THE EAST COAST INDY WRESTLING UPDATE #17, by John (Saturday, November 29, 2003)
Table of Contents:
- SOURCES
- EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATIIONAL INDIES NEWS
- MISC. EAST COAST INDY TIDBITS
- UPCOMING EAST COAST INDY EVENT SHILLS<
- COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING (CZW) NEWS
- IWA MID-SOUTH HARDCORE WRESTLING (IWA--MS) NEWS
- MAJOR LEAGUE WRESTLING (MLW) NEWS
- NWA-TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION (NWA-TNA) NEWWS
- 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, 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
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, Justin Credible, Malice (a.k.a.
Gigantes), Bull Buchanan, Jamal (a.k.a. Ekmo), La Parka (the
original) and NOSAWA (as Dark Guerrera) are all currently working
the All Japan Real World Tag League 2003 event.
- "American Dragon" Bryan Daniielson is currently
touring with NJPW for the promotion's BATTLE FINAL 2003 tour,
which began on 11/24 and will last until 12/14.
- Ace Steel and Doug Williams are workinng for Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Steve Corino, and Mikey Henderson are currently wrestling for
ZERO-ONE, which Jerry Lynn, Low Ki (returning to Z1), Homicide,
and Guillotine LeGrande will soon begin working for. Low Ki's
previously scheduled bookings for the tours have been cancelled.
- CZW Champion John Zandig's results froom his recent tour of
Japan:
*ZERO-ONE (12/4; Osaka Prefectural Gym #2):
Shinya Hashimoto, Jun Kasai, & Kohei Sato def. Mr. Gannosuke,
Tetsuhiro Kuroda, & Zandig in 15:44 when Hashimoto used a DDT
on Kuroda.
*Fuyuki Army (12/5; Korakuen Hall): Scramble Bunkhouse Street
Fight - Zandig def. BADBOY Hido (20:02).
- Two IWA-MS stars and one of the promotion'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.
- The XWrestling "Revolution" show in Yorkshire,
England on April 10, 2004 will feature Ted DiBiase, CZW's Nick
Berk & Z-Barr, Chad Collyer, April Hunter, Slyk Wagner Brown,
D'Lo Brown, Bam Bam Bigelow, Road Warrior Animal (Road Warrior
Hawk was scheduled to appear on the show, but won't due to his
recent death), Big Vito, Harry Smith (the late "British
Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith's son), and the immensely
controversial Teddy Hart. Also, Reckless Youth/Tom Carter vs.
Matt Striker vs. Shark Boy has been the first match announced for
the event, which will feature a Meet & Greet session in which
fans can meet some of the wrestlers.
- The 11/29/03 Westside Xtreme Wrestlingg (wXw) "Fight
Club" show in Essen, Germany featured an XPW European Title
defense by Jonny Storm, as he combatted wXw Cruiserweight and
PW/AULL Mexican Middleweight Championship Mike Quackenbush in a
Title vs. Title Match. The finish was a double pin, so no titles
changed hands.
- Hawaii World Pacific Championship Wresstling's "Superstars,
Legends, & Locals Tour" will last from 1/29/04-2/1/04 in
Kona, Hawaii. The event will feature appearances by BRET HART,
Don Muraco, and Brian Adams and matches with "Superfly"
Jimmy Snuka, Buff Bagwell, AJ Styles, Sabu, Prince Iaukea, Manu,
Lopaka, Dark Ninja, Kaimana & Kaniala, The Metal Maniac, The
Samoan Island Tribe (Samu & Ekmo), Perry Saturn, The
Barbarian, The HellRaisers, Cyborg, and Teddy Hart. The dates,
cities, and locations of the tour are as follows: Thursday,
1/29/04 in Ewa Beach, Oahu at the Campbell High School Gymnasium;
Friday, 1/30/04 in Hilo at the Edith Kanakaole Multi-Purpose
Stadium; Saturday, 1/31/04 in Kona at the Kekuaokalani Gymnasium;
and Sunday, 2/1/04 in Maui at the Lahaina Civic Center. Bell Time
for all events is 6pm. Tickets for all four events go on sale
Monday, 12/15/03 and will be available at Borders Books &
Music in each city. 15% of tour profits will be donated to an
organization that supports Breast Cancer Research.
MISC. EAST COAST INDY TIDBITS:
- This past Tuesday's edition of KDKA Channel 2
5:00 PM News in Pittsburgh, PA featured a story on the obscenity
case featuring XPW promoter Rob Black.
- Mark Magnus, Chris Cage, Demond ";Morris" Thompson,
and John "Tank" Toland (all of OVW) are the newest four
signees of WWE developmental contracts. All four had been working
for OVW. Also, two other performers - Brent Albright and Bobby
Lashley - have been told by WWE talent scouts to report to OVW
for training, starting 1/1 of next year.
- The Toryumon wrestling clinic scheduleed in Palos Hills, IL has
been moved to January 2003. Call 219-588-1139 for more info.
- Mick Foley will appear on two World Leeague Wrestling (Harley
Race's fed) shows in February 2004.
- For info on ROH's upcoming interpromottional show with ALL JAPAN
PRO WRESTLING, please visit ROHWrestling.com.
In addition to working with ROH, AJPW will also
hold 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 & ?, Kaz Hayashi
vs. Jeremy Lopez, Miyamoto receives an RCW title shot vs.
champion and Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy graduate Jeromy
Sage, The Great Koji vs. Krusher Kong (formerly of WCW's Awesome
Kongs), and more action featuring appearances by ROH's Spanish
Announce Team (Joel Maximmo & Jose Maximo), Homicide, and
others. A Fan-Fest event will be held before the show. Please
visit RiverCityWrestling.net for more info.
- Please visit SSCWWrestling.com for morre 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.
- For more info on the re-location of Waalter "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.
- A new independent wrestling promotion 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.
UPCOMING EAST COAST INDY EVENT SHILLS
- Upcoming "Toys For Tots" Benefit
Shows: sdafdsfsdfsfsdfsdfsdfsdfdsfsdfsdfssss at Burlington County
College Gymnasium in Pemberton, NJ (UWCWrestling.com) and the
Fairgrounds in Hazlehurst, GA; Sunday, 12/7 at the Fairgrounds in
Hazlehurst, GA; and Saturday, 12/13 at the Swainsboro Recreation
Department Gym in Swainsboro, GA.
- Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 a.k.a. ZERO-ONE USA Debut Show to benefit
the Christopher James "WE CAN BEAT IT" Cancer Fund
(2/8/04; Fall River, MA): Masato Tanaka/Jun Kasai vs. CW
Anderson/Simon Diamond; Steve Corino vs. Jack Victory; Jerry Lynn
vs. Yoshihito Sasaki; CM Punk in action; Christopher St.
Connection/Jason The Legend vs. The Solution/Guillotine LeGrande;
Josh Daniels vs. Matt Striker; Rapid Fire Maldonado vs. Mega.
- For the full card to the 1/9/04 JAPW/RROH interpromotional show,
check out the ROH News section below.
- Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW) (12/27; VViking Hall in Philly):
Low Ki vs. CZW's Ruckus; The Sandman/CZW World HWT Champion John
Zandig vs. Raven/CZW's The Messiah; Jerry Lynn (debuting in 3PW)
vs. Sabu; Bra & Panties Match w/ the winner getting sex with
Tod Gordon (<:gulp:>) - Jasmin St. Claire vs. George
Frankenstein (formerly Gorgeous George); "Hotstuff"
Striker vs. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka; Homicide vs. Balls
Mahoney vs. Mike Kruel; "Pitbull" Gary Wolf, Vixen, The
Blue Meanie, Rob Eckos, CJ O' Doyle, Joey Matthews, Rockin'
Rebel, Jack Victory, and Damian Adams will also appear.
- Doghouse Pro Wrestling (1DPW.com) debuut show (TOMORROW; Deland,
FL): action featuring - Homicide, Da Hit Squad, Tower of Torture,
"Lowlife" Louie Ramos, Benny Blanco, Grim Reefer,
Julius "J-Train" Smokes, Young Cannibal, Azriel,
McDougal, Man Slaughter, Johnny Bravado, and tag teams such as
The D.R.S., Solution, Elm Street Kids, and C.S.C.
- Upcoming cards for CZW, IWA-MS, MLW, NNWA-TNA, and ROH can be
found in those promotion's respective sections below.
- For the cards to All Japan Pro Wrestliing's upcoming US tour,
please scroll up to the Misc. East Coast Indy News section.
COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING (CZW) NEWS
- The main event of the next 3PW next show on
12/27 will be The Messiah & Raven vs. Zandig & The
Sandman (it was originally scheduled to be Messiah/Jerry Lynn vs.
Zandig/Sabu).
- For the dates, locations, and opponentts of John Zandig on his
recent return to Japan, please scroll up to the East Coast Indy
Wrestlers in International Indies section.
- The biggest CZW news of all is the falll out from the Night of
Infamy II show two weeks ago. ROH's Allison Danger and freelance
valet Becky Bayless were in attendance for the show, the first
major angle of which saw Johnny Kashmere return to CZW after
temporarily quitting the promotion a few weeks ago. He initially
returned as a face, but later in the night re-turned heel. It was
the aftermath of the main event, Double Dog Collar/Fans Bring The
Weapons Match pitting The Messiah & Nate Hatred vs.
Wifebeater & Nick Gage (w/ John Zandig as the special guest
referee), however, that sparked the most surprise, as Lobo made
his return to CZW and it was announced that he would team with
Wifebeater, Zandig, Gage, and Ian Knoxx vs. Hi-V (The Messiah,
Nate Hatred, Trent Acid, Johnny Kashmere, & Adam Flash) in an
Elimination 5-on-5 Double-Ring, War-Games-style Double-Steel Cage
(one of which would be the electrified Cage of Death structure),
1,000,000 Thumbtacks Scaffold Match at the 12/13 C.O.D.
supercard! Kashmere and Zandig will begin the bout and every
minute thereafter, another participant will enter the match.
Elimination comes when both of a participant's feet hit the
floor. This will be Lobo's first official match since last year's
C.O.D. event.
In addition to that match, the C.O.D. event will feature: JHWT Title - Ruckus (c) vs. Sonjay Dutt; Ironman Title - Trent Acid (c) vs. Jimmy Rave; Ladder Match - Azriel/Joker vs. Chri$ Ca$h/Deranged; Z-Barr/Nick Berk vs. Rebel's Army vs. The D.R.S.; #1 Contendership Match for the Ironman Title - Chris Hero vs. B-Boy vs. Alex Shelley vs. Tony Mamaluke; #1 Contendership for the JHWT Title - Sabian vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Derek Frazier; a rumored retirement ceremony for "Sick" Nick Mondo. By the way, Homicide will not be at C.O.D. due to competing on a tour in Japan for ZERO-ONE on the same day as the show.
Recent evidence points to the upcoming C.O.D. show as being the final CZW show at Viking Hall. This was alluded to by Zandig at N.O.I. II and seemed to be confirmed by Robby Mireno on a recent edition of CZW Fake You! TV, although Mireno wasn't perfectly clear. Nonetheless, with CZW's attendance at its Viking Hall shows decreasing very much over the last few months (as Zandig pointed out at N.O.I. II), it appears as if CZW is unable to continue renting out the prestigious building in South Central Philly and that it will likely be forced to search for another venue. Again, this is not confirmed beyond an absolutely shadow of a doubt, but all evidence points toward it.
With that in mind, let's hope that CZW doesn't go down the
road that XPW followed over the last year, because that's what
it's starting to appear they're modeling themselves after. Also,
there's no news on whether CZW - if it does in fact leave Viking
Hall - will continue running in the currently oversaturated
Philly wrestling market, or if it will proceed to run in other
parts of the city or state. Although it's not likely with it's
generally stable - yet not too great - financial status,
expanding to other regions of the East Coast is also a
possibility.
- Nick Berk & Z-Barr will compete onn the XWrestling
"Revolution" debut show in Yorkshire, England on April
10 of next year, as I've hyped in previous editions of this
column. This will the first wrestling appearance of each man in
England. Also, the duo will team up on the 12/6 NWA Wildside TV
taping in Cornelia, GA vs. Jeremy V & Brandon P.
- CZW commentator Eric Gargiulo has signned with MLW to also
commentate for them, beginning at 1/04's Reloaded Tour, more info
on which can be found below in the MLW News section.
- Trent Acid vs. Sonjay Dutt and Nick Gaage (making his ROH debut)
vs. Slyk Wagner Brown vs. Deranged vs. Johnny Kashmere have both
been booked for the Convention Card that will occur before the
12/27 ROH/AJPW interpromotional show in Philly. For more info on
that event, please scroll up to the Tidbits section.
IWA MID-SOUTH HARDCORE WRESTLING (IWA-MS) NEWS
- Yesterday's "Season's Bloody
Beatings" show in Ooltic, IN was cancelled due to inclement
weather. The weather even caused Madman Pondo, scheduled for the
show, to get into a non-fatal car accident on the way to the
event, prompting him to turn around and head back home. No word
yet on when the show will be rescheduled (or if it even will be
at all)
Here are some other upomcing IWA-MS cards (all of which more info can be found at IWAMidSouthWrestling.com):
*Winter Wars (12/19; Lafayette, IN): IWA-MS HWT
Title - Danny Daniels (c) vs. Steve Stone; wXw HWT Title/#3 in
Best of 7 Series - Alex Shelley (c) vs. Jimmy Jacobs; DREAM MATCH
- Chris Hero vs. the returning AJ Styless; Michael Shane vs. Nate
Webb; Ian Rotten vs. the returning B-Boy; Daizee Haze vs. Mickie
Knuckles; more w/ BJ Whitmer, Corporal Robinson, Matt Sydal, JC
Bailey, Delirious, Arik Cannon, Brad Bradley, and Ryan Boz.
*Stylin' & Profilin' (12/20; Highland, IN): Battle of the TNA
stars - Michael Shane vs. Styles; HWT Title - Danny Daniels (c)
vs. Shelley; LHWT Title - Bailey (c) vs. Nate Webb; T.P.I.
Rematch - Hero vs. B-Boy; 1,000 Thumbtacks Match - Robinson vs.
Necro; Females Match - Haze/Mickie vs. Rain/?; more w/ Ian,
Whitmer, Jacobs, Becky Bayless, Stone, Sydal, Delirious, Cannon,
Bradley, and Boz.
- Ace Steel is currently touring in Japan with
Pro Wrestling NOAH, which I've been hyping he would be doing in
the past few additions of this column.
- For the full scoop on Chris Hero's upccoming 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.
- Rollin' Hard is currently sidelined wiith a foot injury.
- For info on Chris Hero's recent appearrances in Europe, please
scroll up to the EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATIONAL INDY
INDIES NEWS section.
MAJOR LEAGUE WRESTLING (MLW) NEWS
- After recently postponing its "Hybrid Horror Show" and "WrestleFest" supercards due to what it termed as "ongoing reconstructuring," MLW announced information regarding its return to live action. Initially, it scheduled itself to return not in Florida, but upper North in New England. It announced that it'd run on January 9, 2004 at Philadelphia, PA's National Guard Armory and the very next night at the RexPlex in Elizabeth, NJ. However, this changed when it announced that it would be delaying it's expansion north and would instead stay in Florida for the 1/9 and 1/10 shows. The two shows, which will be a part of its Reloaded Tour. The following cards are scheduled for each show, with those making their MLW debuts marked with a "*" to the left of their name:
- Friday, 1/9/04 (Tabu Night Club
in Orlando, FL): Homicide vs. *Low Ki; Lethal Lottery Tag Team
Match - participants will be HWT Champion Steve Corino, Vampiro,
Raven, and Sabu; JHWT Title - Sonjay Dutt (c) vs. *Jack Evans;
*Teddy Hart vs. "American Dragon" Bryan
Danielson (just announced earlier today); Jerry Lynn vs. *Mike
Modest; GTC Carnival, w/ the winners advancing to the finals the
next night to vie for a shot at the GTC Champions on the Burning
Crush Tour in 2/04 - The Stampede Bulldogs (*Harry Smith/*TJ
Wilson) vs. *Bobby Quance/*Pinoi Boy a.k.a Puma, Havana Pitbulls
(*Ricky Reyes/*Rocky Romero) vs. Los Maximos; Nosawa (replacing
injured Josh Prohibition, who was preparing to make his MLW
debut)/*M-Dogg 20 vs. *Dark Fuego/*Pete Wilson; Chasyn Rance vs.
PJ Friedman vs. Matt Martel; *JJ Dillon (will act as a manager),
*Chad Collyer (just announced for the show earlier today),
*Julius "J-Train" Smokes, and Persephone.
- Saturday, 1/10/04 (Palladium Athletic Village in Davie, FL): No
Ropes Barbed-Wire "I Quit" Match for WHWT Title -
Corino (c) vs. Terry Funk; "Weapons Match" for the
Global Tag Team Crown Title - Extreme Horsemen (c) vs. Samoan
Island Tribe; Lynn vs. Hart; Modest vs. Quance; 4-Way
Non-Elimination/Non-Title Match - Dutt vs. Puma vs. Evans vs.
Rance; Triangle Tag Team Match between winners of previous
night's GTC Carnival; Tag Team Runners-Up Match for participants
in previous night's GTC Carnival; also appearing will be Raven,
Ki, Vampiro, Stampede Bulldogs, Los Maximos, Fuego, Wilson,
Havana Pitbulls, Collyer, M-Dogg, Friedman, Martel, Dillon,
Nosawa, and Persephone.
The Reloaded Tour - tickets for both nights of which are currently on sale (more info @ MLW.com) will also include a Q&A session with an MLW worker on the second night, meet & greet sessions and contests on both nights, a post-show party at Tabu on Friday night; MLW year-end awards, and more. After the Reloaded series, MLW will launch its Burning Crush Tour and it will also feature two back-to-back shows, the first of which will be on February 13 at the National Guard Armory in Philly and the second of which will transpire the following night at the RexPlex in NJ. The RexPlex will also host a yet-to-be-named MLW event on March 12 of next year.
- CM Punk, Chris Daniels, and
Justin Credible were all originally listed to participate on the
Reloaded Tour, but have since been removed from the list of those
scheduled for the event, judging by which it appears they've all
left MLW.
- Tony Mamaluke - currently training at the Inoki Dojo in LA, CA
- will soon return to MLW.
- CZW's Eric Gargiulo has replaced Kevinn Kelly as MLW
commentator.
- MLW Underground TV will begin airing oon select cable systems in
New York City. More info on the specific times and channels can
be found at MLW.com. Furthermore, MLW has already returned to
Florida's Sunshine Network.
- Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald hass an article up at
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/wrestling/7526445.htm
that hypes the upcoming Reloaded Tour.
- MLW may organize bus trips to future ddoubleshot weekends.
- New MLW title belts - constructed by JJ-Mar Championship Belts -
will debut at the Reloaded Tour.
- Stampede Wrestling's Rod Rage will debbut on February's Burning
Crush Tour.
- MLW has launched a brand new looking vversion of MLW.com and a
new message board for its online fans to interact. The forum can
be found at http://www.mlw.com/board.
NWA-TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION (NWA-TNA) NEWS
- The lineup for PPV next Wednesday (12/17) is
one of the best in awhile: Chris Sabin vs. Chris Daniels; Steel
Cage Match - The Gathering (Raven/Punk/Dinero) vs. Abyss/Redshirt
Security (Northcutt/Santel); TNA X Division Title - Michael Shane
(c) vs. Low Ki; AJ Styles/D'Lo Brown vs. Simon/Swinger;
Streetfight - AMW vs. Gilbertti/Young; Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting
(will Jarrett's NWA World HVWT Title be on the line?).
- Jeromy Borash reported in his latest &"From The Inside
Column" that Elix Skipper signed a two-year long contract
with TNA earlier this week.
- 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. Also, TNA is planning to offer deals to view its
PPVs via Internet streaming video in the near future.
- NWA Wildside's Jerelle Clark returns tto TNA on the 12/17
Xplosion tapings, while Wildside's Todd Sexton, Lost Boy Gabriel,
and Seth Delay will work the 1/21 Xplosion tapings. David Young -
a mainstay on TNA PPV - will return to Wildside on the
promotion's 12/27 "Christmas Chaos" supercard in a
Homecoming Match vs. Cru Jones.
- NWATNA.com's merchandise section featuures for sale three
special DVDs, the TNA Volume 2 theme song CD, and the just
released 2004 TNA Girl Swimsuit Calender. Check out NWATNA.com
for full info on how to purchase any of the aforementioned items,
along with other TNA products. Also, TNA has a new feature on its
web site where you can watch streaming video of past editions of
its PPVs for a low fee. More info on all of this can be found on
NWATNA.com.
The following tidbits are courtesy of the Pro Wrestling Torch:
- Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel are currently
writing the shows and Jimmy Hart is sitting in on the creative
meetings, which also include Glenn Gilberti, Scott D'Amore, and
Dixie Carter. While Jeff has final say over everything and Dutch
is clearly right below him. Meanwhile, Vince Russo is said to be
upset about being demoted from the creative team, but he keeps in
contact with Dixie Carter. There's mutterings that Russo is
Carters' fallback plan, just in case, but others oppose that by
insisting that Jeff just kept him on the payroll because of their
friendship. Hogan had demanded that Russo have nothing to do with
the creative department or else he wouldn't do any business with
TNA. Russo, though, is telling friends that he assumes he'd have
been sent home anyway, since Jeff and himself weren't
"butting heads a lot." A lot of the wrestlers agree in
Russo's assertion that Dutch is just a "yes-man" for
Jeff and that he doesn't really oppose any of his ideas. Russo
also apparently thinks that the shows have noticeably decreased
in quality since his influence ended.
- Much of the roster is unhappy that TNAA will be doing their PPV
live the day before Thanksgiving. The show's right before
Christmas and New Year's - on the otherhand - will be taped.
- In a recent creative meeting apparentlly, Dutch said something
to the effect that David Young is a more profitable talent for
the company than Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, Chris Daniels,
and Jerry Lynn. A lot of people logically assumed that he just
isn't a fan of thhose four, but others insist that Dutch is just
really high on Young. Regardless, several wrestlers were laughing
after hearing about what he said, since Young clearly isn't a
money-maker like the other guys mentioned are.
NWA WILDSIDE NEWS
- Daizee Haze, Matt Sydal, and Delirious will return to IWA-MS on the promotion's 12/19 and 12/20 shows, the full cards of which can be found above in the IWA-MS News section. Todd Sexton, Caprice Coleman, and Rainman will make their ROH debuts on the 1/10/04 show near Dayton, OH. Meanwhile, Todd Sexton, Lost Boy Gabriel, and Seth Delay are all booked to appear on the 1/21 NWA-TNA Xplosion tapings. Jerelle Clark will return to NWA-TNA on 12/17 when he works the Xplosion tapings and will receive a shot at the NWA JHWT Title on the 1/10 NWA-FL show in St. Petersburg. Before his NWA-FL appearance, though, Clark will return to Wildside on 12/20 and battle Fast Eddie for the final spot in the JHWT Title Tournament that will happen on 12/27 at Christmas Chaos. This tournament came about when Dan Wilson stripped Ray Gordy of his JHWT Title on the 12/6 show, citing that he hadn't defended in 30 days, which is the limit, as decided by the NWA Board of Directors.
The participants in the tournament on 12/27 to determine the new champion will include Matt Sydal, Delirious, Ray Gordy, Nick Halen, Jay Fury, Seth Delay, Sal Rinauro, and the winner of the Eddie/Clark match on the 12/20 show. That event will also showcase Shawn "Hotstuff" Hernandez' Wildside return, the second Wildside appearance by CZW's Nick Berk & Z-Barr, as they face The Texas Death Club (Masada & Todd Sexton) (the winners of this match will get a shot at Jeremy V & Brandon P's TT Titles at Christmas Chaos), and a match between Caprice Coleman and Jimmy Rave to determine the challenger for Rainman's TV Title at Christmas Chaos. Lastly, the 12/27 "Christmas Chaos" show - tickets for which are currently on sale (more info at NWA-Wildside.com) - will also feature a Homecoming Match between Cru Jones and TNA's David Young.
RING OF HONOR (ROH) NEWS
- ROH will 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.
- The card for the 1/9/04 JAPW/ROH interrpromotional show in
Woodbridge, NJ is: a JAPW HWT Title defense; ROH HWT Title -
Samoa Joe (c) vs. Balls Mahoney; Elimination Match - AJ Styles
vs. Chris Daniels vs. CM Punk vs. ?; Dan Maff vs. Slyk Wagner
Brown; Backseat Boyz vs. Carnage Crew; Scramble Match - Insane
Dragon/Azrieal/Jay Lethal vs. Deranged/Dixie/Hijinx.
- NWA Wildside's Todd Sexton, Caprice Cooleman, and Rainman will
make their ROH debuts on 1/10 near Dayton, OH.
- After its recent successful debut showw 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.
- ROH will hold a fan convention before 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 Traiining 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 in
October. Both files are in .mpeg form.
- The Multimedia section of NickMondo.coom - 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 and a video retrospective memoralizing Mondo's
recently ended career. Another tribute video for the
"Sick" one can be found in the Media section of
CZWWrestling.de.
- Be sure to check out the Video Clips ssection 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 (LXWWrestling.com) has posted
an awesome downloadable video clip of it's first TV commercial.
SHILLS OF THE WEEK
- ObsessedWithWrestling.com - the web site that
became a sensation on the Internet after just a few months of
being online - has been reactivated, after its webmaster was
forced to shut it down due to bandwidth issues. The web site
features the most extensive array of pro wrestler biographies on
the planet.
- EuroWrestling.net - The type web site on the 'net for news,
results, and wrestler profiles relating to the Europe's pro
wrestling circuit! In German. Featuring an ALL-NEW LAYOUT!
- Check out the ONLY IWA Mid-South fansiite, 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 Vollume 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.
- The new RF Video update is now online in the New Release section at www.rfvideo.com with 3 brand new exclusive shoot interviews including:
Shoot Interview with Vince Russo - One of wrestling's most controversial figures sat down with RF Video for this exclusive Shoot Interview. Some call him a genius, many say he ruined the wrestling business, either way everyone has an opinion of Vince Russo. Now Russo finally gives his side of the story and answers his critics.
Jim Cornette Live Shoot Interview Q&A - Fans were given a rare opportunity on 11/1/03 to sit down with legendary manager Jim Cornette and ask him the questions in this shoot interview.
Shoot Interview with CM Punk - CM Punk has become
known as one of the most brash and outspoken independent stars
today. He holds nothing back in this shoot interview, as he goes
into detail about his entire career, from IWA-MS to ROH to MLW to
ZERO-ONE in Japan to TNA to everywhere in between.
Check out the New Release section at www.rfvideo.com to read the
complete list of topics discussed in the interviews listed above.
RF Video has also released new Best of videos, indy shows, the
latest from Japan, & more!
Feedback, suggestions, etc. about this column may be sent to [email protected].