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I’d like to start by apologizing for not having a column ready last week but with Super Bowl weekend going on I was very busy. So congradulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning their first Super Bowl in the team’s 43 year history and, to transition into the wrestling talk…

Who Dat?

The Saint’s “Who Dat” chant has been getting lots of coverage with the team’s run to the Super Bowl but the chant, which has been around since the early ’80s, originated in New Orleans’ Sports Auditorium as a chant for Mid-South Wrestling fan favorite Junkyard Dog. When JYD left the territory to “grab them cakes” in New York for Vince the crowds carried the chant to the local sports team but with the Saint’s being at the height of their ineptitude, a period when the team was known as “The Ain’t’s,” they didn’t receive a whole lot of support. The chant had a resurgence in the late ’80/early ’90s when the team finally began a turnaround that included a number of playoff births.

“Who dat? Who dat? Who dat thinks they gonna beat that Dog” became “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat thinks they gonna beat them Saints?”

And this year, the answer to that question was nobody.

Jack Brisco Passes Away

I’m sad to report the passing of Jack Brisco. There’s really not much more I can say that hasn’t been said about the man who is widely recognized as one of the best real wrestlers in the history of the sport. OWW Radio did a special tribute episode dedicated to Jack Brisco featuring an interview with Robert and Pamela Allyn, the daughter and son-in-law of Jack’s longtime friend Gordon Solie.

Download this special 2 hour episode from the following links
iTunes Podcast: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
ClickWrestle: http://www.clickwrestle.com/podcasts/owwradio

Online World of Wrestling is proud to present OWW Radio hosted by Nick Anthony. On this edition of OWW Radio, we pay tribute to the late, great Jack Brisco. OWW Radio also welcomes this week’s featured guests; Bob & Pam Allyn, the daughter and son-in-law of the legendary Dean of Wrestling Gordon Solie.

OWW Radio Toll Free Number 1-866-543-6990 (Open 24/7)
OWW Genesis Forum – http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/forums/
OWW Radio Twitter Page – http://www.twitter.com/owwradio
OWW Radio Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/owwradio
OWW.com Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/oww/com
OWW Radio Youtube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/OWWRadio

[Thanks to the OWW Radio Production Team]

OWW Open Call

Online World of Wrestling is currently looking for talented writers who’re interested in penning columns for the site. We’re also looking for contributors interested in helping update the massive bios section of the site. If you’d like more info contact OWW Editor Brad Dykens at [email protected]

TNA Wrestling News

TNA Wrestling is promising a “major announcement” in a press conference this coming Monday at 2:30 PM EST at the iMPACT Zone in Orlando, FL. While nothing can be confirmed until the press conference, there is a very strong belief that Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan will be on hand to announce that iMPACT will be moving to Monday nights beginning in March. The plan as of right now is to go live twice a month and taped twice a month, with the taped shows being shot on the Tuesday following the live show. Original plans also placed the next live Monday Night iMPACT on March 1st but that is far from confirmed now and the live show could be held until March 8th or even later.

TNA’s ratings have been consistently dropping since the Jan. 4 show. Worst of all, the rating usually starts in the 1.5 range and loses viewers at every quarter hour until the end of the show finishes somewhere around the 1.1 – 1.2 mark. The high start could be attributed to the strong UFC Unleashed lead in or it could be proof that people are interested in the show but the writing is unable to maintain their attention. Either way most people in TNA assume a move to Monday nights would be nothing but beneficial for the company.

The word going around TNA currently is that the company has decided to suspend Awesome Kong because she refused to go on the company’s recent UK tour. It should be noted that Kong had asked for time off following the death of promoter Ed Chuman, who was an important influence on Kong’s early career, but the company refused to grant it. No specifics of the suspension have been announced but it is believed it will start following this Sunday’s PPV and the company’s next set of TV tapings, which takes place between Monday and Wednesday.

Although the company hasn’t made any official announcements, Scott Steiner’s profile was removed from the company website and the former WCW World Champion has left the promotion. Steiner’s contract with TNA recently expired and the company decided not to renew the aging star’s deal. Scott Steiner is currently taking bookings through Bill Behrens at [email protected]

The final bit of TNA related news worth mentioning is that Scott D’Amore has once again left the company, even going as far as to wish TNA “the best in it’s future endeavors” on his website. The current plan right now is for D’Amore to unite his successful Border City Wrestling promotion with the equally successful Blood, Sweat, and Ears promotion to form Maximum Pro Wrestling. D’Amore and the people in charge hope to form a promotion that has the strength to tour Canada nationally as well as release DVDs and PPVs, similar to the situation ROH is currently in in the US.

WWE News

Apparently USA Network has been pushing WWE to make RAW a 3-hour show for sometime now, hence the reason for all the 3-hour specials. Vince has been reluctant to go that route but recent rumors have stated that, IF iMPACT moves to Monday nights on a permanent basis, RAW would move to 3-hours on a weekly basis.

Upcoming guest hosts announced for RAW include Jerry Springer this coming Monday, singer Jewell and former professional bullrider Tye Murray on 2/22, ’70s comedians Cheech & Chong on 3/1, magician/illusionist Criss Angel on 3/8, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on 3/15.

The only two names currently confirmed for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame are Antonio Inoki and Ted DiBiase. Inoki is a legendary name in Japan who has ran his own promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, since 1972 and even defeated Bob Backlund in 1979 in Japan to win the WWWF Championship. Inoki lost the title back to Backlund a week later and the Federation never recognized the title change in the States. It has been announced that Inoki will be inducted by Stan “The Lariat” Hansen. Ted DiBiase, known worldwide as the Million Dollar Man, is a multi-time WWE World Tag Team Champion and one of the most iconic bad guys in the company’s long history. Although it hasn’t been announced, it’s highly likely Ted will be inducted by one of his sons, two of whom are currently under WWE contract (Ted Jr. and Brett).

For those who missed it a few weeks ago, WWE extended an invite to The Honky Tonk Man to be inducted this year but he turned them down, citing scheduling conflicts.

Two weeks ago on ECW, Vince McMahon announced that the brand would be closed and, in it’s place, the “next generation” of wrestling and television would air in it’s place. Dubbed NXT, the show will debut on Feb. 23 but the format of the show still is unclear. There have been rumors swirling that the show will be a reality show in the vein of Tough Enough and The Ultimate Fighter. There is talk of the series following talent both in and outside the ring as they train and are introduced into the locker room. With over a week still to go before the debut of NXT the format is likely to change 100 times. As it stands right now, Kaval (formerly Low-Ki of TNA and ROH) and Daniel Bryan (the name they seem to have settled on for Bryan Danielson) will be the stars of the show with the rest of the roster being filled out by Florida Championship Wrestling talent.

The current ECW roster will likely be split between RAW and SmackDown. The ECW Championship will be retired after this week’s show, which will feature one final Championship match between Champion Christian and Ezekial Jackson. Also on the show will be a Unified WWE World Tag Team Championship match between Champions Big Show & The Miz and challengers Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu.

After 23 years of history, WWE announced on Feb. 12 that the Survivor Series PPV had been pulled from the company’s annual line-up. Vince McMahon himself made the announcement, citing a poor buyrate (which was down 28% from 2008) and blaming the decline on the team concept being obselete. With roots dating back to 1987, the PPV was the company’s second oldest show (behind WrestleMania) and was home to many memorable moments in company history including the debut of The Undertaker (1990), the debut of the Casket Match (called a Coffin Match at the ’92 Series), the Montreal Screwjob (1997), The Rock’s first WWF Championship win (1998), the final match of the Invasion angle (2001), the debut of the Elimination Chamber (2002), Lita‘s final WWE match (2006), John Cena‘s return from a hernia to win the World Championship (2008), and more. WWE sent out a poll asking fans to vote on the type of PPV they’d like to see replace Survivor Series. Among the choices were a Battle Bowl event, a King of the Ring style one night tournament, a Money in the Bank event, a WWE Draft on PPV, a RAW Roulette style PPV, and a War Games PPV.

Vince McMahon also announced that the company is seriously considering a “WWE Network” similar to the current NFL Network and that the company could have the station up and running as early as next year.

DGUSA News

After the mess with Davey Richards being pulled from all future Evolve and DG USA shows, DG USA recently announced that they’d come to a deal with TNA Wrestling that would allow the Young Bucks (TNA’s Generation Me) to work the DG USA shows in Phoenix on WrestleMania weekend.

DG USA is currently doing a store special until 2/16 where, if you order $50 worth of merch you can get a free FIP DVD, $75 worth of merch will get you 2 free FIP DVDs, and $100 worth of merch will get you 3 free FIP DVDs. For more info on this sale and more DG USA updates, including the main events for shows on March 26th and 27th, visit their website at www.DGUSA.tv.

DG USA will be returning to PPV in 3 weeks with their latest offering, “Fearless,” which includes, among other matches, BxB Hulk -vs- Dragon Kid for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship, Cima & Super Crazy -vs- Mike Quackenbush & Jigaw, Jimmy Jacobs -vs- Brian Kendrick, and Masaaki Mochizuki -vs- Davey Richards for the FIP Heavyweight Championship in what would be Richards’ final DG USA match. As I said with the last DG USA PPV, this show will be well worth the $20 you’ll spend on it so I highly suggest giving DG USA a chance. [Thanks to Gabe Sapolsky]

2010 Captain Lou Albano Memorial J-Cup Tag Team Tournament
On Feb. 19, NWS will honor the late, great Captain Lou Albano, the manager of tag team champions, by holding a special tag team tournament featuring The BS Express, The Jock Mafia, Team Commando, The Cold-Hearted Playas, and the 800+ pound Nigerian Nightmares. The show will also feature a special appearence by former WWF Oddity The Giant Silva, who will be taking part in a special 4-on-1 match. For more info on the event, including directions and ticket prices, check the NWS website at www.nwswrestling.com

The Quebec Wrestling Awards

The Quebec Wrestling Awards were recently handed out. The winners include –
El Generico winning Best Wrestler
El Generico & Kevin Steen winning Best Tag Team
LuFisto winning Best Female Wrestler
Samson winning Best Heel
Franky the Mobster winning Best Babyface
LuFisto -vs- Cheerleader Melissa winning Match of the Year
Samson -vs- Don Paysan winning Best Feud
Oz winning Best Non-Wrestler
Leon Saver winning Best Rookie
Kevin Nash winning Import of the Year
Mad Dog & Paul Vachon being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award
Kevin Steen winning Wrestler of the Decade

More info on the Quebec Wrestling Awards can be found at http://www.quebechof.com/

Plugs

“Fighting Females” has made its return and if you want to know what’s been happening in the world of women’s wrestling over the past eight months then this is the place to go. The mag can be downloaded at www.fightingfemales.co.uk  Just click on the cover on the home page. [Thanks to Stephen Ashfield]

Also available right now is a new issue of The Wrestling Press, a free wrestling ezine. You can check it out at www.thewrestlingpress.com. [Thanks to Greg, TWP Editor]

“The Mouth Piece Wrestling Show” recently conducted a 2-part interview with “the voice of Wrestling at the Chase” Larry Matysik, which is now available for download through iTunes and Podcast Alley. Matysik’s always good for an informative interview so I’d recommend checking the show out. I’ll also be reviewing Larry’s latest book, “Drawing Heat the Hard Way,” very soon. [Thanks to Sheldon Goldberg]

I recently recieved a little information about the Pro Wrestling Fan Fest, which will take place Saturday, May 8th in White Plains, New York. “Super tickets” are available now for $99, which includes an autograph and a photo op with each of the 9 guests including TNA Champion AJ Styles, Pope D’Angelo Dinero, Leticia Cline, Vampiro, and more. More info can be found at www.ProWrestlingFanFest.com

OWW’s Arnie Katz has Parts 1 and 2 of his month long series of articles rating the TNA roster online. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2010/02/05/rating-the-tna-roster/#more-14990 – Part 1.
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2010/02/09/rating-the-tna-roster-2/#more-15056 – Part 2

OWW’s Jay Shannon also has a new edition of his Headlocker up with a post-show look at TNA Against All Odds at http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2010/02/14/against-all-odds-predictions/

You can pick up Vince Russo’s new book “Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo” through the OWW store at the following link http://astore.amazon.com/onliworlofw0a-20/detail/1550228684.

Emilee Cohen sent in a link to a video of Ron Simmons hyping of his appearence at the Promolast Atlanta Reunion Fanfest on June 4th & 5th. You can view the promo here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQAklFL5ipc

Force of Wrestling Radio conducted an interview with Bill Behrens on Super Bowl Sunday. Topics included, among other things, TNA, Jeff Hardy & Shannon Moore, and the Jeff Jarret/Karen Angle/Kurt Angle situation. You can listen to the entire interview here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fowradio. [Thanks to FOW Radio]

Interview with Jerry Springer, talking hosting this week’s RAW here http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/02/11/12846336.html

Mike Mooneyham has an article talking the Death of ECW (again) at http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/feb/14/ecw-only-ashes-remain

Jim Ross has updated his BBQ blog site talking his contract status, his future, Jack Brisco and more at http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/saturday-updatedozens-qas-updatedrandom-thoughts

Tyler Black is doing a pro wrestling seminar on 2/19 in Davenport, IA at 3:30 p.m. at the Central Rec Center for $30. For more info you can e-mail [email protected]

Brad Dykens’ DVD Reviews

Brad has a few new DVD reviews online that are worth the read if you plan on adding any of the following to your collection. Once again, I personally can’t say enough about the Dragon Gate shows. I’ve paid my $20 for each PPV and been nothing but happy. I’m sure the DVDs can only be better.

FIP’s Heatstroke 2008 DVD Review

DGUSA’s Open the Untouchable Gate 2009 DVD Review

WSU Awesome Challenge 2009 DVD Review

SHIMMER Vol. 24 DVD Review

Ring Roasts II: All Funked Up DVD Review-

Monday Night Mayhem Celebrates 8 Years

Monday Night Mayhem — “Home Of Wrestling Radio”
Broadcast Live & Worldwide On The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network
www.MondayNightMayhem.com
www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem
www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem
www.AudioWrestling.com
www.ITunes.com

TNA President, Dixie Carter, Discusses Ric Flair‘s Signing With TNA Wrestling; “The Nature Boy” Discusses His Thoughts On Why It Was Hard “Leaving Home Again,” Not Being Given The Chance By The WWE To Return Leading Into WrestleMania XXVI, Working With “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, His Response To Those That Feel His Legacy Will Be “Tainted” As A Result Of Joining TNA, & The Likelihood Of Jim Ross Potentially Signing With TNA After His WWE Contract Expires

Courtesy: www.MondayNightMayhem.com

16-Time World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Hall Of Famer, one of TNA Wrestling’s newest acquisitions, & the current manager of the TNA World Heavyweight Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, & one of TNA’s newest acquisitions, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, was one of the special guests on the eight-year anniversary edition (02/08/09) of Monday Night Mayhem (presented by ReelWrestling.com), hosted by The Big Mosh, Blade, “The Chairman Of The Board” Todd Vincent, Chaz (MNM Original), & The Post & Courier’s Mike Mooneyham. You can feel The Mayhem live & in streaming audio every Monday night (at 8PM ET/7PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.ITunes.com, www.AudioWrestling.com, www.Hybrident.tv, www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem, & www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem).

The highly-anticipated debut of “The Nature Boy” on The Mayhem is now available for free in Windows Streaming Media, or via The Mayhem’s official Podcast on ITunes:
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/020810.wax
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast On ITunes): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/feb10/020810.mp3

[Thanks to the Monday Night Mayhem Crew]

OWW Genesis

Anyone looking for up-to-the-minute breaking news should considering signing up for OWW Genesis, the Online World of Wrestling forums. We have a news forum that is continuously updated, as well as a very active community where a “Family Environment” is strictly enforced. We keep trolls, drama, foul language, and harassment to a minimum and good, clean, pro wrestling debates and discussions to a maximum.

Some features of the forum include TakeDown, an RP based efed that runs shows once a month; Undisputed, a wrestling debate league which averages one card a month; a Video Vault where matches and segments of wrestling’s past are all compiled in one easy to find place; an Open Forum for OWW Radio discussions; an active MMA community; and what I would consider a group of wrestling’s most knowledgable fans eager to talk and share their knowledge.

– D.L. Wade