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Wednesday, February 28, 2018
AWA Supreme Last Word S02/E09: Logan's Heroes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6XpQ561JU8
Published on Feb 28, 2018
On this edition of AWA Supreme Last Word, we hear from your favorite AWA Supreme stars as well as look at 2 spotlight matches, both title matches!
D-Von Dudley On Why The Dudleyz Left WWE In 2016 And How He Feels About Their Last Run
The Dudley Boyz made a surprise return to the WWE in August 2015. After playing the role of the veteran tag team that puts over younger teams, they retired from the company a year later in August 2016. On Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia, D-Von Dudley revealed why him and Bubba-Ray Dudley stepped away.
The Dudley Boyz worked with the likes of The New Day, The Usos, Enzo & Cass, and Gallows and Anderson during their return to the WWE. D-Von explained that their tenure with the company ended when Bubba-Ray decided to pursue other ventures, a decision D-Von respected. He said that he wasn't particularly ready to step away and he can compete again today if needed.
"Number one, Bubba Ray Dudley wanted to go and explore other avenues, which is what he is doing now, and it was one of those things where I still wanted to be part of the company. I still had the urge but he wanted to explore other avenues, which is what ended up happening. I cannot knock him for wanting to do other things; life is too short so you have to do what you want to do," Dudley said. "Life is too short to do what others want you to do, and I give him a lot of credit. Let it be known that I didn't retire because I was hurt, or that I couldn't do it. D-Von can still go; I can still jump on the top turnbuckle and jump on the table, so if WWE ever wants me to get back in the ring I can do it."
Dudley said he enjoyed his last run with the WWE because he felt they had some unfinished business. He feels more satisfied with how the last run ended. The Dudley Boyz are set to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame this year.
"I loved my last run. My personal life was a little shaken up my bit, but as far as me coming back, I don't think, even if I would have passed on before that would have happened, I don't think I would have been able to rest easy because I needed to come back," he said. "The first time we left I don't believe we left the way we should have left and there was a lot of unanswered questions and things that needed to be done, so with that said we still had things to be proven. I wouldn't have been comfortable leaving this earth without coming back and prove that the WWE is the home for the Dudley Boyz, so I was very happy we were able to do that."
The Dudley Boyz challenged for the tag team titles a couple times during their last run but fell short. D-Von said he didn't mind that they weren't able to have a 10th title reign. He said he was more than happy to put younger teams over.
"It really didn't matter to me because I was having so much fun. It would have been nice to do it, but the thing was we had already made so much history, so my thing was to mainly pass the torch. You can't deny that we didn't help the New Day or Usos advance," he said. "We made it fun; we brought back what was missing and we were happy to do that. In that aspect, I was just happy and content with just doing that. I knew coming back, it wasn't to relive the Attitude Era that some fans thought we should have done, it wasn't to relive but help the younger generation advance."
"Number one, Bubba Ray Dudley wanted to go and explore other avenues, which is what he is doing now, and it was one of those things where I still wanted to be part of the company. I still had the urge but he wanted to explore other avenues, which is what ended up happening. I cannot knock him for wanting to do other things; life is too short so you have to do what you want to do," Dudley said. "Life is too short to do what others want you to do, and I give him a lot of credit. Let it be known that I didn't retire because I was hurt, or that I couldn't do it. D-Von can still go; I can still jump on the top turnbuckle and jump on the table, so if WWE ever wants me to get back in the ring I can do it."
Dudley said he enjoyed his last run with the WWE because he felt they had some unfinished business. He feels more satisfied with how the last run ended. The Dudley Boyz are set to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame this year.
"I loved my last run. My personal life was a little shaken up my bit, but as far as me coming back, I don't think, even if I would have passed on before that would have happened, I don't think I would have been able to rest easy because I needed to come back," he said. "The first time we left I don't believe we left the way we should have left and there was a lot of unanswered questions and things that needed to be done, so with that said we still had things to be proven. I wouldn't have been comfortable leaving this earth without coming back and prove that the WWE is the home for the Dudley Boyz, so I was very happy we were able to do that."
The Dudley Boyz challenged for the tag team titles a couple times during their last run but fell short. D-Von said he didn't mind that they weren't able to have a 10th title reign. He said he was more than happy to put younger teams over.
"It really didn't matter to me because I was having so much fun. It would have been nice to do it, but the thing was we had already made so much history, so my thing was to mainly pass the torch. You can't deny that we didn't help the New Day or Usos advance," he said. "We made it fun; we brought back what was missing and we were happy to do that. In that aspect, I was just happy and content with just doing that. I knew coming back, it wasn't to relive the Attitude Era that some fans thought we should have done, it wasn't to relive but help the younger generation advance."
Who In The FUCK Thought THIS Was A Great Idea?
Ellsworth vs. Gillberg will take place on March 17th in Elizabeth, PA,
NWA FILES NEW TRADEMARK
Billy Corgan's Lightning One, Inc. company, which is the production company
attached to the National Wrestling Alliance, applied to trademark 'The Dumont
Network' for wrestling purposes.
The Dumont Network was the name of the first television network that broadcast professional wrestling, operating from 1946 through 1956, a rival at the time to CBS and ABC.
Last month, they had applied to trademark 'The Dupont Network," which appears to have been an error.
The Dumont Network was the name of the first television network that broadcast professional wrestling, operating from 1946 through 1956, a rival at the time to CBS and ABC.
Last month, they had applied to trademark 'The Dupont Network," which appears to have been an error.
FOX SPORTS EXECS AT LAST NIGHT'S SMACKDOWN
Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch reported
today that a number of FOX Sports executives, including FOX Sports President
Eric Shanks, FOX Sports Producer Jacob Ullman and even broadcast personality
Colin Cowherd, who has always knocked professional wrestling fans (but also
admits he grew up watching Don Owens' Pacific Northwest promotion) were all at
last night's Smackdown Live taping at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Obviously, as WWE continues to map out future plans and work on securing its next major partnership with a broadcaster, FOX has been speculated as one of those in the race for WWE's rights.
FOX is still attempting to negotiate a new deal with UFC, but should the MMA company move on, FOX will be in a position to need a replacement franchise, as UFC makes up a good portion of its programming on FOX Sports 1. Obviously, WWE would certainly fill the loss of the MMA flagship if it comes to that.
It should also be noted that UFC owner IMG-WME also represents WWE, so it's not out of the question that they could offer a package deal for both entities to FOX or another broadcaster. There is a great history of the two genres pairing up well from their time on SpikeTV.
FOX Sports did air TNA's Impact Wrestling series when it was initially a one hour broadcast in the early 2000s, but that was believed to have been a "pay for play" deal at the time. Obviously, any relationship between WWE and FOX would be a far more lucrative and top-flight deal, especially as the FOX is poised to sell much of its television and film assets to Disney. That move that will leave FOX flush with lots of money to potentially spend on sports properties, something it has been said FOX has been eyeing greatly forward.
Obviously, as WWE continues to map out future plans and work on securing its next major partnership with a broadcaster, FOX has been speculated as one of those in the race for WWE's rights.
FOX is still attempting to negotiate a new deal with UFC, but should the MMA company move on, FOX will be in a position to need a replacement franchise, as UFC makes up a good portion of its programming on FOX Sports 1. Obviously, WWE would certainly fill the loss of the MMA flagship if it comes to that.
It should also be noted that UFC owner IMG-WME also represents WWE, so it's not out of the question that they could offer a package deal for both entities to FOX or another broadcaster. There is a great history of the two genres pairing up well from their time on SpikeTV.
FOX Sports did air TNA's Impact Wrestling series when it was initially a one hour broadcast in the early 2000s, but that was believed to have been a "pay for play" deal at the time. Obviously, any relationship between WWE and FOX would be a far more lucrative and top-flight deal, especially as the FOX is poised to sell much of its television and film assets to Disney. That move that will leave FOX flush with lots of money to potentially spend on sports properties, something it has been said FOX has been eyeing greatly forward.
REY MYSTERIO-WWE UPDATE
Former WWE and World champion Rey Mysterio is coming closer to returning to
World Wrestling Entertainment, a few wrestling sites have confirmed. Mysterio and WWE
are involved in ongoing discussions for his return to the company after his
surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble received such a massive reaction from
fans in Philadelphia last month. Triple H is said to be the point person
involved in the Mysterio negotiations.
There have been rumors over the last several days that Mysterio would be facing John Cena at WrestleMania 34. While some news sites have indeed heard those rumors over the last 48 hours, sources cannot confirm that match is correct and are only mentioning it due to the amount of emails we have received overnight.
There is also a story making the rounds, attributed to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated that Mysterio was at last night's Smackdown Live taping in Los Angeles to negotiate a new WWE deal. While Mysterio and WWE are indeed gearing up their talks, sources have been told by several sources that Mysterio was not actually in LA last night.
As I and other news sites reported in January, Rey's Rumble appearance was a one-night deal that was put together the week of the PPV. WWE and Mysterio have had discussions since Mysterio departed the company in 2015, but the major sticking point was that the star (who has undergone countless knee surgeries) did not want to work a full-time schedule, while WWE had been pushing for Mysterio to do so if he returned.
Mysterio, 43, ended a 13 year run with WWE in the beginning 2015, working for Lucha Underground and AAA while also signing a deal with the El Rey Network in advance of producing additional content for the cable network. No projects came from the deal and Mysterio’s runs with AAA and LU have ended. He’s since worked for CRASH in Mexico and has worked independent and international dates for certain promotions, including Northeast Wrestling and Great Britain’s Five Star Wrestling.
Mysterio is slated to wrestle Jushin Liger on the 3/25 New Japan Pro Wrestling “Strong Style Evolved” event in Long Beach, California, but obviously, signing a WWE deal would preclude him from making additional appearances
There have been rumors over the last several days that Mysterio would be facing John Cena at WrestleMania 34. While some news sites have indeed heard those rumors over the last 48 hours, sources cannot confirm that match is correct and are only mentioning it due to the amount of emails we have received overnight.
There is also a story making the rounds, attributed to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated that Mysterio was at last night's Smackdown Live taping in Los Angeles to negotiate a new WWE deal. While Mysterio and WWE are indeed gearing up their talks, sources have been told by several sources that Mysterio was not actually in LA last night.
As I and other news sites reported in January, Rey's Rumble appearance was a one-night deal that was put together the week of the PPV. WWE and Mysterio have had discussions since Mysterio departed the company in 2015, but the major sticking point was that the star (who has undergone countless knee surgeries) did not want to work a full-time schedule, while WWE had been pushing for Mysterio to do so if he returned.
Mysterio, 43, ended a 13 year run with WWE in the beginning 2015, working for Lucha Underground and AAA while also signing a deal with the El Rey Network in advance of producing additional content for the cable network. No projects came from the deal and Mysterio’s runs with AAA and LU have ended. He’s since worked for CRASH in Mexico and has worked independent and international dates for certain promotions, including Northeast Wrestling and Great Britain’s Five Star Wrestling.
Mysterio is slated to wrestle Jushin Liger on the 3/25 New Japan Pro Wrestling “Strong Style Evolved” event in Long Beach, California, but obviously, signing a WWE deal would preclude him from making additional appearances
STATEMENT FROM FLOSPORTS, WWN ON END OF LEGAL ISSUES
The following statement was issued to PWInsider.com this morning:
FloSports and WWN have jointly announced that they have agreed to resolve their dispute. The terms of the agreement are to remain confidential.
FloSports General Counsel, Paul Hurdlow said "We're pleased to have this behind us and wish WWN well in the future."
WWN CEO Sal Hamaoui stated “WWN is pleased that this unfortunate situation has been mutually rectified. We wish FloSports the best in their future endeavors.”
***
Based on the verbiage in the statement, it seems obvious to me that the two sides came to a financial settlement.
FloSports and WWN have jointly announced that they have agreed to resolve their dispute. The terms of the agreement are to remain confidential.
FloSports General Counsel, Paul Hurdlow said "We're pleased to have this behind us and wish WWN well in the future."
WWN CEO Sal Hamaoui stated “WWN is pleased that this unfortunate situation has been mutually rectified. We wish FloSports the best in their future endeavors.”
***
Based on the verbiage in the statement, it seems obvious to me that the two sides came to a financial settlement.
FLOSPORTS LAWSUIT AGAINST WWNLIVE DISMISSED THIS MORNING
The lawsuit brought against WWNLive, Inc. by Flosports in
September 2017 before the United States District Court for the Western District
of Texas, Austin Division was officially dismissed this morning by Judge Lee
Yeakel, one day after FloSports filed a voluntary motion requesting the case be
dismissed.
The lawsuit, which sought $1 million in damages, revolved around allegations that WWN, run by Sal Hamaoui and Gabe Sapolsky, had "robbed Flosports" by provided false information that led to the streaming provider paying inflated prices for WWN content. Today's dismissal was made with prejudice, meaning that the court ruled that Flosports could not re-file a similar claim against WWNLive in the future.
Flosports' requests to dismiss the case yesterday came as all parties were scheduled to have a status conference on the lawsuit before Judge Yeakel. WWN had been arguing that the court lacked the jurisdiction over their company, which the court had not ruled on one way or other. With the dismissal of the case, that point is now moot.
The contract between Flosports and WWNLive was revealed in the 11/27 filings, noting that it called for WWN to be paid $75,000 in 2016, $500,000 in 2017, $550,000 in 2018, $605,000 in 2019, $670,000 in 2020 and $740,000 in 2021.
It is also interesting to note the following language in the contract: "FloSports has the right to terminate this Agreement by providing notice during the month of January each year, starting in 2018. If FloSports exercises this option, the agreement will continue for 12 months after the date of notification before terminating."
Flosports terminated their deal with WWN in September of 2017 (well before January 2018) shortly after filing their now-dismissed lawsuit, so, by the letter of the contract, a court might have considered the argument from WWNLive that Flosports actually breached their own deal.
WWN sources had claimed last year they intended to file a counter-suit against Flosports, but today's dismissal stipulates that each side will be dropping their claims about the other.
Each side will be responsible for their own legal and court costs, Judge Yeakel ruled.
Flosports had claimed in the lawsuit, that WWNLive had misled their company, alleging WWN had, "induced FloSports to enter this Exclusive Media Agreement (“the Agreement”) by misrepresenting the number of fans purchasing viewership access to their events, and that representation and warranty was expressly incorporated into the parties’ written contract. In fact, WWN contractually promised that “all data [it] provided . . . regarding financial performance of events [it] put on . . . was accurate, reliable and truthful.” FloSports paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to WWN in reliance on this promise. But WWN’s data was false. When pressed for the data that backed up WWN’s representations, WWN originally claimed the data was lost or deleted. Ultimately, WWN sent records listing subscribers more than once and including customers who had not purchased broadcast services. Even accounting for that artificial inflation of its viewership, WWN’s numbers proved far less than originally represented."
The Flosports contract with WWNLive required Flosports to promote the WWNLive events promising they would "provide $250,000 of advertising value per year on FloSports (i.e. custom digital display, email newsletters, social media, editorial previews/coverage/recaps, etc.)." How that amount of advertising value may have been tallied is not directly explained in any of the court documents, but Flosports' amended lawsuit claimed, "FloSports performed on the Agreement and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars pursuant to its terms, including on its advertising spend for WWN and in the fees paid directly to WWN—all in reliance on WWN’s breached warranty and misrepresentations."
Back in September 2017, after news of the lawsuit broke, PWInsider.com reported we had been "told that in actuality, in 2016, WWN (on average) was doing in the area of 1,300 iPPV buys for EVOLVE, 600-700 for SHINE and less than 200 buys for FIP events while selling those events. The year before, which they also provided to FloSports, those numbers were lower and the EVOLVE numbers were said to have been way up from the year before because WWE was promoting that brand."
Numbers released in lawsuit filings matched up with what WWNLive sources claimed to PWInsider.com, making it appear Flosports had simply overpaid for the content based on the records provided to them.
Flosports claimed in their lawsuit that "During the first year of the Agreement’s term, FloSports became suspicious that WWN’s data was inaccurate. Over the course of several months, FloSports repeatedly asked WWN to send FloSports more detailed data to support the original spreadsheet. WWN failed to comply, alleging that the information was lost or deleted. On August 18, 2017, WWN finally emailed the detailed viewership records, which contained additional misrepresentations: the records listed customers more than once and added purchasers of DVDs to the records, rather than limiting its numbers to the broadcast subscribers as it had promised were reflected in the original spreadsheet. Even with this fraudulent inflation of its data, the records showed viewership numbers far less than those reflected in the October 2016 spreadsheet, proving that WWN’s original representations were false."
WWNLive responded, claiming, "That data was pulled from and compiled by a now-defunct third-party company named Fineline Hosting that was based in Florida."
Based on the two page agreement between the companies that was filed with the cout as part of the lawsuit, WWN was to produce events, handling the management of the video production (at no cost to Flosports) including Planning, Logistics and Production Teams, required video equipment including a two camera shoot, an Encoder to deliver the live stream to Flosports, personnel to "manage and run the video production for all events", Internet with a minimum upload speed of 5 mbps for all events, delivery of a fully produced live stream via RTMP feed to Flosports and that WWNLive would produce and deliver five live events per month (with the exception of December, where they were only required to produce three events). The agreement noted, "The quality of the events should be reasonably similar or better than the same events in 2015 and 2016 through the Term of the Contract."
While Flosports' lawsuit had alleged that "In fact, WWN contractually promised that “all data [it] provided . . . regarding financial performance of events [it] put on . . . was accurate, reliable and truthful.” - the legalese in the two page agreement between the two sides that was filed with the court on 11/27 does not appear to cover any other sort of termination of the deal, including whether the deal could be halted or terminated if the records provided by WWNLive Inc. actually turned out to be incorrect.
The FloSlam streaming service officially launched in October 2016. At that point, FloSlam was hoping to make deals with WWN, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. In the end, WWN signed with FloSports first and the other companies passed. The majority of the content on the streaming service came from WWNLive until their relationship was severed in September 2017. Since then, Flosports has shuttered the entire service, laying off the staff that had been hired to operate it.
The lawsuit, which sought $1 million in damages, revolved around allegations that WWN, run by Sal Hamaoui and Gabe Sapolsky, had "robbed Flosports" by provided false information that led to the streaming provider paying inflated prices for WWN content. Today's dismissal was made with prejudice, meaning that the court ruled that Flosports could not re-file a similar claim against WWNLive in the future.
Flosports' requests to dismiss the case yesterday came as all parties were scheduled to have a status conference on the lawsuit before Judge Yeakel. WWN had been arguing that the court lacked the jurisdiction over their company, which the court had not ruled on one way or other. With the dismissal of the case, that point is now moot.
The contract between Flosports and WWNLive was revealed in the 11/27 filings, noting that it called for WWN to be paid $75,000 in 2016, $500,000 in 2017, $550,000 in 2018, $605,000 in 2019, $670,000 in 2020 and $740,000 in 2021.
It is also interesting to note the following language in the contract: "FloSports has the right to terminate this Agreement by providing notice during the month of January each year, starting in 2018. If FloSports exercises this option, the agreement will continue for 12 months after the date of notification before terminating."
Flosports terminated their deal with WWN in September of 2017 (well before January 2018) shortly after filing their now-dismissed lawsuit, so, by the letter of the contract, a court might have considered the argument from WWNLive that Flosports actually breached their own deal.
WWN sources had claimed last year they intended to file a counter-suit against Flosports, but today's dismissal stipulates that each side will be dropping their claims about the other.
Each side will be responsible for their own legal and court costs, Judge Yeakel ruled.
Flosports had claimed in the lawsuit, that WWNLive had misled their company, alleging WWN had, "induced FloSports to enter this Exclusive Media Agreement (“the Agreement”) by misrepresenting the number of fans purchasing viewership access to their events, and that representation and warranty was expressly incorporated into the parties’ written contract. In fact, WWN contractually promised that “all data [it] provided . . . regarding financial performance of events [it] put on . . . was accurate, reliable and truthful.” FloSports paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to WWN in reliance on this promise. But WWN’s data was false. When pressed for the data that backed up WWN’s representations, WWN originally claimed the data was lost or deleted. Ultimately, WWN sent records listing subscribers more than once and including customers who had not purchased broadcast services. Even accounting for that artificial inflation of its viewership, WWN’s numbers proved far less than originally represented."
The Flosports contract with WWNLive required Flosports to promote the WWNLive events promising they would "provide $250,000 of advertising value per year on FloSports (i.e. custom digital display, email newsletters, social media, editorial previews/coverage/recaps, etc.)." How that amount of advertising value may have been tallied is not directly explained in any of the court documents, but Flosports' amended lawsuit claimed, "FloSports performed on the Agreement and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars pursuant to its terms, including on its advertising spend for WWN and in the fees paid directly to WWN—all in reliance on WWN’s breached warranty and misrepresentations."
Back in September 2017, after news of the lawsuit broke, PWInsider.com reported we had been "told that in actuality, in 2016, WWN (on average) was doing in the area of 1,300 iPPV buys for EVOLVE, 600-700 for SHINE and less than 200 buys for FIP events while selling those events. The year before, which they also provided to FloSports, those numbers were lower and the EVOLVE numbers were said to have been way up from the year before because WWE was promoting that brand."
Numbers released in lawsuit filings matched up with what WWNLive sources claimed to PWInsider.com, making it appear Flosports had simply overpaid for the content based on the records provided to them.
Flosports claimed in their lawsuit that "During the first year of the Agreement’s term, FloSports became suspicious that WWN’s data was inaccurate. Over the course of several months, FloSports repeatedly asked WWN to send FloSports more detailed data to support the original spreadsheet. WWN failed to comply, alleging that the information was lost or deleted. On August 18, 2017, WWN finally emailed the detailed viewership records, which contained additional misrepresentations: the records listed customers more than once and added purchasers of DVDs to the records, rather than limiting its numbers to the broadcast subscribers as it had promised were reflected in the original spreadsheet. Even with this fraudulent inflation of its data, the records showed viewership numbers far less than those reflected in the October 2016 spreadsheet, proving that WWN’s original representations were false."
WWNLive responded, claiming, "That data was pulled from and compiled by a now-defunct third-party company named Fineline Hosting that was based in Florida."
Based on the two page agreement between the companies that was filed with the cout as part of the lawsuit, WWN was to produce events, handling the management of the video production (at no cost to Flosports) including Planning, Logistics and Production Teams, required video equipment including a two camera shoot, an Encoder to deliver the live stream to Flosports, personnel to "manage and run the video production for all events", Internet with a minimum upload speed of 5 mbps for all events, delivery of a fully produced live stream via RTMP feed to Flosports and that WWNLive would produce and deliver five live events per month (with the exception of December, where they were only required to produce three events). The agreement noted, "The quality of the events should be reasonably similar or better than the same events in 2015 and 2016 through the Term of the Contract."
While Flosports' lawsuit had alleged that "In fact, WWN contractually promised that “all data [it] provided . . . regarding financial performance of events [it] put on . . . was accurate, reliable and truthful.” - the legalese in the two page agreement between the two sides that was filed with the court on 11/27 does not appear to cover any other sort of termination of the deal, including whether the deal could be halted or terminated if the records provided by WWNLive Inc. actually turned out to be incorrect.
The FloSlam streaming service officially launched in October 2016. At that point, FloSlam was hoping to make deals with WWN, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. In the end, WWN signed with FloSports first and the other companies passed. The majority of the content on the streaming service came from WWNLive until their relationship was severed in September 2017. Since then, Flosports has shuttered the entire service, laying off the staff that had been hired to operate it.
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