THE EAST COAST INDY WRESTLING UPDATE #15, by John (Friday, November 7, 2003)

Table of Contents:

- SOURCES
- EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATTIONAL INDIES NEWS
- MISC. EAST COAST INDY TIDBITS
- UPCOMING EAST COAST INDY EVENT SHILLSS
- COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING (CZW) NEWS
- IWA MID-SOUTH HARDCORE WRESTLING (IWAA-MS) NEWS
- MAJOR LEAGUE WRESTLING (MLW) NEWS
> - NWA-TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION (NWA-TNA) NEEWS
- NWA WILDSIDE NEWS
- RING OF HONOR (ROH) NEWS
- XTREME PRO WRESTLING (XPW) NEWS
- MULTIMEDIA OF THE WEEK
- SHILLS OF THE WEEK

SOURCES

1Wrestling.com, Bob Barnett, CZWWrestling.com, Evan Ginzberg, Gerweck.net, IWAMidSouthWrestling.com, JAPW.net, Jeremy Borash, Masanori Horie, TheSmartMarks.com, MLW.com, NWATNA.com, NWA-Wildside.com, PuroresuFan.com, PWBTS.com, PWTorch, ROHWrestling.com, Wade Keller, Wrestling Observer, XPWTV.com

Abbreviations used in this edition...

CWT - (the) promotion's Cruiserweight (title)
HWT - Heavyweight
JHWT - Junior Heavyweight
LHWT - Light Heavyweight
LWT - Lightweight
Tourney - Tournament
TT - Tag Team
TV - Television

EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATIONAL INDIES NEWS

- D'Lo Brown, Mike "The Gladiator" Awesome, Jeremy Lopez, Malice (a.k.a. Gigantes), Bull Buchanan, and international stars Dr. Wagner Jr. and Silver King are all currently touring with All Japan. Jimmy Yang was scheduled to work on the tour, but his appearances were cancelled due to his recent signing of a WWE developmental deal.
- England's XWrestling recently announcced that it had signed CZW tag team Nick Berk & Z-Barr to compete on its "Revolution" show in April 2004. This will be both wrestlers' debuts in England. Berk told XWrestling that "It's a pleasure to finally get to wrestle in England. I'm looking forward to showing my talents to a new country." Also on the Revolution show will be Road Warrior Animal (Road Warrior Hawk was scheduled to appear on the show, but won't due to his recent death), Ted DiBiase, Big Vito, Reckless Youth/Tom Carter, and many others.
- On the 10/24 All-Star Promotions showw in Salisbury, England, P.N. Neuz beat "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, but Danielson won the main event Battle Royal. Also on the show, Jonny Storm beat Dean Allmark.
- Several participants in All Japan's RReal World Tag League 2003 event have been announced, and among them are the debuting Jamal (Ekmo in NWA-TNA and T.A.F.K.A. Jamal in WWE) & Justin Credible, as well as Gigantes (Malice) & Bull Buchanan, TAKA Michinoku & D'Lo Brown, and La Parka (the original one [Adolfo Tapia], the one that worked in WCW) & NOSAWA, who will competing under a mask as "Parka Guerrera." NOSAWA competed briefly in AJPW last year under the guise of "Dark Guerrera."
- IWA-MS' 2 Tuff Tony and Madman Pondo continue touring with Big Japan, while Super Crazy is working on a series of New Japan shows and Juventud Guerrera is competing in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Steve Corino, L.A. (Los Angeles) Giant, Justin McCulley, and Josh Dempsey are currently wrestling on the ZERO-ONE tour that began this past Wednesday (11/5). Low Ki's previously scheduled bookings for the tours have been cancelled. Speaking of Ki, his past appearances in the promotion hasn't sparked a contract offer from ZERO-ONE, contrary to recent rumors that have stated otherwise. Meanwhile, Homicide and Guillotine LeGrande will work in ZERO-ONE later this month and CZW's Nick Gage and John Zandig will return to the promotion for the final two "hardcore"-themed shows that are being booked by Kintaro Kanemura next month (December).
- "American Dragon" Bryan Dannielson will return to NJPW when he competes in the promotion's "BATTLE FINAL 2003" tour, which will last from 11/24 to 12/14. Besides being scheduled to compete vs. - among others - Jushin Thunder Liger (in a tag team match, nonetheless), Danielson will team with Katsushi Takemura to participate in the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament that will occur on selected shows throughout the tour.
- Two IWA-MS stars and one of the promootion's former performers will compete on upcoming Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) events in Germany. On 1/31/04, 11 months after their famous rematch in IWA-MS, Chris Hero and C.M. Punk will face off against each other in a rematch of *that* rematch and like in their last match, the stipulation will make their bout a ONE HOUR LONG IRONMAN MATCH. Hero has been working for wXw and other promotions in Germany during the last few months, while Punk - besides serving as a powerful figure in ROH and NWA-TNA - made his debut in England a few weeks ago for the FWA. This is guaranteed to be quite a contest and it most certainly will not disappoint. 1/31 will be The Night Hero Met Punk...Again.

Also, Jimmy "The Barbaric Berzerker" Jacobs - another IWA-MS star (and recent CZW debutee, also) - will wrestle in Germany for the first time in his career, as he competes on the 12/27 wXw show.

MISC. EAST COAST INDY TIDBITS:

- None other than ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING will come to the US to hold a mini-tour throughout the East Coast! The first show on the tour will be an interpromotional supercard featuring stars from both AJPW AND Ring of Honor. That show - which will be promoted under the ROH banner as "Final Battle 2" - will occur on 12/27 at the National Guard Armory in Philadelphia, PA. The current card for that show is: AJPW TT Titles - The Great Muta (a.k.a. Keji Muto) (making his in-ring return to the US!)/Arashi (c) vs. Chris Daniels/Dan Maff); Homicide vs. Satoshi Kojima; AJ Styles vs. Kaz Hayashi; CM Punk/Colt Cabana vs. Tomoaki Honma/Kazushi Miyamoto; Samoa Joe, Izzy/Dixie, "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, The Briscoes, Xavier, Matt Stryker, John Walters, BJ Whitmer, Backseat Boyz, Carnage Crew, Justin Credible, Special K, Slyk Wagner Brown, and April Hunter will also appear. Also, Josh Daniels will compete on this show, having decided earlier this week to work this show rather than the 3PW (which is also in Philly) one, which he was previously booked for. Before this show, ROH will hold a fan convention (it will cost $5 for admission), which will feature appearances by both ROH and AJPW stars. For ticket info, please visit ROHWrestling.com.

The very next night (12/28), AJPW's tour will continue, as it participates in an interpromotional show, entitled "Texas Explosion 2003," with Texas indy promotion River City Wrestling in San Antonio, TX at the Westside YMCA. That show will feature: AJPW TT titles - Muta/Arashi (c) vs. Pete Lothario & ?, an RCW title defense by champion and Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy graduate Jeromy Sage, Kojima vs. Krusher Kong (formerly of WCW's Awesome Kongs), Hayashi vs. ROH's Homicide, Honma/Miyamoto vs. Biohazard (the former-ROH performer)/Blue Angel, and more action featuring Great Koji and others. A Fan-Fest event will be held before the show. Please visit RiverCityWrestling.net for more info.
- Please visit SSCWWrestling.com for moore info on the recently-formed agreement between Stars & Stripes Championship Wrestling and Weiss Wrestling Promotions that wi ll allow for SSCW PPVs to air in both the U.S. and Canada in the future.
- Josh Prohibition suffered a broken annkle while participating in a training session this past Wednesday. His spot in the IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational Tournament (which begins tonight) has been filled by Ian Rotten.
- For more info on the re-location of WWalter "Killer" Kowalski's highly-acclaimed pro wrestling training school, please visit KillerKowalskis.com and/or ChaoticTC.com.
- Joe Blackburn's Heritage Wrestling Allliance (XPW's former-"developmental territory") will resume running shows in 2004 at the Murphy Recreation Center in Philly.
- According to Evan Ginzberg, Californiia-based independent filmmaker Dwayne Walker's documentary about the U.S. indy wrestling scene is in the final stages of editing and will be released soon. The documentary includes appearances by Ginzberg, Louie Ramos, Homicide, Nikolai Volkoff, Nikita Breznikov, Don Arnold, Kid USA, Frankie Starz, LXW co-owner and former-XPW executive Slash, Mambo King, Steve the Teacher, Tiger Khan and more.
- A new independent wrestling promotionn called the Eastern Wrestling Alliance has formed in Baltimore, MD. In addition to running shows in the area, it owns a wrestling training school. Free tryouts for the school are being offered Monday thru Thursday from 6 - 7 pm. For more information, call 443-858-2755 and check out the promotion's web site at EWAMD.com.
- NON-EAST COAST INDY WRESTLING TIDBIT:: On the 10/22 Ultimate Pro Wrestling Possession show in Santa Ana, CA, several MAJOR names were added to the upcoming UPW 5th Anniversary Show that is scheduled to occur on 12/17/03. Firstly Sylvester "The Predator" Turkay said that he wanted to do something special for the 12/17 show, so he challenged Ken Shamrock to a match on it. Shamrock came out and cut a promo, saying that he accepted the match.

Later on in the show, a three-man match between Frankie Kazarian (UPW Lightweight champ), Mikey Henderson, and LOW KI (making his UPW debut and only his third West Coast appearance EVER [at least to my knowledge; his first two were vs. Super Dragon in MPW and four matches at the 2001 APW King of the Indies Tourney] for the UPW Lightweight Title. That match will also occur on the anniversary show.

After the show's main event ended, a match for the anniversary show was booked betweek Tom Howard and none other than STING for Howard's UPW Heavyweight title. So, on the 12/17 show, Sting will return to the California territory in which he began his legendary career.

Evan Marriott a.k.a. Joe Millionaire also made his return to UPW on the 10/22 show and cut a promo and participated in a runin after the main event.

UPCOMING EAST COAST INDY EVENT SHILLS

- The second Lucha Xtreme Wrestling (LXWrestling.com) show (11/15; Jamaica, Queens, NY): Chi Chi Cruz/All Money Is Legal vs. Los Lunatics; Josh Prohibition vs. Vic Grimes (winner faces Supreme and Corporal Robinson in a three-way match for the Suicide Title); Shark Boy vs. Zokre; Scorpio Jr. vs. Justin Credible; Angel vs. Justice Pain; Mexico's Most Wanted (Damien 666/Halloween) vs. The Aerial Express (QuickSilver/Scorpio Sky); a one-night, eight-man, single-elimination tourney to crown the inaugural LXW HWT Champion, with Shocker vs. Ultimo Guerrero already announced(!!!); appearances by Phoenix Star, TARO, Supreme, Smoke Dawg (formerly Smokey Charmichael), Grimm Reefer, AWC, and The Solution!
- Also on 11/15, several East Coast inddy stars will compete on the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla "An Inch Longer Than Average" show in LA, CA: *M-Dogg 20 (a.k.a. Matt Cross)* vs. Jardi Frantz; Non-title - Hardkore Kidd vs. ROH World HWT champ *Samoa Joe*; Adam Pearce vs. *Colt Cabana*; HWT title - *Frankie Kazarian* (c) vs. ROH star American Dragon (a.k.a. Bryan Danielson) (making his So-Cal return).
- Mega Championship Wrestling's "AA Night of Champions" 6th Anniversary Show (11/15; Elyria, OH): a Bullrope Match; defenses of the MCW US, LHWT, Brass Knuckles, and TT titles; action featuring GANGREL, J-Rocc, Sebastian Dark, and Adam Cage.
- Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW) (11/22; Viking Hall in South Philly, PA): TLC Match(!) for the HWT title - Justin Credible (c) vs. Sabu; Ian Rotten vs. Juggalo Championsh*t Wrestling's Rudeboy (debuting in 3PW); Homicide vs. Xavier; appearances by Gary Wolfe, Jasmin St. Claire, Tod Gordon, Roadkill, Blue Meanie, Rob Eckos, Striker, Monsta Mack, Nick Berk, Damian Adams, Ricky Vega, and CJ O' Doyle.
- Next Generation Wrestling "Underr the Influence" (SUNDAY; Peoria, IL): an appearance by NWA-TNA and IWA-PR's Abyss, NGW Hall of Fame Induction - Psycho Sam Cody; defenses of the NGW HWT and TT titles and a three-way match that is part of the NGW LHWT title tourney.
- Premier Wrestling Alliance "Forssaken" (SUNDAY; Oliver Springs, TN): the HWT and Ironman titles will be defended; Ryan Phoenix returns to PWA.
- Cleveland All Pro Wrestling (SUNDAY; Cleveland, OH): DREAM MATCH - Raven vs. AJ Styles; a TNA Grudge Match between Julio Dinero and Sinn; a 20-man Battle Royal; defenses of the CAPW HWT, JHWT, and TV titles; action featuring Adam Cage, Chad Collyer, M-Dogg 20, and NWA-TNA's Tracey Brooks. Also, Jerry Lynn, Michael Shane, Dinero, and Chris Hamrick will compete on the 12/7 CAPW show.
- Stars & Stripes Championship Wresstling "Hell-O-Ween II" (TONIGHT; Cedar Grove, NJ): Bam Bam Bigelow (returning to wrestling after a short hiatus) and D'Lo Brown will be in action; 30 Minute Iron Man match for the HWT title - Rob Eckos (c) vs. Damian Adams (Special Ref: Josh Daniels); Submission Match for the Woman's Title - Tara Charisma (c) vs. Alicia; Double Ladder/Loser Leaves Town match - Danny Demanto vs. Kevin Matthews; Tradition Cup tourney - two one-on-one semifinal matches and a one-on-one final round match to crown the inaugural SSCW Tradition Cup champ; LHWT title - Dan Barry (c) vs. PlaZma; TT titles - Shaolin Wrecking Crew (c) vs. Rhode Island Elite; Hybred (Dan Gimondo/Bryan Wenzel) vs. Mystery Team; 20-man Battle Royal.
- New Age Wrestling Federation (TOMORROOW; Fairfield, CT): AJ Styles vs. Mike Quackenbush; Rick Fuller vs. Don Montoya; Connecticut Cup - Xavier vs. John Brooks vs. Justice; Spider vs. Gran Akuma; TT titles - Blind Rage/Hallowicked vs. UltraMantis/Rohrschach; Danny Doring vs. J-Busta; Iron Eagle vs. Genesis; Bert Centano/Bad Leroy vs. Jose Perex/BS Eddy; Luis Ortiz vs. Ray Jack; Nocturne vs. Chris Venom. I'll be at this show and I'm really looking forward to it.
- Heartland Wrestling Association "t;Clark County Rumbles" w/ proceeds benefiting Northeastern High School Band (TOMORROW; Springfield, OH): featuring the "Militia" stable, a women's match, defenses of the HWA European and CWT titles, and more.
- Delaware Championship Wrestling (TOMOORROW; Harrington, DE): HWT title - Chris Hamrick vs. Justice Pain; The Briscoe Brothers vs. S.A.T/(!!!); TT titles - Pain Syndicate (Red Hot Russ/Jeff Rocker) vs. Scotty Charisma/Dragonfly; "I Quit" Match - Kendal Kodine- vs. Johnny Thundar; Julio Dinero/Francine vs. Dylan Kage/Talia; Chain & Dog Collar match - Glenn Osbourne vs. Vic Divine.
- NWA East (TOMORROW; McKeesport, PA): a 5-way Lucha-style match between Lance Dayton, Chris Taylor, Unknown, Virus, and Neil Nitro; Scott Venom picks a mystery opponent for Dash Bennett; defenses of the NWA East HWT, TT, Three Rivers, and Brass Knuckles titles.
- FWA Carolinas/Carolina Wrestling Fedeeration (TOMORROW; Burlington; NC): a Loser Leaves Town for 60 Days tag team match; defenses of the Carolinas HWT and CWT titles.
- East Coast Wrestling Association (11//8; Wilmington, DE): HWT title - Chris Daniels (c) vs. Mike Kruel; First-ever WAR GAMES match in ECWA history - Royal Decision (Prince Nana/Ace Darling/Striker/Tyler Payne/E.S. Easton/Mystery Partner) vs. Team 1614 (Cheetah Master/Louie Faraone/Big Mike Allen/Bryan Russo/Jack Murphy/Chris Scarborough); "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. John Walters; TT titles - Maxx Brothers (c) vs. The Valedvictorians (Billy Bax/Rob Eckos); Prince Nana vs. Mega; "Run for the Gold" Battle Royal w/ the winners receiving a TT title shot in January 2004 - The French Connection, Freak Nastys, Inferno/Ruffhouse Rivera, Nick Malakai/Japanese Pool Boy, Shaolin Wrecking Crew, and Zaquary Springgate/Mozart Fontaine; Xero vs. Cyco; Mr. Ooh La La/The French Connection vs. Inferno/Ruffhouse Rivera/Big Benny Stolzfus.
- The 6th Anniversary Jersey All Pro Wrrestling (JAPW.net) show (TOMORROW; Secaucus, NJ): No DQ/No Countout match - RAVEN (subbing for Terry Funk)/SABU vs. Homicide/Dan "Mafia" Maff; HWT title - Al Snow (c) vs. Jerry Lawler, (Special Guest Referee: MICK FOLEY[!!!]); TT titles - April Hunter/Slyk Wagner Brown (c) vs. The D.R.S. vs. H Effect; County Whippin' Match for the TV title - Crazy Ivan (c) vs. Jay Lethal; LHWT title - Azrieal (c) vs. Insane Dragon; Six-Man Best of the Light Heavyweights match - CZW's Ruckus vs. NWA-FL's Roderick Strong vs. Neo Spirit Pro Wrestling (Canada)'s Derek Wylde vs. Mystery Opponent. Also, JAPW recently announced the first match for its 12/13 show in Rahway, NJ - Chris Daniels vs. AJ Styles. Tickets for that show will go on sale this weekend at tomorrow's event.
- Hardway Wrestling (TONIGHT; Northamptton, PA): The Backseat Boyz return to Hardway, as Trent Acid wrestles Julio Dinero and Johnny Kashmere wrestles the debuting Robert X; a CZW feud comes to Hardway, as Nick Berk defends his Hardway HWT title vs. Adam Flash; TT titles - Hungarian Barbarian/Billy Redwood (c) vs. Mongoose/Rockin' Rebel; Triangle TT match, featuring the Big Boned Brothers; Dirty Deeds defends his Hardcore title vs. an opponent of Commissioner RC's choice.
- For the cards to All Japan Pro Wrestlling's upcoming US tour, please scroll up to the Misc. East Coast Indy News section.

COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING (CZW) NEWS

- After its successful showing with "Shockwave," CZW - in conjunction with Nu-Wrestling Federation - will hold its second event in Italy, entitled "Aftershock," on 3/26/04. More info will be released in the coming months.
- According to 1Wrestling.com, relationns between CZW management and Backseat Boy member Johnny Kashmere have improved greatly and it is possible that he will return to the promotion in the near future. Kashmere quit CZW after the 9/13 Viking Hall show due to frustration regarding his role in the company
- The Backseat Boyz, Adam Flash, Nick BBerk, and Rockin' Rebel will compete on tonight's Hardway Wrestling show in Northampton, PA, the full card for which can be found a few lines above.
- 1W is also reporting that that CZW maanagement currently hopes for "Sick" Nick Mondo to be able to return next month (December) from hand surgery, but there's no news on how realistic a propsect this may be. Also, part two of the trailer of the upcoming "Nick Mondo: Unscarred" documentary is available for download on NickMondo.com.
- John Zandig and Nick Gage will returnn to ZERO-ONE in December for the final two "hardcore"-themed shows that are being booked by Kintaro Kanemura.
- Nick Berk & Z-Barr are gaining a lot of press lately. England's XWrestling recently announced that it had signed the CZW tag team to compete on its "Revolution" show in April 2004. This will be both wrestlers' debuts in England. Berk told XWrestling that "It's a pleasure to finally get to wrestle in England. I'm looking forward to showing my talents to a new country." Also on the Revolution show will be Road Warrior Animal (Hawk was scheduled to appear, but obviously won't due to his recent death), Ted DiBiase, Big Vito, Reckless Youth/Tom Carter, and many others. Also, Z-Barr is rumored to be working for NWA-TNA next month (November). Plus, Z-Barr is asking fans of himself and Berk to e-mail him at [email protected] with suggestions for what they think their tag team name should be.
- CZW will return to Viking Hall in Souuth Philly on 11/15 for "Night of Infamy 2," which will feature: Double Dog Collar match w/ Zandig as Special Guest Ref - Nick Gage/Wifebeater (making his CZW in-ring return) vs. Nate Hatred/Messiah; Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Chris Hero vs. Homicide; Sonjay Dutt/Ruckus vs. Derek Frazier/Rockin' Rebel; Z-Barr/Nick Berk vs. The Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz (making their in-ring CZW debuts); B-Boy vs. Jimmy Rave (winner wrestles Trent Acid for the Ironman Title at Cage of Death V); Aerial Assault Match - Deranged vs. AngelDust (ROH) / Azriel (JAPW).
- Rebel's Army stable member and originnal WWE Tough Enough participant Greg "Tough Enough" Matthews has been sidelined with an ankle injury for 3-6 weeks.
- Ruckus will compete in the junior heaavyweight challenge match on tomorrow's JAPW Sixth Anniversary Show in Secaucus, NJ. The full card for the show can be found above in the Upcoming Event Shills section.
- Tickets for CZW Cage of Death V (scheeduled for Saturday, 12/13/03 at Viking Hall) can be reserved by going to http://www.czwwrestling.com/Tickets/cod5.html . A 1,000,000 Thumbtacks match is already being promoted for this event.
- Dover, DE - home of CZW's Racks &; Billiards event venue - has enacted legislation that has banned CZW from running shows there anymore.

IWA MID-SOUTH HARDCORE WRESTLING (IWA-MS) NEWS

- The long-awaited second annual IWA-MS "Ted Petty Invitational" Sweet Science Tournament will begin TONIGHT and the second half of the show will occur TOMORROW night. Both shows will occur at Salem High School in Salem, IN. The first round matches - complete with the three replacements that have been made in the past week (these changes can be found in the parentheses) that are scheduled for tonight are: Chris Sabin-Alex Shelley; Jimmy Jacobs-Salvatore Rinauro; Chris Hero-Arik Cannon; Nate Webb-Sonjay Dutt; Danny Daniels-Ken Anderson; Jimmy Rave-Colt Cabana; Jonny Storm-M-Dogg 20; Michael Shane-Jerry Lynn; AJ Styles-Todd Sexton; JC Bailey-B-Boy; Brad Bradley (replacing the injured Truth Martini)-Nigel McGuinness; Ian Rotten (replacing Josh Prohibition, who injured his ankle during a training session this past Wednesday)-Tracy Smothers (replacing BJ Whitmer, who is unable to compete after his hard-hitting ROH match last weekend vs. Homicide). Tomorrow night's non-tournament matches will feature a Ian Rotten vs. Tracy Smothers and a women's match between Mickie Kncukles and the returning Rain. In addition to that, the rest of the tournament - of course - will be decided on that show, also. Like what was done at the 2003 KOTDM Tournament, a Q&A session with the IWA-MS stars will be held during the TPI weekend. For more info on the TPI show, please visit IWAMidSouthWrestling.com.
- For the full scoop on Chris Hero's uppcoming Ironman match vs. CM Punk in Germany and Jimmy Jacob's debut in that same country, please scroll up to the Indy Wrestlers In International Indies section.
- Nigel M(i)cGuinness made his second aappearance in ROH TONIGHT in Elizabeth, NJ, as I promoted last week in this column.
- On 11/27, IWA-MS will return to the NNational Guard Armory in North Vernon/Salem, IN with Danny Daniels defending his Heavyweight Title vs. the returning HOMICIDE, among other matches to be announced! Also, IWA-MS will return to Illinois as it makes its debut in the city of Lafatette the National Guard Armory on Saturday, 11/22. More information on this show will be announced in the coming weeks.
- Rollin' Hard has been sidelined with a foot injury.
- 2 Tuff Tony and Madman Pondo continuee touring with Big Japan.
- For info on Chris Hero's recent appeaarances in Europe, please scroll up to the EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATIONAL INDY INDIES NEWS section.

MAJOR LEAGUE WRESTLING (MLW) NEWS

- NOSAWA will make his return to All Japan to compete in the Real World Tag League event that is scheduled to last from 11/22 - 12/2. Working under a mask as "Parka Guerrera," NOSAWA will team with La Parka for the event. NOSAWA briefly competed in AJPW last year as "Dark Guerrera."
- MLW's "Hybrid Horror Show" event - which was scheduled for yesterday in Jacksonville, FL, was "postponed" and - according to MLW.com - will be rescheduled for a later date. The web site also has info on how to obtain ticket refunds for the Hybrid Horror Show. There is no word yet on what matches will occur on the rescheduled version of the show and how identical they will be to the original card, not to mention whether the show will even occur. Plus, MLW cancelled its once-weekly "Underground" TV show that aired on the Sunshine Network a few weeks ago.

Just this past week, the suspicion regarding MLW's status was heightened when its web site announced that its only remaining scheduled show (entitled, "WrestleFest") - scheduled to occur on 12/29/03 in Fort Lauderdale, FL and to be one of (if not the) biggest show of the year for the promotion - was being cancelled due to "ongoing reconstructuring." Info regarding how to obtain ticket refunds can be found on MLW.com, but the bigger story is the large amount of recent speculation that MLW may be done with, even though its owner, Court H. Bauer, insists that they are just taking a brief hiatus to perform the duties necessary to improve the promotion's product. Please check out MLW.com for more info on MLW.

Furthermore, MLW - according to 1Wrestling.com - yanked an 11/21 event from its site's upcoming show listings without even announcing a location or putting tickets on sale and lost the services of Greg Bagarozy (he was responsible for booking venues of events for MLW and - even before that - had the same job in ECW), who recently departed from the promotion.

NWA-TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION (NWA-TNA) NEWS

- Next Wednesday's PPV (11/12) will feature: a HUGE tag team match - AJ Styles/STING vs. Jeff Jarrett/LEX LUGER (Debtuing in TNA); Raven/Mystery Partner vs. Redshirt Security; Michael Shane's X Triple Chance Tourney matches - Chris Daniels vs. Low Ki and Chris Sabin vs. Chad Collyer; 5-Team "Gauntlet for the Gold" Battle Royal to crown the number one contenders to Simon & Swinger's NWA tag titles. Check out NWATNA.com for more info.

In response to the extensive mumblings around the Internet Community regarding Lex Luger's upcoming appearance on the PPV, an official statement from TNA and "president" Dixie Carter - who is apparently the daughter of Panda Energy International (one of the sponsors of TNA) and is representing the TNA when it comes to various affairs - was posted on TNA's web site a few minutes ago. Her remarks can be read at http://www.nwatna.com/news/2003/11/07/news.html .

- According to the Wrestling Observer, the original plan for Jeff Jarrett's mystery opponent on this past week's PPV was to be Wayne "The Honky Tonk Man" Ferris. As the storyline called for, H.T.M. was in fact managed by Jimmy Hart at a time during his career, but the decision was eventually made to settle with Sting. The Pro Wrestling Torch reported earlier this week some workers suspected Terry Funk as being the guy to be brought in for the appearance, but there's no confirmation of any sort that he was in fact even considered for the part.
- Starting in January 2004, TNA will offfer its PPVs as a monthly package deal for the suggested retail price of $34.95. So, for those whose cable or satellite providers carry TNA programming, you'll be able to view four or five TNA PPVs for the same price of ONE WWE PPVs. As Jeremy Borash said in this week's edition of his "From The Inside" column, "that is a no brainer." Also, Borash revealed in his column this week that TNA is planning to offer deals to view its PPVs via Internet streaming video in the near future.
- Expect Sting to make more TNA appearaances in the upcoming weeks. He'll be returning next week for a major tag team match, the participants of which can be found a few lines above.
- The female personalities of TNA will be participating in a photo shoot for a swimsuit calander next week.
- Elix Skipper lost to Horshu of UPW inn a WWE dark match on 10/28 in Atlanta, GA before the taping of SmackDown! (which aired yesterday). During the bout, Elix blew his signature ropewalk huracanrana and eventually was pinned following a modified powerslam.
- The 10/30 "Bound For Glory"; mega PPV was recently postponed, as many of you readers already probably know. TNA officials learned that Hulk Hogan - who was scheduled to wrestle Jeff Jarrett for the NWA title on the show - would undergo knee surgery on 10/31. The PPV - if it does end up occurring - will probably not happen until sometime next year. In the mean time, TNA officials will apparently be looking to obtain a promotional license to run shows in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they are interested in holding the event, if it does end up transpring.
- Tiger Mask IV of NJPW will be flown iinto the U.S. to compete on the 11/30 PPV. This appearance is being credited to the recent interpromotional discussion between TNA and NJPW regarding each promotion's use of Hulk Hogan.
- CZW's Z-Barr is rumored to be workingg for TNA this month (November), there's no concrete confirmation regarding this possibility.
- TNA commentator Don West has been hirred as the brand-new afternoon talk show host on Nashville's Sports Talk 560 Monday thru Friday from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
- TNA recently announced the release off three special DVDs and the TNA Volume 2 theme song CDs. Check out NWATNA.com for full info on how to purchase any of the aforementioned items, along with other TNA merchandise.
- Rumors have been swirling that - oncee his his WWE contract expires next summer - Rob Van Dam may leave the promotion due to frustration about his current storyline role and begin exploring several options, which - according to the Torch - may include returning to Japan to wrestle and joining TNA.

NWA WILDSIDE NEWS

- Two Wildside stars have been entered into IWA-MS "Ted Petty Invitational 2" Sweet Science Tournament that will begin TONIGHT. Todd Sexton will replace Matt Stryker and Salvatore Rinauro will replace Michael Shane. For the full brackets of the tournament, please scroll up to the IWA-MS News section.
- NWA-TNA viewers likely recognized Lazzz as serving as Kid Kash's tag team partner in his match vs. The Gathering (CM Punk & Julio Dinero) on this past Wednesday's PPV. That was Lazz's second appearance on TNA PPV, with his first coming on 9/3 at the Super X Cup vs. Mad Mikey (a.k.a. Crash Holly/Erin O'Grady), who I and so many others were saddened to learn the unfortunate death of yesterday. Crash (real name: Michael Lockwood) was 34 when he was found dead in South Florida.

Also, before last Wednesday's PPV, Todd Sexton of the Texas Death Club (along w/ Masada) teamed with Scott Matthews in a loss to the NWA World Tag Team Champions Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger. That match will air on an upcoming episode of TNA Xplosion.
- As I've been promoting in this columnn over the past few weeks, Caprice Coleman was scheduled to wrestle a pre-WWE RAW dark match this past Monday in Fayetteville, GA, but - according to Larry Goodman - WWE management "chose not to use him (anotherwards, book him for a match that night)," for some reason or another.
- Matt Sydal (making his return to Wilddside) and Ryan Ash will be on the 11/15 Wildside show, while Frankie Capone and Kevin Matthews will be working some upcoming TV tapings.
- Iceberg will be returning in a few weeeks after suffering a stinger at the Gauntlet for the Gold event a two weeks ago.

RING OF HONOR (ROH) NEWS

- A story about ROH that was taped at the 9/20 Glory By Honor II show in Philly will air on the WTXF (Fox 29) 10:00 pm newscast TOMORROW night (11/8). WTXF 29 is available on cable TV throughout Philadelphia, southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and parts of northeastern Maryland. It may also be available on your satellite package.
- Abdullah the Butcher's scheduled appeearance on the 11/29 Boston area ROH show was announced as being officially cancelled a few minutes ago. According to ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky, Abby "called Rob (Feinstein, the owner of the promotion) to confirm. Gabe also stated that ROH is "working on a suitable replacement now." There is no word at this point as to the reason for Abby's cancellation.
- Announced in the past week was that RROH would team up with none other than ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING to hold an interpromotional show later this year in Philly. For more info on this show (which is part of a US tour by AJPW), please scroll up to the Misc. Tidbits section.
- Rob Feinstein, the owner of ROH and iits parent company, RF Video, conducted a shoot interview yesterday in Atlanta, GA with Vince Russo. The tape of the interview will be released by RF Video (RFVideo.com) next week.
- BJ Whitmer suffered a sternum injury during his hard-hitting match vs. Homicide at last weekend's ROH show. He will be taking some time to allow for it to heal and his spot in the IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational Tournament (which begins tonight) has therefore been filled by Tracy Smothers.
- ROH has begun tentatively hyping a Noo-Rope Barbed-Wire match between Homicide and Steve Corino.
- Don't expect Teddy Hart to return to ROH after what happened with him last weekend. Although he has apologized for his excessive show-boating, ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky has maintained his position that Hart is not welcome back in ROH anytime soon. Gabe also has confirmed that Low Ki has left ROH, as was announced on various Internet wrestling sites a few weeks ago. For a feature that looks back at Ki's tenure in ROH, please visit ROHWrestling.com.
- The winner of Block A of the Field off Honor Tourney will be determined on 11/25 in Fairfield, CT when Xavier and Matt Stryker collide.
- Samoe Joe will team with AJ Styles vss. the Briscoes for Jay and Mark's ROH tag titles on the 11/28 Fairfield, CT show and the very next night in Wakefield, MA, Joe will defend his ROH World Heavyweight Title vs. none other than Styles. If they retain them from Joe & Styles, the Briscoes will defend their titles vs. Chris Daniels & Dan Maff on the Wakefield show.
- Recently signed for the 11/29 Wakefieeld, MA show is the first-ever "Gauntlet Series" - which is a set of singles matches where the winner advances and faces the next opponent in line, etc. etc. etc. until all but one of the participants have been eliminated. That participant will be the winner of the match.
- TWA Academy alumni Fast Eddie and Shaawn "Hotstuff" Hernandez will begin tag-teaming with one another on upcoming ROH cards.
- Carnage Crew member HC Loc recently rreceived the position of being ROH's first backstage agent. In addition to this new job, he will continue his duties of wrestling.
- After its recent successful debut shoow at the venue, ROH will return to Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, MD on January 12. Also at the recent Glen Burnie show, it was announced by former-MCW promoter Dan McDevitt announced that ROH would continue the tradition of the recently folded MCW promotion by holding the annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup (a one-night, single-elimination tourney that resembles ECWA's Super 8 event) in July 2004.
- "American Dragon" Bryan Dannielson will attempt to win the PWG Heavyweight Title from Frankie Kazarian on the 11/5 Pro Wrestling Guerrilla "An Inch Longer Than Average" show in LA, CA.
- ROH will return to Ohio on 1/10/04 inn Wilmington. Tickets will go on sale soon, but if you want to prepare for the trip early, head over to ROHWrestling.com for directions to the venue.
- ROH will hold a fan convention beforee its Elizabeth, NJ show on 3/13/04, the day before Wrestlemania. There will be special guests at the convention that won't be on the show. For dealer table info, e-mail [email protected].
- Tryouts for the the ROH Wrestling Traaining School in Langhorne, PA have begun and will cost $50. Serious 18 or older applicants only.

MULTIMEDIA OF THE WEEK

- Shiny-Pants.com features a downloadable video tribute for the recently retired Jody Fleisch and a video preview of FWA British Uprising II, which occurred a few weeks ago. Both files are in .mpeg form.
- The Multimedia section of NickMondo.ccom - the official web site of CZW star "Sick" Nick Mondo - features various video clips of Mondo in action in CZW and even IWA-MS. Among the clips is a music video of CZW TOD2 and of a Mondo vs. Ric Blade match. NickMondo.com also features the second downloadable part of a trailer for the upcoming "Unscarred" documentary about Mondo's career.
- Be sure to check out the Video Clips section of Assault Championship Wrestling's web site, AssaultWrestling.com. The section, which can be found at AssaultWrestling.com/Clips.htm, features a variety of video clips in various formats pertaining to the history of ACW. AssaultWrestling.com also provides fans with the opportunity to view past and present ACW TV episodes. The current episode can be found at AssaultWrestling.com/ThisWeek.htm , while past episodes are archived at AssaultWrestling.com/TVArchives.htm .
- Lucha Xtreme Wrestling's web site (LXXWrestling.com) has posted an awesome downloadable video clip of it's first TV commercial.

SHILLS OF THE WEEK

- Check out the ONLY IWA Mid-South fansite, IWA Primetime, at http://www.freewebs.com/iwaprimetime/index.htm . It features news, wrestler bios, tape reviews, downloadable theme songs, info, polls, and more.
- The VHS versions of Best of XPW TV Voolume 1, the VHS and DVD versions of Best of XPW Deathmatches Volume 1, and the VHS and DVD versions of XPW New Year's Revolution 2002 are available for pre-order from Best Buy.

Feedback, suggestions, etc. about this column may be sent to [email protected].