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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Tuesday October 6, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to your mailbox.
WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
10/5 Raw TV results from Wilkes-Barre, PA: Jack Swagger over Primo Colon; MVP & Mark Henry over Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero; The Miz over Kofi Kingston to capture the U.S. title, and DX over Jeri-Show.
Dark match was Jamie Noble over Heath Slater from developmental.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are today in Trenton, NJ.
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Randy Orton vs. John Cena in a 60-minute Iron Man match for the WWE title was announced for the October 25 Bragging Rights PPV in Pittsburgh. The stipulation is no disqualification, no count out and if Orton retains Cena must leave Raw and go to either ECW or Smackdown. I don’t know for sure, but there is a valid reason why he would disappear as he is shooting a new movie in December for WWE Studios. He still made TV tapings when he did The Marine and 12 Rounds.
Legacy didn’t appear on Raw last night but Ted DiBiase Jr. taped a match for Superstars.
WWE got their SportsCenter moment last night when ESPN aired Ben Roethlisberger and his team mates doing the crotch chop with DX.
Nancy O’Dell and Maria Menounos of Access Hollywood will guest host Raw next week in Indianapolis.
The latest WWE KPI’s showed live attendance during July and August in North America averaged 5,500 an increase from 5,300 in 2008, and overseas average attendance was 10,000 an increase from 6,600 although it should be noted they ran less events this year than in 08. SummerSlam did an estimated 375,000 buys which may not yet have included data from International markets. SummerSlam in 08 did approximately 500,00 buys.
Total number of DVD units sold in July and August was 561,000 with Wrestlemania 25 the biggest seller with 203,000 units sold. Internet traffic on WWE.com showed declines compared with 08 as did online merchandise sales.
The WWE Shop website has a 15 percent sale on replica title belts right now. I assume the purpose is to clear stock before they introduce new belts.
An update on Gail Kim is that she may have ruptured an implant, which would explain her absence for the last couple of weeks. One source confirmed the story while others when asked didn’t know for sure. Gail returned last night as the referee in the Diva Bowl.
Ricky Steamboat did an interview with Bill Apter and said he would love to work a program with Ric Flair. “I think it would perk up a lot of people,” he said. “I would certainly love to do it, I know [Ric] would too.” He added that he thought his best matches with Flair took place at Crockett spot shows in Greenville during the late 80s that were never taped or televised. He actually said they blew away some of the more famous matches, which is saying something.
Matt Hardy appears on Scare Tactics on October 13 on SyFy. Hardy will play “a violent criminal who breaks out of his physical and mental restraints to go after an innocent doctor’s assistant,” according to TV listings.
Jim Ross on www.jrsbarbq.com noted that the Dinner Impossible episode he shot at SummerSlam will air on The Food Network on November 11: “I want to make it clear that I did NOT burn the chicken! That was a joke.
Working on this show was a blast and I hope that you will check it out.
Chef Robert Irvine and his crew are cool dudes and know their stuff. I did make some mean BBQ sauce if I do say so myself. No, I wasn’t allowed to use JR’s Original BBQ Sauce due to legal mumbo jumbo.”
Ross also noted on his Q&A that he asked to be excused from the Smackdown tour next week in Kentucky due to a family function. He said it was the first time he has requested a day off in 16 years. Should that be the case he would likely do voice over work before the show airs next Friday night.
The final Smackdown/ECW taping of 2009 is advertised in the New York city area for December 29 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ.
This is the early promotional poster for Wrestlemania 26 in Glendale, AZ pushing tickets going on sale November 7: http://tinyurl.com/ycznfbx
Another great article on the Slam Wrestling website at http://tinyurl.com/y96ufkv looking at gimmicks in wrestling with quotes from Lanny Poffo.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
Superstar Billy Graham is about to relocate from Phoenix, where he lived most of his life, to West Palm Beach, FL to be near his daughter. He said he plans to take her to the TNA Turning Point PPV on November 15 in Orlando.
Matt Morgan confirmed a new five-year deal on his Twitter. He said he signed the contract last week and was surprised anyone would know about it. AJ Styles is currently in the second year of a contract so he didn’t sign a new deal just yet.
Former WWE valet Tammy “Sunny” Sytch launched a childish attack on Lacey Von Erich via her Facebook page. She talked about Lacey’s TNA debut saying “she sucked” and described Lacey as a “disrespectful ignorant b**ch” who “walks around shows and conventions like she’s the second coming of Christ.” She also threatened to “knock the b**ch out” if their paths ever cross, and posted a distasteful statement which we won’t post here joking about the deaths of Lacey’s father and family members. I am not sure what prompted this outburst, other than the weird wrestling mentality of being mad at someone for having a job, but even some of Tammy’s friends said they were shocked by what she wrote.
At the TV tapings today in Orlando they are filming new episodes of the Spin Cycle. One already in the can has Kevin Nash, Traci Brooks, Mick Foley and Matt Morgan on the panel.
Impact on October 15 will include an extra hour, which will probably be the Countdown to Bound for Glory special.
Dixie Carter celebrates a birthday today.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
The sale of Ric Flair’s NWA title belt is on hold. Highspots were contacted around 3pm yesterday by one of Flair’s attorneys who asked for
48 hours to resolve the situation. The attorney said that they had just learned about the situation and needed a full day to work on it.
Hightspots said they were happy to oblige but noted if they can’t resolve the situation they have several offers on the table that would satisfy the debt.
AAA in Mexico signed a toy deal with Playmates Toys with a product line debuting in the fall of 2010.
EMLL is sending talent to Monaco next week for their version of the NATPE convention to try and recruit overseas TV stations to carry their programming.
ISPW runs Saturday October 24 at the ISPW Arena, located at 323A Fairfield Road in Freehold, NJ. Line-up has Judas Young vs. Rick Fuller; Crowbar vs. Ace Darling; Danny Inferno vs. Manu; Nunzio & The Logan Brothers vs. Nicholas Nice, Baby Hughie & Nicky Benz; Danny Doring vs.
Chase Del Monte vs. Rob Eckos vs. Erik Andretti; Danny Maff vs. Bobby Fish; Julio Dinero vs. Flash; and Mercedes Martinez vs. TBA. Tickets are available now at www.ISPWLive.com or by calling (732) 409-1132.
Candice Michelle is a guest tonight at www.carnagecrew.net at 8pm ET.
Steve Corino was announced as retuning to Ring of Honor on November 5 and 6 at the TV tapings in Philadelphia. More info at www.rohwrestling.com.
The legendary Bruno Sammartino turns 74 today… Barry Darsow aka Smash/Repo Man turns 50.
Today is also the tenth anniversary of the passing of Gorilla Monsoon.
WRESTLING GLOBE MAILBAG
Lacey [Von Erich] was really small when she and [her sister] Hollie would be brought to the Sportatorium on occasion to watch their father.
Hollie, the older sister was old enough to relate to and she would kid around with us. I used to sit with them when I had a chance and she was always on me about taking care of her daddy and not letting anyone hurt him. Hollie sort of understood what was going on. Hollie was old enough to buddy up with you, but, Lacey was much too young to really have much of an idea what was going on, much less have any clue about the business.
What I’m saying is, regardless of who her father was and except for the family tie, Lacey really has no more direct connection to the business than any regular kid from off the street. She certainly was not brought up with it as she simply was too young to have had wrestling have much of an influence on her. Plus, once Kerry and her mother split, she hardly was around. Whatever Lacey has inside her regarding wrestling has mostly come from a secondary relationship with it or whatever curiousity she developed about her father and his way of making a living.
I watched the portion of the TNA show the other night where Lacey made her debut, mostly out of curiousity, myself.
I haven’t seen Lacey since she was a very small child. I had heard the stories about her training (or lack of) and wondered exactly what kind of impression she would make. What I saw was basically a promotion taking advantage of whatever name recognition there might be with current fans and a very pretty young lady way over her head as far as skills go.
Being the child of someone who was very famous and was in the upper echelon of their respective sport does not automatically transfer the emotional connection with fans. You might get your foot in the door from name recognition and you might even inherit a bit of the charisma, but once you step through those ropes or on the playing field, you have to have something that makes you worthy of staying there.
In this case, either Lacey was thrown into the spotlight way too early or she has (as reported) not taken her training seriously, or it’s simply a case that she does not have that natural athletic ability and charisma her father had. Regardless, she was not at all impressive in her debut on TNA. She looked amateurish and clumsy.
Of course, she has some value as eye candy as she has become a beautiful young woman, but without some skills and athletic ability, she’s not going to go very far as a wrestler. Her father, regardless what some think these days or his legacy being scarred by his personal problems, was a skilled performer and an incredible athlete who had been blessed with unbelievable natural charisma. Kerry grew up in the business. He loved it and learned it from his childhood up. I doubt Lacey had a thought about it until the idea or situation came up that she could take advantage of the Von Erich name and possibly make a living with it. A love for wrestling was most likely not the motivation as it was with her father.
I’m not trying to belittle Lacey and I do not begrudge her the opportunity to use the name that her family made famous. I would just like to see it used in a way that could be taken seriously and after doing the necessary training it takes to represent that name honorably.
Goodness knows, the Von Erich name has been dragged through the mud enough without any other reason to do so.
James Beard
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