after punch on Nosawa until he was bleeding from the mouth and the referee stopped it. The blood from the mouth sounds gimmicked since it was the finish. The deal was Suzuki gave Nosawa the Karl Gotch piledriver, but refused to pin him, and instead looked for a ref stoppage from punches from the mount since they are doing the going back to MMA training storyline. Suzuki also kept working on Takayama’s bad knee. Taiyo Kea pinned Zodiac (Aaron Aguilera). Joe Doering, Zodiac’s tag partner, tried to interfere but Zodiac told him he didn’t want his help. Doering started yelling back and walked off. So it looks like they are breaking up. They also pushed the opener would be the last Masa Fuchi vs. Nobutaka Araya singles match, since Araya is retiring on 7/26.
Although the match hasn’t been announced, they are pushing the idea of Akebono and Ryota Hama as a former sumo tag team challenging Minoru Suzuki & Nosawa for the All-Asian tag team titles. The storyline is that Rikidozan (with former Olympic weightlifting silver medalist Harold Sakata), a former sumo, was half of the first All-Asian tag titles, which are the oldest existing tag team title in pro wrestling. is being used as part of the quest.
PRO WRESTLING NOAH
It look like Naomichi Marufuji will return from knee surgery in December.
After the angle at the 5/6 Budokan Hall show where Kenta Kobashi made the save for Jun Akiyama, who was getting beaten down by Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone, it sets up a 6/4 Korakuen Hall match with Kobashi & Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Rikio & Yone & Kotaro Suzuki. Rikio & Yone dispatched Taniguchi, beat down Akiyama, and also beat down Tamon Honda (Kobashi’s training partner) when he did a run-in, which led to Kobashi’s run-in. Kobashi’s run-in was sad. He’s 41, and Flair, at 60, did a 100 times better run in than Kobashi. Cancer and dozens of surgeries will do that t you.
KENTA produced a 5/17 show at Differ Ariake that drew a sellout 1,800 fans. The main event was the first ever NOAH battle of GHC heavyweight champ (Akiyama) vs. jr. champ (KENTA), ending when Akiyama got the pin in 29:14. The show was built around three long main events, as Takashi Sugiura & Takeshi Morishima did a 30:00 draw with Rikio & Yone, and the battle of former college wrestling stars saw Go Shiozaki pin Taniguchi in 20:18 with a moonsault.
On 5/18, they did a SEM show at Differ Ariake headlined by Kobashi & Shiozaki over Akiyama & Taniguchi when Shiozaki again pinned Taniguchi, this time with the Go flasher in 26:01. Ricky Marvin became the top contender for KENTA’s jr. title when he pinned Taiji Ishimori in 27:01 on the same show. The KENTA vs. Marvin match will be on the 6/4 show.
They are doing a junior heavyweight tag team tournament from 7/12 to 7/25, with the finals at the 3,600-seat JCB Hall, which is the new location several companies are going to when they have shows too big for Korakuen Hall, but too small for a major arena in the city.
OTHER JAPAN NOTES
The 5/14 Dradition show at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo drew a sellout 600 for the early 80s dream team of Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Original Tiger Mask beating Masashi Aoyagi & Hiro Saito & Gran Hamada in a 10:00 main event when Fujinami used the dragon sleeper on Hamada. After the match, Choshu said they should do it again, but adding Mil Mascaras to their time.
The annual Zero-One Fire Festival, which is its version of the Champion Carnival, takes place from 7/25 to 8/4 with the main shows at Korakuen Hall.
They are setting up a Ryoji Sai vs. Masato Tanaka feud over the Zero-One world title as on 5/9 in Osaka, Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki beat Sai & Shingo Takagi in a combined Z-1 and Dragon Gate match. Tanaka pinned champ Sai.
HERE AND THERE
Due to the California budgetary crisis, the Cow Palace and the Los Angeles Coliseum may be auctioned off by he state. The Cow Palace was nearly done away with more than a year ago, but a last- ditch effort of nostalgic people that garnered significant local media attention got the decision reversed.
The Amsterdam, NY version of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame did its inductions over the weekend. They do different people by categories each year. Post 1984 were Paul Orndorff (inducted by J.J. Dillon) and Randy Savage (who did not attend, George Steele inducted him), 1950-83 were Chief Jay Strongbow (inducted by Baron Mikel Scicluna) and Superstar Billy Graham (inducted by Jason Sanderson, Graham did not attend over a disagreement regarding travel as they would not get Graham a first class ticket because of size and health issues it is almost impossible for him to fly coach), Manager was Lou Albano (inducted by Jimmy Snuka), Woman was Donna Christanello (inducted by Mae Young), Tag Team was Mark Lewin & Don Curtis (inducted by The Destroyer, Dottie Curtis, was there since Don has passed away and nobody seems to know the whereabouts of Lewin including his own family), Pre-1950 was Wladek Zbyszko and Foreign Star was Antonio Inoki. Nick Bockwinkel and Red Bastien from the Cauliflower Alley Club also attended.
In a press release after the sentencing of Dr. Phil Astin, it came out that a wrestler/patient of Astin turned government witness based on this: “The evidence showed that a professional wrestler said that it was widely known in the professional wrestling community that Astin would dispense prescriptions without performing a medical examination. This patient received prescription drugs, including Lorcet, Percosets, Xanax and Soma, from Astin from December 2004 until November 2005, and said that he did not receive a legitimate medical examination or testing from Astin during that time. The wrestler developed an addiction to the drugs and Astin never questioned his addiction and instead wrote prescriptions for larger quantities of pills. The patient said his girlfriend at the time and a number of professional wrestlers obtained prescription drugs from Astin for the purpose of abusing the drugs, adding that some of the wrestlers were also addicted to drugs.” . . Melody Sanford, 43, has been charged with first degree murder in the death of former husband Ivan Radocaj, The Croatian Giant who did both pro wrestling as well as early MMA in Winnipeg. Sanford came to court on 5/13 to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, but when she got there, was told that a review of the case led to the more serious charge being filed against her. If she is convicted of first degree murder, she will get a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Radocaj was killed in September of 2007 from blunt force trauma at the age of 43 after he was beaten to death at his home in Interlake, MN. Three men, Donald Richard, 31, Daniel Richard, 22, and Timothy Richard, 20, were also charged with first degree murder in the death, while Rita Louise Cushnie, 53, a friend of Sanford, was charged with conspiracy in the murder. Cushnie is the mother of Donald Richard. Radocaj, who also wrestled under names like Ivan the Great and Big John Radocaj, had accused Sanford of threatening to kill him after their three week marriage, never consummated, fell apart.
Scott Siegel, who played a steroid dealer in the movie “The Wrestler,” having the good sense to play one on the big screen when he was allegedly doing it in real life, was charged with distributing and possessing with intent to distribute anabolic steroids and two counts of assault on a federal officer from a 2/18 incident where Siegel rammed his car into a police car and attempted and run over an officer with his car. Siegel, 34 of New Rochelle faces a maximum 45 years in prison if convicted of the three felonies. Federal DEA agents and police tried to arrest Siegel outside his parents home in Eastchester, NY, when he fled in a Cadillac Escalade. He was finally apprehended after he had switched cars and was finally caught when he ran off on foot. Siegel had been held at the Westchester County jail since his arrest. He had prior convictions in 1999 on two counts of attempting to possess and distribute Ecstasy, and was arrested for the same thing while out on bail from the first arrest. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Regarding the item last week about Dwayne Johnson on Mother’s Day taking his mom on a tour of the White House, it started when Johnson was at the White House Correspondents dinner the night before. The next day a tour was arranged for him, his mother, his daughter, his ex-wife Dany and Dany’s mother all at the White House. At one point when they were going through a hallway, a child’s voice yelled, “Mommy, that was The Rock.” Seconds later someone came up to the person who was guiding them on the tour and said, “Mrs. Obama would like to meet The Rock and his family.” At that point Michele Obama, her two daughters and their pet dog ran toward them and everyone hugged while Malia and Sasha Obama were introducing Dwayne’s daughter Simone to their new pet dog.
Rich Davis noted that while Jesse Ventura may have beaten Buddy Rose in a loser leaves town match in Portland, Ventura lost the Seattle match in one of the largest crowds they drew that year. Rose also lost a loser leaves town match in Seattle to Rocky Johnson, whom he beat in Portland.
Tim “Tank” Robertson, a Memphis area independent wrestler, died on 5/16. The only word is that he was sitting in a country office in Caruthersville, MO, and started to feel weird. He said he thought he had been stung by a bee and was highly allergic. He was rushed to a doctor, and stopped breathing and they can’t revive him. He was only 29.
Lacey Adkisson, the daughter of Kerry Von Erich, who was under a WWE developmental contract for a while and has worked some indies, was hospitalized with meningitis at press time. She went to the doctor thinking she had a migraine that wouldn’t go away.
Chris Perry of Stillwater, OK, was this year’s winner of the Junior Hodge Trophy as the best high school wrestler in the country. Perry, who comes from a wrestling family, was national champion at 184 pounds and a four-time state champion in Oklahoma, where his career record was 133-1 with 70 pins. Perry will attend Oklahoma State. Perry’s older brother Mark won the same award in 2003. His father wrestled and later was assistant coach at Oklahoma State, and his uncle is current Oklahoma State coach John Smith, a 1988 and 1992 Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion who as a trivia note, was Lou Thesz’s favorite wrestler of the 80s. Among the prior winners of the award, which debuted in 1998, were Shane Roller (current WEC fighter), Damion Hahn (whose father did some pro wrestling) and Steve Mocco (currently the top heavyweight in the U.S.).
Jesse Ventura made the media rounds this past week to promote the paperback release of his last book, doing many of the major talk shows including Larry King, Sean Hannity, Howard Stern, etc. The funniest story came from Stern, who didn’t even realize the irony. They played a clip from when Hogan was on his show and they brought up Hogan saying that it wasn’t true the story Ventura always says about him going to Vince and ratting out that Ventura was trying to unionize the guys. This was before Wrestlemania II, Ventura told the wrestlers that if they all stood up the day before Mania that Vince, with all the money out on promotion, Vince couldn’t afford the show to be canceled and the wrestlers would be able to get a union. It was Vince, under oath, when asked by Ventura’s lawyers when Ventura sued Vince over videotape royalties, who said that Hogan told him and he was able to nip it in the bud at that point. Stern said that because he believed Hogan and Ventura were both so honest (he really said that) that he didn’t know which one to believe. Ventura ripped on Hogan a little bit, basically all the same stuff he used to say whenever the subject of Hogan would come up in the 90s when he was a radio talk show host in Minneapolis.
Linda Bollea didn’t come to Brooke’s 21st birthday party held at the Pure Nightclub in Las Vegas. Fox News reported that Linda was invited, but refused to come because Brooke has sided with her father in the divorce. The story also noted that nobody in Hollywood will touch Nick Bollea for a reality show. Hogan’s new story, per an appearance on Bubba the Love Sponge this past week, is that he was in training for the main event at Wrestlemania against Cena when his back went out. He may have had talks with McMahon about wrestling Cena, but the back surgery was not due to an injury training for the match, but done because Hogan felt he needed it before returning to the ring. He also said that he was planning on donating his entire Mania check to John Graziano. Although a Hogan vs. Cena match was broached, it was never on the schedule and nothing was ever done to build it.
There’s always more. Frank Caruso, the half-brother of John Graziano, will not be prosecuted as requested by Hulk for threats against him. These threats were played months ago on the Bubba the Love Sponge show. Caruso allegedly left messages on Hogan’s phone as well as the phone of Hogan’s lawyer Kevin Hayslett. The calls were from an upset relative who was upset as the light sentence Nick Bollea was sentenced to. Police listened to the calls, where the caller insulted all the members of Hogan’s family, but there was no threats made against them. Hayslett said he wasn’t mad about the decision not to prosecute, saying Caruso “appears to be auditioning for the Sopranos, but I never viewed it as a serious threat.” Caruso is the son of Debra Graziano from a first marriage. Frank Caruso had a record including kidnapping and battery in 1997 in Florida, and stalking and terrorist threats in 2003 in California. Police also were unable to find Caruso, who they believe is living in California.
Fred Rubenstein, a former independent wrestling promoter and referee (who used the name Fred Richards, and at one point was an American heel ref in Zero-One), is running for the Barnegat Township Committee as a Democrat in Ocean City, NJ, on 6/2. He doesn’t list his background in pro wrestling on his resume.
Ric Flair’s appearance at a 5/15 show in Lincolnton, NC, drew 1,300 fans as he managed David Flair & Ricky Morton (subbing for Reid, who is getting some help for his drug issues) beating Buff Bagwell & Rikki Nelson in the main event.
More on Billy Robinson training at the Westside Gym in Little Rock. Robinson has been coaching there since February. This is a message board story about his coaching: “Our gym has become the new home to the grappling Yoda and old school catch wrestler Billy Robinson, who wanders around the gym in a cane and barks orders. He shows some great techniques, and some that are just downright ridiculous and awesome. This week, while my coach Matt is training at ATT, I brought my friends Jake and Marcel in to teach classes and help us all with our half guard. Both are brown belts living at Roberto Cyborg’s gym with sick resumes. Marcel, the Brazilian, is completely fascinating with Billy’s teaching and was watching him teach some of the MMA guys. Billy: “So where are you from?” Marcel: “Brazil.” Billy: “Oh, so you know who the Gracies are?” Marcel: “Of course, bro, of course.” Billy: “Ah, I trained Sakuraba.” Billy then turned and waddled off on his cane and Marcel had this look of just complete confusion from what just happened.
The 6/27 Legends of the Arena show promoted by Francine Fournier, has announced Sandman managed by Tod Gordon vs. Sabu managed by Bill Alfonso, with Terry Funk as referee, as well as Chris Hamrick vs. Crowbar Devon Storm.
RVD in an interview with BE! Magazine said on Paul Heyman: “Paul was the best wrestling promoter to work for, if you cared about freedom of expression. As an artist, working under Paul’s tutelage helped old me into the non-conforming superstar I became, but made it challenging to be compatible with WWE’s style.” Regarding working in WWE, he said, “I was so frustrated by the adjustment to WWE style and politics that I’d often phone my wife, so she could talk me into staying. I’ve never felt like I needed a job or had to stay somewhere I wasn’t happy.” On the new ECW, he said he first rejected the idea because time had past and most of the ECW stars wouldn’t be able to perform at the level they originally did, but when told the idea would be to mix the original stars with new recruits, he got behind it. “Just like everyone else, I was very disappointed to learn that Vince used a bait-and- switch tactic to get started and then turned his back on the original ECW to try to create something new.” When asked about being pulled over with pot costing him the two championships, he said, “Considering how burnt out I was from the travel, I welcomed the time at home. I even asked for more time off when they wanted me to come back. Although I wasn’t happy that I had fucked up the plans for the ECW and the WWE, I have always felt proud to draw attention to the great injustice of marijuana prohibition. I’ve never given a public apology, because I’m not sorry when truth is exposed.”
ROH
The HDNet situation and Time Warner cable is back in the news as on the Time Warner cable web site, they have stated that, “On or about May 31, 2009, we will no longer carry HDNet Movies on Ch. 797 and HDNet on Ch. 798.” This will be the second time they’ve posted a deadline and the first time, the station remained on the cable. This time appears to be more serious, because Time Warner Cable Director of Corporate Public Relations Robyn Watson knocked the station in a Multi-Channel News article, saying, “There’s a limited appeal for the programming. In a world with more than 100 HD channels, being in HD is not enough. We are adding other channels in HD to give our customers more choice.” Mark Cuban e-mailed a response to the story saying he wouldn’t comment on ongoing negotiations, but said, “We are not a cookie-cutter network like those from the big media conglomerates” and said people who like the channel do business with providers specifically to get the channel, with the idea that losing the channel will cause people to switch to satellite.
James Maritato is starting on 6/13 at the Hammerstein Ballroom as Guido Maritato., facing Jay Briscoe. Main event on that show is Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries for the ROH title..
Another of the TV main events at the next set of tapings will be a non-title Lynn vs. Chris Hero match.
Reid Flair won’t be coming in at any time soon for the obvious reasons. It’s not the right time for him to be wrestling here, and ROH is very aware of that and asked that he not start at this point.
D-Lo Brown will be on the 6/19 and 6/20 TV tapings.
Jon Davis of the Dark City Fight Club had successful surgery this past week. He had four bones dislocated and several frayed ligaments. He had several pins inserted and his wrist has been placed in a hard cast.
Shawn Spears debuts on 6/12 in Manassas, VA.
TNA
TNA will be doing another 30 minute live pre-show before Sacrifice on 5/24, with Amazing Red vs. Kiyoshi airing during the pre-show segment. The A.J. Styles vs. Booker T Legends title match will be an I Quit match. Why they would want to do this is beyond me. It wasn’t been built up for any reason at all and the I Quit match with Booker T they had on TV had a beyond lame finish that only resulted in the idea that you would never want to see another I Quit match for the rest of your life. You can say the Cena vs. JBL finish was bad, and it was, but there was at least logic behind it in the sense the story was the big talking JBL ended up as a pussy when the chips were down, and it was a weird kind of saving heat even with the I Quit match. But Jethro Holliday was a babyface, and he quit because he was afraid of punches from the mount. Other changes to the show are that the Angelina Love vs. Awesome Kong title match may or may not be a stretcher match. It’ll have to be finalized at the TV this week. The best stuff on TV in the last few weeks now is completely off the PPV. Instead of the obvious Machine Guns vs. Suicide & Daniels match, which they watered down with the three-way with Lethal Consequences, and then made a TV match to set up a title match on PPV, it’s now Suicide vs. Daniels for the X title and Lethal Consequences & Eric Young vs. Machine Guns & a partner (probably Sheik Abdul Bashir but that isn’t yet 100%).
Bobby Lashley went to 3-0 in MMA, beating Mike Cook on the 5/15 show in Edmonton on the Maximum Fighting Championship show. The show drew a sellout 1,500, although that group always sells out its small venue at the River Cree Casino just outside Edmonton actually. Cook (now 7-4), his opponent, was the latest to run around telling everyone that pro wrestling is fake in the match build-up. Of course, Cook’s coach, Frank Shamrock, has dabbled in pro wrestling in Japan, and Cook already lost in his highest profile fight of his career to Daniel Puder in 2006 in San Jose. Cook claimed Lashley would shit his pants the minute he got punched, and promoter Mark Pavelich, who only used Lashley because HDNet pushed Lashley on him, was pushing the same thing, saying Lashley showed up knowing nothing about Cook and when guys show up taking people lightly in MFC, they almost always lose. Cook legit got under Lashley’s skin including showing up to weigh-ins wearing a Mysterio mask. It was funny how the announcers knew it was a Lucha Libre mask but didn’t know it was a Mysterio mask. He then came out cupping his hear like Hogan and again wearing the Mysterio mask. Lashley wouldn’t touch gloves, immediately grabbed a front headlock, sprawled, let go to throw a punch, then readjusted into a guillotine, and choked Cook out in 24 seconds. Cook didn’t tap but his legs were flopping. It was one weird looking fight. Lashley added fuel to the argument about overly scripted promos vs. bullet points and letting guys learn to talk on their own. He cut a promo on Cook after the fight that was clearly not prepared, off the top of his head, and it was better than any promo he ever did in WWE. “I’m here for business. I’m here and everyone wants to and tries to make fun of the wrestling thing. I’m real. If they want to play around, I’ll knock them out or choke them out. And that’s what I did. I choked him out and made him pay. Now he can go put the mask back on and have fun with himself.” Lashley was down to 249 pounds, still with the best physique of any heavyweight in the sport, but also significantly smaller than the Mr. Olympia looking guy who was 271 pounds and a lot more cut in his OVW days. He was noticeably smaller and a few pounds lighter than in his first two fights. Apparently Lashley’s fighting has garnered a lot of interest because his fight coverage the next day wound up getting so many hits it was on the front page of Yahoo in both the features, entertainment and the sports category. Lashley still hasn’t signed a contract here and the decision has been made not to push him on TV until he signs (one would think that decision could have been made before they put him on TV in the first place and started a storyline and pushed him so hard on their web site). . . TNA has lost its TV in Japan. Samurai! TV, which broadcasts a ton of pro wrestling and MMA, removed all references to TNA from its web site. The station used to air the PPV shows, usually on about a two month tape delay because they had to subtitle everything. The TNA page is gone from the site and there are no dates for future shows. There is still an ROH page on the site even though they haven’t aired anything from ROH since October.
A correction on the Roxxi story. She didn’t quit the promotion. She was released and it was a decision by the promotion. She said she was shocked when it happened. That was news to even people in the company.
Kurt Angle was interviewed by WTAE TV in Pittsburgh on the set of “Warrior,” the movie he’s filming. He said he thinks he’s got a little bit of time left in wrestling but eventually he’s going to make the full-time transition to acting. He said he’s got four more movie roles agreed upon after this one. His role is as a Russian Olympic wrestling gold medalist who is entering an MMA tournament.
We’re now in late May, and it’s been months since that Tokyo Dome show in January was voiced over and promoted, so I’m guessing it fell through the cracks. This is after last year’s Tokyo Dome show they did got probably the best reaction of any TV show they did all year.
In the directory last week, an update is that Cody Deaner’s real name is Chris Gray, and he’s 27 years old.
The TNA Epics TV show debuted on 5/15 in the U.K. The show is Foley hosting a look back at the best matches in TNA history. The first week was a look at the best cage matches, including the AMW vs. XXX cage match featuring the Elix Skipper walking huracanrana on the top of the cage which was one of the greatest matches in company history. Also airing were Styles & Daniels vs. LAX and a Rhino vs. Christian match.
There was at least talk of changing the way they do house shows, doing two crews and concentrating on smaller towns. TNA can make money in small towns because building costs and promotional costs are much lower and with less major league entertainment coming to small towns, they actually outdraw big cities as often as not. If they do a $30,000 gross in a small market city they are successful. But if they run a major city and have to hire union workers, plus advertise in a big market where costs are higher, the same show is not a success. Plus, big market fans are used to major league entertainment and TNA often has a harder time drawing. The way they do the economical six match shows, they have more than enough talent to run two tours. It’s not a final decision, but could happen later in the year.
Funny weekend house show story. Backstage before the show they have a lineup sheet posted with all of the matches. They put a * next to whoever is going over that night and at the bottom of the sheet, even though they use the same symbols every night, there is a note that reads * = Winner. Anyway, over the weekend, someone put a + next to the name of all the losers. On one sheet, at the bottom, it read + = jobber. On another sheet, at the bottom, it read + = Good look, good attitude, not tonight. On the final sheet, at the bottom it read + = See Kip James.
The shows this weekend were all in the Carolinas. The matches had nothing to do with what was being done on television for the most part. The 5/15 show in Florence, SC drew 1,000. Styles beat Booker in a match that did relate to TV, keeping the Legends title. Young pinned Kip. Jarrett & Daniels beat Beer Money. Rhino beat Bashir in a match of two people barely on TV these days. Rayne, who is supposed to be out and injured, was healthy and not selling the injury, beating Daffney. Rayne was the heel. I guess attacking the top woman babyface in a restaurant isn’t a heel turn. Suicide beat Kiyoshi in the X title match as the opener.
5/16 in Greenville, NC also drew 1,000. Same show other than they reversed and had Young beating Bashir and Rhino pinning Kip. Daffney was more popular than usual here since she’s from the area. 5/17 in Fayetteville also drew about 1,000, but that’s about all we heard on it.
Notes from the 5/14 Impact. All I can say is this was one weird show. Almost the whole show was designed to be cute, with the major impact being built up a Mick Foley attack on Jeff Jarrett taped at the Nashville Fairgrounds, which leads to Jarrett putting up his stock or voting power or something in TNA to get into the Ultimate Sacrifice match. They worked hard trying to make Jarrett into a family man babyface, showing him hanging out with his daughters all day, picking them up from school, taking them to different after school activities. They didn’t push the single father aspect of it, I guess figuring that they get no new viewers so everyone knows, or maybe just didn’t want to go in that direction. His youngest daughter came off real cute on television, but the problem is the context of Impact is so goofy that doing something real seems out of place now. To make it work, you’d almost have to revamp things for a few weeks. I mean, they proved last year you can draw with it if you do it right, but they don’t have the confidence or discipline for it. In the end, no matter what they do, long-term, people are just not that into Jarrett as a babyface. Aside from the Motor City Machine Guns deal with Suicide (which as it turns out builds to nothing on PPV), nothing else came across as anything but momentary bad comedy, or momentary cute comedy. The show was built around Foley and Jarrett with the tapes of two days in the life of Jarrett in Nashville. Foley said Jarrett wasn’t at the tapings for the first time ever, not backstage helping or in front of the cameras. Foley said it would all be answered in a DVD. There were fans booing Foley during this and even a “You suck” chant as he hinted he was responsible for Jarrett not being there. They noted Kurt Angle wasn’t there because he was in Hollywood, filming a movie. Well, half true. He was in Pittsburgh, filming a movie. Scott Steiner said he was in charge. Steiner was pretty funny as he did several segments in a suit as the interim guy in charge, claiming to have been a Rhodes Scholar from Michigan. We was botching up words on purpose left and right. Nothing here made you want to buy anything to do with the product, but it made for funny segments. He asked Kevin Nash about Jenna Morasca, and Nash said that he’s been dotting her i’s and crossing her t’s. He also said she was ready to invest in the Mafia, but only on the condition that Sharmell get booted out. Booker, in his latest new voice, was very upset at Nash. Nash said he was only the messenger. Steiner said he would take care of the problem. There were a few skits during the show, one with Steiner telling Morasca that Sharmell had agreed to apologize to her and to come to a summit meeting. Then he told Sharmell that Morasca had agreed to apologize. When he told Morasca that he would get them together, he said he’d be there as the modifier. Borash whispered to him that the word was moderator. Steiner got all confused. Anyway, when they had the meeting, both thought the other was going to apologize and they ended up going at it. On the Jarrett/Foley deal, they showed a collection of clips of TNA recorded a day in the life of Jarrett. I guess that was the logical explanation as to why there would be cameras filming the angle and why Jarrett would be at the old Nashville Sports Arena aka The Asylum. It was a bunch of family stuff with Jeff and his daughters. The youngest one was quite cute. They went out on a jet ski and were driving around Hendersonville and the expensive homes. He ended up walking around downtown Nashville. That’s all a block away from the arena since I was wandering around that street after the UFC there in April. Jeff bumped into Jeremy Borash (who lives walking distance from the strip) and found him being thrown out of a club with a sign that read “Nude Karaoke” and when he saw Jarrett, he got all embarrassed but asked for a Benjamin (a $100 bill). Considering the show also had a segment where Foley was trying to get Borash to teach him how to do the eyes, and Borash said he got it from Mr. Furley (Don Knotts) on Three’s Company, and then Foley started singing the theme song to Three’s Company. Anyway, I have no idea how to explain the purpose of any of this. It all built to the main event angle, which was Foley playing a DVD. It showed Jarrett at the old Nashville Sports Arena, noting it was where he used to watch his dad wrestle on Saturday nights at the age of ten. So he missed the heyday of Jerry Jarrett & Tojo Yamamoto as a tag team, because he’d have been about 4 during their peak run. He noted that he had his second match in the building, and that TNA started in the building. He talked about his grandmother working taking tickets and then Foley attacked him and was laying him out with several chair shots to the hamstring. It should be noted that when Jarrett was talking with his daughters in the earlier vignettes, he kept bringing up Foley like he had a weird obsession with him. The references were all out of any context, as it wasn’t like his daughters seemed like they ever talked wrestling. Anyway, as Foley was beating on Jeff, he noted that he did like his grandmother but hated his father. He started yelling about how he starved in the territory working for $25 a match in that building. And that was the big angle on the show. Opener was Daniels over Chris Sabin with an enzuigiri, uranage and moonsault. Crowd wasn’t that hot for the wrestling but everything looked good enough. During an earlier skit when they were talking about Three’s Company, Eric Young interrupted Foley and Borash and wanted his shot, saying he was one of the best wrestlers in the company and the only thing Foley did was give him a tag match with a guy he’d never met before. So Foley gave him a match with Samoa Joe. Foley then called in refs Slick Johnson, Rudy Charles and Earl Hebner in and told Johnson to leave because he was friends with Jarrett, told Charles to leave because he wasn’t sleazy, and then told Hebner that he knows he’s sleazy, made the Montreal reference, and told Hebner since he’s the boss, not to DQ Joe. Angelina Love brought in Cute Kip as her mystery opponent for Awesome Kong. Kip did a promo thinking he was Steve Austin. All I could think of he was Billy Gunn and God told him he sucked. Joe destroyed Young in 2:19 with a choke. Joe kicked Young to the chest and Young took a bump over the top rope. Don West said Joe kicked him like Tom Dempsey, but noted that Joe has two feet. Dempsey was a place kicker in the 70s who in 1970 kicked a 63-yard field goal, which is still the NFL record. He was born with a deformed right foot that he kicked with. Anyway, I guarantee that Mike Tenay, Don West, and probably Mick Foley all knew exactly what he was talking about. Young didn’t tap, and instead passed out from the choke, or in MMA terms, to paraphrase Ed Herman, Eric must be no pussy bitch. After all these weeks, can they get Joe some near gear and have him dump that stupid tattoo on his face. It’s like they want him over, but every week because of his look, he gets less over. Joe kidnapped Young and threw him in the drunk of a car (presumably driven by Taz) and Taz drove away. Maybe Young can become a member of a lame group called One Joe Nation. Tenay did one of those pre-taped interviews with Sting. They played his sad music that just made the whole thing completely hokey and cheesy. Sting is a complete babyface in a heel team, even though Sting was nowhere near Nash and Booker the whole show. Lauren and Taylor Wilde were at a restaurant for her blind date. As it turned out, Daffney showed up and tricked her. Daffney was mad that Wilde brought her in to play the Governor, but when the Beautiful People beat the hell out of her, Wilde let it happen. She threw a clothesline at Wilde in a restaurant and was climbing up a chair while Lauren took a broken piece of glass and made Daffney back off. Yes, the announcer made the wrestler back off. And they are in this restaurant and this brawl is going on and nobody jumps in. I know, maybe it wasn’t a very popular restaurant. Something tells me somebody had a lot of bad blind dates in his life and it really sucks that we have to watch wrestling shows that are so lousy because of it. Maybe there’s a moral to the story. They should do one of those PSA’s at the end, “These are professionals. They haven’t trained in acting at all but are put on a TV show to act and in doing so, come off like shit. Kids, please don’t try this at home. And also, don’t go on blind dates either.” There is something sort of intriguing about Daffney. Kong beat Kip in the stretcher match. This was crappy, but at least creative in the sense that Spike doesn’t allow men attacking women so Kip wasn’t allowed any offense here. As expected, Kip looked like a giant next to Kong and totally exposed her being 6-1 as bullshit. Then again, that was exposed when she teamed with Rhaka Khan. Kip was distracted by Raisha Saeed and Kong hit him with two chair shots to the head. She then put his head in a chair, and then gave him two big splashes. On his back. What was the head doing in the chair if she was going to splash the back? He was carried out on a stretcher. Whole thing only went 2:26. Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus beat Amazing Red & Suicide in the tag tournament. It really was painfully obvious by build and movement that this was a different Suicide. Don West spent the whole match pushing that it was Daniels. Yes, he was playing stronger heel this week. Red did a flip dive on Magnus, but Sabin & Shelley came out and gave Suicide a double superkick and he was pinned. Then they laid out Red. They teased going after Suicide. Lethal & Creed then came out and Lethal called Sabin & Shelley “The Rockers.” They all surrounded Suicide while the fans chanted “take it off.” Daniels made the save. West did get in a funny line when Tenay said that proved West was wrong, saying that how did they get a guy to impersonate Daniels. This was about the only decent thing on the show. Well, other than all the dated references. Kevin Nash beat Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito in a handicap match. Nash can’t do a thing. Aside from looking preposterous because of how slow Nash was, it was action filled since the Japanese figured out how to work around him. Nash pinned Naito with a jackknife power bomb in 2:16. Main event was an I Quit match with Booker T vs. Jethro Holliday. This was about as bad of an I Quit match as you’ll ever see. Sharmell distracted ref Rudy Charles. Booker hit Holliday with a chair, and then gave him an ax kick. Booker got a full mount on Holliday who said, “I’ve had enough.” They copied the one of the lamest UFC finishes in history (Marco Ruas vs. Remco Pardoul in 1995) and didn’t even know it.
UFC/WEC
Tickets for 8/8 in Philadelphia go on sale to the public on 5/23, and to UFC Fight Club members on 5/21, and are priced from $600 ringside down to $50 for the cheapest tickets (the lower priced tickets will likely sell out immediately).
Predictions right now are they will end up in the 11- 12,000 paid range on 6/7 in Sacramento. The pace of ticket sales is above that of the Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver fight there last year that did more than 12,000 total. The difference is, that fight had tremendous late hype. It was one of the best promoted fights of 2008. I haven’t seen anything of late hyping the fight, although the good promotional stuff should be saved for the last week.
Sean Sherk, Frankie Edgar, Matt Hughes and Matt Serra all passed their drug tests done a few weeks ago in training. There will be more of these unannounced tests given for headliners on big boxing and UFC events in Nevada. California now has the right to do so, but California and drug testing in the future is largely going to depend on who gets hired to head the athletic commission and his views on the subject.
Dana White on Affliction promoter Tom Atencio challenging him to an MMA match. Dear God is this business insane. I mean, pro wrestling was nuts when Eric Bischoff challenged Vince, but we all saw that as a sign Bischoff was desperate and losing his mind (and of course Vince actually did say he would fight Eric, but only in an alley, not on a WCW PPV). “At the end of the day, I stepped up and said I would fight Tito and he was a fighter who people cared about,” said White to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. “But why would I fight this goof? He’s neither a fighter nor a promoter. He’s a fucking loser. That’s all he is. Let me tell you something. When I was $44 million in the hole, the last thing I was doing was leaving the office and going out to train for a joke of a fight. I was in the office and trying to find a way to make this thing work. Why would I waste one second of my day worrying about this fucking guy? He should be worried about the millions and millions of his bosses, or his partners’ money, whoever it is, that he’s burning. That’s a complete joke.” . . From ESPN E:60's Sean Herbert on the White piece, he said he wished more fighters were willing to speak frankly, but there weren’t. They noted that the point of the Tito Ortiz interview is that White could have paid for Ortiz’s surgery even though it was not covered by the UFC’s insurance company. The idea to show he could have was his admission that the company did pay for a similar surgery for Nate Quarry. The flip side is that Quarry was under contract to UFC at the time, and Ortiz was not under contract to UFC at the time he had his surgery. I would generally side with the athlete getting hurt doing his job (and training for a fight is part of his job) as far as the company taking care of your injuries. If, while under contract, he said he needed the surgery and they didn’t take care of it and he’d treated them fairly, they should take care of it. There’s a part that says they still should, since it was an injury as part of his job when he was with them, but under the circumstances, the insurance turned him down, he wasn’t under contract any longer, and he did bad mouth them everywhere he went, so I don’t know that they are going to then go out of their way to help him. The idea was to paint a picture of a complicated, cocky and volatile person who is always fighting with people. He said the goal was to simplify and condense UFC history and focus on White for the broader audience. Still, there is no way ESPN in a piece on White should have credited him with instituting weight classes or changing the rules, or coming up with the idea for The Ultimate Fighter reality show. The reaction I got from some in UFC was not negative toward the piece, since it was balanced, and they aren’t going to complain about them not getting the history correct. But White did not share in that reaction in a Boston Herald promo. “The E:60 thing was a piece of shit. Same old fucking story, same old shit.” On Pat Miletich: “Pat Miletich is a very bitter guy right now. Pat is not one of the smartest people you’re ever going to meet. He sees these guys around him, like Tim Sylvia, who made a couple million bucks in his career.
Pat Miletich hasn’t made any money because he’s not a smart guy. It’s not my fault Pat Miletich is a fucking dummy.” White was also mad regarding how the back surgery story with Tito Ortiz was framed, leaving out information (basically the information all in last week’s issue). “They go out and find three people, Tito Ortiz, Pat Miletich and some fucking guy that doesn’t like UFC in New York–and that’s what the fucking story is about? Fuck them. It’s the same story I’ve seen a million times.” . . Chris Wilson, training for a fight with Brock Larson on the 5/23 Las Vegas undercard, was the victim of an armed robbery in Rio de Janeiro on 5/13. Wilson came home from training, and a guy grabbed him at gunpoint and then called his friends. Five people broke into his apartment. “They were armed and my family was in the bathroom. I’ve got two kids, so it was a terrible situation,” he told the Canadian Press. “And then they cleaned out whatever they wanted. They were after small stuff, but they took our TV and my laptop and jewelry. And they took some of the kids’ clothing and Nike tennis shoes, which are expensive down here. They put everything in my car, made me take them somewhere. It was just terrible. Wasn’t sure if I was coming back from that one. But it all worked out.” Wilson is from Portland but has lived much of his life in Sao Paolo, and his wife is Brazilian.
Not that this should be a surprise, but there were debates on this issue, but as things stand, Lesnar vs. Mir will be in the main event slot and St. Pierre vs. Alves second from the top for UFC 100.
Dana White praised Dr. Phil after taping his show last week. The show was about teenagers out of control, and they showed two teenagers were practiced beating each other up because they wanted to get into the UFC. White brought Forrest Griffin and Kenny Florian (who Phil called Kenny Florini) with him, and White told the kids that they do not look at street fighters and told them they were going about it the wrong way, and needed to go to a gym and learn the game and fight sanctioned fights before UFC would be interested. White said that given who Dr. Phil is and the audience demo that watches the show, he could have very easily gone out there and blasted UFC, blamed them for the actions of the two kids, but said he did his homework, learned what it was, and treated them fairly.
B.J. Penn is saying he never wants to fight in Nevada again after the athletic commission didn’t punish Georges St. Pierre for the Vaseline incident in their 1/31 fight. “To me, Keith Kizer (Executive director of the commission) can’t be trusted. I never want to fight under the Nevada State Athletic Commission again, so I don’t know when’s the next time you’re going to see me in Vegas,” he said. “I thought the Athletic Commission was there for your health and safety, not to dick you around. I love Las Vegas, without a doubt. I just don’t like the athletic commission. It’s dangerous for any human being.” . . Anthony Johnson is out with a knee injury so his 6/20 fight with Matt Brown is out.
On the 5/13 Ultimate Fighter show, they were pushing Dave Faulkner as the best fighter on Team U.K. and a possible overall winner. However, Faulkner, in doing a training drill hitting a tire with a sledge hammer, ended up hitting his own leg with a sledge hammer, and it got infected. They were pushing Faulkner vs. Jason Pierce (who is also injured with ruptured blood vessels in his foot) for a future match, probably next week. We had the coach’s challenge, with Dana White offering $10,000 to the winner plus $1,500 for every member of his team as Dan Henderson faced Michael Bisping in a tennis match. Both were absolutely horrible at tennis. Bisping had never played in his life, and from the looks of things, Henderson actually lost two games to him anyway in winning the one-set match 6-2. Ross Pearson looked impressive beating Richie Whitson with an armbar at 3:40. Pearson had accidentally nailed Whitson with a knee when Whitson was down, so he had lost a penalty point, but was controlling the fight from start-to-finish.
K-1/DREAM
This rarely happens in Japan, but Tatsuya Kawajiri publicly complained about them using Jose Canseco this past week. He said that even if it does draw ratings, that it has become the focus of the show and it takes away from the real fighters on the show. Kawajiri vs. J.Z. Calvan was at one point talked about as a main event, and even if it’s on last, the match everyone is talking about is Canseco vs. Choi Hong-man.
The Joaquim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki rematch will be on 7/20 at the Dream show at the Saitama Super Arena. That show also has the semifinals in the welterweight Grand Prix with Andre Galvao vs. Jason High and Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Sarmonskis (who tried to do a standing moonsault in his last match).
Semmy Schilt, the company’s super heavyweight champion, was knocked out in :45 by Badr Hari in the main event of a 5/16 show in Amsterdam, Holland, that drew 15,000 fans. Melvin Manhoef stopped Stefan Leko in the third round when Leko was unable to continue after a foot injury.
STRIKEFORCE
Andrei Arlovski faces Brett Rogers (10-0) in an added match for the 6/6 show in St. Louis. At press time we don’t know the financial aspect of the deal. Arlovski, who is under contract to Affliction, was loaned him to Strikeforce since Affliction has no announced shows coming up. He earned $1.5 million for his 1/25 fight with Fedor Emelianenko. This would be the final fight of his Affliction contract. Arlovski had been scheduled to debut as a pro boxer on 6/27, but this was a much bigger money fight, and his Affliction contract allowed them to use him or assign him to shows, which would take priority over any shows he would take away from the contract, such as in boxing. Arlovski fighting on this show had been talked about for weeks, but it didn’t look promising until a deal was put together in the last few days. Showtime has been pretty adamant that they want shows filled with name fighters for their big events (the Challenger series shows are to showcase new talent). The rest of the card has Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields, Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith, Phil Baroni vs. Joe Riggs and Kevin Randleman vs. Mike Whitehead.
A correction from last week on the Gina Carano Maxim item. Marisa Miller was on the cover of last year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, not this year’s. This year’s cover was Bar Rafael, who ended up placing higher than Carano on that list in question. Carano placed higher (No. 16) than Miller (No. 18). She was the highest placing athlete, ahead of Anna Kournikova (35), Stacy Keibler (77, okay you can debate whether she’s an athlete) and Danica Patrick (78). Carano is still said to be in talks and a few weeks away from agreeing to terms.
Kimbo Slice, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to even be in negotiations. Scott Coker said he didn’t hear directly from Kimbo’s people, but has heard Kimbo is looking to switch to boxing. Pro Elite, Inc. this past week gave Kevin Ferguson (Slice) a release on his contract as an MMA fighter which was believed to be part of a deal that would allow Gary Shaw, the former Elite XC promoter who is still promoting pro boxing, to start using him as a heavyweight boxer. The plan is to run a 7/11 show at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL, the same building where he lost to Seth Petruzelli, for a combination Shaw/Don King boxing event which would be his boxing debut if everything goes as planned, although none of that is official at this point.
Based on the advance, Scott Coker predicted close to 10,000 for the 6/6 show in St. Louis, which to me would be considered a success. Historically, he’s never been one to make up b.s. numbers, although he did note that it’s hard since the home town star, Robbie Lawler, lives in St. Louis but has only lived there for a short time so he doesn’t have local roots in the community. When the date was first announced, they were hoping for 8,000. It’s the biggest MMA event thus far in St. Louis, but it’s still not a marquee card and the match most people are talking about isn’t Lawler vs. Jake Shields, but Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith, and they’re both Northern California guys. Diaz vs. Smith was put together after they decided on St. Louis for the show.
They held a Challengers Series show on 5/15 on Showtime, a “B” level show from Fresno that drew 3,000 fans. I thought it was a good show. It went head-to-head with MFC, with Showtime vs. HDNet, and I thought Showtime got the clear win this time. Strikeforce was a better produced show and came off more professional. The Edmonton crowd was dead. The Fresno crowd booed real easy but at least they weren’t dead. But they also got better matches overall. 1. Bao Quach (16-9-1) beat Tito Jones (6-3) by straight 29-28 scores. I had it 28-28 as a draw, giving Jones a 10-8 third round due to two knockdowns. But none of the judges did. Entertaining opener; 2. Aaron Rosa (12-2) beat Anthony Ruiz (21-13) with a choke in 4:29; 3. Lavar Johnson (12-3) knocked out Carl Seumanutafa (4-3) in :18. Johnson, from Fresno, has real star power. It wasn’t just being in his home town, but he’s got a good look at 6-4, 246 and natural charisma. Plus, people get into heavyweights with real one-punch KO power. Johnson caught Seumanutafa shooting with an uppercut and he was out cold. It was one of the better knockouts of the year so far; 5. Sarah Kaufman (9-0) took a 29-28 decision over Miesha Tate (6-2). This was the best fight on either televised show of the night. Kaufman has great boxing, with real speed and power in her punches. Tate was the first opponent she didn’t knock out. They fought at 135, even though the last time I saw Tate fight she was 145. She looked skinny at her new weight and didn’t have the power she had the last time, which hurt because she needed to get takedowns. I almost hate to complain about this, because on the air, Mauro Ranallo almost made this his mission, saying it so often you got the message overloaded, but he was right. There is no reason women should be fighting 3:00 rounds instead of 5:00 rounds. Granted, one of the reasons women’s matches are generally better is they don’t have to pace themselves as much, but in a competitive fight, the difference in round length easily could have affected the outcome here. It’s a reason so many women’s fights go to decisions, because there isn’t as much time to wear down the opponent before the round is over. Tate grounded Kaufman the entire second round, but wasn’t able to do so in one and three, and got taken apart standing in both rounds. Kaufman is now scheduled to face Shayna Baszler (best known for being overwhelmed by Cris Cyborg on the 7/26 CBS show in Stockton) on 6/19 in Kent, WA; 6. Mike Aina (12-6-1) beat Billy Evangelista (9-1) in a controversial main event with a DQ finish. I’ve honestly never thought much of Evangelista, but in losing, he looked the best he has to date. In the second round, he was pounding Aina on the ground and seemed on the verge of finishing him. He was premature in throwing a knee, as Aina had both his hand and knee on the ground and knocked Aina silly. The replay, however, didn’t show the knee connecting with the head, but with Aina’s shoulder, which is legal, and the shoulder jammed into Aina’s jaw. They didn’t have multiple angles, but based on what was shown, when it aired, the announcers immediately noted that it may be good to implement the ability for the referee to look at the tape. In a situation like this, where it has to do with the ending of the fight, and doesn’t get in the way of the flow of the fight, there is really no reason the referee can’t be allowed to see as many camera angles as possible before making the ruling. Aina, on the verge of losing, complained about a possible broken jaw and the doctor stopped it. Aina clearly didn’t want to continue but because the injury was from an illegal blow, Herb Dean called the DQ. Then Aina himself said he thought it was a bad call, that he didn’t think he deserved the win, and thought it should be a no contest and offered Evangelista a rematch. Since Evangelista is from Fresno and the show locally was marketed around him and Johnson, the crowd was not happy with this finish. But for a “B” show, I thought it went by fast and was entertaining.
AFFLICTION
The latest rumors have the third show on 8/1 (fighters have been called and proposed stuff for that date). Since UFC is running 8/8, it’s a date it would be difficult for them to counter with anything but a tape on Spike. And they have no blockbusters unless they go backwards to UFC 92 (and Spike aired the Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira match already with no publicity on an Unleashed show this past week). It would be way too soon to put UFC 100 on, and considering how bad Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites was, the only way I’d put UFC 97 on would be to bill it as Liddell’s farewell match, and put a couple of undercard matches in the spot of the main event. So most likely they’d put UFC 98, but I don’t see that show on free TV meaning a ton either. As for Fedor vs. Josh Barnett, Barnett is saying that he’s got offers from Pancrase and Sengoku in August. I can’t see them paying him Affliction level money. Barnett got $500,000 for his win over Gilbert Yvel on the 1/25 show, although that would include a winning bonus. He’s never seemed in a hurry to fight Fedor but without that match, Affliction is going to struggle to put together a main event. At this point considering lack of follow-up on everything, nothing being said by partners Golden Boy in months, etc., the appearance is more when and not if this group is done, and then you have a slew of free agent heavyweights on the market as well as nobody out there who would likely be willing to pay them anywhere close to what they are making now.
OTHER MMA
Dan Rafael reported 825,000 buys as the projection for the Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao. Bob Arum has refused to release numbers on his shows and HBO and his promotional partners are not going to cross him on it even though Rafael wrote that they wanted the number released because after so many bad numbers for boxing in the last several months, this was considered good news. Arum’s not releasing the numbers is because what is likely the biggest fight of this year, unless there is a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight, did less than three UFC events in the last seven months.
Trevor Prangley (20-5) won the Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Emanuel Newton (11-4-1) on 5/15 in Edmonton. The scores were 48-46, 49-46 and 49-46 (we had it 49-45, as there was a second round point deduction against Newton for a knee to the groin making that a 10-8 round for Prangley. The third and fourth rounds were very close, with Newton clearly winning round one and Prangley clearly taking two and five. Then you had the announcers asking why the scores were as they were and Prangley saying he didn’t think he won by that much. People need to understand, and they don’t, how scoring is done. A close fight could be 50-45 if all five rounds are close. A 48-47 could actually not be that close. Plus, throughout the fight they kept talking about how you have to win the fight significantly to take the title. The problem is, in judged fights, that isn’t the case. I have never, and I mean, never, heard a judge told that. Judges are to pick who wins the round, and there is no such thing that a close round goes to the champion. Whenever there is a title change in a competitive fight, that line where he may have won the fight but didn’t do enough to take the title is brought up, and judges are not allowed to consider that line of thought and don’t judge based on that criteria. Just as, in this case, it was a close fight but based on giving Prangley the two close rounds, the score reads 49-45. Until scoring is changed where a close round is 10-9.5 (a suggestion that both myself and Doc Hamilton have made when it came to revamping scoring), that this is simply the rules of the game and it drives me crazy when announcers don’t realize that a close round is right now worth the same as anything but a dominant round. Plus, judges are so lax to call 10-8s. In a Strikeforce fight the same night with Tito Jones and Bao Quach, Jones knocked Quach down twice in the third round and they called it a 10-9, and honestly, it wasn’t as bad as Pat Miletich made it out to be but I did agree with Miletich it probably should have been a 10-8, making the difference between a draw decision and the Quach win, that got booed out of the place because the fans didn’t understand the weaknesses of how the current scoring system is implemented. Also on the MFC show, it was announced that Jason MacDonald, just cut by UFC, will start with that group in September and he said he’s going after the middleweight title.
The latest wannabe MMA promoter is Michael Lohan, father of Lindsay. He claimed he and his partners are going to set up a promotion that will be television based, with the matches shot in a Third World Country. He claimed they are building a stadium but wouldn’t reveal where, because the premise of the show is the fights are being held in a secret location. Hopefully he studies BodogFight and figures out what they did wrong.
Daniel Puder went to 7-0 in MMA on a 5/16 show in Ontario, CA when he beat Jeff Ford in 1:23. The finish was a fluke. Ford, a kickboxer, had taken Puder down. Puder went for the same Kimura he used on Kurt Angle, but Ford saw hit coming and stood up. Ford then delivered a high kick that Puder partially blocked, but felt, but in landing, Ford landed badly on his right shoulder and was unable to continue. Puder landed a few high kicks before being taken down. He was cheered heavily coming out, but after he celebrated in the ring like he won, considering the way it went down, the crowd turned on him bad, like real bad. Ford, who was injured, even went after him and the commission had to yell at both guys. Puder hadn’t fought since 2007 due to a contract dispute with Strikeforce, which had him under contract but wouldn’t book him, presumably because he didn’t look good in winning his prior fight and having a $25,000 per match contract. Crowd was 3,700. Vladimir Matyushenko took a decision over Jason Lambert in a battle of ex-UFC fighters that turned largely into a wrestling match. Matyushenko won the first two rounds, but Lambert got the takedown in round three and was hurting Matyushenko, before Matyushenko reversed him.
Gary Juster’s debut as an MMA promoter on 5/16 at the Gwinnett Arena in Atlanta didn’t appear to go so well. With no big-name fighters (biggest name was former WEC fighter Micah Miller), they curtained off half the arena, and the open half was less than one-third full. Report was only about half the crowd even understood what MMA and they enjoyed the show. The other half were expecting to see something different, more akin to the old imagination of what fights would be from people who never saw MMA before.
Carleton Haselrig, 43, the best U.S. college heavyweight in history as well as an early 90s NFL All- Pro, went to 3-1 in MMA with a 5/16 win over Chris Larkin in 3:18. He bulled Larkin into the cage and took him out with punches until it was stopped.
Jeff Blatnick, who did the announcing for years for UFC, and still does announcing for a number of MMA events as well as amateur wrestling shows, has been nominated for election this year in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Blatnick won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman superheavyweight division in 1984.
Here’s a unique one. Katsuhiko Nagata & Kazuyuki Miyata, who both wrestled for Japan in the Sydney Olympics before going into MMA and becoming name competitors, although neither is considered anything close to a top fighter today, will form a tag team in a shoot match on the 5/24 Zst card. That’s one of the small Japanese groups and I think the only MMA company that does tag teams.
Another son of a pro wrestler, Ryan Roop, son of Bob Roop, is competing in MMA and is training under Dan Severn. Roop has a 1-1 record. His father, who competed in the 1968 Olympics for the U.S. and was a pro wrestler for 18 years, usually in a star position, said to Alex Marvez that if MMA was around when he got out of the Olympics, he’d have chosen that path and not pro wrestling.
Well, I guess we know who Phil Davis idolized as a kid. Davis, a former NCAA champion who is now an undefeated MMA fighter, is taking on the name Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis.
WWE
Not that I expect it will turn out this way, but Michaels told the office he’s looking at taking more time off than originally planned. The idea is that he’s financially set for life and his kids are at a certain age where they like him around, and he knows that’s a very short window. I can really see where he’s coming from. The original idea was for him to return at SummerSlam, but he asked to stay off until late this year or early 2010, wanting to come back for a good Mania angle. Remember that in 2007, Michaels was talking about not coming back for a long time after knee problems. Then Cena tore his pec, and his wife joked with him that he’s getting the phone call. The next day he got the phone call and he was back in the ring way early. He’s also made noises about retiring at Mania, but at other times he’s said he doesn’t see why he can’t make occasional big show appearances like Flair and Hogan until well into his 50s, and that’s a long way away. He’s also noted that once his kids are teenagers, being at home so much won’t be as important as his kids won’t want to be hanging around him so much, and at that point he’d be more open to spending more time on the road.
The 5/15 Smackdown show ended up being written largely as the show was going on due to Mysterio injuring his knee in the Benjamin match taped for Superstars. The originally written show was scheduled to have a Mysterio vs. Edge main event, that would have run-ins and turn into a tag team match. WWE booking patterns instead of having an idea like that in their play book and bringing it out every six months, is that they have that idea, and then do it to death on every TV show and house show at the same time. The tag was supposed to be either Mysterio & Jeff Hardy vs. Edge & Jericho or Mysterio & Punk vs. Edge & Umaga. So it was rewritten with Edge vs. Jericho thrown together as the new main event, and then doing an angle on the show to build to that match. It seemed so weird for that match to be thrown on television this soon, and that’s because it wasn’t the idea. Also Punk & Morrison vs. Benjamin & Haas was not scheduled originally, nor was the Knox vs. R-Truth rematch. They went with R-Truth going over, since Knox went over the week before and I guess didn’t want to do the same thing twice. Also, the mentality right now is that when it comes to mid-level guys, if they work twice, each gets a win. That way they stay mid-level guys. That’s not the mind set of the end result they want, but it sort of is what ends up happening most of the time.
The company sent out a press release noting 18 million unique web site visitors for April, (this would be due to Mania) which would be the best month in a long time. They noted beating Disney.com, TMZ.com and the web site for CBS, NBC and ABC.
During a creative meeting recently, one member broached the idea of a Cena heel turn. Vince lit the guy up about how foolishly short-sighted that idea was. Two reactions to this. The first was with all the merchandise he moves, it really was a bad idea, at least until the merchandise cools off a little. The second reaction from someone close to the situation is that maybe they shouldn’t have lit him up because they should be open to discussing ideas and even if it’s a bad one, it should be encouraged as something different and if it’s bad, just discarded at that point.
The company is planning on doing another themed PPV where all the main matches on the show have to end in submission. They did a web site poll asking for people’s reactions to four names–WWE Submission Sunday, WWE Submit & Quit, WWE Breaking Point and WWE Total Submission. It’s funny, when you do a submission match, I don’t think people care, but if you call it an I Quit match, for some reason, probably because of the few famous I Quit matches of the past, it means more. Maybe this is for 2010, or perhaps they’ll use it as a replacement for Cyber Sunday this year.
Raw report for the 5/18 show in Louisville. Before Raw started, they taped two matches for Superstars. Punk pinned Jericho with the GTS, although Jericho laid punk out with the codebreaker after the match. Kingston also pinned Regal with his Trouble in Paradise. Flair being there was a big deal as the crowd was doing the “Whooo” all over the place before Raw started. An interesting note is that security at the arena when people came in were telling them they had to turn off their cell phones while in the arena. Raw opened with Orton in the ring and he demanded that Flair come out. Flair came out. He and Orton went back-and-forth. Orton said that Flair worked with HHH in Evolution to conspire against him because they were trying to protect HHH’s spot. Flair told Orton that in Evolution, Orton was the “hair apparent” (that is what he said). He then said that everything was set up for Orton to be the man, but Batista passed right by him. Boy, if that wasn’t the story of late 2004, I don’t know what was. Not only was Orton the hair apparent, but there’s a tortoise and the hare story right there, with Batista as the hare and Orton as the tortoise that ended up winning the race at the end. Flair said the belt means nothing because Orton didn’t beat Batista, and then said he spoke with Vickie Guerrero and the two would have a cage match at the next PPV. Orton punched Flair and started stomping him. DiBiase and Rhodes came out, as did Batista. The heels were doing a 3-on-2 beatdown until Cena made the save. Vickie announced a 3-on-2 match as the main event. Cena said that people were thinking he was out of the picture, but he beat Show and now he wants the winner of Orton vs. Batista for the title. A women’s Battle Royal for a title shot ended up going to Kelly. Maryse was at ringside doing commentary. She’s become a great personality. The Battle Royal itself was terrible. It went only 2:31 and ended when Maryse sprayed something in James’ eyes. Kelly and James were the last two in the ring. Kelly didn’t see what happened but saw James lying there and knocked her off the apron to win. Women’s Battle Royals in WWE just mean you knock the person out of the ring. Santino pinned Chavo Guerrero in 3:33 with a jackknife cradle. I have never seen a personality that a company has so much confidence in on the mic and so little in the ring. I mean, they let Kozlov do matches and Santino can’t possibly be worse than Kozlov. But this entire match was played for comedy, I mean, not 15 seconds of trying to do a match. Chavo was humiliated about losing and said that Santina would be forced to wrestle his aunt Vickie later in the show. So Chavo is the booker now. Backstage, Miz hit on Maryse. She acted like he was a complete geek and so beneath her. Miz was bragging to her that he’s 4-0 against Cena while trying to hit on her. Yeah, I could have told him that line doesn’t work in real life. Backstage, Orton and Vickie had an argument. Orton didn’t like that he wasn’t even asked about being put in a cage match. He warned her that she needs to stay on his good side. Colons beat Kendrick & Goldust in 2:24 when Primo pinned Kendrick after a springboard crossbody. Goldust looks like he lost 50 pounds in the last year. You really can see the difference in so many people when it comes to performance and conditioning when they are in TNA vs. WWE. In TNA, the veterans all treat it like a joke, although Goldust would have had a better shot at keeping his job if he was in shape and didn’t have bad matches. Here, he doesn’t have good or bad matches, but at least he got in shape. The story here is that even though Kendrick was the one who got pinned clean, he blamed it all on Goldust being a weak partner. Hornswoggle showed up from under the ring and he and Goldust cleaned house on Kendrick. They have no ideas for Hornswoggle but feel the need to get him an appearance on every show. Miz came out and did a rap as Cena. Miz has been great of late, but the crowd was totally dead to this one. He had ultra-lame material and well, he’s not Cena and can’t pull it off. Instead of saying Word Life, he said Nerd Life, made remarks about Cena seeing Star Trek on opening night. Crowd wasn’t caring about this. He then challenged Cena again. Cena didn’t come out. It’s one thing when Cena is selling injuries, but he’s magically fine now and he still never comes out. He claimed he was now 5-0 against Cena. Lawler came out and gave a speech and said this was ridiculous, that just because you call someone out and they don’t come out, that doesn’t mean you beat them. Lawler then called out Batista, and when Batista didn’t come out, he said that doesn’t mean he just beat Batista. I hate to say this, but Lawler in the ring just the way he was dressed and looked, it was the first time he really looked like an old man. Lawler called out Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin. None of them came out. Why they mentioned Sammartino is beyond me as they were in Louisville. Hogan got a good reaction and Austin an even better one. He told Miz to ask Vickie Guerrero for a match with Cena. He said he would. Show came out and said he was getting a submission match with Cena at the next PPV so Miz was going to have to wait. Miz said that after Cena beat Show, he’d go after Cena. Show wasn’t happy, and Miz ran away, knocking Lawler down in the process. Show then put Lawler in a camel clutch, injuring him, because of the idea laying out Lawler in Louisville will at least get heat. And it did. Jim Ross came out to do the rest of the show. MVP kept the U.S. title pinning Matt Hardy in 5:15 after a playmaker. Matt did more than he’s done in recent weeks. It still wasn’t a match, but it was kind of like a match. Ross ripped on the Denver Nuggets. Backstage, Flair and Batista talked. Flair said he was going to call Orton out next week. Batista said that he’s Ric Flair and he’s the greatest wrestler of all-time and he’s got nothing left to prove. Flair took that as Batista thinking he was too old and couldn’t compete anymore, so he noted that he never wanted to retire, they retired him and he could still beat 90% of the guys in the locker room. Batista has something when he plays off Flair that he never has normally. Vickie Guerrero beat Santina to become Miss Wrestlemania. Another comedy match. We had the jokes about Jim Ross having an affair with Santina. Vickie didn’t do anything. Chavo worked spots with Santina after booker Chavo made it a no DQ match. Regal then attacked Santina and destroyed him, including an exploder suplex. Vickie then got the pin. She put on the crown and Wrestlemania sash and waved and strutted like she had just won Miss America. It was pretty funny. Main was a good match. Hot crowd and this crowd was 100% pro-Cena. Cena & Batista beat Orton & DiBiase & Rhodes in 14:45. They got heat on Batista first and exploded for Cena’s hot tag. Then they got heat on Cena for a long time. The only negative was the director missed every key shot leading to the finish. Anyway, here is what happened, most of which we didn’t see until a replay after it was over. Show came to the ring. Flair then raced down holding a chair. Cena came out and Flair handed off the chair to Cena, who chased Show to the back with it. This left Batista against three guys. Rhodes was on the top rope and Flair shoved him off. Orton tried to get Batista from behind but Flair alerted Batista to turn around, and he speared Orton and pinned him clean, which makes sense to build the title match (although then doing the exact same babyface challenger pins world champion finish on Smackdown continues the weekly pattern of them basically repeating ideas on two shows per week). There was a lot of what came across as filler, and too much comedy with characters they are going nowhere with. But as far as the key stuff goes, it was the best it’s been since the post-draft split.
Notes from the 5/19 tapings in Cincinnati. The show opened with a dark match. Seamus, who has dropped the O’Shaunnessy from his name, pinned Yang with a uranage. He cut a promo and said Finlay was a phony Irishman and was there to show people what a real Irish wrestler was. ECW opened with Swagger in the ring in a chair. He refused to leave unless he gets what he wanted, although like Tito Ortiz, it’s hard to know exactly what that is. He wanted the title back since Christian cheated to beat him. Referees came out and that did no good. He told the referees to get Blondie out. I didn’t know Debra Harry came to Cincinnati for the show. But it was Tiffany. I will say she is getting better, but she is also impossible to take seriously in that role. She told him to get out of the ring now in the sternest voice possible. I’d say her acting was right out of a porno, except there is a former porn star named Trina Michaels who is now managing in the Southwest and her promos are a thousand times. But she has absolutely improved 100% in the last three weeks. He explained that he’s going to be around a lot longer than she is. That’s a good bet unless he gets the MMA disease. He called her a temp, which was kind of funny. She was not pleased with this and ordered him in her office right now, because she has the power and if he doesn’t, he’ll never get an ECW title match again. And yes, he got up, slunk out of the ring and went to the back. Stampede Wrestling lives. Except Ed Whalen was reincarnated off the pages of Playboy in being the strongest babyface on the show and making the top heel on the show back down. Christian was coming to the ring for his match, and Swagger shoved him off the ramp and he “injured his knee.” This led to a Christian vs. Burchill match, where Burchill spent the match working the knee. Crowd was completely dead for this, even though there was nothing wrong with it other than these fans didn’t see Burchill as someone who can keep their attention for more than 3:00. There were a lot of near falls and Christian finally won with the killswitch in 7:46. Burchill isn’t bad at all, but in this day and age, unless they give you credibility, people don’t want to see you. Christian then said that he was going to make Swagger even madder, because his next title defense would be against Dreamer, since Dreamer never got a fair shot in Madison Square Garden and that his contract expires in a few weeks. If that wasn’t bad enough, backstage, Tiffany and Swagger were arguing and he told Swagger to go take a time out. Well, actually she said he had the night off. He wasn’t happy. Well, he was in Cincinnati. If this was Las Vegas, then it would have been harder to believe that he’d be mad. Ryder pinned Adam Green in 2:02. Striker explained Green is a master of Muay Thai. All the job guys now have made up credentials, or at least abilities that they never show. Ryder was pretty amusing in a ten years later Brian Christopher sort of way. He doesn’t have Brian’s charisma or talent, but it’s a safe bet he’s got him beat in the blowing your career category. He has a ring outfit with long tights on one leg and trunks on the other. It takes balls to wear something like that in public, but that outfit was screaming goofy prelim guy. He won with a leg lariat, followed by a move like a back stabber, except on the guy’s neck. But I don’t like the sound of neck stabber at all. It’s a cool finish. Matt Striker then explained “That guy is a tool.” I’m trying to think what guys started out as tools than ended up as stars. The Hart Foundation was backstage, and David noted that he was better than his father ever was. They were pushing that line in commentary. The good thing is, somebody up there likes him. Kozlov came out and did a promo wearing a Russian military outfit and talking Russian. He should do that every week on TV. The less he wrestles the better, but out in that uniform with that face and that voice, he’s a star. Helms announced Tiffany made the ruling that Christian vs. Dreamer is on Superstars. Dreamer did his “I’m about to cry” promo saying this may be his last chance ever to win the title. Main event was Smith pinning Finlay in 18:43. Harry came out to a Bret Hart entrance music remix. Well, at least now I know that watching those two hour main events in the 1920s must have felt like. This was just a bad idea. Technically, because of a similarity in the mentality of what pro wrestling is, these two should have clicked. And in a sense, from a technical standpoint, they did. Everything they did looked good, but nobody wanted to see what they were doing. They just exchanged holds forever. Striker tried to put it over by saying there was “a collective hush in this arena.” He also tried to tell a story that Finlay had legendary battles with Smith’s father in England (did he?) And he would be furious that Harry was disrespecting his father the way he was. Natalya got on the apron and Kidd tried to interfere, but Finlay knocked him to the floor. This allowed Natalya to give David her shoe and he clocked Finlay with it hard, hard enough to open a cut on his eye, and then pinned him after a Saito suplex, called, of all things, a Saito suplex. That won’t last. For Superstars in the ECW title match, Christian vs. Dreamer had no finish as Swagger ran in to attack both guys. Smackdown opened with an Edge promo. Edge got a lot of cheers, as well as a lot of boos. He came out and said that he proved he was the top star on Smackdown by pinning Jeff Hardy, and that since Hardy was pinned, he doesn’t deserve a rematch. Long came out and said that because Matt’s interference led to the finish, he disagrees about Jeff not deserving a rematch. Since it’s Extreme Rules, it’s all stipulation matches. Sounds like every TNA PPV. Jeff came out and said they should have a match on TV, and the winner picks the stip at Extreme Rules. Edge didn’t like the idea but Jeff went into the crowd asking people if they liked the idea, and that’s what’s happening. Ortiz is now a heel. Since nobody would have known about it, he cut a dark promo ripping on the city of Cincinnati, saying the economy sucks, the Bengals suck and they don’t even have a basketball team. Morrison & Cryme Tyme beat Benjamin & Haas & Ortiz when Morrison pinned Haas with the Starship pain. Melina did an interview saying she’s defending the title soon against the winner of the next match with McCool vs. Kim. Fox came out and said she’s giving Melina a message from McCool that the title is hers. Melina then said to relay back this message, and slapped Fox. McCool pinned Kim to be the top contender with the Styles clash. Mysterio did an interview saying he’s moved on past Jericho and wants to give IC title shots to the young guys. He then started talking about how sacred the mask is and what a disgrace it would be for him to let his face be exposed. Obviously they have to get that over since they are going to build the Jericho program in some form around the mask. Yeah, I know he wrestled for years in WCW and Mexico without his mask. He also said he would be a proud IC champ like other Latinos like Morales, Santana and Guerrero. Punk beat Jericho via DQ when Umaga interfered. Punk used a GTS. Umaga started whipping Punk with a strap, tied him to a corner, and Umaga did a promo challenging Punk to a strap match on TV. It’s so funny, they spent more than a year (I first heard about it before last year’s Mania) trying to come up with ideas to lead to Umaga speaking because you know, managers don’t work in 2009 because that’s old school Southern rasslin. And this is what they came up with. He just cut a promo. So we’re having a strap match between the two. Ortiz was doing a promo to Maria, who was blowing him off. Maria ran to Jeff to ask him what stip he would choose if he wins. Jeff said that it would be bad business to do so this early in the show. Actually he just implied that. Ortiz then said Maria was looking for love in all the wrong places. She blew him off a second time. Ziggler pinned R-Truth. After the match, we had another Khali attack of Ziggler and Ziggler ran into the crowd to get away. Jericho wanted a rematch with Mysterio for the title and Long announced it as a no holds barred match. Jeff Hardy pinned Edge clean with the swanton. Another really good match. Lots of Edge fans as they did the dueling “Let’s go Hardy, Let’s Go Edge.” The Hardy chants were mainly children. But by the end, the crowd was solidly behind Hardy. After the match, Hardy said that he wanted a ladder match. The advertised dark match was Hardy & Mysterio vs. Jericho & Edge, but since Hardy and Edge had just wrestled, they just did a cage match for the IC title with Mysterio beating Jericho by climbing out of the cage to win.
Notes from the 5/15 Smackdown show. Smackdown continues to be, and at this point by leaps and bounds, the best wrestling show in the U.S. For a show that was being re-done on the fly, it ended up not having any of the continuity problems shows not planned usually have. Morrison & Punk beat Benjamin & Haas. Grisham had a funny line when noting that Haas used to work at Goldman Sachs, saying that maybe if he was still working there they wouldn’t be bankrupt. The one thing here surprising is that it being Smackdown, there were a couple of botched spots that weren’t edited out. The worst was Punk missing on a dropkick and Benjamin (I think) sold it anyway. The crowd momentarily groaned, but with so many more kids and women and less long-time fans, they aren’t as critical and literally they forgot about it a second later. Match was well laid out and a great finish, ending with the Starship pain by Morrison on Haas. Jericho talked about the conspiracy against him. He promised he would win the IC title at Judgment Day. Heels are allowed to promise and be wrong. He wanted Mysterio to come out but Edge came out instead. Edge was cheered more but really the crowd didn’t know how to react. Edge noted that while Jericho is going for his 9th IC title win, he already has nine world title wins. Edge then wanted Jeff Hardy to come out. Instead, it was Teddy Long who announced the two for the main event. The crowd pop really wasn’t that great although the announcers sold it big like it was a special match. Jeff Hardy pinned Ortiz. Ortiz did a stereotypical babyface promo, asking fans to support him, and then heeled on Hardy. He got most of the offense in until a twist of fate and swanton. Melina & Kim beat Fox & McCool when Melina pinned McCool with the infared. Even though Kim isn’t over at all compared to in TNA, the quality of the women’s matches on Smackdown are blowing away Impact and Raw, and Fox didn’t look out of place at all with this company. Ziggler pinned Yang. His new finisher is like a flying backwards neckbreaker. Kind of like a reverse twist of fate. That kind of move has the potential to be an over finisher. Ziggler has a good look and a good delivery, but I think it’s going to take him some time to get over. Partially because WWE has this attitude that people need to get over on their own, and it’s pretty difficult trying to get over without booking help. Khali came out and grabbed Ziggler from the ring and palmed his head and threw him to the floor. Backstage, Cryme Tyme was pumping up Eve Torres to go after Layla, saying Layla said this and that about her. Eve finally had enough and while Layla was sitting in the make-up chair, she poured a whole box of powder over her head. They rolled around on the floor until Cryme Tyme pulled them off. JTG was grabbing Eve for all he was worth. That was hilarious watching. Shad at least was giving the impression of making an honest try to not do so with Layla. Edge vs. Jericho was a good main event. Ref Scott Armstrong DQ’d Jericho for bringing the chair into the ring, although Edge kicked the chair. Jeff Hardy ran in and gave Edge a twist of fate on the chair and a swanton, followed by a plancha on Jericho. Edge was laid out in the ring when Punk came down with a ref to cash in his Money in the Bank. But Umaga came in. Punk gave him two shots with the briefcase and a plancha. Jeff speared Edge. Jericho was leaving and then Mysterio came out and attacked him. This was the complete opposite of Raw on Monday, which left me less interested in the PPV then when I started. This made you think you’d get some good action on the PPV.
A few people noted what a surprising amount of heat the Smith & Wilson beatdown of Finlay got on ECW, and we’re told there was even more heat in the arena than it came off on television. It was seen as a big positive for Smith, whom everyone likes but was regarded as not projecting his personality well. There are people with high hopes of them as a unit, plus with the idea that since Natalya is a real worker, she can have good timing on interference and bump taking. There is also a heel dynamic of Wilson, the smaller guy, talking big, and having Smith in the background as his backup.
Kozlov is getting good agent reports from his matches on the road with Finlay, with the idea he’s starting to pick up concepts. He’s a good athlete, he just came into the business with no idea of what it was and no background and started well into his 30s. There are people who have started older and been good (Badnews Allen comes to mind) but the younger you start learning the better off you are.
The Edge vs. Jeff Hardy cage match on that show after taping Superstars, ECW and Smackdown, was only 4:00.
For whatever reason, Vince was really on Michael Cole’s case bad on the 5/11 Raw.
The reason WWE still hasn’t purchased the Mid South tape collection owned by Ene Watts (Bill’s ex-wife) is the sides are far apart on a purchase price.
WWE will be doing three touring shows on the weekend of 7/31 to 8/2. I believe that’s the weekend of the annual tent shows in Massachusetts that are in 2,500-seat buildings, so they are splitting the Smackdown crew in half with one show headlined by the IC champ and ECW champ and the other by the World champ. Raw will run a regular tour.
Pro wrestling and MMA titles in the top ten best selling DVDs in the 5/23 issue of Billboard: 1. WWE Greatest Stars of the 90s; 2. UFC Best of 2008; 3. UFC 92 Nogueira vs. Mir; 5. TNA Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain (moves up from 15th to 5th in week three); 6. TNA Cross the Line Volume 2; 7. UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar; 8. WWE Best of Raw 15th Anniversary; 10. WWE Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Good showing for TNA since their DVDs rarely stay top ten past a week and Cross the Line was in its fourth week and the Jarrett DVD was in its third week. Part of the reason for so many UFC and TNA is there are no major new WWE releases of late other then Greatest Stars of the 90s.
Punk was more politically astute this week in a Sky Sports interview, as when asked the best match he ever had, he didn’t talk about the obvious matches with Samoa Joe, but mentioned the 2008 Money in the Bank match, and singles matches with Edge and Morrison as his best matches.
Orton did an interview with The Sun on a variety of subjects. When asked about the Mania match not getting over, he said, “This was a storyline where HHH needed retribution. He needed to beat the living piss out of me because of what I did. I handcuffed him and made him watch while I beat up his wife and then kissed her when she was unconscious. Then to top it off afer I do that, I knock him out with a sledge hammer to the head. I kick his father-in-law in the skull and put him in the hospital, and do the same to his brother-in-law. I think when all that happens and then you have this match where he can’t be disqualified or he loses the title, you kind of screw yourself. We were not able to do everything that the other guys were able to do. Matt and Jeff Hardy had a hardcore no-holds-barred match. They were able to use all the bells and whistles to beat the hell out of each other. Everyone was expecting HHH and I to do the same, but we had rules that put a fence around everything we were able to do. We weren’t able to go to the extreme. If anything hurt us, it was that.” But he said he was happy with the match, blaming the problems on the good matches before them and the restraints put on them. When asked about Manu, he said: “Manu had some respect issues. There are a lot of different reasons he wasn’t good for Legacy, but the reason he’s not with the company anymore had a lot to do with his backstage attitude. His father was the great Afa, of the Wild Samoans, and Manu had been in the ring since his early teens. Now, in his early 20s, technically he’s been in the ring for more than a decade, but not really. Really he’d only been in the business a month by the time I knew him. He carried himself like he had been in the business for 15 years. He thought he knew everything. He thought he deserved a first-class seat when we went overseas. He thought he didn’t have to pick up in the locker room after the show was over, like the new guys do. He didn’t feel like he had to pay his dues, because he’d already paid them. What he doesn’t understand is that wrestling once a week for ten years doesn’t count. When wrestling is all you do, when everyone in the world knows who you are and you’ve held titles and main evented PPVs, that’s when you start to get to the point where you might deserve a little something extra. I don’t think he applied himself in the gym or when it came to his die. He just thought, `Hey, my dad is Afa, the Wild Samoan, the Wild Samoan, so I get a job. I deserve to be here.” He said if he was asked who should be added to Legacy, it would be Harry Smith, but said right now he thinks everything is fine. Orton also spoke to the Daily Star largely on his role grooming Orton and DiBiase, comparing it to Flair and HHH grooming him several years ago. “Now Cody and Ted’s careers are effectively in my hands. They have some degrees of control too, but the fact is if I got back to old selfish ways, it’s not gonna help them at all.” He noted that Rhodes & DiBiase had a big day on Raw on 5/11 because they were in multiple segments. As a father, he noted the difference in the current WWE scheduled as compared with the schedule his father, as well as Rhodes & DiBiase’s fathers, did in the 80s. “They were gone two months at a time. I’m gone maybe four or five days at a time and I’m home at least a couple of days a week. I’m at home now. If we tour overseas, I’m gone for maybe two weeks at worst, but then we get extra days off. WWE are very good about family and getting us home. I think I’m better off than most typical husbands and fathers who work 9-to-5. I get to see my family for two full days a week a least.” . . The announcement that Chris Hemsworth has gotten the lead role in “Thor,” a 2011 summer release movie, ends the hopes of HHH for the role, which had been talked about for years. His name has been linked as a possibility for years, because of his work with some of the same people involved in doing “Blade: Trinity,” but he was never really close to getting the role. As I recall from talks a year or two back on it, there was one person involved in decision making that liked him and everyone else was pretty strongly negative, feeling he lacked acting experience, they didn’t want to work with WWE, he’s a wrestler, etc.
In a follow-up to notes from last week, when WWE advertises house shows, they push the bottom ticket price hard, such as “You can see a live Raw TV taping for only $20,” and are using the best bargain in entertainment as an advertising theme.
A correction from last week’s issue. Rachel Carr, the model, is training at FCW five days a month but has not signed a WWE developmental contract yet. She’s training in between acting and body double gigs in Hollywood so hasn’t made the full commitment. If she’s getting steady work in Hollywood, it’s going to be tough to give that up given that developmental deals in most cases are not much money.
WWE will be coming to Mexico after next week’s tour, both in September and October. September will be a Smackdown tour of South America that ends with a show in Mexico, with dates 9/23 and 9/24 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 9/25 in Guatemala City and 9/26 in Guadalajara. There will also be a Raw tour in October with one show in Monterrey, one show in Puebla and a Friday and Saturday night show at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City.
Mysterio will be doing a show on 6/19 in Tijuana. It’s a benefit show to help pay for his uncle’s back surgery. WWE won’t allow him to wrestle on the show, but he will be signing autographs.
Cena got some pub on 5/22 when attending the Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic playoff game in Orlando. Cena was given a court side seat next to Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, who then got him a souvenir jersey to wear. When people who work for the Magic saw him wearing the Celtics jersey, they told him that if he wanted to stay in his court side seat, he was going to have to put a Magic jersey on. Cena was apparently unhappy about it, but put on the Magic jersey. Man, that sounds like people who went to WWF shows in the 80s and early 90s and were wearing the wrong T-shirts. It was noted in a Boston Herald story that the Magic may have only been joking (in the WWF, they were not joking) but Cena didn’t test them. However, he managed to get a felt-tip pen and a piece of paper and wrote his own sign that read, “Leave the Magic at Disney,” and held up the sign when the cameras were on him.
The Unforgiven PPV has been set for 9/13 in Montreal.
WWE has sent out letters to cable companies telling them the 6/28 PPV in Sacramento should be marketed as just “The Bash” and not “The Great American Bash.” WWE has also on its web site changed the name. The change is because they believe WWE is a worldwide brand, and hence, the problem was with the word “American.” That’s interesting if only because Americans vs. Foreigners and getting fans to chant “USA” has been part of the wrestling business since the beginning of time (well, the chant came from the 1980 U.S. vs. Russia Hockey game, but the marketing gimmick dates back more than 100 years).
Joey Styles doesn’t like our president. A lot. On his twitter account, he wrote, “The University of Notre Dame should be ashamed of themselves for having pro-abortion President Obama speak at their graduation.” He also wrote, “Even those misled Americans who voted for the Marxist Barack Hussein Obama are invited to join the Judgment Day Live Chat.” Styles is a pretty far to the right republican, and his feelings on the president are now a secret in WWE. Vince isn’t a big fan of the president privately, although he would never to politically incorrect to the point of going public on that issue. He just allows people like Matt Striker to make comments that he wouldn’t allow if it was a different politician. McMahon is outspoken in meetings and on the plane, and those close to the situation believed this will only get Styles over more with Vince anyway.
Benjamin did an interview in the Cincinnati Enquirer noting that he thinks, said, in the good company answer, “A lot of people, when they think of pro wrestling, still think of the 80s and earlier, and within the last 20 years, pro wrestling has been completely transformed, especially with all the behind the scenes being exposed. I think a lot of people look at pro wrestling as what it used to be and not what it is. In years to come, people will have a better understanding of what we do now, and we’ll be judged by our standards today later on. It’s one of those things that pro wrestling’s been around for so long, it’s not going to be an easy transition. To me, pro wrestlers are the toughest athletes, period. And I say this very proudly, and I say this because unlike any other sport or entertainment profession, we don’t have an off-season. If you’re in sports, you have an off-season. If you’re in television, you have a certain number of weeks where you shoot your show and then you’re off to another project or whatever.” He said African Americans have come a long way. That one I’d agree with because African-Americans in wrestling these days are simply people, whereas the prior generation they were all promoted in stereotypical manner. He said his goal is when he retires he wants to be known as one of the top ten wrestlers of all-time. That’s very unlikely to be happening.
The New York Yankees in the clubhouse this season are passing around a replica WWE title match which is given to the star player after each game. The Chicago White Sox did that a few seasons ago with a TNA title belt. Johnny Damon, a big wrestling fan, was behind the idea and it got a lot of press in New York this past week.
The only weekend house show was a tri-branded show on 5/16 in Bloomington, IL, which drew 5,000. Funny that the local newspaper ran a story and noted it was the first pro wrestling event at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum (and WWE was promoting it as the first time they had run in the city). However, TNA ran the arena about a year ago. Punk pinned Benjamin. Punk got a big reaction coming out, with people taking him like he was a local star. Kidd pinned Bourne due to interference of Smith. Very good match. There were fans familiar with the storyline and knew who Smith was, although most didn’t. Sheamus O’Shaunnessy, who nobody knew nor should have, pinned Yang. Colons beat DiBiase & Rhodes via DQ in a tag title match. Slow match, although crowd did pop big for Primo’s hot tag. DiBiase hit Primo with a chair for the DQ. Bella Twins beat Phoenix & Mendes. Bad match which dragged. Finish saw Hornswoggle come out and distract Phoenix, who chased him to the back, allowing Mendes to get schoolgirled. R-Truth pinned Ziggler in a good match crowd was into. Christian pinned Swagger in the best match of the show. Main was Jeff Hardy & Batista & Cena over Show & Edge & Orton when Cena pinned Show with the Attitude Adjustment. Show and Edge got a good percentage of cheers, as did Orton. As has been the case, Cena didn’t acknowledge or work as if he was injured. HHH was originally advertised for the main event. Batista wasn’t in the original advertising as originally Batista wasn’t going to do house shows until June, but with Michaels and HHH out, he went back full-time immediately.