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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Friday May 22, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news and analysis 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
5/21 Superstars TV results: Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer was a no contest, Kofi Kingston over William Regal, and CM Punk over Chris Jericho.
The rescheduled WWE weekend tour starts tonight with Raw at the Qwest Arena in Boise, ID with the main event of John Cena & Batista vs. Randy Orton & Big Show. Raw also runs the E-Cetner just outside of Salt Lake City on Sunday and the much publicised TV taping is Monday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with Mr. McMahon vs. Stan Kroenke
(look-a-like) and a 10-man tag with the babyfaces wearing Lakers gear and the heels wearing Nuggets gear. It’s going to be Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Big Show and The Miz vs. John Cena, Batista, MVP, Jerry Lawler and a mystery partner which would likely be Triple H or Kennedy.
The ultimate mystery partner if they could get him would be Shaquille O’Neal. He is a huge pro wrestling fan and often attended WWE shows at the Staples Center when he played for the Lakers.
The Smackdown crew run the Star Center in Rio Rancho, NM on Saturday, and the American Center in Las Cruces on Sunday. Those shows include Edge vs. Jeff Hardy, Christian & Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger & Mark Henry, plus Rey Mysterio as the main draw and Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Gail Kim and more.
We’re looking for reader reports from all these shows to [email protected]
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Don’t forgot we post updates and breaking news around the clock on our Twitter at http://twitter.com/wrestlingglobe — 242 followers and growing…
Shawn Michaels has asked for more time off than originally requested. He was due to return sometime in July to help push Summerslam but now he is asking to comeback in November for Survivor Series.
Smackdown TV tonight opens with a trios match of Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin & Ricky Ortiz now as a heel vs. John Morrison & Cryme Time; plus Michelle McCool vs. Gail Kim for a Women’s title shot at Melina; Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk; Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth; and Edge vs. Jeff Hardy in a non title match. The main event was said to be very good. I think it’s also safe to assume we are getting clips of Vince McMahon on ESPN from this past week pushing Stan Kroenke as the biggest enemy of pro wrestling since the U.S. government put him on trial in 1994.
McMahon hosted a press conference in New York City on Thursday mocking Stan Kroenke and his Denver Nuggets. He announced the matches planned for Raw on Monday and promised the show would be unmissable. He also distributed the press release (TMZ.com posted it claiming it was
exclusive) that was written by Kroenke Sports Enterprises which, after reading, he ended communications with KSE, and reneged on a verbal agreement to move the Raw taping to Sunday at the Pepsi Center. The release would have quoted him as saying, “I would like to thank Stan Kroenke and his management team for resolving this matter so quickly in a way that allows all WWE and Nuggets fans to watch two world class main events Sunday and Monday. By all accounts, Mr. Kroenke is one of the most respected professional sports team owners in the world, and the professional way he and his staff good-naturedly handled this conflict gives further testament to the type of business leader he is.” Obviously that statement was never going to bode well with McMahon. When asked how he feels Raw will fair in the TV ratings against Game Four from Denver, head-to-head on ESPN, on Monday, he said: “We’ll be fine. We clobber the NBA during the regular season, but I don’t think that will be the case this time. Everybody loves the Lakers.”
Shane McMahon told the Los Angeles Times that the company has already sold 7000 tickets for Raw at the Staples Center.
There is a back story to WWE moving Raw to the Staples Center. From someone who didn’t want to ne named: “The Staples Center is owned by AEG Anschutz Entertainment Group. The president and CEO of AEG is Tim Liewicke former president of the Denver Nuggets. Back in the late 80’s Liewicke jumped in bed with Anschutz in an attempt to build an NBA/NHL arena on 40 plus acres Anschutz owned near downtown Denver. Politically the deal fell apart as did Liewicke’s Denver reputation. He resigned as Nuggets president. Anschutz remained loyal to Liewicke and got him involved in the Staples Center. So when this recent arena conflict came to light, no one was more likely to jump into the fray than AEG and stick it to Denver, and apparently Colorado Springs. Liewicke also has long ties to the WWE. They used him as the local promoter for their shows in Kansas City back in the 80’s when Liewicke was a marketing guy for the Kansas City indoor soccer team.”
Due to the Colorado events being rescheduled for August, the house shows in Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, Canada have been canceled… The TV tapings originally scheduled for Tuesday at World Arena in Colorado Springs has been moved to 8/8 for a house show.
The Wrestlemania 25 DVD set including the entire Hall of Fame ceremony went on sale earlier this week in the US: http://tinyurl.com/r7tjqc
Serena Deeb from OVW was brought in for a look at the Smackdown tapings in Cincinnati. She did some pre tapes before the show, including a Mark Henry-Tony Atlas skit on ECW.
Michelle McCool answers some creepy questions on her official website at http://tinyurl.com/pf6xgq
Matt Hardy hinted in blog that brother Jeff has signed a new deal with WWE. The last I heard a week ago was that a deal had not been completed but is imminent.
John Cena talks 12 Rounds which is about to open in the UK at http://tinyurl.com/obe7vy
A photo of Kelly Kelly‘s younger sister at http://tinyurl.com/o7o5l7 who sans hair and boob job is a virtual mirror image of Kelly.
Jim Ross has a new blog at http://tinyurl.com/r6s4xn noting that he and Todd Grisham will be attending all the Raw TV’s now due to taping matches for Superstars. That won’t sit well with him due to all the Sooners games he’s going to miss next season.
William “The Refrigerator” Perry, 46, was released from hospital on Wednesday after a month long stay for complications of a nervous system disorder.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
5/21 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Suicide & Daniels over The Motor City Machine Guns; Sting over Eric Young; Kurt Angle over Matt Morgan; Jeff Jarrett over Samoa Joe by DQ; and Mick Foley over Rocky Balboa in a comedy match.
5/21 house show results from Oklahoma City, OK: Suicide over Eric Young; Angelina Love over Taylor Wilde; Rhino over Sheik Abdul Bashir; Lethal Consequences over Beer Money Inc; Abyss over Matt Morgan; and Samoa Joe over Scott Steiner.
Danny Hodge, 77, was sat ringside during the show. Mick Foley was special enforcer for the main event. He plugged Jim Ross’ BBQ Restaurant and made fun of how announcers in the WWE have to refer to titles as championships and can’t call them belts or straps. Steiner came out and said the only reason Foley got the belt was because of politics. Way to devalue credibility here. He then got in Hodge’s face who pushed Steiner over which got a huge pop from the crowd. There was a worrying moment in the match when Steiner whipped Joe into the guardrail and launched a 5-year-old kid into the second row. Joe eventually won with a muscle buster. After the match Steiner apologized to the kid and gave him his sunglasses. Backstage after the show Hodge did the deal where he crushes an apple with one hand.
The TNA tour continues tonight at the Civic Center in Amarillo, TX (Terry Funk will be at the show) ahead of the Sacrifice PPV on Sunday at Universal in Orlando, FL. The complete line up is Mick Foley defending the TNA title in an Ultimate Sacrifice match against Sting, Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett. If Angle is pinned he loses his status as Godfather of the Main Event Mafia. If Sting is pinned he will never wrestle again. If Jarrett is pinned he gives up his stake in TNA. Plus; AJ Styles vs.
Booker T in an I Quit match for the Legends title; Suicide vs. Daniels for the X-Division title; Angelina Love vs. Awesome Kong for thr Knockouts title; Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash; Taylor Wilde vs. Daffney in a Monster’s Ball match; Beer Money, Inc. vs. The British Invasion in the finals of the Team 3D tournament; and the free pre show has Amazing Red vs. Kiyoshi.
We’re looking for readers reports from both shows to [email protected] as well as reports from the TV tapings Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Orlando.
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Dixie Carter, making the most out of WWE pulling out of Denver, is “formally inviting” all Denver Nuggets players, coaches, broadcasters and front-office staff to a TNA house show on 5/29 at the Pueblo (CO) Convention Center as well as a 5/30 date in Cheyenne, WY. Anyone with an unused WWE ticket from the cancelled Colorado shows will get a $10 discount to the TNA shows.
Rhaka Khan was either let go or her contract expired which didn’t come as a surprise. The writing was pretty much on the wall following the altercation with Nikki Roxx earlier this year. She is also no longer dating Kurt Angle.
Wrestling referee Shane Sewell was also let go.
The new Jeff Jarrett 4-disc DVD King of the Mountain is now on sale in the UK with free shipping at http://tinyurl.com/pa8u2d
Jeremy Borash said he is finalizing a deal to bring a weekly pro wrestling show “to the national radio airwaves on a major media outlet.”
He said the deal would make this the biggest media outlet to ever feature a wrestling radio program.
Daniels did phone interviews all day on Wednesday pushing Sacrifice. The Miami Herald at http://tinyurl.com/pj2532, Alex Marvez at http://tinyurl.com/ovkdgg and IGN.com at http://tinyurl.com/qk3mju are just some of the articles.
Epics tonight in the UK is a ‘best of the X Division’ with AJ Styles vs.
Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki vs. Psichosis, that had Ricky Steamboat as the special referee. The match is from 2002 and was to crown the first-ever X Division champion. They also have the AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs.
Christopher Daniels three-way from the 2005 Unbreakable PPV which was a really awesome match.
We noted a story last weekend about how TNA had promised free tickets to house shows in the Carolinas for fans who distributed fliers in the towns. The short story was that the fliers never arrived to those who requested them. Well, one fan in North Carolina did receive some fliers on Wednesday… but for the 6/13 show in Council Bluffs, Iowa of all places!
The company has added a series of dates in New York before the 7/19 Victory Road PPV. They run Jamestown on 7/9, Hamburg on 7/11 and Syracuse on 7/12. They also run Hamilton, Ontario at the Copps Coliseum on 7/10.
There is an audio interview up with Jim Cornette at www.inyourheadonline.com pushing his Midnight Express scrapbook and the www.nwalegends.com fanfest in August.
Time Warner has put in a $33 million bid to purchase Midway Games who filed Chapter 11 in January. Midway holds the franchise for TNA games but won’t be included in any deal.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Jonny Fairplay has issued an open challenge to anyone who wants to fight him on a celebrity boxing card on 6/20 in Essington, PA at the Philadelphia Airport Ramada. The only catch is, “To be a contestant you must have no professional or amateur Boxing experience and under 160 pounds.”
Time Warner will be dropping HDNet on 5/31 citing “limited appeal.”
Some Ring of Honor notes. Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs in a steel cage was added to the 6/26 show in Detroit. Ric Flair is also booked for the show… The latest ROH Videowire is up at http://tinyurl.com/p4dm53 …
El Generico claims he was medically cleared to wrestle despite a meniscus tear.
Gaea Girls, a documentary on Japanese women’s wrestling is being screened today in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art.
The trailer for the upcoming wrestling documentary Bloodstained Memoirs with Christian, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, and others is up at http://tinyurl.com/qdro3r
Sid Vicious interview at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/HitTheRopesRadioShow
James Guttman at www.worldwrestlinginsanity has an interview up with Paul Orndoff who really doesn’t like today’s wrestling product.
Tickets for the 9/6 Dragon Gate USA debut in Chicago go on sale on Wednesday at www.DGUSA.tv. HighSpots.com are now sponsoring the group after recently severing ties with PWInsider.
Indie wrestler Amber O’Neal was in court this morning on a traffic violation.
WWC in Puerto Rico announced their July Anniversario weekend with Carlito, Primo, MVP, Umaga and WWE Divas appearing on their show. They will also be honoring WWE Spanish announcer Hugo Savinovich who started in WWC around 1977 as a heel manager.
Former WCW wrestler Chris “Crowbar” Ford became a daddy earlier this week when his wife gave the birth of their first daughter, Mia Marie Ford, weighing in at 7lbs 11oz.
There is a movie coming out in Spain called Mal Dia Para Pescar (Bad Day To Go Fishing) about a washed up wrestler.
TruTV has a new show in the fall with Jesse Ventura called Conspiracy Theory from the same production company as Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. A press release for the show reads: “Hes undertaken some of the most dangerous missions in the world as a Navy SEAL. Hes body-slammed giants in the wrestling ring as a WWE superstar. Hes even conquered politics as the governor of Minnesota. Now, Jesse Ventura is about to face his greatest challenge yet: uncovering the most compelling, modern-day conspiracy theories.”
WWE Hall of Famer Lou Albano has a new website at www.captainloualbano.com. Albano has been in poor health of late.
Chastity, who you may remember from her ECW/WCW days, was interviewed at www.wrestlingepicenter.com.
Diva-Dirt.com presents WGN’s Diva of the Day, Michelle McCool at http://www.diva-dirt.com/divaoftheday/
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