Sunday, February 3, 2019
Mat Memory- Billy Robinson & Les Thornton vs. Terry & Dory Funk, Jr. (All Japan)
AJPW World's Strongest Tag League, 12/3/80 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKC6d9zTgRw
PCO Reflects On His Initial Run In WWE, His Problems With The Kliq's Shawn Michaels & Diesel
Ring of Honor's PCO recently took the time for an in-depth interview with Sportingnews.com. Among the topics discussed, PCO looked back on his first time being a part of the WWE roster and the controversial way in which he, and others, were released from the company. PCO also anticipates a successful future, and he revealed that ROH has assured him of big plans ahead.
PCO explained that his newfound determination and success as a performer can be attributed to wisdom he's gained through a life in the professional wrestling business. Listening to others, eating right, and learning gymnastics are a few of the tactics PCO incorporates in to his everyday life in hopes to see further success.
"With age comes experience and I'm now at a point in my life where I'm wise enough to realize what I need to do to achieve success, and more importantly, to be happy" PCO said. "I listen to people more these days, when there was a time when I would only listen to myself. I've been wrestling since I was 16 years old so I've been around this crazy world long enough to make my own mistakes and see the mistakes made by others. Back in the day, I would react a lot more different to how I'd handle things now, but to do that takes time and I think that's a big reason why I'm enjoying wrestling today.
"I've listened so much more in the last 18 months than what I have in the 30 years before," PCO continued. "When I made the decision to go all the way with the PCO character, I had to put everything into it. I started to eat right, live right, look after my body so I could give myself the best possible chance of realizing my dream of becoming a world champion in one of the big companies. I enrolled in gymnastics class to get as flexible as possible and now I'm doing moonsaults and backflips easier than I could ever manage. If this is going to be my last run then I had to give it everything from the start."
In WWE, PCO was recognized as Jean-Pierre LaFitte, a descendant of the real-life pirate named Jean LaFitte. Despite a three month feud with Bret Hart and a hopeful future, backstage issues with The Kliq's Shawn Michaels and Diesel would result in PCO's release from WWE. PCO claims that his relationship with Vince McMahon seemed intact after everything occurred, however, WWE "wasn't a nice place to work" and they promptly let him go.
"[The Kliq] had Vince McMahon's ear, I still think I was okay with Vince because he gave the Jean Pierre Lafitte character a lot of support, and allowed me to work with Bret Hart on a regular basis," PCO explained. "Today in 2019, it's very easy to blame the likes of Diesel and Shawn Michaels for whatever happened back then, but I could've handled the situation a lot better too. The main issue for me is that these guys were playing around with the livelihoods of so many people and they didn't care about what financial pressures people were under. The amount of wrestlers they kept down or got fired just so they could keep the money and spotlight on themselves was something that I thought needed to be spoken up about.
"My biggest falling out with them came when I refused to do a job for Diesel when we were working in Montreal," PCO said. "I'd been told the plan was to go back there at some point for another match and I don't believe it made sense for me to lose clean. This made them all go a little bit crazy and soon after I was gone from the WWE. Vince still held me in some regard because he came to me with other ideas, but it wasn't a nice place to work and I got my release a little bit later."
With the stable of Villain Enterprises following alongside him, PCO is ready to make waves in the world of Ring of Honor. PCO revealed that ROH made a big fuss about signing him and they've acknowledged that there are big plans in his future.
"Several things jumped out at me. First, they have a locker room full of the best wrestlers in the world who go out there every single night and never give less than 100% to the fans," PCO said. "Secondly, they made a big fuss of me and convinced me that my future there was going to be a memorable one. When you've spent the bulk of your whole career trying desperately to convince people that you have what it takes and they're unsure, it becomes frustrating. Ring of Honor made it clear from our very first conversation that they wanted me, that they had big plans for me, and that they were fully behind PCO. I've only been here a very short time as it was December when I signed, but I'm happy so far, and please keep watching our shows because they're only going to get better."
More on Les Thornton
Former NWA Junior Heavyweight champion Les Thornton has passed away at the age of 84.
The news first broke on Facebook, where his wife Terry wrote the following (via Slam Sports http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2019/02/03/22792238.html ): "It is with great sadness we share that Les Thornton peacefully took his leave on February 1, 2019 at 11:15 am, with his devoted wife, Terry at his side."
Born in Manchester, England, Thornton entered professional wrestling in 1957 and at one point trained in Billy Robinson’s Snake Pit, where he learned technical wrestling and submissions. He traveled to the United States in 1970 and won the NWA Junior Heavyweight championship on six occasions between 1980 and 1983.
In 1984, he was one of only a handful of people that joined the WWE when they purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling. He was used primarily as a jobber, but was also a part of coordinating their house shows in the Middle East.
He retired in 1990 and had been living in Canada running a gym prior to his death.
The Facebook post further said: "In honour of Les' wishes there will be no funeral service. Instead, those wishing to pay respects are invited to make a donation to the Calgary Humane Society."
EVOLVE Mini-Doc: NXT EVOLVEs
This EVOLVE Mini-Doc examines the historic dynamic between NXT and EVOLVE.
The last six months have seen NXT enter a relationship with EVOLVE for the benefit of independent wrestling. It has created a synergy that has resulted in some of the most unique matches, happenings and cards that have ever been seen in professional wrestling.
We have witnessed NXT Superstars put on classics in EVOLVE. We have seen EVOLVE stars featured on WWE.com and on WWE social media. The goal is to strengthen the independent wrestling scene.
The future is bright as NXT Superstar Adam Cole returns to EVOLVE Wrestling at EVOLVE 121 in Atlanta, GA and EVOLVE 122 in Concord, NC and Ricochet returns at EVOLVE 123 in Melrose, MA and EVOLVE 124 in Queens, NY.
Find out what’s next and come see EVOLVE Wrestling live:
- Feb 15th - Atlanta, GA
- Feb 16th - Concord, NC
- Mar 15th - Melrose, MA
- Mar 16th - Queens, NY
- Apr 4th - Queens, NY
- Apr 13th - Ybor City, FL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTagcCu3A6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTagcCu3A6M
Defiant Wrestling's Loaded #9: Two Championship Matches + PAC Addresses His Hometown Crowd
The final stop before Unstoppable in Manchester on February 9th... Two World Championship matches and PAC addresses his hometown crowd in Newcastle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le25r0wMnvM
MLW SUPERFIGHT
LIVE from Philadelphia's historic 2300 Arena Major League Wrestling presents the first-ever SUPERFIGHT!
"Filthy" Tom Lawlor challenges the reigning World Heavyweight Champion Low Ki (presented by Salina de la Renta).
The World Tag Team Champions Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix collectively known as the Lucha Bros square off with the undefeated Hart Foundation.
In a grudge match, Kotto Brazil battles Ricky "El Sicario" Martinez (presented Salina de la Renta) and much more.
Join a sold out crowd in South Philadelphia for a night of championship wrestling. It's SUPERFIGHT!!!!!!!!!
NWA NOTES
The 4/27 Crockett Cup event in Concord, NC will officially go on sale this Friday. Teams already set for the tournament are The War Kings (Jax Dane and Crimson) and Villian Enterprises' Brody King and PCO.
NWA Champion Nick Aldis will defend the title against Leland Race for Harley Race’s World League Wrestling in Moscow Hills, Missouri on 3/9.
NWA National Champion Willie Mack will be working this weekend's Ring of Honor events in Lakeland and Miami, Florida.
Aldis appeared on the Two Man Power Trip Podcast and discussed the importance of being the NWA Champion, commenting, “If like me you are a student of the game and you study the history of the business you understand the significance of the ten pounds of gold, the NWA World Championship. You see the people that have held it and you appreciate the fact that it is the same belt and you are a part of that lineage and that is never something I am not going to take pride in. I'm sure Cody would tell you the same thing if you asked him and almost everyone else who has held it. That is sort of the fundamental answer but the other part of it is that it has been very rewarding to be part of something that was absolutely a start up from the very beginning and pretty much from day one. I was the first guy on the ship and that is a cool feeling because my personal journey was the journey of the actual title and to say that pretty much it was on life support in 2017 and to get to All In on September 1st and in just a little over a year be in pretty much the most talked about match of the year and certainly the best built match and certainly in terms of the emotional response it would be hard pressed to find anything that tops that match and the way we did everything. In many ways it is sort of like a validation of me because I proved that when I was allowed to do things my way I could make this work and I could make it really important and make it mean something. I think the business is about moments. I don't care as much about having a great match as I do having a great moment. Ultimately when you look back at the history of the business financially and from a sentimental point of view it is the moments you remember. You remember Hogan slamming Andre, you remember Rock and Hogan staring down face to face or Steve Austin driving the beer truck and it is the moments. You don't remember every single moment of the match and every single spot, every single headlock, every single armdrag. You remember the moments and that is what I got in the business to do and it was nice to be able to prove that when I was allowed to trust my instincts and do it exactly my way.
LES THORNTON PASSES AWAY
It's been reported the passing of former NWA and World Junior Heavyweight Champion Les Thornton, who passed away at the age of 84 on 2/1. The news of Thornton's passing was first reported by Canada's Slam! Wrestling following a Facebook announcement, which read:
"It is with great sadness we share that Les Thornton peacefully took his leave on February 1, 2019 at 11:15 am, with his devoted wife, Terry at his side. In honour of Les' wishes there will be no funeral service. Instead, those wishing to pay respects are invited to make a donation to the Calgary Humane Society
The British star was considered an incredible in-ring worker and legitimate tough guy, working across the world in Great Britain, Canada's Stampede Wrestling, and a number of National Wrestling Alliance territories, including Texas, Georgia and Los Angeles. He held the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship on five different occasions. He migrated over to the WWF following the purchase of Georgia Championship Wrestling and was positioned as an undercard talent and coordinated international shows for the company in the Middle East.
Les Thatcher noted:
So very sorry to hear of the passing of Les Thornton at age 84 on February 1st. A serious wrestler & solid worker who always gave you a hell of a match. Go with God my brother & know you will be remembered with love & respect! ??????????????— Les Thatcher (@LesThatcher) February 3, 2019
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