Chock Full here, back from a short business trip for the week and ready for some more dirt to spill and eggs to break! Or.. Yeah, well, just to the rumours...
- Two biggies to start off this dirt sheet! First we got the unexpected closure of Grand Isle Wrestling. Yes, the much talked about, mainly tape-traded federation has appearently shut its doors yet again. However, at this time, there is no official confirmation from the owners of the Louisianna federation. But from what many in the locker room have said and are doing, it's a done deal. "It's disappointing to up my roots, have come all the way down here, sign a contract and settle in only to see it wash away again," one GIW worker who wished to remain anonymous. "But I guess that's this business. All I know is that I've already begun looking for work elsewhere since I can't wait for the ownership to make anything official."
If this were any other small-time fed, it wouldn't be much of a story. But GIW had amassed quite a roster in the couple of months it operated: "Bad Eye" McBaine, The Scrayper, Sam Willis, Bobby Ray Wilkins, City Jack, Jake Cutler, Langston Crete, Robert Kellan, Tommy Ganz, and many newcomers that looked very promising. Where that talent ends up is anyone's guess, but I'd imagine NEO-Pro, BSCW, and LWC will make the bids for the upper tier guys while PWR will test its cash strength with a couple of the youngsters.
- OR they could possibly go to the returning federation... Great Lakes Championship Wrestling! Now it's only a rumor, but my Chock Spies out of Michigan are saying that there's a chance that GLCW could come back, in a much different form and look than in previous incarnations. Most notably is that the 'new' GLCW would be cash strapped, so don't expect big -money talent, yet mainstays like Tommy James or The Gremlin in the fold as they'd crash the GLCW's budget. More on this developing story as it comes out.
- Pro Wrestling Revolution, has, though signed both GIW stars Sam Willis and City Jack to a one-time show, the opening of the Southern California federation. Both will help the fledgling promotion gain some other Southern exposure if it ever has desires to expand past the California borders.
- Some in the I-Slash land are saying that it's upcoming Pay-Per-View, In Cold Blood, could be a make-or-break kind of show for the rocky federation. After recently going through yet another management change along with an exodus of top flight talent due to retirements or contract issues, how the Canadian fed fares could decide it's fate in the months to come. The new management seems confident in the show and the next set of shows afterwards, saying it could be the fed's best in recent years. However, a flat performance at In Cold Blood could scare off some top free agents out there to places like UWF or RCW. As well, with UWF's resurgence and NEO-Pro's gaining fanbase, I-Slash could be seeing it's flock of fans detiorating. So here's hoping Porter/Michaels, McMannis/Travers 3, and Spector/Ensasserol are click.
- In other blockbuster news, RCW World Champion Devon Case has called an abrupt re-retirement, saying his desire to wrestle just wasn't there any more. Where this puts the St. Louis based fed is uncertain, but one thing for sure is that it takes a huge toll considering that the RCW-brass had big plans for Case.
- As well, NEO Champion and LWC competitor Jacob Cross has left the wrestling world, saying that he's done all he wanted to do. Asked what he was going to do now, he said he might try out for the Philadelphia Eagles in their open training camp in May.
- UWF is expected to reveal a rather huge new signing on the next Saturday Night Rampage. No word on who, but sources say that he's someone who's been in the business a long time, yet has never stepped foor on UWF soil.
Well, that's all for this jam-packed Rumour Mill. Check back next week for more!
Have news from the wrestling world? Some tasty rumours? Good dirt? Then e-mail
[email protected]