FRI. UPDATE: WHITE SITUATION EXPLODES; MICHAELS TALKS RETIREMENT; TNA SETS RECORD LAST NIGHT; HOGAN
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
We're looking for your thoughts on Wednesday night's UFC Fight Night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
We're also looking for reports from tonight's ROH show in Houston and the TNA house show in Thibadeaux, LA (Jeff Jarrett & A.J. Styles vs. Scott Steiner & Sheik Abdul Bashir)
The weekend continues with the WWE Hall of Fame Saturday night, as well as an ROH PPV taping in Houston on Saturday afternoon, and a TNA house show in New Orleans with Mick Foley scheduled to wrestle on Saturday night and we're looking for reports on all of these shows.
Sunday is one of the biggest days I can recall, with Wrestlemania, WEC on Versus from Chicago, a New Japan PPV from Tokyo Sumo Hall, Dream from Nagoya (not airing in the U.S. until 4/10), and the opening of the All Japan Champion Carnival tournament at Korakuen Hall.
The final WWE TV show before Wrestlemania is Smackdown tonight. It will air these matches:
*Gail Kim & Maria vs. Maryse & Michelle McCool
*MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin for the U.S. title
*Jeff Hardy vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Much of the show will be from Fan Axxess. I'm told it won't be live in Houston, but stuff taped last night with Jerry Lawler and Todd Grisham. This will also be Tazz's last show with the company.
UFC has two hours from 8-10 p.m. tonight on Spike with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia, Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer, Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra (the Montreal match), Paul Kelly vs. Paul Taylor, Rameau Thierry Sokodjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura, Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo and Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day
We look at the goals of Wrestlemania from a business standpoint, looking at the matches and all the ways the story lines have changed in so many of them over the last month, including angles dropped, a match-by-match look at the show as well as thoughts on how well the show will do business wise.
We also have notes on the future of the WWE movie division after the disappointing early returns of "12 Rounds," including a comparison to the other WWE movie releases, why the jury is still out on the project overall, success and failure of previous WWE movies as well as the WWE questionnaire regarding why the movie didn't do the business they projected.
We also have our annual business year in review and historical look, looking at attendance at WWE & WCW live events annually dating back to 1992, monthly ratings comparisons for the past four years to see how every WWE show has done, PPV numbers over the past three years as well as the last two years of Impact numbers, which yield a surprise. We look at how the ratings have gone up and down, as well as how PPV has gone up and down, and most notably, several major patterns emerge.
We look at annual ratings patterns and how they've changed, the future of Smackdown, a look at attendance dating back to the Hulk Hogan era and how it's completely different today, as well as some interesting notes about how the economy has and hasn't affected live show attendance. We look at angles WWE did in 2008 that worked, and others that didn't, as well as looked at the question as to whether the UFC does or doesn't affect WWE on PPV.
We also look at an aspect of TNA ratings that has been ignored.
We've got extensive coverage of Tazz leaving, as well as the unique demands of the job of announcing pro wrestling, more talk of the draft and goals of the draft, as well as lots more on John Cena and Dwayne Johnson, Shawn Michaels talks about the differences between last year's match with Ric Flair and this year's match with Undertaker, as well as more on Bret Hart inducting him into the Hall of Fame. We also have more on the letter Vince McMahon sent to more than 500 wrestlers who have been under WWE contract at one point in the last 25 years regarding company paid for drug rehabilitation. We have more on the release of the Legends of Wrestlemania game, more on Bill Watts in the WWE Hall of Fame, wrestling tape collections, a new movie starring a headliner in this year's WrestleMania, lots more on comments by Cena and Mr. Kennedy regarding steroids, the recruiting of someone a few years ago who never signed, why he didn't, and now he's a major MMA star, best selling DVDs, update on the WWE CD, lots of developmental news updates with even more name changes, Edge talks injuries as well as notes on the final WWE house shows before WrestleMania.
The issue is available today for premium members of the web site. You can get approximately ten issues of the Observer per month, six current issues and four or five issues from the past, along with Figure Four Weekly and the Dragon King historical newsletter, as well as multiple daily radio shows as a site subscriber and you can go to the front page for information on that.
You can also subscribe to the print Observer with details here.
The Wrestling Observer ranges from 25,000 to 40,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA all over the world.
Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sites and has the most complete look at the business as a whole anywhere. The Observer is now in its 27th year of being the leading insider pro wrestling publication in the world. The biggest and most influential names in the pro wrestling industry as well as the MMA industry, from bookers, to promoters to Hall of Fame wrestlers and fighters to the biggest current names, both on camera, and behind the scenes, along with thousands of readers in all 50 states and 30 countries subscribe. Many have subscribed as long as 20 years or more straight. They get the most detailed and inside coverage of what is going on all over the world and an accuracy from having the most inside sources that can't be found on the web. Everyone from Wall Street to the major offices to the TV networks in U.S. and Japan turn to the Observer for what is going on in the business. If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. Just send your Visa or Master Card order with your name, address, phone number, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or you can order by faxing that information to 408-244-3402. You can also subscribe via paypal at
www.paypal.com and using the
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
address or subscribe via check, cash or money order, as well as credit card, by mail, by sending to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
We've also got notes on Pat Kenney coming forward in a lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused by a priest at his catholic high school 25 years ago, as well as the real story behind Bully Beatdown, as far as what is and isn't real, and questions about the longevity of the show.
We also have a feature on a former wrestler, who was more famous in bodybuilding circles, Zabo Koszewski, who passed away last week.
We also have a chart looking at every division in WWE and where the company's actual profits were the biggest in 2007 and 2008, as well as a comparison to how business changed over the last year.
We've also got notes on the AAA house show tour of California this past week, from both a business standpoint as well as a look at the show. We look at the coverage in Mexico of the death of Abismo Negro and contrast it to the reaction in North America to the death of Andrew Martin.
We also have our usual weekly features including ratings of all the national shows, results from the major league arena events of the past few weeks as well as the major TV reports.
Also in this week's issues:
--25 year veteran changes his name to honor Hall of Fame father
--Current star opening a restaurant
--Lots more on Juventud Guerrera and incident with Konnan
--Comedy wrestler quits, takes new name, after wife complains he's doing too much comedy
--International promotion set for a U.K. debut show
--Final pro wrestling show after 55 years on NTV this past week
--This year's Super Juniors tournament
--Notes on a few ECW reunion shows
--Canadian paper three-part series on deaths of wrestlers with many comments from Bret Hart
--CHIKARA King of Trios tournament
--Kevin Nash talks about Scott Hall not doing well
--Major legends show
--Lots of new ROH match ups
--Dixie Carter talks Vince McMahon
--Lethal Lockdown update
--Notes on TNA house shows
--Main event of UFC 101 now official plus a semifinal match pretty much finalized
--Update on Dream
--K-1's last show
--Former WWE star in negotiations with Strikeforce
--Strikeforce stars build up a grudge for a match that isn't happening
--Attempts to get MMA sanctioned in a city with strong popularity
--Dream featherweight tournament
--Former WWE wrestler fights this past week with bad results
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major story (ies) of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we'll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We've got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue. Our most requested issues in our history are:
*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series
plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)
*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you'll know exactly what was said--the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but
everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)
*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article
and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
*March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)
*October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)
*July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)
*February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)
*May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our
history)
*January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)
*February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)
*March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)
*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk
Hogan)
*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth, and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)
*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)
*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)
*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the
night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)
*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as
historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)
*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s,
Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)
*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)
*January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)
*February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)
*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy's win over Brock Lesnar)
*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)
*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and
Wrestlemania history books)
*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair's book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)
*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair's book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)
*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)
*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund,
Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez--this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered
separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)
*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world
wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)
*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the
history of TNA)
*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)
*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their
Hall of Fame)
*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)
*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and
behind the scenes of both shows)
*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings,
Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a
double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)
*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)
*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)
*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher,
double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)
*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year's Eve 2005 coverage)
*January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)
*April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller Derby--many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)
*April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame week)
*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling--the most unreal story ever in wrestling)
*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working
in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)
*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him
tick as his real objectives)
*November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff's book and how the industry was changed forever)
*November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro, Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania planned celebrity away)
*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart
signing with WCW and why it didn't click)
*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride's offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why
there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)
*January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bam Bigelow)
*March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)
*March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)
*March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)
*April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage--which many are calling one of the best issues in history)
*July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)
*October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original
Strangler Lewis)
*November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women's wrestling) .
*December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)
*January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)
*March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)
*April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair's meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double
issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)
September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)
September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)
September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)
You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North America or $5 overseas.
Rates are:
For the United States, it is $12 for 4 issues, $29 for 12, $55 for 24, $91 for 40 and $118 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $13.50 for
4, $33 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. For the rest of the world, rates are $15.50 for 4, $41 for 12, $78 for 24, $126 for 40 issues and $163 for
52 .
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more
about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk,
Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods. To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best
Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The
book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $10 for shipping costs to Canada and $12 for shipping costs outside North
America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.
--Lots of Dana White notes. As mentioned last night, he has canceled a deal to do a reality show and is going to lower his public and media profile at least to a degree. He will not be attending Sunday's show in Chicago, but that has nothing to do with this controversy as I had heard about it in Nashville. He and Joe Silva both have to be at the TUF 10 tryouts in Seattle early in the morning for Spike and the decision was made to not have either go to WEC the night before.
--White did an interview with ESPN.com at
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=4038557&type=story He said he attacked people he didn't mean to, but "absolutely, positively meant to attack Loretta Hunt from Sherdog. Absolutely." An interesting thing he said is that what sucked the most about his rant was that people defended him on the Internet for it. "The thing that sucks is that video rant, the feedback I got was not negative. It was overwhelmingly positive from our fans. It was, `Yeah, you go, Dana. You're the man.' At the end of the day, the worst thing for me is that I don't want anybody thinking that it's cool to say that word, especially now that I know the word `faggot' is as powerful as the n word. I don't want these kids out there watching me and thinking it's cool."
--Kevin Iole wrote about the subject before White agreed to apologize at
www.yahoo.com in the MMA news section
--Shawn Michaels on Q101 in Chicago today said he thinks next year's Wrestlemania will be his last. He said his contract expires after that show and wants to be around more for his kids. He said he thinks he'll probably come back to wrestling at some point, probably when his kids are teenagers and don't want to hang around him anymore.
--Rey Mysterio was on radio this morning saying he thought his match with JBL would open Wrestlemania
--TNA Impact last night did a 1.3 rating, but it was the largest audience in history to witness a TNA show, just under 2 million viewers
--Wednesday night's Ultimate Fight Night drew a 1.4 rating. Ultimate Fighter debut right after did a 1.3 rating. Both are along the lines of what would have been expected
--There is a history of Wrestlemania AP article at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=n/a/2009/04/02/entertainment/3034240D53.DTL There are some amusing quotes from Hulk Hogan. Did you know that in the ring, everyone panicked when the fans were booing Rock in their Wrestlemania match and he told Rock, "Brother, stick with me and I'll get you through this." Or, that the ending of the match was changed on the fly by Hogan to have his NWO buddies attack him and Rock save Hogan and they posed together at the end of the match to riotous cheers? And that Hogan raised Rock's hand when it was over and said Rock was the greatest wrestler in the world.
--If you haven't listened, we've had five days on the web site of discussions with former WWE creative team members Court Bauer, Alex Greenfield and Andrew Goldstein that have gotten rave reviews talking about what it's really like to be a member of the team and lots of behind-the scenes stories. We also have a special update today talking about the Dana White situation as well as some Wrestlemania notes, and will be back both Saturday night after the Hall of Fame and Sunday night after Wrestlemania with audio shows.
--Who do you think won the Wednesday night UFC main event
Martin Kampmann 60.3%
Carlos Condit 39.7%
--What did you think of the first episode of the Ultimate Fighter season
Excellent 11.3%
Good 42.0%
Average 29.3%
Fair 6.7%
Poor 10.7%
34.2% of those responding didn't see the show
--How many worldwide buys do you expect Wrestlemania to get
Under 600,000 9.2%
601,000 to 700,000 19.6%
701,000 to 800,000 29.4%
801,000 to 900,000 19.8%
901,000 to 1 million 10.2%
1 million to 1.1 million 5.2%
1.1 million to 1.2 million 1.8%
More than 1.2 million 4.8%
--Both Eric Bischoff and Mick Foley are scheduled for TSN's Off the Record today (thanks to Steve Khan)
--What is believed to be the longest pro wrestling show in history, already at 66 matches and 25 hours at this writing, continues until 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Hyde Creek Rec Centre in Port Coquitlam, BC to raise money and food to restock the shelves at the food bank and to set a world record for the longest pro wrestling show in history.
--Phoenix Star, T.J. Perkins and Aaron Aguilera will all on CSI last night in a segment on wrestling
--The Sports Illustrated web site today has a photo gallery of wrestlers turned MMA stars. I think they concentrate on college wrestlers.
--RushHD in Canada will debut a new pro wrestling show called Kardinal Sinners on 4/27. The show is a reality show about a tour with Brody Steel, Trash Canyon, Wildman Williams and Kowboy Mike Hughes who were in the Wrestling Reality show on Fight Network. I believe this is a similar reality show from a new tour in the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
--I don't have a URL, but today's Calgary Herald has an article on Nattie Neidhart (Natalya) and her appearing in her first Wrestlemania.
--Chaotic Wrestling in North Andover, MA, is doing a one-day training cap on 4/18 for $69 for four hours of training plus two tickets to a Chaotic Wrestling show. For more info go to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
--Chaotic Wrestling also runs tonight in Lowell, MA at the Polish American Veterans Club with Chase Del Monte vs. Josh Daniels as the main event.
--The AWF in Australia is doing a 10th anniversary weekend on 4/18 and 4/19 with the first show in Sydney at the UNSDW Roundhouse in Kensington and second show in Wollongong at the Fairy Meadow Fraternity Club in Fairy Meadow featuring Al Snow and Chris Masters
--Sovereign Nations MMA on 4/11 in San Carlos, AZ at the Apache Gold Casino
--Time On Demand has a preview of UFC 97 and the match of the year place winning Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle match from Lockdown last year in their free preview section (thanks to Suju Abraham)
--All Pro Wrestling Alliance on Saturday night in Oliver Springs, TN at the Petros-Joyner Elementary School
--Chuck Langerman in reading the article on Paul Heyman and anti-semitism in wrestling noted that if Heyman's Jewish heritage was that important to him, why did he run Anarchy Rulz in 1999 on Yom Kippur, noting that even non-religious Jews don't work that day. He said if Heyman cared that much about his heritage he wouldn't have run a show that day. I do remember it was an issue with that date at the time but he was limited in available Sunday dates and it was either that or not run a show for a while and that was the call made.
--Next FIP is 5/2 in Crystal River, FL at the National Guard Armory with Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards for the FIP title and Erick Stevens & Roderick Strong vs. Chris Gray & Tommy Taylor for the tag titles
--National Wrestling League promoter Dick Caricofe is offering a $500 reward for any information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the arsonist who deliberately set a fire that caused several thousand dollars in damages to NWL equipment including the company's trailer, ring, sound equipment and other valuable items. (thanks to Devin Cutting)
--Bright House Network cable in the Montgomery, AL has dropped the MyNetwork station as of last week. Reader Paul Lucas said he contacted the company and a week ago they said they were in negotiations, but today called and was told they were no longer carrying the station.
--Melissa Coates and Hack Myers appear at the 5/3 BANG tapings in Ocala, FL. There will also be All Japan tryouts on 5/9 and 5/10 with Osamu Nishimura looking at talent.
--John Layfield (JBL) has agreed to do a pro wrestling seminar at the IWF Wrestling school in West Paterson, NJ. It will be in the spring but no date is confirmed. Tom Prichard will be doing a three-day seminar from 6/26 to 6/28. For more info go to
www.WrestlingIWF.com
--What is billed as Abdullah the Butcher's final match in Canada is tomorrow night for NCW in Montreal. Sylvan Grenier is also on the show.
--Not sure how newsworthy this is, but the San Diego Union-Tribune noted City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner owns between $2,000 and $10,000 in WWE stock. (thanks to Luis Monteagudo)
--Shawn Marek at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
is looking for a place to watch Wrestlemania in Boston
--Dustin Jones at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
is looking for a place to watch Wrestlemania in St. Cloud, MN
--LWO on 4/25 in Elmwood Park, NJ
--FMLL tonight at Salon El Rey in Compton, CA
--FMLL also runs 4/24 at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena with L.A. Park, El Hijo del Santo, Rey Misterio, Super Porky, El Solitario (well, El Hijo del Solitario, if they have El Solitario then that would be a hell of a story), Mascara Sagrada, Pirata Morgan, Martha Villalobos and Rossy Moreno.
--Lance Storm turns 40 today.
--Rich Tate's Atlanta wrestling nostalgia:
50 years ago today: Fred Blassie drew Dickie Gunkel (Dick Steinborn) to keep the Southern title
45 years ago: Fritz von Erich beat Joe Scarpa (Jay Strongbow) and Sputnik Monroe beat Cowboy Bob Ellis
39 years ago: Doug Gilbert & El Mongol beat The Assassins via DQ and Nick Bockwinkel beat Joe Scarpa via DQ
36 years ago: Mr. Wrestling II drew Sputnik Monroe in the finals of a one night Cadillac Tournament (winner gets a Cadillac)
36 years ago in Macon: Bob Armstrong & Bill Dromo & Sweet Daddy Siki beat Tarzan Tyler & Super Infernos
33 years ago in Griffin: Mr. Wrestling II beat The Spoiler
31 years ago in Augusta: Thunderbolt Patterson beat Ole Anderson and Mr. Wrestling beat Blackjack Mulligan
26 years ago at the Omni: Ric Flair no contest Tony Atlas in an NWA title match and Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes beat Iron Sheik & Ivan Koloff, plus Larry Zbyszko beat Tommy Rich
25 years ago in Macon: Ron Garvin & King Kong Bundy beat the Road Warriors
