Total Wrestling December 2013

ISSUE3 - DECEMBER 2013

#VOTECORNETTE2018

BUCKLE UP FOR ONE OF THE WILDEST INTERVIEWS Featuring Columns from: YOU’LL EVER READ! Sharkboy Also in this issue.....

Exclusive interviews with Jim Ross and James Storm Danny Rodd on 1PW – Part II Inside the Wolfpac Chaos

Matt Striker The Blossom Twins

FEATURES 8 10 20 22 24 28 30 34 36 38 41 42 45 46 48 50 52 57 62 65 76 80 82 84 90 94 96

GOTCHA! MOS: INSIDE THE WOLFPAC CHAOS PURO PROFILE: THE GREAT MUTA TNA FOR SALE THE DEATH OF WC....TNA MIKE AWESOME WHY CAN’T WE ALL GET ALONG? THE BOOKING SIDE ON THE LINE WITH AUSTIN ARIES SURVIROR SERIES - THE UNDERTAKER TW FANTASY WARFARE BOOKING TITLE CONTROVERSY INTERVIEW: JAMES STORM THANK YOU BJ, PART 2 FACTION FACE OFF TOTAL DIVA: STEPHANIE MCMAHON TOTAL LEGACY INTERVIEW: JIM ROSS TOTAL DEFINING MOMENTS INTERVIEW: JIM CORNETTE THE NAKED TRUTH TOTAL GUILTY PLEASURES SOUNDTRACKING PURO’ HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD THE A-Z OF ECW SWOTTING UP TNA INTERVIEW: DANNY RODD

CONTENTS

6

88 57

65

THE LOWDOWN 4 5 6 9 54 55

TOTAL WRESTLING ALTERNATIVE NEWS NEWS OF HONOR

BY THE NUMBERS/ THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF AJ STYLES SHOW US YER TWEETS WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD

COLUMNS 18 88 92

SHARKBOY: THE INSIDE SHARK TANK BLOSSOM TWINS: KEEPING LIFE SWEET MATT STRIKER’S WRESTLING LESSONS

INDIE 98 98

INDIE FACT FILE - CHRIS HERO ON THE ROAD WITH THE BLACKPOOL BLONDS

REVIEWS 104 105 106 107 108 109

WHO’S THE DADDY? GPW: WARRINGTON BASH 2013 REVIEW WWE 2K14 ROH ALL STAR EXTRAVAGANZA V ROH MANHATTAN MAYHEM INGERSOLL INVASION

THE TOTAL WRESTLING TEAM SHEET Darren Wood – Editor editor@twmag.co.uk Columnists Matt Barnes – Editor mbarnes@twmag.co.uk Paul Fahey – NEWS David Schmida – Online Editor Sharkboy Jason Ridpath – Designer Matt Striker Mike McGrath-Bryan - Lead Writer The Blossom Twins Contributors Steven James Sutton, Matt Waters, Matthew Roberts, Phil Clark, Phil Allely, Adam Testa, Darragh O'Connor, Chris Gee Schoon Tsong (Chris GST)., D.R Webster, John Milner,James Simpson, Tony Knox, Sarah Leach, Maurice Kniesel, Herr Opa, Matt Davies and Andy Sharp TW would also like to thank: Everyone! We’d like to thank all of you who have written to us to share your stories or to express your thoughts on the mag, those of you who have shared our work to a wider audience, and those of you who’ve just simply enjoyed what we do. Thank you – and have a very merry Christmas! You are all absolutely awes Wanna write for Total Wrestling? Hell yeah, you do... Drop us a line at: editor@twmag.co.uk for info.

Editors Note Thanks for joining us again for another Issue of Total Wrestling!

With all the initial pleasantries that come with launching a new mag well and truly out of the way, this month we get down to the nitty gritty. There’s been huge controversy over the last several weeks regarding the nWo/Wolfpac UK spoken word tour, with many fans feeling short-changed, and others feeling outright robbed. Angry words have been written across the internet, firing barbs at the promoters (the team behind the popular Ministry of Slam podcast), and Scott Hall himself even tweeted an angry “Fuck You” at the promoters. With all of this in mind, we decided to push our deadline back a little to enable us to take a look at this controversy from the perspective of the fans and of the promoters. We guess the joy of being an online mag is that we can respond to this kind of stuff in this way, but it’s still a shame that such a highly anticipated tour ended in such a controversial manner. Our plan is to give readers both sides of the story so you can decide for yourselves.

Also in this issue... well, as always we’re throwing the rule book out of the window!! We have some huge exclusive interviews, as Jim Ross talks to us in-depth about his career and his future, and we hear from James Storm and Danny Rodd, but the cherry on the cake, our Christmas present to all of you, is our full, 10-page Jim Cornette interview. In it, Jim gives his frank, outrageous and utterly hilarious thoughts on Vince McMahon, Colt Cabana and, of course, Vince Russo! When the text landed on our desks, it looked easily to be a two or three-partner (you know, the way mags always make you wait for the juicy stuff), but then we thought,“You know what, it’s Christmas, and we can easily find something equally awesome for you all in the next issue!”. And so... well, enjoy. We’re certain you’ve likely never read anything quite like it.

On top of all that, we’ve got a seemingly endless list of top-quality features in this amazing bumper issue!

We’d like to wish all of our readers, scribes, advertisers, media partners and columnists a very merry Christmas. We’ve huge plans for TW in 2014 and look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Matt and Darren editor@twmag.co.uk mbarnes@twmag.co.uk https://twitter.com/TWrestlingmag https://www.facebook.com/totalwrestlingmag Darren

Matt

WANT TO ADVERTISE WITH TW? TW is growing and expanding, and is always looking for new opportunities to link up with new partners, new brands and new media. If you’d like to advertise with us, link with us online or to sponsor one of our regular features or columnists, all you need to do is drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you.

TW is happy to feature products across a wide spectrum, from DVDs to sports gear, and can offer preferential rates to small businesses, British companies and media partners.

Get in touch via: editor@twmag.co.uk

THE LOWDOWN

[ UK WRESTLING//FEATURES // PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

A LT E R N AT I V E N E W S We all know the adage that wrestling news is out of date before a mag even hits the shelves, so TW presents our monthly Alternative News – the news that never goes out of date! Please note; we cannot guarantee the factual, moral or ethical accuracy of any of these news items.

The word on the street is that TNA is up for sale. Dixie Carter’s remaining tight-lipped, whilst Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey are said to want a piece of the action. We hear Hervey’s hoping that TNA’s habit of hiring relics will be extended to Fred Savage, and that between them they will be able to reignite their money feud from classic eighties sitcom The Wonder Years. Let’s face it, it might actually be an improvement...

JR’s Hat is also remaining tight-lipped this month – or should that be, “tight rimmed”? (NO – that just sounds wrong! – Eds). Nobody can get a word from Hat on his book deal, the real reasons behind his WWE departure or whether he’s going to make a return to TV anytime soon. There is talk that Hat will be invited back for Wrestlemania, and may even be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but as the Millinery Hall of Celebrity Hats induction ceremony is on the same night, it may mean some tough choices ahead.

Shawn Michaels’ return to WWE television over the last month, working alongside Triple H, Stephanie and Daniel Bryan, has once again sparked rumours of “one more match”. Sadly for fans worldwide, we can’t see The Billion Dollar Princess donning the spandex again anytime soon.

Has anybody else noticed how Big Show is looking increasingly like Ryback’s dad? No? Just us then...

TW was genuinely gutted that Damien Sandow’s MITB cash-in didn’t result in a World Heavyweight Title win for the youngster, but the writing was always on the wall as soon as “Super Cena” returned, sadly. In other disappointing news for Sandow, his former partner Cody Rhodes has leapfrogged the midcard in a stellar pairing with his brother, Goldust. Want our advice, Sandow? Shave the beard: clearly, there are too many bearded headliners in WWE at the moment and that’s what held you back. Sage advice, we’re sure you’ll agree Damo. You’re welcome.

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In heartening news, we hear that Sin Cara’s recovery from that horrific finger injury is going better this month. Word is that Cara has been rehabbing that finger like a mother and will be back stinking up bringing joy to arenas before we know it. Cara HAS returned, with somebody else under the mask. Let’s hope this dude fares better on the finger injury

THE LOWDOWN

NEWS OF

HONOR

By Stephen James Sutton

Join us here each month for the latest news from America’s top indy promotion Jesse Sorensen (who suffered a C1 fracture with spinal cord edema during his time at TNA Wrestling) made his Ring of Honor debut at Glory by Honor, taking on Tommaso Ciampa.

As reported in Issue 2, first time matches were being booked for Dearborn and the first one was announced as Eddie Edwards taking on Jay Lethal. This is the first time ever either wrestler has faced each other anywhere. A second ‘first time ever’ match has been signed this time in Columbus, Ohio, as the American Wolves will take on Outlawz Inc. Tomasso Ciampa will challenge Matt Taven for the ROH Television Championship at Final Battle. In what has been billed as a Superkick Party, The Young Bucks return to the promotion and they take on Adrenaline Rush at Final Battle. After the events at Glory by Honor, at Final Battle it will be Mark Briscoe taking on Silas Young in a Strap match.

This is the first ever one on one strap match in the promotion.

Golden Dream was sent into mayhem as injuries hit hard following Glory by Honor. Adam Cole suffered a concussion after receiving an Elgin Bomb off the top rope, Fish required five stitches in the side of his head (see picture) and both Jay Lethal and Kasey Rae were knocked out and had severe bruising after falling through the ringside table but both are okay. Ring of Honor Champion Adam Cole also wasn’t cleared to face Kevin Steen. On the plus side, fans did get a special appearance from BJ Whitmer.

Steve Corino still protests that he has contract obligations to provide colour commentary for the promotion. However thanks to Veda Scott, Steve Corino returned to the commentary table at Glory

by Honor.

Expect next year to see the promotion debut in new towns. Ring Of Honor will return to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 7th March, Chicago Ridge on 8th March, return to the St. Louis area (for the first time in two years since “Gateway Of Honor” back on 06th November 2011) on the 7th June 2014 and on the 14th June 2014 the promotion will hold “Border Wars 2014” in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. .

Jay Briscoe turned up to Glory

by Honor and revealed his own championship

Bobby Fish suffered a severe laceration on his right side over of his head

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THE LOWDOWN

2 3 3

[ UK WRESTLING//FEATURES // PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

Locations for the Starrcade ’85 and Starrcade ‘86 events: Greensboro Coliseum and the Atlanta Omni. At each venue, the audience watched matches from the other location via closed-circuit television.

4

Events that were held by WCW under the NWA banner (1988-1990).

Number of WCW/New Japan Supershows that were promoted as “Starrcade” in Japan. At the first such show, Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Championship (but not the WCW World Championship as they were considered separate titles in Japan). At the 1992 show, Sting and the Great Muta teamed to defeat the Steiner Brothers and IWGP Champion the Great Muta defeated Masahiro Chono for the NWA World Championship at the 1993 Show.

each hosted the event three times. The Norfolk Scope held it twice and the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, the Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri each held the event once.

5 7 8

The number of times the Greensboro Coliseum and the Atlanta Omni hosted either the complete or part of Starrcade. The Nashville Auditorium and the MCI Centre in Washington D.C.

10

Events promoted by Jim Crockett Promotions, from 19831987. Each event took place on Thanksgiving night.

Times the NWA or WCW World Championship changed hands at Starrcade. At Starrcade ’83, Ric Flair defeated Harley Race for the NWA World Championship. At Starrcade ’98, Kevin Nash defeated Goldberg to claim the WCW World Championship.

Tag Teams involved in the Pat O’Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament, held during Starrcade ’90. In the finals, the Steiner Brothers (representing the US) defeated Mr. Saito and the Great Muta (representing Japan).

Events held strictly under the World Championship

HIGHS AND LOWS OF AJ STYLES HIGH June 2003 : 2001: 1998; Allen Jones debuts as the masked Mr. Olympia in National Championship Wrestling. While Jones loses his debut match, he would win his first title, the NCW Television Championship, a year later. .

As “Air Styles”, Styles teams with Frank “Air Paris” Parris as Air Raid in the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship tournament, losing in the first round to Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo.

LOW

May2002:

1999-2001: Jones becomes A.J. Styles in NWA Wildside (the merger of NCW and NWA Georgia) and wins the TV title on two more occasions.

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April 2002: In a big month for Styles, he wrestles several matches on WWF Jakked, makes his pay-per-view debut at World Wrestling All Stars’ Eruption (defeating Nova and Jerry Lynn to become the WWA International Cruiserweight Champion) and debuts in Ring of Honor.

In a triple threat match, Styles defeats Jeff Jarrett and Raven (with help from Vince Russo) to win the NWA World Championship and become the first TNA Triple Crown winner.

April 2002: Styles turns down a development deal with WWE as it would mean moving to Cincinnati, Ohio to compete for the WWE’s Heartland Wrestling Association territory.

Styles is signed by Total Nonstop Action. He wins the first X Division title and teams with Jerry Lynn to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.

March 2004:

Styles is forced to vacate the ROH Pure title after TNA withdraws all their contracted wrestlers from ROH due to tension between the two companies.

Text By John M. Milner

1

THE LOWDOWN Banner (1991-2000).

10

The number of times that Ric Flair wrestled in World Championship matches at Starrcade. He defeated Harley Race for the NWA World title at Starrcade ’83 and, twelve years later, defeated Randy Savage for the WCW World Championship at Starrcade ’95.

13

Most wins by a single wrestler at Starrcade. Little surprise to learn that Sting holds that honour as he also holds the record for most appearances at Starrcade, beginning with his appearance at Starrcade ’87, when (ironically) he, Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes wrestled Larry Zbyszko, Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner to a draw.

40 1987

event, to be broadcast on pay-per-view. In the main event, Ric Flair defeated champion Ron Garvin to regain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. :

$1,000,00

The prize money at stake, along with the NWA World Championship, in the main event of Starrcade ’84. Special referee “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier stopped the match due to a cut on challenger Dusty Rhodes’ forehead.

Ric Flair retained the NWA title and won the prize money.

The number of wrestlers involved in the first Battle Bowl/ the Lethal Lottery, which took place during Starrcade ’91. That number dropped to 16 for the Battle Bowl event a year later at Starrcade ’92.

The first Starrcade, and the first NWA

October 2013: Weeks after insulting Dixie Carter 2005-2006: Styles and refusing to sign a new contract engages in a three-way June 2010 – January feud with Christopher with TNA, Styles defeats Bully Ray at Daniels and Samoa Joe 2012: Styles becomes a member Bound for Glory to win his second TNA over the X Division of Fourtune/Fortune, led by Ric Championship. He later walks out on Championship, Flair. Fortune would battle a group TNA and claims to be defending the producing some of of former ECW stars known as EV title worldwide, leading the company the best matches in the March 2009: 2.0 and, later, Immortal. During October2009: company’s to vacate the championship and run a Upon his return, Styles During his first run the run, Styles would capture the history. Daniels and challenges and defeats as TNA Champion, A.J. Global Championship and dub it tournament to crown a new champion.

Styles would also team to Booker T for the Styles retains against the TNA Television Championship. win the NWA World Tag Legends title at Sting at Bound for .

Team titles.

Destination X 2009. Glory in a match voted With the win, Styles Match of the Year by becomes TNA’s first TNA fans..

Grand Slam Champion.

May 2012 – August 2012: Styles is involved in a storyline where Christopher Daniels and Kazarian attempt to blackmail Styles, insinuating first that he was having an affair with TNA President Dixie Carter and, later, that he had fathered an illegitimate child with an addict. .

February 2008 to January 2009: A feud with Kurt Angle grows into a feud between two TNA factions: the Main Event Mafia and the Styles-led TNA Frontline. During the feud, Styles was unsuccessful in defeating Sting for the TNA title. In January 2009, Styles was written out of action after a match with Angle. .

June - September 2013: Styles wins the Bound for Glory Series, with a draw against Samoa Joe wins over Kazarian, Bobby Roode, winning a Last Chance Gauntlet Battle Royal, and wins against Austin Aries and Magnus.

December 2012 – May 2013: After losing his “final match” against Daniels, Styles leaves TNA. Friends and his wife are interviewed about how much he has changed and suggest he’s using drugs. Upon his return to TNA, his actions involving James Storm, Daniels, Kazarian and Kurt Angle make it unclear whose side he is on. After apparently joining Aces & Eights, he attacks several members..

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FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

TEXT BY MATT WATERS

As you can imagine, Total Wrestling gets vast swathes of pictures landing on our desks each month. Most are action shots. Some are just pure comedy. In this regular feature, we round up the funniest wrestling screenshots we’ve seen over last month. Smile!

Kazarian really telegraphed his Bronco Buster attempt by leaping the entire length of the ring. Hernandez was obviously going to block it...with his head?! Oh no wait, it’s a Border Toss.

Easy mistake.

There’s a lot of speculation about the American Wolves heading to the WWE lately. But how will Eddie Edwards pass the rigorous medical tests when he ain’t got no teeth?

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Del Rio?

Hours of training in the dojos of New Japan have taught Rocky Romero themost devastating of all professional wrestling holds: the dreaded Beard-Lock!

Bully Ray showing Ricochet how to properly execute a 630

FEATURES

SHOW US YER TWEETS By matt waters

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. We thank you for allowing us a window into the bizarre lives of our favourite professional wrestlers. Take the brotherly bond of Dolph Ziggler and Briley Pierce for example. Or how about the never-ending saga of Matt Jackson’s travel woes. Even Sugar Dunkerton is getting in on the act with a nice bit of satire. Oh, and Colt Cabana has been funny again, shockingly.

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FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

Last month, famed UK wrestling podcast/newly formed registered company Ministry of Slam promoted a truly unique prospect– a series of Q&A sessions and meet-and-greets with original Wolfpac members Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Fans were enthused, but quickly the whole affair descended into chaos. Since news broke of the disappointing, disorganised shows, disgruntled fans have clamoured to have their say via social media, whilst the organisers have resorted to either retreating entirely or pointing the finger at one another. It’s an absolute mess, for sure, and a sad reflection on the great things that can be achieved on the UK scene.

TW doesn’t claim to have the answers, but what we can do is share with you quotes from fans and promoters – some sent to us directly, some via comments made publicly on the MOS Facebook feed immediately after the shows and via “official statements” from various parties. Here’s inside story, in their own, unedited words.

Original Press Release Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & Sean Waltman Set To Take Over UK Three of the biggest names in wrestling history, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman need no introduction to pro wrestling fans around the globe. Famous for their exploits in WCW as the nWo, as well as their respective Diesel, Razor Ramon and X-Pac characters in WWE, the trio have remained great friends away from the ring.

Ministry Of Slam Productions Ltd. (the promotions company behind Ministry Of Slam wrestling radio) are delighted to announce that the collective are heading to the UK for a world exclusive three-date tour from November 19-21. Taking in appearances in Glasgow, Manchester and London, all three will be on hand for these MOS Radio hosted spoken word and Q&A events.

A true first, this tour – dubbed the 'UK Takeover Tour' – also represents an exciting chance for wrestling fans to meet their heroes in the flesh, and hear stories from their storied careers. Nash, Hall and Waltman all agreed the shows should carry an 18+ age rating, to ensure things can get as heated and uncensored as necessary!

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“Everybody should start getting real excited,” Waltman stated on a recent edition of MOS Radio LIVE. “We’re hitting the UK hard; me and my big buddies Hall and Nash. We’re stoked about coming back over to the UK, the Wolfpac is back!”

FEATURES

Ministry of Slam posted on Facebook: Kevin Nash has landed in the UK. And boy oh boy is he ready for this. Going by the stories that he told us this morning, you guys are in for a treat. Now that the guys are starting to arrive, these events are nearing sell out.

Ministry of Slam posted on Facebook: We regret to announce that tonight’s edition of MOS Radio will not go ahead, as Chris Duke has been rushed into hospital, where he’s currently recovering.

‘The UK Takeover Tour’ will still be charging forward, and all here at MOS want to send our best wishes to Chris and a speedy recovery. We apologise for these unfortunate circumstances!

Team MOS.

OPEN LETTER TO ANYONE WHO ATTENDED THE WOLFPAC EVENTS THIS WEEK: I’m sure you’ve heard my name by now, it’s Chris Duke, the scapegoat for the events that took place this week. I thought I’d give you a little insight as to what happened, from my perspective anyway. I’ll start by saying that I am not trying to absolve myself from responsibility here, I’m just putting out more information.

I’m writing this as an open letter, because, well, as the apparent “boss” of this tour, my posting rights have been removed by another party, so I have no choice but to do it this way. In the initial stages of setting this thing up, I did take on a lot of the responsibility, booking flights, hotels, paying the talent ect etc etc. and up until Monday evening I was very hands on, so much so, that there was still a few things left to be done come Tuesday morning, nothing impossible, just some extra niggly things like paying venue balances, booking hotels for the hosts/staff etc.

On the Sunday before the shows, we were all in Milton Keynes for the convention there, when I had the sudden idea to fly to Glasgow that night, and surprise my wife and daughters (Our wedding anniversary was Sunday, Daughters birthday was Monday), so I asked the guys if it would be ok. Leaving 3 guys down there to pick up Scott Hall from the airport seemed like a decent enough deal to me.

So all went well, my wife was surprised, my daughter ecstatic to see me. However on Monday night, around 5:30pm, I stated to feel unwell, warm, chest pains and a pain up my arm, so I dialled 999, and let the ambulance take me to hospital. My wife let the guys know what happened, and I was drugged up to the nines in an ambulance.

It was at this point I received the following text from one of the other guys running the tour: “Just leave it with us and relax, man. The tour is over for you, as your health is more important.” The tour is over for me. PayPal account was emptied. Although never fully true, this is the last I heard from anyone involved in the tour all week, no one called, text, emailed, anything, they really meant it to say that the tour was over for me.

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FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

Then things started changing, I read that events were now being run: 1 hour pictures, 2 hours Q&A and 1 hour signing. Which, on paper, sounds great, but clearly didn’t work. I had no say in this. Also, and I will happily admit this, no matter how much trouble it may get me in, the initial deal was indeed “2 items to be signed by all the talent”, I have no idea who changed it, but again, I had no say in this.

The prices that I had set out we’re the following: £20 for photoshoot £20 for T-Shirt £20 for 8 x 10 which you could then have signed.

That was it. None of this £50 here, or £30 for this, something else I had no say in. The reason we didn’t announce prices ahead of time is because we advised not to by the professionals. I’m hearing rumours about promo’s being cut on me and saying that I owe x amount of money. I don’t know if these are true, as I haven’t seen them, however, every receipt, invoice is present and correct, and will present them when needed.

It seemed increasingly easy to place the blame on the guy in the hospital bed, who couldn’t respond, until now Whether you believe I was in hospital or not is a non issue, I know I was there, my family were by my side, and that’s all I really need.I will also stress, I am not, to use the popular term “throwing anybody under the bus”, certainly not publicly, it’s not the right thing to do. Let me stress, I am not running from my responsibilities, anything that was my doing, I will put my hands up and admit, but the most common complaints for the past few days are things that are out of my hands. I did end up with a few parking fines too, which was not the smartest thing i’d done.

I want to publicly apologise to the TWO media outlets that I had promised interviews too, The Wrestling Mania and Wrestletalk TV. Although I don’t know if WTTV got their interviews, I know that The Wrestling Mania didn’t, and that is my doing, if I was there, I would have made every effort to sort that for you. And whether they like me or not, Andy and Jamie held it together, completely, in my absence. So props to them, a lot of people couldn’t and wouldn’t have handled that.

A lot of lessons have been learned this week, least of all, trust. As this is my own personal PayPal account,I will, once healthy, respond to every single refund request, it’s the least I can do. As I say, it’s easy to jump on a bandwagon when you don’t know the facts, I trust this will help.

Thanks for reading Statement from Michael Ireland A lot of you know that I was brought in to do the ‘Wolfpac Tour DVD’ which took place last week.

I have put this production on hold while a few things get cleared up.

While on tour I decided to film all the extra things, I realised pretty much as soon as I arrived to film that things had gone very very wrong, so I kept on filming and have roughly 20-30 hours of footage. I was originally looking to make a documentary on Scott’s health over the past few years and how things have improved. The problems on the tour however took precedence.

I’ve personally spoken to all members of the Wolfpac, who have agreed for me to make a documentary about this tour and to clear up EXACTLY what went down. This is what I will be doing for the next little while.

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Anyone involved and customers opinions relating to the tour are welcome, as I will be looking to cover all sides of the story. I am a Freelancer and at this moment in time not affiliated with MoS productions.

FEATURES This is my own personal and self-funded documentary. I may be friends with those who run MoS, but this is the true events of what unfolded with no biased looks. I will be looking to talk to Chris Duke, Andrew Downs and Jamie Kennedy, all separately their accounts of the tour from Day 1.

Now if, anyone who has information I may need I would like you to email my Documentary address at tourdisaster@gmail.com Thank you very much” Michael Ireland

Ministry of Slam posted on Facebook: At this time I would like to make a public apology to all of those who attended any of the shows on the UK Take Over Tour. We understand that there were a lot of issues with said tour dates and we appreciate the complaints that have been made.

The issues that occurred were unacceptable but I can assure you that those of us who were there did everything in our power to ensure that the fans got at least something that was promised to them instead of nothing at all. We have been contacted by a variety of media outlets to tell the true story of the events of this tour and have been working around the clock to try and find a solution to those of you who were left disappointed.

Unlike some tours who may have had similar results in the past we actually care about the fans and that is why we are still here and still trying to help as many of you as we can. We are not here to point blame onto anybody right now for what went wrong with this tour, however there were substantial circumstances that caused the issues on this tour to occur and they are being dealt with legally as we speak.

We appreciate your concerns and complaints and are personally trying to address them one by one to make sure nobody gets left out or left dissatisfied. Again we can only apologise for what has happened but we tried our best with the situation put in front of us.

We appreciate there are a lot of questions and a lot of people demanding answers and we will give them to you and ensure you all understand the situation at hand.

We thank you for your patience and support and those of you who we spoke to in person at the shows who were grateful that the events when ahead regarding the circumstances. We are keeping these pages open for now to ensure everybody is kept updated in regards to these events and the status of their own situation, however these pages will be closed once this matter has been dealt.

We apologise again and thank you for your patience.

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FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS] “Just like to say it was a awesome night in London with the wolfpac”

“Was it the most organised show ever put on? Nope but did people get to hear 3 of the biggest names in Wrestling history tell stories from the best years in wrestling? Hell yea, did it overrun? Yep but with these 3 talking it was always was going to. Yes am sure people had major issues getting home but that’s sadly part of the game. Maybe may have been better to have it on a afternoon on the weekend. We got to meet Scott Hall Kevin Nash and the Kid in the U.K , how many of us could say that or even think that a year ago?”

£20 per autograph or £50 for all three. £20 per person per photograph so if you want one with 2 people in it, you can’t buy just one copy, you have to buy two.

It’s now 9:13 & we’re still waiting for the Q&A to start. The hell is going on here

“It took 48 hours to come up with that apology? Shut it down.”

“Even though the London show was very much a scramble with how it was organised.. both myself and my GF had a fun night, Q&A was fun & it was great to meet Kevin, Hall & Pac. I got all my stuff signed (for free) and got some pics with them so I went home happy!!!!!”

“Last nights event in London was a complete shambles.Word of advice avoid all MoS shows in future.”

“We are in London with 5 People, We are from Germany (nearly Hannover ) and it was great. Thank you Wolfpac , thank you Ministry of Slam Team.”

Readers’ Letters Jennifer Smith £30 for meet and greet, Q&A, photos and autographs with the Wolfpack was too good to be missed and hard to believe. There was a reason for that. It wasn’t the case and was kept a ‘secret’ until the tour had started. The day before the London show the promoters posted on Facebook that there had been some misunderstandings regarding the event. Nothing was free; there would be a charge for everything. But we were welcome to take photos with our own cameras during the event for free! After a very angry backlash from fans the promoters decided to give us 2 free autographs but any additions would be chargeable.

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We waited inside for nearly 2 hours before an announcement was made stating we needed to pay £20.

While waiting for the privilege of paying £20 for an unknown reason Nash started talking as if the event had started. At this point people started to get very agitated as it appeared we would be standing for the Q&A without being able to see or hear very well, as we were positioned behind a pillar. Finally Nash cleared things up informing us that things would start soon but X-Pac was fixing his hair. Incredibly I was asked not to take personal photos as the promoter had said they weren’t allowed.

FEATURES 9.45pm finally seated. Nash was first to speak and had taken on the role of spokesperson for the group. He addressed the crowd confirming that everyone would get what they were entitled. The Q&A was excellent with all questions answered even those considered controversial. At 11.15pm I had to leave in order to catch my last train home, the Q&A was still continuing. I left without the promised autographs.The event was a shambles but the Wolfpack were superb.

D.R Webster I attended the first show of the Wolfpac UK Tour in Glasgow on November 19th. The event featuring Nash, Hall & Waltman caused a lot of controversy throughout the wrestling community last month, turning into an all out disaster by the last show in London which saw Nash, Hall and Waltman having to take matters into their own hands to make the final show happen. There was an outcry at the events and online through social networking due to the added prices for autographs thrust upon fans at the events which breached the terms and conditions of the original tickets, which stated that each person was entitled to 2 free autographs.

In addition to the added autograph prices, the organisation of the events which saw the Q&A session being cut in half for the Glasgow show, the Manchester show starting hours later than advertised and the London show lasting until 1:30 in the morning which caused transport issues for fans and left people very disappointed, with some having to leave before even meeting the Wolfpac despite their best efforts to salvage the event for the sake of the fans, staying behind way past the time they needed to.

Scott Hall left the promoters an unflattering message through Twitter during the tour and told several fans who complained to him to demand refunds, saying he was embarrassed to even be a part of the tour at all.

The promoters, Ministry Of Slam deleted posts on Facebook shortly after from countless customers who were unhappy with the event and the way it was run, those asking for refunds and as of this date have deleted the entire Facebook page for the event, obviously to avoid the amount of negative comments they were flooded with. No one knows if the refunds will ever happen at this point and some fans have even went as far to contact Trading Standards now to try and obtain refunds.

Most of the blame was placed on Chris Duke of Ministry of Slam who was not present at any events the events due to reported health issues. Duke denied that he had anything to do with the problems which plagued the tour afterwards, claiming that he had no knowledge or say in the changes made to the initial deal offered to fans.

Anyway on to the actual event, rather than having the Q&A first as normal, there was a timetable set which didn’t go to plan in the end, the photographs were meant to run from 7:30 to 8:30 but went overtime due to the amount of people queuing which meant the signings were pushed back from starting at 8:30 before the Q&A to afterwards instead, also on a side note, the people who did not want photos were still made to stand out in the busy hallway were everyone was queuing instead of being allowed into the main hall where everything was already laid out for the Q&A, why people weren’t allowed in for around an hour was anyone’s guess. The photographs cost £20 and were done a lot like a recent Collectormania event I attended recently, everyone queued up in the hallway/ slash bar and each person got a few seconds with all three members of the Wolfpac then moved on to get there pictures right away off print.

The Q&A didn’t begin until shortly after 8.30 and lasted around an hour, the Q&A itself was good, with some interesting never before heard stories on ribs, behind the scenes events and opinions on the business today and from the past, despite several fans asking obvious questions that all three men have answered in shoot interviews countless times which wasted some chances at finding out

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more new stories and personal opinions. In what was meant to be only the first half of the Q&A, which ended with all three men embracing, Nash and Waltman were visibly in tears due to the fact that they were even doing the tour with Hall due to his past demons and the joy that Hall was now sober and healthy, it was announced that the Wolfpac were taking a 15 minute break before part 2, however it was then announced shortly after that part 2 of the Q&A would not be happening, much to the anger of the crowd who booed the MOS staff present, it had been cut without much of an explanation at the time and the signing started instead.

The signing however only added to the sour taste left by the cancellation of the second part of the Q&A with the majority of fans being angered with the added charges which were applied to the autographs, costing ÂŁ50 to have all three sign one item on top of ÂŁ20 for the photograph making for a very expensive night, as well as any other merch being sold, although some did say that if Hall & Nash had signed anything then Waltman did so also for free and also the men were willing to sign additional items for the people who had brought belts for example.

There has been a surge of big name wrestlers coming to the UK, this year in particular for speaking tours and signings, most have been very successful but this one was an absolute mess, it was horribly run with the aftermath being handled just as badly, there was no experienced promoter to steer the ship in the right direction, MOS bit off way more than they could chew and have treated fans badly in the aftermath, as a result, fans will now be wary of lesser known promoters just incase they get burned in the same way again, which is a shame for any ambitious companies who may now not have the chance to compete for talent due to this event.

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COLUMNS

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING//FEATURES // PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS]

Welcome back, fin fans!

It’s my pleasure to once again bring you another edition of my “Inside the Tank” column here at Total Wrestling Magazine. So far I’ve found this “columnist” stuff to be a very fun and rewarding experience, so I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it! As I embark upon this journey down memory lane, it’s also become my hope that perhaps telling the story of my career will inspire some wrestling hopeful to make wise decisions as he or she follows his or her dream of becoming a professional wrestler.

In the last issue of Total Wrestling, I explained the circumstances under which in 1995 I came to meet a man by the name of Les Thatcher, who had been everywhere and seen just about everything in terms of the world of professional wrestling during his 35 year career. During the course of our initial conversation, Les revealed to me that he was about to open up his own wrestling school in Cincinnati, OH, where I was attending college at the time. ““I don’t know about making you into a wrestler,” Les said, “but we sure could use a good referee. Give me your phone number and I’ll give you a call when we get things up and running.”

“Sure,” I thought. I’m a short, skinny southern Ohio kid with absolutely no real link to the wrestling world besides the fact that I was a huge fan. My Dad wasn’t a professional wrestler, nor my brother. I didn’t have any family in wrestling at all or really even know anybody in wrestling for that matter. Even if all I was going to do was train to be a referee, it seemed like such a longshot for someone like me to ever have a real chance at being a part of such an amazing industry.

I gave Les my number anyway thinking, “Never in a million years is this guy going to call me.”

But a few weeks later… he did.I remember coming home from class to the apartment I shared with three other people while attending college one day in October, 1995, and being greeted by my roommate and good childhood friend Mike Carlo as I came through the door.

“Guess who called and left you a message on the answering machine?” Mike said… “Les Thatcher!”

Adrenaline raced through my body as I played back the message from Les in which he invited me to come out this Sunday to check out the newly opened Main Event Pro Wrestling Training Center, which was just 10 or 15 miles from where I lived. When Sunday arrived, I was there early!

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The training center was located in what amounted to rented warehouse space complete with an office, a restroom or two, and of course a wrestling ring (along with the trailer used to haul it). I met with Les and his

COLUMNS partner Brady in the office briefly and then was invited to watch my first pro wrestling training session.

I still get goosebumps when I think about the excitement I felt at that moment.

The class consisted of about 6 or 8 really big guys, all of whom I was thrilled to meet as most of them had performed on small shows in the area and, in my mind, were already “real” professional wrestlers. Les stood in front of the class and led the preclass warm-up session which mostly consisted of squats, jumping jacks, and the like. I remember being initially impressed at what kind of shape Les was in. Hard to believe that at the time he was just days away from turning 55!

Once the guys were warmed up, Les did something that wrestlers refer to as “calling a spot”.

Essentially, a “spot” is a planned series of moves designed to convey part of the “story” being told by the wrestlers. My mind was absolutely blown as Les stood up and said something like this: “Collar and elbow tie-up.

Babyface takes the headlock. Heel shoots him in and takes a tackle. Babyface hits the ropes and the heel gives him a hiplock.

Cover 1-2- babyface kicks out…” and the spot just kept going from there until somebody covered somebody for the 1-2-3.

To my further astonishment, the first pair of big guys then stepped into the ring and attempted to recreate the “spot” called by Les move-for-move. “So THAT’S how it works!” I remember thinking. It was at that moment that I actually felt like I was on the “inside” of the wrestling business… and I could not have been more excited!

I can’t remember exactly what it was Les covered that day, whether the focus was on bodyslams or armdrags or what, but I will never forget what happened immediately after the rest of the class was dismissed.

“Well,” Les said to me, “are you ready to step in the ring and take your first bump?” I had never been so ready for anything in my life.

Thanks once again for joining me for this month’s Inside the Tank. Be sure to visit SharkBoy.net and I hope you’ll stop back again next month as we continue the story of my initial training to be a professional wrestler. Until then, I leave you all with another great big Shell Yeah!

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PURO PROFILE

TEXT By Mike McGrath -Bryan

FEATURES

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The Great Muta

Following on from last issue’s profile of Hiroshi Tanahashi, we figured a regular profile feature dedicated to the superstars of the Japanese game was in order.

This new column kicks off with one of the biggest stars in the history of Puroresu, the man equally renowned as Keiji Mutoh, or his alter-ego, The Great Muta...

the game, and sports-entertainment as the mystical, mist-spewing Great Muta, Mutoh’s athleticism, persistence and dedication to pro wrestling makes him an icon.

Land of the Rising Star

Real name: Keiji Mutoh Born: Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Age: 51 Height: 6’2” Weight: 240lbs.

Finishing Manoeuvres: Shining Wizard, Muto Lock, Moonsault

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Any attempt at a concise runthrough of the career of Keiji Mutoh is a daunting affair.

Quite simply put, the man has seen and done everything there is to be done in puroresu. A superstar in the nascent NJPW of the nineties, a promoter in a shock takeover of AJPW in 2002, a successful export to the NWA and WCW, and even now, at age 51, wrestling’s quintessential player-manager in his newly-founded Wrestle-1, Keiji Mutoh, as much as a privileged few, is one of the faces of puroresu, readily recognisable even to non-fans. Able to straddle the worlds of serious professional wrestling as the most charismatic man in

An established amateur wrestler and judoka in high school, Mutoh began training under Hiro Matsuda in the New Japan dojo in the early eighties, debuting against career-long peer Masahiro Chono in October of 1984.

In 1986, an excursion to the Florida territory, where Matsuda had trained native wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, led to the creation of his first alter-ego, The White Ninja. Upon his return in 1987, Mutoh threw his lot in with NJPW’s unceasing succession of gang wars, siding with NJPW against the NOW faction (sound familiar?), and briefly seizing IWGP tag gold with fellow young lion Shiro Koshinaka. Another attempt was made at repackaging Mutoh thereafter, with Space Lone Wolf attempting, like Jushin Liger and Tiger Mask before him, to tap in to current trends in Anime...

Mutoh’s career changed forever during his second American excursion, first to Puerto Rico and World Class as The Super Black Ninja, where he bonded in reality with fellow NJPW dojo grads Chono and Shin’ya Hashimoto, then as a mist-spitting descendant of The Great Kabuki in Jim Crockett Promotions’ NWA. It was in Flair Country

that The Great Muta was born. Debuting in March of 1989 and seconded by Gary Hart, Muta snagged the NWA World Television Championship from Sting in September, feuding all the while with Sting, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, who defeated Muta for his title in January of 1990. Shortly thereafter, Mutoh left for home, returning to NJPW, where he alternated between Mutoh and Muta as and when he felt necessary...

Upon his return, Mutoh quickly made his way up the roster at New Japan, where he and Chono revisited their friendship and took the tag titles. Though they would lose the belts to rivals Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki, the statement had been made. 1991 was the year of the group that would come to be known as “The Three Musketeers”, as Mutoh, Chono and Hashimoto joined forces and became the athletes of a new generation, surpassing Inoki, Fujinami and Choshu as the focus of the promotion’s expanding television and stadium-show presence. In the finals of the G1 Climax of that year, Chono defeated Mutoh in a legendary encounter to grab the tournament. The pair were joined by their stablemate and the trio celebrated in their moment of ascension.

Bound by Blood In 1992, Mutoh would finally capture IWGP heavyweight gold, days after his brother-in-

FEATURES arms Chono repeated his G1-winning form.

In an infamous match in December of ‘92, as The Great Muta, Mutoh bladed himself so deeply and thickly that it left scars that remain prominent on his forehead today, and inspired the Muta Scale of Bloodloss, a wrestling journalism trope intended to denote the levels of juice attained in a contest. 1993 saw Muta and Chono tie up again, in a title-for-title encounter, as Chono put his newly-won NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Mutoh’s IWGP strap.

Muta was victorious, becoming one of only two wrestlers, alongside Fujinami, to attain the honour. He then spent 1993 defending the title against stars like Hulk Hogan, Sting, Chono and Hashimoto, to whom he would eventually lose the belt in September. Following the defeat, and after a special tag-team contest with Hulk Hogan against the Hellraisers, Hawk and Sasaki, Mutoh dropped Muta as a full-time concern, resurrecting him when needs were, including against Antonio Inoki on his seemingly interminable retirement tour.

In November of 1994, Mutoh and Hase joined forces, and lifted the tag straps from the Hellraisers, his third tag reign.

1995 saw Mutoh rise to the top again, defeating stablemate Hashimoto for the IWGP heavyweight belt in May, dropping the tag straps, and winning the G1 Climax as champ, the first man to do so. The remainder of the year was spent leading the troops in the unending group warfare that dominated the group’s bigger picture, as the company champ faced down the threat from shoot-style invaders, the UWFi. After losing the strap on January 4th to UWFi leader Nobuhiko Takada, Mutoh began feuding with longtime ally Chono and his heel Wolf Army, a conflict that would end up bringing the nWo name to Japan, in a nod to the inspiration the Americans had taken from puroresu’s penchant for gang violence.

A long and slow guessing game followed, with the heel turn from NJPW to nWo teased out across several losses and failures, exposing Mutoh as a man in need of backup. The Mutoh/Muta dichotomy reared its head again in the ultimate battle for his soul, the virtuous Mutoh staying true to the lion mark, the black-clad Muta playing the two factions against each other.

The games went on until Muta won out before being retired again, and an incensed Mutoh joined the nWo Japan.

Running amuck as was nWo protocol, Chono and Mutoh took their second tag titles, disgracing their prestige by the trademark nWo spraypaint.

Knee-ly Done?

The belts were vacated, however, in 1998, when Mutoh’s knees had had enough of the moonsault. When he returned, he seized leadership of the nWo, and turned it face in early 1999. Upon Chono’s return, the nWo split into the face nWo, comprised of Mutoh and younger talent, and Team 2000, led by Chono and his heel loyalists from both WCW and NJPW. In March of 1999, Mutoh landed his third IWGP heavy strap, beating Scott Norton, and losing it to Genichiro Tenryu in December. January 2000 saw the Mutoh-Chono feud end, with Mutoh on the losing end thanks to his knees.

Rather than rehab, Mutoh retooled his Great Muta gimmick for one last go in the States, and in 2000, resurfaced alongside Vampiro and his Carnival as a minion of the Canadian vampire, feuding once again with Sting in a nostalgia angle. It was clear that WCW wasn’t really interested, though, and Mutoh was let go, subject to a complete no-go clause that stopped him from taking up a WWF contract offer, a standard caveat in WCW contracts after a mass defection that spring. Returning to Japan, Mutoh headined Tokyo Dome with Shinjiro Ohtani against Jushin Liger and Manabu Nakanishi on January 4th 2001.

With his head shaved bald and a goatee grown out, the older, wiser Muta spent the year engaged in the NJPW-AJPW angle, forming a cross-promotional faction known as BATT (Bad Ass Translate Trading) alongside members of NJPW, AJPW and Michinoku Pro, helping establish interpromotional angles and feuds as a mainstay of contemporary puro. This angle saw Mutoh storm AJPW and take its Triple Crown from Tenryu, as well as the IWGP Heavyweight and AJPW Double Cup Tag Team titles with Taiyo Kea of BATT, giving Mutoh six different belts.

The Business of the Business In September of 2002, Mutoh crossed the line from superstar wrestler, to power figure in puroresu, buying All Japan Pro Wrestling’s majority stock outright from the Baba family at the company’s 30th Anniversary party, becoming the owner

and operator of the company. Quickly capitalising on his wrestling stardom to open doors as a businessman, Mutoh’s All Japan established itself as different from the much-loved AJPW of tradition.

In July of 2002, months after his full-time defection to the company, Mutoh wrestled three times in three personae, with Mutoh and Muta joined on a card by the violent and animalistic Kokushi Muso. His time in AJPW was spent in the ring dueling with members of the invading, gangster-like Voodoo Murders, and travelling to ROH, TNA, and even the UK’s RQW in 2007.

In 2008, Mutoh, as Muta, lifted both the IWGP and Triple Crown belts at once, besting Shinsuke Nakamura and Satoshi Kojima respectively. In 2009, showing his age, he would lose to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yoshihiro Takayama respectively.

From there, Muta has faded into the background as a pro wrestler, headlining as a special attraction in All Japan, and elsewhere, including NJPW and Pro Wrestling Guerilla, but staying out of the title picture. Ater a serious backstage incident that left wrestler Nobukazu Hirai in a coma, Mutoh resigned his AJPW presidency in 2011. Staying around in unofficial power as a locker-room leader, Mutoh would eventually leave AJPW in 2013, in protest against investor Nobuo Shiraishi’s bumbling creative direction, having attempted to buy back the promotion.

October 2013 saw the formation of the “new” Wrestle-1, a company that shared a name with a Mutoh business venture with K-1, and similarly specialises in what Mutoh has termed “fighting entertainment”.

Taking a cluster of loyal AJPW wrestlers with him to form the new group, thr future looks bright for the reinvigorated promoter, as he begins to train in a new generation of rookies and search his ranks for the ace of the new group.

A superstar, an enigma, an artist, a promoter, the legacy of Keiji Mutoh is ongoing, and knowing the man’s stubbornness in the face of ageing, injury and adverse business conditions, the final chapter in his career is likely in the distance.

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TNA

FOR SALE Text By John M. Milner

By the early 1990s, with former competitors Verne Gagne and Jim Crockett MIA in the wrestling wars and WCW losing $23 million in 1993, McMahon may have felt that he didn’t need to bring his A-Game in order to maintain his status at the top of the wrestling food chain. Perhaps that’s why we got Doink the Clown, the Godwinns, the Bodydonnas and Max Moon, among others. But, eventually, fans went for looking for a suitable alternative to the cartoon-like WWE.

Company for Sale. One lady owner…

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While the vaunted “Attitude Era” may be over-glamourized (for every Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, there was a Naked Mideon and Viscera), one cannot deny that the company now known as World Wrestling Entertainment raised its game to a new level during that period. Why? Because they were forced to by having competitors in the form of the ground-breaking ECW and the well-financed WCW.

That’s where ECW and, later, WCW came in. Extreme Championship Wrestling lived up to its name, producing a style of pro wrestling that appealed to the 18-to-35 male demographic that made up, and continues to make up, the core audience of pro wrestling shows. With the advent of the internet and tape-trading, word of the little organization that could began to spread beyond its basecamp in Philadelphia.

Fans who passed on watching Hog Pen matches could fill the void with the extreme style of ECW, which was also able to provide good, solid wrestling amidst the busted tables and chairslamming action.

But no matter how popular ECW became, it, like modern-day Ring of Honor, never had the financial backing to bring down WWE. If anything, the more ECW popped up on WWE’s (and later WCW’s) radar, the more likely that their top talent would be raided.

However, what ECW did do was force

WWE to adapt and change their style and incorporate much of what ECW fans were enamoured with into their own programming.

Uncle Ted’s Bottomless Pockets But if ECW didn’t threaten WWE’s financial bottom line, WCW soon would.

With media mogul Ted Turner’s backing, WCW took a page from WWE’s playbook, raiding the rosters of other organizations, including WWE. They signed away much of WWE’s top talent, including Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage and later Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, and everyone from Ted Dibiase to Sean Waltman to Brutus Beefcake to Mean Gene Okerlund. This sent a message to WWE that there was a new challenger to its throne.

WCW followed up their message with another, debuting Monday Nitro to compete for ratings against WWE’s Monday Night Raw. But the mid-90s was a lull, creatively, for both of the “Big Two” organizations on the North American Wrestling scene. If WWE’s product left fans looking for alternatives, WCW wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. The Atlanta outfit may have had a deep roster with plenty of name recognition (Hogan, Flair, Sting, Savage, etc.) but often it seemed as if their roster was simply going through the motions. However, the stage had been set for WCW to actively compete with WWE. The premiere of Nitro had given notice that WCW would take the war to WWE’s door.

FEATURES Then came that fateful episode of Monday Nitro where Scott Hall, formerly known as Razor Ramon in WWE, leaped the barricade and made his presence known in WCW. He was followed by Kevin Nash, formerly WWE Champion Diesel and, at the 1996 Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, Hulk Hogan returned to WCW and aligned himself with what he dubbed “the New World Order of Wrestling.”

Attitude Adjustment Suddenly, the high perch in which WWE had sat on for years was reached by WCW. The ratings for Nitro soon surpassed those of Raw and would continue to do so for almost two years.

No longer was WWE the most popular and recognized organization in North America. WCW had scored, at the very least, a share in the #1 spot and, for many, it had knocked WWE off that perch and claimed it for their own. With the nWo storyline and the exciting action of the WCW’s Cruiserweight division, WCW was providing wrestling fans with the action they wanted to see, and they had the financial backing of a media conglomerate. By 1997, WCW was out WWE-ing WWE. WWE soon realized that the wrestling business had changed and they had to change with it. It could no longer afford to present the same brand of cartoon-like professional wrestling that it had in the past. Adapting the wrestling style that ECW had popularized, dropping the idea of gimmicks in favour of characters, blurring the lines between good and bad, putting a “-13” after the PG rating and ushering in “the Attitude Era” led to better ratings, better pay-per-view buyrates and the creation of the Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, De-Generation X, Mankind, Mr. McMahon and an edgier Undertaker.

WWE may downplay WCW’s achievements in a classic example of history being written by the victors, but the Attitude Era came about because of WWE’s need to change in order to compete with WCW. Fast-forward to 2013…

If you go to any website or check out Twitter, fans’ attitudes toward wrestling in general and WWE in particular has

changed. Fans seem to only be tuning in so they can tweet and blog about how much they hate the current product.

But when one stops to think about it, what incentive is there for WWE to improve its product? The North American wrestling scene has been without a valid competitor to WWE since 2001, when WCW and ECW both closed down within weeks of each other. For a dozen years, WWE has had a virtual monopoly on their industry. There are plenty of independent promotions out there, including Ring of Honor, CHIKARA and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla to name just a few, and each has a loyal fan base and is capable of putting on a solid night of wrestling, but none of them have the power behind them to take the fight to WWE. Since its inception in 2002, TNA Wrestling has wanted to brand itself as WWE’s main competition. While it could be argued that TNA is the second biggest organization in North America, it has never positioned itself to threaten WWE. While TNA’s X Division has at times provided the same exciting action that WCW’s Cruiserweight division had, its attempts to recapture lightning in a bottle by signing Hulk Hogan, bringing in former ECW stars, going head to head with Raw on Monday nights and recreating the nWo with the Immortal and Aces & Eights stables have done little, if anything, to shrink the distance between TNA and WWE. Recently, word surfaced that TNA might be up for sale. TNA officials were quick to quell those rumours but that didn’t stop the Internet from exploding with speculation and opinion. Everyone from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to musician Billy Corgan to former WWE star Jake “the Snake” Roberts has been mentioned as possible buyers of TNA. As of this writing, no such sale has taken place.

Still, it bears contemplation as to the repercussions of such a sale, were it to happen. The prospect of someone with the capital of a Ted Turner buying TNA may be unlikely, but what would happen if TNA was bought by someone with the ability to spend money to make money and had enough wrestling knowledge to steer TNA in the right direction? What if the end result was TNA being able to

position itself as a solid competitor to the WWE? Such a development wouldn’t happen overnight (and wrestling fans would be wise to remember that). But with the right leadership and the right financial backing, TNA could eventually find itself being seen as a legitimate competitor to WWE. If TNA could position itself to be a realistic alternative to WWE, the landscape of pro wrestling could begin to change. That’s not to say TNA could, or even would have to, rival WWE in terms of ratings, attendance and buyrates. All that would be necessary is for TNA to significantly close the gap and make WWE wake up and take notice.

They would have to realize that status quo wouldn’t cut it to maintain their audience and income.

Much like it did to combat the rise of WCW in the late-90s, WWE would be forced to enhance and improve their product in order to maintain their hold on the lion’s share of the wrestling audience. They would have to draw on what the independents, like ROH and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and others, in order to see what is working for them, much like they did with ECW. They would have to revolutionize their product, elevate those workers that the fans were willing to pay and tune in (either live or on pay-per-view) to see, or create new characters to appeal to their fanbase.

They would have to develop the next Rock, the next Stone Cold, create the next DX. They would have to develop storylines that the fans want to see and craft those storylines to have an intriguing beginning, a compelling middle and a satisfying ending.

In short, WWE would have to “up their game” If a new owner of TNA could improve their product and increase their share of the audience to a significant degree, WWE would be forced to react. They would no longer have the monopoly they’ve enjoyed since 2001. They would no longer be secure in the knowledge that their audience would be forced to watch their product because they were, on the national scale, the only game in town.

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The Death of

WC.... TNA? TEXT By Mike McGrath -Bryan

It’s hard not to see, at least for veteran fans of the sport. The vast, cavernous arenas, dimly lit to cover the dearth of paid live attendees. The gaping maw of the JumboTron expanding each way to fill up space and preserve the illusion of progress and dominance. A roster of young, indigenous talent long since used to having their ambitions cut short but stuck for other options, while shadows of legends hang around, pulling down six figures each that the company can scarcely provide.

TNA?

Total Nonstop Twilight

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Spring 2001. From the heights of 1997 & 1998, when Monday Nitro ruled cable television and its payper-views graced the front page of USA Today, the twilight months of WCW were a sorry spectacle. Moved to a box on the wrong side of town, WCW office morale was in the pits, for what was left of the staff. On screen, veterans went through the motions and made the best of their situation, playing at being divided by shadowy investors and recorded phone calls from Eric Bischoff, while young stars reconciled their lack of direction with the fact that they were on TV and making money at all. It seemed a small mercy to the legacy of Jim Crockett and the old Carolina territory when the plug was pulled

from the company on March 23, 2001. Little did any of us know of the long-term ramifications of what promised to be the apex of the Attitude Era...

Winter 2013. Haemorrhaging money from an ill-thought out move from studio tapings to the road, TNA Wrestling, a group formed from the need in professional wrestling for competition to the now-monolithic WWE, finds itself in a similar state, dealing with an ambitious streak that successive creative teams could not sate.

Releasing several high-profile talents, and stupidly, the mass of young talent it had acquired in the Gut Check initiative, it also found itself dealing with older names and staff that refused to take cuts to keep the show on the road, and were promptly shown the door. On a depleted roster, strained circumstances, and foolishly sticking to stock wrestling narratives, TNA, like many independent media businesses, finds itself on a precipice. The next few months are indeed critical for the Nashville wrestling show that could...

It is a sad state of affairs to be discussing TNA in this manner, let’s clarify that to begin with. Fans of the company can rightly point to its artistic prime, from 2003 to roughly 2008, and talk about a vital, world-class wrestling programme, that, bar some very counterproductive creative decisions

(from the mind of the man that ran WCW creative towards its death, no less), held its own with any company in the world. And furthermore, many of the wrestlers responsible for these heights remain on the roster today, practically ignored by their company.

What’s worth pointing out, before we begin comparing the creative and interpersonal ends of the two companies is this: should TNA fall in the next few months, it has nowhere near the height to drop from that WCW did. WCW was a multi-million dollar proposition that was a licence to print money, even in its jaundiced dotage, thanks to existing licensing agreements, and the Crockett & WCW video libraries. TNA was built from scratch, as a reaction to the death of WCW, and involved a lot of elbow grease from a lot of people, expanding on a literal fan-by-fan basis in its infancy in a weakened wrestling market. WCW went out in such a rotten, bloated fashion that TNA’s myriad of potential downfalls will all be heroes’ sendoffs, at least by comparison...

Held Up by the Middle WCW, while kept afloat by the presence of names from the WWF and the NWA’s heyday on TBS, was always, always dependent on a strong backbone of mid-to-upper card talent that provided quality in-ring action. In the early 1990s, Steve Austin, Mick Foley,

FEATURES Triple H, Brian Pillman, Dustin Rhodes and others were secondary to Sting and Ric Flair. By the mid-1990s, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and He Who Shall Not Be Named were entering career performances to apathy from an office run by the main-eventers.

All of the people listed, every one, went to the WWF out of frustration, many at a paycut and increased hours, and became superstars, main-eventers and champions, while their former adversaries faded into irrelevance. By 2000, it had finally hit everyone but WCW themselves that wrestling is a young man’s game, and though cynical attempts were made to push young talent in a major cross-generational feud, the angle was quickly nixed, as the remaining clutch of greedy vets called in their creative control clauses, allowing WCW to stagnate further, as creative scrambled to find increasingly ridiculous ideas and unfeasible crossovers to circumnavigate the talent issue.

Viewers voted with their remotes, as Austin, Foley, Jericho, Guerrero and crew topped ratings weekly for the WWF. Step forward to 2013 and TNA is full of talent in its prime, up and down the card, that are ready to take the company forward on their own and become stars of a new style of wrestling. They kind of have to at this point as most of the imports, bar a beyond-exhausted Angle, a barely-there Sting and a complacent Jeff Hardy, are gone. After years of playing second fiddle to veterans, enduring start-stop pushes, and nonsensical booking, however, top-class names like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and James Storm have been almost irreversibly damaged, with Joe in particular a victim of horrific misuse and punitive booking under Hulk Hogan’s watch, and potential company leader Storm an apathetic shadow as of recent thanks to a demotion to the tag ranks, after a botched main-event ascension that saw him used as a pawn in Hogan’s real-life political games.

With WWE stuck in its mould and not providing another option for these athletes, and the independent circuit

too much of a chore, TNA should be cognisant of what it can offer these athletes to stay onboard, and then lead their company’s resurrection with them. Having spent ten years getting “the rub” from ex-WWE, WCW and ECW names, surely they have all developed “star status” by now. TNA should lead with the younger talent it built, and finally pull the trigger on the potential shown in 2005. Creative direction is in a comparable place in both companies, also.

Creative Chaos WCW in 2001 was leading with yet another mass feud inside of its ranks, the latest being The Magnificent Seven, a troupe of (you guessed it) veterans running around the company, led by WCW President Ric Flair, wreaking havoc and making life miserable for the remaining babyfaces. Y’know, just like The Millionaires’ Club antagonised the New Blood, the nWo 2000 hung around and messed with a few people, the nWo Wolfpac split from the nWo and created grievances for them, as the nWo initially had for WCW, which had been dominated by the Horsemen and terrorised by the moronic Dungeon of Doom slighly later.In short, nothing revelatory, bar some slight few developments among the cruiserweight ranks.

TNA has just finished being circuitously pestered by Aces ‘n’ Eights, a fake biker gang with access to the Impact Zone for a clubhouse, its own special labelless beer and apparently enough sway in the truck to have their own camera crew and entrance music cued and on time, having been slowly seen off by TNA originals and the second coming of the Main Event Mafia, a troupe of (you guessed it) veterans, who featured members of previous circuitously-operating gang Immortal (including TNA originals Fourtune/Fortune), who were slowly seen off by Sting, Angle and others, who had themselves been seen off when they were in the Main Event Mafia, by the TNA originals, and so on.

Barring some sort of heel faction that will no doubt have a plan to keep Dixie Carter in power or put Jeff Jarrett back on top, terrorising the TNA originals in the process, they have, in short, nothing, bar some slight developments

in the X-Division ranks. Not that these plans matter for TNA in the end, as Bully Ray will inevitably be involved, and not so much telegraph, as put up for DVD pre-order, the outcome of the whole thing, discouraging further viewing and driving ratings down.

Subtlety, Bully, look it up...

Number One? More Like Number Two...

The foundation of any company, the World Heavyweight Championship, is the key to any company’s woes. The title is always there, the centrepiece of the company and the raison d’etre of its roster. Make the title number one, and every headline feud is meaningful.

Right?

By 2000, the WCW title had changed hands after a fingerpoke, been around the waist of David Arquette as he promoted Ready 2 Rumble, dropped in a botched work-shoot angle with Hogan where Hogan was shown the door in reality soon after, changed hands nearly a dozen times in a year, including four Jeff Jarrett title runs, and thrown in the rubbish at WCW offices as Create-a-Wrestler headed to the WWF. With nothing at the centre of the company to anchor it, nothing made sense and nothing mattered.

In 2013, the TNA title has also become little more than an afterthought, barring AJ Styles’ good thinking to use the belt as a means of keeping his departure angle with TNA fresh as he takes it worldwide and defends it. This simple idea bestows more privilege on the belt than any of the month-long title reigns that have pockmarked it, robbed it of direction and devalued it.

The big belt, which, in its current form looks like a toy, by the way, has simply been passed around as a prop to be fought over by the unending parade of gangs using TNA’s alternate universe as turf, instead of being placed around the waist of a Joe or Roode for a long-term reign that would see them either overcome unending hurdles and garnering sympathy, or narrowly escaping their comeuppance for heelish behaviour, thus providing impetus for viewing rematches and making face opponents look better for only having been clipped off by cheating or interference. Simple storytelling, that makes sense and

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allows contenders and champs alike to grow organically and explore the creative possibilities that result. How hard can it be?

Undoing the Business On the business end, things are as uncertain for TNA as they were for shark-jumping WCW. In 2000, the messy, loveless marriage that was AOL TimeWarner took Ted Turner and sent him down the hallway, where his phone stopped ringing, for criticising the Republican party, by all accounts. In a punitive measure, his beloved sports franchises, cornerstones of Turner’s grip on Southern culture, were sold off. The Braves, the Hawks, and WCW were all deemed downmarket, and put on the market alongside their IP, video libraries and, except for WCW, their TV slots. That last bit is what drove WCW’s value down and turned a company that had turned over a hundred million dollars three years previous into a three-million-dollar fire sale.

WCW had been a victim of the increasingly tight world of American corporate culture. Yet, up until losing domestic television, the company had multiple upsides for potential investors, including Eric Bischoff’s Fusient Group. WCW had a roster evenly comprised of marketable young talent, and bankable existing IP for the then-nascent DVD market and other licensing. Its deals around the world, including with Bravo and Channel 5 in the UK, with EA in the world of gaming, and its deal with Toshiba EMI in Japan for the immensely lucrative straight-to-video market there, stood the company in good stead, while toys did a brisk trade through a deal with Playmates. All of this hinged, however, on television, the platform to expose all these products to watching eyeballs.

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In winter of 2013, television is, at once, more central to the entertainment business than ever before, yet more fragmented, as the age of scheduled broadcasting across a handful of terrestrial networks and cable networks gives way to Netflix, cable companies’ in-box VOD, YouTube, Vimeo and other platforms, making for potentially far larger reach across numerous markets.

Building its televised offering around Impact on Spike TV gives TNA a safety option, as it remains on prime-time on Thursday nights. Furthermore, its

international licensing and syndication has been superb: since arriving on Challenge in the UK, TNA has outrated WWE consistently and spun this success off into tours and UK-exclusive merchandise, while in Japan, TNA has effectively read puroresu its last rites on its second-largest carrier, Nippon Television, garnering triple the airtime and double the repeats that Pro Wrestling NOAH’s di Colosseo show gets on their now-shared home on NTV G+.

Meanwhile, TNA explores secondary content in a way WCW couldn’t have: YouTube plays host to TNA’s king’s ransom of short-form content, secondary TV shows make money not only through syndication but through IPTV deals like the one it had for Xplosion with BT for its subscribers.

Meanwhile, though traditional home video channels are on the wane in a big way for all but the strongest distributors, TNA’s DVD offerings continue to fare well with casual audiences in the UK, through the former Silvervision (and their mass of devoted followers) and in Australia, through Madman. It is these platforms that TNA needs to strengthen and move forward with, perhaps with a stronger, more varied merchandise offering, and focusing more on compilation and documentary DVDs, as well as remastering content from its splendiferous salad days for Blu-ray release.

TNA should use its Viacom/MTV connections to licence a strong, mainstream DVD deal in the States, too, from new releases made for chart sections of mainstream outlets offline and on, to Poundland-level mass-presses of old events and NWA:TNA weekly PPVs. With hundreds upon hundreds of hours of content in hundreds of episodes, there is also no call for TNA and its home video licensees to not be on Netflix. None.

One Careful Lady Owner...

These options are all, of course, dependent on who eventually winds up running TNA, placed on the chopping block by investors, the Carter family.

Viacom would be foolish to not pick it up, really: an in-house content creator hitting sports and entertainment markets across several media, with a

product that could counter its competition creatively and spark another lucrative war of promoters.

Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins could, with the right partners at creative and financial levels, be the guy to help turn it around.

Having gone through the motions in music for years, it’s clear that this very strong and once-inspired artist is in sore need of a new canvas. Free of his old record label and its issues, Corgan could bring legitimate indie cred to TNA, especially with a radical sweep and reinvention of the company, pending his ability to play down the derision some of his recent actions have earned from his longtime fans (whoring his tunes to car ads, suing the US government over downloads, etc.).

He could also equally wind up being a money mark that bleeds the company dry and devaluing it, also, like IT magnate Nobuo Shiraishi has done to All Japan Pro Wrestling. Much like WCW, TNA is being watched closely by one of its former leaders, and if Jeff Jarrett can scoop up the change, expect him to attempt to wrest back control of his baby the way Bischoff tried to do at the head of Fusient Media Ventures.

If, like WCW, TNA falls to WWE, expect TNA’s name and face to disappear instantly and entirely. TNA has always done well, but never threatened WWE, never incurred with wrath of Vince McMahon, and so, would be less satisfying of a head to take off and place in a trophy case. The video library would add hugely to WWE’s literal mountain of content (analogue formats are stored in the side of a mountain in New York, in weather-proof storage space hollowed out from the natural feature), and make for a chapter or two in documentary presentations, but ultimately become a footnote.

We can only hope that doesn’t happen: if TNA dies, likely so does the viability of professional wrestling as a major and competitive business, at least in the States, for the foreseeable future, as corporate media culture there continues to balk at developing risky, new propositions. And even worse, the giddy heights of 2005, in the ring and among a buzzing fan base, will remain a distant memory...

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MIKE AWESOME ‘Agile Big Man’ (Part I)

TEXT By JAMES SIMPSON

Awesome. When that word is spoken today in wrestling most fans will think of The Miz and his catchphrase “I’m awesome!” For some, it brings to mind something much different. For some it means one man: Mike Awesome Gladiator... Rrrrready!

Mike Awesome (real name Michael Alfonso) was a 6ft 7in, 300lb, mullet-sporting giant of a man. He began his wrestling in earnest in 1989 to limited success. Using the name “The Gladiator”, he worked his way up the ladder in Japan’s now-legendary Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). For such a large wrestler he won over many fans due to his ability to perform high risk moves such as planchas, suicide dives, slingshot splashes and top rope powerbombs.

Awesome also briefly wrestled in the pre-Extreme ECW, where he lost to fan-favourite jobber JT Smith. Despite this, Alfonso (who by now had started using the moniker ‘Awesome’ Mike Awesome) left a lasting impression on the notoriously hard to please fans by battering Smith, with the ref then breaking the top rope off of the ring as he went for a big splash. The ECW faithful loved every second of it and it was a sign of things to come for Mike. He wouldn’t, however, return to an ECW ring for over four years.

It was during the mid-90s that Awesome took part in top line matches and feuds in FMW, even taking part in the company’s infamous, ultra-violent gimmick matches. He also won the promotion’s top belts, such as the FMW Brass Knuckles Championship, and took part in one of the most bizzare matches in wrestling history: the No-Rope Electrified Barb Wire Exploding Double Hell Pool Death match. Mike also started his most notorious feud in FMW, against Masato Tanaka, a man he would go on to regularly clash with in gruelling matches around the world. The epic battles between these two would bring Mike (plus Tanaka) back to ECW in the summer of 1998.

Awesomely Extreme

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Returning to ECW with a brief but impressive clash between the two on Hardcore TV, Tanaka was victorious, but Awesome’s vicious post-match attack set up a rematch later in the year at the annual Heatwave PPV. On August 2nd in Dayton, Ohio in front of over 4,000 fans, ECW held one of its greatest events. There wasn’t a weak match on the card. Rob Van Dam and Sabu tangled with

Awesome vs Masato Tanaka (Heatwave 1998) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7juI6F-bc4

Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki in an epic tag title contest. Taz downed Bam Bam Bigelow in a hard-hitting Falls Count Anywhere match.

Awesome vs Tanaka seemed like it wouldn’t be able to entertain fans in the same way as the other brilliant bouts on offer, but the pair of them had a powerful and brutal outing that left those watching stunned.

Awesome hit a suicide dive to the outside minutes into the affair, Tanaka no sold a masive German suplex to land an impressive snap-powerslam, and things took a turn for the hardcore when Masato smashed a chair into the Mighty Mullet’s head following a sprint down the ramp. Fans erupted when Mike landed a springboard splash off the top rope, over the barricade and into the front row onto his foe. Head rattling chair shots were dished out which surely did nothing for either man’s skulls, but the highlight of the scrap was when Tanaka muscled up Awesome for a powerbomb over the top rope and through a table at ringside below.

Awesome showed his mettle by kicking out of the subsequent cover, plus two roaring elbows.

It took a tornado DDT, the Diamond Dust, onto a stack of chairs for Masato to win the epic battle.

Fans were giddy with delight after seeing such a vicious and hard fought match. Paul Heyman must

FEATURES have been giddy too, as he had big plans for both men after such gutsy performances.

Dangerously 2000, when Awesome power bombed his foe off the top rope and through a table.

Going for Gold

You Sold Out!

Those plans were put on hold for an entire year.

Shortly after the stunt-filled Heatwave brawl, Awesome returned to FMW and suffered a serious knee injury. It must have been a crushing moment the big man: he was surely set to become a star in his native America and this was a monumental setback. With Awesome out of the picture, Tanaka was still used in ECW. And in the summer of 1999 was set to battle Taz for the World Championship – until, that is, it has was revealed that Taz would soon be leaving for the then WWF. Everyone thought it was a dead cert that Tanaka would get the belt, but ECW kingpin Paul Heyman knew something no one else did: Awesome was fully healed.

After a brief angle involving Awesome and Raven holding the tag belts, it looked as if ‘The Mullet’ was set to be on top in ECW for a long time. Heyman, though, had other plans. Rob Van Dam was set to return to E-C-Dub after an ankle injury, and after years of people saying RVD was the best wrestler in ECW to have never won the ‘big one’, the World Championship, it was finally his time to be the top guy. This meant Awesome losing the belt when RVD returned. Awesome was keen to remain on top of the heap, but Heyman would not change his mind. This is what led to one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history...

Having worked briefly for All Japan, Mighty Mike went straight back to ECW, At the Anarchy Rulz pay-perview on September 19th. ‘Showing up’ in the crowd, Awesome wanted in during the title match. This being ECW, he was granted his wish and put into the contest.

Now a three way dance, fans were unsure who would walk out champion. Which is exactly what Heyman wanted. Fans were stunned when both Tanaka and Awesome pinned Taz, meaning a new champion would definitely be crowned. After another gripping, power move filled battle, Awesome scored the win. He was the top dog in ECW after only having one match back.

Awesome opened negotiations with WCW, a company in dire need of help (as it turned, out no one could help them...). Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo were set to ‘relaunch’ WCW after a brief hiatus. Eric thought it be good idea for Awesome to show up on the April 10th relaunch episode of Nitro and bin the ECW Chamipionship on live TV. (very much like when Bischoff convinced Alundra Blayze, aka Madusa, to jump from WWF as Women’s Champion to bin the belt on Nitro in December 1995). Awesome was offered a big contract and signing bonus, but was still under contract to ECW. Due to Heyman once missing a payment on his contract, Awesome claimed ECW had voided his contract and stated he could legally sign with WCW. Thankfully for ECW, the father of Paul Heyman was a lawyer and used some legal wrangling to get ECW a payoff and to tie Bischoff’s hands, as it were, and to prevent him from using the ECW title on-screen. Even so, when Awesome debuted in WCW and smashed Kevin Nash with a crutch, he was very much still ECW Champion.

Fans the world over were intrigued by what had happened. Still deemed ‘untested’ in the States, many pondered if Awesome could handle headlining America’s number three promotion as it battled the much bigger and more financially secure WWF and WCW. The ‘Land of Extreme’ had just gotten a national TV deal with TNN (now Spike, airing TNA). The relationship was rocky and as a result the show was not promoted correctly and suffered ratings below its capabilities, but this did not reflect on Awesome as champion. He won praise for his rematches with Masato, in which they traded the belt in November, although he struggled on interviews.

The high impact, all out stunt shows his matches were becoming earned a lot of fans, however, though some claimed he was only capable of good contests if he went against Tanaka. While he did have his best outings with him, Heyman put Awesome in programmes with others; Spike Dudley fell victim at Guilty as Charged in January 2000 in a truly brutal championship defence, whilst Kid Kash was next, at Living

Thanks to the legal work of Heyman’s father, however, Awesome had to honour one more booking for his former Extreme employer: he had to drop the ECW title to anyone Heyman wanted at a house show days later. Awesome did this, in a ludicrous way, losing to now-WWF star Tazz (AKA Taz). Somehow, Heyman had gotten Vince McMahon to agree to one of his superstars going back to ECW and winning the belt.

Tazz won with the Tazz-mission hold pretty quickly and Awesome got up straightaway, no selling what had just happened, and left via the crowd with WCW security.

Awesome was now free to prosper prosper in World Championship Wrestling...

In part two, we examine Awesome’s botched time at WCW, plus his equally botched time in WWE, his return to the independents and his suicide in 2007.

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TEXT By PHIL CLARK

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The world of professional wrestling is built around competition. There’s competition for ratings, for talent, and in any other way a promotion can elevate itself above their competitors. Does this almost pathological need for intense competition automatically mean there is no room for cooperation amongst the biggest and smallest promotions?

In America, the answer seems to be a resounding “YES!” as there are major promotions like WWE and TNA, and minor promotions like Ring of Honor and all of America’s Independent wrestling promotions, known as “Indies.”

But even in professional baseball the majors and minors work together when it comes to talent. For example, major league teams send players down to the minors both for shaping up and for rehab assignments when coming back from injuries. This provides major league teams with a way to get their players back to form and minor league teams with a momentary boost in ticket sales due to the novelty factor of a major league player or players coming down to the minors. Think something like that is going to happen on a regular basis in American pro wrestling? Think again.

The Great Divide There is an incredible gulf between the major and minor promotions in America, with the same divide also existing between WWE and TNA. It’s almost as if there’s a force field separating the two majors from each other and the minors from both majors. It’s one thing for the promotions and its wrestlers to perpetuate this feeling as it is part of the competitive nature of the business, but for the fans to buy into it the way they have is a whole different thing.

Granted, it can’t be helping the business when WWE continuously bashes the Indies, most notably during C.M. Punk’s first world title reign back in 2008. It screams of a bully picking on someone who doesn’t have the ability (i.e. money) to fight back; a tad ironic considering the anti-bullying campaign WWE has been trying to promote for the last few years.

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It doesn’t help the business as a whole if fans have the belief that if a wrestler is in a minor promotion, they’re nothing; if they’re in TNA, they’re still nothing because they’re not in WWE; if they leave ROH or the Indies, they’re a sellout, or that they’re a sellout simply by being in WWE. These have been the prevailing feelings among fans of American minor league promotions, TNA, and WWE for years, and it’s only getting worse. Fans have become so

FEATURES entrenched in these beliefs that it’s practically gotten to a fanatical state.

If you don’t believe this, check out any forum that has free discussion about the majors and minors in American pro wrestling, or any comment section on any wrestling site.

Aside from the trolls that populate comment sections throughout the Internet (subject matter be damned), almost every article’s comments will inevitably lead to a furious mudslinging about what promotion is better and why.

These comments will have ROHbots bashing WWE, TNA fans bashing WWE, and fans of WWE bashing everyone else because of WWE’s status as undisputed king of American pro wrestling.

Class Ceiling It’s almost ironic that there is such a perceived and actual divide between major and minor promotions in the U.S. because building an Independent promotion from scratch and making it successful, to turn nothing into something, is the pro wrestling version of the American Dream. Maybe it’s because there aren’t many that believe in the American Dream anymore, or maybe that any Indy promotion who wants to rise is seen as getting “too big for their britches,” but the desire to cheer for the underdog just isn’t there anymore in American pro wrestling.

If you look at the way WWE’s roster has changed over recent years, plenty of wrestlers who have gained fame and notoriety have come mainly from ROH. The top two younger stars in the promotion currently, C.M. Punk and Daniel Bryan, were two of the top wrestlers in ROH during its early years. Seth Rollins of The Shield was a prominent member of the ROH roster before signing with WWE,

wrestling as Tyler Black, holding the promotion’s title for seven months, and participating in one of the more memorable angles and stables in the promotion’s history, The Age of the Fall. Dean Ambrose, also of The Shield, gained notoriety on the Indies in Full Impact Pro, Dragon Gate USA, and Combat Zone Wrestling, wrestling as Jon Moxley.

Other recent additions to NXT, the promotion acting as WWE’s developmental program, and WWE’s roster include Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero in ROH, IWA Mid-South, and Combat Zone Wrestling), Sami Zayn (El Generico in ROH, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and Chikara Pro), and Antonio Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli in ROH, Chikara Pro, and PWG).

Something that resembles what the major/minor relationship should look like in American pro wrestling was what TNA once had with their working relationship with ROH. Getting it Right During the first couple years of TNA’s existence, the promotion had a talent exchange agreement with ROH that saw wrestlers from both groups get work in both promotions. This helped not only the product of both promotions, but increased the exposure that the ROH wrestlers would have otherwise gotten. The agreement ended in 2007 when TNA began to expand, but not before a few of those ROH wrestlers were signed

by TNA and became part of the backbone of the promotion. In TNA’s present, three of the most recognizable faces were three of the best wrestlers during ROH’s first couple of years: Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, and Christopher Daniels. Even Nigel McGuinness, a vital in-ring performer for ROH in later years, had a brief yet noteworthy run in TNA before his

retirement from in-ring competition.

In Japan, the pro wrestling landscape is littered with Independent/minor promotions along with four major promotions—New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and Dragon Gate. The relationship between all of these promotions is far more harmonious than is the case in America, and it has been able to benefit all involved.

The fan mentality throughout Japan’s pro wrestling fans may be similar to the “we’re better than you because we’re bigger than you” mentality in America, but not even close to the same degree. The best proof of this is Dragon Gate’s rise thanks first to their product and then a very successful juniors feud with Pro Wrestling NOAH that exposed Dragon Gate and its wrestlers to an even larger group of fans.

These fans not only respected & enjoyed what Dragon Gate provided them, but became paying fans of the promotion and catapulting it from an already rising minor promotion to a major promotion.

The current Indy scene in Japan is littered with promotions offering a variety of philosophies on how the business should be presented as well as a variety of different wrestling styles. Many of these promotions have worked at one time or another with one or several of the major promotions.

This is possible due to two key factors: Japanese pro wrestling fans are far more receptive to varying styles than any other country on Earth, and major promotions don’t pillage the minor promotions after working with them or when a wrestler or wrestlers from that minor promotion develops name value and/or star power. This keeps the competitive nature of the

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business alive, but without the sense of extreme paranoia and isolationism that dominates the American major/minor relationship.

Making it Work Rather than simply using them as a large group of developmental programs, major promotions in Japan work with minor promotions. With the schedule being far less intense in Japan than in WWE, Japanese wrestlers from the major promotions have plenty of time to take dates from the Indies and other minor promotions.

This is something wrestlers from the major promotions as well as many freelance wrestlers with name value make great use of.

All of this helps to build a sense of goodwill between major and minor promotions, something that has helped the business as a whole in Japan in recent years.

This goodwill is so prevalent that a new trend among the Japanese independent scene has begun: wrestlers producing their own shows. Wrestlers who have done this include Minoru Suzuki, Naomichi Marufuji, NOSAWA, Yuji Nagata, and Atsushi Onita. This is possible thanks to the connections not only between the home promotions of many of the above mentioned wrestlers, but the connections the wrestlers themselves have made within the business among other wrestlers that enjoy working with these wrestlers, working with the home promotions of these wrestlers, are friends with these wrestlers, or just like the way these wrestlers think about the business.

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A very recent development in Japanese pro wrestling best demonstrates the collaborative efforts of major and minor promotions to better the business. It is also something that hopefully sets a precedent that will be followed for years to come. One of the most popular

juniors in Japanese pro wrestling, Kota Ibushi, recently signed a one-year contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling while also signing a three-year contract with Dramatic Dream Team (DDT). You read that right, Ibushi has two simultaneous home promotions for at least the next year. The deal was made this way because New Japan’s desire to have Ibushi and Ibushi’s loyalty to his home promotion were mutual.

This deal is the first of its kind.

Ibushi’s New Japan commitment will only be for major shows, so the deal is the first of its kind in contractual form more than anything else. The reason this deal setting a precedent would benefit the business as a whole is because of the exposure Indy wrestlers and their promotions will receive as being regularly participating and represented in a major promotion as opposed to only being in a major promotion now and again, or as part of an inter-promotional feud storyline.

Two wrestlers who are not only great in the ring, but have some name value in Japan’s wrestling world that could benefit from having such a deal would be Masato Tanaka and Daisuke Sekimoto. Tanaka currently wrestles for Zero-1 and has wrestled for them since the promotion’s inception in 2001.

With Zero-1 cards becoming fewer in number in recent years, Tanaka has wrestled on more and more New Japan cards, basically becoming a semi-regular member of their roster.

Sekimoto wrestles for Big Japan Pro Wrestling and is known as being the best non-hardcore performer in a hardcore wrestling promotion. He hasn’t yet signed with a larger promotion, despite his talents making that possible, due to his loyalty to his home promotion.

Sekimoto most recently was part of an inter-promotional feud storyline between Big Japan and

All Japan. It would be smart for All Japan to take note of what New Japan and DDT have done with Ibushi so they could possibly gain a talent like Sekimoto. This would be especially smart for All Japan considering the recent talent exodus led by Keiji Mutoh.

Monolithic Monopoly A thriving Independent scene is a big part in keeping the wrestling business strong in any country. Unfortunately, with WWE having such a monopoly on the business in America, the Indies are becoming less of a priority. WWE has always had a philosophy that their way is the only way, necessitating in their minds the need to teach tremendous Indie talents they have signed “how to work.”

The recent creation and opening of WWE’s new performance centre is going even further to try and make the American Indies insignificant.

This centre is going to be used

by WWE to teach wrestlers “how to work” even before sending them to NXT. If Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards need to “learn how to work,” then WWE’s view of what makes a good worker still has some big flaws to it.

There are many things that wrestlers can learn, experiences they can have, and aspects of the art of professional wrestling that they can develop in the Indies and not in a performance centre. Like it or not, believe it or not, the Indies have to survive and even thrive for the good of the business. WWE can’t do it all, especially with their continuing practice of bringing in former pro football players and pushing inexperienced wrestlers up the ranks long before they’re ready. A stable Indy scene provides the business with a variety of good talent, an essential for the business’ continued survival no matter the country.

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Text By Chris GST

BOOKING SIDE THE

THE START OF SOMETHING NEW

In this day and age of instant news, online openness, and the wrestling industry being as widely exposed as it ever has been, there are still things that we as fans are curious about.

One of those topics is booking and the people who run wrestling companies.

What goes into it? Why would someone submit themselves to the scrutiny of thousands of viewers? What happens amidst the chaos of possible injuries, talents no-showing, booking conflicts, and so much more? While I have been a fan for years and been lucky enough to engage with those inside the industry, I’ve never had all my questions answered.

Even with tweeting and shoot interviews, there are certain subjects that seem so simple, which is probably why they are glossed over.

But I wanted those answers, as did many others.

What was the reasoning behind match placement?

Were certain spots done purposely during the show, and what controversies were there to uncover? That’s what many fans were wondering and luckily enough there was a promoter who was willing to open himself up to those very questions.

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Drew Cordeiro, creator/booker for Beyond Wrestling and owner of WSU sat down with me and my good friend Jerome Cusson for nearly two hours taking questions that were submitted by fans of his product about Americanrana which featured talents such as Kevin Steen, Johnny Gargano, MASADA, AR Fox, Eddie Edwards, Biff Busick, Chris Dickinson, Drew Gulak, JT Dunn, Anthony Stone, Colt Cabana and many more.

Beyond Wrestling started out as just an online experience. The wrestlers who were not as well known then would wrestle only in front of other wrestlers. Closed shows that would be put online for viewing that had a unique experience. Years later that experience would be opened to the public and slowly Beyond started to capture attention. I was friends with men who knew Drew and was able to be there at the onset of this idea. Proudly, and years later, I am able to see what Drew has done and how hard he’s worked to get to Americanrana which took place earlier this year.

In the near two hours we spoke, Drew opened up about a number of topics and didn’t say once that a question was unanswerable or that a topic was too taboo. Drew spoke of why MASADA versus Kevin Steen, which was a first time ever match at this show, wasn’t in the main event. How the legit injured MASADA was not the type of person to back out of a booking and would put on the best match that he could and how Kevin Steen was afraid that he may cause more damage to MASADA’s injury.

Beyond Wrestling was no stranger to first time meetings. At a show called Back in Flesh, they were the first to present Johnny Gargano versus Davey Richards and to this day, that match hasn’t happened again for one reason or another to my knowledge.

Drew talked about how with the number to top indie talent on this show, he didn’t want to take the easy route. He was asked by multiple fans about why certain talents weren’t booked together such as Eddie Edwards versus Colt Cabana. Drew explained that he wanted to showcase the lesser known talents such as JT Dunn, Anthony Stone and Biff Busick and how he and Beyond Wrestling had always been about opportunity.

From top to bottom, every match had a purpose for its placement and Drew had confidence that each match would deliver despite not knowing for sure.

There was the official first match between Drew Gulak and Chris Dickinson, two guys who helped build Beyond Wrestling and now were in the unenviable task to get the crowd ready for the rest of the show. As noted, Drew didn’t shy away from some of the tougher questions.

When asked about Sugar Dunkerton’s place in Beyond and why he wasn’t at the show, Drew admits that personal commitments took

FEATURES precedence for Sugar but that there was no ill-will, though he would have liked more notice. Drew talks about why Mr. Touchdown, Mark Angelosetti of CHIKARA fame, was not booked and why he may never be at another Beyond Wrestling show in the future. The reasons being personal and how a sense of betrayal was felt when Mark decided to not commit to certain booking decisions. Drew questioned Mark’s reasoning as to why he wouldn’t face Drew Gulak for him but did it recently for Gabe Sapolsky when Drew felt he had done a lot more to help Mark in his career.

It was clear when Drew said, “he fucked us over” that this was a sore spot for him and that he wasn’t holding anything back. It was a tense moment on the show but it’s something that makes Drew special when it comes to doing interviews. He also mentions that the door isn’t closed completely and that he would like to work with Mark again but that certain things need to be addressed first, and that’s more than fair. It was mentioned that there were also possible attitude issues with David Starr and Shane Strickland, who were in the four-way dark match with Latin Dragon and Sozio of CZW fame, and why Drew decided who would win that match based on recommendations from those he trusts with these types of opinions.

While sitting there listening to this modern booker, it was easy to soak in the almost common-sense aspects, but also realize that sometimes as fans we don’t consider these questions when criticizing a product.

There was a question about using Ring of Honor talent and the problems that could arise due to their contracts and the inability to book them on iPPVs. Drew openly said he never had a problem working with ROH talents like a few promoters have had in the past, and that he will continue to use them. If Beyond Wrestling was even ready for live iPPV and if their relationship with CZW would help them presenting them was discussed and Drew said he would use RF Video due to knowing how much work they put into their hardware and how they have had the least amount of problems so far.

He also discussed why an iPPV wouldn’t even be intriguing at this point because of the time limitations and expectations whereas at a taping, you can go as long as you want and not worry about the minute to minute presentation as much as you do on an iPPV. There was nothing edited out, I know this because I’m the one who edited it.

While there were a few flubs and segments where

perhaps things could have been kept tighter and a little neater, I felt showing the closeness that Drew has with everyone who supports Beyond Wrestling and knew he wouldn’t have wanted anything kept from them, no matter how small. This was true where Drew talked about how to best utilize AR Fox, the EVOLVE Champion and then CZW Wired Champion and Drew openly stated that he doesn’t feel Fox has ever been used correctly by any booker. That is sure to ruffle some feathers and I wasn’t sure whether to keep that in because sometimes emotions can run high and I didn’t know whether Drew would want to open that can of worms with others in his profession. It also occurred when Jerome asked about Johnny Gargano and the impression that Drew had mixed feelings about Gargano’s work. Drew quickly questioned where that impression came from and then explained his relationship with the DGUSA Champion and how friendship was achieved through longevity and trust.

Drew was asked about what the backstage was like, did wrestlers like Kevin Steen and Colt Cabana go out of their way to help the younger guys. It was telling the level of respect Drew had for the “veterans” on the card who took time to talk to their younger peers and help them on little details about wrestling. Colt Cabana in particular, who Drew described as the most popular indie wrestler on the planet, who had no obligation to do anything beyond have a great match, went out of his way to talk to anyone who had questions for him. I believe one of the most asked questions I get on twitter or email from readers of my work is if I’ve ever run into a talent who wouldn’t help others and so it was great to be able to ask a booker about this who wasn’t afraid of the political ramifications.

In the end it was a great opportunity to delve into a booker’s mind and accountability when it came to a specific show and these types of interviews are going to continue and I will always report on them here in Total Wrestling. I hope you check out the interview (you can find it here http://goo.gl/oUb6kM ) and enjoy it. It’s a rare opportunity that a booker allows you to question them directly about a specific show and I thank Drew for taking the time and his agreement to do more in the future.

Check out all my social network connections at http://about.me/cgstong (my twitter is http://twitter.com/cgstong) or email cgstong@ PWPonderings.com with any feedback.

Look Beyond http://www.LookMaNoFans.com http://www.youtube.com/beyondwrestling https://www.facebook.com/beyondwrestling http://www.twitter.com/beyondwrestling

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on the line with....

As ever, TW was on the line for TNA’s regular conference call, and this month we have the pleasure of bringing you the thoughts of Austin Aries – undeniably one of the hottest properties outside of WWE on US soil.

Aries on... TNA returning to Orlando “I don’t see any major changes in the morale of the people in the locker room. I mean, there are always changes in this business like any other business and that’s something that people accept, especially in the wrestling industry where there is so much uncertainty. From a personal and professional standpoint, with the return of the company to the Impact Zone, we know we need to focus and deal with the things we can control and that is the quality of the product, whenever we go to the ropes whenever we take the microphone, in those moments in the ring we focus less on other issues. There will always be interest and people focusing on the negative aspects.

I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed [going back to the Impact Zone] that is not counting the financial aspects of the situation. Personally, I love to travel and I like to take the brand out of Florida, taking the brand to different places where we can continue to do interesting things there.

But the return to Orlando will not be a step back. “

Aries on... Reality television “The concept of 24/7 seems to be quite interesting and I think we can take a step forward. Sometimes you need to step back to take two steps forward. This new project 24/7 is a unique concept, when it is up and running we will have to see how it will be embedded in the usual wrestling programming.

This is connected to the reality concepts which are the future, where fans can meet us, and see behind the scenes of what we do. People want to see something different inside. If we can give it to the fans, it’s a good opportunity and we should focus on that.”

Aries on... One Night Only “It’s a unique situation. It is a way of addressing both a financial and a business strategy. Of course it is hard to distance ourselves creatively, in terms of the timing, thinking that the event will be broadcast weeks or months after the date of recording, we have to think of these things as a single entity or a one-off.”

Aries on... Returning to TNA

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“Firstly, I have to let you people know that there is no proof that I’m the Austin Starr! Maybe we share the same tattoo and that is where the similarities stop. But, yeah, I remember being in TNA at that time [2006] and I think TNA has changed since then, especially internationally. They have grown, and this is something that is not valued by the fans in the United States.

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Austin Aries We have grown, and we have been very successful in other markets like the UK . TNA has grown since 2006, today we are doing live shows, we are on the road. Anybody who follows TNA knows that this company is always looking for ways to grow, trying to change things, and trying push the envelope.

The important thing is to find a combination that works with fans of wrestling and is able to capture the attention of casual fans too. “

Aries on... The importance of the X Division “The importance often has to do with the person who is entitled at the time. The division can be “pushed” to the front when needed or may be less visible, so can be used to change the pace of the program. At this point, what is to prevent the division to have its own highlight is that there is no definition of what the X Division really is. It is difficult to define what it is today. Many say it is a style of wrestling, but this is not true. I fight in this style and this is a part of me, but does not define me. The value of the X Division today is that you can have multiple functions, depending on what the organization needs and that is something valuable. Also it is a good launching pad for some athletes. (and so it is)

Aries on... Great TNA champions “The two that come straight to mind are Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle. I have long wanted to have a good fight with Angle in the ring and I will have that opportunity, sooner rather than later. Nobody gets in the ring with Kurt to fight “the gas on medium”. He and Jeff are the most prominent names. Both came from the other side where they did great things and when they came to TNA continued to conquer and continue to do great things, they have a great reputation. They are the names that come to my mind as the most dominant, besides myself – I need not mention myself, because I am the most dominant. “

Aries on... The best match of his career “My favorite match was fighting for the title in Ring of Honor against Samoa Joe, and at that time it was the most important battle I had in my career. I took the task very seriously, because I know the tremendous work that Joe put in to give that title prestige, and I was aware of the responsibility to follow in those steps. This fight catapulted my career and my confidence. When I lost the title a few months later, that was also something special because of the atmosphere that this fight had created.“

Aries on... His favourite stars “I’m not one to play favourites. There are things I like and things I dislike. But I’ll be honest, there is a classic AWA combat with Hector Guerrero that perplexed me. Things that Hector did then left me crazy.

I remember seeing that and thinking that I have to pick a notebook and point out everything because I will do this. And considering the year it happened and fluidity and charisma of this type, it was amazing. Many people inspired me over the years, people like Eddie Guerrero, Eddie Gilbert, and the Dynamite Kid. The fighters who were not that tall, yet they proved they could get it done in the ring with best, and also be the best. “

Aries on... TNA in 2014 “I do not know what will happen in 2014. Until today I have not received any information about the calendars for 2014 and as such do not know what changes are going to happen. But in my personal opinion, depends on whether we are talking about just regular PPVs. I’ve always been a big fan of the concept type; “Clash of Champions” is great to bring to television. But perhaps 4-6 is a good number. A PPV a month did not seem very special. Six in a year may be a good option, with some additional special shows on television throughout the year, as we have had this year and that works well for me.

It is a matter of continuing to test the theory and see what works.”

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Survivor Series– Birthplace of The Undertaker Text By Matt Roberts

By the time this edition of Total Wrestling magazine goes live, WWE’s latest pay per view offering Survivor Series will have aired. It’s debated by many as to whether Survivor Series truly belongs on the list of WWE “Big Four” events anymore, and whether or not the show has any relevance for today’s climate of professional wrestling fan. However the one thing that seemingly gets lost in the build up to the November tradition each year is that one of the biggest WWE superstars of all time made his on screen debut at the show back in 1990. A man whose very presence at a WWE show, be it a live event or a television taping or even a pay per view, is a special thing. Enter The Undertaker.

Dead Man Working The great thing about the professional wrestling business is that it caters to all different kinds of people the world over. Whether you like to be entertained and laugh and smile at over the top characters, whether you like to watch serious athletes demonstrate sportsmanlike conduct or whether or not you like to see beautiful women parade around the ring there is to be no denying that wrestling has always had a little something for everyone. This is where The Undertaker comes in as undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time.

Making his on-screen debut at Survivor Series1990 as part of Ted Dibiase’s “Million Dollar Team”, The Undertaker was a typical character of the early 1990’s. Initially debuting as Kane the Undertaker, before dropping the Kane moniker (who knew at the time where that name would end up! – Eds), WWE’s resident dead man played a spooky zombie like character who possessed special powers.

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Initially, ‘Taker was paired with Brother “Bruce Prichard” Love before the WWF realised the error of its ways and paired The Undertaker with Paul Bearer. It was a perfect fit. Bearer having been a real Undertaker before wrestling brought an air of legitimacy to the pairing – or as much

FEATURES legitimacy as one could hope for with a character like The Undertaker.

Bearer became known for carrying around an urn which was used to supposedly give ‘Taker strength when he was being beaten down by his opponents. As preposterous as this may sound in 2013, this was the character that Undertaker portrayed and the one that got him on the map as a major star (at the time, to an eight year old, the dude was seriously scary! – Eds). The character was a smash success and within a year saw him face Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series 1991 which (admittedly after some interference from Ric Flair) saw Undertaker claim his very first WWE Championship.

‘Taker wouldn’t hold the coveted championship for long however as he was only keeping it warm for Hogan and dropped the belt back to the leader of Hulkamania at This Tuesday In Texas just a few days later. On the surface it may seem disappointing for ‘Taker to have dropped the title so quickly but during that era of WWE Champions it was a feat in itself for him to debut and within a year defeat the biggest babyface the company had to offer.

Necessity: The Mother of Reinvention Over the years WWE continued to add layers to the Undertaker character, which is precisely what needs to be done in order to make a character relevant to a current audience. Fast forward to 1997 and WWE was in the middle of the “Attitude Era,” the single most successful period in company history. Popular culture at that time featured such shows as The Jerry Springer Show and South Park, amongst others, and what they had in common is that they were featured over the top characters and had soap-opera elements.

The soap-opera type storyline was used to great effect in 1997 when WWE introduced a storyline brother for The Undertaker, Kane. Played by Glen Jacobs, Kane interfered in The Undertaker’s first ever Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels by ripping the gimmicked cell door off its hinges and giving him a Tombstone Piledriver, allowing HBK to score the victory. It was an incredible debut and gave The Undertaker a fresh storyline that would go on for several months, culminating in a tense Wrestlemania match that, as you know from the streak, was won by The Undertaker.

By early 1999 The Undertaker of old, who previously never said a word and wore make-up had seemingly vanished and in its place came an updated satanic version of ‘Taker. Leading a group known as “The Ministry of Darkness” enabled The Undertaker to showcase himself in a wholly different light as a cult leader who often performed rituals and spells to recruit people into his

new faction. Certainly another wacky circus type story, however it fit perfectly into the WWE mould of the late 1990’s.

In fact one of the most iconic/controversial images of the entire “Attitude Era” was Undertaker having Stone Cold Steve Austin strapped to his own symbol and hoisted above him attached to the “Titantron” in the arena. It caused controversy among many due to the fact that in ECW Raven and Sandman did something similar (an angle that very nearly drove Kurt Angle away from wrestling forever) Many pundits believed WWE’s angle to be in equally poor taste, yet nothing was ever really made of it.

The Undertaker tore a pectoral muscle shortly before a return to the ring back in 2000’s Royal Rumble and as it happened it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Taking the time to seriously think about his character and how it fit into the modern age ‘Taker made a bold move that some would argue would prolong his career for another few years. Jim Cornette has always said that the best way for any major talent is to “be themselves, but with the volume turned way up.” When The Undertaker made his return in May 2000 it was a version of him but with the volume up to maximum.

Coming out in a long leather jacket and riding a motorcycle to the ring to new entrance music, the man behind The Undertaker – Mark Callaway – looked every bit of a badass as he rode to the ring and beat up the members of the McMahonHelmseley faction. It ranks amongst many as one of the greatest returns in the wrestling industry and one you cannot ignore as he seemingly looked every bit the motor-cycle riding, ass-kicking person that Mark Callaway legitimately was.

Cementing the Legacy (and Paul Bearer...)

Coming into 2000 with a purpose The Undertaker knew he again had to roll with the times and this update of the character was a huge departure from everything he previously was but undoubtedly a necessity. Unfortunately the next year or so wasn’t exactly smooth sailing in the ring and whereas the character may have been a huge success, The Undertaker’s ring work wasn’t so good. A return to familiarity with a renewed rivalry with Kane occurred at Summerslam 2000 and the match wasn’t great.

The Kane-Undertaker feud had been done to death; it was time to move on to something different. The end of 2000 was more positive, with a WWE Championship match with Kurt Angle and a spot in the 6 man Hell in a Cell match that saw ‘Taker throw Rikishi off the top of the cell in what would surely rank as a career high for the

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Samoan. A relatively poor 2001 was saved with a fantastic bout with Triple H at Wrestlemania which was at the time one of The Undertaker’s best ever Wrestlemania bouts. A heel turn rectified the character’s shortcomings towards the end of 2001 and ‘Taker came into the new year with a tonne of momentum and contested many great contests with the likes of Kurt Angle, The Rock and Brock Lesnar to name a few.

By the end of 2003 Undertaker was running out of fresh scenarios and WWE decided to take action by having him revert back to his old “Deadman” character.

Ultimately this proved a popular decision as with a returning Paul Bearer at his side at Wrestlemania 20 (which was aptly nicknamed “where it all begins again”), The Undertaker received an incredibly ovation from the New York, Madison Square Garden crowd. Father Time was beginning to tick on The Undertaker’s career and reverting to this character allowed ‘Taker to remain a special attraction.

From 2004 onwards it became clear that The Undertaker’s days a full time performer were starting to wind down. He certainly made as many appearances on Smackdown as he could, as well as on pay per view, but it was becoming apparent that his days as a full time performer were over. That worked out to a great advantage for the WWE when it came to Wrestlemania marketing. From the year 2005, with the exception of 2006, Undertaker has had one of, if not the, best match on the card every year right through to the present day.

Streak = Sales Considering he is supposed to be slowing down, that really is an incredible feat. “The Streak” itself became a significant factor from 2005 onwards, as Randy Orton became the first man to actively campaign to defeat ‘Taker because of the legendary run. It became one of the main reasons wrestling fans sought to buy Wrestlemania. Every year one of the main talking points became who will try to do it this year?

Considering the miles on the body clock were extremely long by 2005, it was nothing short of spectacular that The Undertaker could step in the ring and still go on a high level and not just a high level

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but to outperform half of the roster. The Undertaker’s matches with Edge at Wrestlemania 24 and Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25, and Triple H at Wrestlemanias 17 and 28, rank as some of the greatest matches ever. Many regard the Michaels bout at ‘Mania 25 as the greatest Wrestlemania match of all time. To some that may be an exaggeration, but only a minor one. The match had everything you could want out of a Wrestlemania bout and considering the audience was willing to suspend their disbelief to the possibility that Undertaker just might lose, in a modern era where just about every result is posted online within seconds, that is a truly astonishing feat.

So what is The Undertaker’s legacy? Without question, he is one of the most respected veterans in the WWE locker room. Being a mainstay in WWE since 1990, ‘Taker has earned the respect of millions of fans, as well as that of every athlete who has ever laced up a pair of boots. What makes The Undertaker such an incredible performer is his ability to shift with the times over the years, and his understanding that if you don’t change with the times then you’ll simply get left behind and lost in the shuffle.

We can pretty much guarantee that if you ask any wrestling fan for some of their favourite ever moments/ matches throughout wrestling history, a large portion of those will feature something that has involved The Undertaker. Going from a zombie all the way to The American Badass and back to a modern take on The Deadman, Undertaker has shown an ability to demonstrate a truly great mind in wrestling. His body of work speaks for itself.

If Undertaker were to retire tomorrow he could leave behind a lasting sports entertainment legacy. Forget the scripted nature of his Wrestlemania streak, at one of the biggest pop-culture events years after year; he goes out there at his age (48) and shows why he is as respected as anyone ever has been in our industry. The fact that year after year he is challenged by superstars to wrestle at Wrestlemania says it all. He will be involved in the match the people have to see. Mark Callaway wouldn’t have it any other way.

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E R A F R A W FANTASY TEXT BY D.R WEBSTER

TALE OF THE TAPE

AJ Styles Hometown: Allentown, PA Height: 5ft 11in Weight: 215 lb Finisher: Styles Clash

Rey Mysterio Hometown: San Diego, CA Height: 5ft 6in Weight: 175 lb Finisher: The 619

Welcome to TW’s Fantasy Warfare for the third issue. In last month’s Fantasy Warfare, we booked the ultimate “Clash of the Giants” between the legendary Andre the Giant and the revitalised world’s largest athlete, The Big Show. This time around we will be taking two of the most revered, innovative and high flying stars in wrestling. One is a TNA original who has become one of their biggest stars as well as being known as one of the most innovative and exciting wrestlers of his generation. The other is a lucha-libre legend who broke down barriers and crossed over in ECW, WCW and WWE to become one of the most popular superstars and biggest underdog in the business.

AJ Styles vs.

Rey Mysterio This is a dream match for fans of the fast paced, high flying cruiserweight/lucha libre style and despite Mysterio’s best days being behind him now it would be an exciting prospect nonetheless to any wrestling fan to see him face AJ Styles. Also, of the matches we have booked in Fantasy Warfare, this is the only one which could conceivably occur if the stars aligned with both men still alive and still wrestling. AJ Styles has done everything possible in TNA including being the current TNA Champion, and career/legacy wise he would definitely benefit from a new challenge. Facing Mysterio would be a great start and would also be a significant draw due to the popularity of both men as well as the in-ring spectacle that likely only these two could create, resulting in a one of a kind type clash.

THE RUNDOWN Both men are highly decorated wrestlers with Styles being the first TNA Triple Crown Champion in company history as well as the first ever and only TNA Grand Slam Champion, completing each several times and holding every title possible in TNA’s history throughout his career. Mysterio is also a Triple Crown Champion in the WWE, winning the WWE Title once and World Heavyweight Title twice (becoming the lightest world champion in WWE history), the Intercontinental Title and multiple WWE Tag Team Titles, in addition Mysterio is a record eight time Cruiserweight Champion and a Royal Rumble Winner.

Both Styles and Mysterio have worked all over the world in several different promotions outside of the current big two, gaining experience against some of the biggest names never to have graced a WWE or TNA ring, Rey Mysterio began his career in AAA in Mexico before moving onto ECW, WCW and CMLL before taking his career to new heights in WWE, Styles on the other hand has been a part of several companies from their inception, helping to put them on the map, including TNA and ROH as well as wrestling for NWA (Wildside/TNA), PWG and, like Mysterio, AAA.

THREE COUNT

AJ STYLES

A match like this would more than likely not be the main event of a major PPV in the WWE, however it would be a welcome addition/attraction to Wrestlemania or Summerslam, maybe even a gimmick PPV like TLC or Extreme Rules to add something special to one of those card. No matter what card this match would be put on, it would steal the show and become a five star match candidate, it would be an explosion of high speed action and high flying spots; a true cruiserweight spectacle with both men trying to outdo each other and bring the best out of one another. It would also go down as one of the biggest and most important cruiserweight clashes in

Rey helped bring the lucha libre style to the US in ECW and became a pioneer of cruiserweight wrestling in WCW. Styles helped build companies like TNA and ROH with a similar style, while adding a more rounded technical edge to it at the same time.

Rey Mysterio is a record eight time WCW/WWE Cruiserweight Champion and arguably the best cruiserweight of all time, on the other hand AJ Styles was the inaugural TNA X-Division Champion, helping to put that division on the map and becoming a six-time champion in the process (and, arguably, the “King Of X-Division”). This would be the ultimate battle of high flying wrestling.

Both men have the underdog aspect to their character with Mysterio considered to be the biggest underdog in wrestling due to his height and weight in a land of giants and Styles is never the biggest dog in the fight himself, however both have a lot of heart and can claw victories from any opponent, big or small, which would lead to a match where both men would give their all to gain the victory.

the history of pro wrestling between two of its best crossover talents/stars Our Verdict? As Mysterio nails Styles with the 619 after an exhilarating match, the end looks near for the Phenomenal One, but as Mysterio springboards off the top rope to hit a splash and finish things off, Styles leaps up in a flash and catches Rey with a Pele kick in mid-air leading to a Spinal Tap from the top rope and the 1, 2, 3 for Styles with the high-flying torch being passed and Mysterio walking off into the sunset after one final spectacular performance, reinforcing his legendary status.

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Booking Title Controversy

th e R i g ht Way It seems that world title controversies are all the rage these days in American pro wrestling. It’s understandable with a world title controversy being an effective way for a promotion to book their world title, if done right. And doing it right seems to be what WWE can’t do with their world title controversy, but what TNA and Ring of Honor thus far appear to have achieved.

Getting it Right One thing that TNA & ROH’s booking of their world titles have in common is the fact that the storyline dictated that a new world champion be crowned without the former champion losing the title or leaving the promotion.

TNA hasn’t done that much right with their booking this year, but they may have salvaged the disastrous “AJ Styles as a loner” angle by making him a true world champion. After Styles’ TNA world title win at Bound for Glory, TNA’s deals with AAA and Wrestle-1 were used and Styles had title defences scheduled in both promotions. Styles successfully defended the title in AAA against Judas Mesias and against Seiya Sanada at Wrestle-1’s Korakuen Hall card on November 16th.

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This is exactly the kind of thing that WWE could have and would have been able to do easily after C.M. Punk’s WWE title win in July 2011. The storyline saw Punk leave WWE with the title because he didn’t have a contract. In his infamous shoot promo on RAW when mentioning what he’d do with the title after he left WWE, Punk said, “maybe I’ll defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling, maybe I’ll go back to Ring of Honor.” So why didn’t WWE have Punk do just that?

The most effective way to have executed that storyline would have been to keep Punk off of WWE’s programming in person, but have him make appearances and title defenses elsewhere with that footage shown on WWE’s programming so he could still be on TV with the belt without actually having to be there. It would’ve added a whole level of legitimacy to WWE’s storylines and the proclamations wrestlers make in storylines (if momentarily).

If you are going to dedicate a month or more to a storyline that ends with the wrestler at the centre of it leaving the promotion, you can’t have that wrestler come back right away and you can’t just have him off of television completely. That was the mistake WWE made with Punk in 2011 and hopefully TNA won’t make with A.J. Styles and the TNA world title.

Smaller, But Perfectly Formed In storyline, Styles’ was easily written off of TNA television by having him simply drive off with the title belt at the end of an episode of Impact Wrestling after refusing a contract from a heel-turned Dixie Carter. It wasn’t overly dramatic or insulting to the fan’s intelligence. If TNA ends up airing footage or entire matches of Styles’ title defences, that could only serve

FEATURES to add a little something to the AJ/Dixie storyline as well as Styles’ title reign and even the TNA world title itself.

storytelling can appreciate.

In ROH, Jay Briscoe’s title reign was cut short in storyline due to injury and in real life due to his and his brother’s status with the promotion being in question. At the time, the Briscoe Brothers’ contracts with ROH had expired and it didn’t appear as though they would be signing new ones.

That meant that the promotion needed a new world champion. However, Jay Briscoe would later be inserted into the ROH title chase after the title had been vacated in storyline. Briscoe was even given the “true world champion” label, which was a legit one due to him never losing the belt in the ring (not to mention that it resulted in Briscoe getting a custom world title belt as with Stone Cold Steve Austin’s smoking skull belt in the late 1990’s).

Another thing TNA & ROH’s booking of their world titles has in common is the use of tournaments to crown “new” world champions. Tournaments are a fun and logical way to determine a new champion when a title is vacant, because it not only puts the title in the spotlight, but also puts every single tournament participant in the spotlight.

This alone would make for an interesting if familiar storyline, but ROH decided that something else was needed alongside Briscoe returning to take back “his title.” That something turned out to be the new champ being a newly-turned heel champion and the man he beat to become the new champion also being the guy everybody thought was going to win the title after it was vacated.

“With honor” has been the on-screen mantra for ROH for its entire existence, but has been emphasized more and more in 2013. Adam Cole won the vacant ROH title over Michael Elgin in the main-event of ROH’s Death Before Dishonor XI card.

After his win, Briscoe returned the belt because it was won “the right way,” as Briscoe had desired through a promo earlier on the card. Then Cole completed the long-teased heel turn by superkicking Briscoe from behind and hitting Elgin in the face with his newly won title belt.

Everyone in the Internet Wrestling Community believed that Elgin was the logical choice; his progression up the ranks in storyline had all the indications that he would be the one to unseat Briscoe as champion, even at least one member of the ROH roster believed it would be Elgin according to a recent interview with Total Wrestling.

All of this, and how Elgin was booked in defeat, including the post-match belt shot from Cole, allowed Elgin to remain in the title chase despite having been the man the new champion beat to become the new champion.

What all of this has produced is a compelling triple-threat chase for ROH’s world title. The promotion has been able to keep the storyline progression from veering off-course, they’ve kept things relatively simple and succeeded in creating a storyline where you have a true heel (Cole), a true face (Elgin) and the anti-hero (Briscoe); that is the kind of trio any fan of the art of pro wrestling

Making it Matter

To be in a tournament, especially a world title tournament, means those wrestlers are going to have their names in the minds of that promotion’s fans for as long as they’re in the tournament. Also, every single one of those wrestlers are going to be taken seriously for as long as they’re in the tournament. Of course, a tournament is not only about having a good storyline reason for the tournament, but also about having quality and compelling matches throughout the tournament.

In ROH’s case, it was a straightforward 16-man tournament with international involvement and former ROH wrestlers making returns through participation in the tournament. The matches all aired on ROH television and while that may seem obvious, it isn’t for a promotion that tapes its TV so far in advance (not to mention that a lot of the tournament matches were not taped at ROH TV tapings).

The major difference between ROH & TNA’s world title tournaments is that TNA has made theirs an allstipulation affair where each match has a different gimmick. The opening tournament match between Jeff Hardy & Chris Sabin was a full metal mayhem match; the first round match between Austin Aries & Kurt Angle was a submission match, and so on. This continued all the way to the final.

While pretty much anyone who has been a fan for more than a few years has become numb to stipulations having any kind of a “wow factor” to them anymore, it’s still a bit of a gamble to make an entire tournament filled with stipulation matches – especially if you start out with something resembling a TLC match.

If the whole tournament is stipulation matches, that means the final will have a stipulation just like any first round match; so what’s the difference? Why is someone supposed to be any more excited about the final than a first round match if the first round match had an equally or more wild stipulation? Because it’s the final? Well, if it’s simply because it’s the final, why have the stipulations in the first place?

Nevertheless, both promotions put together brackets that featured some of the best workers in

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each promotion. In the case of ROH, the tournament came off without a hitch and produced probably the most compelling TV ROH has had this year, whilst also seamlessly segueing into their top storyline for the rest of the year. With TNA, it’s about creating what amounts to an interim champion more than anything else. That champion will eventually face-off with Styles to unify the TNA world title, either at a PPV or at one of the promotion’s themed TV broadcasts.

The Dusty Finish The biggest problem with WWE’s recent booking of the WWE title being “held in abeyance” was their use of the Dusty Finish for Daniel Bryan’s apparent title win in the main-event of the promotion’s Night of Champions pay-per-view in September.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a Dusty Finish refers to a booking strategy of booking a world title change and then giving the belt back to the defeated former champion, citing some rule that was broken during the course of the match that wasn’t enforced at the time. It was made famous by Dusty Rhodes’ booking of himself in this way several times during the 1980’s.

Bryan won the WWE title from Randy Orton at Night of Champions only to have the belt taken away in storyline by HHH the following night, citing a fast referee count. This was the second month in a row that a Bryan title win was immediately negated, first by Orton cashing in his Money In The Bank title shot at the end of Summerslam and then with the Dusty Finish in September.

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Did all of those people who wanted refunds because the title change was changed the following night deserve a refund?

No, because they got the entire three-hour pay-per-view complete with the title change they wanted at the end. They got the moment they wanted, and the fact that it only lasted 24 hours shouldn’t have been something at all shocking to viewers of WWE.

Send Them Home Happy At the same time, many who bought Night of Champions felt cheated; if that isn’t true, why did people request refunds?

Making your customers feel cheated is a big no-no in any business; you can make hem feel intellectually inferior and beneath you in every way, but you can’t make them feel cheated. You don’t increase your chances of creating repeat customers if you leave them feeling cheated, and that is exactly what the Dusty Finish does. It’s happened time and time again without fail.

If anything, the way ROH executed their storyline surrounding the vacating of their world title didn’t leave anyone feeling cheated. So far, TNA hasn’t left anyone feeling cheated with how they’ve booked their world title controversy, but WWE definitely was a different story during September and October.

It wasn’t just that Bryan’s title wins at two consecutive pay-per-views were negated immediately, but also that the storyline progression made him seem like the underdog without that moment where the underdog wins in a climactic fashion. Feel cheated? You should.

James Storm FEATURES

TEXT BY PHIL ALLELY

James Storm has pretty much done it all in TNA. He has held most of the company’s gold and of course had a stint as World Heavyweight Champion.

He is also one of the stars of the upcoming UK/Irish tour this coming January.

Phil Allely caught up with him to discuss that tour, his future plans and much more. It’s our pleasure to bring you some of the highlights.

“It is always great to on the UK/Irish tour.

I can say for sure that is my favourite place to go. The fans are all really into it and crazy for what we do.”

“ Yes, we are doing live shows and a One Night Only PPV in England/Scotland. They will be exciting to be a part of. The big difference between them and our Dublin show is that it is a house show and we will be a bit different as we can relax a bit more. There will no script that night and we will be having fun out there. You Irish are wild guys and great drinkers, so I’m looking forward to that leg of the tour.”

“As for other guys here who have title potential. There is of course Roode and (the UK’s own) Magnus is a strong contender too. He (Magnus) loves wrestling and he really wants to succeed. That guy is always watching old matches to learn more. You have to put in the hard work and if you do the time will come.”

“The British PPV will be awesome, the thing about One Night Only shows is that it is an exciting concept and they stand alone outside of our normal storylines. They tell a very different story and are something we can all get our teeth into. They are always fun for us all.”

“People will always compare a wrestler to someone else who has come before them. There are no new things to do anymore. I think we all take an idea or a bit of ourselves and we make it our own style. I Mean Steve Austin came out with beer, but he was different than me and of course Sandman came before that. For example am I copying Shawn Michaels by using the superkick? He made it popular, but that has been around a long time.” ‘”The other shows will be live recordings. So they are scripted and need to tell the story. They are tougher to do, but we all have a job to do and you just out there and feel the energy of the fans. I enjoy everything we are doing and this tour has it all.”

“I definitely think the decision to reduce our PPV to four was a good one. We now have more time to build them up and they are more entertaining for that.”

“Hulk Hogan came and he left. He brought us a whole new level of interest from a lot of markets and he opened doors for us. I don’t know if we will see him again, but you have to admit he got our product out there to a wider audience and that was important to do.”

“One thing I will say is that I feel title matches should be defended on PPV and not free TV. It makes the matches more special for us and the fans.’”

“I’d like to think I will get the World Title back again one day soon. But you really do have to work hard to get that opportunity and I always do.”

“In my opinion our fans of wrestling tune in to see wrestling. So that is what we offer them. Yes, we mix it up and have segments, but we offer fans the best wrestling out there.”

“In my future I’d like to see titles, much more wrestling and of course drinking beer.”

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THANK YOU, BJ! PART 2

TEXT By STEPHEN JAMES SUTTON

In this second part of our in-depth career retrospective, Stephen James Sutton takes us from Whitmer’s incredible 2007 right through to his 2013 retirement.

A Five-Company Man

Back to Business

In 2007, the feud between Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs ended during Ring of Honor’s Wrestlemania weekend show “Supercard Of Honor II” in a steel cage which saw railway spikes, barbwire baseball bats and barbwire, amongst other things, used in typical ROH fashion. During the year, BJ had opportunities at the ROH Champion Takeshi Morishima twice and teaming with the ROH Champion to have a shot at the ROH Tag Team Champions the Briscoe Brothers.

After nearly three years on hiatus from the squared circle; Whitmer returned to the promotion which trained him, Heartland Wrestling Championship, and in his first match back he captured the heavyweight championship from Gerome Philips at the promotion’s Hysteria event on the 19th March in Norwood, Ohio. He would hold onto the championship for five months until the promotion’s Road to Destiny event, where he lost it to Jesse Emerson.

At Caged Rage after a four corner survival match BJ attacked Delirious to join Adam Pearce, Brent Albright and Shane Hagadorn to form the Hangm3n. The Hangm3n would feud with Delirious, Pelle Primeau, Kevin Steen and El Generico (NXT’s Sami Zayn) for the rest of the year. He made a one off appearance in CZW in the tag team known as Pandora’s Box with Adam Flash taking on Danny Havoc and Justice Pain, and debuted for five promotions: XCWMid West, AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined, Mad Pro Wrestling, United Wrestling Federation and Extreme Wrestling Federation; and after an three year hiatus from the promotion he was trained at he returned to the HWA at the promotion’s Reborn event on 11th September against Chris Hero.

Whitmer returned to IWA Mid South and captured the IWA Mid South Light Heavyweight Championship, defeating Bucky Collins during the promotion’s King of the Deathmatches weekend, but lost the strap back to Collins at the promotion’s 15th Anniversary show. BJ would then debut for Absolute Intense Wrestling (where he met long time rival Jimmy Jacobs in the first annual Todd Pettengill invitational tournament), IWA East Coast and Dragon Gate USA (where he was reunited with former Ring Of Honor booker Gabe Sapolsky) and he returned to AAW, CZW and IPW.

Gold came Whitmer’s way in 2008 back in Heartland Wrestling Association when he captured the heavyweight championship after defeating Brian Jennings at HWA Outbreak on 19th January, but was stripped of the championship on 11th July 2008. In IWS Mid South he came face to face with his long time rival Jimmy Jacobs in an I Quit match (at the 500th Show) and in a No Ropes Barbed Wire match (at April Bloodshowers) with both matches going in Jacobs’ favour.

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In Ring Of Honor, Whitmer continued to run with the Hangm3n; but whether it was with Albright or Pearce, they weren’t successful in capturing the ROH Tag Team Championship. BJ left the Hangm3n after Adam Pearce, Brent Albright and Shane Hagadorn joined Larry Sweeney and his Sweet ‘n’ Sour Inc. On the 19th March 2008 it was announced on the Ring of Honor website that BJ had left the company, simply saying “After a long and punishing stay, BJ Whitmer has decided to walk away from Ring of Honor. ROH and Whitmer have now officially parted ways.

Everyone in ROH wants to thank BJ for his immense contributions to the company”.

In 2012, BJ returned to ROH in Cincinnati, Ohio to take on then ROH Television champion Jay Lethal in a proving ground challenge. It would be two more months until he would come back to the promotion in a tag team grudge match, siding with El Generico against Kevin Steen and his long time rival Jimmy Jacobs at the promotion’s Unity event on 30th April. After taking on Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs, Roderick Strong and participating in another proving ground for the ROH Television championship in a four corner survival he took another two months away from the company and returned for the promotion’s tapings on 22nd September (aired 06th October) as the mystery partner of Rhett Titus to team against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team.

He and Titus received two opportunities at the ROH Tag Team Championship, once an three way elimination match with Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and then ROH Tag Team Champions SCUM {Suffering Chaos Ugliness and Mayhem (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino) at Killer Instinct and then just against SCUM at the television tapings on 03rd November (aired 24 November). BJ then took an nasty bump, going head first through a table after Charlie Hass German suplexed him off the top rope at Final Battle during the tag team New York Street Fight between Titus,

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Whitmer and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team.

Golden Great In other promotions, BJ captured the IWA East Coast Heavyweight Championship by defeating Necro Butcher at their Worlds Collide event on 29th September and the AIW Intense Championship by defeating Bobby Beverly at their Absolution VII event on 01st July. He made his debut for Alpha -1, Mid West Wrestling, Premier Fighting Sport, NWA Bluegrass, Pro Wrestling Freedom and IWA Mid West.

In 2013, BJ had an opportunity to capture the ROH Television Championship at the 05th January television tapings (aired 26th January) against Adam Cole, and after that he teamed with Titus (for the final time) to take on the new team of Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly (who had only been teaming for only a couple of months at this point) at Hunt For The Gold on 18th January, took on Matt Hardy (at Defy or Deny 2), Kyle O’Reilly (at Honor vs. Evil) and finished his feud with Charlie Haas in a No Holds Barred match at the 11th Anniversary.

Unfortunately while attempting to save the promotion from an invasion of new SCUM followers, BJ was attacked by his tag team partner Rhett Titus. Just like the Interpromotional feud in 2006 with CZW, BJ was bought in to defend the honor of the promotion against SCUM, in an I Quit match

against his former partner and defending the honor of the promotion’s matchmaker Nigel McGuiness in the promotion’s fifth Steel Cage Warfare. While concentrating on the feud with SCUM he received an opportunity at the ROH Champion Jay Briscoe at Relentless.

Elsewhere, Whitmer took on ECW legend Sabu at IWA Mid South’s Old Scares and Bad Blood event, and faced former ECW wrestler and former FWA (Frontier Wrestling Alliance) All England Champion Chris Hammrick at IWA Mid South’s Simply the Best 9. Our man also made his debuts in Remix Pro Wrestling and Wrestling Cares Association (where he advanced in their yearlong tournament).

Back in Ring of Honor, Whitmer began a feud with Mike Bennett. The feud started after Bennett attacked Whitmer after a number one contender match at the television tapings on 5th May (aired 1st June). This feud was cut short after BJ suffered a neurological injury after a failed piledriver attempt by Bennett on the ring apron during the ROH Championship Tournament.

Out of his five hundred and sixty matches over his thirteen year career, BJ won 223 three of them, lost 312 of them and drew 25. He held just nine championships in his career (eight of them being singles and only one of them being tag GE team). But my, oh my, what a career it was.

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Faction Face off TEXT By DAVE QUINN

WWE is undoubtedly generating some exciting new talent, with wrestlers like Damien Sandow and tag teams like the Usos and the Prime Time Players all getting pushed with storylines and television time.

One angle that seems to work well in debuting stars and successfully elevating them from developmental to the main roster is factions. We have seen it time and time again from the Horsemen to DX, creating or at least brightening the stars of Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, Shawn Michaels and Triple H. before its eventual demise.

The less said about The Corre, the better.

Factions from Fiction

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The factor that seems to sway a faction to popularity is their gimmick, and we have seen many failed attempts in the past from the Mean Street Posse, JOB Squad and Spirit Squad all being debatable successes. There is also the risk of an already successful faction taking over and saturating the roster, which seems to be the curse

of every incarnation of the nWo. We have seen success more recently with Nexus, a storyline that lasted long enough to elevate the profiles of Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan, as well as providing early breaks for Ryback (as Skip Sheffield) and PTP’s Darren Young while brushing up against the top talent of John Cena and CM Punk

This tried and tested angle seems to have paid off once again and is no more apparent than with current stable of bad guys, The Shield. All coming via the developmental territories and NXT, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have currently received a push which has seen them win the tag titles and US title respectively and they have dominated for a year already. While Ambrose knocks off worthy adversaries like The Miz and Dolph Ziggler, it’s clear that Triple H’s rumoured focus on the tag team division is paying off with shield competition in the form of the Usos, Tons of Funk, the Real Americans and the Prime Time Players.

The Shield has collectively and individually knocked down all obstacles in their path since their arrival. Seth Rollins’ background in ROH certainly does him great service, as does Roman Reigns’ family ties, and those who saw Dean Ambrose cut promos while on NXT even earlier in his career could tell right away that he was going

FEATURES places.

muscle for HHH and Stephanie, and while they But in the past few months, have lost the tag titles to the something emerged from the Rhodes brothers, Ambrose still darkness. An always popular reigns as the United States angle used by the WWE for Champion and all three still decades now is their aspect of appear every week to wreak fear, personified in a havoc on those who the terrifying wrestler. Undertaker, Authority deem deserved.

Kane and Mankind are but a Roman Reigns specifically is few who have seen success starting to show his power from this angle, yet Kane has after a recent desire to stay in lately been carrying this the ring with a disgruntled Big burden solo for too long. The Show, and they will likely be perfect way to introduce the involved heavily in Big Show’s new fear mongers is to take feud with the Authority and out the monster himself. Enter current WWE Champion the Wyatt family.

Randy Orton.

Another creation birthed from developmental, including a new character for the once Nexus member Husky Harris, The Wyatt Family honed their eerie personas on NXT before being seen as a type of heel we haven’t seen in quite a while; pure evil. Vignettes played for weeks that looked like something from a Rob Zombie Movie, and fans were genuinely intrigued.

Faces of Fear I’m not sure how many feel about the Wyatts, but personally I think their presence is refreshingly terrifying. Their take on a southern cult following with a tint of “The Hills Have Eyes”, Bray and his followers Harper and Rowen have destroyed all in their path not in the name of justice or power, but of darkness and fear.

Bray preaches such terrifying words, about Sister Abigail, following the buzzards and of course blaming the Devil for his actions, and backs them up with twisted and laughter-filled attacks, including one inside a ring of fire that put Kane on the shelf.

Currently, The Shield are hired

The Wyatts have seen a huge push in recent weeks and look set for a brief main event stint, likely testing their draw before running with a larger storyline.

This push first became apparent upon Kane’s return when, instead of seeking revenge, was removed from the story and placed as a follower heel in the Authority’s growing stable. The push has now been solidified with the expected Pay-Per-View showdown with Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.

Now we get tp the interesting part: On one side we have dominant, power driven hounds for justice holding (until recently) all the gold, and on the other we have three giants who take pleasure in suffering and have caused pain to all those who stood before them. When will the WWE bring these two stables together for the ultimate showdown of new blood?

a storyline that could run for quite some time as the shield battle a foe that they cannot overpower and are afraid of, allowing for many six man tags and non-title matches, and culminating in belt changes with Harper and Rowen becoming tag champs and Bray holding the US. An ideal way for it to come full circle is a temporary brainwashing of the Shield to form a super faction, which ultimately can only be defeated by an alliance of multiple main event talents.

This would also allow the Shield to eventually disband, allowing for Reigns, Rollins and Dean Ambrose to seek a higher level of singles competition, possibly even a Money In The Bank win (a path also eventually expected of Bray Wyatt), if not a direct push for a belt. Three seems to be the magic number for successful stables in WWE, with Degeneration-X (if you count Chyna), Randy Orton’s Legacy and to a lesser extent Three Man Band, and the top two factions currently boast the same group size.

This allows for the originals to be joined by others who are worthy, The Shield could find a new harbinger of justice with the same taste for brutality, while the Wyatts can make anyone a “believer”.

The conclusion, if executed correctly, could be explosive for the WWE. We saw shades of the potential after a brief showdown on November 11th’s RAW, and already fans are talking about what could Best for Business happen if these two factions finally collided. To quote the On the one hand, pitting two current kayfabe catchphrase, heels together is rarely a good the Wyatts vs the Shield idea, so one group would have happening in the near future is to turn face at least temporar- simply what is best for ily. If they can pull it off, this is business.

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TEXT By Mike McGrath- Bryan

FEATURES

Wrestling has not, traditionally, been a woman’s game, at least not in the upper echelons, or so history states. We all know this to be false. Through the years, women like Helen Hart, Christine Jarrett, and Makoto Baba have indirectly held down companies by being the bedrock of the families that ran their respective promotions. It was only a matter of time before this archaic state of affairs would be rectified, and in the world’s largest and most successful wrestling company, WWE, the resident lady of the manor is, onscreen and off, near the end of her ascent to power. The fourth generation of wrestling executive in the McMahon family, Stephanie McMahon, accompanied by husband Triple H, has taken the reins of WWE in an angle that has turned the franchise upside-down, and behind the scenes, plays an important role in creative decisions...

Bodyslamming Birthright Born into wrestling, Stephanie grew up amid WWE’s first modern boom period, debuting as a merchandise model for the company’s mail-order catalogues. One can imagine the shock and contempt she might have experienced seeing her old man acting the idiot at the Slammys, singing and dancing to Stand Back, not to mention the colossal slagging she and brother Shane must have got at school. Graduating from Boston University in 1998 with a degree in Communications, there was no real doubt as to what the next generation of sports-entertainment auteurs would do, and shortly after graduating, Stephanie began a full-time job with WWE...

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Straight from college and into the Attitude Era, it wouldn’t be very long before she’d get mixed up in the McMahon game of family values that was ongoing on RAW, debuting as a butter-wouldn’t-melt sweetheart used as a pawn in the Corporation’s games with the Ministry, being kidnapped by the Undertaker, crucified on his cross-symbol for a “black wedding”, only to be saved by Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After this, she would go on to engage in an on-screen romance with Test, which would ignite a rivalry between

Test and Shane. The two would go on to be engaged on screen, and were set to wed on an episode of Raw (Test would walk down the aisle to his entrance music and be announced by his ring name!), a domestic bliss shattered by the doings of D-Generation X man Triple H, who filmed himself marrying her at a cheesy drive-thru chapel while she was passed out alongside him.

Initially it seemed they hated each other, but at Armageddon ‘99, McMahon would intervene in a match between her husband and her father, decimating the WWF CEO with Triple H’s (rubber) sledgehammer. The subsequent McMahon-Helmsley Faction, placed as company owners, saw the power couple make life a misery for babyfaces, and on March 28th, Stephanie became WWF Women’s Champion, placing her atop the in-ring mountain alongside her Heavyweight champion husband...

All the while, one of the best angles of the Attitude Era was boiling under. After Vince and Shane realigned with Triple H and Stephanie at WrestleMania, a love triangle between McMahon, Triple H and Kurt Angle dominated the airwaves, as the straight-laced and likeable Angle vied for the affections of Daddy’s Little Girl. At Summerslam, in a Triple Threat match between, Angle, HHH and the Rock, Angle would abandon the match to carry Stephanie to the back after she had been inadvertently floored.

Though she would reward Angle’s effort with a woozey, discombobulated kiss, her loyalty was to her man, and at Unforgiven, she settled the feud by low-blowing Angle, allowing HHH to capitalise for the pin. The rest of her Attitude-Era hijinks centered around the McMahon family show, from her involvement in the Vince-Shane Street Fight at WrestleMania 17, to her ill-thought-out spell as ECW’s new owner, allying herself with Shane in the botch known as the “Invasion”, where an Alliance of ex-WCW and ECW talent spent five months jobbing to WWF headliners. After a forgettable divorce angle from HHH that foreshadowed the paper main event of Mania X8, siding with Chris Jericho against her ex, Steph would disappear, though not for long...

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McMahon Family Values A new era dawned in WWE. Ratings were down, main-eventers had departed, and it seemed as though the mainstream had moved on without the WWE. Vince’s reaction was to implore his remaining charges, and a debuting list of rookies, to display “ruthless aggression”, in the ring and out of it. John Cena, Randy Orton and other Superstars would be vested with this credo, and with the split of the WWE into two brands, it wouldn’t be long before Stephanie resurfaced, as a fan-fave general manager of the Smackdown roster.

Senate campaign, and trading barbs with CM Punk, before assuming her current role as one half of WWE’s nebulous Authority, reprising her antagonistic role alongside her husband, currently tyrannically bulldozing the aspirations of WWE’s rank and file roster, including a pretty brutal onscreen burial of rising main-eventer Daniel Bryan.

Off-screen, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque is EVP of Creative, second in command behind her dear old dad as he continues to fight off retirement, and sits on the Board of Directors of social media minnow Tout, following WWE’s significant investment in the video-messaging service.

The blue-brand queen was the face of the Paul Heyman-directed glory days of the show, favouring babyfaces in her decision-making and delighting in her interference in her father’s lecherous behaviour, a trait that would lead to a Vince-Stephanie I Quit Match, a spectacle that saw a full-grown man choke his adult daughter with a lead pipe while his wife and mother of his kids watched. As you do. In reality, Steph was set to marry the man that portrayed her onscreen ex, Paul Levesque, cementing a power couple that would go on to become today’s Authority and form the basis of the fourth generation of the WWE franchise.

A lightning rod for controversy, much like her dad, much has been made of the circumstances under which HHH’s off-screen ex Joanie “Chyna” Laurer made her exit from the company, with Laurer claiming her instigation of her release. Irrespective of the truth behind the incident, there’s no doubt that the moment marked the passing of the couple from onscreen heels to legitimately divisive figures among the WWE fanbase, affecting fan perceptions of Triple H’s overbearingly prevalent main-event run between 2002 and 2005, and the ongoing McMahon family dramas on-screen...

Over the following years, Stephanie would play bit-parts in various McMahon family escapades, including the unveiling onscreen of their real-life marriage during the build to WrestleMania 25, appearing in an amusing skit that parodied the Vince fake death angle and Linda’s

Regardless of what any of us reckon, though, there’s no denying WWE’s future is in solid hands, as Vince’s handpicked successor has learned to navigate the corporate and locker-room minefields equally...

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TOTAL Legacy FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS] TEXT By DAVE QUINN

Our first instalment of Total Legacy looks at a Wrestling dynasty that is still more active than most in today’s professional wrestling, a family tree so wide with roots in the business for generations; the Anoa’I Family.

The Greatest Grappling Family of All? Some may argue the ties that make this dynasty so vast are actually quite thin, with traditional Samoan oaths bonding families with “Blood Brothers”, but it doesn’t change the fact that the family influence and support to make it in the business pushed many generations to succeed in the ring.

In this case, the brotherhood was shared between Amituanai Anoa’I, father of the Wild Samoans, and High Chief Peter Maivia, and thus the Maivia family and all descendants are considered part of this family by those within. Let’s look at just some of the family members that have proudly represented the Anoa’I Wrestling Family over the years.

The Rock

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Arguably the most famous wrestler with ties to the Anoa’I family is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Grandson and son of two current Hall of Famers, High Chief Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson respectively, The Rock is a true 3rd generation superstar and paved the way for many of his younger relatives. Having grown up on the road with his father, he was literally brought up in the

FEATURES business and now boasts a vast amount of championships and accolades as well as a spotlight as bright as a certain Mr Bollea in his prime. After enduring a horrid time as the always smiling Rocky Maivia, an early heel turn in the Nation of Domination begun his journey to the main event and he is one of very few heels who stay popular with fans even as a bad guy. He will always be one of the main reasons the Attitude Era was so fantastic, and thus will be rubbing shoulders with Hall of Famers in years to come. The Rock has feuded with the best of the best, main eventing with Stone Cold, Triple H, Hulk Hogan and even John Cena, he is a 10 time World Champion, 5 time Tag team Champion, Royal Rumble Winner and future Hall of Famer.

There is not a lot more to be said for a wrestler who truly surpassed everyone’s expectations and continues to entertain to this day. He is unarguably the most decorated member of the family.

Yokozuna While his father and grandfather were undoubtedly great successes, many more remember the name of a certain cousin of The Rock who won WWE Heavyweight Titles before the Great One was ever seen. His name was the late, great Yokozuna. A two-time WWE Champ, two-time Tag Champ, Royal Rumble winner and Hall of Famer, Rodney Anoa’I dominated in the WWE for six years with memorable rivalries with such greats as Lex Luger and Bret Hart. As a heel he was terrifying, crushing people with his devastating Banzai Drop and even fighting the Phenom in a rare Casket match. He almost single handedly turned Lex Luger babyface as being the only superstar to successfully powerslam the Sumo powerhouse (thanks to more than a little help from Yoko).

He was also the first full heel to successfully defend a WWE title at Wrestlemania when winning by disqualification against Luger WM10. His devastating finisher was eventually his downfall however, missing in a match later that very night against Bret Hart and subsequently being pinned and thus losing the belt. He turned face while having a successful tag team run with Owen Hart, but his weight took its toll on his health and he passed away at age 34.

Rikishi Everybody loves the Keesh! Originally part of the Samoan Swat Team and later redubbed The Headshrinkers with his cousin Samu, Rikishi Fatu has been wrestling at the top tier since the early nineties. Having been redeveloped many times over, from his alliance with Too Cool and his sweet dance moves, to his main card push and involvement in the “who ran over Stone Cold” storyline, Rikishi proved he could not only hang with the big boys; he was one.

His tag team run in the early nineties as Fatu of the Headshrinkers was a moderate success, winning the tag belts with manager Captain Lou Albano. Unfortunately once Fatu entered singles competition, the WWE had difficulty placing him and changed his character from a mean guy from the streets to a middle eastern heel called The Sultan where he briefly fought his cousin The Rock for the IC title.

Repackaged a 3rd time since entering singles competition, he returned as Rikishi Fatu in 1999, adopting the new Sumo name as a homage to his late cousin Yokozuna. As Rikishi he was an instant hit, especially after finding his funk and joining forces with dance enthused tag team Scotty Too Hotty and Grand Master Sexay, forming the three-man version of Too Cool. During this time he saw gold when briefly holding the IC title, before his eventual heel turn.

His ties to the Anoa’I family were used as part of a storyline that allowed for the reintroduction of Stone Cold Steve Austin after a lengthy injury, whereby Austin was hit by a car and was now searching for the unknown assailant. All fingers pointed to The Rock until Rikishi stepped forward to take responsibility, citing that he did it for his cousin after some convincing from Triple H. This storyline led to some main event cards but unfortunately no belts, but his legacy lives on today in the form of a current and formidable tag team.

Rocky Johnson One half of the Soul Patrol with Tony Atlas, Rocky Johnson was part of the first ever African American Tag Team to win the Tag Titles. He married into the Anoa’I Family when he wed the daughter of High Chief Peter Maivia. When he retired he was pivotal in the training of his son Dwayne and in 2008 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Others Remember 3 Minute Warning? The super heavyweight tag team of Jamal and Rosey are cousins and both Anoa’I descendants, with Rosey later teaming with The Hurricane and achieving moderate success and TV time. Jamal was rebranded as the menacing Umaga and was even receiving a push to main event status before his untimely passing. He was being marketed as an unstoppable force and at one time seemed unlikely to ever lose the IC belt until Bobby Lashley interfered in a match against ringside fan Santino Marella.

Even today the connection to the business is strong, with Rikishi’s twin sons currently kicking ass as the high flying Usos, who are actively involved in the Tag Title Chase, frequently coming up against dominant stable of thugs The Shield, which includes their cousin Roman Reigns.

The family have wrestlers outside WWE also, most notably The Black Pearl, a former Nu-Wrestling Evolution (NWE) Heavyweight Champion, and The Tonga Kid, who at one time tagged with Haku as the Islanders in WWE The Anoa’I Family have had a strong involvement with wrestling for fifty years and fortunately, their support for their family to chase this dream shows no sign of slowing down.

Join us next time when we will be having a look at the tragic history of the Von Erich Family, as well as highlighting the triumphs of one of the first true wrestling dynasties.

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THE LOWDOWN

[ UK WRESTLING//FEATURES // PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE

ge?

Name the five must-haves in your frid

, a decent

ccoli, Grapefruit Chicken, loads of it! Quark, Fresh Bro bottle of dry white wine!

What food do you cheat with?

eat junk food all day, I love Anything and Everything. I could , pizza, kebabs the lot, you chocolate, sweets, ice cream, pies once a week or fortnight name it! But when I do cheat, maybe go overboard, but often do! depending on my diet, I try not to en peas in your freezer?

Do you keep anything other than froz

imagine I’ve got lots of nice Well I have the kids so as you can zer when I prepare a lot of goodies in there. I only use the free eat them later in the week! meals in one go, I’ll freeze them and What dessert do you enjoy?

Creme brûlée, cheesecake, ice cream

What is your signature dish?

are a few favourites.

ccoli.

Boiled chicken, brown rice and bro

What meal do you eat before entering the ring?

tried sushi once though and thought it was rotten!

I normally try not to eat anything solid for at least four hours before a match, just for digestion purposes. But two hours before I will consume a protein drink with 50g of whey along with 70g of ground Scottish oats, slow release energy. I often sip amino acids right up until I go through the curtain.

What food do you look forward to most eating after a match?

Just whatever I have brought with me, usually, chicken, rice and veg! I like a whole meal directly after a match

Which nationality of food is your favourite?

Least favourite type of food?

Hmmm I like most, haha. Although I

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Pepsi or coke?

Coke sweet CUCUMBER Margarine or butter?

Butter Brown or white bread?

Brown

Steak, medium rare!

Which one food do you absolutely hate?

Indian or Italian.

What is your ideal three-meal day?

Tuna

What’s your one biggest tip in regards to diet for any aspiring wrestlers or those wanting to get in shape?

Well that’s 4 less than i normally have, but breakfast would be 80g of porridge oats cooked in water mixed with 50g vanilla protein and half a grapefruit, dinner is normally, 200g chicken, 100g brown rice and handful of boiled broccoli. Tea would be the same although I occasionally have salmon or steak instead.

Which one food do you absolutely love?

Learn the nutritional values of food, how much protein, carbs and fat are in a particular food. This information is so easily available on the net, you can find out exactly what is in 100g of almost anything. This is invaluable to you and will make food choices and diets so much easier. Work out how many grams of protein, carbs and fat you need daily, depending on your goals, then take it from there.

Milk or beer?

Beer

Coffee or tea?

Tea,

Salt or pepper?

Pepper

Chocolate or cheese?

Chocolate

Sweet or savoury?

Sweet!

Brown rice or white?

Brown

THE LOWDOWN What do you use to listen to your music?

WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD?

My iPhone.

What is your favourite genre of music?

I like heavy metal and rock but I also like 80’s music too.

JOHNNY MOSS

Do you listen to music when you train?

Just whatever they have on in the gym, normally dance music with a heavy beat, which is fine with me! What isn’t fine though is music channels, especially those that play pop music. Who wants to train listening to adverts?!

MENU

Do you have a favourite artist?

I like all sorts from, Metallica, Judas Priest to David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac. Do you have a signature theme music you use for coming down to the ring to?

Stranglehold by Ted Nugent, used it since 1999 called “Last Words”. I really like the song, it has a good build for an entrance theme, and the lyrics are suitable, so I’ll be sticking with that for a while.

Favou rit e s Could you just name five songs which you absolutely love and why?

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb A great chill out song, I have bee n able to relate this several times in my life!

David Bowie - Absolute Beginners

Fleetwood Mac - Go your own way

it is possibly my favourite song eve r, Bowie is a tremendous artist and I just thin k this is a powerful song that drags you in.

I just love the lyrics the tune, eve rything about it is awesome.

Metallica - Sad but True It really gets me fired up! I have this blasting in my car when I’m driving alone! Just tremend ous guitar riffs!

Kiss - Crazy Nights This has a special place in my hea rt as this was the entrance song of my late trainer, Andre Baker. Brings back a ton of great memories.

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JIM ROSS

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

FEATURES

Gordon Solie, Kent Walton and Lance Russell are just some of the truly great names that have lent their voices over the years for different promotions to convey the action happening inside the squared circle. Think about the iconic moments in professional wrestling that have been made even more memorable by the announcers who called them. It’s without a doubt that everyone has their opinion as to who is the greatest professional wrestling announcer of all time, but one name that crops up again and again by colleagues and peers alike is Jim Ross.

Earlier this year Jim Ross retired from WWE after two decades with the company. Rumours abound, however, that good ol’ JR was actually forced to leave the Stamford, CT organisation.

Total Wrestling’s Darren Wood tracked down Jim Ross to find out what really happened with his departure from WWE, his thoughts on the ever changing business of pro wrestling and what’s next for him..

TW: Hi Jim thanks for taking the time to talk with us. How’s everything been and what have you been up to since retiring from WWE? JR: I’m happier than ever and excited about what the future holds. I’m working with some talented people on multiple projects in 2014.

Since you entered wrestling, the business has changed dramatically, particularly with the advent of the internet. Do you feel any aspects of the business have changed for the better?

Many things have changed for the better in the wrestling business. Many talents are making more money now than at any other time in the history of the business. The talent’s medical care and travel schedule are both better than ever. TV production has never been better. The Internet hasn’t been a negative as long as fans can separate rumour from news. The lack of territories which developed many wrestlers and others has been the biggest negative during my career.

The way you grafted, announcing for different wrestling companies and working your way up eventually earned you a senior position in WCW then WWE. Do you feel the way young announcers get into the business nowadays has changed at all, and if so has it changed in a negative way?

Territories also trained young announcers and that is no longer the case. Announcers today are generally hired because of their look and not because they have an overwhelming desire to be permanently married to the wrestling business. Most new announcers are merely looking for work and not a lifetime career.

When you joined WWE was it hard to not essentially be the main commentator for the promotion?

When I came to WWE I knew that I would not likely ever be the #1 announcer but that did not stop me from trying to become that person.

Nothing great ever happens in one’s

life without challenges.

Speaking of WCW, was the company really as bad as everyone makes it out to be?

It has certainly been documented that WCW was dysfunctional at times and lacking in leadership more often than not. That starts at the top in TBS administration and how they prioritized WCW within the corporate structure.

Any time active performers are involved in the creative process one is asking for trouble.

In quite a short space of time I believe you were fired not once, but twice, by Vince McMahon. What were the reasons for this, and when being asked

by Vince to come back were you reluctant?

When I left WWE the first time it was told to me that the company was going in a different direction and I wasn’t in the plans. Much of my issues were self inflicted as I was outspoken and my presentation skills were lacking as it related to dealing with upper management. When given the opportunity to return to WWE I jumped

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FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

at the chance with no reluctance at all.

Is it true that in 1994 after being fired, you met with Eric Bischoff about returning to WCW, but weren’t offered a job at the meeting and the negotiations ended up going nowhere?

I think that I had one, brief meeting with Eric Bischoff in Atlanta after I left WWE in 1994. We never got to the negotiation stage and he obviously felt that I couldn’t help WCW and never offered me a job to return. Best thing that ever happened to me in hindsight.

Is it also true that you met with UFC in 1994, in regards to doing play-by-play for them?

How different things may have been if this was true...

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I don’t recall ever meeting with UFC in 1994. There may have been a couple of casual telephone conversations, but it really was never a serious matter on either party’s part.

You turned heel in 1996. Was being actively involved in storylines something that you were interested in at that time?

The 1996 ‘heel turn’ is laughable in many ways. It did not work. I was not a good in ring performer nor did I ever embrace those roles. The TV time should have been devoted to talents who were selling tickets and PPV’s.

Competent creative always puts talents in their best roles and I was never good as an in ring performer in my opinion.

That was inept casting in my view.

Also in 1996, you were made Vice President of Talent Relations. How did this come about, and was it a position and responsibility you always wanted?

Yes. I became VP of talent relations, then later became a SVP and then EVP. I had years of administrative experience in Mid South and in WCW and was more than prepared for the role and felt that I could make a difference for WWE especially during

the most challenging times ever in the company. When JJ Dillon abruptly left WWE the door was opened for me in that area.

For a large part of your WWE career, you were responsible for the hiring and firing of WWE talent. You must have some interesting stories from that period? Any you could share with us here?

My track record of hiring talents is well documented. We had some wins and we had some misses. I’d like to think that some of WWE’s greatest stars flourished under our watch. I will save most of those stories for a book someday.

Everybody has their own way of delivering bad news. What tact did you use when releasing talent?

No one should relish firing another person but it is a part of the job that one cannot avoid. I tried to be succinct, honest and professional when faced

FEATURES in my WWE career.

with letting someone go.

Who was the best and worst talent you ever hired?

Asking who is the best talent that I ever hired is akin to asking which of my two daughters do I like better. I choose to not answer that question because there is no definitive answer.

Same goes with the worst talent I ever hired. What does anyone gain by discussing such a negative matter?

It only embarrasses people and their families, which makes no sense to me.

As head of talent relations was there one particular talent you always wanted to sign but never could come to an agreement with?

Probably Sting is at the top of the list of the talents that I would have liked to have hired but couldn’t. He had a great contractual deal with guaranteed money from Time Warner still coming in, wasn’t enthralled with the Attitude Era content and did not want to travel extensively at that time.

Great guy nonetheless.

In terms of talent relations; WWE has been heavily criticised over the years for everything from wrestlers dying to drug addiction, homicides and much more, and yet the company also supports many former wrestlers through lengthy

rehabilitation processes and employs many former talents backstage. What’s your take on WWE’s relationships with its talent?

I’d suggest that WWE talents are treated better today than any talents ever in the business. It’s not even close. WWE, like any good business, has learned from a variety of experiences and they have implemented necessary changes to better care for the athletes.

Medically, financially, exposure, etc are all the best that they’ve ever been from top to bottom of the roster. It’s a tough business and the shelf life for any talent is short but if the talents are smart they can carve out a great life.

We have to ask about King of the Ring 1998, and the famous sight of Mick Foley being thrown off the top of the Hell In A Cell. What was it like to actually see Mick Foley descending from the Cell in front of you at KOTR? Was it the damndest thing you’d ever seen?

Foley coming off the top of the Cell was totally unexpected, shocking and I genuinely thought Mick was seriously injured. It was the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen in a wrestling match and is the most memorable and talked about moment, or so it seems,

Speaking of Mick Foley, he once described his experience on commentary to our co-editor as being like “putting on a pair of magical headphones that made all the respect he thought he’d earned magically disappear”.

Obviously, this relates to the experience of having Vince McMahon and others talking to him during commentary through the headset. What was your experience of being “produced” by Vince?

I had good days and bad days being produced by Vince. No one likes to be yelled at but after working for Bill Watts there was nothing that could be yelled at me by McMahon that I hadn’t heard before. Vince is aggressive and a perfectionist and is set in his ways, by and large. Working as a broadcaster isn’t easy and being overproduced can detract from a broadcast in my view. I survived aggressive producing better than some because I tried to not take it personally. Good producers should motivate and lead... not rant and rave.

How do you find the process of having a producer talking to you whilst you are talking live to viewers? That must be a daunting experience?

Any broadcaster in news or sports is accustomed to having someone in their ear during a broadcast. It’s the norm in the business. The difference comes not having someone in one’s ear but what one is hearing and the tone of what it being said. It should not be disconcerting.

Join us again next month, when we talk to Jim Ross about plans for the future, Montreal ’97 and what it was like announcing the tragic death of Owen Hart

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TOTAL

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

T E X T By D a

r r a g h O’C o

nnor

FEATURES

DEFINING MOMENTS Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Championship. No Mercy, October 20th, 2002.

KEY PLAYERS Brock Lesnar: Reigning WWE Champion in 2002. He would eventually leave the WWE and become the UFC Champion. He has since returned to the WWE but this was his last Hell in a Cell match.

Hell in a Cell: The first of these matches occurred at WWF Badd Blood 1997. There have been 28 Cell matches. These feature a large roofed steel cage structure which encloses the ring and ringside area. Only a pinfall or submission will result in a win.

There are no count-outs or disqualifications.

The Undertaker: He is the standard bearer for most things in the WWE. He has appeared in 12 Hell in a Cell matches, and he has won six of them.

Paul Heyman: Manager of then WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar.

Heyman has “competed” in a Hell in a Cell match teaming with Ryback against CM Punk at this year’s WWE Hell in a Cell PPV.

The Cell is a many things to many people, and as such, retains a place of high honour in the minds of wrestling fans everywhere. Why? This is because of its importance and use in the dying days of the Attitude Era. It was more than a gimmick, it was a character and it was something to see!

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Hell in a Cell idea was based on the original cage match.

This match featured a large roofed steel cage structure which encloses the ring and ringside area.

The original Cell was 16 ft high and weighed over two tons but has since been replaced by an amplified version of 20 ft and five

tons. The first appearance of this cell was at Summerslam 2006.

This was WWE’s answer to WCW’s Wargames concept. And unlike the steel cage match, wherein exiting over the cage results in a win, only a pinfall or submission will result in a win. There are no count-outs or disqualifications in this one. They were designed for bloody and violent blow off matches to end feuds.

Twenty-eight Hell in a Cell matches have taken place in WWE since its inception in October 1997. They vary in quality and the offerings of the past few years are very poor

indeed. This match, sans blood/high spots or interaction with the cell, is more a “match in the cell” than any kind of fierce hell and PPV audiences seem to see it in a similar manner. That said, there is still hope for the gimmick with Taker and Triple H pulling out a classic at Wrestlemaina 28.

Unsurprisingly, The Undertaker was an essential factor in the earlier, middling and continued success of this match. He is the standard bearer for most things in the WWE. In 2002, he was the man who had always dominated this match. That was until Brock Lesnar proved why he was as good as Paul Heyman

FEATURES achieve? It convinced fans that Lesnar was the next big thing. It appeared set that he would “be the guy”, “be the next Austin” and be the face of the WWE for years to come. There are very few times that a clean win over of The Undertaker happens; it is rarer when a domination of The Phenom occurs. This was done for no other reason than to establish a path for WWE Creative to follow for the next few years.

Lesnar would eventually not walk this path and leave the company after an awful match with Bill Goldberg in 2004. Kick starting the rise of Batista, John Cena and the PG Era.

Remember that people were wild to see ‘Taker beat Brock. Lesnar was a man that had beaten everyone that he faced, with his rise to the championship consuming The Rock and Hogan in just a few months. And with Triple H and Steve Austin out of the picture, there was nothing to stop him.

match: Taker working his cast (due to a fractured wrist injury that he was carrying) into the offence and his selling during the match, the interferences by Paul Heyman and the heavy strikes that each of these men took will please any fan (former or current) of the product. The pacing, selling and storytelling was a marvel of the latter Attitude Era and the live crowd lapped it up.

The road to this match was a brutal back-and-forth affair. Both wrestlers had dominated each other in the weeks prior. Yet, going into the match The Undertaker was favoured by many to win. The promos, video packages and other material were a nice companion to set the table for this bloody brawl.

The match ended with the Undertaker failing to put Brock away with a Tombstone and then falling victim to the F-5. Lesnar ended the match on the top of the cell, belt in hand, reinforcing his newly won symbolic supremacy of the WWE, while Taker was lying in a pool of blood in the ring.

The little things are so important in this

What did this era-defining image

claimed that he was and destroyed The Phenom.

So, where do we stand now? There have been a number of Hell in a Cell matches since this encounter, and most of them have been poor to terrible.

The real decline happened after Undertaker’s match with Edge in 2008.

The modern structuring of one of these matches is less around the “edgy” spots that make this a thrilling watch and more about in-ring rest holds and finisher trading.

You will never see a match like this in the WWE today; I doubt that you will ever see it again. While most will recall the three spots from Mankind vs.

Undertaker from 1998, this is the real deal when it comes to a Hell in a Cell match. This was everything thing that a Hell in a Cell needs to be and everything that can never be again.

OTHER GREAT HELL IN A CELL MATCHES WWF King of the Ring 1998 - The Undertaker vs. Mankind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKny0KW4ODM

WWE Judgment Day 2002 - Triple H vs. Chris Jericho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvQpabe8myU

WWF No Way Out 2000 - WWF Championship Match - Triple H vs. Cactus Jack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltzsGt_lpjA

WWE Armageddon 2005- The Undertaker defeated Randy Orton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m10-liDf-uY

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UK WRESTLING

[THE LOWDOWN // FEATURES // PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

BREAKING NEWS WITH PAUL FAHEY

So far I have talked about setting up the company and the terribly unsuccessful first show we put on. The show itself was well put together, especially considering there were some last minute personnel changes on the day. I got my first taste of the drama and unpredictability of running shows when, just as I sat down to relax the night before, confident everything was in order, I received a call from one of the wrestlers advising he had just damaged his knee ligaments playing football. Having had the same injury myself I understood there was no way he could compete 24 hours later so I had to replace him and re-shuffle the card a little. Then my referee no showed. In his defence, he had a heart attack which we found out several days later. An injured wrestler filled that void for the evening so the show, as far as the paying customers were concerned, went on as planned.

By the time the next show rolled round word was starting to spread about how good our debut had been and ticket sales were coming in quicker. I always had what I believe is the best philosophy when it comes to running shows - promote, advertise, vocalise, get the word out there!

properly. That’s why the job is called “promoter”, not “booker” or “writer”. One of my most reliable assistants would stand in the local shopping centre with me and we would each have a NEWS tag team title belt over our shoulders to attract attention while handing out flyers. It worked well and crowds for shows were increasing all the time as I got smarter with my promotional strategy and the paying punters spread the word to friends and family too.

I would often receive a call for tickets with someone saying thing like “my sister took the kids last time and loved it” or “my friend from work has been raving about the shows”. I have always said word of mouth is the cheapest and most effective form of advertising but it had to be earned. Thanks to those performing brilliantly inside the ropes, we were earning that level of advertising. It got to the point where we charged more for ringside seating because they were so in demand and we started to see the same faces come through the doors all the time at our home venue in Peterlee, County Durham.

Peterlee was my home town and I could actually see the venue from my house so it was perfect I see lots of so called promoters posting things for me that it became our best attended shows. online and expecting enough people to read them Over time, due to limitations place on me and attend but it simply doesn’t work that way. running other venues, it became our only venue For every internet fan who would come to our and the site where all of our biggest and best shows I would have another 10 people who were moments took place. Over the next few there because they saw a poster in the instalments you will hear plenty about them and hairdressers or the chippy or because I put a the fine work displayed by the likes of El Ligero, flyer through the letter box or saw them in the Micky Long, AJ Anderson, Lowthian, Julian shopping centre while handing out leaflets. The Werther Chambers and many more. As well as the promotions who sell out, even those who simply complications and disputes that put me off cover costs, they all do so by promoting running venues outside of my home town.

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FEATURES

JIM

CORNETTE

The most outspoken man in wrestling today, Jim Cornette, is no stranger to controversy. So it was with some trepidation that Total Wrestling’s Matt Davies, picked up the phone to the legend, But, instead of finding vitriol found a charming and warm guy, who loves nothing more than business itself…and a good quote!

TW: So, thanks for talking to us today, Jim. JC: No worries at all, hey I even have a semi-scoop for you today as I’ll be doing my first tour of the UK in February. Actually, we’ve been talking about this for a while. It’s going to be a big deal, four comedy/one man show/Q & A/ bullshit session. Each has a meet and greet, we are also doing some VIP Dinners and I’ll also be doing a wrestling school seminar with the guys at Wrestletalk.tv. It’s going to be fun. You know I am not normally one for flying, especially over oceans, but my wife will be coming over as well so she’ll be able to help me off the plane after I have been Xanxed up!

The way we are selling it is was that in February 1964, The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and it changed the face of American culture forever. Fifty years later, Jim Cornette returns the favour! God help the queen!

Let’s start at the beginning. What was it that first drew you into the mad world of professional wrestling?

Actually, the first wrestling show I watched ever was when I was 9 years old and I saw Dick the Bruiser’s TV out of Indianapolis and it was an old school show, with old school wrestlers. I mean, Bruiser was almost 50 by that point BUT he was the world’s most dangerous wrestler and nobody beat him. He never went down and he talked in this gruff voice. I mean, he looked like Brock Lesnar, if Brock Lesnar was even tougher! After that, I found the Tennessee wrestling that was out of Louisville, with Jackie Fargo and those guys and all of these guys were…well I hate to say the word characters anymore, because they didn’t HAVE characters they WERE characters themselves. You didn’t see people like that walking down the street all the time, but you know everything was an interest for me, the promos, the matches, fans going crazy – I just fell in love with it!

Can we clear something up as well – is it true you put up a pole on top of your house to get more channels to watch wrestling with?

[Laughs] Haha! Well if it’s on Wikipedia it has to

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be true, doesn’t it? That is true though! See when I was a teenager, we lived out in the country and didn’t have cable, so we got like three TV stations and then they added a forth.

But I found we were on some pretty high ground and I put a 10ft mast on the top of our tri-level house and got the biggest commercial available home antenna, this thing was like 14ft across, and I stuck a rotor on it so I could turn it any which direction. I knew if I turned it a bit north I’d get Bruiser’s TV, and I knew Cincinnati was only 90 miles away so I got the Sheik Show. After that, I started to collect shows and would try to never miss them, and then I started to arrange family holidays around events saying “Hey we are going to Knoxville to see Uncle Harold” and that’s really how I got started.

You spent a lot of time very early in your career working in a number of different roles in order to establish yourself. Do you think there is a lack of people ‘earning’ their way into the business these days?

I love the phrase earning their spurs, but you know what actually it’s impossible nowadays to get into the business the way I did. Most of the jobs I did don’t exist. Most of the territories don’t exist and the shows aren’t being run as often.

My path was being a big fan, going to the shows every week at the Louisville Gardens on Tuesday nights, but the same regular fans and the same small crew ran the shows. Christine ran the bookings, the same woman was on merchandise, the stadium had the same ticket sellers every week. The same ring announcer, the same jacket kid and if you hung around and found a way to be useful, like I did in taking pictures, it leads to stuff you know. “Oh we always need photos for the merchandise stand. Oh we always need pictures for the program. Sure we need people to write in the program and then hey we need some to ring announce a spot show, once or twice a week in a venue outside of Louisville”.

So by repetition and by watching matches and meeting wrestlers you become a part of that world. Today, anyone can get in the business but not make any money from it. Back then you had to really apply yourself to make it and learn the business and get in the world of wrestling, but once you were in there was 20 million things you could fucking do!

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I’m not trying to slack off on anyone trying to make it in the business these days but they don’t earn their spurs because there is no place to do that anymore. It takes guys five years to go to a hundred shows; we used to do 100 shows in three months.

Thinking back to your Smoky Mountain days – what was it that made it so loved by so many fans?

Well I think at the time we were the only ones trying to be a traditional wrestling promotion.

Most of the fans at the time, they were still traditional wrestling fans. Now they’re not, but then they were and it was refreshing that there was a company out there for them. A lot of those fans also didn’t like what Vince was doing with his glitz and glamour and more comic booky stuff.

They also didn’t like what WCW had done with their favourite wrestling and we were as good as the NWA used to be [Laughs] But to be honest, it was wrestling back when wrestling was popular.

These days, I meet two types of fans. At a Ring of Honor show or an independent show, I’ll meet the current group of fans that like Independent wrestling but they still watch WWE because that’s what wrestling is now. Then, at comic conventions, sci-fi conventions or any other appearances that aren’t related to wrestling everybody that knows me says, “I used to love wrestling but I don’t watch it now because it got silly or fake or boring or contrived or whatever the word is”. So there are these two groups of fans and I kinda fit into both because I have been around for a while, but recently I’ve been leaning to towards the “I don’t watch wrestling any more” type [Laughs].

Do you think SMW could have been a legitimate contender in the 1990s with the right TV deal?

Well yes, but the right TV deal for Smoky would have been three to four more major television markets joining the areas we already had. That would have been the deal for us. We never would have wanted national TV. You know we got too big to be small and too small to be big, but we never intended to promote nationally or get on national TV because we would have been way out of our league. We wanted to spread out into North Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina, Lexington, Kentucky and West Virginia and we would have had the television that we wanted. But that was when they had first deregulated TV over here and you could charge for infomercial time and Vince started paying TV stations to carry his program, so suddenly wrestling went from something a lot of people watched for the ratings to something you get paid to air. So we couldn’t afford it! But we were still outdrawing WCW! Actually we really did, one month, our average house show attendance was better than WCW’s was!

But in Knoxville, they weren’t all winners; sometimes we’d do a show and have 600 people

FEATURES talents, production but it was amazing to see those crowds and how hot they were but they did great business, but you know the Rock, Austin/ McMahon thing was brilliant but the rest of the time you saw the same stuff. The same number of people would have tuned it to see those three guys, but they crammed in so much stuff underneath that it burnt the people out. Hot stars always cool off you know, the Rock went to make movies. Stone Cold got hurt and then people were like…now what! That’s why I was always against hot-shot booking, [Laughs] as Rodney Dangerfield always said “Next year we are going to be in rough shape”.

Was it that the talent underneath wasn’t good enough to take the place of the big stars, or was it just they were being squashed to make way for the “superstars”?

in a 6,000 sealer stadium, other times we’d sell out with our big show! We did good stuff in the main markets, but we didn’t have enough markets to keep everyone employed.

You’ve seen many changes in the business during your career. What was it like working in wrestling during the “Monday Night Wars” era?

Jesus Christ, it was stressful as shit! Because Vince was always up in arms if the ratings were done or they [WCW] were up. The monitors were watching the other program to see what was going on and they were doing the same thing vice-versa. It was insane! Without that level of rivalry it wouldn’t have got as hot as it did, and it also wouldn’t have got as hot as it did without the Rock and Steve Austin coming along. It was perfect in that term, as there was this major rivalry that was bringing a lot of interest into TV wrestling and the two biggest stars in the history of wrestling box office are coming up at the same time so that was fun to watch. I had to put up with Russo’s booking on the rest of it; it was moments of wonder, punctured with stretches of bullshit.

I was behind the scene pretty much scouting

No, you know what it was, there was TOO much done with the underneath guys. Russo would put every guy in the company on every show, even if it was a six-man tag match that lasted for a minute and a half, or a preposterous angle of ridiculousness. It cluttered up the show from what you wanted to see. I mean everyone remembers Austin spraying Vince with the beer truck but the miscellaneous midgets and stripper pillow fights and all the shit underneath was too cluttered and frantic and it just immunes people to seeing stuff happen.

In a wrestling roster you have to have three types of people; you have to have main event stars, you have to have real great wrestlers in the middle that can go either way; they’ll won some but they’ll lose most and then you have to have guys that are there to get their asses kicked! Yes, you can do package shows where you can have six great matches and two features shows underneath, and with a story underneath; but when you try and do this Jerry Springer crash TV bullshit you just burn people out!

We hear a lot about what it’s like to work for Vince McMahon. Some say he’s a genius, others a megalomaniac. What’s your take on Vince as a boss?

He’s a great boss, because there is no doubt at any point who the fucking boss is. That’s the reason why he has been successful because Vince runs the fucking show. Now sometimes he is completely batshit fucking crazy and other times he does shit exactly right. It’s a cyclical thing.

The WWF/E has been successful because Vince was the captain of that fucking ship. It wasn’t like the WCW where everyone had a hand in it saying

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“Here you hold this dog’s head, I’ll fuck it now”.

You know it’s always been about Vince and his direction, for good, for bad for whatever and indifferent and that’s why they have been successful because they didn’t have 18 million people try and ruin their shit, like WCW did. They didn’t go into things totally unprepared like TNA did.

Vince is a megalomaniacal genius who alternately is batshit crazy and the smartest guy in the room. He’s the guy that you know has walked in the room, even if your back is turned on him. [Laughs] You know people try to describe him and every time I hear one it’s different and I don’t know anyone who can explain Vince.

“My butthole puckers and I get a little queasy when I see people raising money for their healthcare” Much has been written about the treatment of Jim Ross as he left the company. What are your thoughts on what happened there?

You know I wasn’t there in the room, and if I was, I wouldn’t divulge the conversation as Jim Ross is a friend of mine, but let’s face it though: a) Jim Ross isn’t struggling with things to do, b) Jim Ross has more money than the federal government and c) I have suggested to him, on numerous occasions that he loves staying home and not travelling and things but he always wants to be busy. But I have no idea what was going through the mind of anyone who could suggest Jim Ross was in any way able to mitigate the reasons why they were mad at Ric Flair.

What can I say? The guy is the best his is at what he does, he’s been a loyal employee for 20 years and like I said, it’s not like it hurt his feelings not having to travel as much anymore. But I wouldn’t have preferred to see the big ceremony on RAW but that’s all I can say on it.

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Many former WWE stars are looking to fans for money via the internet to pay for hospital stays, projects and so on. What’s your take on this increasingly regular aspect of the business?

Well it depends on the project, I mean if they

are after money for a documentary and if they come through with the perks they offer then you know fine. It takes money to do these things. But you know my butthole puckers and I get a little queasy when I see people raising money for their healthcare. I mean it might just be me, but I don’t think I’d do that, and hopefully with Obamacare we don’t have to do that as much anymore! But it has become prolific these days.

We think there is a glaring omission in the WWE Hall of Fame. With all you’ve done, why hasn’t WWE inducted you yet?

Let’s be honest – first thing, I and the WWF offices have yelled at each other in the past. Another thing is, to be honest, I don’t think that anything I did in the WWF or WWE, even though I managed the champion and the tag champion, but it wasn’t a booming period of business. I mean, I think I was Hall of Fame worthy for the Midnight Express.

I wouldn’t turn the offer down if we all were being honoured for that, because I wouldn’t want to ruin that for the boys, but I don’t think the WWE sees a commercial value for a Midnight Express DVD! The real Midnight Express never wrestled in the WWE [Laughs] I mean, I always said I wouldn’t go in before Bruno went on, but now he’s in but look Lou Thesz isn’t in, but one could argue he never wrestled in the WWF! So if you take that logic, and look at my best work with the Midnight Express then we shouldn’t be in it either.

To be honest, everyone asks about it and gets more upset about it than I do! Honestly the most legitimate Hall of Fame is The Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame because people nominate and vote and count correctly. I mean there is no actual physical Hall of Fame though. There is one up in upstate New York and have physical locations and old timers have given their memorabilia over to it and they induct a few people every year. The WWE Hall of Fame is seen as a main one, with a big stage show and all of that but it basically comes down to who Vince likes and who he can make money off a DVD from!

Moving forward into 2014 and beyond; how do you think WWE will fare under the control of Stephanie and Paul Levesque?

You know, once again, I haven’t been around them in years and I don’t know the way they are thinking these days. I do know that I slap my head when I hear who they hire and who they don’t hire, because that is my little department of the machine. I don’t know if creative would be worse, or even a little better to be honest! Thing is, I don’t think Vince McMahon will retire until he dies and if he does retire he’ll still be obsessive until he is dead, and nobody knows how long that is

FEATURES going to be because he is a genetic freak. What the jury is going to be out on, is when they are running things, it’s not how they run the wrestling, it’s how they run the company.

I mean, at the moment they have a structure where the wrestling is going to stay where the wrestling is, but who knows if it’s just that one ridiculously workaholic guy, with the magnetism that has kept the whole company in motion. They are now so big that, and I have never said this about another company, but there is a lot more important in the WWE than the wrestling and it’s all about whether they make more! I mean, Jesus Christ, it’s like mobilising the invasion of Normandy to run that company!

What’s it like for young guys trying to make their way in the business these days?

Well you know, it’s hard because there are so few places to go, but to be honest we’ve seen a drop off in people wanting to be pro wrestlers. When we had the drop off of territories, you know guys would see these guys there with the money, and big cars and girls off of them and then you always had a steady supply of wrestlers. Even when they became TV stars that didn’t hurt; but now a lot of those cowboys who wanted to be wrestlers now want to be mixed martial arts guys.

I always say to guys, you know I don’t want to piss on your dream BUT it’s like the music business or the movie business. You want to be a movie star or a rock star? A lot of people do, and some people will end up playing in their band in the garage, while others will always be in that high school play, but you don’t know! Just remember, that not everyone can be Mick Jagger, and not everyone can be Meryl Streep. Also try not to fuck up your real life too much, take steroids and fuck up your health! Look, if you’re 5 foot 7, 160lbs and you want to do this for anything other than fun, then chances are you’ve made the wrong fucking decision.

Is there too much pressure when you reach the ‘top’? Daniel Bryan, certainly, is a stellar talent who suffered under the spotlight when he didn’t get the support he needed.

Here’s the thing. The way guys get over, is that they figure out the way to get over. I mean, that started back when they were doing the preliminaries matches and getting beat every night, then going to the next territory and someone saying, “Hey, why don’t you be a heel tonight” or maybe you get lucky and they switch you and you get to do a little angle and do

promos, and YOU work out what to say, because no one tells you what to say. Then you get in your territory because they see your hard work, and they see you’re a good kid and got a friend who is a promoter in the next territory who needs a new top guy and he wants to give you that chance and after 5-7 years, after doing that 300 nights a year and you would know what the fuck to do, to get over, if you were any good. You learnt that, you knew what the fuck you were supposed to do.

You could do whatever the fuck you wanted and no one would shout at you unless you pulled your tights down, or waved your dick around or something really outlandish – that’s how you learn to get over. But if you bring in guys who are afraid to say boo to a goose, because they don’t want to offend anyone, well you know, that’s not how the Abdullah the Butchers and the Dick Murdoch’s and the Dusty Rhodes and the Ric Flairs and on and on and on got over. They got over because they knew that the worst thing that could happen to them was that they get fired and go to one of any other 24 territories because they knew they were hot shit.

So that age old adage that talent can only get you so far is true?

Yeah, but also a lot of less talented people have gotten over because they worked hard or knew the right people or sucked up to them, or just willed themselves over. But that’s the thing, that’s the why the guys are so bland and they look so static and nervous because now they are on national TV with all these bright ass lights on them.

Especially when you tell a wrestler to act out something, and he thinks the thing is horseshit down deep, and he tells wrestlers to act – no, wrestlers react. You don’t sit there and recite lines back, you be yourself. That’s how you be a wrestler. A sports entertainer, unfortunately, has to say all this shit they aren’t comfortable with, doing shit they aren’t comfortable with so it takes longer for guys to finally loosen up and feel comfortable.

The reason the guys at the top are most comfortable, is because they get the most leeway to do their own shit and they have enough money that if they want to leave, they can just go home!

Has modern wrestling missed something without managers supporting the stars today?

Yes! I mean sure, it needed to change – what Heyman does now as an “agent”, I like that angle, I did that for a while in OVW with Kenny Boland.

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FEATURES After “show me the money” people knew all about sports agents. But yeah, I think it is missing something. I am not sure why, I actually think they accidentally got away from it because they made every manager a woman wearing a bikini and then that left me and Paul Bearer out especially! Then they just got away from it.

But you know, Vince saw what Lou Albano and Grand Wizard and Freddy Blassie did for his dad’s company growing up. Until they start featuring managers again, no one else will follow suit.

Honestly, though, you look at some of the independent shows and you could have guys who can’t wrestle, but talk a little bit going out and supporting a guy that way. The problem there

“I left Ring of Honor when I realised we had lost our chance at making a good first impression and many of our wounds were self-inflicted.” though is that the Indy wrestlers don’t know how to put on a show, so the managers can’t learn from them. It’s tough, you know for every wrestler there is like 25 less spots for a manager!

Is there a manager out there today you could see as the “modern day” Jim Cornette?

Actually, Truth Martini I like. Although I wouldn’t say he was a modern day Cornette, he might like it if I said that, but I don’t know that I’d wish that on him! In his own way, and that’s the great thing because all managers are different, Truth Martini – I love his promos, I love his physical body language, his work in the ring. He’s a trainer, so he has a good mind for it, and you know he’s the guy I would plug for being the best manager in the business right now. Heyman is an advocate, I never said he didn’t know what he was doing, just that I wouldn’t believe him if his tongue was notarised!

WWE is now regularly hiring Hollywood writers over former wrestlers/managers to book matches and write storylines.

What’s your take on the company looking

outside the industry for creative talent?

That’s one of the reasons we are in the shitty shape we are in!! You know, here is the thing, NO! Like, just no! You can’t just have a writing degree and have written on other TV show or reality TV and just “write” a wrestling show. That’s the thing, Vince Russo always wanted to be called a writer, I always wanted to be called a booker and he’d say “A booker, what’s a booker supposed to mean” and I’d say “Well what’s a writer? That’s someone that makes shit up!”.

You know that’s the wrong standpoint to take, because wrestling isn’t just about making shit up.

Wrestling is all about looking at the guys you’ve got, working out how I can use them best and get them into conflicts that people will pay to see them fight. The brilliant idea that the writers get for “this amazing plot twist or turn” is unfortunately made people take wrestling as completely hoo-hah, even though the guys are hitting each other harder than ever.

The writers have made it so silly now, the way you used to get to the point of booking shows and stories was by first doing all the things you had to do to be a wrestler, get over and then after THAT point then you’re a top guy and you have worked around the other top guys and bookers and promoters and you can then be taken under someone’s wing to be an assistant and be asked your opinion on the way things were – that’s not to say that all top stars would have been great bookers, because some just really didn’t care, they were just great wrestlers – some guys weren’t the best wrestlers but had the right mind for it to tell the other guys what to do, but it all still required the experience and knowhow of the guys who had been around the business, doing it right and showing them how to do it right, or you being observant enough to work out how the way things were done right!

You can’t just take someone who has watched stuff on television and start coming up with shit!

“What?! No!”. I mean, I could watch a guy fly a plane, but you couldn’t tell me to get up there and do what he just did. Also, sometimes it’s horrible because they hire people who aren’t wrestling fans, who just don’t care and other times they’ll hire a wrestling fan that’s too into it! Sometimes the fans have screwier ideas than anyone else!

You can see why I have taken the last year off!

Speaking of writers – what’s the worst idea you’ve ever heard pitched in a wrestling organisation?

I was in the room when Jim Herd legitimately pitched to me and Jim Ross and Jim Barnett and to

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Jodie Hamilton, the Assassin, and to Ole Anderson and I am going to say Kevin Sullivan – and he pitched the tag-team of The Hunchbacks!

They were dressed up like Quasimodo and they have hunchbacks and you can’t pin them. You can’t get their shoulders flat to the canvas because the Hunchbacks. He went on for fifteen minutes about this, saying they’d be unbeatable and that would be their gimmick and Ole said “Ok Jim, I tell you what you tag me in and I’ll slap a submission hold on them and make them give it up in 30 seconds! They just lost…”

I mean Russo, his shit is like reading something from a guy on acid, but this was from a supposedly successful business man and adult, 50 year old human fucking being, presenting that to a group of legends of wrestling. There is your headline; Cornette speaks of Herd and the Hunchbacks!

Until recently you’d been heavily involved in Ring of Honor. What’s your take on that promotion? Can it ever really become a legitimate third contender in the US? Here is the thing, you and I can sit down on my triumphant return to the UK and do Part II on this, because I could go on for hours. I believed in Ring of Honor, I still believe in the talent. Delirious IS the hottest young booker in the business today and I believe in the talent roster they have today and I wish them all the success in the world, and I also wish that we had gotten a better first impression off under Sinclair broadcasting that led me to believe that I needed to quit that shit!

I left Ring of Honor when I realised we had lost our chance at making a good first impression and many of our wounds were self-inflicted. I’m not even talking about booking or creative, I am talking about the structure of the company and what I thought was going to go on before the purchase and what was executed after the purchase. You know, unfortunately now they have the perception of great wrestling but with a low budget operation and that not conducive to me for future success. I’ll leave it at that.

The internet rumour machine is in overdrive and thinks that you aren’t enamoured with Colt Cabana these days.

Is that true?

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Well here is that thing: First of all, Colt continues to, apparently, say that “Oh Delirious and Jim Cornette tried to get me out of Ring of Honor” and at the same time a lot of fans on the internet were saying we turned him down because we weren’t paying him enough money. The fact of the matter is when Sinclair Broadcasting bought the company

they wanted all the wrestlers they were going to feature on television to be under contract, which is fair fucking assessment I would imagine.

We did not offer Colt Cabana a contract because the money we could offer him for the spot we had for him, for the number of date we had for him was not worth him giving up his other shit he does – TV appearances etc – so we didn’t offer him a contract. We just said thank you and used him on a couple of house shows that weren’t televised, but we won’t try and hold you up for very little money and nothing to do, because we didn’t have anything for him to fucking do!

Here is the situation, and I didn’t have any blow back from anyone else in Ring of Honor with this position, Colt did a great job with Ring of Honor, but the direction we were trying to take it in was believable, credible, competitive, athletic pro wrestling with an MMA flavour, because some of the guys did that, as well as a harder edge with some new faces – to be honest a mixture of legitimate athletes and recognised name faces like Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin and had mainstream recognition with the fans. Colt was a mid-card guy who had funny matches, and laughed in most of them. He just didn’t fit the bill – I think he’s perfect for the WWE! I really think he is. I don’t know what the fuck happened there!

When you’re trying to sell your World Champion as this MMA shooter type and your heel stable is composed of some fucking animalistic, new fresh hot heels and your tag teams are centred on guys like the Briscoe brothers and Haas and Benjamin – then you have Colt Cabana who uses a flying ass bump for a finish, and who does stand-up comedy and knocks bad wrestling and makes fun of wrestling like it’s sports entertainment, not like the way we are trying to present it, as credible pro-wrestling... he didn’t fit the presentation.

We didn’t say “Colt, we think you are the worst human being in the world, we hate you” we just said, “No we don’t have anything because we are going a different direction”.

From a personal stand point, I don’t like that Cabana makes fun of the wrestling business every time he gets a chance to, and there is a difference between Mick Foley or me doing our thing and telling old bullshit stories and fucking having fun and having a nice Q&A session. I’m not making fun of bad wrestling, I’m not being a jolly joker all the time. There have been no death threats and I guess Colt has a bigger problem with it than we do because he is the only one that keeps mentioning it!

Here is the quote: “How can I miss you, if you won’t go away?”. I mean, Colt and a few other guys in Ring of Honor, had been there between three and five years, I mean, how can we introduce new faces – do we just keep adding

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people to the card? We have to subtract somebody and why not go away six months, learn a new hold and come back after a rest and we are glad to have you back? How can I miss you, if you won’t go away? That’s the other thing, because WWE will now sign you on contract and keep you, till there is no use for you, then TNA will sign you and there is nothing left.

I mean I remember when if you were at a territory six months to a year, you were lucky!

We see you have a jazzy new website as well - tell us more about it that.

Yes, my wife has done a significant amount of work on that, we had a guy help as well build it from scratch and she has purddied it up nicely, and my various columns and commentaries on wrestling and or politics are all on there. It’s got a vault section on there, because as people know, I have one of the biggest collections of wrestling memorabilia in the world, so for the stuff that’s not for sale on Cornette’s Collectables – like the Midnight Express Scrap book, like my Midnight Express Videos, Rookie Videos, tremendous merchandise, Cornette Face t-shirts – perfect for all occasions “order now for Christmas!”.

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But there is some stuff that’s not for sale, so there is a section you can click on from the vault, see pictures and read some of the content

on some of the one of a kind things I have got.

There is a gallery; we are in the process of putting up, where there will be pictures from all the shows I am doing.

I am also in the third week of the Jim Cornette Experience Podcast on MLW Radio, and next week our guest is going to be Jim Ross and as I am going to the UK and he just got back we are going to talk about the UK! That will debut Thursday December 5th, on podcast but you can hear us on MLW.com.

I’ve also finally learnt how to Twitter, my wife has taught me. Now I can do it myself and I am starting a campaign to protest the killing of Brian the Dog from Family Guy, I’ve got a lot of support for that! My twitter handle is @TheJimCornette Good lord, I didn’t realise I was so busy!!

We thought you said you were having a break! [laughs] I guess not! You know what, though, I am reminded of something Jeff Jarrett said when he left wrestling before TNA. He said, “I found out, once I got out of the wrestling business it wasn’t that I hated the wrestling business, I just hated the people I was working with in the business!”

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THE NAKED TRUTH

BIG SHOW

TEXT By matt roberts

Each month Total Wrestling takes a look at different performers within the professional wrestling industry and examines what makes them unique. Whether it is their positives or negatives, we strip back the performer and really look at what they do that no one else does in the business and what they could do to possibly improve.

One of the most controversial WWE Superstars of all time is The Big Show, due in no small part to the largely held belief that earlier in his career he became lazy and had he had the motivation could really have been something truly special akin to Andre the Giant. That aside, there is no doubting the impact that The Big Show has had on the wrestling business, so let’s take a look at his strengths and weaknesses.

THE DRAWS Experience Like him or hate him The Big Show has been involved in the professional wrestling business since 1995 when he made his professional debut for WCW at its Halloween Havoc pay per view.

Ever since then he has been a mainstay within pro-wrestling, particularly the WWE since 1999 onwards. The Big Show has been in the ring with some of the biggest names to ever step in the ring, including The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Undertaker and many others. Whether or not you believe him to be the greatest worker, one can certainly say that he taken on board the advice given to him by multiple legends, and given who he has been in the ring with over the years their experience was bound to rub off at least somewhat.

Even now, in 2013, Big Show may not be the best worker on the WWE roster, but when he is motivated he can work great matches, such as his excellent series with Sheamus back in 2012.

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wrestling business with the ability to play as many different roles as Big Show. He has been everything from a monster heel to the heroic babyface, via rebel, tough guy, emotional hero and more. Show has always done what has been asked of him and rather than sulk about it he has thrown everything he had into it which, more often than not, has made for interesting television. Such an example of The Big Show playing monster heel to perfection was during his run with Brock Lesnar in 2002. The feud between the two was one of the best, if not the best, feud on WWE TV that year (which is saying a lot given the competition it had.)

Versatility

Big Show was able to play the monster heel to perfection whereas Brock Lesnar for the first time was labelled an underdog, although due to his sheer impressive strength he was able to throw Big Show around the ring at will with suplexes that always got over massively in front of live audiences.

Without question the monster heel role was one to which Show played better than others, but he truly is able to adapt to anything.

There are few performers in the

Memorable Moments

This category is being added in for two reasons. It may divide wrestling fans, but two of the most memorable moments in the professional wrestling industry as a whole have occurred with The Big Show’s involvement. Without a doubt, one of Smackdown’s most iconic scenes was the sight of a Brock Lesnar suplerplex on Show breaking the ring in the middle of a WWE Championship match in 2003. This scene was even recreated between Big Show and Mark Henry to great effect years later.

Another example of a memorable moment is Big Show’s match with Floyd “Money” Mayweather at Wrestlemania 24 back in 2008.

This was the best worked “boxer vs wrestler” match ever held, and whilst it may have been rehearsed a heck of a lot, you can’t fault the effort that went into this one. Built up by a superb angle at the previous month’s pay per view with Floyd legitimately breaking Show’s nose when he offered him a free shot, this match was an incredible spectacle and helped Wrestlemania garner a substantial number of pay per view buys.

FEATURES THE FLAWS Work Rate Whilst it is indeed fair to say that Big Show has participated in many memorable bouts over the years, the simple fact cannot be hidden in that he has also participated in a lot of dire bouts. Given his sheer size, you can see why Show would have difficulty wrestling in long matches with the likes of CM Punk, Randy Orton, etc. However given his position in the company and that he has had several runs on top, Big Show should take them more seriously and get into shape, because at one point in his early career it wasn’t uncommon for him to perform dropkicks and moonsaults.

Imagine Big Show doing that today.

You would no doubt be in awe if a man of that size could execute moves such as that,

but due to letting his weight spiral out of control this was not meant to be (although, in fairness, we’re not sure his body could have taken years of high risk moves – Eds). That is why Big Show has largely been criticized by the wrestling media over the years as being lazy. It got to a point that he was specifically teamed with The Undertaker for ‘Taker to get him to snap out of it.

If Big Show’s cardio was better, he undoubtedly could contribute more to the business he loves and that should be reason enough for him to do so. An example of how bad a performance Show can put in if fatigued would be his Hell in a Cell bout alongside The Mcmahons vs DX back in 2006. In particular there was a spot where Big Show was so exhausted he couldn’t hip-toss Shawn

Michaels back into the ring so Michaels had to do the spot himself.

Promo Skills You can’t necessarily knock The Big Show’s verbal skills, but you can’t say that you’re particularly enthralled at the prospect of a Big Show promo, either. Without a doubt he always gets the point across in a succinct manner, and more often than not makes sense, which is what you want out of a promo, but there’s never been an example of where you were truly entertained by the mic skills of Show unless his opponent was ripping into him (such as The Rock.) The Big Show could have done more to improve on his oral skills and could’ve offered so much more to the business.

THE VERDICT At this point in his career, The Big Show is a established veteran of the professional wrestling industry and as such has earned respect from fans and pundits worldwide. Whilst it’s true that if Big Show had maintained his weight loss he could’ve developed into a much better athlete than he is today and been something truly special, it is far too late to dwell on that, and his current age of 41 its hardly likely that Show will ever get into the peak shape that he used to be in.

Forgetting that for a second, Show still has had a lot of good to very good bouts over the years and has even helped the younger talent such as The Miz and Sheamus to establish themselves along the way. So whilst he may not be the performer he perhaps should have been, The Big Show is still a pretty damn good hand to have around.

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TEXT BY sara

h leach

FEATURES

GUILTY PLEASURES

In the age of sports entertainment, we witness many people that you could place into either the ‘Sports’ or ‘Entertainment’ categories, but every now and then there are some greats that just fit both. It seems as though there are two things that boys want to be when they are growing up if they watch wrestling, a superhero or a wrestler. Gregory Helms managed to do both at once.

Following his transition from WCW, where Helms wrestled as Sugar Shane Helms, a gimmick that involved dodgy dance routines as the lead singer in a boy band, Helms was to undergo a transformation of superhero proportions and reappear on WWE as The Hurricane.

As with many gimmicks, it was either hit or miss, and The Hurricane was definitely a hit.

Holy Sidekick, Batman (Get it?)

Kids loved The Hurricane as it tapped into the two things that they most want to be, and adults could appreciate the superhero references, as well as the more grown up humour, such as the references to The Rock’s “Tiny ding-a-ling”.

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come with a cape of its own and a rather unfortunate acronym. At Backlash, the pair defeated La Résistance to win The World Tag Team Championship, whilst fighting for justice and all American values.

As superheroes go, The Hurricane had it all. He had his sidekick, his transport and a never ending determination to do good and put the wrestling world to rights. The Hurricane was on a roll, and the fans were loving it. The Hurricane was a character that clearly worked best when interacting with others, and there were many. Molly Holly, Rosey, Stacey Keibler, Lance Storm, The Rock, and Jerry Lawler were all placed in storylines with The Hurricane, either as a team or as short lived feuds.

It is well known that every good superhero needs a good sidekick, and The Hurricane went through his fair share of sidekicks. Molly Holly was the first, who transformed into Mighty Molly (Got it yet? – Eds).

There was even a “Hurri-Cycle” (with sidecar) to allow The Hurricane and Mighty Molly to arrive at the ring in true superhero style. Molly however, clearly was not cut out for sidekick life and hung up her cape within a few months.

Unholy Sidekick...

The Hurricane was not without a sidekick for long though. His super senses soon alerted him to Rosey, and his developing potential super powers. Rosey was soon given the title of “Rosey, the Super Hero In Training”, a title which seemed to

Kane was even placed with The Hurricane for a while, creating Hurri-Kane.

As with most people, it took a while for Kane to warm to The Hurricane, but once he did, it was a fantastic pairing. Kane provided the muscle, whilst The Hurricane was able to

use his super powers and high flying ability. The unusual pairing won The Tag Team Championship belts and seemed to be destined for a long run together. Sadly though, all good things must come to an end, and it did not last long. The Hurricane was destined for bigger and greater things.

In 2003, The Hurricane began a feud with The Rock, and there were various backstage segments featuring them bumping into each other, or in The Hurricane’s case, hiding in The Rock’s dressing room. These segments were well thought out and often very funny, with both The Rock and The Hurricane trading witty insults. You know a wrestler has made it in the WWE when The Rock sings a song about them.

Helms clearly grasped the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the business, and he compared pretty well. His backstage segments with The Rock were well thought out and the delivery and timings were perfect. It’s not every day you see a wrestler use the line “I’ve got my Hurri-powers Bitch” to The Rock.

FEATURES character fans had known and loved.

Flying Out the Right Way Thankfully, in early 2009 The Hurricane returned, albeit in a rather unconventional way. Helms was drafted to ECW using his real name, and began a storyline where he would be interviewing someone and a scripted incident would occur, leaving Helms to rush off mere seconds before the person in peril was saved by The Hurricane. As expected as it was, the segments were always humorous, and there was an easiness to it that made it work.

Hurri-Comic Fan In all fairness, it takes a lot to pull off a superhero wrester gimmick. I mean, not everyone looks good with green hair, a cape and a mask. It certainly takes dedication, and possibly one too many bumps to the head. Whilst the gimmick was probably created to provide the show’s routine humour segments, Helms gave it his all and it clearly paid off. He was entertaining to watch and he had the skills to back it up. As with many characters though, it was never going to be a long term role. Although such decisions are rarely made in the WWE, The Hurricane was able to bow out whilst the fans wanted more, rather than becoming tired of the superhero’s antics.

A self-confessed comic book fan, Helms even has a prominent tattoo of The

Green Lantern’s logo on his right arm.

He clearly had the passion and enthusiasm that was needed to make the character a success. He was able to sell the character well due to his super hero knowledge and enthusiasm, but it was his in ring ability that kept the momentum going. The Hurricane was clearly a chance for Creative to run with a gimmick and the vaguely amusing ideas they could throw together, whilst for Helms it was a chance to combine two of his favourite things.

The Hurricane is not to be confused with Hurricane Helms, a modified version of the character that Helms introduced in 2008. Hurricane Helms was far less entertaining as a character, and spent most of his on screen time mocking other wrestlers in segments rather than actually wrestling. This character was a far cry from the

The only reason The Hurricane was such a well liked character was because of Helms’ charisma and enthusiasm for the role. The fans’ knowledge of his interest in comic books and superheroes made the role just a little bit believable, and helped them to warm to the character initially. His skills in the ring, and his witty remarks also helped fans to accept the character, rather than to dismiss it as another ridiculous and inane idea from the Creative Team.

Despite the humorous backstage goings on, in the ring Helms has always performed well. He has held numerous titles across a variety of companies, and seems to be as comfortable as part of a tag team as he is on his own. Whilst The Hurricane may not be fighting for good on our screens at the moment, we would not be surprised if he were to make a return at some point. In WWE, history just has a way of repeating itself.

Whilst Gregory Helms has always been a talented wrestler, it appears that fans will remember the backstage segments rather than the matches; either that or his days as one third of a boy band – one that will NEVER be a guilty pleasure.

Hurra-Memories http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztwfe5vgPgQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiJYv9hhLeg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn2LUxxDBBM

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TEXT By Mike McGrath- Bryan

SOUNDTRACKING

PURORESU

With a second volume of his music released this past month in Japan and through import outlets on King Records, TW recently chatted online with New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Yonosuke Kitamura, the man behind the music of the influential promotion, about tunes, influences, and the role of music in the wrestling experience...

TW: How did you get into composing music for New Japan Pro Wrestling? What was your background, musically, and did you study music or sound design in college?

teams and will research their work online, too.

YK: I was working as a sound engineer, a subsidiary of Yukes’, the game developers for WWE. Yukes’ was running NJPW at the time, so I ended up doing sound design and such for their website. My first commission for NJPW was in 2005, for the New Japan Cup music video, and I have been composing properly for NJPW since I composed the entrance themes of GBH and Jado & Gedo in 2006.

I write and record at my home studio in Osaka, while I keep in touch with the staff and wrestlers of NJPW. The demos and finished products are submitted online to NJPW’s offices.

I’ve been hooked on computer music since I got a gift of a synthesiser from my father at age 16. It was hard to get into, but you have to study it on your own terms, to get the best of it, and to get to a sound that’s all your own.

When you compose a piece of music for a wrestler, what factors do you consider? Do you research foreign wrestlers on YouTube to try and match their character, for example?

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The character of the wrestler is the most important thing. I have been making music for NJPW with the image and personality of each wrestler in mind, attempting to create sounds that symbolise a wrestler and can be immediately used as an identifier. It’s most popular, for example, to put a sound effect at the beginning of a song to create that association. “RAIN MAKER” is a good example of that, the sound of money falling just before the song begins. These kinds of associations are very important at live shows, also, for people in the arena. The opinions of the wrestlers themselves and NJPW are also a factor, of course. I’m aware of the WWE and TNA sound

Do you have a studio with New Japan, like a formal office?

What are your influences as a composer of soundtracks, and original music?

One way I got into music was through film soundtracks. One of my school-day hobbies was to dub music over my favourite films to create music videos. That interest has been put to use in my work in wrestling. I have a strong interest in the music of Hollywood, and, of course, the music of WWE. To me, the relationship of music and video has a very important meaning. I release my own music through my own label, RMLabel (http:// rmlabel.com), a lot of which is inspired by movies.

What are some of your favourite entrance themes in wrestling? How have they influenced your work now, as a composer?

I think there are different aspects of presentation and style, such as Japanese wrestling and WWE, and each have a style of entrance music traditional to them. I like entrance music that connects the wrestlers to the fans purely, that endears and creates a connection, like The Undertaker’s funeral march, or Triple H or AJ Styles’ themes.

But then there are also great entrance themes that stand alone as great art, to be listened to like music or movie scores and OSTs. I think the

FEATURES

CDs functioning like OSTs. What is your hope for the future of music in pro wrestling, and your role in New Japan Pro Wrestling?

perfect entrance theme, as far as Japanese wrestling is concerned, is Keiji Mutoh’s theme, “Holdout”, composed by Japanese wrestling music pioneer Osamu Suzuki. His songs are exquisitely balanced, between emphasis on melody and knowledge of the importance of tempo, right from the intro, to bring a venue to its feet.

Music has been a big part of making NJPW accessible to new audiences and generations of fans over the years. As NJPW attempts world expansion over the coming years, how do you see music affecting how Western audiences see a product that will be new to them?

Contemporary music in Japan has been strongly influenced by the West. The same can be said of wrestling music. But that might not appeal to fans by itself, it’s down to us to pursue music and sound cues in a more individualist style. I will continue to aim to make music that affects listeners strongly, from Japan, to overseas, and back.

How do you feel about your work being released as albums and sold on record store shelves, alongside major artists? I understand soundtracks are more a part of music culture in Japan and oftentimes hit the mainstream charts.

I am very proud to be involved in GREATESTMUSIC series. Also I am surprised that you have noticed the chart record of professional wrestling music. GREATESTMUSIC has been released along with major artists, on a major label, but this is evidence of the underlying strength of NJPW, that I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with. This is because it’s a professional wrestling organization with a history, and a very big name.I think that it is interesting work, even listening, as it’s very much like l istening to the music of a movie, entrance theme

I think, as there are various genres; hip-hop, techno, classic rock, etc, that wrestling can use music to help tell a varied and strong story, and in the process, innovate its own sub-genres a little. And I want to give the dream of professional wrestling, as a musical outlet, to children of the next generation, to help inspire them as artists and bands, like how the art of professional wrestling itself is already a dream to children. My own mission is to put together a sound creation team for NJPW that would be comparable to WWE’s, and if there’s interest, hopefully collaborate with artists the way they do.

Do you have anything you would like to say to the fans of wrestling music, and to NJPW’s Western fans?

You’ll notice if you listen, that I have made different teams’ entrances in different genres and styles. For example, punk and hard rock is often the hallmark of Nakamura’s stable, Chaos, while Bullet Club’s themes are based mainly on club music like EDM. I wish to entertain different genre fans and followings in this way and create followings for each team in such a fashion. I want you to listen to each theme in such a way, and get into the New Japan roster and show in a manner you enjoy personally.

I think things like this will help New Japan grow into a major entertainment company. To that effect, children and adults have been engrossed in the KING OF PRO WRESTLING card game, and New Japan’s major shows also play in cinemas as 3D features, distributed by Warner Brothers in Japan. It’ll be more active as a means of multimedia content creation and distribution, especially it begins broadcasting to the world.

Without fans, there is no professional wrestling, so I hope to keep making music for wrestling that will involve and engage fans, around the world, and as it expands, hopefully it will inspire wrestling fans to connect and exchange their ideas and dreams, regardless of borders or even the generation gap.

A special thanks to Kitamura-san for this rare and special interview. NJPW Greatest Music Vol. 2 is available now on CDJapan, and his debut EP can be found on rmlabel.com.

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FEATURES

[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS] TEXT By DAVE QUINN

Here to Show The World

With an edgy in-your-face attitude washed with bravado and self-confidence, honing a time-tested gimmick with a touch of personal flair to make it his own, not to mention several pushes to main event status received in the past, WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler is one of the brightest stars on the roster today. Why, then, is a wrestler with such potential languishing in mid card, jobbing for IC and US title holders?

Dolph Ziggler, at present, is a man in flux. Compared by many to The Nature Boy Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels, TW asks wheter Ziggler truly has what it takes to be the face of the WWE and, more importantly, why he has yet to be given the chance?

Becoming The Show-Off Firstly, there is no questioning Ziggler (real name Nick Nemeth, formerly Nicky of Spirit Squad fame...) has the work rate and commitment, and many agree he is one of the most entertaining in-ring performers in wrestling today. He is a veteran, having worked with the WWE for nine years, on top of a successful amateur background where he earned three All-Mid American Conference Championships and holds 121 career wins for Kent State University.

Ziggler’s growth as a performer can be measured on screen; think, for example, of the pop he received in 2012 when cashing in his Money in the Bank contract against then-champion Alberto Del Rio. His in-ring skill, ability to sell and put over his opponents and his almost unmatched charisma have drawn comparisons to The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels and even The Nature Boy Ric Flair.

While these comparisons are certainly evident in the ring, there are similarities in the development of these men’s careers, careers that Dolph Ziggler may also be emulating.

The Supporting Cast

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Factions, tag teams or stables can be used as a great building block for new talent, and all these men have been a part of a group at one time in their careers. For Shawn Michaels, it was The Rockers that gave him the platform to eventually show he was good enough to go it alone, culminating in the famous Barber Shop showdown, Marty Janetty being sent through a glass window and thus giving birth to the Heartbreak Kid.

But the Rockers enjoyed tag-team success for years, squaring off against prestigious opponents such as The Hart Foundation and Demolition, and were even a part of a Survivor Series Match that included The Ultimate Warrior and Andre The Giant. One member of a tag team always becomes greater than the other, outshines and has his sights set on bigger things (sadly for the former Rocker, it’s known as The Marty Jannetty effect...), and The Showstopper certainly had that destiny.

Ric Flair had already tasted success at the top, having already cemented his moniker as The Nature Boy with an NWA World Championship on his shoulder, but even after proving he could be the man on his own he was still part of possibly the greatest faction in wrestling history; The Four Horsemen. While there have been many incarnations of the Horsemen, all had one key remaining element in Ric Flair, and boasted a flash and pompous attitude that fuelled their unrivalled heel personas. As far as they were concerned, the Horsemen were the best, so they lived like the best.

As noted, Ziggler has started in a similar fashion, when first introduced on WWE programing as a member of the Spirit Squad.

While audiences were divided on the lasting effect the Spirit Squad left on the WWE universe, Ziggler was certainly one of the outstanding members of the group (along with Kenny Dykstra, now obscure), and no matter your opinion, they had a nice run for a while acting as hired goons for the McMahons during their 2006 feud with Degeneration X, another illustrious and popular team that HBK was a part of.

To Be The Man...

Michaels’ time in DX was more memorable in the beginning, as the stable containing his protégé Triple H and the Ninth Wonder of The World, Chyna. A prime example of the three tiered stable of the brains, the brawn, and the strong female, which Ziggler has also

FEATURES adopted during his Money in The Bank Winner storyline when he aligned himself with AJ Lee and Big E Langston.

Ric Flair has had many people in his corner over the years, and during his WWE run in the early nineties was part of a stable run by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, which also boasted the inclusion of the late Mr Perfect, Curt Hennig.

All of these scenarios bear similarities to Ziggler’s current position, and may be mere coincidence, but there is one clear similarity shared by Ziggler, Flair and HBK is the “chip on the shoulder” mentality of being the best, the prettiest, the most desirable, egotistical... in short, the “show off”.

Flair was the Nature Boy, the dirtiest player in the game, and constantly boasted his dominance and lifestyle as the “jet flyin’, limousine ridin’ son-of-a-gun”, a womaniser who desperately wanted to take girls to “Space Mountain” and compared he and his Horsemen as diamonds that last forever. He wanted to be the best in the ring, and the best with the ladies. Shawn Michaels was the Heartbreak Kid, The Showstopper who posed for Playgirl Magazine and entered the ring on a zip line, but could back up the bravado with phenomenal ladder matches, sixty minute Iron Man Matches and the first ever Hell in The Cell match (which he won).

Dolph Ziggler is The Show Off, and has used his cocky arrogance to manipulate women, in the form of AJ Lee and even Vicki Guerrero, who was his valet, client, and more, during his runs to the Intercontinental Title, United States Title and an extremely brief (11 minutes) spell as World Heavyweight Champion. In the same vein as Flair and Michaels, Ziggler is not the biggest guy but at times certainly has the biggest mouth, and as a classic bad guy he secured someone in power to fight his corner, unfairly in most cases.

A perfect example of Ziggler using people to get further is the brief stint with the Big Gold Belt, as Vicki threw her weight around as Smackdown GM by banning then champion Edge’s finisher the Spear, and stripping Edge of the title. Ziggler showed his deviousness by being revealed as the attacker behind what caused Teddy Long to hand the reigns to Guerrero in the first place.

win MITB and cash it in for a second World Heavyweight title.

One moment that defined Ziggler as the full package was his Money in the Bank win, in a vicious ladder match. The MITB briefcase itself has become as prestigious as a mid-level belt, launching winners into the WWE or World Title race and giving those who hold it a chance to draw at a main event. It is in many ways a make or break opportunity, and while all but two (John Cena and Damian Sandow) successfully cashed in their contract and became champion, not all were able to match up with what the industry expects from the “top guy”.

Ric Flair never required such a platform to reach the big time in the NWA, but there was a time when the Intercontinental Belt was considered a stepping stone to the top and it is apparent from the list of previous holders, which includes The Rock, Triple H and Chris Jericho. Over the years, many men passed the IC title test and progressed to the main event, but none are a greater example than the Heartbreak Kid. He was a master of the ladder match, and his WM ladder bout versus Razor Ramon for the IC title is to this day one of the greatest ladder matches in Wrestlemania history. He also joined forces with many during his rise, first with valet Sensational Sherri before aligning himself with Big Daddy Cool, Diesel. Michaels used his IC run to prove he could bring the goods, and outperform opponents at a higher level, and eventually formed a rivalry with the hero Bret Hart which resulted in the infamous Montreal Screw Job. Off the Axel...

The Money in the Bank Briefcase gave Dolph Ziggler the opportunity to rise to the top, and while backstage there may have been a plan in place based on how unlikely it would be for Ziggler to succeed at that level, any wrestler carrying that belt uses it to draw heat, perfect their promos and to step in the ring with the best to prove themselves.

Ziggler did exactly that, aligning himself with his own muscle and powerful female accomplice, pushing people’s buttons and winning by any means necessary.

Backing it Up His in-ring ability is what makes him stand out. He can back up his attitude, and this is what first drew comparisons to the Naitch and HBK. Ziggler is extremely athletic, yet instead of only using these abilities to show off, he takes a page from their book and uses it to sell his opponents’ moves and put them over. Flair is the original, providing classic moments of weak legs and falling face-first on the canvas, not to mention his famed backflip over the ropes when tossed into the corner. Michaels also used his athleticism in a dual capacity, hence being so dependable in Ladder, Iron Man and Cage matches, and yet still showboats when he can and might decide while flat on his back to flip to his feet. Even at the end of his career in matches against the Undertaker he truly looked like a man that would never give up, but probably should.

Dolph is no different, and is as entertaining on the front foot as he his as the underdog. He truly knows how to make a clothesline look like it took his head off, yet when on the offensive he can dive and leap across the ring like a spider monkey. His dependability as a worker allowed him to last over 50 minutes in the 2013 Royal Rumble match,

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It was during this angle that fans began to make their mind up about Ziggler being good enough to hang with the best and the buzz was positive. The crowd still played up to the heel act, but vocally wanted to see more of the Show Off each and every week. What makes or breaks a wrestler are the fans; those who pay to see him live and on TV, and the butts-in-seats along with TV ratings tell the corporate bigwigs everything they need to hear. All they really needed to hear was the sound of the crowd, as Ziggler’s music hit and he stormed to the ring to prey on an injured Alberto Del Rio, and more importantly the pop he received when the ref counted three and confirmed that he was the new World Heavyweight Champion on Monday Night Raw. So, what happened? Ric Flair became the most decorated World Champion ever and Shawn Michaels will go down in history as an icon, and a legendary entertainer but, at this stage, Ziggler seems shackled to the midcard. Why has the trajectory, no matter how clearly and closely it has been followed, fallen off its axis for Ziggler? Why is he a man still languishing in mid-card fighting losing efforts to Curtis Axel and Kofi Kingston? Has he not proven himself good enough to at least carry the World Title for longer than his reign of 69 days?

Sure, many can blame that reign on a concussion that kept him off television for the majority of the rule, but is he not at a level that requires he be pushed back into the top tier as soon as humanly possible?

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CM Punk has enjoyed success as an underdog come good, and even when not fighting for the best trophies in the business, he can still main event a house show or Pay-Per-View with a grudge match storyline. Daniel Bryan has received a similar push more recently and although his supremacy was short lived, he has not been pushed back down the card with new storylines but rather is used to put over characters that are rapidly on the rise.

Making it Matter Ziggler has as much charisma and ability in the ring, and enough on the microphone to at least be in the same ballpark as these two rising stars, but word has trickled down through the wrestling world that Ziggler has gained some real heat backstage and with the company. Some believe Ziggler spoke negatively about the WWE in a public forum, however it has not ben established whether this was in an interview, or his tweet regarding the current Authority and their power trip.

It is doubtful that the latter was the case and was likely part of the storyline regarding the unfair treatment of the Big Show, but during those TV segments Ziggler was vilified for his stance on the issue. It has since emerged that Ziggler possibly has a real chip on his shoulder since, and is further alienating himself backstage.

This is something both Flair and Michaels have also gone through.

Flair constantly alienated himself by criticizing fellow wrestlers, and Shawn Michaels used Vince McMahon’s ear to cocoon himself within “The Kliq”. Even CM Punk was given a Title shot, and a microphone with no script to air his grievances mere days before he planned to leave the company, purely because he let people know how unfairly treated he felt.

While only at age 33, there are a lot of fans who are keeping their eye on Dolph Ziggler’s next move and anticipating he gets that final push to solidify him as a main eventer, and one only hopes that if the backstage heat is what’s holding him back, that WWE realises that real controversy is exactly what puts those butts in the seats.

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Keeping life sweet!

With the Blossom Twins

“This is a column on all things Blossom, sn ippets from the road and where our wrestli ng journey has taken us so far!”

Hannah and Holly Blo ssom Age: 25 Hometown: Stockport England Current location: Loui sville Kentucky.

Must Watch Thor, The Dark Wor ld! We loved the first movie and watched it over and over again.

This one is just as aw es ome, if not made a little more kick ass wi th the appearance of Zachary Levi! He’s our favourite – you’ ve got to love Chuck!

Training Tips

tips this month for leg days and We have been picking up lots of ng like out of them. If you are anythi making sure to get the most the hardest things to tone, one us and your thighs and butt are ce you get into a good word of advice: consistency!! On so up but stick to it, there are routine, keep it up, change it areas and our favourite fun many great ways to tone these ats key kicks, glute kick backs, squ exercises at the moment are don and reverse lunges.

HOT

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rday Night at The Overtones 3rd album “Satu ber 4th: make sure The Movies” came out Novem king for something to give it a listen if you’re loo We are big fans of upbeat and a reason to smile! for many a dance this group, they are responsible h our little sister! routine when we are home wit

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A-Z

the

ECW

of

TEXT By Mike McGrath- Bryan A: Awesome, Mike

in pro wrestling.

The most controversial champion in ECW’s run, mainly for taking an obscene amount of money while under contract and fecking off to the competition, before coming back to ECW to job to a WWF guy in Taz. And we wondered if Vince McMahon was in cahoots with the company...

F: Funk, Terry

I: Internet

B: Billy Corgan Paul Heyman wanted Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins to invest 10m in ECW while it was flopping around, gasping for air in 2000. Corgan may have been a fan, but 10% for $10 million bucks is a bad enough old deal, and Paul E. was rightly sent packing. Last seen on wrestling television pretending to be Eminem in TNA. C: Cancelled...from TNN There was much grinding of the teeth in ECW in 2000 – cheques were bouncing, talent was defecting at a heroic pace, and TNN, a company that had offered ECW a national television platform, was doing nothing with it except test the viability of wrestling before giving the WWF a hundred million dollars to progressively get worse on its channels. Heyman called the station out on their show, but failed to rouse a reaction, only getting cut when the WWF was confirmed.

D: Drugs LOL. D is also for defamation.

E: Eddie Guerrero

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The greatest wrestler of the late nineties and early noughties without a doubt got his start in ECW. Exemplary bouts with Dean Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio for ECW’s Television Championship helped not only add prestige to the title, but also make it painfully obvious to everyone that Guerrero was going to be a leading light

wrestling, for better or worse. This also led to unprotected weapon shots, though, and their long-term consequences as evidenced by so many ECW wrestlers today, so f**k that noise.

The Living Legend, a man who entered ECW’s halfway house yet another washed-up old man, and came out with a brand-new lease on wrestling. Central to star creation, the former NWA World’s Champion allowed himself to be reinvented as a scrappy old man who, for all of his instability and seeming senile dementia, could still come out on top on any given match, as he did on their first PPV, Barely Legal, providing a symbolic feel-good ending for the company’s glory days.

G: Gordon, Tod The man that founded NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling, the ECW precursor, and was responsible for recruiting Paul Heyman after a turbulent WCW departure. Letting Heyman run wild turned out to be gold, but concerns about Gordon relinquishing the company to him wound up being justified: imagine if Heyman had a shit filter? The whole mole incident kinda cast a cloud over him, mind.

H: Hardcore Wrestling Taking from Atsushi Onita’s ultra-violent booking style in FMW in Japan in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, ECW’s weapon-based rough-housing immediately became synonymous with a generation of

Without it, ECW would have been another mom ‘n’ pop show on SportsChannel Philadelphia, hosting old NWA and WWE castoffs, and main-eventing with Johnny Hot Body and Swingin’ Stevie Richards.

No-one would care about ECW were it not for its rabid fanbase online and through tape-traders, spreading the word feverishly among both media’s underground.

J: Joey Styles An encyclopedic knowledge of pro wrestling and distinctive New York accent set Joey Styles apart from the rest of wrestling’s TV talkers. Known as much for his pithy calls as for his obvious catchphrases, the man could have laid claim to greatest ever commentator until an uninspired WWE /WWECW run and a series of very dumb tweets that abruptly outed him as an ageing, frustrated little man in corporate middle management that watched far too much FOX News. Still, he’ll go down in backstage folklore for popping JBL in the jaw...

K: Kid Kash The young high-flyer that set ECW alight in 1999 really was money, as Styles often observed. The man had all the tools to go far in the promotion, as an exceptional aerial artist, and could have really made an impact as a long-term TV champ or as a tag team’s Ricky Morton.

L: Lance Storm A seriously mistreated technical genius with a fantastic natural seriousness he was

W

FEATURES able to use to devastating effect as an incredibly unlikeable heel. Everything, from his dramatic pauses and staright-laced promo style, to his Dungeon-faithful ring style had him marked for success. Heyman was stupid to not put the World title on him before WCW made him the better offer.

M: Mass Transit Incident Wherein an outsized young gentleman dressed like Ralph Kramden lied about being trained by Killer Kowalski, then asked New Jack to get him colour. What resulted was a multiple stabbing that got ECW pulled from PPV, and Mass Transit set on the road to court for a lengthy spell.

N: New Jack An A-Z all its own could be written on New Jack. And now your writer thinks of it, it will be. So, until then, drugs, ranting, getting paid in porn DVDs, ranting, dives off balconies...

The Whole F**kin’ Show, Mr. Monday Night, Mr. Pay-Per-View, the longest-reigning TV Champion and the company’s most recognisable face. Quite why ECW never did pull the trigger on the gifted hybrid heavyweight and his inevitable World Title run is a mystery: the man had everything in spades and would have been unshackled from the restrictions that crippled him in WWE. What a title run and product that would have been.

S: Sandman Jim Fullington, the beer-swilling, cane-swinging, cigarette-inhaling trainwreck whose very existence at the top of any company redefined the word “wrestler”, pretty much to suit his range. Less an athlete, and more a mascot, Sandman regardless stands out as an inspiration to Stone Cold Steve Austin’s game-changing rebel schtick, an enviable legacy on its own.

T: Tommy Dreamer

O: One Night Stand The official end of ECW, the formal farewell that the company never received in 2001.

Held in June of 2005, it was pitched by RVD and Paul Heyman as a means of drawing a line under a very important company to wrestling’s history. Instead, it wound giving rise to Vince’s money-boner, and that’s why we have our “W”.

P: Paul Heyman The rabbi of the revolution, the swinging schlong of the Extreme, the mad scientist.

Whatever your feelings on Heyman’s business dealings, there’s no denying his genius as a booker of a promotion with zero budget and all talent. Even now, his mind for the business can still make stars, as seen with CM Punk and several other WWE and TNA main-eventers...

Q: Questionable Decisions A whole book could be written on the wrong turns Paul and crew took in eight years as a company: Sid Vicious, TNN, the Acclaim videogames. drugs, not giving the Dudleys the literal extra dollar they wanted to stay in ECW, not pushing Jinsei Shinzaki and Hayabusa when they came over, allowing Sunny to have a whole TNN episode to herself to shoot...

R: Rob Van Dam

The heart and soul of ECW, a man tried and tested in the mire of the Arena’s floor and surrounds, the Innovator of Offense was a wrestler who fans grew to legitimately adore for his sheer determination. His enthusiasm, loyalty and respect for wrestling have endeared him even to non-fans of the promotion and stood to him in later years as an agent for WWE and TNA, as well as running a company of his own, the new House of Hardcore.

U: Undeath Poking at the corpse of ECW is a city pastime in Philly, where ECW Reunion, 3PW, MLW, XPW, CZW, Hardcore Homecoming, Extreme Rising, and who knows whoever else have rented out the ECW Arena in an attempt to somehow inhale booking magic and exhale a similar standard of product, and all have failed terribly. Meanwhile, WWE and TNA have done their own grave-robbing, with One Night Stand ‘06 and Hardcore Justice playing out pretty much like funerals.

V: Vacated NWA Title Shane Douglas threw down the NWA title at the end of a one-night tournament and pretty much summed it up by calling the

organisation dead. It ended one era with a whimper, and began a brand new one with a bang. Douglas would reach his career heights in ECW without a doubt, and ECW was a better place for his presence, barring Styles’ cringeworthy sycophancy on the mic whenever he appeared...

W: WWECW The only mention the abominable 2006 model of ECW deserves is for giving Heyman a temporary platform to put CM Punk on the air relatively untouched by the WWE machine. Could have done that under another name, though. WWECW had to have been canned for fear of what the brand would do to the original company’s IP. X: XPW California-based XPW was always a second-rate ECW clone, right from where pornographer Rob Black tried buying into ECW at its most cash-insolvent and still got gunned down because someone has to be a serious three-dollar bill if they were deemed too dodge to dig ECW out. Best known for invading ECW at Heatwave 2000, where it sent its wrestlers in for a quick beating at the hands of ECW wrestlers and staff. A move to the ECW Arena after ECW died would end when every other Philly company worked together to compete with the now Shane Douglas-headed bete noire of hardcore.

Finished in 2003 when Rob Black went to jail.

Y: Youth Movements Having your talent constantly robbed off you by two corporate powerhouses will do wonders for your star creation rate.

For years, Paul E. kept on top with fresh, new talent and exciting ideas. When the technical wrestlers hopped to WCW, ECW brought in the luchadors. When they left, focus was put on two guys in their prime, Taz and Sabu, while a young and hungry undercard came in from indies and the House of Hardcore. When that lot left, teams like Hot Commodity, and main eventers like Steve Corino were only limited by the company’s dying television exposure.

Z: Z-List Celebs Fred Durst, The Insane Clown Posse, Jenna Jameson, Jasmine St. Claire,a very drooly

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MATT STRIKER’S

WRESTLING LESSONS It has often been said that music is the universal language.

Music’s ability to transcend language and culture is a unique aspect to a great art form. Professional wrestling can do the same thing.

Wrestlers have travelled the world for years taking the craft and art of the emotional roller coaster that is pro wrestling to nearly every corner of the world and putting smiles on people’s faces.

If wrestlers are the artists and the wrestling is the art- then the travelling wrestler is truly an ambassador of emotion bringing people together all across the world.

While it is rewarding to compete in your own hometown in front of “the locals”, to take to the road and bring your craft to others around the world is truly one of the most rewarding things that an artist can do.

The American style of Pro Wrestling has been seen the world over thanks to the massive marketing of companies such as WWE, TNA and WCW to the point that it is the mainstream style of pro wrestling.

But, as in the world, there are different tastes and styles that help to make each and every one of us unique. What I truly am drawn to are the different wrestling styles that are unique to a region.

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spirit” have made Puroresu one of the most unique and often imitated- but rarely truly duplicated styles. The differences are clear from traditional western “pro wrestling”, and the more often audiences are exposed to this unique style the more popular it becomes.

In England, the World of Sport/Mountevans Rules style is unique and absolutely beautiful. Very few can execute this art form in the proper way, but when done correctly the British style can capture and enthral even the most fickle fans.

There is more to the world than what is right outside our doors. Search out these styles. Search out different artists that have worked hard to perfect these crafts.

As a wrestler, when I travel to another part of the world I do my best to learn the culture, the language and the style. It is out of respect that I seek to do this. I am a guest in that town or country and want to show my thanks and honor by immersing myself in the culture.

There is nothing worse in my opinion than when a boorish, ignorant traveller comes to another part of the world and assumes that they do things exactly how they are done wherever he or she is from. As if the world owes that person something ...

I’ve always enjoyed travelling for wrestling, especially when I can learn about the town and the culture. As a former History teacher I revel in the history and culture of cities and towns that I normally would have never had the chance to visit. I especially enjoy Europe, Japan, Mexico and Canada because of the history and the foundations that these places in the world have laid for the rest of the globe.

People often feel that the wrestlers are the superstars, but if you think about it- it is the fans and the culture of the fans that are indeed the highlight of the show.

Imagine what it would be like for a wrestler to wrestle in empty arenas and halls never making a CONNECTION with their audience?

In this day and age of technology the world is now small enough to fit in the palm of our hands and many of us live our lives through a 4-6 inch screen when an entire real world is simply three inches up. Just lift your heads from your devices and see what out there.... and I’ll see you there!

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Swotting up:

TNA

TEXT By Mike McGrath -Bryan

STRENGTHS

TALENT CREATION: TNA has been known as a place where young guys can go to develop, get polished and carve a niche for themselves in the wrestling mainstream. The list is endless: AJ, Joe, Daniels, Kazarian, Roode, Storm, Sabin and numerous others were developed at a golden time for star creation in the company, and there’s no reason why the same can’t be true again.

A POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE: TNA has also tried, to varying degrees of success, to be another major wrestling company, a monopoly-breaker in the ring world. And while just shy at present from presenting itself as a true alternative to WWE, it has built a strong and enviable platform to showcase

a potentially rebooted product, through deals with Spike, Challenge and NTV. Which leads us to...

LICENSING AND INTERNATIONAL: One thing TNA has done almost flawlessly is develop its international presence. Through well-worked television deals and collaborations with regional promoters worldwide, most recently W-1 and AAA, TNA is growing slowly and steadily, outrating WWE in the UK through its Challenge TV placement and even usurping the 40-odd-year tradition of Japanese wrestling on NTV by essentially supplanting NOAH on NTV G+. Meanwhile, those deals have allowed licensing to Jakks Pacific, SouthPeak, Event! Merchandise and other partners.

WEAKNESSES THE OLD BOYS’ CLUB: TNA will be dogged by this until they let the big names go. Kurt Angle and Sting are the only two of the legends’ club left, after the rake of departures of recent took Hogan and crew with them, but even these two need to be dropped. If TNA is to build a successful second option or stand any chance of competing with WWE, it needs to finally establish a new main-event scene on the guys that have waited patiently for years: AJ, Joe, Daniels, et al should be the focus entirely of the spotlight while they’re still somewhat youthful, while the undercard is freed up for new talent.

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WHO BOOKED THIS?: The creative team needs to go. All of it.

Rehashes of group invasions, glaringly obvious giveaways of plot points, ridiculous premises, everything. If you want to establish yourself as an alternative from WWE, you can’t ape its over-simplified

product: you have to fulfil people that aren’t satisfied by it. Lead with the title, push the five-star matches to the top and let character development occur naturally as promos are dreamt up and chemistries are formed.

UNREALITY TV: Another annoying glitch of the Hogan-Bischoff era is the reality TV-style floating backstage camera. Simply put, why would wrestlers blurt secret plans and confront and even savagely attack each other knowing there’s a camera around the place that might catch them in the act or help expose their plotting? It’s a bit Russo (“Abyss killed his mother, let’s have him confess on national TV where the police will get wind of it and do nothing because, LOL, wrestling!”), and it needs to make way for on-set promos, in-ring challenges, rankings/leagues and interviews.

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OPPORTUNITIES DOWNSIZING: Haemorrhaging money is not a good business plan. All of the budget cuts and such have made perfect sense thus far, bar a few bewildering talent cuts. Returning to the Impact Zone, though a step back to a WWE-style product, allows for low overheads while the company straightens out its creative and moves to strengthen things following on, like perhaps, its merchandise offering or a new videogame licence.

A NEW GENERATION: TNA should learn from its mistakes. In not pulling the trigger properly on Joe, Punk, Daniels, Roode, Storm or other TNA originals the way they should have, instead feeding them to successions of pension-padding vets, they currently have an upper mid-card of wrestlers hitting their peak of experience and still in the flush of youth. Not only should these dudes be carrying the company, but the likes of Magnus, Kenny King and EC3 are ready to go right now. Cementing these three and others

in the upper midcard for a year while the TNA originals finally got their headline run as a group would create an issue between the two groups, and numerous potential feuds and money-drawing matches.

EXPERIMENTING: The 24/7 initiative TNA launched recently is stuck with the same plausibility issues as the product: it’s not believable. While footage of wrestlers goofing off at home is okay in small doses, worked beatings presented as real-life occurrences without real-life consequences, like arrests, interventions from members of the general public, etc. simply don’t work. Messing with this admittedly promising concept, say, for example, coverage of touring life, filming matches at indie shows talent appear at, shoot interview segments or audience participation, could be a shot in the arm for the smart fanbase TNA originally courted.

THREATS FINANCES & OWNERS: TNA has been losing money hand over fist since its inception, and investors the Carter family have apparently lost patience.

While the company has had a relatively long leash to explore creatively, a potential new owner may not be so patient or satisfied with smaller steps.

As an independent promotion at heart, being expected to fit a corporate culture may also be an issue.

NUMBER TWO: A common question non-wrestling fans ask when the topic comes up is “what’s TNA? Is it, like a second division, or something?” Until such time as TNA establishes its own identity, and capitalises on its potential, the question among the general public and casual fans will

follow the company around, especially while older wrestlers from other companies continue to be featured prominently.

COMPETITION: And while TNA focuses on simply keeping afloat and providing a second option to sports-entertainment fans, the door is wide open for something completely new, along the lines of a shoot-style promotion, an ROH renaissance, New Japan’s international expansion, or even motivating international markets’ native promotions to rally back, like NOAH, usurped from its prominence on national digital telly by TNA. Keeping an eye in developments elsewhere in wrestling is crucial.

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Danny Rodd: The True Story of One Pro Wrestling – 1PW With Darren Wood

In part one of our exclusive interview with former 1PW kingpin Danny Rodd we talked about getting the company back on its feet, early issues around booking and payment, and how the public perceived Rodd and 1PW at this stage. In this second and final instalment, Rodd finally opens up about the Shawn Michaels affair, whether 1PW will ever make a return and about public perception of his business dealings and overall ownership of Britain’s most controversial wrestling company.

So, last time out we talked about how you came to take over 1PW, the initial problems you had and issues around paying talent.

By this point, 1PW was firmly on the back burner for you...

1PW was on the shelf, totally in the back of my mind. I’m focusing on a normal life again.

Then I met a man called Maurice Brookes, whom I’d hired a venue off before to do a show. He was asking questions about shows and why I didn’t run them again. I started helping out a night or two a week at his charity and we got talking. Given he was former candidate in my area for the local government and worked for a charity, I had no reason to even be suspicious of him: he was just an older man taking an interest into 1PW, which was nothing out of the ordinary to me.

As time went on, he suggested we run shows again, and said he would help with the money side and that he would be that support that I really could have done with originally, so I agreed. He talked about running these massive shows, and I said that we needed some big names. He was happy to do this; he said he had money there for us to use so we should do it. With all this agreed, I made the announcement that 1PW was coming back

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Shawn Michaels was announced for a future 1PW show. Was the company stable at this time? Did you believe this was what was needed to turn its fortunes around, and were you not concerned about the finances of bringing in such a lucrative name with what surely garnered a large wage?

FEATURES From the day I announced 1PW was back I knew something big needed to happen to reboot the company and really make a impact. I talked to Maurice and he agreed.

I showed him Shawn Michaels and I said we need this man. Again, he agreed. We knew Michaels wouldn’t be cheap, but we would make the money back and we setup a deal.

We never actually announced Shawn Michaels at all: he did this himself on Twitter in Feb 2011, with no warning to us. As soon as I saw it I scrambled to get it taken down, as we had nothing on our site or shop about him. I didn’t plan to announce him until May at The Last Stand show, but he let the cat out of the bag and boom; it was chaos. I had to re-work the online shop to get it ready, and within 10 minutes of the new shop opening for the Shawn tickets, orders came flooding in. Thousands upon thousands of pounds, overnight. It had virtually paid for itself already.

Maurice had made it clear he had money and he was really into the idea of it all.

I will not name a price, but Shawn was actually cheaper than you think. It even shocked me, because as I said I didn’t think he would be cheap. After the first 24 hours of Shawn’s announcement, I knew it was the right thing to do by booking him.

Now we get to the Shawn Michaels cancellation. What actually happened there? Wasn’t a deal in place?

A deal was struck in Jan 2011. Contracts were signed, he did a video for us, the lot.

This is where it gets dark now with Maurice. The Last Stand shows were ok, but again I ended up paying for things because it was Saturday and Maurice didn’t get enough money out the bank. He said all was ok and that he’d pay for this and that. I had used up a few of my daily limits on my cards. I even borrowed my mum’s thinking I’ll be getting it all back in the week.

Maurice was due to fly out to see his daughter, so the money was delayed for two weeks. I wasn’t happy about it, but thought things like this happen and I was ok with it, thinking I would get the money when he gets back.

More and more excuses now came, and it was time to pay money to Shawn and Maurice kept avoiding it, or excuses were made. I was now getting a real uneasy

feeling about it all, as he had always been in charge of the money. This went on for about a month, and I kind of had a feeling deep down I had been fucked over now and I wasn’t going to held responsible for something that wasn’t my doing, and by that I mean taking people’s money.

were quoted saying: “Fans of UK Wrestling deserve better. There are too many scammers here. All want to make a quick buck. I don’t want to be one of them.” How does it make you feel that fans believe it was you all this time who hasn’t paid up, given that statement?

Sure, I was responsible for starting 1PW again with Maurice, but I never saw the money side of it. I just said, “We need to pay this much” and it was usually done – before The Last Stand show, anyway.

I’m ashamed by it all. I know fans will think it was a scam all along, but ask yourself this: If it was a scam, why did Shawn announce it before us? Why did Shawn make a video for the world to see? I worked my ass off for 1PW through various incarnations, sometimes harder than others, and it hurts in a way because I have never set out to take anyone’s money and not deliver.

So I decided to quit once and for all. I couldn’t and didn’t want another backlash like the previous year. At least then I had myself to blame as it was totally down to me. I will always take the blame for my mistakes, but he had the money so he can face the shit that comes with it. I did try to help people as best I could with providing people information for the respective banks so they could get refunds.

Over the course of the next few months, I still got shit. I was the public face of 1PW, so it came to me regardless of who actually had the money. I took Maurice to court over this and eventually won. It was proved he had fiddled the company and it was only through me investigating him once I’d quit that I found more and more information that he is a con man and had done this to so many other companies.

This man has been a director of 28 companies, and each one he had, he took for all it was worth. I still have all this information, but like I said he was ordered to pay money back. To this day, I don’t think he has paid a penny to anyone.

Fast forward to the present day. We’re still hearing rumblings of people not being refunded for this event. Many have tried even to this day to contact you, the company and others to receive their money back for tickets to events, Meet and Greets, Gala Dinners, etc. What’s going on with the situation, and why are people still not paid?

I never had the money. The shop was linked to Maurice’s PayPal account as 1PW’s official one was still locked up from the New Divide shambles. I’m sure many people are still owed money unfortunately, but like I have said I tried for many months to help people and I know a lot of people did get refunds from the banks with the help and information I offered.

In a statement on another website, you

I’m a fan just as much as the next person, but again what people have to remember here is that I did try to help, I was on sites and forums offering help.

Where was Maurice? It’s outrageous that he still has the balls to run shows in Ellesmere Port. Last time he ran a show, I directed fans’ attention to it and all I got was shit for it. I went to the show and caused a bit of scene, but it was pointless as the show only had about 15 people there. Even Adam Bowler can draw more than that.

At the end of the day, I cannot change anyone’s opinion. They will believe what they want to believe and nothing I say or do will show them otherwise. I have always said that if a day comes where Maurice finally pays back the money, or even if I came into a lot of money, I would do one last show, one free show for every fan that was fucked over. One last hurrah for 1PW, to go out on a high. But the chances of either happening are just as bleak as the other, and it’s a shame.

It seemed that fans would purchase tickets from 1PW, but with the company using multiple paypal addresses. One employee of yours has actually claimed that his personal account was used for this. What’s the deal with that? Many people believe that this was a way of 1PW and yourself gaining money without actually delivering a product...

My PayPal was the one used for The New Divide: it was 1PW’s official business PayPal and it was frozen, so I then couldn’t use it.

With Maurice coming in and dealing with the money it made sense for the shop just to go to his account. A month or two before The Last Stand, Maurice’s was then frozen for having too much money flowing

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through and they were investigating.

In order to keep the shop operational, I asked Curtis if he minded taking money through his. He didn’t, so I swapped the payment system to go to his account. During the last few weeks before The Last Stand, a few claims were raised against Curtis and his account got frozen too. Maurice paid him £2,000 to cover the claims against him, so his money didn’t get taken out of his bank.

There were a few payments that went directly into our 1PW Business Bank account.

A few fans did direct bank deposits. I helped a number of them get the money back that way. However, Maurice still kept a lot of the money in his own personal account.

You’ve received a lot of negative comments regarding payment and situations of that nature, how do you respond to these?

What can I say really that hasn’t been said?

Everyone has an opinion and theory of what happened and will always choose to believe what they want to. I have helped the best I can, I have said a number of times that it was my fault for trusting this man but that doesn’t give answers, and it doesn’t get people their money back that are still owed.

I do find it quite aggravating that there are a number of fans, internet fans, that have had a refund but still like to jump on a bandwagon against 1PW and/or me just for the fun of it.

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Do you believe 1PW will ever or can ever come back after the damages to its reputation?

After the HBK trouble, 1PW couldn’t ever come back in my eyes. Unless, like I said, Maurice paid up or I came into money, That would be the only way it could come back, and even then it would only be one show and that would be it.

Looking back now, what do you believe your biggest failings were in promoting 1PW? Was it naivety in trusting people,who shouldn’t have been trusted? Was it trying to grow the company too fast?

Naivety, for sure. I did trust the wrong people, both times I ran it. From running on my own and listening to workers who said they were “helping me” to coming back again and trusting Maurice, the old saying “don’t trust anyone” was never more apt than with 1PW. What has Danny Rodd been up to since 1PW closed its doors? Do you have any plans to return to wrestling?

Not a lot really I have a normal life again, a standard 9-5 job, a brilliant fiancé (who, ironically, I met for the first time at the hotel we all stayed at for 1PW’s last ever show), a house, the lot. I’m just like any other person you would see on the street walking to work, and I enjoy it.

Of course I will always miss aspects of the wrestling world and the buzz you get while a show takes place, the sound of the fans, everything like that.

But I don’t miss the bullshit, the backstabbing

and two facedness of a number of workers.

Hell, I could write a book about the workers and the stories I know. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great workers out there that I am still friends with and always will be.

As for a return to wrestling? Never say never, but when reality hits I very much doubt you will ever see me run 1PW or a promotion again. I have been asked to help on a few promotions with things and I have said no. Recently, a friend of mine who’s in talks with a well known mainstream TV station to start a product has asked me to come on with him, but I have also said no to that.

I have accepted 1PW not returning. I know I could have done better, and I know if the HBK shows went ahead 1PW would still be the biggest company in the UK today. But you can’t look back, just forward. I have a whole life to lead with someone I love very much. I wouldn’t ruin it on wrestling.

Thanks for talking to us, Danny. This interview was setup to give you a public forum to raise your opinions and translate the facts; with this in mind, is there any last words you have for us?

As this is my first real interview for a long time and will be my last, I will just finish on this: to every fan that came to the shows, thank you. To every fan that believed in the company, thank you, and to every fan that got burnt because of my mistakes: I am, and will forever be sorry. It will not mean anything to any of you, but if I could turn the clock back I would. But for now, all I can ever do is apologise.

FEATURES

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TEXT BY CHRIS GST

Weight and Height: 230 lbs. (104 kg) at 6’4’’ (1.93 m) Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio (United States of America) Date of Birth: 24th December 1979 (age 33) Debut: 12th September 1998 (15 years ago) Was trained by Dory Funk Jr., Ian Rotten, Les Thatcher, Skayde and William Regal Chris Hero, formerly known as Kassius Ohno on NXT (where he had a near 40% win record according to ProFightDB.com) is one of the best wrestlers to come off the indie scene and was as celebrated when he was contracted by WWE as he is now that he’s back on the independent circuit. Hero was well-known for his matches against CM Punk in IWA-MS (where he is returning in Dec), his feud with ROH and huge involvement in the CZW/ROH war, and of course his Kings of Wrestling team/group in CHIKARA that also gained fame in ROH.

Chris Hero

I n d i e Fact Fi le

Hero has traveled to Japan for NOAH, Europe, Canada and honed his skills in multiple promotions. He also had a character in the Wrestling Retribution Project that has yet to be released. Hero is back in full force and still making his mark in pro wrestling history

ON THE ROAD WITH

THE BLACKPOOL BLONDS “What’s that? We’re on first?!”

“You’re on first”. The most gut wrenching words that I’ve ever come across to this day. With 40 minutes to the show and 50 minutes remaining on the sat-nav, it was impossible.

ingly, Christmas came early – it was a miracle! At 7.25 we arrived at Ryhl’s prestigious town hall. With the introduction to the show we had 15 minutes to get changed and head on out there. Luckily with myself and Axl tagging quite frequently around the UK, we almost didn’t have to talk about what we were doing out there, that’s the good thing about travelling with the same guys - it’s not long till you find yourself in sync with what they have in mind.

For the first time in my whole life we were going to do this most rookie and unprofessional action we could think of: not arriving to the show on time.

To this day (touch wood) I’ve never since been in a situation that made me feel I was in my own sequel to mission impossible.

Then somehow, all of a sudden, calm descended. I know it’s cheesy, but all the panicking and stress just left my body and I was left with......FOCUS.

The next tale from the Fylde coast is one that happened on the 16th January 2013, the first show of the year – AKA, the car crash.

I put my foot down and didn’t say a single word for 40 minutes whilst Axl was having a fit about the show. Amaz-

To be continued...

James

Each month we take you down dark lanes and fast motorways of Great Britain with the UK’s hottest tag team, The Blackpool Blonds.

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http://twitter.com/TheIndyCorner

http://facebook.com/TheIndyCorner http://theindycorner.podomatic.com

The UK’s Number 1 Independent Wrestling Podcast

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[THE LOWDOWN // UK WRESTLING// PURO//INDIE //REVIEWS//COLUMNS]

TOTAL MERCH TEXT By Mike McGrath- Bryan

Want cool wrestling stuff? Unable to tell what’s acceptable in the adult world, and what’s a steaming load of fanboy’s guff? Aren’t you lucky then? TW is here to take your hand and guide you through the trenches of tat and to the fields of collector’s gold.

GOLD RIBBON: DANIEL BRYAN – RESPECT THE BEARD (T-SHIRT)

Give the man respect. He’s been misused, demoted and made a job boy like nobody’s business after the Summerslam buyrate tanked. Show those assholes in WWE what’s what by putting money in their pockets in the hopes they’ll pay him some attention again. Also, WWE Euroshop is back, and hilariously, it won’t even display prices in euro. http://tinyurl.com/dbryanbeard

nWo – WOLFPAC (T-SHIRT) Wolfpac is back. Or something. A rough variation on the nWo has shown up in WWE 2K14, so it’s time to break out the fairly questionable old merch. Strut about like Kevin Nash, throwing up the horns, pretending to be in an actual gang, then question your life’s very purpose. Then resume strutting about. http://tinyurl.com/nwowolfpac

HULK HOGAN – KEEP CALM AND ETC. (T-SHIRT) Keep Calm And Use This Stupid Meme Out Of All Context, Forever, At All Times. Seriously, Keep Calm And Party. Keep Calm And Vote Dave for Student Union President. Keep Calm And Buy Stupid Mugs And Posters with Keep Calm Written On Them Until Your Friends Disown You. Subvert a trope with this shirt. Or possibly incur the wrath of your friends for using old memes. Whatever. http://barbershopwindow.com/index.php/wrestling-shirts/big-boot-and-legdrop.html

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DORLING KINDERSLEY – WWE ENCYCLOPEDIA, 2ND ED. (BOOK) Reading is important, both to the development of a young mind, and to create the gateway to imagination, fantasy, and escape in adult life. This, strictly, is really neither. But for young fans of the king of sports, it’s a veritable treasure trove, and for grown-ups, a pretty fun reference book. Just remember – Randy Orton won the World title at Summerslam 2004 in a tournament in Rio de Janeiro. http://www.amerchandise.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=5157

FEATURES

FIGURES, INC – 3-COUNTING & TALKING REFEREE (ACTION FIGURE) From the lobes of the people at Figures, Inc., the leading supplier of wrestling figure accessories and custom action figures, comes this, a referee action figure that counts, talks and tells you to break the hold because he’s in the ropes, even though I HAVE TILL FIVE! Couldn’t resist, sorry. Also, check the promo vid on this for YouTube. http://wrestlingsuperstore.com/threecountingandtalkingrefereeactionfigurebyfigurestoycompany. aspx

JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS – THE GOOD OLD DAYS (3DVD) Before WCW, the NWA’s anchor tenant was its direct predecessor, the famed Jim Crockett Promotions out of the Carolinas. Home to the Horsemen, Magnum TA, The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff and so many more, this disc is a look, through interviews only (on account of Up North has the tapes), at the time when Up North wasn’t the only legit arena-filler on the national stage. http://www.highspots.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?StoreC _ ode=HS&Screen=PROD&Product_ Code=crockett-doc

RING OF HONOR WRESTLING – BEST OF EPISODES 1-100 (DVD) ROH has been through numerous changes since the Sinclair Broadcasting buyout in 2011.

None of which have moved the needle on the product in terms of hitting the mainstream, but certainly afflicted the promotion with the limitations of such a move. More on that next month.

For now, enjoy the best of the bad situation that ROH finds itself in. http://www.amerchandise.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=5776

BROWN RIBBON: JEFF HARDY – PLURALITY OF WORLDS (CD/DIGITAL ALBUM): Jeff! The world doesn’t revolve around you, lad. Stop singing about yourself and get a better, more interesting muse. Like your wife and child, or the North Carolina wilderness, or living on the road. Because as this stands, it’s just about a series of marginally tolerable, vaguely nu-metally demos that confirm every negative stereotype about artists. Go home and take stock, Jeff. Take stock of what matters and use your voice to articulate it. Otherwise, shut up and go through a table.

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[ THE LOWDOWN//UK WRESTLING//FEATURES // PURO//INDIE //COLUMNS]

Who’s the Daddy?: The Life and Times of Shirley Crabtree.

WRITTEN BY mike mcgrath-bryan It seems appropos that, with the ongoing expansion of the UK’s core scene of wrestlers and promoters in the present day, the mainstream’s appetite for nostalgia hurtles toward wrestling. While this could successfully be harnessed to generate interest in a new product, such as the World of Sport reboot, there will, of course, be bits and pieces that simply exist to fill a publishing gap or draw a line under a beloved figure or institution. It’s hard to figure out where Ryan Danes’ familyapproved biography of Joint Promotions’ headline attraction fits along these lines.

Written in a chipper, flowing, conversational style that keeps run-ons and such to a minimum, the book is clearly designed to invoke a happier, simpler time, when Saturday afternoon meant getting in off the street and watching the wrestling before dinner.

Drawing a clear timeline, the story of the Crabtree family is peppered with brief summaries of world events of the post-war era, paralleling the great social changes of the second half of the 20th century with the developments of Joint Promotions, and Shirley’s own life away from the squared circle.

Make no mistake about it, this book is pure nostalgia. Telling the life story of Shirley Crabtree through interviews with family, colleagues and the man himself, it paints a fairly broad picture of the man himself and experiences from his perspective. This is the first problem.

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Daddy, as a divisive figure among wrestlers, makes for an interesting study in one-sided booking. Wrestlers were injured, underpaid, and the British wrestling scene was made to look archaic in Daddy’s 70s heyday for the presence of his novelty act at top billing, but rather than address the criticisms, it simply sweeps them under the rug in an informal and infuriatingly chirpy manner (‘Ey up, ‘e put bums in seats, ‘e did! Ooh, ‘arr!). It might be a minor criticism to the intended casual audience, simply seeking out a ride down memory lane, but if the mistakes of the past aren’t learned from and pointed out, it would almost certainly reflect badly on British wrestling’s ability to be objective to outsiders, as promotions begin seeking television and other exposure in the media’s race for new content.

The second issue to be picked with the narrative is the same as with all of these nostalgia pieces: British wrestling isn’t dead. A company got big, got complacent, got old, and suffered the consequences. It was not the death of a sport at all, yet this, as well as other documentaries and pieces, paint the 1988 cancellation of wrestling from ITV as the dagger through the heart of wrestling completely. The book attempts to draw a parallel between the decline of Big Daddy and the decline of wrestling. It wasn’t. Had Max Crabtree or Brian Dixon of All-Star put proper investment into production and star creation in a national television slot, focusing on Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid, William Regal and Robbie Brookside to name four, old-school

wrestling would have stayed relevant in the great schemes of athletics and entertainment value. Instead, we’re simply reminded how Daddy’s stocky bulldog-like tenacity was the best of British, rather than being told of how he was run into the ground.

To be fair, where this book is redeemed is the insight others give on Big Daddy.

While not necessarily empirical, the testimonies of family and friends provide perspective on a pop-culture phenomenon that very few saw the story behind. The turbulent family life of the Crabtrees is laid out, warts and all; Daddy’s health problems and manner of dealing with his impending passing are laid out in poignant fashion, and the book is peppered with archive photos of both Daddy with celebs of his time, and Shirley Crabtree at home with his daughter and pets. This is the service this book does for British wrestling, humanising a figure that still casts a shadow over a generation of wrestling and allowing people to make their minds up.

It might be kayfabe-level cheesy, wrapped in a Union Jack, and may even reignite old debates, but for fans of Britwres of all ages, this is a worthwhile look at a legitimate media and pop-culture phenomenon, and hopefully the beginning of a greater definition, interest and awareness of British wrestling’s heritage in modern press and publishing, as the current generation prepares to take the sport back onto the airwaves.

REVIEWS

GPW WARRINGTON BASH 2013 WRITTEN BY JASON-LEE RIDPATH Grand Pro Wrestling and Science Fiction Studios presented Warrington Bash at the Rylands Recreational club. I got there just after the doors opened at seven, and the whole venue was packed and people were still piling through the doors just before bell time. The hardest part of doing new venues is wondering whether you are going to draw or not. It is quite expensive booking even the modest of wrestling shows (I have done some research of my own in the past to do one off shows, and even making use of my connections it would cost around the £800 mark so it is a big risk). It looks like GPW’s risk paid off, however, with over 150 and possibly even nearly 200 people being packed into the venue.

The action began with a fatal four-way between Joey Hayes, Jim Nastic, Wahoo Thunderfoot, and rent-a-gob, Joseph Vega.

Joey Hayes got the crowd into the match, getting us all clapping, and there were some good spots in the match, including Wahoo snaring Jim in a tarantula hold. Vega then grabbed at Wahoo’s head, as Hayes applied the Boston crab on Joseph Vega. It never ceases to surprise me how great Joey Hayes is; he is one of the unsung heroes of British wrestling. The other three participants were also very competent, but it was ultimately Joseph Vega, and Joey Hayes who came out the match looking like real stars. Hayes picked up the victory after Vega had a spat with Wahoo Thunderfoot (what a great name for a wrestler.)

inside and outside of the ring.

Cyanide once again proved why he is one of the best big men in Britain, the veteran DDL was immensely over as always, and Ste ‘bin’ Mann showed his athleticism by hitting a suicide dive on the other combatants. Dylan Roberts and The Island Brothers could get booed in an empty room. The match ended with a double count out, and the crowd erupted with chants of “let them fight”. The match didn’t get restarted, but DDL, Ste, and Cyanide hit Dylan Roberts and The Island Brothers with their signature moves, which was met with a great reaction by the crowd.

After the intermission, The Bad Lads (Micky Barnes and Drill) offered an open challenge.

The challenge was accepted by Track and Field, who got the crowd into the match with their antics which including jumping stars, and hydration breaks. The crowd were really responsive to the action considering it was the first time GPW have had wrestling in this venue.

Despite all the momentum that Track and Field built it was not enough to win the match as The Bad Lads picked up the win.

The second match featured one of the UK’s biggest stars, El Ligero. facing Nick Maguire.

The match was good and had some good crowd reaction. Nick is another promising talent from the GPW ranks, who has helped train some of the best wrestlers in this country. El Ligero picked up the win after a good contest.

The hometown hero, Sexy Kev, was up next with his valet Lana Austin to face the veteran, T-Bone, who did an excellent job from the outset to get the fans riled up against him, and made the crowd love Sexy Kev’s antics even more. He portrayed the stripper gimmick to perfection, and valet Lana Austin also played a part in getting the kids at ringside to chant for Sexy Kev. T-Bone spat in the face of Lana, as he continued to play the heel. Sexy Kev tried to make T-Bone tap out with an armbar but was unsuccessful, before Lana got the chance to get her revenge on T-Bone as she hit him with a tilt-a-whirl stunner. Sexy Kev followed up with a frog splash and an armbar to make T-Bone tap out.

GPW have become known for their great trio matches, and this was no different, with Dylan Roberts and The Island Brothers taking on Ste ‘bin’ Mann, Cyanide, and Dangerous Damon Leigh in arguably the best wrestling contest of the night. All six men have strong characters which are backed up with their in ring abilities.

The crowd were really into the match, which was no surprise as it was filled with action

The second to last match of the night saw Science Fiction duo (Mikey Holmes and Voodoo) take on the bizarre pairing of the oddball Noah and one of Britain’s top stars, Martin Kirby. This comedy match was the icing on top of the cake. If you see “comedy.” wrestling on the television then you will probably find it hard to find the punchline, as it is terrible. This match was far from terrible

and the comedy was timed to perfection. The running joke throughout the match was that Sexy Kev was in the Warrington guardian, with every participant exclaiming said revelation.

For the first time in probably wrestling history, a teddy bear got one of the best cheers of the night, with the crowds chanting “Sexy Ted.” in reference to Noah’s teddy bear. Other shenanigans included Kirby being placed in the stocks were thoroughly entertaining for both children and adults. The only people who were not amused at the antics were the bar staff, who frankly looked a bit confused. Science Fiction’s antics were not enough to pick up the win, with Kirby grabbing the victory for his team.

Before the main event, Alex Jones-Casey held a protest in the ring. He had been a nuisance all night with his moaning, and he didn’t break character even at the intermission and he annoyed a few people that he barged past. The crowd gave the student some abuse, it was followed by a prolonged attack by Nate Travis.

The Main Event was Ricky J. Mackenzie vs.

Zack Gibson, who is the current reigning GPW British Champion. Sadly this was a non-title match. The match was a great technical bout and the crowd fell silent at points in the match; not out of boredom, but out of respect for what they were witnessing. It would be great to see a feud built between these two as I think could draw some good money.

My only qualm, and this is no disrespect to RJM, is that he is a hard person to get behind and I could never see him as a top good guy.

I think he would make a great heel or maybe a great tweener. Either way it was a great end to a great night It easily beats anything I have seen from WWE or TNA in the past few years, and goes to show that local wrestling is much better than much of what you’ll find on mainstream television. I hope that we get to see more shows in the future from this promotion, as I really think they could expand their fan base even further.

Check out www.grandprowrestling. co.uk and www.facebook.com/sciencefictionstudios GE PA 05

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wwe 2k14 written by ANDY SHARP

It’s that time of year again, where the wait is over and we all see if the latest WWE Video game has been worth all the waiting and wondering. This time we see the respectable game developer 2K pick up where THQ left off last year with WWE13. Right off the bat it was well known that 2K simply did not have the time to develop a brand new game engine to call their own.

With some pretty big shoes to fill; the pressure was on for 2K to deliver, especially after the massively popular ‘Attitude Era Mode’ in WWE13 being a huge success.

present day ‘Universe era’ A fine selection of matches from every Wrestlemania leaves the avid fan very satisfied.

Is there a downside to Wreslemania mode, you might ask? Yeah, it may get a little repetitive and contrived, meaning that if you were to play the mode for long enough in one sitting, then you soon find yourself paying less and less attention to the historical moments and more focused on doing what’s necessary in order to unlock extra goodies on the game. This can force the Bring forth WWE 2K14 and Step forward ’30 Years player to rush through the mode, not really savouring it, of Wrestlemania Mode’. With Wrestlemania 30 right around the corner, this may have been a no-brainer, but and before you know it you’ve done it in one Sunday. what was not expected however, was the huge amount Alongside ‘Wrestlemania mode’ is the once again bug of big name talent that they have been able to treat infested ‘Universe mode’ – Always enjoyable if you’re us to. Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ultimate Warriror, Ric Flair, to name but a few. This game boasts a easy to please. The layout has improved, and this year it gives the player a lot more options in how to set up their huge roster and has everybody you could ask for, both from the Modern Era and WWE Legends (Despite some optimal desired WWE Universe. A great addition this outrage that the current I.C Champ Curtis Axel hasn’t time is being able to insert a King of the Ring tournament been included). in to one of your PPVs, something fans screamed for last year. Speaking of screaming, I’ll never understand the The gameplay during matches operates in an almost logic of WWE games in abandoning the ultra popular identical way to its predecessor, which on the GM mode and sadly it looks like the cries for its return surface isn’t a bad thing, but does get under the skin have once again been ignored. of long-time gamers, coming across as perhaps a bit lazy. Matches do flow much more realistically this year Thrown in to 2K14 is also the ever challenging ‘The though, reversals have improved and you won’t find your Streak’ mode, where you can choose to defend the opponent kicking out at the count of 1 after receiving Streak as The Undertaker, or try and defeat it. No one three finishers. saw this addition coming, and it a great bonus, and probably the cherry on the cake. Next year though, 2K It’s clear that the majority of the focus went in to 30 need to shake things up, the fact is that these games years of Wrestlemania mode, which stands alone as have become stale, plain and simple. If it wasn’t for the being well worth the buying price. You immediately find recent ‘Attitude Era’ and ’30 years of Wrestlemania’ yourself launched in to a huge nostalgia pool with the modes then these games may not have moved off the ‘Hulkamania era’, followed by the ‘New Generation’ ‘Attitude Era’ ‘Ruthless Agression era’ finishing off with the shelves half as fast. Until next time, happy gaming.

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ROH All Star Extravaganza V written by CHRIS GST

Ring of Honor spared no expense to make this a memorable card. One that had the historical significance of having several first round World Title tournament matches and one second round match that lived up to expectations, if not exceeding them. But I’m going to start with the main event, as we got to see a great tag team match between the American Wolves and the Forever Hooligans that also gave us new ROH Tag Team Champions.

The hot shotting of the tag titles while the World Title was held up was a major story and despite some fans’ reservations about it possibly diminishing their prestige, I think it showed that Ring of Honor has established its Championships strongly over the years, even if at times they have faltered. All Star Extravaganza was all about the guest talents that were brought in, and a few returning faces mixed with it being held at what formerly was a wrestling venue staple.

We got to see Kushida, one half of the Time Splitters in NJPW, face Adam Page in the opener and, while this wasn’t a barn burner, its basic premise got the crowd off to a decent start, even in the face of one fan’s constant belligerence. This event though may always be marred by the match between BJ Whitmer and Mike Bennett that saw BJ take that botched pile driver on the apron which retired him. It was a good match leading up to the botch and that serves as little consolation and while I do not wish to make light of the situation, I don’t want to dwell on it either.

Bennett certainly seems reinvigorated in ROH and no doubt BJ was a great opponent to face in the World Title tournament.

We also saw Roderick Strong handily defeat Matt Taven against what seemed like endless interference from the House of Truth.

Nigel was forced to get involved at several points and it seems like easy comedy fare whenever we get to see Truth Martini get hurt. The match itself was decent, though that’s probably expected whenever Strong is in the ring.

There were several very obvious clunky transitional spots, and at times it felt like they were really trying to drive home that Elgin had to fight back against London. Perhaps this was by design, perhaps it was because of the Bennett/Whitmer match, who knows. But even though the match was good to probably really good, I felt it had just too many false finishes in the end. I believe this was the match that led into intermission at the show so that was probably easy for the live crowd, but watching it on DVD was a different experience.

I’ll admit this is probably just nit-picky stuff as I would still give it near four out of five stars on a rating system. Brian Kendrick vs Kevin Steen was nothing special though it was fun to see two founding fathers of ROH back in the ring again. Steen vs Kendrick was exactly what I thought it would be with a few spurts of offense by Kendrick and Steen as dominant as ever. In between these matches we saw a triple threat tag match with the returning Young Bucks against C & C Wrestle Factory and Adrenaline Rush of ACH and TD Thomas. It was placed perfectly as the post intermission match and had all the high flying and super kicks you could ask for. Fun, fast paced, and entertaining via the antics of the Young Bucks, this rounded out the card well.

Then we come to the two matches that I think make this DVD an easy buy. If your main reason is the Tag Title match between the Wolves and Forever Hooligans followed by Elgin vs London, then Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole is the tipping point. It was better than I think most people thought it would be, and that sounds shocking at first given the talent of both men, but I’m talking more anticipatory feelings.

We also saw Silas Young versus Tommaso Ciampa which was just there, but was a good match and showed potential for both men.

Ciampa won with a semi exciting counter when Young was going for a head scissor take down or possibly a hurricanrana, either way it was a good finish and Young came out looking better in losing to a main event player. There were also two anticipated first round matches in Michael Elgin vs Paul London and Kevin Steen vs Brian Kendrick on this card.

This match could have been just an average match before the main event and I don’t think anyone would have complained, but both men did a little bit more than I thought they would and at the same time left me wanting more out of them, which is probably a good thing. The main event was great and everything you’d expect out of all four men. It was every match you’ve ever seen between Alex Koslov, Rocky Romero, Davey Richards, and Eddie Edwards if you’ve been around a while, but it was still a great way to end the night and does not stop me from recommending this DVD. A fun event from ROH with historic connotations and a title change. What more could you ask for?

Let’s talk about Elgin and London first. I don’t think it’s hard to say that this match was good, but it wasn’t great, at least not to me.

Let me know your thoughts at http://twitter.com/cgstong or cgstong@PWPonderings.com GE PA 07

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ROH Manhattan Mayhem V written by CHRIS GST

After what was a great All Star Extravaganza in the same month, Manhattan Mayhem V had a lot to live up to and it did in many ways. We had three awesome quarterfinal round matches in the ROH World Title Tournament that are all ROH cannon as far as I’m concerned, and many great storyline progressions.

Let’s get the opening stuff out of the way. Silas Young vs. Adam Page was a fine opener and Young’s finisher, the Pee Gee Waja Plunge, got more of a reaction than I thought it would. ACH and Tadarius Thomas vs. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander was also fun and fast paced, but was nothing special and at this point I’m hoping that both teams can start facing newer tandems in the future because I’m kind of getting tired of seeing them face only each other.

Mike Mondo made his ROH return as he faced Matt Taven with the stipulation being that if he won, he’d get a future TV title match. Luckily for me, he lost. I have nothing against Mondo other than I don’t see any momentum for him in ROH, and Taven should be facing wrestlers higher up the ROH chain if he’s to mean anything. That TV title could also use a few more important moments.

Okay, with that out of the way we get into the steak. The Young Bucks returned to face off against the Forever Hooligans, and damn was this match fun. The super kick party was in full effect. If you’ve never seen the Young Bucks outside of TNA, then you’re in for a treat, if you’ve seen them before then you know what’s coming but that didn’t take away anything from this match and the final spots brought me back into this show. The Hooligans got a good win over an established American tag team while the Young Bucks showed they are back in full force in ROH, and apparently around the world as they just won the IWGP Jr Tag Team Titles in New Japan as of this writing. Great match.

but it was good and showed again that if booked correctly that both men will be the future of ROH. The significance of the World Title Tournament also added a little something to this match. Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong was just a little under fifteen minutes of pure action. Everything you’d want out of a ROH match and no frills. Both men just went into this match running. It didn’t overshadow the two matches that came after but certainly did not disappoint.

Strong continues to lose the important matches in ROH but he’s always on the cusp of the title picture so Steen got a great win here. Michael Elgin vs. Karl Anderson was next and I’m pretty sure I don’t have to say a lot about what these two men did in the ring. If you’re watching ROH TV then you know this match was probably one of the better ROH matches on TV this year. From a quality standpoint, it was the best quarterfinal match on the card and I would say third or fourth favorite match of the night for me.

Karl Anderson has always been something special in Japan and he helped show in this match why Elgin is probably a future ROH Champion.

In the main event we saw recently crowed Tag Team Champions; the American Wolves take on their rivals in reDRagon. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly are probably one of the best tag teams on the indie scene today and yet they only seem to team up in ROH which makes it extra special when we get to see them take on other top teams. We’ve seen these four men wrestle before and from that stand point it wasn’t any different but the pacing and final segments of storytelling made it better for me.

We then saw the return of two men to Ring of Honor, but as a tandem. Outlaw Inc. of former ROH Champion Homicide and (technically still Grand Champion) Eddie Kingston made their way to the ring and beat up RD Evans and QT Marshall. Marshall getting some offense in felt kind of strange, but I guess they didn’t want this totally to be a squash. What’s important is that we have a fresh tandem in the tag team division and things are heating up.

The titles changing hands again at the end of the night was the correct move as it just showed how the tag team division in ROH right now deserves to be in the main events when necessary. It’s a notch above the Young Bucks/Forever Hooligans match just because of the title change, but both matches are different enough from a content stand point that they end up complimenting each other and show that ROH is still the top indie promotion going today when they do things right. Overall another recommendation from me for this show with an awesome tag match, great matches in the World Title Tournament, another significant title change and the debut of Outlaw Inc put this over the top for me.

Then we spiralled into a stretch of great quarterfinal matches in the ROH World Title Tournament. Bennett vs. Ciampa wasn’t special

Send me feedback either at http://twitter.com/cgstong or cgstong@PWPonderings.com

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REVIEWS

Ingersoll Invasion written by JOHN M. MILNER Canadian Pro Wrestling’s “Ingersoll Invasion II” took place on October 12, 2013 at CAW Hall in Ingersoll, Ontario. Before the show, CPW Sid Sylvain and Supremo Fantastico were interviewed about the night’s show which helped to pass the time and get the crowd excited about the card.

Supremo Fantastico took on Marcus Marquez in a great opener that really got the crowd into the show early. I’ve seen Fantastico on several occasions and he never fails to get the crowd pumped. Marquez was unnerved by Fantastico’s antics early on, but rallied back to take control and worked on the left arm, something Fantastico was selling for the rest of the match. Fantatico would borrow from Rey Mysterio’s playbook and take Marquez out with a 619 before going to the top rope for a match-ending splash.

The Jake O’Reilly (with Anthony Darko in his corner) vs. Scotty the Body match ended in a draw. As expected, Darko interfered and the O’Reilly/ Darko combination were about to execute a spike piledriver on Scotty until Josh Alexander rushed to the ring to make the save. A tag match pitting the Pissbeaters (O’Rielly/Darko) against Scotty the Body and Josh Alexander was booked for later in the show.

During his match against Phil Atlas, Tornado got some of the best heat of the night, comparable to O’Reilly. Atlas wowed the crowd with a great sequence of moves, but Tornado could have been in there with a broom and got heat. Atlas got the win, however, with a reverse splash.

After an intermission, the Anthony Darko/Jake O’Reilly vs. Josh Alexander & Scotty the Body match took place. Quickly, the action spilled out of the ring, spread all over ringside, into the crowd and even outside the building! The crowd was really into it. Alexander played Ricky Morton for a lengthy segment until tagging in Scotty. The Pissbeaters, who play the heel role really well, did eventually hit the Spike Piledriver on Scotty the Body to get the win.

The Main Event was for the CPW Canadian Championship, pitting Champion Highlander Robbie McCallister against “Tricked Out” Tyler Tirva. With Robbie installed as the top face in CPW and Tirva as a great heel, this match had a lot of anticipation. The match went back and forth. Tirva had a lengthy sequence where he was in control but became frustrated. This allowed Robbie to take over and put Tirva away with a Pedigree-like maneuver.

Another great show from CPW with the crowd really enjoying every match. As always, the heels were very entertaining and the faces interacted well with the audience, especially the young fans.

NGW ETERNAL GLORY 2012 written by Mike McGrath-Bryan

All the promise and hard work that Hull-based New Generation Wrestling have placed in their product has begun to pay dividends, with the company garnering a reputation as a stronghold for the development of new talent in British wrestling. Devoid of big-name imports and placing emphasis on domestic talents and storytelling in front of small but immensely dedicated and vocal crowds, this strategy has resulted in a unique product even in the diverse world of Britwres, exemplified in the line-up for Eternal Glory, taped on December 8th of last year.

Headlining was a stacked four-team Ladder match for the NGW Tag Team Championships, involving defending champs Team GB, Los Amigos, The Predators and the unlikely team of veteran Dean Allmark and young Robbie X. With the ladder just outside the ring, and an intimate venue packed to the rafters, anarchy wasn’t long from breaking out, with suicide dives and harrowing ladder spots aplenty, from ladder-assisted high-flying spots, to a classic Terry Funk laddercopter spin, building toward a huge crescendo, the punishment each team took illustrating the importance of the NGW tag titles, and adding to their standing. The affair ends in broken tables, twisted ladders and bodies everywhere in a finish to be believed.

On the undercard was a good, varied line-out of singles matches that showcased NGW’s unique hybrid of British mainstays and

sports-entertainment style. Where Mad Man Manson goes, comedy follows, and an incensed Dave Rayne had to deal with slow motion setpieces and pantsed wrestling to compound his misery.

Heel TNA alumnus Mark Haskins took local fave Matt Myers to a crisp, speedy technical encounter that showcased Haskins’ ring expertise and helped solidify Myers’ support with NGW’s home faithful, moving the crowd to chant “This is Wrestling!” in a show of respect for both campaigners. A lengthy, back-and-forth brawl between hometown leviathan Colossus Kennedy and UK star Nathan Cruz spills outside of the ring and around the hall, in a vindictive, frenzied fight to the finish in a grudge match with no countouts and no disqualifications. Martin Kirby proved his mettle against The Proven in a last-minute three-on-one handicap match after a long absence from the NGW ring, having expected to face the Proven’s Caz Crash, while Stixx faces down stocky rough-houser Bam Bam Barton in a deliberately-paced opening contest.

A good, diverse card that plays to each wrestler’s strengths and provides something for people of any wrestling stripe. There are, of course, technical restraints: much of the action in the headliner is lost in the transition from a limited hard camera to a roving floor cam, while sound and lighting are suitably barebones. But with companies like NGW, it’s about substance, not style, and this has plenty. A good introduction to a nascent promotion.

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