East Coast Indy Wrestling Update #16

[LucharesuFan619 0]

THE EAST COAST INDY WRESTLING UPDATE #16, by John (Friday, November 21, 2003)

 

Table of Contents:

- APOLOGY

- SOURCES

- EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATIONAL INDIES NEWS

- MISC. EAST COAST INDY TIDBITS

- UPCOMING EAST COAST INDY EVENT SHILLS

- COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING (CZW) NEWS

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

- MAJOR LEAGUE WRESTLING (MLW) NEWS

- NWA-TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION (NWA-TNA) NEWS

- NWA WILDSIDE NEWS

- RING OF HONOR (ROH) NEWS

- XTREME PRO WRESTLING (XPW) NEWS

- MULTIMEDIA OF THE WEEK

- SHILLS OF THE WEEK

 

APOLOGY

First off, I'd like to apologize for not posting an edition of this column last week. I wish I had a better excuse, but all I can say is that I had a ton of stuff going on and was unfortunately too busy to get a spare moment to sit down and construct this NHB feature. For that reason, I'm going to try my damnedest to make it up, although it's kind of already too late. Nonetheless, here's an extra-large version of the East Coast Indy Wrestlng Update.

 

SOURCES

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

 

Abbreviations used in this edition...

CWT - (the) promotion's Cruiserweight (title)

HWT - Heavyweight

JHWT - Junior Heavyweight

LHWT - Light Heavyweight

LWT - Lightweight

Tourney - Tournament

TT - Tag Team

TV - Television

 

EAST COAST INDY WRESTLERS IN INTERNATIONAL INDIES NEWS

- D'Lo Brown, Mike "The Gladiator" Awesome, Jeremy Lopez, Malice (a.k.a. Gigantes), Bull Buchanan, and international stars Dr. Wagner Jr. and Silver King are all currently touring with All Japan. Jimmy Yang was scheduled to work on the tour, but his appearances were cancelled due to his recent signing of a WWE developmental deal.

- Several participants in All Japan's Real World Tag League 2003 event have been announced, and among them are the debuting Jamal (Ekmo in NWA-TNA and T.A.F.K.A. Jamal in WWE) & Justin Credible, as well as Gigantes (Malice) & Bull Buchanan, TAKA Michinoku & D'Lo Brown, and La Parka (the original one [Adolfo Tapia], the one that worked in WCW) & NOSAWA, who will competing under a mask as "Parka Guerrera." NOSAWA competed briefly in AJPW last year under the guise of "Dark Guerrera."

- IWA-MS' 2 Tuff Tony and Madman Pondo continue touring with Big Japan, while Super Crazy is working on a series of New Japan shows and Juventud Guerrera is competing in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Steve Corino, L.A. (Los Angeles) Giant, Justin McCulley, and Josh Dempsey are currently wrestling on the ZERO-ONE tour that began on 11/5. Low Ki's previously scheduled bookings for the tours have been cancelled. Speaking of Ki, his past appearances in the promotion hasn't sparked a contract offer from ZERO-ONE, contrary to recent rumors that have stated otherwise. Also, Homicide and Guillotine LeGrande will work in ZERO-ONE later this month and CZW's Nick Gage and John Zandig will return to the promotion for the final two "hardcore"-themed shows that are being booked by Kintaro Kanemura next month (December).

Meanwhile, "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson - who can be considered the complete opposite type of wrestler as Gage or Zandig - will return to NJPW when he competes in the promotion's "BATTLE FINAL 2003" tour, which will last from 11/24 to 12/14. Besides being scheduled to compete vs. - among others - Jushin Thunder Liger (in a tag team match, nonetheless), Danielson will team with Katsushi Takemura to participate in the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament that will occur on selected shows throughout the tour.

- Two IWA-MS stars and one of the promotion's former performers will compete on upcoming Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) events in Germany. On 1/31/04, 11 months after their famous rematch in IWA-MS, Chris Hero and C.M. Punk will face off against each other in a rematch of *that* rematch and like in their last match, the stipulation will make their bout a ONE HOUR LONG IRONMAN MATCH. Hero has been working for wXw and other promotions in Germany during the last few months, while Punk - besides serving as a powerful figure in ROH and NWA-TNA - made his debut in England a few weeks ago for the FWA. This is guaranteed to be quite a contest and it most certainly will not disappoint. 1/31 will be The Night Hero Met Punk...Again.

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

- The XWrestling "Revolution" show in Yorkshire, England on April 10, 2004 will feature Ted DiBiase, CZW's Nick Berk & Z-Barr, Chad Collyer, April Hunter, Slyk Wagner Brown, D'Lo Brown, Bam Bam Bigelow, Road Warrior Animal (Road Warrior Hawk was scheduled to appear on the show, but won't due to his recent death), Big Vito, Harry Smith (the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith's son), and the immensely controversial Teddy Hart. Also, Reckless Youth/Tom Carter vs. Matt Striker vs. Shark Boy has been the first match announced for the event, which will feature a Meet & Greet session in which fans can meet some of the wrestlers.

- IWA-MS' Ace Steel is currently touring Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH, as I've been hyping in the past few additions of this column.

 

 

MISC. EAST COAST INDY TIDBITS:

- Mark Magnus, Chris Cage, Demond "Morris" Thompson, and John "Tank" Toland (all of OVW) are the newest four signees of WWE developmental contracts. All four had been working for OVW. Also, two other performers - Brent Albright and Bobby Lashley - have been told by WWE talent scouts to report to OVW for training, starting 1/1 of next year.

- In a dark match before this week's RAW in Boston, ROH star "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson made his second appearance in WWE in that many weeks. Danielson wrestled Arch Kincaid and although he was announced as being from Boston in order to garner him a face reaction, much of the crowd turned against him when he started to use too many scientific holds and didn't perform any major "sports entertainment"-style spots. This is just one more case of the general fanbase of this industry not knowing true talent when it's right in front of their eyes.

- Rick Steiner will be headlining Harley Race's WLW show on 12/5 in Eldon, MO.

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

The very next night (12/28), AJPW's tour will continue, as it participates in an interpromotional show, entitled "Texas Explosion 2003," with Texas indy promotion River City Wrestling in San Antonio, TX at the Westside YMCA. That show will feature: AJPW TT titles - Muta/Arashi © vs. Pete Lothario & ?, an RCW title defense by champion and Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy graduate Jeromy Sage, Kojima vs. Krusher Kong (formerly of WCW's Awesome Kongs), Hayashi vs. ROH's Homicide, Honma/Miyamoto vs. Biohazard (the former-ROH performer)/Blue Angel, and more action featuring Great Koji and others. A Fan-Fest event will be held before the show. Please visit RiverCityWrestling.net for more info.

- Please visit SSCWWrestling.com for more info on the recently-formed agreement between Stars & Stripes Championship Wrestling and Weiss Wrestling Promotions that wi ll allow for SSCW PPVs to air in both the U.S. and Canada in the future.

- For more info on the re-location of Walter "Killer" Kowalski's highly-acclaimed pro wrestling training school, please visit KillerKowalskis.com and/or ChaoticTC.com.

- Joe Blackburn's Heritage Wrestling Alliance (XPW's former-"developmental territory") will resume running shows in 2004 at the Murphy Recreation Center in Philly.

- A new independent wrestling promotion called the Eastern Wrestling Alliance has formed in Baltimore, MD. In addition to running shows in the area, it owns a wrestling training school. Free tryouts for the school are being offered Monday thru Thursday from 6 - 7 pm. For more information, call 443-858-2755 and check out the promotion's web site at EWAMD.com.

- NON-EAST COAST INDY WRESTLING TIDBIT: On the 10/22 Ultimate Pro Wrestling Possession show in Santa Ana, CA, several major names were added to the upcoming UPW 5th Anniversary Show that is scheduled to occur on 12/17/03. Firstly Sylvester "The Predator" Turkay said that he wanted to do something special for the 12/17 show, so he challenged Ken Shamrock to a match on it. Shamrock came out and cut a promo, saying that he accepted the match.

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

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

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

 

UPCOMING EAST COAST INDY EVENT SHILLS

- Upcoming "Toys For Tots" Benefit Shows: TONIGHT at the Forrest City Civic Center in Forrest City, Arkansas (Yes, I know - that's not East Coast...but still...); Saturday, 12/6 at Burlington County College Gymnasium in Pemberton, NJ (UWCWrestling.com) and the Fairgrounds in Hazlehurst, GA; Sunday, 12/7 at the Fairgrounds in Hazlehurst, GA; and Saturday, 12/13 at the Swainsboro Recreation Department Gym in Swainsboro, GA.

- USA Pro Wrestling "End of an Era" will be held on 11/29 at Elk's Lodge in Queens, NY. "The Madhouse of Extreme" - has it has been called - was where a host of famous ECW shows occurred. Elk's Lodge was recently sold to new ownership and after 11/29, it will not serve as a pro wrestling venue anymore. USA Pro celebrates the legacy of Elk's Lodge on that date with what looks to be a fantastic show that will feature: A new era of The Triple Threat faction - an ECW phenomenon - will begin when its former-members Bam Bam Bigelow, Chris Candido, and Shane Douglas - along with several other former-ECW stars - are in the same building together; HWT Title - Raven © vs. Al Snow; Shane Douglas vs. The Sandman; Low Ki makes his return to Elk's Lodge; TT Titles - The Flock (Wayne/Mikey Whipwreck) © vs. The Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz; Ladder Match for the X-Treme Title - Deranged © vs. Grim Reefer vs. Sonjay Dutt; U.S. Title - Billy Reil © vs. Crowbar (a.k.a. Devon Storm); Madhouse of Xtreme Death Match - Balls Mahoney vs. Axl Rotten; Simon Diamond vs. Mike Kruel; Striker vs. Slyk Wagner Brown; The Solution vs. Prince Nana/Monsta Mack; more action including D'Lo Brown, Mike Tobin, Louie Ramos, Christopher St. Connection, and MANY more.

- International Wrestling Cartel (TONIGHT; Coraopolis, PA): Shane Douglas in a tag team match; AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin; TT Titles - M-Dogg 20/??? vs. Devil's Advocate vs. Dunn/Marcos; outside talent like Jimmy Jacobs, Super Hentai, Alex Shelley, and Shark Boy, along with all of the regular IWC regulars.

- NWA-FL "Hostile Takeover" (TONIGHT; St. Petersburg, FL): NWA-FL HWT, X, and TT Title defenses; 6-Way Last Man Standing Match; more featuring Scoot Andrews, Steve Madison, Mikey Tenderfoot, Justice, Sedrick Strong, Naphtali, Mike Sullivan, The Shane Brothers, Chaos, and more.

- New York Wrestling Connection (TONIGHT; Deer Park, NY): Six-Man Tag Team Match main event featuring MIKEY WHIPWRECK; LHWT #1 Contenders Match - Dan Barry vs. Grim Reefer vs. Damian Dragon vs. Jay Lethal; action featuring Johnny Ova, Mike Tobin, Guillotine LeGrande, Livewyre, Tara Charisma, and more.

- 3PW - Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PWrestling.com) (TONIGHT; Viking Hall in South Philly, PA): 3-Way TLC Match(!) for the vacant HWT Title (Justin Credible was stripped of the belt about a week ago) - Sabu vs. The Sandman vs. The New 3PW Commissioner, who was responsible for stripping Credible of the belt and whose identity will be releaved tonight at the show; Homicide vs. Xavier; appearances by Low Ki (making his Philly return), Juggalo Championsh*t Wrestling's Rudeboy (debuting in 3PW), Gary Wolfe, Jasmin St. Claire, Tod Gordon, Roadkill, Blue Meanie, Rob Eckos, Striker (a.k.a. MLW's Matt Martel), Monsta Mack, Damian Adams, Ricky Vega, CJ O' Doyle, and CZW's Ruckus. Due to injuries suffered at yesterday's IWA-MS show, Ian Rotten has pulled himself from tonight's show, on which he was scheduled to wrestle Rudeboy (who will still be on the show, despite Ian's abscence). Ian will be competing on the IWA-MS show tonight, nonetheless. The full card for that event can be found in the IWA-MS News section below. Tickets from the 11/3 3PW show that was cancelled will be honored at tonight's show.

- For the cards to All Japan Pro Wrestling's upcoming US tour, please scroll up to the Misc. East Coast Indy News section.

 

To continue reading this column, including discussion regarding CZW/3PW, CZW's departure from Viking Hall, MLW's return, and more, please click the below link:

 

http://noholdsbarredwrestling.com/columns/.../71567821.shtml

Edited November 24, 2003 by LucharesuFan619

[LucharesuFan619 0]

I REALLY should've just made it a solely CZW column this week, b/c I just added now on even MORE CZW-related stuff on its departure from Viking Hall.

[ulfistgut 0]

Tehehe, that's what happens when you just copy and paste.

 

 

If you'd have checked sources and maybe payed attention rather than blindly copying information you'd have realised your mistake.

 

 

And also, CZW are running a different place in PA in Jan and then returning to the Viking Hall on Feb and March.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Tehehe, that's what happens when you just copy and paste.

 

 

If you'd have checked sources and maybe payed attention rather than blindly copying information you'd have realised your mistake.

 

 

And also, CZW are running a different place in PA in Jan and then returning to the Viking Hall on Feb and March.

WTF are you talking about?

 

1. Copy and pasting? I don't copy and paste, unlike many other newsletters. And I credit my sources, unlike many newsletters.

2. What mistake did I make? Dude, you really have psychological problems. I didn't make any mistake. It hasn't been confirmed yet what's going on with Viking Hall. I talked to someone who fucking works for CZW, you imbesil. I posted what he told me.

 

You're the same guy that was fired from XPW for being an idiot, aren't you?

[Guest bort]

nice read there, when is the ECW area article gonna be released as i think that would be a good read

[ulfistgut 0]

Barber, barber, barber.

 

Whilst I did not exactly mean Copy and Paste I meant copying without thinking.

 

Now think very very very carefully, look at this (from your report)

The most important, though, has to do with a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer, which unfortunately reported that Berk would be RETIRING from pro wrestling in order to continue his college education and pursue a career in the field of arts

 

Next, we look at the thread entitled "Nick Mondo Retires" posted this very board (in which you posted). Look at this choice snippet from Mondo's commentary (pasted in that thread)

I'm a college student. I've been a full time student for over two years now, and I'm beginning my junior year. I go to school for filmmaking and painting. I'm sure it's hard for most people to imagine, but the fact is, art is what I do better than anything else...including wrestling

 

Now think a little. Don't you think it's a remarkable coincidence that Nick Berk and Nick Mondo both decided to retire in the last week. Both to pursue Art at College? And the fact that no-one else has mentioned Berk's retirement? You simply copied what the observer said, without thinking that it could be a mistake

[PsychoDriver 0]

Yeah and isn't Berk supposed to be going to England and NWA:Wildside (I think) soon? If he were retiring why would he do that?

 

I think most non-CZW fans get their Nick's (Gage, Berk, Mondo) mixed up some times...

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Whilst I did not exactly mean Copy and Paste I meant copying without thinking.

 

Then you should've chose more appropriate diction.

 

Now think a little. Don't you think it's a remarkable coincidence that Nick Berk and Nick Mondo both decided to retire in the last week. Both to pursue Art at College? And the fact that no-one else has mentioned Berk's retirement? You simply copied what the observer said, without thinking that it could be a mistake

 

Very legitimate point. You're right - I didn't think about the possibility of it being a mistake because generally, the Observer is very accurate. With that in mind, now that you bring it up, I do agree, so I'll def. edit that out of the column.

 

nice read there, when is the ECW area article gonna be released as i think that would be a good read

 

I haven't gotten around to updating my sig. LOL. I decided to push the article back until early year. Trust me, it WILL be released, I promise my life on that. The same thing goes for the GQ Money interview that I keep hyping, which will be up hopefully by the end of this year. What I've decided to do is incorporate the Viking Hall article into a much larger project celebrating the 10 year anniversary of ECW's formation. I don't just mean an article about the history of ECW that talks about V-Hall's influence. It's probably gonna be like a mini-web site entirely devoted to ECW. 1 part will be a huge article that summarizes its history. Another part will be an article about V-Hall's history. There will be another 2 features, 1 of which will feature testimonials from former-ECW stars who discuss what it meant to work in ECW for them, and another feature will have testimonials from both former-ECW wrestlers and indy superstars who've worked in Viking Hall that talk about what it meant to work there. I've already started capping tons of photos from past ECW shows and past Viking Hall shows, so there's going to be two photo galleries, too. And Ive already got contributions from about half the CZW roster, a lot of ECW guys, several XPW workers, and some other guys related to the building that even I was surprised I was able to get in contact w/. The features on Viking Hall will probably be released a few months before the general ECW stuff, so as to hype the ECW stuff's release.