Tuesday, December 29, 2020

PWTorch parts ways with Bruce Mitchell after 30 years (Updated)






The Bruce Mitchell article, with thoughts on how professional wrestler Jon Huber(Brodie Lee/Luke Harper) died, has been banned and totally removed from the PWTorch.com website….

Bruce was asking many questions concerning the death of Jon Huber, and Bruce was looking for transparency in regards to Huber’s two-month hospital stay, and Bruce Mitchell was looking for answers from AEW/All Elite Wrestling in regards to Huber’s hospital stay, and Huber’s deteriorated lung condition…

Bruce was all calling for information from Huber’s(Lee’s/Harper’s) family concerning the cause of death, for Jon Huber…

Jon Huber’s widow Amanda Huber posted a message on Instagram about her late husband (a/k/a Brodie Lee) on Tuesday night, providing more details on his medical situation and criticizing an editorial column by a now-former PWTorch.com columnist.

She also spoke about the journey they’d been on as a couple and how good things seemed to be before his death.

“Imagine being 17 and spending a night chatting with a mutual friend,” she wrote. “Then realizing that they were ‘the one.'”

She said they spent seven years in an on again/off again relationship, gave it one last shot, went through therapy, and dated some more.

She spoke about discovering they were having a baby boy “the day he is downsized” (from WWE). She talked about him getting his dream job (in AEW) only to suffer an injury.

“You go on to build your dream life with another perfect little boy, 2 crazy dogs, and 5 cats. They get an opportunity to really bet on themselves and you watch them shine like never before. Life is SO good.”

She then said he got sick one day, then got sicker and sicker. “You know how much they value their privacy, so you ask those helping you to keep it quiet out of respect for them,” she said. “You watch helplessly as they worse and worse. Covid test, after covid test, after covid test, come back negative. You almost pray for a positive one because it would be some kind of answer. You never get one.

“Suddenly they are gone.”

She then commented on an opinion piece published on PWTorch Sunday by Bruce Mitchell. The column has since been removed, and PWTorch parted ways with the author on Tuesday.

“You have to try to figure out how to imagine your future now,” she wrote. “Then you read a ‘journalist’ demanding ‘transparency’ and insinuates you’re hiding something. That it’s some type of cover up. Something more so sinister. That you aren’t serving his memory best by not offering up information you’re still trying to process. As if his death was a public health hazard. It wasn’t. It was a tragedy.

“There is no cover up. There’s no conspiracy. There was just a series of unfortunate events that ended in your world being crushed. What kind of position does that put you in? When you’re trying to grieve and people practically expect you to post medical records because, since they were a public figure, they are entitled to all the knowledge of what happened.

“It wasn’t covid. There’s no shame in dying from Covid, but it’s not what it was. You have no answers and you’re just left there. Can you just fuckin’ imagine that?”

AEW is dedicating Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite to the memory of Brodie Lee.

In a statement posted on Pro Wrestling Torch's web page they announ ced the parting of Bruce Mitchell.

"Yesterday on PWTorch.com, senior columnist Bruce Mitchell published an editorial concerning the death of Jon Huber (a/k/a Brodie Lee, Luke Harper) that did not go through the normal vetting and editing process for Mitchell’s columns in general, and especially for such a sensitive topic.

I was not given the opportunity to see the column before it was published. Out of deference to Bruce’s 30 years as a staff writer, I chose not to immediately remove or edit the column as I assessed the situation, which included a discussion with him. Based on that conversation and additional reporting, I decided that the column does not meet our standards for publication. The piece has been removed from the site.. Bruce Mitchell is no longer a staff member of Pro Wrestling Torch. I spoke with him earlier today and let him know my decision, as well as the reasons behind it. I thank him for over 30 years of contributions that helped shape and grow Pro Wrestling Torch. Bruce informed and entertained readers and listeners with sharp, hard-hitting, informed columns and podcasts.  In addition, he has been a dear friend outside of the professional realm. I wish him well. I also apologize to the Huber family for any pain the column caused".

Link to their statement is here. . https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2020/12/29/editors-note-concerning-a-published-column-regarding-the-death-of-jon-huber/?fbclid=IwAR1qr304iN4sbYPw4tJuKrg5p77TaIGcsuboWcENuFp8OqFVpvFsA4HRD2E


Darius Carter v Sam Shields ( Warriors Of Wrestling- Ambition Vol. 1)

Welcome to the debut of the newest division of Warriors of Wrestling...Ambition!!!! In Volume 1 of this event we will see W.O.W World heavy weight champion Darius Carter take on Sam Shields in a non-title bout...



THE ROCK Inducts Ken Shamrock Into IMPACT Hall Of Fame! | IMPACT Wrestling Best of 2020

Ken Shamrock is inducted to the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame by an old friend, the most electrifying man in all of entertainment, Dwayne "THE ROCK" Johnson!

SWE Fury Episode 2

 From our first TV taping in August of 2019. Originally aired in November 2019.

ECPW Adrenaline TV Episode (11/27/20) Episode 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkGNcV3NyAI 

Future Stars of Wrestling - FSW Flashback: FSW Arizona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUUG6LleaE 

Jim Cornette on WWE Announcing Legends Night On Raw

Jim Cornette on Managing The Headhunters In WWE

Nick Aldis Gives Update On His NWA Contract Status

 NWA World's Heavyweight Champion will be staying with the organization.

Aldis recently appeared on Konnan's "Keepin' It 100" podcast and revealed that NWA boss Billy Corgan picked up the option in Aldis' contract to keep him with the promotion, at least for another year.

"Billy [Corgan] picked up my option with the NWA so… Like I said, I had an option on my contract and Billy picked it up and like I said, I would not have opened up any discussions with anyone without talking to — This is 'Keepin it 100,' I just care about that paper. That's it and Billy's been very loyal to me and I to him and I truly believe in what we're doing with the product and I wouldn't walk away from it because we haven't even scratched the surface of what we could accomplish.

Aldis also gave an update on the NWA Power series. The show has been on a hiatus since earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aldis noted that NWA Power, the flagship show of the promotion, will be back in 2021.

"The reality is that the Primetime Live is not an NWA product. Power, NWA Power, that's our flagship. Dude, that's coming back in 2021," he said.

NWA talents have been featured on the United Wrestling Network (UWN) Primetime Live shows, but they recently announced that they are also on hiatus until 2021 some time. Aldis made it clear that Primetime Live is not a NWA product.

Aldis' comments come after NWA World Women's Champion Serena Deeb stated earlier this month that the NWA will "probably" start back up again with Power tapings in early 2021, perhaps as soon as January.

The last Power episode was the season 3 finale, a "lost" episode called Super Power on May 12. NWA recently filled Power's Tuesday night timeslot on YouTube with the new Shockwave series on December 1. That show tapes at Thunder Studios in California, where Primetime Live tapes. Power had been taping at GPB Studios in Atlanta, which has been called the NWA Arena. There is no word yet on what will happen with Shockwave once Power returns, but we will keep you updated.

Aldis has been the World Heavyweight Champion since winning a 2 of 3 Falls match over Cody Rhodes at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show on October 21, 2018. This is his second reign with the title. His first ran from December 9, 2017, when he defeated Tim Storm at CZW Cage of Death 2019, until the first All In pay-per-view on September 1, 2018, when he lost the title to Cody.

MLW News

There will be no new episode of MLW Fusion TV this week due to the holidays.

Rich Bochino and Jared St. Laurent will be the permanent MLW announcing team going forward.  Alicia Atout, who has gotten great reviews from those in the company, will be the backstage correspondent permanently as well.

The Low Ki injury in the Opera Cup finals against Tom Lawlor (which was a fantastic match) was storyline to help keep Low Ki strong but also having the injury being the key to his loss alongside a heel getting a sneaky but clean win.

If you enjoyed the Opera Cup, that is the style the promotion is seeking to pivot towards going forward, showcasing the in-ring workhorses and the primary focus on in-ring, clean action.

Mads Krugger will be getting a massive push going forward.  The gimmick is somewhat inspired by The Spoiler Don Jardine and was a Court Bauer creation.

New Japan Pro Wrestling's Rocky Romero will be working here regularly going forward.

TJP and Bu Ku Dao will be a tag team here.

MLW is planning on a Filthy Island episode of Fusion built around Tom Lawlor and Team Filthy, obviously a takeoff of UFC's Fight Island with Tom Lawlor in the Dana White role.  The idea is to have a full series of matches in that setting, sort of a less glamorous, more gritty version of Yas Island, where UFC runs.

MLW's next scheduled live event is currently listed for February in New York City, but realistically, is not likely to happen.  The promotion is waiting to see how COVID-19 vaccinations roll out and is hoping for perhaps the second or third quarter of 2021, but everything is so liquid, it is impossible to have a plan.  One of the genres MLW is keeping an eye on is the Broadway industry, as the feeling is their unions won't allow any shows to open prematurely, and if they start to open up and run intimate theaters, that could be a sign it's safer for pro wrestling crowds to congregate.  That should actually, in my opinion, be the blueprint for what every wrestling company follows.

As announced yesterday, MLW Fusion will now air Wednesdays on The Roku Channel, a free channel that any and every Roku user has built into their device.