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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Wednesday June 24, 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.
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

6/23 ECW TV results from Milwaukee, WI: Evan Bourne over Tyson Kidd; Finlay over Zack Ryder; and Jack Swagger & Mark Henry over Tommy Dreamer & Christian. Decent show. They did a great job of pushing the Scramble match on Sunday. It would seem Hurricane Helms is coming back as a regular character.

Gerald Brisco is due to undergo surgery next week to fix the hole and valve issue with his heart. The procedure is less invasive as it sounds as they plan to go in through his groin. He is taking a few months off following the operation to recover from his recent strokes and heart ailment.

Batista has told friends he is targeting the Survivor Series on 11/22 (MY BIRTHDAY) for his return. That would actually be perfect timing as the PPV is booked at Verizon Center in his hometown of Washington DC.

There was a note in the Raw script this week that said Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes should now only be referred to as The Legacy, and not as Priceless. Rhodes apparently missed the memo about The Great American Bash changing to The Bash.

We got some updated ratings data on the commercial free Raw. The first hour did a 4.2 followed by a second hour of 4.8. Overall the show averaged a monster 6.8 million viewers, which is up 25% on the previous week’s average viewing audience. WWE is claiming this is their highest rated TV show in over seven years. I won’t dispute that claim but several shows after 2002, especially in 2006, also hit 4.5’s over a two hour broadcast. A WWE press release also claimed: “Raw was watched by more people than any program on ABC, NBC, FOX or CW Monday night. And Raw was watched by 2,251,000 females, beating all programming on CW or Lifetime.” Like I said, I won’t dispute their claims but they regularly spin their numbers to make them look more impressive than they actually are. On a related note, Jon & Kate Plus 8, which has been obliterating Raw at the top of the cable rankings, is now on hiatus until August following the Gosselins’ separation announcement on Monday’s episode.
This now gives WWE a realistic shot at regaining the top spot although they still face strong competition from The Closer on TNT.

The ECW rating last night was a 1.1 which is good considering there was virtually no mention of ECW during Raw. The show averaged 1.5 million viewers.

Variety at http://tinyurl.com/nqdc9j has a story giving credit to Donald Trump for Raw’s boost in ratings.

The St. Petersburg Times at http://tinyurl.com/mwdze3 ran an update on Brian Blair and the altercation with his teenage sons that led to him spending Fathers Day in jail. The Fox affiliate in Tampa also covered his arrest. They interviewed Mike Graham, a family friend, who is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Eddie, who said that Blair’s 17-year-old son Brett is an antagonist. He said that Brett has fallen into the wrong crowd revealing that he regularly runs away from home and skips school.
Story is at http://tinyurl.com/m7tbwy.

Elaine Gillespie of The Gillespie Agency who handles booking for Ric Flair sent out the following statement from Flair: “I will always be a part of the WWE family, however I am still anxious to get out there and meet my fans in person. I have had a great time doing just that since my retirement! My agent is currently negotiating appearances across the US and several abroad that will allow me to meet my fans around the world.
I am very excited about these new opportunities! WooooOOOooo!” Flair has not yet signed anything with WWE so he is still putting his name out there for personal appearances. While there were plans to use him as a regular on TV a few week’s ago, Vince has apparently changed his mind again.

Some non-spoiler notes from the TV tapings last night in Milwaukee. Drew McIntyre beat Jamie Noble in the dark match. Matches taped for Superstars were Dolph Zigger vs. Jimmy Wang Yang, and Jack Swagger vs.
Evan Bourne. Ziggler vs. Great Khali was added to The Bash on Sunday.
The tapings drew over 10,000 paid.

A tour of Puerto Rico was announced for September with dates in Fajardo, Hato Rey, Arecibo and Ponce.

From Devin Cutting: The Pepsi Center and TicketMaster are parting ways and TicketHorse (I believe this is a business owned by Stan Kroenke) will be the arena’s new sole official ticketing agent, effective July 1st, 2009. After the Denver Debacle happened, fans seeking refunds did not get all of their money back as they were forced to pay TicketMaster’s processing fees with nothing to show for it. No word on if the Pepsi Center switching ticketing agents has anything to do with the Denver Debacle, but the timing is interesting.

The Miami Herald at http://tinyurl.com/lv2mxq has a story on Evan Bourne to promote WWE’s reading in schools project. He credits Joey Styles with coming up with his ring name.

Candice Michelle is taking bookings for autograph signings at www.wrestlebookings.com. She won’t be working indy shows nor accepting media requests for interviews. Apparently she is doing a shoot interview DVD talking about her time working for the WWE with all the proceeds going to charity.

Security at Raw in Green Bay removed some Randy Savage signs from the crowd before the show went live. Given they are currently promoting a DVD on him that is a strange one.

Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross are doing a autograph signing at the Dragon Gate USA event on 9/6 in Chicago, IL. WWE tape Raw the following day at the AllState Arena. More info at www.DGUSA.tv.

Story on Todd Grisham at http://tinyurl.com/muxl7m who grew up in Bay Minette, AL. The story notes his love for soccer.

TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS

CBSSports.com ran a story pushing the Bobby Lashley-Bob Sapp MMA fight
on Saturday. Sapp said there will be some sort of cross-promotion with
TNA. I haven’t heard anything about this so I assume this will work into
Thursday’s edition of Impact.

At the TV tapings today in Orlando they shot three pilot episodes of The
Spin Cycle to pitch to Spike TV execs as an additional show to Impact.
These are roundtable discussions similar to the shows hosted by Jim Ross
on WWE 24/7.

Mikal Judas, who we noted yesterday as trying out with TNA this week as
new security for Mick Foley, was arrested last weekend in Greenville, SC
under his real name of Michael Cole. The story making the rounds was
that he attacked promoter Donovan Loftis in the locker room at his indy
show. Loftis told sheriff’s deputies that Cole sucker punched him and
then kicked him in the head while he was on the floor. Loftis was with
his son at the time of the attack. Apparently there was some heat
because Loftis had been making derogatory comments about Cole on an
online message board.

OTHER WRESTLING NEWS

Johnny Powers is recovering in a Hamilton, Ontario hospital following
successful hip and knee replacement surgery. Powers, 66, wrestled from
1960 to 1982 for several North American and International promotions
including the NWA, AWA, WWWF against the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Lou
Thesz, Gene Kinisk and Verne Gagne. Powers along with Pedro Martínez
founded National Sports TV in 1970. They sold shows to Japan, Mexico,
the Armed Forces Network and other countries to create the first ever
international pro wrestling television distribution network. Since his
retirement from the ring he has been involved in project financing,
advertising, hospitality and real estate. He is also President and Chief
Creative Officer of Vision Resource Group, Inc. an integrated media and
entertainment company that of late has been promoting MMA events.

The Record at http://tinyurl.com/mj5txr has a story looking at the life
and times of Billy “Red” Lyons who passed away on Monday.

ISPW at www.YouTube.com/ISPWLive preview their Summer Rumble on
Freehold, NJ on 7/11 with former WCW star Crowbar vs. Rick Fuller in an
I Quit match; former TNA Knockout Roxxi vs. Brooke Carter; Julio Dinero
vs. Rob Eckos; Chase Del Monte vs. HC Loc; and much more.

I Believe In Wrestling run on Saturday at the Downtown Rec Center in
Orlando, FL with Larry Zbyszko. More info at
www.ibelieveinwrestling.com.

There is an interview and pictorial with Trish Stratus in the latest
issue of Toro Magazine in Canada. She talked about MMA as something she
would like to try out as she is a huge UFC fan. “I think it’s an awesome
sport,” she said. “And I think they are taking a few tips from the WWE
to make it more entertaining as well, and that’s definitely the way they
should go. And I’m enjoying it. And it’s the people who don’t actually
watch it who say, ‘Oh, it’s so violent – why would you want to do that?’
And people asked me the same thing recently after I got into Muay Thai
boxing – they’d say, ‘But wouldn’t you be afraid of messing up your
face?’ And I reply, ‘Well, I’d be winning. So why would I mess up my
face.'” She also talked about wanting to become a TV producer: “I like
behind-the-scenes. I like the steps that are involved… WWE used to do
home videos for their superstars every once in a while – and the home
video for me was the very first time I ever produced. I wasn’t supposed
to be producing, but I ended up being so hands-on that I wrote the
outline and just everything. So I ended up getting a producing credit on
that and it’s just how I do things.”

Interview with ROH’s Colt Cabana at http://tinyurl.com/knylmf. On
working for Vince McMahon: “I went into his office to have a talk and I
almost shat myself. He’s an intimidating dude. At the end of the day
though, everybody’s just a person, right? He takes poops just like you
and I. His probably smell worse though because of all the protein and
supplements he takes. He’s like 62 and jacked. Definitely in better
shape than me, and I work out all the time.”

ROH’s Adam Pearce turns 31 today.

Roderick Strong and Bryan Danielson, who is currently suffering from a
staph infection, were announced for NOAH’s annual tag team cup
tournament next month.

Lance Storm at http://tinyurl.com/ll7g5w recounts his first match in two
years this past weekend in Camrose, Alberta. He worked a tag match with
his students under a mask and virtually nobody knew it was him under the
mask.

James Guttman at www.clubwwi.com interviewed Ken Patera about his
reasons for leaving WWE, Vince McMahon, his AWA contract and more.

The National Association of Broadcasters gave Shocker and the World
Wrestling Council their Golden Microfone Award last night in Dolores
Hidalgo, Mexico.

Torrie Wilson is a finalist tonight on I’m A Celebrity on NBC. She made
it to the final three along with John Salley and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Diva-Dirt.com presents WGN’s Diva of the Day, Kelly Kelly at
http://www.diva-dirt.com/divaoftheday/

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WRESTLING GLOBE MAILBAG, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Please send any mailbag letters or questions to
[email protected]

***

The WWE reacts they don’t act and they don’t think ahead. Vince is
letting his ego get in the way of sound business decisions. The talent
should be mad they are getting underpaid. He gives away a full gate for
a sold out show no more than a month after blowing a million or more
when he canceled the Colorado shows that were supposed to be held in
May. He had three sold out shows out here and instead he cancels them
and shifts then to Los Angeles where he has to heavily paper the arena
with heavily discounted tickets to 1/3 fill the arena and doesn’t draw
anywhere close to what he could have gotten out here.

They come up with a publicity stunt involving Donald Trump and never
considered what might happen if things went sour. Well they did because
they ticked off the mainstream press and the financial community. Now
instead of continuing with the original storyline once the damage had
been done, they pretend last Monday never happened, try ANOTHER stunt to
get some kind of notice and instead come off looking like fools for
having run the original stunt to begin with. The mainstream media
already calls the WWE a circus and think Vince is nothing more than a
carnival barker or a sideshow act. If he were to die tomorrow, there
would have to be a public autopsy by multiple independent third parties
for anyone in the media to believe Vince had died and that any stories
of his death were nothing more than yet another publicity stunt by the
WWE.

Rob Pagano

***

I watch all my wrestling on DVR now. I get to skip the vignettes I don’t
care about and commercials and only watch the matches which makes for a
much better show some nights, LOL. Also noticed that in some matches, if
you watch it in slow fast forward (there’s an oxymoron for you) it makes
it look more real, especially when one of the wrestlers is a second or
two off.

LOVE THAT DVR!!!

Kim
Louisville, KY

***

I can tell you the Kennedy petition did go better than the “5
signatures” in a week’s time. I can tell you first hand that there were
at least 3,000 signatures on the petition (since I was one of those
signatures). Probably still considered nothing to many people out there.
Anyway, the person that started that petition did send out a mass email
to those that signed expressing frustration and the quote that you put
in your newsletter. I just think the “5 signatures” is a bit misleading.

Todd Minshew

***

From a reader at the Smackdown tapings last night in Milwaukee…

After the show we waited around for the wrestlers to come out, and
people like Alicia Fox stayed in character by rolling down her window
saying “Milwaukee Sucks” than smiled at a little boy and drove off which
was very nice. Shelton Benjamin got a big pop when we saw him but he
actually speed up in a tight space which was like a warning i guess and
speed off with a angerd annoyed look on his face. Cryme Tyme were the
only one to roll down their window shake peoples hands. Is it soo hard
for every wrestler to be nice and at least wave to the people waiting
around for them to leave?

Name withheld
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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