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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Sunday May 31, 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
5/29 Smackdown TV results from Los Angeles, CA: Great Khali & R Truth over Dolph Ziggler & Mike Knox; Melina over Alicia Fox; John Morrison over Umaga via DQ; Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin over Cryme Tyme; Eve Torres over Layla; and Edge & Chris Jericho over Jeff Hardy & Rey Mysterio.
The wrestling was no where near the level it has been in recent weeks.
Jeff Hardy vowed to win the Ladder match at Extreme Rules. Jericho vowed to unmask Mysterio (which hasn’t worked out well during experiments at recent house shows). Nothing much more to the show.
5/28 Raw house show results from Monterrey, Mexico: Santino over William Regal; Kelly Kelly & Mickey James over Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes with help from Hornswoggle; The Miz over Kofi Kingston; MVP over The Brian Kendrick; Carlito & Primo over Legacy; Rey Mysterio over Chavo Guerrero; and John Cena & Batista over Randy Orton and Big Show.
The show drew 18,000. The biggest merchandise seller was the Eddie Guerrero I’m Your Papi T-Shirt. Mysterio came back out and dedicated to show to Eddie following the main event.
5/29 Raw house show results from Queretaro, Mexico: Santino over Chavo Guerrero; The Brian Kendrick over Jamie Noble; Kelly Kelly & Mickey James over Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes; MVP over William Regal; Carlito & Primo over Legacy; The Miz over Kofi Kingston; and Batista & Rey Mysterio over Randy Orton & Big Show.
The show drew 7,000 in an open air arena. The weather didn’t play ball.
5/30 Raw house show results from Mexico City, Mexico: Santino over Chavo Guerrero; The Brian Kendrick over Jamie Noble; MVP over William Regal & Kofi Kingston in a three-way; Kelly Kelly & Mickey James over Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes; Carlito & Primo over Legacy; Batista over Big Show; and Rey Mysterio over Randy Orton via DQ.
The show drew 19,000 plus over a thousand more turned away. Match of the night was said to be the three-way. Mysterio went over via DQ in the main event after Legacy ran in. They announced the company would be returning to Mexico in October with dates in Monterrey, Puebla and Mexico City.
5/30 Smackdown house show results from Chattanooga, TN: The Great Khali over Dolph Ziggler; Drew McIntyre over Jimmy Wang Yang; Evan Bourne over Tyson Kidd; CM Punk over Umaga; Christian & Tommy Dreamer over Jack Swagger & Mark Henry; Melina & Gail Kim over Natalya & Alicia Fox; John Morrison over Chris Jericho; and Edge over Jeff Hardy.
Drew McIntyre is a big Scottish guy from FCW. He’s been under contract since 2006 but stuck in developmental after they paired him on TV with Dave Taylor, and Taylor ended up released in budget cuts.
Morrison-Jericho was said to be match of the night. Jeff Hardy got by far got the biggest crowd reaction and we’re told 90 percent of the kids wore the arm gimmicks.
The Smackdown crew run this afternoon at the Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY. We’re looking for reader reports to [email protected].
The Raw tour of Mexico finished up last night so today is a travel day to Birmingham, AL for TV on Monday at the BJCC with MVP vs. Kofi Kingston for the United States title. The Smackdown/ECW taping is Tuesday at the Forum in Memphis which includes a dark tag team cage match of Rey Mysterio & Jeff Hardy vs. Edge & Chris Jericho with Jerry Lawler as guest referee.
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Ken Anderson sans goatee at www.ken-kennedy.com posted a silent video of himself waving his hands around to apparently prove he is healthy. For those asking about TNA, Anderson won’t be going any where for 90 days due to the no compete clause in his WWE contract. Jim Ross in his latest blog wished him well in his future endeavours: “It is regrettable that WWE decided to release Mr. Kennedy, that ring name will be long gone, as he was at the age to really begin to come into his own. Injuries have plagued the Wisconsin native for a good part of his career but as best I know Kennedy is 100% as we speak. Without question, Kennedy has a definable upside and he will hopefully continue his journey in this biz and make his dreams become realties. Take it from me being released isn’t the end of the world and things in our lives have a way of working out for the best unless one throws in the towel and simply says “what the hell?” As I mentioned before, a change of scenery sometimes is what the doctor ordered. Hopefully this will work out for the best for all involved. For the record, I do not know why Kennedy was released and look at that matter as none of my business.”
WWE has asked Ric Flair not to appear on television for Ring of Honor.
No real surprise here. Flair cut a promo at the ROH tapings in Philly on Friday night saying that he was stepping down as ambassador due to returning to WWE. He will still be doing the autograph signings and non televised events. Flair also talked to Mike Mooneyham at http://tinyurl.com/kwwgvh confirming that he would be wrestling overseas as noted here.
Brian Fritz at http://tinyurl.com/lm628p interviewed Dusty Rhodes about his role in FCW.
This isn’t official yet but for the UK tour in November they appear to be scrapping the promotion as the “DX Invasion” tour which is a pretty good indication that they think Shawn Michaels may not be back.
Triple H is listed on all the cards just announced for the Raw tour of Australia in July. Orton is also listed as WWE Champion which may mean that the title isn’t changing hands any time soon. The top matches in Sydney on 7/4 are Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista in a three-way; John Cena vs. Big Show; and a MVP vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Matt Hardy in a four-way. Brisbane on 7/5 features a 15-man battle royal with the winner facing Orton in the main event. Adelaide on 7/6, Melbourne on 7/7 and Perth on 7/8 are the same shows with Batista vs.
Randy Orton; Triple H vs. The Big Show; MVP vs. Matt Hardy; and Carlito & Primo vs. Legacy.
There is a video on YouTube of Triple H and Michelle McCool at http://tinyurl.com/ktnqzw. They were in Japan on a promotional tour this past weekend with famous Japanese singer Akiko Wada.
To help push ticket sales WWE has started advertising Ricky Steamboat vs. Chris Jericho for the Japan tour in July… On a side note, they will also holding a tryout camp during the tour.
Maria Kanellis, Candice Michelle and Eve Torres spent last night grabbing as much free stuff as they could lay their hands on at one of the MTV Movie Awards gifting parties. No idea if they are actually attending the awards show tonight.
Buff Bagwell at http://tinyurl.com/lm899f told the New York Post when asked about a return to WWE, “I’d love to join them so much I’d work for free!” He also claimed he hasn’t been in contact with anyone from TNA.
The Post also reported that MVP will be escorting Sherri Shepherd from The View to the prom at her alma mater.
The company is planning a ten year Smackdown anniversary special in October.
Brock Lesnar reflected on working for WWE in the current issue of Maxim magazine. He said: “You get so brainwashed, you’re on the road 300 days a year, and that’s why guys get so messed up. This life just becomes a part of them. It’s not real, but some guys who are still in the business think it is. You look at Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler — he just couldn’t let it go. You live a double life. I was tired of trying to be who I was in the ring and then coming home for two days to be normal.
They didn’t allow you to be. The guys who get out are the smart ones, really and truly.”
Several readers have noted that during the 12 Rounds promo airing on WGN the voice-over guy announces John Cena as “John Sayna.”
The WWE stock closed the week at $12.48 on the NYSE.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
5/29 house show results from Pueblo, CO: Suicide over Consequences Creed; Eric Young over Brutus Magnus; Angelina Love over Awesome Kong; Abyss over Matt Morgan; Samoa Joe over Scott Steiner; and the main event was a Tables match with Team 3D over The Motor City Machine Guns.
The show was in a large ball room and drew just over 700. Before they let people in they separated the men and women and patted everyone down for weapons. Seriously…. what kind of town is Pueblo? Steiner-Joe was said to be match of the night.
5/30 in Cheyenne, WY was the same show. Former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan was in attendance.
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Kevin Nash at http://tinyurl.com/lyec8s said he came close to going back to WWE last year: “I consider Vince (McMahon) a friend. The first time he looked at me, years ago, he saw something other than Oz or Vinnie Vegas. I’ve got the utmost respect for him, but it’s hard to work that schedule. I’m really happy in TNA. We’re running on all cylinders.
Whether they like it or not, we are an alternative to WWE programming. I sat down with Dixie Carter and she said there was no way she could match WWE financially, but she could offer a better standard of life.” Nash said he lives just 60 miles from Universal Studios so with TNA’s taping schedule he doesn’t have to be on the road very often and away from his family. He noted his son turns 13 in June and stands 6’5″ which is three inches taller than he was at that age, and is a better athlete: “It’s more important for me to be Kevin Nash the father than Kevin Nash the wrestler. I couldn’t be gone 150 days and put that kind of pressure on my wife right now.” He said he feels in better shape now than he did at
40: “I’m so much leaner and my cardio is so much better. Most of my career, I was at 330 lbs., I’m at 297 now.”
There will also be a King of the Mountain match for the X-Division title at Slammiversary. Mike Tenay revealed during a Raeesha Saed-Sojo Bolt webmatch that Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers would be presenting the title to the winner.
As with many inexplicable storylines in TNA, the Andromeda character appears to have been dropped. Andromeda was Cassandro, an Exotico from Mexico.
On the channel guide information for the Sacrifice PPV replaying in the UK, it reads: “Catch TNA’S biggest stars as they go head to head in front of a live audience in the Impact Zone, in Orlando. Watch out for TNA favorites Scott Steiner and Tomko.”
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
“The Golden Greek” John Tolos passed away on Friday at the age of 78 from apparent kidney failure. Tolos was regarded as one of the greatest talkers in the history of wrestling who peaked in a 1971 match with Classy Freddie Blassie, which invented a much-copied angle, and made them both, when Tolos “blinded” Blassie by throwing monsel powder (used for staunching cuts) into his eyes. In reality, Blassie was undergoing knee surgery and heading to Japan for a tour, but they sold it like it was the end of his career. Blassie while laid up in hospital for the surgery even took visits from fans and was pictured in a blindfold to sell the angle. Blassie’s revenge match drew 25,847 to the Los Angeles Coliseum, paying $5-$7 for a live gate of $142,158.50, the biggest wrestling event ever at that time in California.
Tolos was born on April 5, 1931, to Greek immigrant parents in Hamilton, Canada. As a teenager he followed his older brother Chris (who died of cancer in November 2005) into the business, and they became a tag team touring as the Canadian Wrecking Crew. They won numerous championships before going solo. Chris typically stayed close to home, very dedicated to his disabled sister, allowing John to hit the road and become a singles star, particularly in Los Angeles following his epic feud with Blassie. John went on to work for numerous promoters such as Paul Boesch, Vince McMahon Sr., Frank Tunney, Herb Adrams, Bill Watts and Eddie Graham. Modern day fans may remember him best for a brief 1991 run with the WWF under the name Coach as the manger of Curt Hennig and the Beverly Brothers. Tolos had suffered a series of heart attacks and strokes in recent years, and shied away from public appearances. He is survived by his son Chris, his sister Mary, his nephew Nick, and ex-wife Joanne of Vancouver. A funeral service will be held this coming Thursday at 10pm at St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church in Northridge, CA. Messages of condolences can be sent to 23012 Bigler Street, Woodland Hills, CA.
Bob Holly vs. Mike Jackson headlines at the Sports Center in Haleyville, AL on 6/5. This is the town where some people still think wrestling is a shoot. At the last show some elderly guy went to his truck and came back with an axe to take care of the masked heels. The storyline is that Holly is being brought in as a bounty hunter to end Jackson’s career.
Arn Anderson and Barry Windham have been added to the upcoming NWA Legends fanfest in Charlotte, NC in August. Promoter Greg Price was attempting to reunite The Four Horseman, having already booked JJ Dillon and Tully Blanchard, but the last piece of the puzzle, Ric Flair, was uable to attend due to being in Egypt during the fanfest weekend. You can find out more infomation at www.nwalegends.com.
Petey Williams will be appearing at the Gladiators Aztecas event in Addison, IL on 6/7.
www.wildtalkradio.com have a show tonight at 10pm ET with former ECW referee Jim Molineaux.
There is a fun video at http://tinyurl.com/nzxu2b with Trish Stratus promoting her Yoga studio. Check out the blonde chick who thinks that Yoga is going to become an Olympic sport. You can’t even make this stuff up.
Diva-Dirt.com presents WGN’s Diva of the Day, Beth Phoenix at http://www.diva-dirt.com/divaoftheday/
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