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Sometimes I dont Get Vince. (and other things)
Ronixis posted a blog entry in Ronixis's T-Bone SuperPlex
(Note: I havent been around and the reason being is that I am starting a Animation Production Company- Garou Gothic. And so that has been taken a lot of my time.) This is from PWInisder: Wow. Im stunned. Utterlly Stunned. First lets go back what he stated about ECW. One, he was honest about it. Basicly I was left without a clue on where they were going to do with ECW after the Summerslam PPV. But after the deal, they went Taped, TEST (TEST...TEST?) and Bob Holly had great matches (with no Piledrivers sadly) against RVD (who is now pretty much become Hashimoto in his Offencive Style- which is the natural evloution of his AJPW/ECWv1 Offence). The larger point i want to mention is the Divas. Ok, Vince- this is the strangest comments I have ever seen. You want to show Divas in a "classy way" but need more sexuality on the website. (The word your looking for is Senuality, Vince). Then he metioned the why the Divas went from a Joshi based Divison, to a strippers. He stated that we want to see more female matches and relationships between the male and the females...then states...Times have changed... Times have changed. However, will there be a new focus on the Division? Time will tell (But Strip Poker...uhh...yeah...but considering ECW's history) Hes high on Finley, which is not a shock- because Finley is one of the last great Catch-based Pro Stars. He doesnt have the looks, but a damn good Finsher, and a interesting move set. His lariats (short range) are more blowback haymakers than true shortrange lariats. Benoit's planned Final run, (which i think it is) will be for a world title. Dont be suprised if its between Finley- or maybe Kennedy or MVP. Its gonna be at least 2 years before I even want Lashey start running for the Title- He needs to fix his punches, and change his power based move set into Hybrid style like Terkay. But in a more intresting and somewhat sad note. Youtube is a bit of a problem for me. Bad Codecs, even worse streams. But there was a few things I saw. The way a Joshi match is done. Folks, lets put it this way. They fly around, they dont die, every damn MOVE COUNTS even when you think its not important. And because of Low Center Of Graverty, they are the purest fighters. In some of the links in Youtube, Kudo and Toyota (along with there partners) showed us how crazy these ladies fight. When you see Toyota fly, the girl rips the taste out of Kudos Mouth not once, BUT 6 TIMES! The later dated matches, shows a little bit of a old style the old ladies used to do, however it a little WWE fided. But its amazing how they turn out a show. But one of the videos there was a training episode with Sakamura (Mariko). One of her traininees tries a drop kick. She couldint get it. FIVE times. Then Sakamura does the drop kick and RIPS HER FUCKING HEAD OFF. The trainee is bleeding. Thats the love this lady as for the sport. If thats just the womens...Think about the men...and how far they go. Tough Enough has nothing on Puro/Joshi training. Were even lucky we have Joe and Danileson that can hang with these guys. The sad thing is now, Zero One has a Joshi Fed called SUN. Which is bringing back the NWA and AWA titles for females. They brought some African American Bodybuilder, named Africa 55. (HEY Naki-San, WHY NOT call her Sista A while ya at it!) and others. But to bring big amazon like girls to to feed the need...ugh... Will Joshi see a new sunrise? Our hope is for Sakamura and Senjo to prove themselfs. I will see you guys soon...the website for my production company- http://www.garougothic.com. -
A end of era did come. In the year that UFC is getting 600,000 buys... In year that ECW came back...with limited success... There is one constently honest truth. The Modern Womens Wrestling Era is over. Not that it ended in a wimper, by the way. The simple fact is that Trish Stratus, given all the challanges, the hate, and some times the overly stalking love from fans and detractors- is a talent. The fact that some great matches are done with very little moves only shows why one division has been conistant even despite how the men mess it up, and the booking and so on. A 30 year history, starting in 1976- with its peak starting in the 90's and the ladies of FMW, and one Magumi Kudo, the queen of all of Joshi at that time (despite the amazing work of Toyota, Kong and Kandori)...Trish belongs to those Goddess. If there is one thing the WWE did right in these dark times, is that they have 80% of the time- they have left the Woman's Division alone. Granted, in 2004- the Division could have reached greater hights. However, that didnt happen. But the matches from 2005 between Lita-Trish-Mickie at times Victoria were very well done. They hate it because its not Joshi- but you have to give some credit, before Fit Finley went to Smackdown, he trained the Divas. And you see aspets of this wonderful pro star in that division. Luckly, were just seeing Finley in action- and how truly good he is. But the Division never let up. In fact, it had the best storyline of 2005-2006 with Trish/Mickie. And one of the better matches too. In the end however, Lita and Trish was Kandori and Chigusa. Basicly, the best the women have to offer. It a sad time in the business right now. But last night was a small memorial bright spot in the cloud of darkness and abstractness in the business. Miss Stratus, Thanks. Thats all one fan has to say. Your the last of a kind, and we all wish you well.
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In a moment, a whole industry can been changed. In a moment, lives will never been the same. So was the moment at ONS2- the world champion, a TRUE world Champion was crowned. But what makes a true champ, is the how he does under pressure. And so far, it has been with flying colors, despite what others tell you. However, this is not about that man. Its about the Main Writer and the President of the Company that owns them. They pretty much wanted to say Sorry but didnt want to imbarrass the shareholders. Thats the first true test of a man, its to own up to his mistakes. However, this message isnt to put them down. Its to help them. There is some storylines that will be both progressive, promote stars, hardcore, keeps Sci-Fi happy, get ready for the old guard to step down, and so on. The Zombie story arc might work, however- he needs to be cleaned up more. Instead of a horror Zombie- its a Psyological one- he feeds on the emotions of the croud, and uses to his effect. The Goth Story Arc- A tag team mostly. The Cosplay arc, send out the geeks, until you get to the pretty girl. You figure out the rest (Densha Otoko) Arc- The basic new Dreamer Vs Raven storyarc. Read the Wikipedia article on 2ch. Eugene, or Trever Murdock are perfect for the roles, with CM Punk or another being the heel. Thats just off the top of my head. However, the crowing from Jeff Jarret is well founded. Come on, who ever would believe that we care about Steiner and Nash again? And the fact the book has been very good at times, and there house shows have been amazing at times, He has reasons to talk smack. Hes got some of the best talent, old men ready shine one last time- and young lions HUNGRY for titles. The only thing hurting this, is the title situation. Christian is a talent, but years being in the midcard has hurt him. Joe- is too damn good for the X title- and I hope that if and when American Dragon heads to TNA, that Joe drops it to Dragon or maybe Homiside. The tag teams are about to get better with LAX ready to go. 6 good tag teams are better than none! All they need is just a little help from the Ladies side- more international flavor (Please get Nagata, Nakatashi, and Tanoshi here! Oh and when you and CMLL reconsile- I would like to have some of their big stars as well), and we have something that Heyman only WISH he can touch. --- But if there is one thing that made me happy this week, is that AJPW is starting a major rennasonce after many slow years. The Best World Champ, is Satoshi Kojima. He has held the title in his first defence, 9 times. After winning over Kawada back in 2005, he has faced some good...some bad, but truly showing hes a champ. Even though Akiama has been ok, Kojima is truly on another class of his own. Besting Brock Lesnar at his own game is not an easy feat. Sure, they dont have a major TV deal- and they havent been in the big venues for quite a while. But the upcoming match between him and Kea- will revenigurate AJPW back into form. Kea has been no slouch, but that will tell you how much Mutoh respects the company he took over- he let the young guy do his thing and he did it well. I wish this upcoming match makes people forget the Pride troubles, and see what they have been missing for the last several years. Next week, can ECW Recover from the worst show in a genration? Will TNA get over 70,000 buys!? Is this the Summer of DX? King Booker might lose, but is he ready for a title shot against Rey? How come Rey keeps losing!? Is Batista gonna finsh off Henry? Will Kennady move Smackdown to new hights? Thats all next week.
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But let me do the best I can. I didnt get much sleep last night. Much sleep at all. I have a 16 hour work day yesterday (as of this post) and I was just wating to relive my young and budding years. All with the new heros, The new vision. And maybe Sci-Fi would had some respect. (Duh, I watch it for Doctor Who and nothing else) But NBC has to be...such liberals. Guess what, Annie Coulter is right about you dumb pricks. For this baby to fail, it needed that Hollywood bull crap Steffie plays. It was full of it. No, i didnt expect this promotion to be the one I remember telling Jayen about in 1999. I expect this promotion as something fresh and new! But like Time Warner, and Kids WB/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim- the fresh and new, is something old and rancur. I wanted the OLD school I dont care about modern socity promotion! And there is a LOT of story arcs to play off this. I wanted the new stars! Here we are, 2006 nearly 5 years after a downturn- and you telling me that there no major superstars after HHH and HBK on the WWE main shows? Well, in the end- the pessimests won the first battle of the 13 episode war. Maybe Meltzer was right, they have moved on and may never come back. After this show, who can blame them. This is going to be really hard for even Heyman to pull up from. I see mircales from him before. But this will trully prove how good can he be. Because if this fails, TNA will get that two hour show, and will beat The Brand or take MUCH and MUCH audance from them in 6 months. This will be pretty much be the end of The Brand. Because if they cant even expand in the pro game, what else are they going to do!? Even the hardcore marks know something is wrong. If they cant even succeed in PRO WRESTLING, THERE DEAD, and the business will change forever. And some how Vince knows this. And thats why he will stick to his guns. And he would want to fix this. But if he cant, and there are signs pointing to this- you are going to see such a shift in this buisness, that your not going to see more TNA's poping up to compete in the business, its going to be the RULE your going to see start ups. Saturday Morning (when the ratings come in) is going to be a really intresting look. 12 episodes left. Can they reverse the worst pro show in history? Or is this the end of the WWE...
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Seems so long ago that he came from kissing Diabase's Feet, fighting with such greats as Stan Hanson, Kawada, Misawa during the great days of AJPW, Hyabusa...to some the greatest matches, maybe in all of sport (IMO) in Jerry Lynn- To beat the Rock, Austin, all in there prime. Its about time he won it. It was 1997, maybe after they did the first invasion storyline when ECW invaded RAW. I was 14 years old. I didnt see much of WWF at the time. And all I did was change the channel one night on a Saturday. There he was. A guy that defied all the conventions of what one can do in the squared circle. I didnt know who he was. I didnt care. I didnt know he had a title, but from that very day i followed him. And from him I saw others. I saw ECW- somebody that was giving us mature, not nessarlly immature storylines. Wresling from guys that could never be reached for many many years. (because come on, honestly most of your american style moves comes from two japanese women who tag teamed in the 1980's) Women who didnt play about who they where... And just all out fun. And he was the center of that universe. And when it was gone, the brand and the stars, the business not only here, but all over started to suffer. Now, that 5 year nightmare is over. He now has the title that he should have had back in 2002. This time, It might be more important because not ONLY he is the focas of a new brand, but he is the guy that if cards are played right will start the major recovery of the buisness. Hes in that league with Hogan and Austin. Cena, where as being hated, ONLY came out of his shell of the five moves of doom because of him. And I knew that he was the future from 1997. Thats why were in much better shape this morning, then we were ever yesterday. It will be a process. But a process is needed if we are never gonna get out of the Hollywood wannibes. RVD, ECW World HeavyWight Champion. Music not only to my ears, but the business ears.
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How Booker T Really Became King Booker, and ECW...
Ronixis posted a blog entry in Ronixis's T-Bone SuperPlex
Worries... Is it me, or anybody else here- Are at least a bit Pleased at the developments over at Standford CT? Paul Heyman is the king of booking under pressure. Not sure what his plans are but one thing is that after picking Kurt Angle for ECW work, ANYTHING and Mircles can happen. However most of the matches have changed- its somewhat not a good sign...but Paul E has full control (with Tommy Dreamer having a little less, but expect the same mixure of techs and hardcore for the first six episodes, then they will have 70% Techs and 30% hardcore.) What they are planning is a UWFI promotion- a mix of shoot and pro with hardcore elements. The hardcore elements are the key, despite what other tell you. If they are able to smartly use it in a fastion that doesnt hurt the workers, doesnt insult the fans, brings new people in, and brings ratings (Because it seems even miss Hunter is getting some of the Bastista Juice) Its a winning situation for BOTH TNA and ECW- Because it will a game of on oneupmanship. And since we have ROH in the middle, and TNA uses some indies, the indies will get big ups because some stars will face both TNA and ECW/WWE stars if Paul E or Borash/Cornette (if he gets some of the book) desides to use storylines dealing with the Indies. That brings more people to the indies, which in turn, the if the indies book smartly (and that a huge if) bring more money to the promotion, then a few stars head to TNA or ECW, they use that indy storyline to promote the worker, the worker does well, it moves to Smackdown/RAW/TNA Main Event level and they know what they did in ECW and TNA's X-Division via the indies. They made money for everybody inloved, and the rest is history. This happend before. RVD? Stone Cold? Raven? Chris Benoit? Even though no connecting storylines happend (other than RVD during the invaison) it has worked wonders. This is one way to each part of the business to work with each other with out stealing much talent. Somethings that need to happen for the show, is to give the sci-fi fans who are horror flick fans- to give that horror film gimmick...or something like rumble roses with the females (It is a sci-fi game anyhow) And Nova works... (I dont understand why Bravo would not take ECW- its the second channel down that is closer to USA Network but if Sci-Fi does well they might make a shared deal, where Bravo gets the first run shows and Sci-Fi gets a second run to compete with TNA's second run of Impact.) While that has been happing, Booker T is getting a major push- the reason being that now hes nearing the end and this will be one final run at the top. Another thing being is this bit of news: (From WO) Booker T is a rare commadty, We have seen many Afro-American stars, the strong Zeus, Tony Atlus and so on. But this guy has been on fire for nearly 2 years nearing the end of his run. The fact that hes had changed his move set in to more of a Hasimoto/Von Erich/Kawada, lots of tech when he needs to but he will bust several kicks and use alot of chops to set up power based moves. The thing is that he can still do alot of the moves that he did in WCW, and with a sheer drop brain buster he will be more complete than he ever was in WCW, I dont fear for smackdowns future. He can get a great match out of the Undertaker, he did it with Kurt, did it with Benoit. Besides, the CW has some of UPN's shows, and looking at the lineup, King Booker (with Rey returning later) Given a chance can save smackdown. Its UP to W-C-W/WWE to promote these two (and Batista if he wants to shut his mouth) And before I go... When your the General you get all the ladies! -
-If you would have told me that Joey Styles was done in the business, and is not as great as he was before, I would said you were wrong. You would be eating crow now. This promo shows how big this really is. And the fact that he wrote this himself- and Vince Let this go- shows the viewers (The marks, the causals) how damning things have been these last five years. -Then again, WWE has to come up with a retort just as good- I think DX- despite being the face team, still needs to show loyality to the fans. You pull out HHH and HBK plus two new guys (with a new mega powered female valet) and have them Face off Cena and McMahan on one end, and RVD and ECW at the other. -Theres a planned show between RAW, and PPV in New York- The Dayton Ohio show, where there billing a WWE vs ECW show. Now do you let RVD face John Cena? Or (Supposdely) JBL? Cena is the most logical choice- JBL cant do anything right now but spout emotional RTC promos- and how this guy was kissing the feet of Dibase many moons ago, how he was apart of All Japans great years...and so on. Dont get me wrong, JBL can cut good promos...but RVD beating John Cena-WWE's spinning Gold Belt Boy, will just put the ! in EC dub! -The issue now becomes, after the PPV (which will become nearly as big as this years WM- and make twice the money) How does the DX respond to Vince after these issues have come out? How does Cena or JBL deal with losing the title? Will the three week rule come to play? -All these issues plus the other storylines make this summer the hottest in years. If this ECW becomes successful, Japan no doubt will follow suit- and TNA will have to get there *** in gear and become motvated. I see nothing but good things if they pull this off.
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And lots more- First Raw Review: The issues with Orton get worse by the day: Ow. In Japan:
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But...even I amazed. Im not here to say 22 was a flop. It wasnt. It just showed how close again they where from changing the matches on the fly and booking last min isnt going to change things for the Brand. Of course, they had great matches. Edge and Foley, RVD heading to "HIS" Wrestlemania (ONS 2) with the MITB Contract (Right Now, they can build HHH or Cena to face RVD at ONS 2 and the same result will happen croud wise) Trish has held the Womans Title for a long time, and in a near 10 min match, Mickey James became Magumi Toyota circa 1988 with a Hint of Sherry circa 1990. Im a little Sad that they had to treat Styles like a kid, but they needed JR as Styles will really become the air apparant - he called Edge/Foley better than I expected. The interesting matches have to go to The US Title, the McMahn/Michals match. The US match was too short- and something tells me its just starting- Michales tried to out do Edge- and Vince is just crazy. "Montezuma" Mysterio is your new world Champ. Um...Ok...why? Angle was cheered, Ortan was even cheered. They didnt do this with The IWPG title... Of course- the match might be three stars, but Cena winning over HHH comes as bit of a shock to me. The fiddles were being played. The Fans in Chi-town fell for it. Question now, how will they Bill RVD as the man who can beat both Cena or HHH? The more intresting question...how is "Montezuma" Mysterio gonna be a good champ? Hes too small...and Angle made both men tap out twice, then you have Henry, Lashey, even Benoit- and lets not forget Bastista...unless we have some Haybusa type mircale spots, the WHC is a bit...screwed. The brightest news out of all of the matches, was that James is truly what I saw her in OVW. She was Toyota 15 years younger. Now if they didnt give her a boob job she would have been perfect- but you know Vince. Now that shes the champ...Can she take the division (which has had its ups and downs) to new hights? Wrestlemania 22, April 2, 2006 at Chicago's United Center Kane & Big Show vs. Carlito & Chris Masters (**) [The steam rollers continue to steam roll.] Money in the Bank- The Winner Gets a Title Shot within the next 12 months (really, 9 months) [Rod Van Dam wins, the plan now its to beat eather HHH or Cena at ONS 2 on June 12.] (***) Chris Benoit vs. JBL (** 1/2) [WAY Too short even given the fact the show ended 15 min early] Edge vs. Mick Foley (***) [This was a better match than I expected] Booker & Sharmell vs. Boogeyman [uGH....] (DUD) Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James [Theres a new queen in town...and shes Insane, perfectly.] (**** Dispite the bad finsh, this is based on storyline and actual match- the actual match is ...yeah **** stars) Undertaker vs. Mark Henry (**1/2) [uneventful, but Undertaker is leaps and bounds better than he was years ago- he is the best on smackdown, my consern is when is he due for his WM moment?] Vince vs. Shawn (***) [i sense, that there will be new stables coming up soon...this was a better than expected match anyway, and pretty much contrasts the Hardcore Styles between ECW's (Edge/Foley) and the Brands] Angle Vs Ortan Vs Mysterio- (** 1/2) [TOO SHORT!] Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle (DUD) [TOO LONG!] Cena vs. HHH (*** 3/4) [Erere- this is the weirdest match i have ever seen. Ok ok, it makes Cena look unbeatable- and will make RVD's victory all that sweeter despite who is the holder.]
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WWE Ratings goes up...TNA Gets Primetime show...
Ronixis posted a blog entry in Ronixis's T-Bone SuperPlex
And a whole lot more in the return of Wrestling Week! Oh im back...Thats right...Dance Like Kusko...Pixar and Disney merged into NOTHINGNESS...hell on earth coming... Ok OK G-DAMN... So Im back- and a lot has happend. WWE is ... well yeah... TNA has grown up, taken strides...and needs a 90 min show. Puro needs to make a move...before MMA starts running for keeps... So lets start with...the results: RAW (The only storyline I liked in this is the womans storyline. Dont ask me why, I know IT SCREAMS Lesbo HLA, but I only hope that it doesnt lead into that- and Trish will drop the title to Mickie in what could be the best match in WM 22, booked and fought) SMACKDOWN (Soon to become of the new CBS-DubyaWARNAKA!!!!) MNM vs. Mexicools This match was ok... Chris Benoit vs. Finlay (DQ) I loved the match...hated the ending... Mark Henry & Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio & Kurt Angle THREE MATCHES? THREE MATCHES? WTF? And not to mention... (yeah...you know who.) Puro news: Hmm...Orton was not there... More news on the way... -
This year has been full of sadness and disapointments, Hashimoto in Japan and Gurrereo in the states stands out. The way New Japan handled it and the way that WWE has handled it shows where each company is headed. There were a few bright spots however. NOAH was a major bright spot. OVW improved and became better than its "Higher" counterpart in many ways. ROH had a ok year, but a very well capible champion in American Dragon. New Japan is restruring TNA in all intents and perpouses had a much better year PPV wise and Wresling wise than WWE... All must hail Joe. The Indies in Japan and the States are getting larger on a montly basis. Im not shocked at CMLL's success this year. They have been a very logical company for several years. At least there HONEST about what they do (when it comes to the Divas of course) The only bright spot for WWE was the ECW PPV. The buyrates get higher every damn month (which leads me to believe that the WWE really hid the actual number) Oh and did I Forget...FIRE PRO RETURNS!!!!! 2006? If cable stays stable- I sucpect that Spike TV's "investment" will pay off. (oh and Joe's staying... and I make the bold predition that American Dragon heads to TNA) Unless Paul Heyman, or Jim Cornnete is the main booker for WWE, the recovery for that company will be REALLY slow. New Japan will sign Brock, and he will have a 9 month title reign. His match with Nakamura will be a good test, and he will Face Fuita after wards. They will give it to Nakamura however and it up to him to rise to the challange. NOAH is going to be the number one company in Japan for a LONG time to come however- and it would be in both TNA and WWE intrests to train some of there workers there (Monty Brown, AJ Hoigt- the majority of the midcard in the WWE) The MMA game boom is dying, so it would be in there best intrest for the Japanese companies to take that opertunity. It might be intresting to see, but i sucpect this is a womens year in Wresling. I would not be suprised if the third main event in the major cards for this year are Joshi titles. Sendai is gonna be HOT. Shimmer is going to be a ROH like promotion. Expect to see more females in the game soon. As for OVW...its gonna be treated as the bastard child of the WWE development groups as the Altanta devlopment promotion is put in better standing. As for WWE trying to be hollywood? It would succeed and yet fail and hurt them in many ways. Expect that there will be more womens matches as the men try to be thespens. And finally Aki gets back in the Wresling Video Game world. all in 2006
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I havent posted alot. Thats for personal reasons. But I had to state something about the recent events that took place this morning. One of the last greats of the Buisness has passed on. And all i have to say is that we as fans are FUBAR'D. The Fasade has finally been taken off of alot of fans and now the realize that no Edward Guerrero=No Smackdown or WWE. A talent like him...or like Benoit's, comes once every 15-20 years. TNA/The Indies (Joe maybe Daniels) have some, Japan had several. But for every mega hoss that Vince or Turner would Push, There was someone like Eddy to prove that talent doesnt have to be in a 6'6 295 frame. Smackdown after Rock was Eddies show more often than not. Even when Lesner was around, and after he beat Benoit (which was one of the reasons why they started the Title Feud in the first place) who never tapped out in his carrer, Eddie compleated shocked every one when he beat Lesnar. In that sense, he became one of the better champions in the last Decade. However, it got too much for him. And he being the champ became too much of a strain. JBL beat him later that year and started one of the most conversal reigns in the companies history. But it was still Eddies show. No matter how bad the script was written, Eddie would do better. He Finally had his great match with Benoit. But still, not for a title, who knows what would have been? But too little too late. And now for a Industry at a crossroads, game time. Time to restructure, and find out the honesty that has been so missing. Who is the next big draw? Who is the next big star? If the men cant do it why are the Females being hindered? All these questions...time only has the answers. God Bless Eddy.
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OHMYGOD! I have nothing to say but that. I am serious. Vince must had too many drinks Holloween Night. The next day, he makes the smartest desision in the history of the busness. Getting the last great known Announcer, and my Favorite of the Bunch, Joey Styles to do Play By Play. He WAS THE KING of the PPV. I am sorry. The way he covered Flair/HHH was near masterpeace. He made that Match (along with Flairs unbeliveble ablity to still be master and commander of the Ring at age 60) into a near **** star match. Ross should be proud at the fact that Vince finally made the right choice. As for most of the PPV... UGH. All the faces won (which its a better trend- let the heros be heros) and the Fans want a more (TNA/ROH) workrate out of the Champ Cena because there starting to hate his guts... This is after Christan quits, Torrie gets fired, Austin didnt want to Job to Coach... And looking at the TNA Clash of Champions coming up on Thursday- We do have a competer in our mist...they Just Need Dan The Dragon/Or Eddie Gargulio and TNA would be set for a real Monday Night/Friday Night/Saturday Night wars. The only issue is, where does New Japan fit in to the wars? Does Simon Inoki and Dixie Carter use Brock Lesnar as a wedge to get TNA and New Japan to american audeances and have McMahan quaking in his boots? Or Vince Uses the upcoming ROH/TNA war as a true WWE/TNA/ROH/UFC/NEW Japan/NOAH free for all for the future of the buisness? This is becoming the most intresting time in a long while. I would not be suprised if there will become new Stables wars (because thats the only reason why WCW stayed as long as it did, the NWO/Four Horseman/WCW wars) Didnt Liger stated he was willing to make his CTU unit global? and if ROH is on the Noah side of things... Damn I am just thinking too much into things... Match Results! (No Smackdown Results Until Saturday- only Taboo Tusday results and Impact Results) Rey Rey & Matt Hardy vs Masters & Snitsky They are protecting Edge for now... Surivor Series the game really starts... Eugene & Snuka vs Conway & Tomko Superfly does it again... Mankind vs Carlito ** stars. Kane & Show vs Cade & Murdoch Batista vs Coach They protected him Big Time. And at least he gets paid... Battle Royal (Womans Title) The Mickie James Storyline is going to work, and might be the only good storyline on RAW...but can the work rate match up when it comes to SurviorSer? Flair vs HHH Flair continues to amaze me after all these years. When he was younger, he could not be stopped. 60 years young and the man can still pull out *** and 3/4 star matches and it pisses me off... Cena vs Michaels vs Angle ...that your 25 year old champion cant. It makes no sence to me. UGH, and he used to be much better in OVW. Now Impact: Abyss w/ James Mitchell vs. Lance Hoyt Jerrelle Clark vs. Christopher Daniels Alex Shelley & Roderick Strong vs. Sonjay Dutt & X Division Champion AJ Styles NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted (James Storm & Chris Harris) w/ Gail Kim vs. 3 Live Kru (BG James & Ron Killings) w/ Konnan Now Puro News: Antonio Inoki returned to the United States from Tokyo. Inoki said that he supported the current restructuring that is happening in the company and that Choshu would continue causing ripples from his changes. Inoki said that he was determined to change and that he had an iron will. Razor Ramon HG had a public training session with Shinjiro Ohtani & Taichi Ishikari (playing the role of professional jobber) today. This was to promote the Hustle Mania show on 11/3 at Yokohama Arena. The fun doesn't end there - check out HG's new face mask and Hustle posing. The greatest part about all these skits is that HG (Sumitani) is actually a very good amateur wrestler and was Tanahashi's rival in Osaka in college. Razor said that he had to slow down on his pelvic thrusts in order to give his hip-swiveling a tune-up so that he would be back to good shape. At the public workout, Ishikari made fun of HG which prompted HG to beat him up. HG gave Ishikari a high-angle dropkick and then put him in a modified cobra twist, which HG is calling the "comaratwist." It's a cobra twist with pelvic thrusting action. Razor gave Ishikari a Tombstone Pile Driver and decided to call this move the "69 Driver." Razor also showed off his devastating "Hard Gay Triangle Lock" submission hold. To finish off his comments, HG stated that when he applies his new and exciting moves on Yinling the Erotic Terrorist, he will imagine that he is putting the holds on Kawada and get excited/aroused. After losing the tag titles today to Chono & Tenzan, is the Nakamura/Tanahashi tag team about to break-up? Junji Hirata (Black Strong Machine) criticized Riki Choshu for being at the Hustle show, stating that if Choshu was really a boss, he would have been at the Kobe show to oversee the two title matches on the card. Osamu Nishimura said that Riki Choshu has come back to New Japan to turn the company from a democracy into a communist state. The promotion's marketing plan for their 1/4 Tokyo Dome show is starting to go into effect. According to Nikkan Sports, the promotion in touting that they will try to break the Guiness Book of World Records for the amount of shows consecutively (on the 1/4 date) at the Tokyo Dome. The promotion has ran the Tokyo Dome on every January 4th date since 1992. (From Puroesu Power) From Strong Style Spirit... More as it comes avlible...
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Things calm down for RAW Results from RAW: Big Show Vs Edge Shawn Michaels vs Carlito Victoria, Torrie and Candice Vs Mickie, Ashley and Trish Kane, Carlito, Gene Snitsky, Edge, Trevor Murdoch, Viscera, Val Venis, Rob Conway, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Rosey, Tyson Tomko, Tajiri, Shelton Benjamin, Eugene, Lance Cade and the Heart Throbs... Now to Puro News: It seems Brock Lesnar has a huge Target on his back.... From Strong Style Spirit... More news and detals later...
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Smackdown Crazyness, Puro Nuttyness...and Indy...
Guest posted a blog entry in Ronixis's T-Bone SuperPlex
Calmness? Results from Smackdown: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan ** stars. Nothing speical... Regal, Burchill, & MNM vs. Animal, Heidenreich, Psicosis & Super Crazy *** These are rare matches. It was a good ending...only thing that hurt the match? Mexicools are Heels and placed in the face side... Christian vs. JBL vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Booker T w/Sharmell ** 3/4 stars. Nothing too specal. I hope for a good match for the title... Nunzio w/Vito vs. Bobby Lashley WWE's Beta Male wins in the SQUASH. Randy Orton w/Cowboy Bob Orton vs. Eddie Guerrero No Match. It started out well, but the interverance... Now TNA Impact: Monty Brown vs. Mikey Batts & Jerrelle Clark (it seems by the next PPV Brown gets the strap) Matt Bently w/ Traci vs. David Young w/ Simon Diamond Rhino vs. Sabu Christopher Daniels vs. Shark Boy Christopher Daniels vs. Sonjay Dutt Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (No Contest) The WWE Catfight continues: This is nuts. Lets move to the other intersting WWE news: A MIDGET DIVISION! UGH... TNA news: UGH why start a war where there not even that big yet? Better news tho: You heard it first... The next great Japanese Superstar...is a beetle. AND now we know why Power Rangers 2007 will be bug based. And why Noah created MushiKing Terry. Enterbrain is publishing a memorial book on Hashimoto. Interviews with Naoya Ogawa, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Masakatsu Funaki, Keiji Mutoh, and others who personally dealt with Hashimoto were interviewed for the tribute book. A shooting took place right near (in a parking lot) the promotion's show in Gunma (Takasaki) at the Sanpia Takasaki building on the 12th and a 56-old man (Yoichi Fukumoto) was killed. What's the catch to the story? You guessed it - the man shot was a former Yakuza boss in Maebashi city and arrests of Yamaguchi-gumi members (the largest crime family in Japan) have taken place... Some wrestling promoters use flyers and posters to promote a big show. Others may buy television time (advertising, special programs). However, Hustle had a better idea for promoting their 11/3 Yokohama Arena "Hustle Mania" show - hijack a Bic Camera store in Tokyo and become manager for a day. 500 people showed up to see Generalissimo Takada. Yinling the Erotic Terrorist showed up in a leather dress and promised to sell all of the electrical appliances in the store. Plasma TVs were sold. Over at Strong Style Spirit: UGH...and there going make a comic book on HIM? But thats it for this week... -
More like condemation. Ok, I am not going to state matches here. There is really no reason to. All it has been that Smackdown, even though its the B (read Bush-Leauge) show- doesnt have the owners of the company basicly rampaging all over the Program. At least there are a few workers there, that might start to become stars. It makes no sense when McMahan is trying to get Lucha stars for the RAW based program... Or maybe it does? Because it seems to me its indictive of the demographic changes that are happening all over the United States(part of it is based on Illegal Immagration, but then again- I am not in the buisness of talking Political issues.) WWE has there PPV's numbers recounted, and a 4th Quarter Dividened. So now they make two BONEHEADED moves. The first was to take Jim Ross off of RAW. The second was to humilate him on live TV. I dont even want to talk about the writing on the show. Other than Alexis Larree (who in her OVW days looked like Magumi Toyota, only 15 years younger- and back in 1989-1990 Toyota had appered in anime and her own MANGA) getting the X-Men Ladies look (if you ever read the comics you would understand what I am talking about), John Cena for all of his problems, is writing his own stuff again, and HHH keeping his rants to 10 mins, the rest of the show was off and got off kilter. Now "The Power Is Back" it seems (wait- doesnt a Power Company own that now?) and they are going to find somebody Younger to replace Jim Ross. That seems intresting (didnt many in the boards wanted JR to go because he was a shell of his former self?) However, many on the IWC- want JR to stay. He might be the best since Solie (and after JR is Styles)- but is it time for new blood? Or Training at least to find new blood? They had the perfect time to do so back in late 2000, they had time do it in when Chris Benoit won the title (which should have ended the 'tude Era in WWE- but now its nearly 2 years late) So why the delay? Is it because the WWE screwed the pooch when they realized that Coachman and Cole was lambased by the fans (which the company also fired...how Ironic) Then came the major changes to the WWE site (started way back with the ECW One Night Stand) Then the WWE tried to get Mike Goldberg from the UFC- because Goldberg is not stupid, he stayed with UFC (remember- When Jim Ross was taken from the Crocket Era NWA-WCW, he was put in as a color man first and Vince was the Play By Play man) Now Coachman- (who is not - a pretty man- by any strech, according to my "GF") is saying the IWC has no balls. Now people are wondering (via this half shoot/half worked storyline) what is going on? Its simple. The writing is trying to recapure the 'tude era of 1996-200(and when will it end?) and Failing majorly. Its getting bad when catfights get started over copying of charators. Its getting bad when the bush league show gets even more bush league (The sandman anyone?) Its getting worse when midgets get to use illegal moves- and make the show even more bush league. The intresting thing is about this week, it tells everything we need to hear about RAW, Smackdown and WWE- hell the whole pro game as well. With all the money they have- and all dividends they will make and can make- there in crisis. TNA (where as Batista is doing the circa 2002 NJPW style half shoot/half work while talking about how AJ Styles sucks in the ring? I love ya Batista- your honest- but PLEASE. AJ has been in a few more **** star programs than you have yet. Your best chance AT one is the IWPG Heavywight Champ. He could have another **** match in Bound By Glory...) despite all there issues, is NOTHING compared to what happend with the WWE, and all the DRAMA, which need more in the ring and compent writers to tell that story- but we have nither. I am not a huge fan of TNA- but if Jarret was a smart man, he needs to remember the Jim Crockett days of NWA-WCW, where Corrnette based his bread and butter on when he was in OVW- and produce that type of product and make it fresh and exiting. If it worked with flair and steamboat- it can work for the Heavy division for TNA- where as the X division needs the NJPW/CMLL/AAA/ROH influance more. I see aspets of that in NOAH's Heavywaight matches. They need to create a system that ROH uses for Title Matches for ALL of there belts (it works somewhat in UFC-but they need to use this more often) Then the writing needs to be competant. Thats all. I can live with ** 1/2 matches once every four matches (which they can do- they have the talent to do so to do ***'s and up) In a way, This week has been an clearing of the air of things I have kept to myself about The Brand for a while. They have been exposed badly, and if anybody was smart in this business, they will know what NOT to do by learning what the WWE has done this week. Lets look at what the WWE did this week before, during and after Raw: More later...
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Match Results for ALL of the Matches, only star rankings for Smackdown however: Booker T w/Sharmell vs. Orlando Jordan ** stars...and as you would see later, it didnt help Booker T none... Sylvan vs. Hardcore Holly Ken Kennedy should be the WWE MVP- I am not too sure of his work rate (hes c-ranked right now and hasnt got a long 10 min match to show where he is, compared to Orton or Cena, but right now he got a strong charator. (if he is Arn Anderson's Son but I am not sure of it, he shouldnt be floping so much...he should be selling well, not over selling) Animal & Heidenreich w/Road Warrior Christy vs. William Regal & Paul Burchill No match... But it looks like Burchill and Regal will get the straps soon. Randy Orton & Cowboy Bob Orton vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper Legends Rating: ** stars... Modern day rating DUD. Eddy Craven vs. Bobby Lashley Funny...the Domiator was nice though... Eddie Guerrero, Christian & JBL vs. Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit & Batista *** stars. Next up, the impact matches: Team Canada (Eric Young, A-1 Ralphz & Bobby Roode) w/ Scott D'Amore vs. 3 Live Kru (Konnan, BG James & Ron Killings) Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Bentley w/ Traci vs. Austin Aries Abyss w/ James Mitchell vs. Sonny Siaki America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) vs. Team 3D (Brother Ray & Devon) DQ... Next, the NJPW Tokyo Dome Matches... Now the No Mercy results: LOD/Christy vs MNM Simon Dean vs Bobby Lashley Chris Benoit vs. Booker T vs. Christian vs. Orlando Jordan Hardcore Holly vs. Mr. Kennedy JBL vs Mysterio Taker's bitches vs Taker Batista vs Eddie Guerrero Now for the Indy News: Over in the land of OZ (thats Austrlia) Now to the Puro News and Its all about LESNAR! (even WWE couldnt advoid it) Some of the most eventfull days in the buisness in a long time... More as it becomes avilable
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Raw Returns to USA- Smackdown Tries to Crash The Party-and The Dames Returnes to TSM! First off, sorry for the late, late reviews, but Man, I have been busy trying to get two shows down and get the rest compleated- note that this weeks episode of my Radio Show- Toon Radio Advance Regen- has a review of Fire Pro R. So now first off the Smackdown Matches: John Bradshaw Layfield and Mr. Kennedy.......................Kennedy vs. Rey Misterio Jr. and Hardcore Holly ** and 1/2 stars. This was not a bad match. You cant do better than this with the talent level they have for this match: Melina (w/Mercury and Nitro) vs. Christy Hemme... * 1/2 star. Bob Orton Jr. vs. The Undertaker * star... Bobby Lashley vs. Russell Simpson ** stars... Christian vs. Booker T (w/Sharmell) vs. Orlando Jordan Very intresting finish... ** and 3/4 stars... One fall for the WWE Tag Team Championship: LOD 2K5© vs. Eddy Guerrero and Batista (World Heavyweight Champion) DQ Strange week...but Smackdown won this week... Next- its the Impact Review- Just the matches and who won: AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown vs. Lex Lovett Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams vs. Alex Shelley Rhino vs. Jeff Hardy...DQ Now RAW's: (its seems that the Raw-Smackdown Wars start) Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels (It was a tie) Edge Vs Matt Hardy Triple H and Ric Flair Vs Chris Masters and Carlito Trish, Ashley Vs Victoria, Torrie and Candice John Cena vs Eric Bischoff Yipes... the ending however saved the show... We have matches from the BIGGEST weekend and week in a long time... More indy News: The St. Petersburg Times newspaper in Florida reports that Bam Bam Bigelow was injured in a motorcycle acccident. He is currently in the hospital. Scott C. Bigelow, 44, whose address on the Florida Highway Patrol accident report is in Allenhurst, N.J., was in Oak Hill Hospital on Monday with injuries not considered life-threatening, FHP spokesman Larry Coggins said. But the passenger who was riding on the back of the bike, Janis Remiesiewicz, 41, of Port Richey, was flown to Tampa General Hospital, where on Monday she was listed in critical condition, according to spokeswoman Ellen Fiss. "He's going to live," Coggins said. Dave Prazak's new promotion called SHIMMER - WOMEN ATHLETES will have its debut show on 11/6 in Berwyn, Illinois at the Eagles Club. Sara del Ray, Mercedes Martinez, Allison Danger, Beth Phoenix, Lacey, Cheerleader Melissa, Daizee Haze, and Nikki Roxx are on the roster. Puro News: Revised 10/8 Tokyo Dome card line-up: TAKA Michinoku vs. Shuji Kondo for the Jr. Heavyweight Title match was announced for the 10/22 Korakuen Hall show in Tokyo. Kensuke Sasaki & Tomoaki Honma will face Team 3D on the undercard. On the 10/14 Ibaraki show, Sasaki will face D-Lo Brown. More news on Saturday...
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Next Week Its Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown, and Saturday Impact Match Results: Trish Stratus © (w/Ashley) vs. Victoria (w/Nails on a Chalkboard) Ok bumps...but ...it was a DQ match. Big Show vs. Snitsky (Street Fight) Its a real sink folks... Shelton Benjamin vs. Kerwin White (w/Caddy)... There just intentonaly giving bad matches now... Cade and Murdoch vs. Val Venis and Viscera (non-title) ARGH! Come ON VINCE what is up with this? Eugene vs. Rob Conway A match...finally. but one star. Carlito and Chris Masters vs. Shawn Michaels and John Cena (Tables match) ???? So in the Puro News: Oh oh... So that it for now...
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A Great Combo...if I say so myself Booker T (w/Sharmell) vs. Christian WWE dont even know how to book losses...but this was a good ** 1/2 match... Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich(Mantis) (WWE Tag Team Champions) vs. Jared Steel and Anthony Colletti I need a title change stat... Sylvan vs. Hardcore Holly (w/Stacy Keibler and Christy Hemme) DUD... One fall with a 20-minute time limit: Ken Kennedy vs. Rey Misterio Jr. Kennnedy is UNFRECKING Stopable...** stars... Simon Dean (on the Simon Scooter) vs. Bobby Lashley (w/a long list of amateur credentials) Poor Mans Monty Brown gets a ** 1/2 stars Chris Benoit© vs. Orlando Jordan... Move on ALREADY! MNM (w/Melina) vs. Batista (World Heavyweight Champion) and Eddy Guerrero ** stars... Ok Ok Ok... Smackdown wins barely... Moving on... Some TNA News: Indy news Puro News: More coming on Tuseday...
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Then its the Return of Monday Night Raw on usa Torrie Wilson (w/Candace and Victoria) vs. Trish Stratus (w/Ashley) Dud... Trevor Murdoch (w/Lance Cade) vs. The Hurricane (w/Rosey) Ok match- * star Ric Flair © vs. Carlito (IC Title) *** stars. 60 years old and can still put it down. Kurt Angle, Chris Masters, Snitsky and Edge vs. John Cena, Matt Hardy, Shawn Michaels and Big Show *** stars. Good match. Edge gets owned. Some Puro News: Sankei Sports notes that K-1 matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa is interested in booking Akira Taue vs. Akebono for the 10/2 WRESTLE-1 show in Yoyogi. Taue is slotted as the next GHC challenger for Takeshi Rikio's belt. That match will happen on 11/5 at Nippon Budokan. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akebono & Scorpio was announced for the 10/2 Tokyo, Yoyogi National Stadium Gym I show. The wrestlers formerly known as The Dudley Boys make their All Japan debut on 9/30 at Korakuen Hall against Tomoaki Honma & Kohei Suwama. New Japan bring back the Tiger Mask LOVE to the US: "The Rise of Tiger" brings a classic character to a whole new world of readers. In collaboration with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Narwain will present the new comic adventures of Tiger Mask, a hero who has dazzled Japanese wrestling fans for decades! Tiger Mask will face his villains both inside the ring and outside, while serving the greater good and bringing justice to the people. The book is written by Gianluca Piredda (already familiar to Narwain fans for his hotly anticipated heist thriller "Free Fall") with art by Marvel mainstay and former CrossGen artist Ron Wagner ("Punisher", "Morbius", "The First"). "The Rise of the Tiger" is a 32-page monthly comic, which also features news with interviews from the world of the NJPW. The partnership between Narwain, NJPW, and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) expands with the all-new "NWA Magazine." This first magazine ever dedicated to the NWA will feature interviews, news, in-depth articles, comics, a direct lifeline for all the fans of the world's biggest wrestling federation. The NWA is home to top name combatants like Ric Flair, Sting, and gods of the ring like Primo Carnera. As if the magazine wasn't enough, each issue will contain a DVD with a selection of the most exciting NWA matches. (now I understand why they brought Liger in...my only worry is that Jarret wants to train in Noah...) So thats it for now... In two weeks- Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown and NWA-TNA Saturday Impact.
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Non-title Match scheduled for one fall: Chris Benoit (WWE United States Champion) vs. Christian ITS the RAW RETREAD! Chris Benoit (WWE United States Champion) and Booker T vs. Christian and Orlando Jordan Much better match than the one done on RAW...** stars. Eddie has turned into Happy Jack from Xialoin Showdown...OMG. Is this one of the Ideas from The Nick writer... One fall for the WWE Tag Team Championship: LOD 2K5© vs. MNM (w Melina) What name are we going to give Hiedenrich? Road Warrior Mantis? (Hey, that kinda...works...(please WWE- if you use this name, i must book the next match between these two and pay me cash money for it) John Bradshaw Layfield vs. vs. Rey Misterio Jr... Good match...JBL in his first losing streak. ** One fall with a 20-minute time limit: Ken Kennedy.........Kennedy vs. Bio-Hazard He is getting over. Over big- the match is nothing to be proud about: DUD Non-Title Champion vs. Champion Match scheduled for one fall: Batista (World Heavyweight Champion) vs. Nunzio (WWE Cruiserweight Champion w Vito) Easy match. * star. Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker The match was good for what it was. Good use of a old storyline trick. Didnt work for Orton. *** stars. Smackdown won this week...barely. Vince Reminds me too much of Inoki... Hey, thought you might be interested in a brief recap of the WWE Stockholder meeting which is posted below: I went to the WWE stockholder meeting today in Stamford, CT. Vince said some interesting stuff, mostly about hollywood and other media outlets. He talked about the cruiserweights and that they need to establish personalities so the fans like them, not risk their lives. He said he only allows the pros to do the hi-flying, not the guy who thinks he knows how. He addressed the tag team problem and said it is on the mend. Vince mentioned they will be going to 15 pay per views per YEAR. Gross. A fan asked Vince if Shane or Steph will take over when he retires and Vince said something very VERY interesting, "Just because you have the last name McMahon does not mean you will take over the company. Same goes for if your last name is Leveque." Oooh, so, Triple H may be taking over after all someday. Vince said you must EARN the opportunity to work for this company, you have to prove that you want it. Vince said he pities his children because he makes them work EXTRA hard, at which point Linda did an RVD move, pointing to herself and said, "and me!" A fan questioned Vince about new talents coming to the WWE. He said there are plenty in the developmental school, but one already on Smackdown has a VERY bright future, and that man is Ken Kennedy....KENNEDY. When asked about UFC and the new Monday Night Wars, he laughed and said Spike is hallucinating. He thought UFC had a good thing going, but that it will get slaughtered to compete w/ the WWF. Vince said the owner of Spike is throwing UFC against RAW because he is spiteful that they switched back to USA. When I asked him privately about TNA, he said, "let them do what they want. I don't view them as a threat." Yes, there will be ANOTHER Diva Search next year...boooring. Somebody asked him about his workout to which he responded, "I'm leg pressing 1000 pounds now, which my doctor advises against, but whatever." I piped in that he beats me in the leg press by 400 pounds, he checked out my legs and said, "good work." Linda McMahon drives a BEAUTIFUL Mercedes SL500 - burgundy. After autographs and pictures, we were given a tour of the television studio (where the meeting was held). We saw where Smackdown is edited, where Jim Johnston records the music, and the WWE/ECW/WCW/NWA library which is absolutely AMAZING. It was a sight to see 70,000 hours worth of tape cassettes. All in all, the day was amazing. Vince looked to be in great shape, was VERY nice to all of the fans, took his time to answer, chat and sign autographs. Same went for Linda, although she left quickly after the meeting whereas Vince stayed, chatting. Vince seemed to be in a great mood and the reason being...? Check below, this was just issued by WWE: Press Release Source: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Declares Quarterly Dividend Thursday September 15, 4:57 pm ET STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2005--World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE�) announced that its board of directors today declared the Company's regular quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share on all Class A and Class B common stock. The record date for the dividend will be September 30, 2005, and the payment date will be October 11, 2005. DAMN, no wonder hes happy. Intresting News from the NWA front: Jeff Jarrett defeated Raven to capture the NWA championship tonight at the Border City Wrestling event in Windsor, Ontario Canada after the interference of America's Most Wanted, who completed their much expected heel turn. The match was billed as the first NWA championship bout in 47 years. TNA had 5 cameras at the event filming the title change and will be putting footage online on TNAWrestling.com. This might be a screwy move, but its a shrewd one. Madam Carter's interview... In a business filled with individuals bent on self-promotion, Dixie Carter is an aberration. As the president of TNA Wrestling Inc., Carter is one of the most influential names in the wrestling business, running the second-largest wrestling promotion in the United States. But she is virtually unknown outside the executive offices of TNA in Nashville. She avoids the spotlight altogether and prefers to keep the focus on the TNA wrestlers. What is known, however, is that TNA probably would not exist today if not for the involvement of Carter and her ties to principal investor Panda Energy International, a Dallas-based company that owns and operates low-cost power plants. Carter and her marketing firm got involved with professional wrestling back in 2002 when she signed on with TNA founders Jeff and Jerry Jarrett. Carter had previously represented music acts and a few other athletes, but she was impressed by the business plan the Jarretts put in front of her and was eager to help promote and market the upstart wrestling company. But her role in TNA became much more crucial when it looked like the Jarretts were about to lose their financing. Carter secured the investment of her father’s company and helped TNA land national television outlets, first with Fox Sports Net and now with Spike TV. With TNA on the verge of relaunching Impact on a new network—on the old cable home of WWE, no less—Carter agreed to a rare interview to discuss the future of TNA, her role behind the scenes, her thoughts on WWE, and her opinion of the storylines and in-ring product of TNA. “Because I knew so little about Dixie as a person and, like most people, didn’t know the level of her day-to-day role in TNA operations, I really wasn’t sure what to expect,” reported Senior Writer Dan Murphy. “The moment she came on the phone line, she spoke passionately and enthusiastically about the TNA product, and she didn’t try to avoid any of my questions. She struck me as extremely intelligent, very caring, and genuinely excited about the future of TNA.” DAN MURPHY: Let’s start with a little background. How did the relationship between TNA and Panda Energy get started? DIXIE CARTER: That kind of happened a good bit after my involvement started with the company. I got a phone call from the president of Monterey Peninsula Talent. They are a major booking company, booking rock bands and country bands and things such as that. And he suggested that I get together with this group that they had been talking to, TNA Wrestling, because they were looking for a company to handle marketing, promotion, and publicity for them. I said, yeah, I’d be interested. At the time, my main focus was music. I had represented record labels, a lot of music artists, and some NFL athletes. I had the women’s professional billiards tour on ESPN, just a variety of sports and entertainment clients. So I took the meeting, and from the very first meeting, I was blown away by the vision Jeff Jarrett and the crew came in and laid out for me. I had interest and pitched the business and got it. An interesting sidebar story—talk about what a small world it is. When I graduated from college, I moved into my first apartment in Las Colinas in Dallas. I saw this blond-headed guy in the parking lot. He came up to me and said hello and said to me, “So what do you do?” I told him I worked for an advertising and marketing firm in Dallas and said, “So what do you do?” He said he was a professional wrestler. I was like, “Yeah, right, sure you are.” He had the blond locks, the whole thing. And he said, “My name’s Jeff Jarrett.” My mother’s maiden name is Jarrett, so that always stuck with me. We used to live next door to each other in Dallas. Literally, our apartments touched. At our first meeting, I asked him if he ever lived in Las Colinas. It’s just funny how those sorts of things happen. MURPHY: When exactly did you personally first get involved? CARTER: I began working with him way in advance of the first show. I was very, very impressed by the whole organization, the concept of the weekly pay-per-views, and a lot of things the company had going for them. It was very easy to see the potential of what a wrestling company such as this could become. A couple months into it, Jeff came to me and said we were in a situation where we lost our funding. He was confident he would find something, but didn’t know how long it would take. So I started thinking about it. My parents have a company called The Panda Group out of Dallas. It’s absolutely not into entertainment, but I know my dad to be the biggest entrepreneur out of all the business leaders and CEOs and presidents and chairmen I’ve worked with of Fortune 500 companies. He’s one of the most creative, out-of-the-box-thinking guys. I took this to him and said, “Look, in this industry, there’s only one competitor with a $900-plus-million market cap. There’s room for two. A few years ago, there were two, and these were the kinds of numbers they were doing. With a company such as yours to manage and oversee the financial aspect of it, I think this could potentially be a home run for you.” He said let’s do it. MURPHY: You touched on some of the financial aspects of doing business. According to reports that I’ve read—and those were all based on estimates, so forgive me if I’m not entirely accurate—TNA operated at a pretty sizeable loss the first year, which is to be expected of any startup company. There were also losses the second year, but there was marked improvement and a better bottom line. Is Panda willing to sustain ongoing losses as long as they see improvement, or is TNA in a position where it needs to stand on its own to survive? CARTER: I think we’re at that point. People have been writing our epitaph from the very first week, even before that. You know that. You’ve read them, and I’ve read them and followed them through the years. I think the one thing that Panda and Bob Carter realize is that to start up a company, you’re not going to turn a profit in the first month, the first year. It’s not a strong likelihood that that will happen in any industry, much less wrestling. From the very beginning, we have had a very specific strategic plan in place, and we have met each of our milestones along the way and have continued to grow this at the pace at which we envisioned. We are there as a company. We are there to take this to a completely different level. I’m very proud that we have taken this company, as a three-year old company—in September we will be seen in 118 countries worldwide. In weeks we will have our toys from Marvel, which is one of the top toy makers in the world, in Wal-Marts and Best Buys around the country. We have a home video distribution deal with a street date of October 4 or 5. We’re within weeks of signing a video game deal. MURPHY: It sounds like there’s a real convergence of things going on all at the same time. CARTER: It is a very, very exciting time for this company. We don’t have a large staff. I feel like each person works the job of 10 people. I feel like we’re hungry, we’re aggressive in going after this, we have a “will-not-be-defeated” attitude. It’s seen in the office staff. It’s seen in the talent. When I look at our guys in the ring taping television shows that will only be seen internationally like we’re doing this summer, before we start on Spike, and I see the effort they’re putting forth, it blows my mind. Some guys would be holding back and saying, “I don’t want to get hurt” or, “I don’t want to do this.” They’re putting it on the line every time they are in the ring, and they are making a statement that they will be taken seriously. They know that the sum of their performances will equal the greatness that we can achieve. MURPHY: Dixie, you tend to keep a low profile in this wrestling world where the name of the game is getting yourself over and vying for attention. People know you are there, but the average TNA fan couldn’t pick you out of a lineup. What is your actual day-to-day involvement with the operations? How much input do you have on the actual in-ring product? CARTER: I’m involved in every aspect of the company. As far as me keeping a low profile, there are two schools of thought. One is to come to work and do a great job and let your results speak for themselves. The other is to involve yourself in a storyline and try to get yourself over and make certain elements revolve around you. That’s just not the type of personality I have. MURPHY: Which kinds of brings me to Vince Russo, who as creative director did involve himself as a major player in storylines, beginning in WCW and into TNA? What are your thoughts on that style and Russo himself? CARTER: I think Vince Russo is a creative genius. I adore him as a person. I have sat in rooms with him and just seen creative brilliance. But Vince Russo would have loved to have been behind the scenes and not on the air. He was so good on the air that we were insistent that he be out there. MURPHY: Do you see WWE as the competition that you have to stay abreast of, or are you more concerned with staying focused entirely on the progress of TNA? CARTER: I think we absolutely need to stay focused on ourselves and what we are going to do different. If I had to put one word to our product, it would be innovative. From day one, that’s been this company’s philosophy—and it started with Jeff, who had success in the other wrestling organizations. Here’s a guy who, when WCW went away, said there’s an opportunity in this industry, and I’m going to step out of my comfort zone as a wrestler and attempt to do something about it. I just have tremendous respect for people who are willing to step out on a ledge and take a risk for an unlimited return, and that’s what he did. Our philosophy as a company has been to be innovative. If it’s been done before, then we need to be able to do it better than it’s ever been done, or we have to come up with something completely new. Have we done that for three years? No. But I will say this company has never been in a better position on a day-to-day basis through our creative product to the business side of this company. MURPHY: What was it like negotiating with Spike TV? Were they initially receptive to bringing in a wrestling company other than WWE? Did you really have to sell yourselves? Was their mentality that this was an opportunity to reach a different audience, or did you encounter a perception that you were a step down from WWE programming? CARTER: I think they were very open to a meeting. I don’t think that signing additional or new wrestling product to their network was a goal for them. But when they took the meeting and saw the product, I think everybody’s eyebrows raised. They saw a lot of potential. They saw the product as innovative and different. They saw it as an opportunity to work with a company that is very aggressive and motivated and excited to work with them as a partner to grow a franchise together. That’s what caused them to make the decision. MURPHY: You mentioned that Spike TV saw real potential with TNA. What do you think your main competitive advantages are over WWE? CARTER: I would say that our wrestlers and the wrestling that they do, I would put that up against anybody in the world, not just WWE. There is great wrestling all over this world. I think we are a blend of some of those styles from around the world—the Japanese mat style, Lucha Libre. The X division in particular reflects that. Some of our wrestlers have been to the big game and have seen it and experienced it, but they are experiencing it through completely different glasses now. I think it will be so much sweeter for them the second time around, based on talking to them and knowing them. And then we have the guys who have never been to the dance before who deserve to have that national platform and who are doing things that have never been seen in wrestling, ever. MURPHY: A.J. Styles, for example, never fails to impress. He’s always coming up with something incredible to watch. CARTER: Always! You look at a guy like Abyss. A guy of that size doing the things he does. Lance Hoyt. These are guys who aren’t household names now, but they will be. Monty Brown—the charisma, the talent. These people deserve to be seen. To me, there is absolutely no way you can watch these shows and not be impressed by this group. The innovation, the six-sided ring, the X division, the six sides of steel, Ultimate X. We have attempted to take wrestling to a different level from the innovative side of it. When it comes down to it, it’s all about our locker room, and those are the guys who make this company special. MURPHY: You are replacing WWE on Spike, only in a different time slot and day. Do you feel a pressure to have a product that resembles WWE, or is this an opportunity to be completely different? CARTER: We don’t see us as replacing WWE. To me, no one can replace the WWE product. They are who they are, and we are who we are. I think with Spike, they are looking at this as a completely different product that has tremendous upsides and are very interested in helping us grow our franchise. I don’t see those comparisons, and I think Spike would feel the same way. MURPHY: What sort of ratings will you be looking at internally for the show to be considered a success? CARTER:There’s not a specific rating. I think we will have success from the very beginning. My gut tells me that. I think it will grow from a ratings standpoint. The one thing that this company has been missing is mass exposure. We have a great product, we have great talent, we have unique elements to our show. The only thing we have been missing is the opportunity for the mass audience to find us. Universal Studios (where TNA tapes Impact) is a unique opportunity for us. If you’re in any kind of entertainment, touring is the most expensive element to try to grow the product. The trucking and the insurance, and just to drop lights and to hang them is just a ridiculous amount of money. We have 15 million people a year coming to us. What better opportunity to have this large sound stage and an amazing marketing partner such as Universal Orlando, and have the people coming to us. MURPHY: I was going to ask you about touring, but you raised another point I’d like to address. With Universal Orlando, you do have all those people coming in, but they’re not necessarily wrestling fans. Because at least some of these people at your shows aren’t wrestling fans, they might not react the way you want—being too quiet during TV tapings, or not understanding the various storylines, and so forth. Do you find it to be a challenge to educate those people, or an opportunity to tap into a new audience? CARTER: It’s a huge opportunity. Think about it. When you walk through those doors and you look to your right, there’s a huge billboard of ours up there. If you’re a wrestling fan or not, you’re going to look up there and see there’s a production here called TNA Wrestling. When you walk in and you see a brochure distributed with our logo telling you what time the show is and talking about some of our stars—those people, whether they come to the show or not, they will be touched by our product. MURPHY: Building brand awareness. CARTER: Absolutely. Our biggest concern right now is with Spike. We’ve never been on television in Orlando. What’s going to happen with a successful Spike show, because we’re so limited with the number of seats we have? The business plan we’ve had all along does include touring, but when we do it, it will be the right time, the right market for us, and the right way. And it will make sense for our company. MURPHY: Back when TNA began, it was a racier product. Gradually things have toned down a little. But you have those initials, TNA, which could have more than one meaning. Have those initials been an obstacle in meeting with potential advertisers and TV outlets, and if so, have you considered rebranding? CARTER:I don’t think it’s been an obstacle. It is, and always has been since day one, what we’re all about, and that’s Total Nonstop Action. When you watch our pay-per-views, we’re going to go until they’re about to shut off our satellite feed. And we’ll give you more wrestling in a shorter period of time than you’ll see anywhere else. If wrestling’s not your deal, then we may not be the product for you. But if you truly love wrestling, we are all about Total Nonstop Action. MURPHY: The six-sided ring was a huge innovation, especially in the X division, where it gave guys new areas to perch from and opened up the game a bit more. Now that you have done that, do you feel that has had the effect you were looking for? Have you given any thought to bringing back the traditional square ring and maybe using the six-sided ring just for X division or other specialty matches? CARTER:Absolutely not. I think it’s everything and more than we ever hoped it would be. That was Jeff Jarrett’s idea. I’ll never forget it. Driving down the road, we had just left Fox Sports, and he says, “Let me throw something out at you. What would you think if we went to a six-sided ring?” I’m always the one that would say, “That’s crazy, over-the-top thinking.” And I went, “Ah! But what would the traditionalists think?” He talked for about two minutes, and I was completely on board. I’ve got to tell you, when you’re flipping through the channels, that ring automatically distinguishes us. It’s something different. And through the graphics we have, the Fox Box, the ticker—you’re going to continue to see things different with our programming because we’re always going to try to do things different. MURPHY: Earlier, you mentioned that TNA has several guys on the roster who have worked for WWE and WCW. Some of those veterans have helped your organization tremendously, like Sting, whose involvement really helped TNA build credibility early on. Others, like Randy Savage for example, were flops that didn’t work out. What are the advantages to bringing in a wrestler who made a name elsewhere as opposed to the potential risk of being seen as a company for guys fans see as has-beens or guys who couldn’t cut it in WWE? CARTER: Let me give you an example. Kevin Nash. Top of his game. Big name. Movie star now. Do you run a risk of bringing him into your locker room and disrupting it? Yes, but with Kevin, and the people that we have brought in and have stayed with us, those people who have had success in the past have come in and, in my opinion, have worked harder than they ever had before. The match Jeff and Kevin had back at Against All Odds, you could not have asked for Kevin Nash to perform any better. He was brilliant. He is impressed with guys on our roster, and he sees it as his opportunity to use his star power to help get those guys over. It takes a very confident, successful person such as Kevin and the others who have come in and done that—Sting, DDP—and not only shine on the level they’re capable of shining, but also to make the other guys look great. They have done nothing but contribute to our locker room and our program. I think it also goes to the quality of guys we have on our roster. They’re not coming in and being greeted with egos. They’re greeted by our guys, who are fans. We have a roster full of wonderful men and women. It’s what I’m most proud of with our company. MURPHY: This is probably the most sensitive question I have, and it’s about Jeff Jarrett. He was obviously a driving force in putting together TNA, along with his father, Jerry. But there is the criticism—and it seems to be growing—of people who see Jarrett as a guy who had success in a very down period in WCW and mid-card success in the WWF. They see him as being a career mid-card guy and not the man to carry a promotion, especially one that is trying to establish itself as young and innovative. How do you respond to the people who say Jarrett is not the guy who should be carrying the ball for TNA? CARTER: I think, if you look at Jeff Jarrett’s performances day in and day out, he is at the pinnacle of his career. From his promo work to his in-ring skill, he can take a wrestler who is not that great, and he can make a match shine. He has tremendous capabilities, and I think people are selling him short. Maybe they think it’s because this is his company, so that’s what’s happening. I think Jeff is in the position he’s in because, honestly, of having some star power from the past, but also from being great in the ring, great on the mike, and having the ability to stir it up big time as a heel. He’s in a good place for our company. Are there other people around him? Absolutely. There’s a group of people kind of leading the company right now, but I think Jeff is there for a reason. And he’s not putting himself in that position. There’s a crew of people who we have entrusted to make decisions. Jeff’s biggest problem is his inability to want to push himself. When Dusty Rhodes came in and was doing some writing for us, Dusty pushed Jeff harder than he had ever been pushed before. I think between our creative staff and our account relations staff, we have the best team that we have ever had in place. Everybody is in agreement on our talent, and that includes Jeff. And I’m going to respect and support that 100 percent. MURPHY: Jarrett is in a very difficult position because people do know he is involved behind the scenes, but he’s also a proven performer and can deliver in the ring and on the mike. It’s just that he has been on the national scene for so long now that he gets criticized for being stale. But he’s made it this far because he is a proven commodity. CARTER: Absolutely. If Jeff was crappy in the ring and we had to work with him, if he didn’t hold his own and do what he does, then he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in. He’s in that position—pretty much as our top heel—because that’s the emotion he draws. I wouldn’t want to be him for anything in the world. Jeff looks at it like a challenge. I’m sure at times it’s not easy for him. You look at Jeff, and if he can use his star power and abilities to make someone else look good, he will be the very first person to stand up and do that. You can’t ask for more from a talent or a leader in this company. MURPHY: On to Monty Brown. A lot of people had him pegged as being TNA’s big homegrown breakout star, possibly being for TNA what Goldberg was for WCW. Even with his unexpected heel turn, do you think he still has what it takes to be the guy in TNA? CARTER: All I can say is everything you just said about Monty Brown I agree with, and would take it one step further. He has amazing potential, and so much natural charisma and talent and will be a superstar. Like everything else, his time and the right way will come, and I think he’s going to blow the doors off the popularity of wrestling as we know it. I think he’ll cross barriers. To give you an example, we put him on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. Monty’s not Brett Favre or Terrell Owens or something like that. He’s been to a couple Super Bowls and was an amazing linebacker with a storied football career. Here’s a guy who, when he’s at a Super Bowl and all the guys are hanging out at the fancy parties, he’s driving 100 miles to sit with 50 people and watch a wrestling show. To know that about him made me love him that much more. This has been his dream. He went out there, and everyone from the executive producers to the head of the Fox Sports Network said, “Oh my God! That guy wasn’t on camera for 10 seconds and I’ve never seen the crowd whipped into that kind of frenzy.” They didn’t know who the hell he was! He looked so amazing and just knows how to work it. He is a great guy and deserves so much success, and I can’t wait until he gets it. MURPHY: TNA has loosened its restrictions on allowing talent to work for Ring of Honor, and even went so far as to bring in Austin Aries for the Sacrifice pay-per-view. Do you look at promotions like ROH as competition? Or might you look into building a working arrangement with ROH for co-promotional opportunities? Is it just a matter of keeping an eye on them for potential new talent? CARTER: I don’t think we would necessarily work with them or look at them as competition. They fill an exciting niche in that part of the country and have been a breeding ground for some really amazing talent. Samoa Joe, who we just signed, I think is going to be a big star. You talk about someone at that size with the match he had against A.J. last month. He’s going to turn a lot of heads. It’s great for wrestlers to have that outlet, to be able to perform on that level to cultivate their skills. It’s a great place for us and WWE and everybody to look and say, “Hey, there’s some great talent there.” We allow our talent to work independents. The reason why they couldn’t was for a very specific reason that we as a company felt strongly about. Other than that, we’ve had absolutely no problems. MURPHY: How sensitive is TNA management—and you specifically—to criticism of the company on the Internet? The nature of the beast is that you’re always going to have critics in wrestling. Do you take those potential criticisms into account when you plan storylines, or do you just book things your own way and let the discontents have their say? CARTER: There will always be discontents, especially in wrestling. It is the most unusual animal, where there is a fraction of fans out there who are so involved in the product and storylines that everyone feels they could do it better. So you’ll never be able to appease everyone. What we have to do is look at our successes. We have set very realistic goals that we need to achieve and we have continued to achieve those. We’ll let ratings and PPV buys be our barometer. If those are working in the way that we want to see them happen, then we will continue on. If it doesn’t, we’ll look to make changes. I would love for everybody to do nothing but to talk great about TNA, and honestly, I feel like that’s going to happen once people get to see our product in a greater capacity. It’s not going to be for everyone. If you don’t really love wrestling, and the storylines and talking in the ring for extended periods of time is what excites you, then we might not be the product for you. That’s why you have chocolate and vanilla ice cream, Coke and Pepsi, and WWE and TNA. MURPHY: Dixie, I just have two more questions, and I would like to thank you once again for being so candid. TNA decided to hold a Chris Candido Memorial Tag Team Tournament. How did this tournament come about? CARTER: It was the creative staff. Chris isn’t somebody that we just want to see fade away. He was such an inspiration to our guys and had been very successful in the business. He had personal challenges and professional challenges that he had overcome, and you talk about a leader in the locker room, somebody who was so grateful to be given an opportunity and came in every day with a smile on his face. He would infuse enthusiasm to all those who sat next to him at lunch, or were in line getting food, or strapping on their boots next to him. I had the unfortunate circumstance of meeting his family at his funeral. You could tell why the guy was such a quality guy, because he has an amazing family. We just released the Lockdown DVD. I called his father and said, “I need to ask you a question. Do you want us to remove that match where he broke his leg from the Lockdown DVD?” I couldn’t even get it out before he said, “Absolutely not. Chris would not have wanted that whatsoever. He would have wanted it in there.” And I said, “But it shows the break several times.” To us that night, it was just a break. When that happened, I jumped back. It was so sweet because B.G. James was holding his hand on one side, and B.G.’s knuckles, the tips of his fingers, were white. He was holding my hand on the other, and he was in so much pain and was so aware of the two hands he was holding. He kept apologizing and apologizing. And I said, “Are you crazy? This means nothing. You’ll go on. This is just a temporary setback.” But he had had bad experiences before in WCW and the WWF. It was so heartbreaking. His father said he was so happy to be a part of TNA. He said it was something so special and thank you for the opportunity, and please leave that in there. I know he would have wanted it because he was so proud to be a part of TNA. We did some bonus footage of Chris in the DVD, and we’re donating a good part of the proceeds to his foundation. His dad just called me and said he and his brother would like to be at the next pay-per-view to see the culmination of the tournament. The loss of one of your members is tragic. At the last PPV, there was someone in the front and center holding up a banner about Chris. I love it when I see that, and I know he is smiling down from heaven. MURPHY: The wrestling business has always been a male-dominated industry. How difficult has it been for you, a woman without a wrestling background, to interact with the wrestlers? Do people think you have never done this and really don’t know what they do, or have the guys been willing to work with you? CARTER: I’m very fortunate to have complete respect from the talent and staff. I’m sure there are times some people feel like, She does not know wrestling … what is she talking about? But again, I’m just trying to bring a different thought pattern to a company that we’re trying to grow. I’ve been in the entertainment business all my life. And while wrestling is a different animal, I think I know what I bring to the table and I know how to spot the brilliance in other people. People like Scott D’Amore. You put them in a creative position. You don’t see me in there writing the show. I’m not on camera. I’m doing what I know I do best to allow those other people to fill out the rest of the company. I think it’s different when people see a female. I mean, I went to a private girls prep school in Dallas. People look at me now and say, “You’re doing what?” MURPHY: You’re hanging out with guys like Abyss. CARTER: Yeah! I had a baby girl almost seven months ago. Abyss was in the hospital, and she fit in the palm of his hand. Here is this special guy who cancelled a wrestling date to come here because he truly in his heart cares about me and this child, and that’s what makes our talent so special. It’s a family. MURPHY: You ought to keep that under wraps. You’re going to ruin Abyss’ monster persona. CARTER: He was not a monster that day, that’s for sure! (Jarret...I am king of her mountian all night long...) On to Indy News: Bryan Danielson defeated James Gibson to win the ROH title tonight in Lake Grove, NY... 1) LOW-KI d. JAY LETHAL 2) AUSTIN ARIES d. AZRIEAL 3) NIGEL MCGUINNESS d. RODERICK STRONG to retain the ROH Pure title 4) COLT CABANA d. HOMICIDE via disqualification There was a brawl with THE ROTTWEILERS, SAMOA JOE and JAY LETHAL 5) JAY LETHAL d. LOW-KI with a top rope dragon suplex 6) SAMOA JOE d. ADAM PEARCE, BJ WHITMER AND RICKY REYES in a Four Corner Survival 7) AJ STYLES d. JIMMY RAVE to win the rights to the Styles Clash America's DDT- PWG Presents: "After School Special" Takes Places On October 1! By Silverback, PWG Staff Writer Jane's Place, CA – After a weekend that many fans are calling the best in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's (http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com) history, many fans were wondering what the PWG management would do to follow up an event as incredible as the "Battle of Los Angeles." To be quite honest, we here at PWG didn't know how we'd follow it up, either. PWG Commissioner SoCal Valerie Wyndham hasn't been back to work, and has reportedly developed a fear of feet, since being super kicked by Joey Ryan, leaving Assistant Commissioner Dino Winwood to pick up the slack. On top of taking care of SoCal Val's duties, Dino has tasks of his own to perform, including watering the office plants, feeding the parking meters (underground parking is part of the PWG 5-Year Plan,) and replacing copier toner, making him a very busy man. Despite being overburdened, Dino has the copier working at 100% capacity, and is ready to publish the lineup of PWG's next live event, "After School Special," taking place on Saturday, October 1 at the Hollywood-Los Feliz JCC! We should note that Dino actually made a Xerox of the lineup, written by hand on a cocktail napkin, which he then scanned in, retouched in Photoshop, printed as a .pdf, rescanned it, then emailed to the rest of the PWG staff. This seems to indicate that Mr. Winwood is either not that busy, and is creating extra work for himself, or is just creating extra work for himself. After the proverbial smoke had cleared and the "Battle of Los Angeles" had concluded, Chris Bosh stood atop the field of 16 as the winner, and wasted no time letting everyone know that his sights were set even higher. Tossing aside his trophy like it was nothing but an inexpensive hunk of plastic and metal, instead of the ever-lasting reminder of great physical achievement that it really is, Bosh demanded a shot at "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen, and the PWG Championship. Steen, who was defeated early in the tournament by AJ Styles, was excited by the prospect of facing the man who had defeated Styles to win the tournament, so the match was set. Dino then took the rest of the day off and went to the beach. After Dino returned from the beach, he found a message waiting from Super Dragon Office, requesting another shot at Kevin Steen, in any type of match, be it for the title or not. After crunching the numbers, Dino saw that due to Dragon's recent win/loss record, there was no way he could give him a shot at the PWG Championship. However, due to the absence of a clear number one contender in the Tag Team Division, Dragon's overall win/loss record, and a deep seated fear of Super Dragon, Dino would allow Dragon to challenge 2 Skinny Black Guys (El Generico & Human Tornado) for the PWG Tag Team Championship with a partner of his choosing. Super Dragon Office sent word back to PWG that this was acceptable, and with both title matches out of the way, Dino went back to the beach. From the beach, Dino sent word that "After School Special" will also feature: - The Super Grudge Match between Scorpio Sky and Scott Lost! After making his long awaited return to PWG at the Battle of Los Angeles, Scorpio Sky made it clear that he would make Scott Lost pay for stealing Sky's mask! - Chris Hero vs. Joey Ryan! Still insisting that he is the best technical wrestler in the world today, Joey Ryan demanded that PWG provide him with an opponent so he could continue building his reputation. Now Joey got his wish, and his work cut out for him, as he faces Chris Hero! - TJ Perkins vs. Alex Shelley! Injury kept TJ Perkins out Battle of Los Angeles, and cost him a chance to prove himself to PWG and its fans. Now he's looking to make up for it, but this time, Alex Shelley is standing in his way! Plus Disco Machine, Excalibur, Quicksilver, Phoenix Star, Zokre, Davey Richards, Hook Bomberry, Top Gun Talwar, Ronin & More! Now to Puro News: Bob Sapp vs. Jun Akiyama was announced for the 10/2 Tokyo, Yoyogi National Stadium Gym I show. Tokyo Sports (via Kakuto Log) reports that other matches on the Yoyogi show include The Great Muta vs. Kensuke Sasaki, Jamal vs. Don Frye, & Kohei Suwama vs. Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki will take the place of Gen'ichiro Tenryu, who asked W-1 not to be booked on the 10/2 Yoyogi show. The promotion is also trying to book Akebono vs. Mitsuharu Misawa or Akebono vs. Kenta Kobashi for the show as well. Misawa wonders why Noah cant get respect with the press (but it dont matter much because the people love the company) A press briefing was held on Friday with Takeshi Rikio & Mitsuharu Misawa as a heat-up for their 9/18 Nippon Budokan match. Rikio said that he thinks he will able to overcome Misawa's experience, and he appealed for a generation change at the top of NOAH. Misawa emphasized his mental toughness and talked about the GHC belt being the symbol of NOAH. Misawa gave a "no comment" when asked about negotiations with WRESTLE-1 to bring him in to face Akebono on 10/2 in Yoyogi. He didn't directly address rumors of a match between himself and Tatsumi Fujinami for NJ's 10/8 Tokyo Dome show. I bet Misawa was thrilled to be fielding questions from the press on everything outside of the Nippon Budokan show he is trying to promote. Matches so far for the 10/8 New Japan Tokyo Dome show: (Pretty Much, WWE Vs New Japan) IWGP Title Match: Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Masa Chono vs. Brock Lesnar (in 3-way dogfight rules, winner beats both opponents) IWGP Jr. & NWA Jr. Double Title Match: Tiger Mask IV vs. Black Tiger Team Japan vs. Ex-WWE: Yuji Nagata vs. Matt Morgan Team Japan vs. Ex-WWE: Kendo Ka Shin & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Charlie Haas & Mark Jindrak NOAH ran their September 18th rally (2nd GREAT VOYAGE) in Tokyo at Nippon Budokan, claiming 16,500 paid. Results: 1. Tamon Honda defeated Kentaro Shiga in 11 minutes, 47 seconds with a choke sleeper. 2. Kishin Kawabata & Mitsuo MOmota defeated Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida in 8 minutes, 9 seconds when Kawabata used an inside cradle on Eigen for the win. 3. Masao Inoue, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, & Mushiking Joker defeated Mushiking Terry, Eddie Edwards, & Scorpio in 14 minutes, 25 seconds when Inoue used a Torture Rack on Edwards for the win. 4. Takashi Sugiura, Shiro Koshinaka, & Akitoshi Saito defeated Go Shiozaki, Yoshinari Ogawa, & Makoto Hashi in 16 minutes, 44 seconds when Saito used the death sickle on Shiozaki for the win. 5. Takeshi Morishima defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru in 13 minutes, 50 seconds with a back-drop. 6. Minoru Suzuki defeated Mohammed Yone in 17 minutes, 31 seconds with a standing achilles submission hold for the tap-out. 7. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: KENTA and SUWA went to a no-contest in 1'34 due to a weapon attack. The match was re-stared and KENTA won in 16 minutes, 46 seconds with the busaiku knee strike finisher. After the match, Katsuyori Shibata appeared in a suit & neck-tie. KENTA challenged him to a match. 8. Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi defeated Gen'ichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama in 19 minutes, 2 seconds when Taue used an avalanche-style nodowa-otoshi (chokeslam) on Akiyama for the win. 9. GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Takeshi Rikio defeated Mitsuharu Misawa in 22 minutes, 10 seconds with the Muso for the win. Coming soon- a review of FIRE PRO! All that and a bag of chips so far... And we will see you on Tuseday:
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Half on the net and half on UPN Internet Matches: One fall for the WWE Tag Team Championship: MNM (w/Melina) vs. The Legion of Doom 2K5© ** and 1/2 stars. Ken Kennedy (w/kickass ring introductions) vs. Paul London * star. Hey, i got a better idea for London. Can we send him to OVW and let him become better there, and stay there. OVW as a wresling promotion right now is better than WWE. Ken Kennedy works better in WWE than in OVW, where as somebody like London can thrive now in a Heyman based promotion. Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Paul Burchill (w/William Regal) Good match out of Burchill. ** stars UPN MATCHES: Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. This was an amazing match. The problem does this match excuse the losses aquired by Misterio? No. Orton should face off Bastisa for the title. Never the less, *** and 3/4 stars. One fall for the WWE United States Championship: Chris Benoit© vs. Orlando Jordan© WOW...somebody tell me why Jordan has not fallen off a bridge (i mean that in a figrtive sense) No ranking... Bullrope Match for the WWE Championship: John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Batista© Fun match *** stars. Smackdown won this week... But the WWE are the biggest losers: Sources are Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com ... DAMN... They Might lose there home too: OMG... Over at TNA: Some INDY News: Now to the Puro News: Results from the 9/11 Japanese shows: And now, Fire Pro news... There are two new moves, details on the contest, a new blog entry for Mask De Spike, new info about the contest, and yes- a longer version of their introduction. And- yes, the game is about to be shipped to lucky fans of Fire Pro that preordered the game. Details on the way if they get it in. And thats it for this week... Until next time...
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Didnt go in so well... Kurt Angle vs. Eugene ** stars. The Heart Throbs vs. Val Venis and Viscera * star...jobber city for the Heart Throbs Matt Hardy vs. Snitsky No match as Big Show comes into the ring... Tyson Tomko vs. John Cena * star... Cena hasnt lost a match in... Torrie Wilson (w/Candace Michelle and Victoria) vs. Ashley * and 1/2 star. was not a messy match. Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Conway Can we get Benjamin to Smackdown...please? YOURE DAMN RIGHT! Hurricane and Rosey vs. Cade and Murdoch (non-title) * star... UGH... let Peter end this review of RAW... THANK YOU! Now on to Puro News: New Japan ran an angle with Osamu Nishimura advising Hiroyoshi Tenzan to not enter into Chono's Black New Japan army. Hustle ran an angle with Generalissimo Takada stating that he would not wrestle on the 11/3 Yokohama Arena (Hustle Mania) show. Takada considered Naoya Ogawa's challenge to a match "a joke." Hustle has hired two new "image girls" for advertising campaigns. The girls are 20-year old Aki Motoki & 23-year old Ai Ito. These girls are known in Japan as "gravure idols," which is slang for models. When the image girls were introduced, "Hollywood" Tadao Yasuda did a run-in because he was attracted to the women. Look! He has the card shirt on! Hustle's 2nd in command in the PR department, Kishimoto, was not happy about the arrival of the hot women. Saturday, more news, and hopeully a full review of SMACKDOWN's Friday. Until Then
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Friday Night Smackdown Is next week! With PPV like action! NOTE! Starting In Two Weeks, We will add TNA to the TV reviews. So it Will be, Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown, NWA-TNA Impact. That would mean updates would come On Tuesday (for TNA), Wed (Raw), Sunday(Smackdown). Matches: Heidenreich (WWE Tag Team Champion--w/Road Warrior Animal) vs. Joey Mercury (w/Melina and Nitro) * star. WWE United States Title: Orlando Jordan vs. Chris Benoit When is Orlando Going to OVW? Maybe Heyman can save him... Christy Hemme vs. Stacy Keibler No Match... Booker T (w/Sharmell) vs. Mr. Ken Kennedy This was...well a good ** match. I didnt like how the used the distraction. Simon Dean vs. Batista (World Heavyweight Champion) Funny DUD. But Funny never the less. Paul Burchill and William Regal vs. Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki This was an OK match. ** stars. Randy Orton (w/Bob Orton Jr.) vs. Rey Misterio Jr. There setting Eddy Guerrero to face Batista? UM NO. *** stars for this match, and Orton should face Batista. This is somewhat a toss up. But I give the edge to Smackdown. ALL READY BAD TIMING FOR SMACKDOWNS PREMERE! Over at TNA: CM Punk heads to OVW First... Now To Puro News: FIRE PRO News! Not much really, just more info about the contest. 15 days away (or should I say 12 days) Anyway, lets have prayers go out to all those in NO. Keep them in your prayers. We will see you next week.