Sami Callihan On Why He Requested WWE Release, Impact Negative Media, Lucha Underground Returning

Impact Wrestling star Sami Callihan, f.k.a. Solomon Crowe in WWE NXT and Jeremiah Crane in Lucha Underground, was recently interviewed by Interactive Wrestling Radio. You can check out the full interview by clicking here, they sent us these highlights.

 

His debut at Impact's Bound for Glory:
"It was great, man! One of the things I really pride myself on is I like to be unpredictable. You don't know when or where I'm going to show up. I can legit show up anywhere. I think that kind of adds to my aura and makes me cool."
The negative media attention towards Impact:
"Well, the first week I was there man, it is pretty bad ass. They are pretty much giving us the opportunity. I think the big thing is management hasn't always been the best. The best way I can describe it is if you were a fan of WCW back in 1992-1993 when people were running WCW that wasn't wrestling fans, that didn't know wrestling. That kind of thought, "I'm going to run this company and do what I want." I kind of attribute it to that. That kind of is where TNA (Impact) was for a while. But now, they have smart people on top. They have guys on top that were on top when TNA was at their best. Now, Scott D'Amore is helping with, majorly helping with the company. Sonjay Dutt, majorly helping with the company. Abyss, majorly helping with the company. These are guys that were helping with the company when it first was amazing. Change doesn't happen overnight. But, these guys are slowly putting plans into motion to change TNA back to what it was. Within the next year, TNA is going to totally pull a 180 and people are going to start noticing it again."
Wrestling outside of WWE:
"I think wrestling outside of WWE is the new wrestling boom. In the 80's, it was the Hogan era. In the 90's, it was the Attitude Era. In the 2000's, it was the Ruthless Agression John Cena that really peaked business again. But, now, it is independent wrestling. It is all these other companies from around the world that now have the access to the fans through the Internet, through social media, and screaming devices. Right now, I truly believe that everything else is what is booming the wrestling business and is making everything better as a whole."

Being one of the first to request to leave WWE:
"I don't think I was a trendsetter. I just was... mediocrity is dead with me. I'm not complacent just sitting around collecting a paycheck. It really didn't matter about being a trendsetter. I wasn't going to jsut sit around collecting a paycheck, even though it was a very good paycheck to do nothing. I was ready to go out and show them why hired a 5'7 kid in the first place."
His take of the Lucha Underground product:
"I thought it was amazing. That is the way wrestling is going. I love that style of wrestling. I love to be in a fictitious world where zombies can exist and undead goblins, dragons, and time travelers... I love that aprt of pro wrestling. Thinking of it in a logical way, I'd like wrestling to have more in common with Game of Thrones than an actual sporting event. It doesn't change the fact that we're going out there and doing some of the coolest things on the planet and are some of the greatest athletes on the planet and can do everything in one take. But, the whole back end of it, that is the kind of wrestling that I love."

His story with Mil Muretes and if it was told as planned:
"Ivelisse broke her ankle. That was real life. People think that was part of the character. No, she broke her ankle for real. It sucks because I'm sure the story line would have went somewhere else. But, something happened in a match, she rolled her ankle real bad. She was out for the whole mid-part of the season. But, I like how it all ended up turning out. I had a really cool story line. They put a lot of faith in me."

If he will return for Lucha Underground Season 4:
"You never know, man. That's the thing about me. You never know where I'm going to be. I love to have that secrecy, that aura. Like, the Undertaker never got on social media for years upon years upon years. That is why he had such a cool aura. Sure, I have social media. I run my mouth a lot. But, I also like to be unpredictable. People don't know where I'm going to show up. One day I'm in California, the next day I'm in Maine!"

 

 

 

Wrestlemania III site withstands implosion.

https://youtu.be/ebZwt_1s20M

Wish I could've went to this. I grew up on this

every wrestler except Wolfman and The Beast I loved watching as a kid. Still do to this day. Later this weekend I'll post some old WWA stuff.

What, you want MORE Indy Wrestling? Fine fine, here. :) AWA Supreme Last Word Episode 9: Boston's Baddest

Published on Nov 29, 2017

On this edition, catch highlights of the Mid America Heavyweight Championship match between "Boston's Baddest" Angus Barnett and champion "Tailor Made" Roger Malcolm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nm0xcQYWN0

Tonight's Indy Wrestling feature is... Appalachian Mountain Wrestling AMW-TV: Dec 2, 2017

Published on Dec 2, 2017

Catch up on everything from our HUGE cards from Thanksgiving and Black Friday and get ready for Season's Beatings in Viper, Kentucky.
Plus, hear from all the stars of AMW and hear about an event just added to the schedule you can't miss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKj_-m78Zb8

Jim Cornette Farewell

From his last appearance as a manager, managing Dan Severn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sOKSDdHE0w

Jim Cornette on Managing for the Final Time (Dan Severn, WrestleCade 2017)

Jim talks about his final appearance as a manager (unless something he can't say no to is offered) managing Dan Severn at WrestleCade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF9Rkf3d2WU

Makoto 'Don' Arakawa passes away at 71 years old

https://www.f4wonline.com/japan/makoto-don-arakawa-passes-away-71-years-old-247286

IMPACT HITS & MISSES 11/30: Alberto vs. Johnny Nitro, LAX clubhouse, Announcers, DEFY, Ethan Page

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2017/12/02/impact-hits-misses-11-30-alberto-vs-johnny-nitro-lax-clubhouse-announcers-defy-ethan-page/

ProWrestling.Net a day late and a dollar short, and is also playing catch up to me on this.

Damn, awesome watching the 'big boy' news sites always playing catch up to me.  ProWrestling.Net took TWO DAYS (just like PWInsider) to finally get around to catching up to me.

Man these guys are some slow fucks, LOL.


https://prowrestling.net/site/2017/12/02/nwa-video-billy-corgan-sets-stage-tim-storm-vs-jocephus-championship-wrestling-hollywood-taping-sunday/

Brandi Rhodes On The Pressure Of Being In The Rhodes Family

Brandi Rhodes spoke with Fansided on a number of topics in and outside of pro wrestling. Here are some of the highlights:

 

Ring of Honor's Women of Honor division:
"Since I've only been a part of Women of Honor for a short time, I'm going to speak to the girls that have been there for a while. Folks like Mandy Leon, Sumie [Sakai], Kelly Klein, those are the girls who really built this division and made it what it is today. And they have worked with nothing, basically, and then got it somewhere, and now are hopefully taking it other places. Then, at this point, here I am coming in and hoping to help. But I think it's definitely a testament to their talent, to their abilities and just their 'gung-ho-ness' — wanting to work with this and make it something that can stand on its own. That was the most important thing to Women of Honor, to be able to stand on their own, not to kind of coattail off of Ring of Honor. They're doing their own thing, they're not part of the Ring of Honor show. Women of Honor is its own separate sect. So, I think they've done a great job. They definitely have contoured an audience, and we'll see where we can take it from here."
The pressure of being in the Rhodes family:
"I'll say one thing, and that is that being married to Cody does not help me in any way as far as confidence goes, because he's a fantastic wrestler and he comes from a family of fantastic wrestlers. Here I am, a girl — the only girl in the bunch — and there's all this lineage to try and keep up with and push the name along in a positive way. It's a lot pressure. Of course, where it does come in handy is that, he's an amazing wrestler. So, I'm able to get in the ring with him, I'm able to bounce ideas off of him and then things that I, of course, wouldn't have available to me, I do because of him and because he loves wrestling so much. I've never had him say 'Hey, hon', I can't go with you today, I can't do this, I can't help you train.' Or if I want to learn something or I'm probably going to end up popping him in the face or something ridiculous, I've never heard him once say 'Uh, maybe we shouldn't do this today,' or 'Maybe I'm not the person to do this, someone else can show you.' He's always there and he will do whatever it takes to make me happy with what I'm learning. It's great.

If she ever spoke with Kelly Kelly (Barbie Blank) who was previously on E!'s WAGS:
"No, actually. Barbie, actually, she was friends more so with Cody than me. I really don't know Barbie very well. I was on my way in when she was on her way out. I feel like it would've been weird for me to reach out to her. I'm sure at some point we'll run into each other. I think she and Cody even trained together at [Ohio Valley Wrestling], so they've known each other for a long time, which is cool. But, I guess if there's anything I learned from Barbie and watching her on the show is, she, in my opinion, was herself, which is great. There are always going to be people who, I think, miss the mark because they try so hard to be something on a show like this, what they think other people expect them to be or whatever. I feel like the people who resonate the most are the one's who are themselves, rather than trying to be somebody they're not. And I think Barbie was herself on the show, which is why she's had success with it."
Source: Fansided

The Potential And Profit Of 'Woken' Matt Hardy In WWE

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/1202/634605/labar-the-potential-and-profit-of-woken-matt-hardy-in-wwe/

Former WWE Women's Champion On Getting Yelled At By Lita, Injuries Ending Her WWE Career, Retirement

Candice Michelle spoke to On Milwaukee before her upcoming retirement match at House of Hardcore 36 on December 2, which will air live on Twitch. Here are some of the highlights:

 

When she first started with WWE, getting called out by Lita in the locker room:
"It was brutal. I remember I was in the locker room with Lita, who is very intimidating. I went to put my makeup on; I thought I took the worst spot in the locker room. I thought I was being respectful. I sat on the floor by a mirror. And she got up in my face, and she was like, 'What? Do you think you can walk in here and take the best spot in the locker room?' And I was like, 'I'm sitting on the floor!' I was considered the Hollywood girl. These wrestling girls, they paved the way of going to these indie shows and training camps and putting their bodies through this for so long. And I just come from Hollywood and show up. So I get their side of it. I had to earn the wrestling respect side of it."
How injuries ended her WWE career:
"We were coming back from a two-week European tour, and it was our last match in Nebraska before we got a break. It was a big match with me and Beth Phoenix, and I went up to the top rope for a spot where she was gonna hit the rope and I was gonna eat it. But my boot caught, and I nose dived. So I was knocked out, on live TV. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance, and they said, 'Your husband's being flown in.' When you're in a neck brace, and you're in an ambulance, and they're flying your husband in, it's pretty scary. Thankfully, I just had a broken collar bone and a concussion. But the hardest part is it shelved me. I worked so hard to get that spot, and that recognition from my coworkers, and from the fans. And now I'm shelved for six months.
I think most wrestlers have a very relentless mentality. Somehow, I had to convince [Producer] Johnny Laurinaitis and the doctors there that my collarbone was not broken anymore, even though the X-rays show it was still. Somehow, I weaseled my way into a match, and the first drop kick, I shattered it. But, I finished the match. I was shelved another six months. Then I was coming back, and WrestleMania was coming up, just being in overdrive. I did a Superman punch, landed on my ankle and tore two ligaments. That was the final injury where I got the call to say, 'All right, kid. You're done.'"

Training for upcoming retirement match:
"I did training at Knox Pro Wrestling Academy, back in L.A. That first bump, woo! That s--- hurts. You forget. And my body forgot. I trained for a month and a half there a couple times a week. I cried every time I was there. Whether it was because I was in pain or because I missed it, or because of facing those spirits."
Source: On Milwaukee

Almost TWO DAYS LATER PWInsider finally catches up to me on this, two days later, LOL.

As you can see, I posted the two videos first. and here.

https://www.pwinsider.com/article/113939/nwa-title-returns-to-ecw-arena.html?p=1

PWInsider finally catches up me. Boy is Mike Johnson at PWInsider 'slow', LMAO!

A reader of this blog called Dave Meltzer's bluff, and Meltzer punked out.

Reader Jeremy Neal sent this to me and asked if I could do something with it. So I am. :) As you can see Meltzer again ran his mouth and Jeremy called him on it.

According to Mr. Neal Meltzer has since gone very silent in replying now. Imagine that, LOL.  Meltzer has his bluff card called and Meltzer folded and punked out, LOL!

Like I said before, it doesn't seem to take much to make Meltzer look like an idiot.

Sean “X-Pac” Waltman on WWE’s sexual harassment training, the WWE Hall of Famer who inspired Joey Ryan’s current gimmick, The Sheik nearly burning to death

https://prowrestling.net/site/2017/12/01/sean-x-pac-waltman-wwes-sexual-harassment-training-wwe-hall-famer-inspired-joey-ryans-current-gimmick-sheik-nearly-burning-death/

FIVE COUNT: Five Lessons To Learn To Be A Good Pro Wrestling Announcer in 2017

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2017/12/01/five-count-five-lessons-learn-good-pro-wrestling-announcer-2017/

Tonite's Featured Indy company's latest tv show is... Reality of Wrestling TV: Episode 187

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7_Qvy_NAVw

Published on Nov 30, 2017

(Reality of Wrestling) is a wrestling promotion owned by Booker T that runs out of Houston, Texas showcasing the top unsigned talent from around the world in a weekly episodic series.

Twice today beating Meltzer, Scherer, Pwinsider, etc with.. William Patrick Corgan interview on Jocephus Confrontation and Tim Storm Match

The little blog that could beats the big boys of wrestling news sites again. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-E1TJBmeV4

Published on Dec 1, 2017

On Wednesday Night, William Patrick Corgan (aka Billy Corgan) was confronted by Jocephus about his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title match with Tim Storm that took place in Clarksville, TN at Tried N true Pro Wrestling. Our cameras were waiting at Corgan's recording session to capture the confrontation.

The one thing not captured during the confrontation was the audio of the meeting. After the meeting, Jocephus told his side of the story - indicating he had an NWA Worlds Championship match this Sunday in Hollywood.

Mr. Corgan (as president of the National Wrestling Alliance) sets the record straight on what was said, what the stipulation of the match is on Sunday at Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and his hopes for the content.

Again beating Meltzer, PWInsider, and some others with GHOSTS OF SWANSON & RITNER - NWA Ten Pounds of Gold - Episode Eight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuoYOeslWGg&feature=youtu.be

 

Published on Nov 30, 2017

in 1994, the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title was thrown down moments after Shane Douglas won it at the corner of Swanson and Ritner. This was the rebel act of ECW that officially christened them Extreme Championship Wrestling. On that night, National Wrestling Alliance was declared dead by Shane Douglas. in November of 2017, NWA Worlds Champion Tim Storm carried the Ten Pounds of Gold back into the former ECW Arena (2300 Arena) by the invite of ECW Original Tommy Dreamer. This episode of Ten Pounds of Gold covers that day.

Tim Storm's journey as the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion has brought him into the limelight. With challengers like Nick Aldis and Jocephus looming, on this night at Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore - another challenger emerged. The story of the Ten Pounds of Gold and the men who have held it can not be discussed without mentioning Shane Douglas. What happened when our cameras approached Shane? What is next for the famous Ten Pounds of Gold?

Alberto El Patron Plans To Leave Pro Wrestling Soon

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/1201/634582/alberto-el-patron-plans-to-leave-pro-wrestling-soon/

JOHN CENA BEING SUED BY FORD

WXYZ in Detroit is reporting that the Ford Motor Company have a lawsuit in US District Court against John Cena regarding violation of a contract with the automaker regarding the sale of a  $500,000 custom Ford GT super car. The multi-time WWE champion signed a deal to retain the car for at least two years as an ambassador for the brand. Apparently, according to the article, John quickly sold the car to liquidate for cash to take care of expenses.

 Both sides released statements.

Ford saying the following:

"Mr. Cena has unfairly made a large profit from the unauthorized resale flip of the vehicle, and Ford has suffered additional damages and losses, including, but not limited to, loss of brand value, ambassador activity and customer goodwill due to the improper sale."

John Cena learned of the violation and had the following response:

"I completely understand and as stated am willing to work with Ford to make it right. My sincerest apologies."

NXT TO AIR ON THE USA NETWORK

The USA website is listing that NXT will air on their network on Wednesday 12/13 at 7 p.m.  It has been picked up by many cable guides includling Comcast, which owns USA, FIOS and DirecTV.  It precedes the movie Thor.

It's possible that it's a mistake, but it's also the week that WWE takes over the USA Network so it's also just as possible that they will get a national showing of the great NXT product.  The fact that USA is listing it by name is interesting.

If this is indeed NXT's show that will air it will be the first time that the current incarnation of the product airs on the USA Network.

VINCE RUSSO ONCE AGAIN SHOWS WHY HE IS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUSINESS

Somebody tweeted a gif from the Pete Dunne/Mark Andrews vs. Trent Seven/Tyler Bate match on NXT last night where Andrews did an Hurracanrana on Bate into Dunne who finished him with a powerbomb.

Vince Russo then tweeted: "Yeah---THAT would happen if the match was real. Suspension of disbelief is forever gone in professional wrestling. And that's why all the casuals went bye-bye. Only the marks and the kids remain."

Pete Dunne responded: "If you're that worried about suspending disbelief you wouldn't tweet stuff like this. #Hypocrisy"

Fit Finlay then tweeted: "@PeteDunneYxB don’t let idiots trying to keep themselves relevant and who couldn’t even put a headlock on derail you on your journey. #fastTalkingLoudMouth. Yes you @THEVinceRusso"

Russo replied back: "Because I'm a wrestling fan of 45 years and I have an opinion that equates to me being an idiot who's trying to stay relevant? No reason to insult me because your opinion differs from mine. EXACT reason WWE has lost all casual fans-this same kind of disrespect over their opinion."

Finlay replied: "I never told you my opinion. Why deflate young guys navigating their way through this business?"

NASHVILLE OFFICE CLOSED, NEW IMPACT SIGNING AND MORE

Yesterday was the final official day the Impact Wrestling Nashville office will be open.

Impact Wrestling has officially signed Matt Sydal to a contract.

Eddie Edwards' current deal expires in February 2018, so he'll be the next talent the company is trying to sign to a new deal.

Joseph Park posted the following on Twitter, and yes, the phone number works:

We’re here to serve all your legal needs. https://t.co/B0epuYgG6s

— Joseph Park (@JOSEPHPARK_esq) December 1, 2017

Impact announced the following sale:

Our annual Seasons Beatings Sale begins today! Plus, we also start our 12 day FREE Giveaway with any order. Today it’s an IMPACT Soundtrack CD FREE with all orders! #12Days pic.twitter.com/DxEehOXeNl

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) December 1, 2017

Shop Impact are now selling a Samoa Joe Collection DVD and interestingly enough, the GFW Amped Anthology: Part 1 DVD.  Given that their relationship with Jeff Jarrett has gone to hell, it should be interesting to see where the rights to the GFW DVD stand.

JIMMY JACOBS TALKS REHAB, END OF HIS WWE RUN, MARIA KANELLIS BLOGS ABOUT THE MOMENT HER HUSBAND ADMITTED A PRESCRIPTION PILL ADDICTION

During his appearance on Chris Jericho's podcast this week, former WWE Creative Team member Jimmy Jacobs revealed that he put himself in a 30 day rehab for a opiate addiction following Wrestlemania 33 earlier this year.  As we noted in our reporting of his departure at the time, Jacobs "had taken some time off to deal with a personal issue before returning to work this past summer, and that may have put a target on his back."  Rehab was the reason. 

Jacobs said that after he went through rehab, he didn't care as much about the job or about working for WWE and when asked if he was trying to get fired by taking a photo with the Young Bucks he commented he wasn't trying to get fired, but wasn't trying to not get fired either.

Maria Kanellis Bennett wrote an incredible blog on her Facebook page discussing the trials and tribulations when she learned about her husband Michael Kanellis revealing that he was struggling with prescription medication and needed help.  Here is an excerpt, but it's really worth reading the entire thing;

The day that everything changed, I was about 2 weeks pregnant. We, of course, didn’t know I was pregnant. We were supposed to go to Universal Studios, my favorite place ever, and Mike was not getting out of bed. I went to the gym. He was supposed to be ready to switch hotels for our mini vacation when I got back. I came back and he was still was in bed. I was frustrated and I didn’t think I could take it anymore. He promised he would be ready. He promised to have a fun day with me. And still, he laid in bed. I think about all the things, I did for him and I think I am finally ready to have the horrible talk about the D word. Finally, an hour later he brings his stuff down to the lobby. We head to lunch. I’m pissed and he is grumpy. It’s too late to go to Universal Studios and then he says he can’t afford a ticket to go tomorrow. WHAT? Now, going to Universal Studios and paying for a ticket may be understandable but the repeated failure to pay for things was not. Health insurance, rent, cable, gas, electric, or a grocery store run was usually paid for by me. What happened to equality? I was always the haughty woman that said she would never be with someone that treated her as, less than. And now this, something I looked forward to, I was done. Or I thought I was…

We fight, I cry, he gets real quiet.

“I don’t wanna die,” he says through tears. “I think I have a problem

You know things are bad at Impact Wrestling when, TOP IMPACT KNOCKOUT ASKS FOR HER RELEASE

Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that Laurel Van Ness a.k.a. Chelsea Green has asked Impact Wrestling for a release from Impact Wrestling.  While Impact has yet to grant her a release they are told it should be coming shortly.  As of this morning, no release has been granted.  Van Ness' current Impact deal runs through the summer of 2018

Indy stuff.

Battleground Championship Wrestling on 12/15 in Feasterville, PA at The Sportsplex has Billy Gunn, Sean Studd, Bull James, Matt Tremont, Joey Ryan and Dan Maff appearing. There is a meet and greet at 6 p.m and a live show at 8 p.m.

ECCW tomorrow night in Pitt Meadows, BC at Kazie First Nation Health Building.

Overcome Wrestling on 12/16 in Hamilton, ONT at the Lincoln Alexander Centre.

Kayfabe Dojo on 12/9 in Rochester NY at Pineapple Jack's at 4 p.m.

Adam Rose has a seminar tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando and he'll headline a show that night at 8 p.m. at the Dojo.

AAW on Saturday in LaSalle, IL at the Knights of Columbus has Ivelisse vs. Rachael Ellering vs. the winner of the Jessicka Havoc vs. Candice LeRae match for the women's title, Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega defend the tag titles against Shane Strickland & Keith Lee, Hurricane Helms vs. Trevor Lee, Jimmy Jacobs vs. David Starr, Matt Riddle vs. ACH, AR Fox vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Myron Reed, Zema Ion vs. Ethan Page, Dave & Jake Crist vs. Devin & Mason Cutter vs. Trey Miguel & Stephen Wolf and more.

Added with Ron Simmons at the CWE legends convention is.......

Barry Windham, Ron Simmons and Jim Brunzell were announced for the CWE Legends of Wrestling Convention 2 on 2/24 in Winnipeg at the CanAd Inns in Garden City.

Rise IPPV cancelled.

The Rise iPPV scheduled for tomorrow night was canceled. They said their test of the broadcast on the Internet failed and didn't want to risk doing a show, so they scrapped the iPPV plans and have refunded money to everyone who ordered.

A show with Sandman, Terry Funk, Kevin Sullivan and Stan Hansen? Whoa.....

Terry Funk & Sandman vs. Warbeast managed by Kevin Sullivan is headlining a show in Wilmington, CA tomorrow night that also has Penta 0M vs. John Hennigan, Douglas James vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Willie Mack vs. Ethan Page, Brian Cage vs. Hammerstone, ACH vs. Mecha Wolf 450 and Brody King vs. Joe Graves. Stan Hansen will also be there...

One of the Indy feds I look forward to watching every week. S01E08 SEASON FINALE - Absolute Wrestling: Uprising

Published on Nov 29, 2017

Tonight's episode features a huge match when Mark Coffey takes on Rampage Brown. Commissioner Brian Flynn also confronts the Forgotten!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62s8wup0CqM

WHAT JERRY LYNN THINKS OF TODAY’S WRESTLERS & MORE @THE APTER CHAT

https://youtu.be/RTcAgBj0fQk

QUICK QUOTES: Jack Swagger on signing with Bellator, if he still plans to wrestle, why WWE didn’t capitalize more on him, his pitch for a Donald Trump inspired gimmick

https://www.pwpodcasts.com/2017/11/30/quick-quotes-jack-swagger-signing-bellator-still-plans-wrestle-wwe-didnt-capitalize-pitch-donald-trump-inspired-gimmick/

QUICK QUOTES: JJ Dillon on the better Anderson team, Dory or Terry Funk, Lex Luger, Kamala, and more

https://www.pwpodcasts.com/2017/11/30/quick-quotes-jj-dillon-better-anderson-team-dory-terry-funk-lex-luger-kamala/

What did I tell you, the catching up to me has begun. ProWrestling.Net is the first. :)

Boom. Always love watching the so called 'bigger news sites' play catch up to me. Really awesome.

https://prowrestling.net/site/2017/11/30/nwa-video-billy-corgan-confronted-jocephus/

Jerry Lawler On Most Difficult WrestleMania Celebrity, Vince McMahon Instructing Commentators

Recently on The Ross Report, 'Good Ol' J.R.' Jim Ross interviewed his former WWE announce partner, Jerry 'The King' Lawler. Among many other things, Lawler talked about the most difficult celebrity guest at WrestleMania. Additionally, Lawler shared a story about confronting WWE Commentator Michael Cole for a less than flattering call.

 

In Lawler's estimation, Aretha Franklin was the most difficult celebrity to deal with at WrestleMania. 'The King' went on to describe 'The Queen Of Soul' as a royal pain.
"Aretha Franklin is still alive. Remember what a pain in the butt she was at WrestleMania that year? Oh my gosh! Way passed her glory days, but still the biggest diva that we'd ever seen. Very high maintenance, Aretha Franklin."

Also during the podcast, Lawler shared a story about how he chewed out Michael Cole for saying that 'The King' had suffered "anal bleeding" from a slam delivered by Mark Henry. Apparently, Cole told the legend of Memphis pro wrestling that the call was WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's idea.

"We could do a whole show about the things we know that Vince either told [Ross] to say or told Michael Cole to say. The most embarrassing one that I can remember, and later on I went to him and I went, 'what the hell, man?' and he said, 'I swear, Vince told me to say it. I swear. You know I never would have thought about it.' And it was the time Mark Henry picked me up, and I don't know if I was wrestling Mark or what happened, but anyway, he picked me up and slammed me through the announce table and they carried me out or whatever. And then, after the break, he said, 'we want to give you an update on 'The King'. He's not doing too well' and then he says, 'he's suffering from anal bleeding.' So that's when I went to Cole afterwards and said, 'what the hell are you doing.' He said, 'I swear, Vince told me to say it.'"

HOUSE OF HARDCORE ON TWITCH EPISODE 4, HOH STREAMING THIS WEEKEND FROM WISCONSIN

https://www.pwinsider.com/article/113901/house-of-hardcore-on-twitch-episode-4-hoh-streaming-this-weekend-from-wisconsin-.html?p=1

TWO PROMOTIONS ADDED TO IMPACT'S GLOBAL WRESTLING NETWORK

Future Stars Of Wrestling has reached an agreement to join the Global Wrestling Network. FSW will provide GWN with thousands of hours from its extensive library, featuring Impact Champion Eli Drake, Matt Hardy, John Morrison, Kenny King, Reno Scum, Willie Mack, Lance Hoyt, Kevin Kross, Sami Callihan, Brian Cage along with the many superstars  FSW has had come thru its doors including Ricochet, Rich Swann, AR Fox, Tony Nese, Chris Sabin, Austin Aries, Keith Lee, Kevin Nash, Chris Masters, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Davey Boy Smith Jr, Roderick Strong, ACH, Young Bucks, Trevor Lee, Shane Strickland, Jeff Cobb, and more. To see more FSW footage go to www.youtube.com/futurestarswrestling.

Defy Wrestling announced that not only will a match between Randy Myers and Sami Callihan from DEFY9 be shown on this week's Impact Wrestling but the Washington state-based promotion will be a part of the Global Wrestling Network.

May have to make Dave Meltzer (Wrestling Observer) look like an idiot again.

The man just can't help himself I guess. Just can't keep from making dumb comments that make him look like a total fool.

The fact he keeps replying to a reader of this blog but has yet to contact me about how stupid I keep making him look? is amazing, LOL.

More on this later tonight.

FLOSLAM DEAD

Flosports made the decision today to shutter their Floslam streaming service, laying off their staff and closing the door on its attempt to become a destination for professional wrestling fans.

Officially launched in October 2016 and based out of Austin, Texas, Floslam had been designed to become a major streaming subscription content hub with the idea of signing deals with a number of top independent professional wrestling companies and placing them under one umbrella. 

Despite announcing in August of 2016 that its parent company Flosports had "received $21.2 million in new funding to accelerate the online sports network’s growth into new sports and expand its existing verticals" from a number of investors, including World Wrestling Entertainment, the attempt to build a Floslam just never clicked.

On paper and from a financial standpoint, the concept should had everything going for it to the point that some expected Floslam would have the backing to change the landscape of pro wrestling.  The theory went like this: Floslam would pay a top premium price for indy promotion content and possibly even professional wrestlers (by putting specific wrestler under contract and farming him/her out to Floslam partner promotions.)  By doing so, they would drive up the worth of independent wrestling content.  In execution, it never really got out of the starting gate.

Despite its best efforts, Flosports were unable to secure deals with Ring of Honor or New Japan Pro Wrestling, both of which would have been major attractions for the service.  An attempt to reach a deal with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (which was never even an option given the way PWG's business model works, as the promotion is set up as a nexus that exists just outside of contractual obligations for various promotions) was equally fruitless.  No deals with any of the major lucha groups were signed.

Instead, the service ended up hanging its hat on a seven figure deal with WWNLive, Inc.  That deal led to WWN producing five live events per month for the service, becoming its cornerstone.  As well documented, that relationship ended just a year into the signed five year agreement with Flosports alleging in a lawsuit that WWN had misled them on how many iPPV buys the company was doing on its own streaming service, leading to WWN being overpaid for their content.     Whether Floslam was tricked into wrongly overpaying or not is a matter for the courts to decide, but at the end of the day, they put all their eggs in the WWNLive basket and it didn't pan out.   In fact, all the WWNLive deal really accomplished out of the gate was sparking WWE signing deals with PROGRESS and ICW for a potential WWE Network tiered-system that still has yet to launch.

Other promotions, including House of Hardcore, had agreements that saw multiple events streamed live via Floslam before moving on, while others streamed their events as unique, one time specials.     While there was great excitement early for the concept of the service among independent promoters, especially when word made the rounds about WWN's seven figure deal, that was greatly tempered when it was obvious the major money went to WWNLive as they were first in line to sign and everyone that followed were getting lesser and lesser deals.  In fact, there were a few independent companies that turned their offers down, feeling that locking themselves in to deals that could potentially see them lose access to ROH and other companies' talent wasn't worth the risk, even short-term.

The pricing was an error from day one in my opinion.  Priced at $20 a month ot $150 for a year (more than most major streaming services, including Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime AND the WWE Network), Floslam was going to be a hard sell unless it had top, premium talent.  Without the major groups signing on, that price point was out of wack with what fans were realistically willing to spend.  When the company raised the monthly price to $30 without notice, they likely went past the point of no return when it came to servicing their potential audience.  WWE had changed the price point for what fans were willing to pay for top notch, slicky produced pro wrestling content with the WWE Network - how could Floslam realistically expect fans to pay $20-$30 for independent wrestling shows that had no real production value or lighting, despite costing double or triple of the industry leader?

The rollout for the service was, in many ways, completely haphazard one as well, absent of any sort of promotion or marketing plan for the service (for example, PWInsider.com never received ONE press release from Flosports about the service and never once received any email inquiries returned) and featured a confusing rollout that saw Flosports' Roku platform crash depending on what Roku device you would be using, a failure to expand to other streaming device platforms, a basic interface hat made it impossible to easily seek out specific content.  Staffing changes in management only helped to fuel a vortex that never allowed the service a chance to even course-correct.  They had put a plane in the air without any landing gear and proceeded to then shove the pilots out the door.

None of these made the paid subscription service something that was going to earn positive word of mouth and as noted, there was no major marketing or advertising campaign to create awareness of the service.   Whatever buzz and following Floslam had, it was based specifically on whatever buzz there was for that week's WWN and House of Hardcore event, not the other way around.  Once out of the gate, other than providing a home for the live streaming events, there was really nothing done to increase the reach of Floslam by Flosports.  Not only was the plane in the air doomed, everyone shrugged once they realized it was.

After the lawsuit against WWNLive was filed, Floslam made all of the WWN content free for all (possibly in an attempt to hurt the value of the content elsewhere), all of the streaming content's live events schedule was canceled and in recent weeks, it acted as a site that featured news, columns and podcasts.   In what is a completely maddening and unfair turn of events, the staff that was hired to populate Floslam with content was laid off today, despite the fact that none of the deals and none of the fallout of those deals had anything to do with them.   To me, that's a completely disgusting situation.  I don't know any of the staff that were hired on any level, but these were people who were trying to feed their family with their work and believed they were getting into bed with a legitimate streaming provider that was going to be in business for a long term.  They were sought out by Floslam and made the decision to take the plunge.  All they did was go to work and in the end, they got screwed over - weeks before Christmas.  I feel horrible for them on a personal level, despite having never spoken to any of them.  They deserved better than Floslam gave them and everyone involved in the treatment of the staff should be Goddamned ashamed of themselves.

Back in 2016,  a few people wrote, "There has been some great excitement within certain circles as to a new money player putting some money into independent wrestling promotion.  Over the next week or so, we should have a greater understanding of exactly what this all means and how much, if at all, this will be change the landscape of the independent realm, but it is certainly an interesting development."

At the end of the day, Flosports changed the landscape, but for the worse  There were hopes Floslam was going to change the business for the better on the independent scale.  Some decreed that was going to happen before the service signed one deal.

Instead, the story of Floslam will just be another story we recount about "what could have been" if the right people had been involved, if the right deals had been made and had they actually tried to make it work instead of spending some money and waiting for everyone to rush to subscribe.    Instead, what's left?  A lot of money spent, a lawsuit against WWN, a situation with Joey Styles that left him so disgusted he fled pro wrestling for good, missed opportunities that for some promotions may never come back around, goodwill on all sides that has been destroyed and most importantly, a group of wrestling fans who got their hopes up only to have those hopes ruined, disappointing all who cared to invest their time and money on the service. 

What's left is yet another big crater of regret in the minefield that is professional wrestling.  What's left is a huge trail of doubt and destruction that will no doubt give the next potential big backer reason to give pause before wanting to better professional wrestling on an independent level.  That will be the legacy of Floslam, whether anyone involved wants to personally admit it or place the blame on the next person.

Floslam: 2016 - 2017.

Watch PWInsider, Torch and the rest play catch up. Jocephus Confronts NWA President William Patrick Corgan (Aka Billy Corgan)

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

Published on Nov 29, 2017

This confrontation just occurred between Jocephus and William Patrick Corgan (AKA Billy Corgan - President of the NWA - National Wrestling Alliance) at a music recording session. Tim Storm’s Journey as the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion has been documented via Ten Pounds of Gold including the most recent episode that covered the five day span that Tim defended the title against Nick Aldis and Jocephus.

After the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title match against Jocephus at Tried N True Pro Wrestling, Jocephus claimed that Tim Storm used some sort foreign substance to rub in his eye.

Earlier today, the NWA announced that Tim Storm would be returning to Championship Wrestling From Hollywood this Sunday for their Milestone event. Upon this news,Jocephus demanded a meeting with the NWA President William Patrick Corgan. Our team was there at Mr. Corgan’s recording session when Jocephus arrived. We present this video to report what happened in this meeting.

Follow the story this Sunday via all of the NWA’s social media channels including http://www.Facebook.com/NWA, http://www.Twitter.com/NWA, http:/www.Instagram.com/NWA and http://www.Youtube.com/NWA.

MAJOR CHANGE WITHIN IMPACT WRESTLING GOING FORWARD

Told you they pretty much had no choice, lol. They angered too many people and in the end looked pathetic, and they know it.

It's not exactly Christmas yet, but all Impact Wrestling talents will soon be receiving a gift from management - the rights to their characters and all everything that goes with them, lock, stock and barrel.

After digging in their heels on the ownership of the Hardys' "Broken Universe" for the last year, Impact Wrestling, under Anthem Media, has made a complete about-face on their position when it comes to ownership of characters. So going forward, all contracted Impact Wrestling talents will be given and retain complete ownership of their intellectual property.

What this means, using EC3 as an example, is that should EC3's deal expire and he decide not to sign a new contract with the company, he would be able take the rights to his name and all the IP associated with it (mannerisms, moves, catchphrases, etc.) to his next destination, whether that be WWE, Ring of Honor or elsewhere.

We are told this week's decision was one made by Ed Nordholm.  There is no word yet what sparked the decision, but it opens the door for the company to try and mend fences with fans angered by the company's former stance against the Hardys.  Impact management had claimed they owned the "Broken Universe" trademarks and attempted o trademark the associated IP, despite the fact that the IP was essentially worthless without Matt and Jeff Hardy's involvement. 

The ongoing back and forth, online and behind the scenes, certainly hurt what momentum came with Anthem taking the company over from Dixie Carter's Impact Ventures LLC and certainly painted Impact in a negative light vs. The Hardys, who have a sizable fan base online.

The move also appears to be made as a way to open things up between the company and its wrestlers in a way that has never been done before by a major, national promotion.  It would allow the company to partner with its contracted talents to build characters and intellectual property together, as opposed to Impact claiming ownership of those characters if and when the talents move on at the end of their Impact run. 

This would allow Impact to be positioned as a company that is trying to foster talents, not control them.  It certainly softens the company's outlook from a moral standpoint and opens a bridge for talents, new and established alike, to use Impact as a blank space where they can work and maintain ownership in what they develop.

In a statement to Sports Illustrated earlier today, Impact Wrestling made it clear they intend to make this IP ownership provision to former talents as well, allowing them to own and utilize their former TNA/Impact Wrestling hallmarks if they choose to do so.  Hopefully, that doesn't mean the return of the Johnsons!

Interesting Impact Wrestling story.

https://deadspin.com/impact-wrestling-ruins-everything-losses-lead-to-journ-1820040266

Another Cody Rhodes Interview.

https://deadspin.com/cody-rhodes-is-planning-the-biggest-indie-wrestling-sho-1820809050

FLOSPORTS FILES AMENDED LAWSUIT AGAINST WWNLIVE, FULL DETAILS

Flosports, the parent company of Floslam, filed an amended lawsuit against WWNLive Inc, the parent company of EVOLVE and its related sister promotions on 11/27.   The lawsuit, seeking $1 million in damages, revolves 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.

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.

The contract also called for incentives to be paid to WWN under the following conditions: "In addition to the Rights Fee described in Section 3a, FloSports will pay an incentive to Events Rights Holder if financial performance exceeds specified levels.  Events Rights Holder will receive the greater of the Rights Fee listed in Section 3a or 30% of total Net Cash attributed to WWN over the course of the year. Example: Net cash in 2017 equals $1,000,000. Events Right Holder receives a total of $500,000. Net cash in 2018 equals $3,000,000. Events Right Holder receives a total of $900,000."

The contract 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."

In the Amended lawsuit, Flosports claimed 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 had previously responded to that, claiming, "That data was pulled from and compiled by a now-defunct third-party company named Fineline Hosting that was based in Florida."

What is interesting is that while Flosports alleges that, "Among the promises WWN made in the Agreement was that “all data provided by [WWN] regarding past financial performance of events put on by [WWN] was accurate, reliable and truthful.” - yet there is no language regarding that data (truthful or not) in the agreement filed with the court.

The lawsuit also alleges that "WWN breached the Agreement by failing to adequately perform under its terms, including its provision of inaccurate, unreliable, and false viewership data to FloSports" yet the Agreement filed with the court lists no description of what "adequately performing" would be. 

Instead, based on the two page agreement, 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."

The 11/27 amended lawsuiit by Flosports was accompanied by a number of other documents, including the original spreadsheet sent by Sal Hamaoui to then-Flosports Vice President Tobey Mergler, who handled the WWNLive deal and left Flosports in August 2017.

The spreadsheet lists buys for WWNLive events held in 2015 and 2016.  For EVOLVE events, buys ranged from 539-2,479 purchases with the events on the higher end being shows specifically promoted by WWE online.  SHINE iPPVs ranged from 525-729 buys.  Full Impact Pro events ranged from 24 buys to 288 buys.

Back in September, after news of the lawsuit broke, some news sites 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."

It should be noted that the numbers in the lawsuit filings do match up with what WWNLive sources claimed to various sources shortly after the suit was filed.

In their 11/27 filing, Flosports alleged, "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."

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."

It should be pointed out that Flosports terminated their deal with WWN in September of 2017 (well before January 2018) shortly after filing their lawsuit.  So, by the letter of the contract, a judge could potentially consider an argument from WWNLive that Flosports actually breached their own deal.

While Flosports' Amended lawsuit alleges 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.

WWN had filed a motion on 11/13, requesting the lawsuit being dismissed, citing that the suit was filed in a venue (Texas) that lacks jurisdiction over WWNLive.  In a response filed on 11/27, Flosports responded that WWN had induced them into paying hundreds of thousands of dollars with falsified records and that WWN had elected that their agreement, when signed in Texas, would be governed by Texas State rules.

In their 22-page filing requesting a change of venue, WWN had argued that their business was based in Florida, as are its business records and bank accounts, therefore they were not under Texas jurisdiction.  They noted that their only dealings in Texas were WWN President Sal Hamaoui traveling to Texas in October 2016 and January 2017, the first trip to meet with Flosports during the courtship period and the latter to sign the deal. A copy of the deal that was filed with the court is actually dated October 21, 2016.

WWN's response noted multiple times in the filing that Flosports had initiated their business relationship, that WWN was not contractually obligated to focus their business in Texas and out of the 53 events they promoted under their deal with Flosports, only two were held in the Lone Star State.  The majority of the events were held in Florida.  WWN also argued that the case being heard in Texas would be a personal hardship for the company as those with working knowledge of the company live in Florida (Sal Hamaoui) and Massachusetts (Gabe Sapolsky) and would force them to travel regularly to Texas, a venue  where they have no holdings, business dealings or connections to the community there.

Phil Wendler, who identified himself as FloSports' Senior Vice President of Global Rights Acquisition and Subscription filed a statement with the court arguing that the case should be heard in Texas, noting, "Discovery conducted so far has revealed at least 368 emails sent from WWN representatives to Flosports representatives based in Austin, Texas during the course of the parties' dealings, in addition to numerous text messages, several
conference calls between the parties and the in-person meetings in Texas."

Wendler also stated that WWN would have run additional events in Texas in November (Survivor Series weekend in Houston) had Flosports not revoked their deal with WWN and filed the lawsuit.

The FloSlam streaming service officially launched in October 2016, conversations with WWN began as early as January 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 two companies passed.  The majority of the content on the streaming service came from WWNLive until their relationship was severed in September 2017.  Since then, despite having active subscribers, Flosports has dropped the live streaming aspect of their Floslam offerings, yet still charges $30 a month or $150 per year for the service.

The Flosports situation has obviously put a financial hardship on WWNLive as they bumped up the number of events they were running as part of the agreement to five a month and made a greater investment into talents, including signing Keith Lee and others.

Flosports had not paid WWN during the final two months of their relationship, informed WWNLive of their plans to file a lawsuit while WWNLive was streaming a SHINE Women's wrestling event and canceled plans to stream several EVOLVE events the very weekend they were to take place.

In total, WWNLive lost out on three months of expected revenue from Flosports and has greatly cut back their event schedule.  Earlier this month, the company claimed in an email to fans they were negotiating with four streaming platforms, but did not specify what they may be.

WWNLive promotion EVOLVE is scheduled to run in New York and Massachusetts in December with those events being streamed on the Fite TV App, which WWN had been working with prior to their Flosports agreement.

Obviously, this is going to be a long and winding legal road for both sides

Some People leave themselves open to wisecracks...

Um dumbasses, it looks more like Impact Wrestling doesn't have much choice in the matter. Hardy's doing it anyway so Impact really has no choice BUT to step back and watch it happen.

Guess I'm the only one with enough guts to say it, since nobody else will. :) ...

Cody Rhodes interview.

https://www.si.com/wrestling/2017/11/29/WWE-Wrestling-Cody-Rhodes-Matt-Hardy-Ric-Flair

As Promised, Dave Meltzer makes himself look like an idiot, again.

As you know I posted this, yesterday.

   

 

 

So NOW, we have this from an avid reader who had the guts to actually email Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez about this (Alvarez chose wisely to accept it and not reply).

 

 

 

These came from the reader's email box and are used with Jeremy Neal's permission. He wanted people to see how he's made Meltzer look like an idiot as well. Apparently it doesn't take much now to make Meltzer look fucking stupid.

ANTHEM SPORTS COMMENTS ON MATT HARDY BEING WOKEN...

Anthem Sports released the following statement to Sports Illustrated regarding WWE using a "Broken" Matt Hardy style gimmick:

“We have seen the character development and will be interested to see where they take the concept. Our new talent agreements all incorporate language that allow talent to continue to use their IMPACT persona after they leave the company. We are working with our legal team to amend our existing agreements to extend this to all of our current and former talent".

Impact has internally decided they will not pursue ownership of the "Broken Universe", paving the way for Matt Hardy to officially trademark and own the characters.

Pretty much they said that because they had no chance in court and they don't need any more embarrassment than they already have. Like this for instance.

 

 

That is really, fucking embarrassing. Major federation allegedly with a cheap ass patch over on a title of a company that really isn't existing anymore? Yeah, embarrassing as all hell.

Apparently Dave Meltzer is still making himself look stupid.

I'll have more on this later today but it seems that Meltzer can't keep his mouth shut, and is currently putting his foot in his mouth with someone who is an avid reader of this blog.

So, more to come as I'm getting some 'interesting' emails on this. :) Someone really should tell Meltzer to just keep his mouth shut. He's not doing himself any favors at the moment, LOL.

QUICK QUOTES: Was Christian upset over being sent to TNA for one night in 2012?

https://www.pwpodcasts.com/2017/11/29/quick-quotes-christian-upset-sent-tna-one-night-2012/

An originator vs an imitator. Dusty Rhodes vs Akeem Wrestling Challenge Nov 19th, 1989

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU2Th9st_kw

Let's call this Way Back Wednesday with.. Dusty Rhodes vs Hacksaw Duggan (with Col. Buck Robley)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLJM07e5qms

A heel Hacksaw Duggan managed by Buck Robley faces "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes in a bloody contest from Houston that ends in a schmoz, with Bruiser Brody, Dick Slater, & Bob Sweetan. Followed with promo's by all.

Kevin Sullivan on The Ultimate Warrior in WCW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnZZ6wmNCsc

Former WCW head writer and legendary wrestler "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan talks about what it was like dealing with The Ultimate Warrior in World Championship Wrestling. Why Hulk Hogan brought him into the company, what Warrior was like to deal with behind the scenes, the blunder of a match Warrior and Hogan had at Halloween Havoc and much more!

MIKEY WHIPWRECK TALKS ABOUT STEVE AUSTIN, ECW, JIM THORPE, & MORE …

http://www.1wrestling.com/2017/11/27/mikey-whipwreck-talks-about-steve-austin-ecw-jim-thorpe-more/

ROH HITS & MISSES 11/25: Young vs. Gresham, The Kingdom, Bully Ray, War Machine attacked by The Addiction, Eight-Man Tag Main Event

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2017/11/28/roh-hits-misses-11-25-young-vs-gresham-kingdom-bully-ray-war-machine-attacked-addiction-eight-man-tag-main-event/

Kenny Omega On Which WWE Star He Used To Bounce Ideas Off, Wrestlers Having Heat, The Elite

Current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was recently a guest on The Art Of Wrestling along with ROH's Young Bucks, Nick and Matt Jackson. The self-described special interest wrestler talked about getting heat within the professional wrestling industry, took a shot at his detractors, and divulged which WWE Superstar he used to bounce ideas off before the Young Bucks came around.

 

According to Omega, heat comes with the territory to an extent.

"I never purposely try to get heat with anyone. I try to just be a good human being, but with the way that we carry ourselves, just the way we run our show, our matches or whatever, heat's just going to come with it."

Moreover, Omega suggested that he is fine having heat with WWE because 'The Cleaner' has not said anything he does not stand by.

"If someone says to me, 'hey, you probably have heat with this guy, or this guy, or this guy, in The Fed or The E,' or whatever you want to call it, I don't really pay too much attention to it because I know I haven't done anything directly."

Omega continued, "I'm never actually directly trying to offend anyone from any other [pro wrestling] promotion. If someone says I have the greatest match of all time, that's great. I'm going to use that to make my next match mean something or make the rematch mean something more."
 
Omega went on to say that the pro wrestlers who criticize The Elite cannot perform on the level of The Elite.

"Maybe I'm going to catch a lot of heat for saying this right now, but I think what all these people need to understand is whether they like it or not, and whether they'd like to admit it or not, is all three of us, we could go where they are and do what they do and do it better, but they could never do what we do."

Notably, Omega shared that before confiding in the Bucks, he would bounce ideas off of Sami Zayn, also known as Rami Sebei.
"The live house opinion is going to mean a lot, of course, because you can feel it, you can hear it. But yeah, but, like, if I ask The Young Bucks' opinion that is pretty much the opinion that counts the most to me. Back in the day, like, before I was with The Young Bucks all the time and I was in DDT, it was always Rami, 'Rami, what did you think?' and if Rami gave it a stamp of approval."

Thanksssssss. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Art Of Wrestling with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.

Source: The Art Of Wrestling

New Jericho shirt.

Before his upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 12 match against IWGP United States Champion, Kenny Omega, Jericho has created an "Alpha Club - Jericho" t-shirt so fans can choose a side. Earlier this month, at Power Struggle, Jericho challenged Omega - via video - after Omega cut a promo asking for a wrestler to come out and face him. The tagline for their match is "Alpha vs. Omega" and the shirt can be picked up here with proceeds going towards supporting The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

RON SIMMONS HEADLINES CWE LEGENDS CON

1st Ever African American World Champion Headlines CWE's Legends Con.





DAMN!





You have patiently waited and now you can know that CWE's Legends Of Wrestling & Professional Sports Convention on February 24th in Winnipeg, Manitoba will be headlined by pro wrestling AND pro football icon Ron Simmons!



It is with great honor and pride CWE hosts one of the biggest and most inspirational names in the history of the business and hands down one of the biggest stars to ever appear for Canadian Wrestling's Elite.



Regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of Florida State University and recognized as an All American while in college Ron Simmons would go on to play in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, in the CFL for the Ottawa Rough Riders, and in the United States Football League for the Tampa Bay Bandits before entering the wrestling business under the training of legendary trainer Hiro Matsuda



Ron Simmons would be begin his national career in Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987 and quickly became a can't miss prospect for the organization. In 1989 the world would see the dark side of Ron Simmons as he formed the infamous tag team DOOM with Butch Reed. The duo would go on to capture the NWA World Tag Team Titles and held them for 9 months defeating teams like the Rock N' Roll Express, The Steiner Brothers, and The Horseman.



The team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed solidified their names in history officially being recognized as the first ever holders of the WCW World Tag Team Titles in 1991.



1992 would be the year that would set the stage for Ron Simmons being a headline competitor the remainder of his career as he made unprecedented history by becoming the first ever African American World Champion when he defeated Vader to become the WCW World Champion which he held for 5 months.



In something a lot of people aren't overly familiar with Ron Simmons would spend time competing in Extreme Champion Wrestling in 1994 & 1995 between his long tenures in WCW and the WWF.



In July of 1996 Ron Simmons would debut for the World Wrestling Federation under the name Faarooq Asaad with Sunny as his manager. Faarooq would instantly enter himself into a very memorable feud with Ahmed Johnson that caused Johnson to forfeit the Intercontinental Championship.



It wasn't long after Faarooq would head up the now iconic Nation Of Domination super group that would become of the most hated and memorable groups of the 90s. The Nation Of Domination originally managed by Clarence Mason would begin with Crush and Savio Vega and eventually transition to members such Mark Henry, D-Lo Brown, The Godfather, Owen Hart, and of course The Rock whose role in The Nation arguably saved his career and led him to become the mega star he was destined to be.



After his time The Nation was through he would form The Acolytes with Bradshaw and become of the most dominant and feared teams in the history of professional wrestling. The Acolytes would be a featured act in The Undertaker's Ministry Of Darkness.



Once The Ministry Of Darkness disbanded The Acolytes would morph into what would could be considered their most successful, memorable, and popular run when they became The APA, The Acolytes Protection Agency. Faarooq & Bradshaw would hold the WWE World Tag Team Titles on 3 occasions.



Ron Simmons was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2012.





Be there live in Winnipeg on February 24th to shake the hand of a man who single handily changed professional wrestling history!





Autograph Photo/Signed Personalized Item- $45

Photo Op- $45

Autograph/Photo Combo- $80



Event information is as followed,



Saturday February 24th- Winnipeg, MB
Location: CanAd Inns Garden City (2100 McPhillips St.)
Time: Convention 10am-6pm, Live Event Doors Open 6pm, Bell Time 7pm
Convention Tickets: $13 in advance, $15 at the door.

Live Event Tickets: $17 in advance, $20 at the door.

*Please note that the convention legends will NOT be available for autographs & photos at the live event & only at the convention portion.
Advance Tickets Available at: Punjab Grocery & Convenience (668 Sheppard St.), Blade Hair Design (3-1341 Henderson Hwy), Video 1001 (576 Mountain Ave), Papa Murphy's (335 Dakota St.)
Purchase tickets online at cwetickets.com





This event will offer a very special "Super Ticket" opportunity that will allow a maximum 150 ticket buyers the opportunity to purchase a "Super Ticket" for $150 for special VIP Access that includes,



*FREE Convention Entry

*FREE Live Event Entry

*First Priority VIP Entry & Seating When Doors Open To The Live Event

*FREE Photo Opportunity/Signed Item From ALL 9 Official Convention Guests

*Skip The Line VIP Access For ALL 9 Official Convention Guests

*FREE Entry To ALL 6 Official Convention Guest Q & A sessions.





Vendor Space Is Available But Extremely Limited. Vendor Pricing,



$150 for 1 Table

$250 for 2 Tables

$325 for 3 Tables

$50 for every additional table





For more information on becoming an official sponsor and/or vendor for the event contact info@cwecanada.ca



For upcoming announcements on guests appearing and general convention news stay posted to www.cwecanada.ca

HHMM, here's something interesting.

Yesterday, the official Facebook page of the Florence Civic Center in Florence, SC posted the following promotional photo to help push WWE's return to the arena on 1/20/18 for a Smackdown live event:

 

The following comes from PWInsider.

As you can see, that would be a new, different WWE United States championship belt design for Baron Corbin.  As of last night's Smackdown Live broadcast, that design had not been introduced by WWE.  It should be interesting to see if and when it will be.

UPDATE 12:41 AM: Several PWInsider.com readers who are belt aficionados, including Eric Walker, sent word that the title belt design seen in the artwork actually popped up online last year.  Eric noted that the belt design has been traced to a bootleg version of the U.S. title created in Pakistan.  If that is indeed the case, the question that now arises is how that version of the belt ended up on official WWE artwork posted by a WWE venue's Facebook page?