BEYOND WRESTLING PRESENTS "TFT NIGHT 1"
- SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH, 2018
- CHIKARA WRESTLE FACTORY - 4711 WINGATE ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19136
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0xE1ghqIjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0xE1ghqIjQ
Covering Independent Wrestling, Classics and other stuff the widest variety of pro wrestling anywhere is what WP&P does best
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Appalachian Mountain Wrestling- AMW-TV Episode 116: November 24, 2018
Question on everyone’s mind is still will John Noble be able to show up and defend his AMW Heavyweight Championship.
J-Mac vs The Mega Destroyer
Beau James vs Henry Shaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrG0JLZAimw
MLW Fusion Episode 32: World Championship Title Rematch: Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland
Months in the making, Shane “Swerve” Strickland looks to get his mojo back as he challenges Low Ki for the World Heavyweight Championship. Can the once golden boy of MLW reclaim greatness and gold? Tune in to find out!
After the shocking betrayal of his Team Filthy teammate, Simon Gotch will be in the house. Will "Simon the Snitch" explain himself? What are his connections to Promociones Dorado?
The Hart Foundation are in the house dropping truth bombs.
In a middleweight bout, Kotto Brazil will be tested as he squares off against Trey Miguel. Miguel, who owns a victory over Brazil from earlier this year, is the only middleweight to beat the Haitian Sensation. Can Kotto even the score or will Trey prove why he should be in the ladder match in Miami.
Speaking of Miami, new matches will be revealed on this week's control center. Look for some big news about the double shot debut of MLW this December in Miami.
Join Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini from the sold out Cicero Stadium in Chicago for a great night of pro wrestling! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TFWqoG-cFQ
Mat Memory- Abdullah The Butcher vs The Sheik
CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling: CWF Worldwide #175 - Roy Wilkins vs Ike Cross
PWI Heavyweight title: Roy Wilkins(c) vs Ike Cross
TK-OPA!! (Ted "TKO" Ireland & Ulysse Demos) vs Mace Li & Number Man
Nick Richards vs Aric Andrews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NTs2GnYavU
LARRY MATYSIK ENTERS HOSPICE CARE
Larry Matysik, 72, who promoted, booked, and announced wrestling and wrote a number of books including "Wrestling at the Chase," is now in hospice care.
Herb Simmons, his close friend, said that Matysik is suffering from pneumonia and his condition is deteriorating quickly.
Matysik was the right-hand man for Sam Muchnick, the longtime president of the National Wrestling Alliance, and the St. Louis Wrestling Club during the 70s and early 80s when St. Louis was considered by many as the key city for pro wrestling in North America. Matysik started out writing for wrestling magazines in the 60s and eventually landed a job with Muchnick, and became the television announcer for "Wrestling at the Chase," which routinely drew an average of 200,000 viewers per week on KPLR-TV, Ch. 11, making it among the highest rated pro wrestling shows in the country. He also on occasion would fill in and do the AWA television show.
Matysik was considered in the 70s along with Lance Russell and Gordon Solie as one of the top three pro wrestling announcers in the country. But he also worked behind-the-scenes at all facets of the business. He was co-booker with Pat O'Connor and was responsible for a major upswing in the business in the late 70s with the introduction of people like Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody, Ted DiBiase, and the Von Erich Brothers, to go along with longtime area legends like Harley Race and Dick the Bruiser.
The climax of the Muchnick era was the final show on January 1, 1982, at the Arena, which drew 19,819 fans and sold out well in advance. Matysik put together a show that brought out major political leaders as well as Muchnick's first lead announcer, Joe Garagiola, who had become a major name on NBC television with baseball, game shows, and as a regular sub for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.
St. Louis deteriorated quickly with Muchnick gone, as Matysik had major issues with how the new head of the business, Bob Geigel, would do things. He quit once, but Muchnick put them back together. In 1983, Matysik put together a storyline to lead to a Flair vs. Brody match, a two-of-three falls match that went to a 60-minute draw and set the city's all-time gate record. But when Geigel shorted both Flair and Brody on what had been the usual St. Louis percentage for a world title match, although still giving them what would have been the largest payoff at the time anyone would get in the U.S. at the time, he quit once again.
Matysik was close friends with Brody and they started up an opposition promotion and did well at the box office, but there were issues behind the scenes that led to problems with the financiers. Later in 1983, when KPLR made the decision to get rid of Geigel's group due to declining ratings and the weak quality of the television, both Matysik and Vince McMahon pitched for the Chase time slot. A meeting was held where the owner of the station, Ted Kopplar, suggested both work together as partners, which was agreed to, but quickly Jim Barnett told Matysik that they could not be partners after all, and Matysik worked for McMahon through 1991 before he was let go.
Matysik was also talked with in 1988 by Jim Herd to come in and work for WCW shortly before the Turner Broadcasting purchase came through. Herd, who had worked for KLPR, produced Wrestling at the Chase and thus was friends with Muchnick and Matysik. But that fell through as Barnett talked Herd out of that decision and Matysik also refused to move from St. Louis to Atlanta, where WCW was to be based.
Matysik remained associated with local wrestling, and until recently, would announce and book matches with partner Simmons and their Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling promotion.
Matysik wrote a series of books including "Drawing Heat the Hard Way" about the realities of pro wrestling, "The Greatest Wrestlers of All-Time," "Wrestling at the Chase," and "Brody," with Barbara Goodish about the life of Bruiser Brody. He also published a 1959-83 record book of St. Louis matches which included comments on booking which is one of the greatest guides to understanding that style of wrestling booking and politics and how Muchnick ran area wrestling.
He was working on a book that would compare and contrast the wrestling and working for McMahon and Muchnick before his health deteriorated.
Matysik had suffered at least three strokes in recent years, although at the time they were diagnosed differently. Simmons noted that at times he would slur his speech, but to the end, his memory was impeccable.
Matysik is a member of the Tragos/Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Greater St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Marc Mero On Why His Wrestling Career Was 'Never What He Expected'
After becoming a well-known talent during his run with World Championship Wrestling, having three reigns as Television Champion, Johnny B. Badd left WCW and became the "Wildman" Marc Mero in WWE less than a month after losing the title to Lex Luger. Mero rescued his then-wife Sable from Triple H (then known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley), commencing a feud with the aristocrat.
Following his WWE debut, Mero was able to become a staple midcard talent similar to his status in WCW, but was able to rack up victories against big names such a Helmsley, Steve Austin, the 1-2-3 Kid and Isaac Yankem, Mero defeated Faarooq on the September 23, 1996 episode of Raw to win the Intercontinental Championship. Mero only experienced a one-month reign and was able to remain a strong name for the company in 1996. Mero experienced two more years in the company before leaving in 1999, never making an in-ring return again for the company.
Despite four championship reigns between WCW and WWE, Mero revealed during an interview with ABC News how his addictions refrained him from enjoying these career milestone moments.
"I wasn't able to deal with this adversity because of my mindset and what I was polluting my body with," said Mero. "I traveled the world, made a lot of money and met a lot of people, and lived a life that most people think would be the most incredible life to live – of dreaming big since I was a little boy, of making it in life. And then getting there and realizing it was never what I expected because of the bad choices I was making."
1995 was a very tough year for Mero. Just weeks after defeating Arn Anderson at the Uncensoredpay-per-view, Mero received a call that his mother had passed away at just 58 years old. Mero felt that his life started to spiral after his mother's passing.
"As I look back on my life, they are the most joyful things I can remember," said Mero. "How much she loved me, and [was] so proud of me and to think that I didn't accept that or want to enjoy those moments."
Selling drugs, losing friends, and nearly dying of overdose three times, Mero hit a rock-bottom moment that changed his life.
"It was a day where I felt there was nothing left," said Mero. "I had it all, and now I have nothing. 'I'm all alone.'"
Now being sober for 15 years, Mero spends his time as a motivational speaker, sharing his story with many assemblies across the nation. His "Think Poz" campaign, geared toward going to schools and speaking to students about overdosing and making bad decisions, shows the listeners that they are not alone in their struggles. "My joy comes from helping other people," said Mero. "There is just no greater joy."
Hurricane Helms Gives Update On His ROH Status, Talks Why He Turned Heel In WWE
On a recently 'escaped' episode of The Jim Ross Report, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross spoke with pro wrestling veteran 'Hurricane' Shane Helms. Among many other things, Helms discussed whether he is still with ROH, why he turned heel as Gregory Helms amid his hugely popular run as 'The Hurricane', getting over during the hottest era in the genre, and how pro wrestlers who are not working now have no one to blame but themselves.
During the interview, Helms divulged that he is still with ROH, but has not agreed to new dates with the company.
"Yeah [Helms is still affiliated with ROH], we just haven't agreed to dates." Helms explained, "we're on wonderful terms. They are super happy with me. They're happy with how everything worked out with me and Marty Scurll. Yeah, I like [ROH]. I like the locker room. They're very positive. Everybody's busy. Man, seeing The Young Bucks and Cody, it seems like they've got different projects every week and they're doing it all the time. Whether it's them or SCU, guys like that, filming these vignettes. How they got over that Being The Elite YouTube show. I mean, it helped guys like Adam Page. It helped guys like Marty. I did the Gregory Helms thing on there and for the first time in my career, Gregory Helms for a brief moment, was more over than 'The Hurricane' was just from that Being The Elite video. So I love seeing guys work hard and be excited about it."
In Helms learned view, he got over in the hardest time to get over in the history of pro wrestling.
"I got over in the hardest period in the [pro wrestling] industry to get over. And I don't think a lot of people, not that you have to focus on things like that, but that period of time when ECW is gone, WCW is gone, and you've got one company, just one. There's a limited amount of TV time. We didn't have the [WWE] Network back then. It was just there's a limited amount of TV time and now you've got everybody fighting over that TV time. Yeah, I mean, I was an ECW guy coming in, so WWF guys, that's why there was that animosity back then. There was real legit animosity in that locker room." Helms continued, "and it wasn't just a roster. It was the most stacked roster in history of the game. I mean, when you've got [The] Rock, [Steve] Austin, Taker, Triple H, Jesus Christ, Eddie [Guerrero], [Chris] Benoit, The Hardys, The Dudleys, Edge and Christian, I mean Kurt Angle, that's all on one roster and then you've got my ass getting over as 'The Hurricane' or at least trying to get over. And that's why I had so much fun with that character."
Also during the conversation, Helms shared that he had the idea to turn heel during his big run as 'The Hurricane' because he knew character had a ceiling.
"I get asked all the time why did I drop 'The Hurricane' for that brief moment when I was [doing] the heel run, Gregory Helms. It's like, well, I was stuck in a rut there and I wanted something different. I knew what 'The Hurricane' character was. He was a definite super card and it got over, and sold a lot of merchandise, but 'Hurricane' was never going to carry that top belt. That just wasn't going to be the case. I could have been an Intercontinental [Championship] guy, a US [Championship] guy, that sort of thing and that's fine." Helms added, "I knew that character had a ceiling on it. And that was fine. I loved that [character]. I mean, I exploited it for all that it was worth and everything. I know the royalty checks I got and of course Vince [McMahon]'s was bigger than mine, so the company was happy with that, but I just knew it was time for a change, so it was actually my idea to drop it for a little while and become that heel character Gregory Helms."
In Helms' opinion, the pro wrestling business is so healthy right now that if a performer is not working, it is on them.
"A lot of them do the exact same things they've been doing for years. They're making no [adjustments]. I've had that conversation with many guys, 'what are you doing to change it if you're not happy with what you are?'" Helms offered, "and this last year, I mean, the explosion in this year-and-a-half [or] maybe going into two years. I guess I left Impact [Wrestling] two years ago now. Just the way everything immediately took off and suddenly more opportunities [manifested]. When I see guys, if you're not working right now, I think it's got to be on you. If you can't find work right now in 2018, this has got to be on you and I know I've had a blessed career, but that's coming back on me right now. My 2018 has been out-of-this-world crazy. I can't think of too many guys that have had a better 2018 than I did. But the guys that I see working, like The Boogeyman with the worms, I've seen him a lot this year and just to see him out there, hustling, doing his thing, and that's cool. And every now and then, I'll see somebody and I'll say, 'are you staying busy?' and they say, 'naw, naw, not really.' And I'm like, 'why? What are you not doing?' Billy Gunn is a good example. I see his ass everywhere. He's in the best shape of his life, working his ass off."
REY FENIX OUT REST OF YEAR DUE TO INJURY
MLW Tag Team Champion and Impact Wrestling regular Rey Fenix will be out the remainder of 2018 with a groin injury, according to www.LuchaCentral.com.
Fenix was injured wrestling Cavernario at CMLL’s Leyenda de Plata tournament.
There is no word yet how this will change MLW's creative course for their December TV tapings in Miami, Florida.
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