Wrestling Past And Present: 06/25/19

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Lana Austin Vs Viper/Piper Niven - Two WWE NXT UK stars | British Women's Wrestling

Lana Austin takes on Viper - WWE's Piper Niven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwtWm1JILy8

WWA (Kentucky)- Hysteria 89 - Back to the Extreme

The WWA goes BACK to the Extreme for the night! -In the main event, Stonewall and CCW finally get their hands on each other in a Tables Match.
-WWA Champion "Superstar" Ray Waddell holds an Open Challenge for the WWA Championship. Are Alexander Knight's frequent attacks still on his mind? What happens to Knight's WWA Championship Opportunity at Killshot if Ray loses tonight?
-Josiah won the National Championship Number 1 Contender's Fatal Four Way last week. Tonight, he faces the National Champion Vanderpool for the title.
-What has gotten into Tyler Hawkins lately? Josh Mackey tries to get to the bottom of the issues. All of this PLUS Willie Finesse, Dakota France, "Superior" Tony Evans, Lizzy Sixx, Andrew Hunter, Jake Bravado, Jones, Officer Andre, a WWA debut, and wrestling legends Justin Credible and the Sandman!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kKWYs-tSg

PWCI This Week - #180 Central IL Pro Wrestling

Today we head back to Springfield to check out Central IL Pro Wrestling live at George Ranks! In action the CIPW Tag Champs Jon Napier & Steven Bishop defend against the Asylum - James Pinkerton & Scott Matthews, Sage Ramsey takes on Tyler Bodine, then we close it out with a battle royal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn_j47Mwwoo

Mick Foley Talks Running Into Jon Moxley Recently, Why Today's WWE Product Is Not Working

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley was a guest on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory Podcast this week, and during the discussion, Foley went in-depth about why he believed superstars in the Attitude Era found more success in the presentation of their characters compared to the stars of today. He thinks it's in-part due to the pressure put on current performers to consistently succeed at their promo work.

"I saw Jon Moxley recently at an event, and I didn't realize how constrained he felt by the format over there [in WWE]," Foley said. "This isn't an exercise in the whipping of WWE here, but I said to him, and I mentioned this before and it bears repeating: people look at the Attitude Era and they love it for a number of reasons. But very few people realize that we were allowed to try things and there wasn't any punishment for failing. Every great Austin 3:16 promo there's going to be 5 or 6 things that don't work. If you recall, The Rock never went to the 'Shut Up Juice', the 'Shut Up Juice' wasn't connecting, SmackDown Hotel was, and so guys were allowed to go out there and try things. I remember a couple of promos that failed miserably but I never got the feeling that just because they tanked that I wouldn't be able to get another shot at it.

"You know, this is something that I said during last year's 20 Years in Hell show: that if you're going to fail, fail spectacularly. Really, that match and a good part of my career were based on failures, and so I think that men and the women don't have that same freedom to fail. So guys are going out there playing not to lose instead of playing to win with their characters. I think you can specifically blame the 'This Is Your Life' segment, with me and The Rock, that went 14 minutes over for tighter structuring. I think that the ratings hurt in a sense."

Foley watched backstage as the shift to PG made the creative structure much more narrow behind the scenes of WWE. Things like blood, certain language, and the threat of someone's life being at stake were ruled unfit for WWE TV, so heels had to find new ways of showing an evil nature.

"Imagine trying to be a heel in today's environment where you can't be offensive," Foley pondered. "Obviously we had a little more freedom to use language. I think in a lot of ways the PG rating makes you more creative, which is a good thing. But when you are catering to families, you can actually see someone complaining if a heel was scary. So there's no blood, which is probably a good thing in most cases. But it is hard being a menacing figure when you are so constrained, so, the answer is that everyone has to have great moves. I probably couldn't have made it in today's WWE environment because I didn't have enough cool moves.

"Here's the one thing that I see missing: when they have these babyfaces, people have an emotional stake in these good guys, and then the monster heel would come in and you're like, 'Okay, they're not trying to win a match, they are fighting for their lives,'" Foley continued. "That is how money was drawn with these great feuds, where the goal wasn't about winning a match, so I don't know if I would have lasted in an environment where you have to cover guys after every move."

Instead of focusing on the brutal nature of the heel characters, the attention was directed to their incomparable abilities and attempts at being the best wrestler. Characters like Chris Jericho, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan's recent heel persona are prime examples of this new wave of heels with exceptional in-ring prowess and a knack for vocalizing it.

"When your most dastardly character trait is that you are trying to be the best at something? It is hard to dislike someone who is yearning to be the best by putting a guy's shoulders down," Foley explained. "I think they are really constrained and I think it shows, and the moves are more spectacular but the fans have been conditioned that there is only one way to have a great match, and that is to have incredible moves and multiple false finishes. But when I was active, there wasn't a specific blueprint to have a great match where you would lose fans if you buried from it. I think it was more creative. We weren't as athletic and you saw fewer great matches on a weekly basis, but I also think you had far better moments that stuck out in people's minds."

Awesome Kong On Why She Worked AEW Double Or Nothing, Keeping Her Return A Secret

Awesome Kong recently spoke with Scott Fishman of TV Insider and talked about how she kept her ring return at AEW's Double Or Nothing pay-per-view a secret last month.

Kong said she was too nervous to train in anybody's ring for fear of tipping people off, and she even turned down indie bookings to remain under the radar. While Kong has appeared on Netflix's GLOW series, she admitted she was worried that people had forgotten about her.

"I was worried that people had forgotten about me because it had been forever and a day since I had appeared on TV as a wrestler in Kong's gear and her braids and everything," she said. "I was extremely worried about it."

Kong said the trepidation was still there just minutes before walking out in front of the live crowd, plus she got the "Baby Shark" song stuck in her head backstage. She revealed that a quick interaction with WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page helped make the difference.

"I mean he squared me up shoulder-to-shoulder. He looked me dead in the eye with his piercing blue eyes and gave me this pep talk about positive thinking," Kong said. "How I should read his book, and how I am who I am, and I know who I am. He told me I was going to go out there and kill it. It was exactly what I needed. This was not even three or four minutes before I walked out there. I was like, 'Yes!' This is what I needed to summon Kong. She is finally here."

Kong revealed that she's still a free agent, but we might see more of her from time to time. She worked Double Or Nothing, in the Fatal 4 Way with Nyla Rose, Kylie Rae and winner Britt Baker, because she sees something special in AEW and wanted to be a part of history.

"I've always kind of been that rebel in wrestling. This promotion is kind of that exciting rebel in a way," Kong said. "This force that will not be denied. I think it was the perfect portal for me to re-enter the wrestling world."

This Week's WWE RAW Draws One Of The Lowest Crowds, Comparison To Recent SmackDown Tapings

There were reportedly 3,500 fans in attendance for last night's WWE RAW from the Angel of The Winds Arena in Everett, Washington, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

This would be one of the smallest RAW crowds in history. The attendance number is especially bad because this was a RAW coming out of the WWE Stomping Grounds pay-per-view, which also did low attendance.

Which goes to show you, if this isn't a sign that their product sucks ass, what else can? of curse WWE will deflect and dodge this and pretend like this never happened.. As usual.

It was noted that this RAW drew less than the February 5 SmackDown tapings from the same arena in Everett, but it was reported back in February that those tapings drew 3,000 fans.

Major Change to ROH Best In the World (NWA Video)

Since the NWA Crockett Cup, the issue with the Briscoes and the National Wrestling Alliance has been boiling over. When the Briscoes were disqualified in the semi-finals of the tournament, it ignited a war between the NWA and Dem Boys. First it was NWA National Champion Colt Cabana and then the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis who were attached by the Ring of Honor legacy team. A tag-team match was made for this Friday's Ring of Honor Wrestling PPV Event, Best in the World as Colt Cabana and Nick Aldis face The Briscoes. This video includes breaking news on that match and a major change that has occurred. Order Best in the World on PPV this Friday on PPV at 9pm ET and watch the pre-show at 8:30pm for more news on this situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZx-PLehUeE