Monday, July 26th, 2010 :
-The Wrestling Roundtable, after a several month break due to working on various other projects, returned yesterday, as we taped two new episodes for this week, and next week. Look for this week's episode on The Attitude Era on YouTube, GoFightLive & iTunes later this week.
-Bret Hart's first Madison Square Garden match in 13 years will take place at WWE's September 25th house show when he'll team with The Hart Dynasty against three Nexus wrestlers(Credit : pwinsider).
-Undefeated Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman(12-0) defended her title successfully this past Friday on Showtime during Strikeforce's Challengers 9 show from Everett, WA in a ESPN-highlighted TKO slam on Roxanne Modaferri(15-6).
-UFC light heavyweights Quinton "Rampage" Jackson & Lyoto Machida have verbally agreed to a fight on November 20th(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Both Scott Hall & Ricky Steamboat have been released from their respective hospitals and are recovering from pneumonia & a bleeding brain.
-Consequences Creed has signed a WWE developmental deal(Credit : pwinsider).
-Wrestlelicious referee Austin Aries made his OVW debut this past Wednesday, teaming with James Thomas in a losing effort against recently-signed-to-WWE-developmental Beef Wellington & Lowrider(Credit : 411mania). Jim Cornette has officially returned to OVW as well(Credit : wrestling observer).
-WGN reports Terry Taylor will be training Reid Flair for TNA.
-Booker T, who is currently working on an autobiography, has signed with Sean Davis' Florida promotion, as has Vader & his son Jessie White(Credit : wrestling observer, pwinsider). They might possibly be signing some ROH wrestlers as well.
-Tasha Simone defeated MsChif Saturday at NWA Top Rop Wrestling's Lebanon, PA show for the NWA Women's title(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Kaval & Michael McGuillicutty defeated Los Aviadores for the FCW Tag Team Titles on Thursday, July 15th, but lost them back to Los Aviadores a day later in Sebring, FL(Credit : TPWW).
-UFC has subpoenaed Ustream.tv & Justin.tv, demanding they reveal the identities of the users who have uploaded & streamed UFC content on their sites(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Dawn Marie has been accused of embezzling funds from her Wrestlers Rescue charity, alleged to be using funds to pay for flights to autograph conventions & not sending money to wrestlers in need as she claimed(Credit : wrestling inc., The Sun).
-El Hijo Del Santo has filed a lawsuit against AAA seeking royalties regarding AAA not having the rights to use his likeness on the DVD of last year's Triplemania show(Credit : Lucha World).
-Mike Sydal suffered a concussion Saturday in Chicago Ridge, IL in a pre-show match against Brad Bradley after being clotheslined in the face. He is expected to recover. Grizzly Redwood also needed 10 staples in his head after hitting it on a guardrail leg Saturday in Chicago in his tag match with Rasche Brown against Necro Butcher & Erick Stevens.
-Female Japanese wrestler Manami Toyota makes her US debut in September for Chikara(Credit : pwinsider).
-Kenzo Suzuki returned to AJPW Saturday in Korakuen Hall on the same show they started a junior heavyweight tournament(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Mickie James has pulled out of her upcoming appearance in the SMASH promotion in Japan due to a family emergency.
-WWE has until August 11th to file a response to Martha Hart's lawsuit(Credit : Hamilton Ave Journal).
-Former IWA PR/WWC Champion Shane Sewell is backing a new reality show in Puerto Rico, "Fight For Real," which will see two teams of 6 pro wrestlers each training under MMA instructors to compete for an-as-of-yet-unrevealed grand prize(Credit : PRWrestling). One can only assume an Ultimate Fighter-style series of fights to take place.
-Saturday, Paul Heyman announced working with former WCW & New Line Cinema employee Jeff Katz on a new social network app that puts pro wrestlers & fighters(from boxing & MMA) together in 'dream fight' scenarios(Credit : pwinsider).
-The Macho Man Randy Savage made a surprise video appearance on screen at ComicCon this weekend in San Diego, CA promoting his new WWE Legends action figure from Mattel.
-Hulk Hogan & Friends(yes, it's actually called that. I say 'copyright infringement,' ha) is taking their Q & A shows on tour to casinos & other venues after a successful first show in Vancouver, Canada's Red Robin Theatre on Monday July 29th featuring the usual suspects ; Hogan(whose ex-wife is now engaged to her 21-year old boyfriend younger than her own daughter Brooke), Jimmy Hart, Brutus Beefcake(who is currently working on a SERIES of autobiographies), Greg Valentine, The Honky Tonk Man, The Nasty Boys & someone named "Cocoa Beware" I've never heard of(Credit : pwinsider).
-32-year old virgin Molly Holly is engaged(Credit : presspubs.com). And my heart is broken.
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 :
-Pro Wrestling Respect 4, sponsored by The Wrestling Roundtable, took place in Burlington, NJ's National Guard Armory this past Sunday. Austin Aries along with Celso Rivera & Ricky Reyes defeated Delirious, Andy Ridge & Pelle Primeau, and in the main event, Rhett Titus lost to Bobby Dempsey & must leave Respect for 1 year. Thanks to everyone who came out Sunday & we look forward to seeing you at Pro Wrestling Respect 5, Sunday August 22nd.
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns tonight on BlogTalkRadio at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We'll be discussing TNA's Victory Road 2010, WWE's Money In The Bank pay per view & much more of the latest goings on. We want to hear your comments & questions by calling 347-857-4647
-The Wrestling Roundtable tapes two new episodes this Sunday July 25th. We'll be talking about the Attitude Era, What To Do & What Not To Do, and the Best & Worst PPVs of all time. Look for the new shows to hit YouTube, GoFightLive & iTunes starting sometime next week.
-Popiptekus(Hilario Vargas Ruiz), 53, former Mexico National Heavyweight Champion and popular luchador in the 80s, died 8 days ago due to complications from diabetes(Credit : Lucha World).
-WWE presented their first Money In The Bank pay-per-view event this past Sunday from the Spring Center in Kansas City, MO. In the RAW MITB semi-main event match, US Champion The Miz defeated John Morrison, Mark Henry, Edge, Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase, Jr., Chris Jericho & Evan Bourne. In the Smackdown MITB which opened the PPV, Kane won the briefcase over The Big Show, Christian, Matt Hardy, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre & Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston. After Rey Mysterio successfully defended the (WCW) World title against Jack Swagger, Kane used his title shot and defeated Mysterio in a very brief scrap for his third world title & first (WCW) World Heavyweight title. This also makes Kane only the second wrestler to ever win the WWF, WCW & ECW World titles, behind The Big Show. In the main event, Nexus interfered in Sheamus' WWE title defense against John Cena in a steel cage. Despite their efforts to attack both men, Sheamus escaped the cage & kept the title. Dave Meltzer reports that if the buyrate for this PPV is good, it will be brought back next year as a yearly event and not done at WrestleMania, but if it under performs, it will be brought back for WrestleMania.
-Impact Fighting Championship presented a PPV, the Uprising, this past Saturday from the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia that saw Murilo "Ninja" Rua defeat Jeremy May via guillotine choke submission 4:02 in Round 1, Denis Kang Vs. Paulo Filho ended as a draw, Payl Daley beat Daniel Acacio by submission to strikes 1:15 in to Round 3, and Pedro Rizzo destroyed Ken Shamrock by TKO 3:33 in Round 1 of the main event(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-UFC 119, set for the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianoplis, IN on Sep. 25th, now has a main event, in the heavyweight division : Frank Mir Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II(Credit : MMAJunkie). On the same card, light heavyweight 'Little Nog' Antonio Rogerio Noguiera faces Ryan Bader. UFC 120 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on October 16th. All fighters tested at the 116 show(attended by US Senate Majority leader & former boxer Harry Reid, who has pledged to help legalize MMA in New York) passed. UFC announced a deal last week with Getty Images for distribution of their photography collection(Credit : wrestling observer).
-M-1 Global will be holding their Selection Tournament's Semi-Finals Saturday August 7th at Bally's Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, also where the Finals will take place September 18th(Credit : TheMMANews). Fedor Emelianenko will be in attendance, as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Puttin was at the Sochi Open European Championships(an M-1 promoted MMA show) this past Wednesday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-On TNA iMPACT! Thursday, Mick Foley lead the ECW invasion with Raven, Stevie Richards, Tommy Dreamer, Al Snow, Rob Van Dam, etc. with President Dixie Carter saying she invited the group. WHAT SUSPENSE!!!!…..not at all.
-Now-former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields has signed with the UFC. He is expected to start at UFC 121, October 21st in Anaheim, CA, against Martin Kampmann in the welterweight class(Credit : wrestling observer).
-AAA's Mega Heavyweight Champion Dr. Wagner Jr. made a surprise appearance at the Promociones Gutierrez show Nuevo Laredo, Mexico 8 days ago in Plaza De Toros Lauro Luis Longoria with his belt, gear & AAA's video game(Heroes Del Ring) title at well(Credit : Lucha World). The uproar is that CMLL, AAA's rival, is affiliated with the show and Wagner is still until contract to AAA but they are negotiating a new deal. In the main event of the show, Oriental lost his mask to Mistico.
-Bobby Lashley(5-0)'s next opponent, at Strikeforce : Houston on August 21st in the Toyota Center, will be Chad Griggs(8-1) out of Arizona(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Shark Fights' next planned event has been moved to the Civic Center in Amarillo, TX(Credit : Lubbock online). Shark Fights 13 on PPV was to have been in Lubbock, TX headlined by Keith Jardine Vs. Trevor Prangley on Sep. 11th at the City Bank Coliseum, but since WWE has a Smackdown event scheduled on August 21st & their contract with buildings prevents other wrestling AND MMA shows from happening in the same building WWE runs in for 30 days before and after their events the event had to be moved. But remember, they're not competition!
-Last night on WWE RAW, Bret Hart(who will be getting married for the third time this weekend) returned to help the team of John Cena, Edge, John Morrison, Chris Jericho, R-Truth & The Great Khali fend off Nexus in the last segment of the night, setting up a 7-on-7 main event for SummerSlam. Bobb'e J. Thompson & Toby Keith are slated to guest host RAW October 18th & October 25th. Why even bother any more?
-In a surprise announcement during Ring Of Honor's HDNet taping this past Saturday at The Arena, Jerry Lynn(who will headline against Rob Van Dam for the TNA title on their 'HardCORE Justice' PPV) was inducted in to the Hardcore Hall Of Fame.
-FEG(Fighting & Entertainment Group, parent company of K-1 & DREAM) USA director Mike Kogan said Friday that a deal with Shanghai-based investment bank PUJI Capital will lead to international expansion in a $230 million campaign(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Hulk Hogan is claiming recent back surgery will prevent him from ever wrestling again.
-Kurt Pellegrino, UFC lightweight, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee this past week, but during surgery, a torn ACL was discovered, which will require a future surgery and could be out until 2011(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-WWE has signed a woman named Celeste from Texas to developmental, as well as Aaron "Idol" Stevens(Credit : WGN, wrestling observer).
-Sean Waltman has signed with a new promotion in Florida supported by Kevin Kleinrock and various other promoters(Sean Davis, Mister Saint Laurent, Cody Michaels & Peter Karoftis), expected to launch in early 2011(Credit : pwinsider). One of the first wrestlers to sign, however, was arrested 9 days ago for lewd & lascivious battery of a minor, a third degree felony ; Florida indy wrestler who appeared on VH1's Tool Academy Chasyn Rance is alleged to have had sex with a then-15-ear-old girl two years ago, as told to the Orange County sheriff's office(Credit : Orlando Sentinel, wrestling observer). Rance was released the next day from Orange County Jail on $3,500 bond.
-Speaking of fucking minors, Lawrence Taylor has pleaded 'not guilty' to statutory rape & solicitation stemming from his May 6th arrest in New York(Credit : ESPN).
-All assault charges against Ric Flair's wife Jacqueline were thrown out by a judge a week ago, as Ric refused to testify against his wife(Credit : TMZ).
-Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated El Samurai & Koji Kanemoto yesterday for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles in Sapporo, Japan(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Alex Payne has one more match on his current NOAH tour and will returning to the US in a few weeks.
-Female luchador Silueta lost her mask in a match to Zexius Sunday at EMLL's Arena Coliseo De Guadalajara in Mexico. EMLL also announced on their recent TV show that they will be holding a Universal Tournament involving all the champions in the promotion starting on July 30th(Credit : Lucha World).
-Maria De Los Angeles & Estela Gonzalez, the prostitutes who drugged & killed mini luchadors La Parkita & Espectrito III last year, were sentenced to 47 years in prison(Credit : WGN).
-Bryan Danielson won the IWA Puerto Rican title from QT Marshall Saturday night at their IWA Anniversary show(Credit : wrestling observer).
-MMA referees "Big" John McCarthy, Herb Dean & Nelson "Doc" Hamilton are making a presentation to the California State Athletic Commission on July 26th regarding changes they'd like implemented to the scoring system in MMA in cases of a draw, while Hamilton & McCarthy are also applying to be boxing judges(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Jerry Lawler has licensed his name/likeness to a new deli & retail store opening next to City Hall in Memphis, TN, "King Jerry Lawler's(Credit : WGN)."
-Former wrestler Steve McMichael was inducted in to the College Football Hall Of Fame this past Saturday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Tony Atlas is working on an autobiography(Credit : WGN).
-Rodney Leconte, director of upcoming documentary Grappling Kings & panelist of the Roundtable, attended the ESPYs this past Wednesday in Los Angeles. George St. Pierre lost to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in the "Fighter Of The Year" category(I call bullshit) and Frankie Edgar also did not win in his category(Upset Of The Year, for his UFC Lightweight Title victory over BJ Penn earlier this year).
-Playboy recently released nude pictures taken a few years ago of Maryse via their Cyber Club(Credit : WGN).
Monday, July 12th, 2010 :
-Pro Wrestling Respect Slam Session, a new monthly internet show, premiered this past weekend. Check it out here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fmcOOEUHxo
-TNA presented Victory Road this past Sunday at the iMPACT! Zone in Orlando, FL. Tara returned as a mystery biker during Madison Rayne's Knockouts Title defense against Angelina Love, inadvertently costing Rayne the title, which changed hands on the disqualification Tara caused by attacking Love, who is now a record-breaking 4-time Knockouts Champion. The Motor City Machine Guns finally won the TNA Tag titles, defeating Beer Money, Inc. for the vacant tag titles. Elsewhere, Hernandez won a steel cage match against Matt Morgan, The Pope lost to Kurt Angle in his comeback match via submission, Jay Lethal also defeated Ric Flair by figure four submission, and Rob Van Dam defended the TNA title in a four-way main event against Abyss and the Enigmatic Assholes. Yes, that is their name. Mick Foley returns at tonight's iMPACT! taping, and Dave Scherer is claiming TNA is still negotiating with Paul Heyman, who they are "closer to a deal (with) than they are letting on." There has been some interest in Delirious as well.
-UFC Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar(5-1)'s next defense of his title has been determined ; he fill face undefeated Cain Velasquez(8-0) at UFC 121 in Anaheim, CA's Honda Center October 23rd(Credit : MMAFighting).
-David "King" Bollea(3-0) continued his undefeated streak at Tachi Palace Fights 5 this past Saturday in Lemoore, CA, with a quick 2nd round armlock submission over Cody Gibson(3-1) in 31 seconds. The main event of the card saw Rob McCullough beat Isaac De Jesus via TKO from strikes 4:31 in Round 1(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-DREAM 15 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan saw Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki bounce back from his loss to Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez on CBS months ago by tapping out Tatsuya Kawajiri by anchilles lock 1:53 in to Round 1 Saturday. Though Aoki challenged Melendez to a rematch - in DREAM - after his fight, also bouncing back from a loss on CBS was Gegard Mousasi, who also won via submission in his match, tapping Jake O"Brien to a guillotine choke 31 seconds in to Round 1(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Impact FC 1 : The Uprising took place Saturday night in Brisbane, Australia's Brisbane Entertainment Center, which saw Josh Barnett quickly defeated Geronimo Dos Santos via TKO(strikes) 2:35 in the main event's 1st round. Also, Jeff Monson defeated Ubiratan Lima Marinho by unanimous decision and Karo Parisyan defeated Ben Mortimer via rear-naked choke submission 4:18 in round 2(Credit : MMAJunkie)
-WWC held three 37th Anniversario shows this weekend in Puerto Rico. Sunday July 11th saw the last show, where Ray Gonzalez defeated Scott Steiner to win the vacant Universal title, and Orlando Colon beat Carlito to win the Puerto Rican title.
-Consequences Creed won ECWA's 14th Super 8 Tournament on Saturday in Newark, DE.
-Shane McMahon has invested in sports-management firm International Sports Management based out of Great Britian(Credit : Manchester Evening News).
-Bobby Lashley will be fighting on Strikeforce's Houston show August 21st, against a-to-be-determined opponent, the same show where Tim Kennedy(12-2) will face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza(12-2) for the vacant Middleweight title(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Dave Meltzer reports Jim Ross has been pushing for Danny Hodge to be inducted in WWE's Hall Of Fame this year, deservingly so.
-WWE has signed Northeast indy wrestler Bill Carr to a developmental deal(Credit : WGN).
-Former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber has pulled out of his next scheduled fight - his first fight at bantamweight(135 lbs.) August 18th against Takeya Mizugaki in Las Vegas - due to an injury suffered in training a week ago.
-Triple H's neck surgery is reported to be a minor neck operation by WGN, and still has a targeted return of a few weeks.
-Scott Hall was hospitalized this past Thursday with double pneumonia(Credit : WGN).
-Bobby Eaton was hospitalized in Arkansas for fluid built up around his heart & lungs, but is expected to recover.
(Credit : Rasslinriotonline).
-UFC reached settlements with more than 500 individuals & businesses whom they had filed suit against for illegal streaming on websites as well as bars/establishments for bootlegging UFC events(Credit : wrestling observer). The settlements on the piracy charges were confidential.
-Jerry Lawler is suing former Memphis wrestling promoter currently running for County Clerk, Cory Maclin, over videotape rights to the old Memphis wresting tape library(Credit : wmctv).
-Kansas City-based Metro Pro Wrestling has shut down after one show(Credit : pwinsider).
-Jimmy Yang will be wrestling with All Japan starting in a few weeks(Credit : WGN).
-Masato Yoshino defeated YAMATO to win Dragon Gate's Open The Dream Gate title in Kobe, Japan(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Lucha Libre USA's Masked Warriors, featuring AAA lucha, will premiere on MTV2 this Friday night(Credit : pwinsider). Also from AAA, their Heroes Del Ring video game comes out October 12 across all the major platforms.
-'Predators,' which stars former UFC tournament winner Oleg Taktarov, opened this past Friday.
-Awesome Kong is working on a children's book(Credit : WGN).
-Greg Valentine claims WWE is producing a DVD & book on his career(Credit : pwinsider).
-Tommy Dreamer will be inducted in the (ECW) Arena' Hardcore Hall Of Fame, as Trent Acid was this past weekend at this memorial show, at Chikara's next stupidly-titled show there.
Thursday, July 8th, 2010 :
-"Midge" Ciminello & myself, Eric Santamaria, will be hosting a new monthly internet show from Pro Wrestling Respect, Slam Session! Look for that to premiere later this week!
-UFC 116 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this past Saturday in Las Vegas, NV. For the second year in a row, Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar(5-1) unified his title against an Interim Champion, in this case the previously undefeated Shane Carwin(12-1) in 3:52 of the 2nd round via head/arm triangle tap out(Credit : WGN). Lesnar, who is expecting his third child to be born in a couple weeks times, is co-writing his autobiography with Paul Heyman, and will be defending his title next against the second undefeated heavyweight in a row, Cain Velasquez, some time later this year if it goes as planned. Also, middleweight Chris Leben defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama in the co-main event by triangle submission with time having almost run out of the third round, and light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar secured his spot in UFC with a decisive 2nd round TKO victory over Krzysztof Soszynski.
-M-1 Global has denied closing their head office, located in Holland, The Netherlands, despite firing several employees(Credit : SBNation). M-1 is also at odds with Strikeforce for about the third time in a row about Fedor Emelianenko's contract, that has 1 fight left ; M-1 wants a rematch with Fabiricio Wedrum, whereas Strikeforce wants Fedor to fight Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, where a champion's clause(that will dictate Fedor keep fighting for Strikeforce should he win the title) is to be negotiated(Credit : MMA Fighting).
-Batista started a two-day training camp yesterday at Cesar Gracie's California gym to evaluate a potential MMA career, the same day he met with Strikeforce's matchmaker Rich Chou to negotiate a deal(Credit : Sherdog).
-Ed Ferrara has left the creative team at TNA(Credit : 411mania). Doug Williams & Magnus have been signed to long term contracts, however, while Mick Foley is expected back on TV before the end of the summer.
-Psicosis II will be getting tryouts with WWE July 26th & July 27th at their shows in Texas(Credit : Luchas 2000). Congratulations to the Bravado Brothers of Pro Wrestling Respect on their recent WWE tryouts in North Carolina!
-Dixie Carter has stated that TNA house shows will be announced in Europe & the Middle East soon, and they hope to run Australia again as well.
-Ricky Steamboat is expected back home in North Carolina later this week for a month's worth of recovery as he suffered a ruptured blood vessel last week, not an aneurysm as originally reported(Credit : WGN).
-Triple H just had surgery, though it has not been discovered what for(hopefully a vasectomy), while WGN reports Hulk Hogan's back is still in bad shape & may require another surgery soon.
-CM Punk had minor arm surgery last week(Credit : WGN). He will be out a few weeks.
-Golf company Acheshnet & eye lens company Intercast Europe are opposing WWE's trademark of "NXT," both claiming their own previous trademark of the term(Credit : pwinsider).
-Two in a row : After no-showing his arraignment on June 9th, Scott Hall also didn't appear for his July 1st pre-trail conference for disorderly intoxication & resisting arrest charges in Florida(Credit : WGN). The judge has ordered a review hearing on July 22nd.
-Super Crazy will be returning to All Japan on a tour for the AJPW Jr. League, from July 25th-August 8th(Credit : Lucha World).
-Booker T has been added to the July 11th WWC Anniversario show(Credit : pwinsider).
-WGN says Teddy Hart has "apparently" been fired from AAA.
-WWE runs their first show in China August 22nd at the Shanghai World Expo(Credit : cageside seats). UFC plans on opening a China office as well, soon to be followed by India & South Korea.
-Lance Storm is working on a reality series about his school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada called World Of Hurt that will be airing in early 2011 for the National Canadian Network(Credit : WGN).
-Eric Bischoff's Micro Championship Wrestling runs a show in Austin, TX on August 6th(Credit : 411mania).
-Gene Snitsky will star in the movie Manos : The Search For Valley Lodge(Credit : kvia).
-MVP & R-Truth are working on new entrance themes(Credit : WGN).
-Ring Of Honor has turned Tag Wars in to a tag tournament this year, culminating in an Ultimate Endurance match August 28th in Charlotte, NC.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 :
-The Wrestling Roundtable is happy to announce our new Mailing List. A great way to stay up-to-speed on all things Roundtable, including site updates, wrestling/MMA news, exclusive content & more! You can sign up by using the form on the front page of wrestlingroundtable.com or by going here.
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio will return this Tuesday at 11pm EST/8pm PST on BlogTalkRadio. Call 347-857-4647 to share your thoughts on the latest happenings in the worlds of MMA & pro wrestling, as we'll be discussing the results & fallout of Strikeforce : Fedor Vs. Werdum, UFC 116, Martha Hart's lawsuit against WWE & more.
-Pro Wrestling Respect 4, sponsored by The Wrestling Roundtable, takes place Sunday July 18th at the Burlington National Guard Armory in Burlington, NJ, featuring Austin Aries, Delirious, Daizee Haze, Ricky Reyes, Pelle Primeau, Bobby Dempsey, Rhett Titus, Jamilia Craft, Mike Sydal and many more. The Roundtable will be there as usual, and we hope you will be too! Tickets can be purchased at our Store.
-Scorpio(Rafael Nunez, former UWA Champion luchador in the 70s & 80s), 67, died Friday morning.
-Toni Adams(Tony Donahoo, 45), wrrestler/valet in Tennessee & Texas during the late 80s/early 90s, died Thursday.
-Pro Wrestling Respect's Alex Payne, frequent Roundtable guest panelist, debuted in Pro Wrestling NOAH on their Sunday June 27th "Summer Navigation Part 1" event at ACT City Hamamatsu in Japan, teaming with Naomichi Marufuji in a losing effort against company President Akira Taue & Mohammed Yone. Payne is booked on several more shows for the tour, big congratulations to Alex Payne!
-Strikeforce(…oops, AND M-1 Global!) presented 'Fedor Vs. Werdum' this past Saturday on Showtime at the HP Pavilian in San Jose, California, and the main event sent shockwaves throughout the MMA world, as 2-time BJJ World Champion & BJJ black belt Fabricio Werdum(14-4) became the first man to ever decisively beat heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko(31-2), and did so by tap out due to triangle choke after 1:09 in the first round. While they initially promoted Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem(who might be done with DREAM, as he was supposed to face Ricco Rodriguez at their 15th show in Japan on July 10th but has since backed out) facing the winner, it remains to be seen whether they will follow through with that fight or instead do a Werdum/Fedor rematch on PPV, as that has been talked about. Dana White had recently squashed an attempted sponsorship of Fedor by clothing line(and UFC sponsor) Affliction, threatening them with being banished from UFC if they went through with the proposed T-shirt deal with Fedor. Elsewhere, middleweight Cung Le(7-1), returning from Hollywood, avenged his only loss, against Scott Smith(17-7) by defeating Smith 1:46 in to round 2 via TKO, and Women's Featherweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos(9-2) destroyed Jan "Cuddles" Finney(8-8) by TKO 2:56 in to the second round. Last by not least on the show, MMA legend Frank Shamrock announced his retirement during an in-ring ceremony. Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields was released from his contract yesterday, while Light Heavyweight Champion King Mo is set to face Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante at Strikeforce : Houston in August(Credit : Sherdog, MMAJunkie).
-Owen Hart's widow Martha Hart has filed a lawsuit against WWE, specifically Vince & Linda McMahon, in response to WWE's Hart & Soul DVD and other unauthorized uses of Owen Hart's likeness. As part of a contract(twice amended) that Owen Hart signed with the-then WWF in 1996, he was allowed to main intellectual property of his character & himself(his real name) from material created by the WWF before the contract signing. From the signing onward(1996 and beyond), the WWF would own that material. In the event of his death or his contract ending, the 'old intellectual properties' would remain his, or part of his estate. As part of the wrongful death settlement brought forth by Martha Hart in 1999 following Owen's accidental death on May 23rd of that year, the WWF agreed that the estate owned the likeness of Owen Hart, but neither gave outlines for payment in regards to what the estate would be entitled to should the need arise for royalties(which WWE has not sent checks for at any point since Owen's death) or asked the estate/Martha's permission for the use of Owen's likeness in the past several years in videos, programming, publications & other venues. As such, she notified WWE on March 25th that they did not have permission to use Owen's image, likeness or name. In a fifty page suit filed on March 29th in Canada, Martha tried getting an injunction from releasing the Hart & Soul DVD. Despite WWE admitting using Owen's likeness many times, but there was no injunction, the case was dismissed & Martha was ordered to pay WWE's counsel fees(Credit : Hamilton Ave. Journal/411mania, WGN). Since the 1996 contract was signed when the WWF was a private company, the lawsuit is being brought against the WWE company & the McMahons themselves, as they were operating these business matters directly then. No word on whether Martha's claims to intellectual property rights created before 1996 would now include the Stampede Wrestling library or even WCW(where he wrestled very briefly before his WWF career) that WWE has since purchased, though it may not be the case as the contract Owen signed in 1996 obviously only referred to WWF creations.
-New York Democrats are divided on the legalization of MMA in the state as proposed by assemblyman Steven Englebright, which has led to the bill's stalling in the state assembly after the Ways & Means committee removed the language regarding MMA in the budget, despite the state Senate recently voting to approve the bill(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-UFC president Dana White has banned vuvuzelas, the ultra-annoying horns blown during soccer/football games, from the 116 event this Saturday headlined by Lesnar/Carwin's Heavyweight Title unification fight, the winner of which will defend against Cain Velasquez in their first defense. Also, Chris Leben has replaced Wanderlai Silva in Silva's middleweight semi-main event bout on the card against Yoshihiro Akiyama after Silva cracked ribs in training, while Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Vs. "Little Nog" Antonio Rogerio Nogueria will take place likely in September or later(Credit : MMAJunkie). UFC signed undefeated Korean middleweight Dong Yi Yang Tuesday.
-The Pope returns to TNA tonight on iMPACT!, as does Rhino, as part of the ECW group with Dreamer, Stevie Richards & Raven.
-Triple H is expected to return at Summerslam against Sheamus(Credit : pwinsider).
-WWE confiscated Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson signs at the Fatal Fourway PPV in Uniondale, NY the other weekend(Credit : WGN). There's that 'freedom of expression' they always talk about.
-Carlito, Daizee Haze & Steve Corino have been added to WWC's Aniversario shows next month(Credit : WGN).
-Scotty 2 Hotty, Mickie James & Nick "U-Gene" Dinsmore will wrestle for Tajiri's SMASH promotion on July 24th in Japan(Credit : WGN).
-Wade Barrett & Drew McIntyre(who recently married Tiffany) were written off of WWE television due to their working VISAs running out(Credit : WGN). They returned to England & Scotland respectively until the situation was sorted out, with Barrett expected back on Monday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Velvet Sky recently signed a long-term contract extension with TNA, while TNA has it in mind to tour India soon. Rumor is they might sign Shane Helms soon, though other rumors talk about a 'signing freeze,' so whatever(Credit : WGN).
-Ricky Steamboat went to the hospital late last night after complaining of pains in his neck & shoulder, suffering what turned out to be a brain aneurysm(Credit : wrestling observer). He is now in stable condition.
-Christopher Daniels suffered a ruptured eardrum at ROH's Death Before Dishonor iPPV in a match against Kenny Omega(Credit : WGN).
-WWE fired Savannah(Angela Fong, NXT ring announcer) a week ago today. Ashley Valence has taken over for Matt Striker as host on NXT, which saw Titus O'Neil 'eliminated' on Tuesday. WWE appears to be done using Virgil as well. Dos Caras Jr is expected to debut soon using the name Alberto Del Rio(Credit : WGN).
-Former WrestleMania main event Lawrence Taylor was indicted a week ago on third degree rape & criminal sexual act charges, as well as endangering the welfare of a child, sexual abuse & patronizing a prostitute stemming from his arrest in Montebello, NY on May 6th(Credit : WGN).
-Shelly Martinez & Annie Social will debut for Los Perros Del Mal at their Lucha Libre Expo show in Mexico City next month(Credit : Lucha World).
-The Undertaker(who, it is hoped, will return to WWE for SummerSlam) got married for the third time this past weekend to Michelle McCool(Credit :WGN, pwinsider). Bret Hart will be doing the same on July 24th, also for the third time, as well(Though not to Michelle McCool). Kenta Kobashi announced his marriage in Tokyo on October 1st to singer Mizuki Mai.
-The TNA iMPACT! : Cross The Line video game was released Tuesday for the Nintendo DS & PSP by South Peak Games(Credit : WGN).
-Raven does stand-up comedy July 8th at Cozzy's Comedy Club in Newport News, VA. Yeah, he's SOOOO funny in those annoying shoots he does.
-Bonnie Steamboat will be writing an autobiography about her experience in wrestling(Credit : WGN). Dutch Mantell is working on a second book already.
Monday, June 21, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns tomorrow night at 11pmEST/8pmPST on BlogTalkRadio. Did you watch the wrestling & MMA shows this weekend? Call & let us know your thoughts at 347-857-4647! We'll also be talking about the NXT angle & Daniel Bryan's firing. We're also hoping to tape two new episodes of the Wrestling Roundtable next month. We'll be talking about the Attitude Era, the Best/Worst PPVs of all time & more. We're also rying to line up Dan "The Beast" Severn for the Radio program! Stay tuned!
-Congratulations are in order : Alex Payne of Pro Wrestling Respect departed today for Japan to train at the Pro Wrestling NOAH dojo for several months. Also, Rodney Leconte won ESPN's ESPY awards video contest and will be walking the red carpet on Sunday July 18th in Los Angeles, CA. On behalf of everyone at the Roundtable, way to go guys!
-Trent Acid(Michael Verdi), 29, Philadelphia indy wrestler, died Friday in Philadelphia, probably of heroin OD. Just a guess.
-Jesse Jenkins, 66, Alabama wrestler & manager, died Friday morning from cancer(Credit : WGN).
-Charles Bender, 35, Florida indy wrestler, died 8 days ago from cancer(Credit : WGN).
-UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale was Saturday from The Pearl at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Middleweight Court McGee submitted Kris McCray by rear-naked choke 3:41 in the second round of the main event. Light Heavyweight Matt Hamill defeated Keith Jardine by unanimous decision.
-WEC 49 was on Versus last night from the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. WEC's Canadian debut saw lightweights Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus end in a draw, and featherweight Mark Hominick defeated Yves Jabouin by TKO 3:21 in the 2nd round.
-Sengoku 13 took place in Tokyo, Japan Sunday which saw Marlon Sandro defeat Featherweight Champion Massanori Kanehara in 38 seconds by KO in the main event.
-WWE Fatal Fourway was presented Sunday at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, and saw every title in a four-way match change hands. Divas Champion Eve Torres lost the belt to Alicia Fox in a match that also featured Gail Kim & Maryse, Rey Mysterio claimed the (WCW) World Heavyweight title for a second time when he defeated Champion Jack Swagger, the Big Show & C.M. Punk in Smackdown's world title match, and the show ended with the NXT gang(possibly soon to be called "Nexus," as WWE filed for that trademark along with "The Network" recently) chase new WWE Champion Sheamus(who won the belt for a second time by defeating Champion John Cena, Edge & Randy Orton) to the back(Credit : wrestling observer).
-ROH presented Death Before Dishonor VIII at the Ted Reeves Arena in Toronto, ONT, Canada this past Saturday on GFL iPPV. The Kings Of Wrestling retained the Tag Team titles against The Briscoes, and Champion Tyler Black defeated Davey Richards(who is claiming now that he is going to leave wrestling after his ROH contract runs up at the end of the year to become a fireman) in the main event. Roderick Strong hurt his ankle against Colt Cabana in the second Toronto gauntlet, which he won and is now guaranteed a world title shot(Credit : Scirppsnews).
-The same day we reported him no-showing his disorderly conduct arraignment, Scott Hall was fired from TNA a week ago after he & Dixie Carter agreed to split ways. TNA, however, will be adding the Xplosion show Thursdays 8-9 on Spike TV, making a four-hour TNA block on Thursdays with Xplosion, iMPACT! & Reaction. Ric Flair's faction of Desmond Wolfe, Kazarian, AJ Styles & Beer Money will be called Fortune. Raven, Stevie Richards & Tommy Dreamer's faction appear on Thursday.
-UFC has moved the Versus 2 show on August 1st from the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, UT to the San Diego Sports Arena in CA due to poor ticket sales in a move that President Dana White claims is the first time in company history(moving a show due to poor ticket sales)(Credit : examiner.com).
-No guest host on WWE RAW tonight as Pat Sajak was originally scheduled but a deal was not finalized(Credit : pwinsider, WGN). Florence Henderson, however, will host July 12th.
-Rumors of Batista(who attended the Strikeforce Live show Wednesday night in Los Angeles headlined by middleweight Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeating light heavyweight Robbie Lawler in their catchweight bout by unanimous decision, along with Bill Goldberg, Josh Barnett, Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio & Ernest Miller), signing a 2-fight deal with Strikeforce are premature, although there have beens talks(Credit : gantdaily, WGN, wrestling observer), one of which took place after the show as he considers an MMA career. Batista is still recovering from a small hairline fracture in his back from his last bump in wrestling(the finish of the WWE Championship match with then-title holder John Cena at Over The Limit on May 23rd which saw Cena FU Batista off a car through the stage) and is also negotiating to be a part of a reality show while hoping for acting work, though he has an offer from a smaller MMA promotion. Meanwhile, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker hasn't offered Middleweight Champion Jake Shields a new contract yet, and should Sheilds leave for UFC, an 8-man tournament will take place to crown a new champion(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-UK female wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling EVE's Jenny Sjódin won the Women's Advanced No-Gi(weight 120-139.9 lbs) Silver Medla at Grappler's Quest 2010 National Championships on Saturday June 12th in Morristown, NJ(Credit : Grappler's Quest).
-Melina wrestles in FCW this week in preparation for her WWE comeback. Recently-signed Calgary indy wrestler Tiger Raj Singh will be renamed Jinder Mahal, and Ryan Tran & Daniel Skyler were just added to FCW as referees(Credit : WGN).
-At a NJPW show Saturday, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson won the IWGP Tag Team titles by defeating Champions Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue and Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito in a three way dance. IWGP Jr. Champion Naomichi Marufuji lost the title to Prince Devitt on the same show. Austin Creed will be touring New Japan this weekend(Credit : WGN, wrestling observer).
-Groon XXX suffered a knee injury on May 2nd's Perros Del Mal show in Mexico City, receiving an injection in the hospital for inflammation that will also require surgery to remove abscesses. Perros Del Mal announced they will be "invading" the AAA TV taping June 20th in Zapopan, Mexico.
-Jushin "Thunder" Liger & Nobuo Yoshihashi will be participating in an upcoming EMLL tournament(Credit : Lucha World).
-Nashville indy wrestler Steve "Woody" Johnson was found guilty of murder May 22nd for a home invasion shooting in 2008(Credit : WGN).
-Carl Lewis, a 58-year old man who killed 22-year old Kentucky indy wrestler Glen "ice Pick" Bussell in April in a alcohol-fueled four-car pile up, was charged with murder & four counts of wanton endangerment(Credit : WGN).
-Jarrod Wyatt, an amateur MMA fighter from Klamath, CA, killed Taylor Powell, 21, on March 21st at their apartment, police finding a naked Wyatt standing over a dead, bloody Powell with Powell's heart pulled out and most of his face torn off(Credit : wrestling observer). Wyatt pleaded not guilt due to insanity to charges of torture & murder Thursday, with witnesses saying that his murder & proclaiming Powell was possessed by Satan being caused by ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms.
-WGN reports rumors of Vince McMahon possibly having cosmetic surgery on his face several weeks ago, and Cody Rhodes being talked about joining the SES.
-Former WWF wrestler B. Brian Blair, gay & faggot, qualified recently to run for the Florida House Of Representatives in District 47, while former Northeast indy wrestler Kriss Krude(Julian Bradley) is running for La Cross State Representative in Wisconsin(Credit : WGN).
-The gameshow 'Downfall' hosted by Chris Jericho premieres tomorrow night at 9pm ABC.
-Edge will star in a new WWE Studios movie, Chasing The Hawk(Credit : WGN).
-The new issue of the WWE Heroes comic book comes out Wednesday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Smith Hart, Stu's oldest son, is writing an autobiography, while many wrestlers are contributing to a book on Kanyon(Credit : WGN).
-THQ will be putting out a RAW Vs. Smackdown online game. Speaking of video games, at the E3 convention Thursday, Dr. Wagner Jr. pinned a fake Silver King in a four-way dance with La Parka Jr. & Elegido to 'win the right to be on the cover of the Los Heroes Del Ring video game.'(Credit : Lucha World).
-WWE is releasing a Bobby Heenan DVD December 18th, a "100 Craziest Moments in WWE History" DVD on Dec. 14th, & a Best Of Smackdown 2010 DVD as well(Credit : pwinsider).
-Bryan Danielson is taking indy bookings, and is now booked to appear in the NWA, PWG, AIW, and more soon.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns a week from tonight on BlogTalkRadio. We'll be talking about UFC 115, WWE Fatal Fourway, Daniel Bryan being fired & more. Call 347-857-4647 to share your thoughts when we hit the air again at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We're still trying to line up something with Dan "The Beast" Severn in the future, so stay tuned!
-Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, 78, 60s tag team wrestler & former road agent for WWF, WCW & UWF, father of Jake The Snake Roberts, Sam Houston & Rockin' Robin, died Sunday morning of Alzheimer's(Credit : WGN, wrestling observer).
-The second Rocket Monroe(Maury High), 68, 60s & 70s Southeast wrestler, died Monday June 7th after suffering a blood infection(Credit : WGN).
-Jack Taylor, 82, 50s & 60s British wrestler, author & promoter, died April 5th after a short illness(Credit : Manchester Evening News ).
-The big story from 8 days ago on RAW was the end of WWE Champion John Cena's main event match against CM Punk, as the 8 NXT Season 1 rookies stormed the ring, attacked announcers, agents & wrestlers alike, then destroyed the ringside area, including the ring itself. Even though a follow-up attack/match was done at the FCW tapings days alter, Daniel Bryan was fired Friday by WWE due to outside pressure from an influential party on WWE(speculated to be NBC or Mattel) for his choking of ring announcer Justin Roberts with Roberts' tie due it being too 'associated with Chris Benoit(How HHH & HBK get away with using Benoit's own finisher, the Crippler Crossface, that he used to actually kill his own son remains a mystery to me, but I digress….).' Bryan was fired essentially to set an example as a scapegoat, but is expected to be re-signed before his 90-day no compete clause runs out. In the meantime, he is looking in to independent bookings that fit within his contract stipulations(Credit : wrestling observer, pwinsider, WGN). The follow-up last night on RAW was the 7 remaining rookies kidnapping GM Bret Hart & crashing his car in response to Hart's storyline firing of Wade Barrett & refusal to sign the other wrestlers. Also, The Miz re-claimed the US title in a 4-way with Champion R-Truth, John Morrison & Zack Ryder, making Miz a 2-time champion. WWE plans on experimenting with 3D TV sometime next year.
-This past Saturday, UFC 115 : Liddell Vs. Franklin took place at The GM Place in Vancouver, BC, Canada, seeing Chuck Liddell lose to Rich Franklin in the main event via KO 4:55 in the first round of their light heavyweight contest. Franklin suffered a broken ulna in his left arm, which he will have surgery on in Las Vegas this week, while everyone is pushing for Liddell to retire(Credit : wrestling observer). Also, Mirko Crop Cop defeated Pat Barry via submission(rear naked choke) 4:30 in to the third round, and Ben Rothwell defeated Gilbert Yvel via unanimous decision, both in heavyweight contests.
-This past Sunday, TNA presented Slammiversary 2010 at the iMPACT! Zone in Orlando, FL, which saw Rob Van Dam defend the TNA World title against Sting in the main event, Tommy Dreamer debuted - appearing in the crowd at the end of the Brother Ray Vs. Jesse Neal match, and Roxxi lost to Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne in a bout with the impromptu stip. of title vs. career, which was added last minute when Roxxi was released that night, though it is expected she might be brought back in the future, probably on TNA's latest pay-per-appearance policy that Christopher Daniels is expected to take them up on before summer's end. Lisa Marie Varon(Tara/Victoria) would be interested in coming back if they meet her pay demands, as WGN reports she has decided not to pursue an MMA career. ODB - who recently filed for her name's trademark - has also left the company, while Sara Del Rey will wrestle at their house show in New Jersey on July 3rd & many in TNA are pushing to sign Paul Heyman. At this week's iMPACT! tapings, Eric Bischoff stripped The Bang of the Tag Titles, which will be put up in the Motor City Machine Guns Vs. the winners of the Ink Inc. Vs. Beer Money tournament semi-finals match at Victory Road. Abyss also turned heel and appears to be feuding with Hulk Hogan, who has been shopping around a new reality series based on his 'career resurgence' & recently underwent back surgery to remove bone spurs.(Credit : WGN).
-Strikeforce recently signed DREAM lightweight Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante(Credit : fight hype). Bobby Lashley, 5-0, has pulled out of his upcoming fight with Ron Sparks, however, due to a knee injury suffered in training a few weeks ago(Credit : fightscoops). No timetable on his return.
-WWE signed early-20s Asian female wrestler Su Young to a developmental deal(Credit : WGN). Rickie Steamboat started in FCW as a trainer last week, replacing Dennis Condrey.
-Speaking of which, Oriental is leaving Los Perros Del Mal & will be rejoined EMLL(Credit : Lucha World).
-Despite internet rumors, no charges against Jeff Hardy have been dropped in his drug trial - in fact, another charge(undisclosed) has been added(Credit : The Pilot). The case has been carried over to July due to the court being busy.
-Scott Hall no-showed his arraignment 6 days ago for disorderly conduct at a Florida bar recently(Credit : WGN). The judge has ordered a pre-trial conference on July 1st, and this is probably why The Bang was stripped of the tag belts.
-DUI chargé against FCW "diva" Liviana have been dropped(Credit : WGN). She had been arrested last summer after a late night traffic stop.
-Nicole Bass has taken her old sexual harassment lawsuit against WWE to the U.S. Court Of Appeals, filing for a motion for relief in the New York Eastern District Court on March 24th(Credit : WGN).
-Trent Acid was ordered to re-attend rehab as part of a plea deal for violating his parole recently trying to fly to Japan for Big Japan(Credit : WGN).
-Undertaker had surgery for his orbital bone injury, Ted Dibiase Sr. had emergency neck surgery a week ago to relieve pressure from a pinched nerve in his neck(Credit : WGN, pwinsider). Sting will be getting shoulder surgery soon, and WGN reports that Randy Orton's dislocated shoulder injury originally happened at home playing basketball, made worse at the Over The Limit match with Edge, and may require surgery if physical therapy doesn't work.
-Despite Vince McMahon claiming weeks ago that it would be scrapped, The Survivor Series will take place November 21st.
-If you can sort out this LA Par-K Vs. Super Parka or La Parka or whatever the fuck it is, let me know….alright, let's try : AAA's Triplemania on June 6th saw L.A. Par-K defeat La Parka Jr. and can be called 'La Parka' again, but then he gave it up because he's done well with 'L.A. Park-K.' But now they might do a rematch with the same stip.s. Whatever. Also on the show, Jack Evans won the AAA Cruiserweight title in a 4-way with Christopher Daniels, NOSAWA & Champion Extreme Tiger, Dr. Wagner, Jr. won the Mega Heavyweight title from Electroshock, Octagoncito beat Champion Mini Abismo Negro, Mini Charly Manson, Masacarita Sagrada Jr., Mascarita Divina, Mini Chessman, Mini Psicosis, & Mini Histeria in a TLC match for the Minis title, Silver King & Ultimo Gladiador won the World Tag Titles in a 4-way elimination match against Beer Money, Champions Atsushi Aoki & Go Shiozaki, and Joe Lider & Nicho El Millionario. Silver King will now be going by Silver Cain as he is feuding with his brother Dr. Wagner Jr(Credit : Lucha World, pwinsider).
-Congratulations to Gary Michael Cappetta, who returned to wrestling at MTV2's "USA Lucha Libre : Masked Warriors" taping last week. The show debuts June 26th(Credit : pwinsider).
-Carlito has pulled out of WWC's Anniversario events in July due to his WWE contract, as has Katie Lea Burchill, in her case due to being unable to obtain a new VISA(Credit : pwinsider). ODB will replace her, and Mickie James has been added to the show as well.
-Prince Devitt won NJPW's Best Of The Super Juniors tournament Sunday at Kuraken Hall in Tokyo, Japan, defeating Kota Ibushi in the finals. Tiger Mask(Yoshihiro Yamazaki) fractured his neck the first night of the tournament back on May 30th, but he hopes to be back in the ring later this year(Credit : WGN).
-Kizarny & Stacy "The Kat" Carter have gotten engaged, as has Eric Young & his girlfriend(Credit : WGN).
-The A-Team movie starring UFC fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson opened at the box office this weekend in second place earning $26 million, behind The Kung-Fu Kid…..err, Karate Kid remake. Must hurt to be second place behind a martial arts movie in this 80s-retread contest.
-John Cena's next movie, Legendary, comes out in theaters September 10(Credit : pwinsider). Randy Orton's movie now has a working title of That's What I Am instead of Big Red(Credit : WGN).
-Juventud Guerrera will be launching his hip hop album July 23rd in Mexico City at the annual Lucha Libre expo(Credit : WGN).
-Bob Backlund has started writing a book, and Jody "The Assassin" Hamilton is writing a second(Credit : pwinsider).
-Shad Gaspard & Muhammad Hassan are working on a graphic novel entitled Assassin & Son : Path Of Vengeance, to be released later this year from Blackline Comics(Credit : WGN).
-Kung Fu Factory & 505 Games are developing Supremacy MMA for XBox 360 & Playstation 3, which will be shown behind closed doors at the E3 convention this week(Credit : Go Fan Boy). THQ, developing RAW Vs. Smackdown 2011 for October release, is also working on WWE All Stars for release in early 2011 that will feature current WWE Superstars against Legends(Credit : WGN).
-Corp. Robinson reclaimed the JCW title from Mad Man Pondo on May 31st in Denver, Colorado, on the same tour, the Happy Daze tour, that he lost it to Pondo on 10 days earlier(Gerweck.net).
Friday, June 4th, 2010 :
-The Wrestling Roundtable & The ROH Wrestling Academy present Pro Wrestling Respect III THIS SUNDAY at the Burlington National Guard Armory in Burlington, NJ. Grizzly Redwood faces Ricky Reyes in the main event, Delirious faces Andy "Right Leg" Ridge in a rematch, women's tag team action, the Elevation Rumble, Roundtable guest panelists collide as Alex Payne challenges Shane Hagadorn, Prince Nana debuts in PWR, and much more! Tickets are still available cheap & at the door. The Roundtable will be there and we hope you will be too!
-Pro Wrestling Respect II : Delirious Vs. Ridge is available at GoFightLive for $4.95 at this URL :
http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?eventId=645
The DVD, with plenty of extras(including Daizee Haze's first ever professional match from 2001), will be available shortly at the Wrestling Roundtable Store & prowrestlingrespect.com shortly, but if you can't wait and wish to view the event, buy it cheap at GFL!
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns this Tuesday at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We'll be taking your calls and we want to hear your thoughts on the latest goings on in pro wrestling & MMA, including UFC 114, though I'm guessing it'll be mostly bitching about the next NXT season ;) We're still trying to arrange our first guest interview with Dan "The Beast" Severn for the future, probably in a few weeks, but in the meantime, share your thoughts on wrestling & MMA with us LIVE at 347-857-4647 this Tues. night!
-UFC 114 took place this past Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, featuring Rashad Evans defeat long-time rival Quinton "Rampage" Jackson via decision in their eagerly anticipated light heavyweight showdown. Also, Diego Sanchez lost his welterweight bout against John Hathway via decision, Michael Bisping bested Dan Miller in their middleweight fight in the same manner, Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira won a close decision against light heavyweight Jason Brilz, and in the only fight that had a finish, heavyweight Mike Russow won an incredible comeback victory over Todd Duffee via knockout 2:35 in to round 3.
-Cung Lee Vs. Scott Smith II has been made official for Strikeforce : Fedor Vs. Werdum June 26th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. Women's Featherweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will defend her title against Jan Finney on the Showtime card as well.
-WWE Monday Night RAW this Monday is being promoted as a multi-branded three hour "Viewer's Choice" edition. Rob Zombie will host RAW June 28th, replacing Khloe Kardashian.
-Wade Barrett won WWE's NXT contest this past Tuesday night which saw NXT's ratings jump from a 0.86 the week before to a 1.17 for the finale, and the next season's roster of rookies & pro was advertised :
-Alex Riley paired with The Miz
-Percy Watson paired with MVP
-Kaval paired with Michelle McCool & Layla El
-Lucky Cannon paired with Mark Henry
-Eli Cottonwood paired with John Morrison
-Husky Harris(Windham Rotunda) paired with Cody Rhodes
-Michael McGillicutty(Joe Hennig) paired with Kofi Kingston
-Titus O'Neill paired with Zack Ryder
-WEC released featherweight fighter Jens Pulver two weeks ago(Credit : wrestling observer). UFC has signed Ricardo Romero to a four-fight deal however(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Jim Ross has worked out a new agreement with WWE and he will be employed by the company in a backstage talent-consultant role, which will include visits to FCW in Tampa, FL on a regular basis and also leaves options open to explore commentary options in MMA, as well as free lance sports writing and he is also currently writing an autobiography.
-TNA is prepared to sign Mickie james in late July when her 90-day WWE no-compete clause runs out(Credit : wrestling observer), while Daffney(whom Dave Meltzer reports there is talk of not re-signing later this year when her contract is up, but has registered for her name 'Daffney Unger''s trademark, as has ODB) & Angelina Love have been cleared to return to the ring. Ross Forman, former WCW Magazine writer who had worked TNA's PR department, was released, however(Credit : Behind The Ropes). Ric Flair's claiming that Reid Flair will be 'starting soon' with TNA as well. Oh please.
-Recently released TNA Knockout Tara is expected to meet with WWE officials soon to discuss a return(Credit : PWTorch).
-WWE signed Fady The Arabian Bull from Paterson, New Jersey's IWF.
-Undertaker suffered a broken orbital bone in a match with Rey Mysterio last week on Smackdown and will be out all summer(Credit : pwinsider). He'll be replaced by Mysterio at the Fatal Fourway PPV.
-Sean Waltman revealed recently in a radio interview that the reason he was not cleared to wrestle in St. Louis for the Lockdown PPV & pulled out was because he has Hepatitis C, and he recently attempted suicide via hanging in Mexico, an attemp prevented by Alicia Webb(former Ryan Shamrock of the WWF).
-Tito Ortiz coached his last Ultimate Fighter officially this season, as his last episode aired Wednesday night as he had neck surgery and was fired from the show. Rich Franklin & assistant coaches Forest & Tyson Griffin along with Gray Maynard take over next week(Credit : UFC.com). Half-Pint Brawlers premiered after TUF and did a strong 0.7 rating for it's 11pm timeslot(Credit : pwinsider).
-Charlie Hass & Jackie Gayda had son Tuesday, Thomas Russell Hass II, their third child & first boy. Candice Michelle had a daughter on May 23rd, AkiAnne Rose.
-Glory(Christie Ricci) became the first Wrestlelicious champion recently in the show that aired last week in Canada.
-Katie Lea Burchill will be wrestling for WWC's Aniversario 2010 shows on July 9th, 10th & 11th in Puerto Rico, along with Scott Steiner, Tommy Dreamer, Shelton Benjamin, Tony Atlas, AAA luchador El Mesias, and Carlito & Primo Colon(Credit : pwinsider).
-Kim Couture was arrested over the weekend for domestic violence against her personal assistant(Credit : wrestling observer). She went to Clark County Detention Center, posted bail & was released earlier this week.
-Jeff Hardy's drug trafficking trial was set to begin today in North Carolina(Credit : pwinsider).
-Vampiro was allegedly kidnapped Monday night while driving in Mexico's state of Michuacan through drug wars(Credit : wrestling observer). He was released after
23 hours.
-AAA and Fusion Universal Del Lucha Libre are working together to create a new championship called the AAA Parejas Increibles Tag Titles, with a tournament to take place June 12th in Puebla, Mexico(Credit : Lucha World).
-Dana White has stated that UFC plans on opening a gym in Mexico City, where they'd also like to run a live event.
-EMLL had a tour of Guatemala scheduled this past weekend that was postponed due to a volcano exploding bear Guatemala City(Credit : Lucha World).
-Floyd Mayweather, Jr. & WWE have until June 10th to respond to the lawsuit filed by Anthony Dash(Credit : pwinsider).
-Chris Jericho will host a new game show, Downfall, Tuesday night;s on ABC to be filmed next week in Hollywood(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Tammy Sytch is writing an autobiography(Credit : pwinsider).
-Mad Man Pondo won the JCW title from Corporal Robinson Sat. May 22nd.
-Philadelphia indy wrestler Johnny Kasmere recently 'came out of the closet' and admitted he was gay.
-Chris Hero returns to CZW June 12th.
-Generation Me/Young Bucks & Awesome Kong(who recently filed for the "Awesome Kong" trademark TNA had let expire, which is open for opposition until June 22nd) return to ROH July 23rd & 24th.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns tonight with a new bi-weekly format. We'll be doing our show live on BlogTalkRadio every other Tuesday night at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We'll be talking about Strikeforce : St Louis on Showtime recently, WWE's Over The Limit, RAW, NXT & more, so be sure to listen in and call with your thoughts to 347-857-4647
-Masao "Rusher" Kimura, 68, IWE, UWF & NOAH wrestler, died yesterday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Congratulations to The Macho Man Randy Savage, who got married May 10th to Lynn Payne, Alex's mother(ok, just kidding) in Sarasota, FL(Credit : WGN).
-In the scariest news in a while, Linda McMahon won the Republican Party's nomination for CT U.S. Senator Friday night at a Hartford convention(Credit : wrestling observer).
-WWE presented Over The Limit this past Sunday in Detroit, MI. Kofi Kingston won the Intercontinental title from Champion Drew McIntyre, and the only other major stories were injuries : CM Punk's head was cut by Rey Mysterio's knee brace, necessitating 13 staples to close after he got his head shaved as per the stip. of their match, and Randy Orton separated his right shoulder in his match against Edge, geniusly hurting himself more when he punched the mat in anger(Credit : pwinsider).
-Last night on RAW, Bret Hart was announced as the new GM, and he also vacated the US title, which was won by R-Truth in a match against The Miz. Batista quit WWE in what will be his last on-camera angle for this run. Guest hosting will continue, however, as Pat Sajak & Khloe Kardashian have both been invited to host in the future(Credit : pwinsider). Ashton Kutcher will host next week, with UFC Fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley & Bradley Cooper hosting June 7th, and Mark Feuerstein hosting June 71th. Lastly, the team that debuted last night attacking Tag Team Champions the Hart Dynasty are Rikishi's sons Jimmy & Jules Uso, along with Jimmy Snuka's daughter Tamina.
-WWE released Carlito Friday after his 1st Wellness Policy violation & subsequent refusal to attend rehab.
-TNA Tag Team Champion Scott Hall was arrested on May 14th at the Hitching Post bar in Chuluota, Seminole County, FL on charges of disorderly intoxication & resisting an officer after pushing a customer, yelling at a female bartender, punching the window of a pickup car called for him by the owner, and pushing two female patrons(Credit : Orlando Sentinel). He was handcuffed, transported to the Seminole jail & issued a trespass warning.
-Roy Nelson(15-4)'s opponent for UFC 117, August 7th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA, seems to have finally be placed ; Junior Dos Santos(11-1).
-Booker T returned to TNA as a one-night-only replacement for AJ Styles in a World Title match against Champion Rob Van Dam at a house show main event in Lake Charles, LA this past Friday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-UFC is opening a Toronto office.
-Homicide defeated Jushin "Thunder" Liger at a JAPW show this past Saturday in Rahway, NJ(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Jerry Lawler taped 'Jerry Lawler's Memphis Wrestling' this past Thursday, his new indy.
-luchador Black Warrior signed with Perros Del Mal this past Wednesday(Credit : Lucha World).
-La Mascara, La Sombra & La Mascara Dorada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shigeo Okumura & Taichi Ishikari for CMLL's Trios Title Friday night(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Hulk Hogan is suing the makers of the Cocoa Pebbles Cereal commercial featuring a knock-off character of himself(Credit : pwinsider).
-WWE will be releasing a 3-disc Chris Jericho DVD set later this year(Credit : wrestling observer).
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 :
-Obviously there was no Roundtable Radio this week. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope to do the show next week.
-Andre Baker, 45, British wrestler and promoter of NWA UK Hammerlock, died Friday in an apparent suicide(Credit : pwinsider).
-Last two nights ago in Toronto, in his first match on WWE Monday Night RAW in about 13 1/2 years, new grandfather Bret "The Hitman" Hart re-claimed the US Title from The Miz thanks to help from The Hart Dynasty in a No DQ contest, making Bret a 5-time US Champion, and the fourth man to win the belt in both WWE & WCW(along with Booker T, Eddie Guerrero & He Who We Do Not Speak Of). Also, Virgil returned to WWE as Ted Dibiase Jr.'s manager, and John Lovitz hosts next week when Vickie Guerrero's replacement will be named.
-Layla El defeated Beth Phoenix for the Women's Title on Smackdown this past Friday in a handicap match along with Michelle McCool. They both came out with matching Women's titles last night, but the idea of co-champions is too stupid for me to acknowledge. Phoenix dropped the title as she requires surgery for a torn ACL with Dr. James Andrews(which she had yesterday morning), the same surgery Brett Dibiase had Sunday. Also on Smackdown, Drew McIntyre's stripping of the IC title by Teddy Long last week was overturned and he was reinstated as champion by Vince McMahon.
-This past Saturday, Strikeforce : St. Louis was presented on Showtime. Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem demolished Brett Rogers with a first round KO victory at 3:40. Roger Gracie(3-0) tapped out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman in 4:10 of the second round with a rear naked choke for his third career victory(his second took place four years ago), and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva bested Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision. The fighters were independently drug tested Friday. Elsewhere, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he'd welcome back Gina Carano, Bobby Lashley's next fight will be against Ron Sparks(5-0) June 16th at Strikeforce : Los Angelesand, they expect to be on CBS again in the fall, 135 lb. Women's Champion Sarah Kaufman is expected to fight in late July in a non-title match, an attempt to sign Karo Parisyan fell through, and Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez' challenge to Bellator FC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez is likely as both sides are interested(Credit : MMA Playground).
-TNA Sacrifice happened Sunday, featuring Douglas Williams reclaiming the X Title from Frankie Kazarian, making Williams a 2-time champion, and Abyss "won" the "services" of Chelsea for 30 days with a victory
over Desmond Wolfe. Also, Tara wrestled her last match for TNA in a loss to Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne. Ring announcer Dave Penzer has been fired in what is expected to be the first of many talent cuts, though last night at the iMPACT! tapings Kurt Angle returned, Betsy Ruth(who fucked up Daffney the other week) has been signed, Roxxi Laveaux was (once again) brought back, and word is there is interest in Pro Wrestling Respect's Rayna Von Tosh. Sean Waltman is done with TNA as of now but was backstage this week, Shelly Martinez will not be returning and Generation Me are rumored to be cutCredit : WGN).
-TNA's first iMPACT! back as a regular Thursday show did a 0.9(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Last week on NXT, Daniel Bryan was cut, but hinted Bryan Danielson(big difference, right?) would go on. Either way, he came out last night & beat up Michael Cole. Darren Young was 'eliminated' as well.
-Rey Mysterio Jr. is about to re-sign or already has with WWE(Credit : WGN).
-Hulk Hogan is scheduled for back surgery soon(Credit : TMZ).
-Terry Funk ruptured an eardrum during a pre-show press conference angle for Great North Wrestling in Canada that involved a brawl(Credit : WGN).
-The Pope is expected back in TNA in June or July after recovering from a shoulder injury(Credit : WGN).
-Shine Fights' PPV featuring what was supposed to have been the MMA debut of boxer Ricardo Mayorga was canceled by the North Carolina State Athletic Commision due to a ringside doctor not being present, and the promoter, Devin Price, not getting the fighters' purse money by 6pm Saturday, as Price was in a Florida court fighting Don King Promotions' injunction, which he lost(Credit : wrestling observer). Matchmaker Ron Foster resigned from the promotion afterwards(Credit : MMA Playground).
-Let's Get It On Promotions has canceled all of it's shows at Quebece's Casino Lac Leamy due to a dispute on the cage shape(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Sean Morley is launching "Val Venis Pro Wrestling Boot Camp" seminars and plans on opening a wrestling school in Phoenix, AZ(Credit : Peterborough Examiner).
-WWE is planning on doing a special 3D show next year, likely to be a SmackDown on SyFy(Credit : f4wonline).
-Criminal charges will not be pressed against Chyna for the alleged assault of friend Gabirela Targos due to insufficient evidence(Credit : TMZ).
-WWE claims that former Executive VP & General Counsel Jared Bartie was not fired due to sexual harassment, but rather both parties separated amicably.
-Lawrence Taylor is still claiming he did not have sex with what he didn't know was a 16-year old prostitute, but now he's saying that, instead, he jerked off in front of her(Credit : TMZ). Much better!
-Mr. Aguila & Rayo De Jalisco returned to EMLL FridayCredit : Lucha World).
-Dusty Rhodes will tag team with sons Goldust & Cody at FCW's July 9th show.
-Maria Kanellis was fired from Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night.
-Mick Foley will be working on a comic book for 12 Gauge Comics(Credit : pwinsider). His next book, Countdown To Lockdown, comes out in October.
-Kurt Angle's next movie, River Of Darkness, features Kevin Nash & Sid as zombies(Credit : WGN). Funny, that's the same role they play in wrestling now, isn't it?
-A documentary on Irish wrestling history, The Fit Finlays(obviously focusing on the Finlay family), was recently completed(Credit : f4wonline).
-John Cena is considering making another rap album, while Randy Orton will have a DVD, The Viper
Uncoiled, put out later this year(Credit : WGN).
-Jim Ross' "JR's Family BBQ" restaurant in Norman, OK closed Sunday night(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Matrix Fights II takes place at The Arena in South Philadelphia on Friday June 11th.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio takes place tonight at 11pmEST/8pmPST on BlogTalkRadio. We'll be discussing UFC 113, then follow-up on our recent shows on Shawn Michaels' career & Pick 3 From The Big 3. Share your thoughts & picks with us by calling 347-857-4647!
-Show #43 for the week of 5/2/10 has been uploaded to YouTube & GoFightLive. We discuss UFC's heavyweight division, with a focus on the upcoming Heavyweight title unification fight between current champion Brock Lesnar & Interim champion Shane Carwin coming up in July, then we move on to the Pick 3 From The Big 3 in pro wrestling - we choose three wrestlers each from WWE, TNA & ROH to form our own promotion behind!
-Pro Wrestling Respect III takes place at the Burlington National Guard Armory in Burlington, NJ on Sunday June 6th at 4pm! Sponsored by The Wrestling Roundtable, Respect III will feature Delirious fresh off a successful tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, MsChif, Daizee Haze, Rayna Von Tosh, Grizzly Redwood, Bobby Dempsey, Alex Payne, Andy Ridge, Shane Hagadorn, Ricky Reyes, Rhett Titus, Jamilia Craft, Orange Cassidy, Pelle Primeau, The Bravado Brothers, Mike Sydal & more! For tickets, visit the Store to the left or go to prowrestlingrespect.com!
-Robert "Kinji" Shibuya, 88, 60s & 70s California wrestler, died May 3rd from natural causes(Credit : Slam! Wrestling).
-El Supremo(Salvador Cuevas Ramirez), 59, 70s & 80s EMLL luchador, died last Tuesday of a heart attack(Credit : Lucha World).
-UFC 113 took place this past Saturday at the Belle Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kimbo Slice lost his 2nd UFC fight against Matt Mitrione in the 2nd round via ref stoppage(TKO). Slice will likely be released. Paul Daley was fired from UFC after punching Josh Koscheck after the third round ended in their Welterweight fight that he lost by unanimous decision. Though Daley issued an apology, The Quebec Athletic Commission has launched an investigation to determine whether Daley's license will be suspended(Credit : MMAJunkie). Koscheck, meanwhile, will coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter with Georges St. Pierre, the two meeting in a Welterweight title fight after the series is over. In the main event, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua became the first man to defeat Lyoto Machida, as he knocked him out 3:35 in to Round 1 of their Light Heavyweight title fight, making him the new champion! Rua's first defense will be against the winner of the upcoming Rashad Evans/Rampage Jackson fight.
-Kazushi Sakuraba(26-11-1), The "Gracie Killer," will face Ralek Gracie(2-0) at DREAM 14, May 29th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
-As opposed to Frank Mir, a fight is 'in the works' for Roy Nelson(15-4) to take on Junior Dos Santos(11-1) at UFC 117, August 7th at the Oracle Arena in oakland, CA(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-A Scott Smith(17-6) Vs. Cung Le(6-1) rematch is 'almost set' for Strikeforce's June 26th event co-promoted by M-1 Global, which will feature WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Fabirico Werdum in the main event(Credit : MMAJunkie). Women's Middleweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is expected to defend her title on the show as well.
-Jason David Frank, better known as Tommy the Green Power Ranger, defeated James Willis at Texas Rage In The Cage : Cage Rage 7 in Hidalgo, TX this past Saturday in 23 seconds with a knee to keep his undefeated streak going via KO, upping his record to 3-0. He fights again May 22nd at UWC 8: Judgment Day against James Handy, Jr. in a Light Heavyweight fight(Credit : wapedia).
-Last night on RAW(the last wresting event to take place in the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA before it will be torn down), Vickie Guerrero was revealed as the new RAW GM, though the Guest Host thing will continue next week with Buzz Aldrin, the same commercial-free RAW where Bret Hart will challenge The Miz for the US title next week.. Also, Randy Orton RKO'd Meat Loaf, Carlito & Primo Colon(whose cousin Orlando is now known as Tito Colon in FCW) reunited after being paid off by Ted Dibiase Jr. Betty White has been talked about for being offered a guest host slot(Credit : pwinsider).
-TNA iMPACT! will start airing on Al Jazeera Sport in the Middle East May 23rd(Credit : WGN). Al Jazeera's shown plenty of terrorist videos from Al Qaeda, but this just might be even more frightening.
-This past Friday, Drew McIntyre was stripped of the Intercontinental Title by GM Theodore Long in an angle where he constantly attacked Matt Hardy. A new champion will be crowned this week in the finals of a 4-man tournament in a match between Kofi Kingston & Christian.
-Former NFL player & WrestleMania 11 headliner Lawrence Taylor was arrested Thursday, charged with having sex with an 16-year-old prostitute for $300 at a Holiday Inn in Montebello, NY. Her pimp, Rasheed Davis, was arrested as well, while Taylor claims he didn't know she was underage(Credit : WGN).
-Don King Productions filed for injunctive relief against Shine Fight Promotions on Friday, who planned on presented boxer Ricardo Mayorga's MMA debut Saturday at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC at their Shine Fights 3 "Worlds Collide" PPV against former UFC fighter, lightweight Din Thomas(Credit : Sherdog). Also filing a separate complaint seeking a jury trial, DKP claims Mayorga is violating an exclusive contract they have with him.
-Irv Muchnick reports WWE's Executive VP & General Counsel, Jared Bartie, has been fired due to a sexual harassment complaint placed over WrestleMania weekend against him, filed by a fellow female WWE employee whom was also fired after being "seen performing a sex act on…another subordinate male employee, on the work premises during business hours." Kinky!
-Zavr Peygumbari, a 22 year old from Brooklyn, NY was arrested on April 30th after he threatened to blow up Titan Towers, or storm in with a machete & machine gun, in light of Mickie James being fired(Credit : Connecticut Post). He was arraigned 8 days ago, charged with four counts of fourth degree threatening, one count of second degree harassment & two counts of second degree threatening after making several calls to WWE offices between the 24th & 27th of April.
-Jeff Hardy is free on Mondays now that TNA isn't on anymore, so he appeared in court at Moore County, and the court case on drug charges will be continued to June 3rd(Credit : prowrestling.net).
-D.S. Babbar, a promoter who advertised The Great Khali as appearing on a wrestling event at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, India(which caused a riot when he did not appear), was arrested Saturday night at the arena on charges of cheating & criminal breach of trust(Credit : Press Trust of India).
-WWE, HHH & Stephanie McMahon-Levesque are being named as third party defendants for Star City Coach, which is being sued by Music City Coach, whom is alleging they were hired to create a custom bus for the family but claim they are owed over $216,666.66 for the bus, which was seized by US Marshalls February 4th when payments were not made(Credit : pwinsider). Make your own joke about the $216,666.66 associated with the McMahon family.
-Hulk Hogan's case against Wells Fargo has been moved to U.S. District Court(Credit : Suncoast News).
-Melina expects to be back wrestling for WWE in late June.
-Brett Dibiase suffered a knee injury the last FCW tapings & will require surgery.
-Don Frye will undergo his third back surgery today after complications from his second procedures, expected to fully recover(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Bill Watts is getting married this week.
-AAA Tag Champions Takeshi Morishima & Taiji Ishimori(who won the tag titles March 19th from Joe Lider & Nicho El Millionario, representing La Hermandad 187) will defend the titles at Triplemania, June 6th in Mexico City in a three way dance with Beer Money & La Hermandad 187(Credit : Lucha World).
-Former UK Gladiator Jemma Palmer made her in-ring debut this past Saturday for Pro Wrestling EVER in Sudbury, UK(Credit : The Sun).
-WGN reports interest from WWE in Austin "Consequences" Creed.
-WWE will be releasing a DVD comp. of Elimination Chamber matches called Satan's Prison.
-A the E3 convention next month, THQ is expected to announce an online WWE game in addition to revealing the next consoles game(Crdit : WGN).
-Hogan has a new grill available for JUST $1,200(Credit : WGN).
-Bruce Hart is writing an autobiography to be published by ECW Press, while Crowbar Press is producing books by Bill DeMott, Stan Hansen & Tony Atlas(Credit : WGN).
-Dwayne Johnson is in negotiations to star in fifth Fast & The Furious movie, Fast 5, with Vin Diesel(Credit : WGN).
-WWE's Studios film, Killing Karma starring HHH, has been given a new working title, Inside Out(Credit : WGN).
-A new documentary on indy wrestling, Card Subject To Change, will premiere in New Jersey later this month.
-Christy Hemme got married this weekend in Hawaii(Credit : WGN). HEY, I wasn't in Hawaii this weekend! WTF!?!
-Ball Mahoney made his ROH debut this past Saturday in New York's Manhattan Center, saving Girzzly Redwood from a beatdown by the Embassy.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 :
-Tonight, Roundtable Radio airs live on blogtalkradio.com/wrestlingroundtable
We want to hear your thoughts on our picks for favorite Shawn Michaels moments & matches, as well as
your own picks! Plus, we'll talk about the lead story as you'll read below regarding TNA, and perhaps (finally) NXT if we have the time ;) We'll be taking yours calls tonight at 11pmEST/8pmPST, so call 347-857-4647
and listen live!
-Show #42 has been added to YouTube & GoFightLive. We discuss Homosexual Stereotypes in pro wrestling,
remember the life of Chris Kanyon, and cover the career of Shawn Michaels.
-The big TNA news referred to above is that TNA has conceded the second Monday Night War after mere weeks and will be moving back to 9-11pm Thursday nights, with TNA ReAction airing at 8pm as a lead-in.
-Bubba The Love Sponge was (finally) fired by TNA Friday after getting into a verbal KONGfrontation with Awesome Kong on a friend's radio show(Credit : Tampa Tribune).
-UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre & UFC will be meeting with Canadian government officials Tuesday to discuss legalization of MMA at a federal level(Credit : MMAPayout).
-After multiple story changes, Jenna Jameson(who passed a drug test last week with clean results) & Tito Ortiz have reconciled and he will be moving back in to the family's home some time this week(Credit : TMZ).
-Vladimir Matyushenko Vs. Jon "Bones" Jones is official for UFC On Versus 2, likely to take place August 1st
at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, UT(Credit : fightline). Holy shit!
-With Cheick Kongo suffering a back injury in training, it now appears Roy Nelson might fight Frank Mir July 3rd at UFC 116(Credit : mixedmartialarts.com). Holy shit #2!
-Josh Barnett will be fighting July, 10th in Brisbane, Australia for Impact Fighting Championships against Geronimo Dos Santos, and Mark Coleman Vs. Ken Shamrock has been proposed to both fighters(Credit : MMANews).
-Tony Atlas was released by WWE Friday.
-Tara(Lisa Marie Varon) announced she will be leaving TNA May 16th, as TNA did not agree to paying her
more money for a new contract. She is still considering fighting in MMA.
-The Tennesse Athletic Commission has issued individual complaints against 6 people involved in the Strkeforce : CBS brawl, including Middleweight Champion Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez & Nick Diaz(Credit : Sherdog). They have 14 days to submit a written response. Jason "Mayhem" Miller was already pulled from
a fight against Robbie Lawler in the main event of Strikeforce : Los Angeles by CEO Scott Coker. Bobby Lashley will fight on Strikeforce : Los Angeles, June 16th, though no opponent has been announced yet.
-Chyna allegedly beat the shit out of former friend Gabriela Targos a motel Saturday night in Sherman Oaks, CA with fists in the face & a wire hanger(Credit : TMZ). No arrests have been made, but police were notified
& an LAPD battery investigation is ongoing.
-Togi Makabe won the IWGP championship form Shinsuke Nakamura yesterday in Fukuoka, Japan at a NJPW show(Credit : wrestling observer). Jushin "Thunder" Liger defeated Negro Casas for the CMLL Middleweight title on this PPV as well(Credit : Lucha World).
-Minoru Suzuki defeated Ryota Hama for the Triple Crown title at a AJPW show Sunday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Silver King made an appearance at Friday's IWRG show at Arena Naucalpan in Mexico, showing up in the crowd, then helping Los Gringos VIP win the Mexico State Trios Titles in the tournament finals against La Familia Dinamita by getting the decision overturned(Credit : Lucha World).
-AAA luchador La Parka, Jr. had difficulty breathing the other weekend during a match, as he was suffering from a respiratory tract infection(Credit : WGN). He was sent by ambulance to a local hospital & released
the same night.
-Bret Hart's last scheduled date with WWE for the time being will be the commercial-free RAW on May 17th
in Toronto, ONT Canada. Flava Flav will host RAW next week, with offers possibly going out to Michael Jordan & Pamela Anderson in the future(Credit : WGN).
-Apparently HDNet is in talks with Jim Ross about doing announcing for them on various events(Credit : WGN).
-Jeff Hardy will again appear in court this Monday in Moore County Superior Court, NC on numerous drug charges(Credit : Fay Observer).
-The lawsuit brought against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson by Holli Griggs claiming she suffered a miscarriage after Jackson's hummer slammed in to her car repeatedly in the summer of 08 was dropped yesterday
(Credit : TMZ).
-Anthony Dash has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit for $150,000(in addition to preliminary &
permanent injunctive relief) against WWE & Floyd Mayweather, Jr. for the music Mayweather used at WrestleMania 24 two years ago, claiming the music "includes Plaintiff's Tony Gunz Beat track, with lyrics added."(Credit : pwinsider).
-AAA will no longer be involved in the MTV2 lucha libre show, as the original plan to air old AAA tapes with English voice overs did not test well(Credit : pwinsider). Rather, Lucha Libre USA will produce the project,
with MTV handling production & tapings set for Las Vegas on May 29th & 30th.
-Big Van Vader returned to the ring Friday, teaming with his son Jesse & 2 Cold Scorpio in a victory over Tatsumi Fujinami, Makoto Hashi & Tamon Honda in Tokyo(Credit : wrestling observer). Way to go telling us what show it was on/who it was for, Dave.
-Abyss, returning to AAA, will also be featured on their Triplemania XVIII show on June 6th along with Christopher Daniels(Credit : pwinsider). Daniels was recently contacted by TNA about wrestling on a
per-show basis rather than under contract. Shelly Martinez is expected back in TNA soon as well.
-A new documentary on Stu Hart, Surviving The Dungeon by Blake Norton, is available for free download at thewrestlingdungeon.com
-Half Pint Brawlers, a midget wrestler reality show, begins on Spike June 2nd at 11pm.
-The Bollywood movie Kushti featuring Great Khali comes out May 14th(Credit : Deccan Herald).
-The Wrestling Roundtable, after a several month break due to working on various other projects, returned yesterday, as we taped two new episodes for this week, and next week. Look for this week's episode on The Attitude Era on YouTube, GoFightLive & iTunes later this week.
-Bret Hart's first Madison Square Garden match in 13 years will take place at WWE's September 25th house show when he'll team with The Hart Dynasty against three Nexus wrestlers(Credit : pwinsider).
-Undefeated Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman(12-0) defended her title successfully this past Friday on Showtime during Strikeforce's Challengers 9 show from Everett, WA in a ESPN-highlighted TKO slam on Roxanne Modaferri(15-6).
-UFC light heavyweights Quinton "Rampage" Jackson & Lyoto Machida have verbally agreed to a fight on November 20th(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Both Scott Hall & Ricky Steamboat have been released from their respective hospitals and are recovering from pneumonia & a bleeding brain.
-Consequences Creed has signed a WWE developmental deal(Credit : pwinsider).
-Wrestlelicious referee Austin Aries made his OVW debut this past Wednesday, teaming with James Thomas in a losing effort against recently-signed-to-WWE-developmental Beef Wellington & Lowrider(Credit : 411mania). Jim Cornette has officially returned to OVW as well(Credit : wrestling observer).
-WGN reports Terry Taylor will be training Reid Flair for TNA.
-Booker T, who is currently working on an autobiography, has signed with Sean Davis' Florida promotion, as has Vader & his son Jessie White(Credit : wrestling observer, pwinsider). They might possibly be signing some ROH wrestlers as well.
-Tasha Simone defeated MsChif Saturday at NWA Top Rop Wrestling's Lebanon, PA show for the NWA Women's title(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Kaval & Michael McGuillicutty defeated Los Aviadores for the FCW Tag Team Titles on Thursday, July 15th, but lost them back to Los Aviadores a day later in Sebring, FL(Credit : TPWW).
-UFC has subpoenaed Ustream.tv & Justin.tv, demanding they reveal the identities of the users who have uploaded & streamed UFC content on their sites(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Dawn Marie has been accused of embezzling funds from her Wrestlers Rescue charity, alleged to be using funds to pay for flights to autograph conventions & not sending money to wrestlers in need as she claimed(Credit : wrestling inc., The Sun).
-El Hijo Del Santo has filed a lawsuit against AAA seeking royalties regarding AAA not having the rights to use his likeness on the DVD of last year's Triplemania show(Credit : Lucha World).
-Mike Sydal suffered a concussion Saturday in Chicago Ridge, IL in a pre-show match against Brad Bradley after being clotheslined in the face. He is expected to recover. Grizzly Redwood also needed 10 staples in his head after hitting it on a guardrail leg Saturday in Chicago in his tag match with Rasche Brown against Necro Butcher & Erick Stevens.
-Female Japanese wrestler Manami Toyota makes her US debut in September for Chikara(Credit : pwinsider).
-Kenzo Suzuki returned to AJPW Saturday in Korakuen Hall on the same show they started a junior heavyweight tournament(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Mickie James has pulled out of her upcoming appearance in the SMASH promotion in Japan due to a family emergency.
-WWE has until August 11th to file a response to Martha Hart's lawsuit(Credit : Hamilton Ave Journal).
-Former IWA PR/WWC Champion Shane Sewell is backing a new reality show in Puerto Rico, "Fight For Real," which will see two teams of 6 pro wrestlers each training under MMA instructors to compete for an-as-of-yet-unrevealed grand prize(Credit : PRWrestling). One can only assume an Ultimate Fighter-style series of fights to take place.
-Saturday, Paul Heyman announced working with former WCW & New Line Cinema employee Jeff Katz on a new social network app that puts pro wrestlers & fighters(from boxing & MMA) together in 'dream fight' scenarios(Credit : pwinsider).
-The Macho Man Randy Savage made a surprise video appearance on screen at ComicCon this weekend in San Diego, CA promoting his new WWE Legends action figure from Mattel.
-Hulk Hogan & Friends(yes, it's actually called that. I say 'copyright infringement,' ha) is taking their Q & A shows on tour to casinos & other venues after a successful first show in Vancouver, Canada's Red Robin Theatre on Monday July 29th featuring the usual suspects ; Hogan(whose ex-wife is now engaged to her 21-year old boyfriend younger than her own daughter Brooke), Jimmy Hart, Brutus Beefcake(who is currently working on a SERIES of autobiographies), Greg Valentine, The Honky Tonk Man, The Nasty Boys & someone named "Cocoa Beware" I've never heard of(Credit : pwinsider).
-32-year old virgin Molly Holly is engaged(Credit : presspubs.com). And my heart is broken.
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 :
-Pro Wrestling Respect 4, sponsored by The Wrestling Roundtable, took place in Burlington, NJ's National Guard Armory this past Sunday. Austin Aries along with Celso Rivera & Ricky Reyes defeated Delirious, Andy Ridge & Pelle Primeau, and in the main event, Rhett Titus lost to Bobby Dempsey & must leave Respect for 1 year. Thanks to everyone who came out Sunday & we look forward to seeing you at Pro Wrestling Respect 5, Sunday August 22nd.
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns tonight on BlogTalkRadio at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We'll be discussing TNA's Victory Road 2010, WWE's Money In The Bank pay per view & much more of the latest goings on. We want to hear your comments & questions by calling 347-857-4647
-The Wrestling Roundtable tapes two new episodes this Sunday July 25th. We'll be talking about the Attitude Era, What To Do & What Not To Do, and the Best & Worst PPVs of all time. Look for the new shows to hit YouTube, GoFightLive & iTunes starting sometime next week.
-Popiptekus(Hilario Vargas Ruiz), 53, former Mexico National Heavyweight Champion and popular luchador in the 80s, died 8 days ago due to complications from diabetes(Credit : Lucha World).
-WWE presented their first Money In The Bank pay-per-view event this past Sunday from the Spring Center in Kansas City, MO. In the RAW MITB semi-main event match, US Champion The Miz defeated John Morrison, Mark Henry, Edge, Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase, Jr., Chris Jericho & Evan Bourne. In the Smackdown MITB which opened the PPV, Kane won the briefcase over The Big Show, Christian, Matt Hardy, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre & Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston. After Rey Mysterio successfully defended the (WCW) World title against Jack Swagger, Kane used his title shot and defeated Mysterio in a very brief scrap for his third world title & first (WCW) World Heavyweight title. This also makes Kane only the second wrestler to ever win the WWF, WCW & ECW World titles, behind The Big Show. In the main event, Nexus interfered in Sheamus' WWE title defense against John Cena in a steel cage. Despite their efforts to attack both men, Sheamus escaped the cage & kept the title. Dave Meltzer reports that if the buyrate for this PPV is good, it will be brought back next year as a yearly event and not done at WrestleMania, but if it under performs, it will be brought back for WrestleMania.
-Impact Fighting Championship presented a PPV, the Uprising, this past Saturday from the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia that saw Murilo "Ninja" Rua defeat Jeremy May via guillotine choke submission 4:02 in Round 1, Denis Kang Vs. Paulo Filho ended as a draw, Payl Daley beat Daniel Acacio by submission to strikes 1:15 in to Round 3, and Pedro Rizzo destroyed Ken Shamrock by TKO 3:33 in Round 1 of the main event(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-UFC 119, set for the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianoplis, IN on Sep. 25th, now has a main event, in the heavyweight division : Frank Mir Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II(Credit : MMAJunkie). On the same card, light heavyweight 'Little Nog' Antonio Rogerio Noguiera faces Ryan Bader. UFC 120 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on October 16th. All fighters tested at the 116 show(attended by US Senate Majority leader & former boxer Harry Reid, who has pledged to help legalize MMA in New York) passed. UFC announced a deal last week with Getty Images for distribution of their photography collection(Credit : wrestling observer).
-M-1 Global will be holding their Selection Tournament's Semi-Finals Saturday August 7th at Bally's Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, also where the Finals will take place September 18th(Credit : TheMMANews). Fedor Emelianenko will be in attendance, as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Puttin was at the Sochi Open European Championships(an M-1 promoted MMA show) this past Wednesday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-On TNA iMPACT! Thursday, Mick Foley lead the ECW invasion with Raven, Stevie Richards, Tommy Dreamer, Al Snow, Rob Van Dam, etc. with President Dixie Carter saying she invited the group. WHAT SUSPENSE!!!!…..not at all.
-Now-former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields has signed with the UFC. He is expected to start at UFC 121, October 21st in Anaheim, CA, against Martin Kampmann in the welterweight class(Credit : wrestling observer).
-AAA's Mega Heavyweight Champion Dr. Wagner Jr. made a surprise appearance at the Promociones Gutierrez show Nuevo Laredo, Mexico 8 days ago in Plaza De Toros Lauro Luis Longoria with his belt, gear & AAA's video game(Heroes Del Ring) title at well(Credit : Lucha World). The uproar is that CMLL, AAA's rival, is affiliated with the show and Wagner is still until contract to AAA but they are negotiating a new deal. In the main event of the show, Oriental lost his mask to Mistico.
-Bobby Lashley(5-0)'s next opponent, at Strikeforce : Houston on August 21st in the Toyota Center, will be Chad Griggs(8-1) out of Arizona(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Shark Fights' next planned event has been moved to the Civic Center in Amarillo, TX(Credit : Lubbock online). Shark Fights 13 on PPV was to have been in Lubbock, TX headlined by Keith Jardine Vs. Trevor Prangley on Sep. 11th at the City Bank Coliseum, but since WWE has a Smackdown event scheduled on August 21st & their contract with buildings prevents other wrestling AND MMA shows from happening in the same building WWE runs in for 30 days before and after their events the event had to be moved. But remember, they're not competition!
-Last night on WWE RAW, Bret Hart(who will be getting married for the third time this weekend) returned to help the team of John Cena, Edge, John Morrison, Chris Jericho, R-Truth & The Great Khali fend off Nexus in the last segment of the night, setting up a 7-on-7 main event for SummerSlam. Bobb'e J. Thompson & Toby Keith are slated to guest host RAW October 18th & October 25th. Why even bother any more?
-In a surprise announcement during Ring Of Honor's HDNet taping this past Saturday at The Arena, Jerry Lynn(who will headline against Rob Van Dam for the TNA title on their 'HardCORE Justice' PPV) was inducted in to the Hardcore Hall Of Fame.
-FEG(Fighting & Entertainment Group, parent company of K-1 & DREAM) USA director Mike Kogan said Friday that a deal with Shanghai-based investment bank PUJI Capital will lead to international expansion in a $230 million campaign(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Hulk Hogan is claiming recent back surgery will prevent him from ever wrestling again.
-Kurt Pellegrino, UFC lightweight, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee this past week, but during surgery, a torn ACL was discovered, which will require a future surgery and could be out until 2011(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-WWE has signed a woman named Celeste from Texas to developmental, as well as Aaron "Idol" Stevens(Credit : WGN, wrestling observer).
-Sean Waltman has signed with a new promotion in Florida supported by Kevin Kleinrock and various other promoters(Sean Davis, Mister Saint Laurent, Cody Michaels & Peter Karoftis), expected to launch in early 2011(Credit : pwinsider). One of the first wrestlers to sign, however, was arrested 9 days ago for lewd & lascivious battery of a minor, a third degree felony ; Florida indy wrestler who appeared on VH1's Tool Academy Chasyn Rance is alleged to have had sex with a then-15-ear-old girl two years ago, as told to the Orange County sheriff's office(Credit : Orlando Sentinel, wrestling observer). Rance was released the next day from Orange County Jail on $3,500 bond.
-Speaking of fucking minors, Lawrence Taylor has pleaded 'not guilty' to statutory rape & solicitation stemming from his May 6th arrest in New York(Credit : ESPN).
-All assault charges against Ric Flair's wife Jacqueline were thrown out by a judge a week ago, as Ric refused to testify against his wife(Credit : TMZ).
-Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated El Samurai & Koji Kanemoto yesterday for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles in Sapporo, Japan(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Alex Payne has one more match on his current NOAH tour and will returning to the US in a few weeks.
-Female luchador Silueta lost her mask in a match to Zexius Sunday at EMLL's Arena Coliseo De Guadalajara in Mexico. EMLL also announced on their recent TV show that they will be holding a Universal Tournament involving all the champions in the promotion starting on July 30th(Credit : Lucha World).
-Maria De Los Angeles & Estela Gonzalez, the prostitutes who drugged & killed mini luchadors La Parkita & Espectrito III last year, were sentenced to 47 years in prison(Credit : WGN).
-Bryan Danielson won the IWA Puerto Rican title from QT Marshall Saturday night at their IWA Anniversary show(Credit : wrestling observer).
-MMA referees "Big" John McCarthy, Herb Dean & Nelson "Doc" Hamilton are making a presentation to the California State Athletic Commission on July 26th regarding changes they'd like implemented to the scoring system in MMA in cases of a draw, while Hamilton & McCarthy are also applying to be boxing judges(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Jerry Lawler has licensed his name/likeness to a new deli & retail store opening next to City Hall in Memphis, TN, "King Jerry Lawler's(Credit : WGN)."
-Former wrestler Steve McMichael was inducted in to the College Football Hall Of Fame this past Saturday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Tony Atlas is working on an autobiography(Credit : WGN).
-Rodney Leconte, director of upcoming documentary Grappling Kings & panelist of the Roundtable, attended the ESPYs this past Wednesday in Los Angeles. George St. Pierre lost to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in the "Fighter Of The Year" category(I call bullshit) and Frankie Edgar also did not win in his category(Upset Of The Year, for his UFC Lightweight Title victory over BJ Penn earlier this year).
-Playboy recently released nude pictures taken a few years ago of Maryse via their Cyber Club(Credit : WGN).
Monday, July 12th, 2010 :
-Pro Wrestling Respect Slam Session, a new monthly internet show, premiered this past weekend. Check it out here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fmcOOEUHxo
-TNA presented Victory Road this past Sunday at the iMPACT! Zone in Orlando, FL. Tara returned as a mystery biker during Madison Rayne's Knockouts Title defense against Angelina Love, inadvertently costing Rayne the title, which changed hands on the disqualification Tara caused by attacking Love, who is now a record-breaking 4-time Knockouts Champion. The Motor City Machine Guns finally won the TNA Tag titles, defeating Beer Money, Inc. for the vacant tag titles. Elsewhere, Hernandez won a steel cage match against Matt Morgan, The Pope lost to Kurt Angle in his comeback match via submission, Jay Lethal also defeated Ric Flair by figure four submission, and Rob Van Dam defended the TNA title in a four-way main event against Abyss and the Enigmatic Assholes. Yes, that is their name. Mick Foley returns at tonight's iMPACT! taping, and Dave Scherer is claiming TNA is still negotiating with Paul Heyman, who they are "closer to a deal (with) than they are letting on." There has been some interest in Delirious as well.
-UFC Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar(5-1)'s next defense of his title has been determined ; he fill face undefeated Cain Velasquez(8-0) at UFC 121 in Anaheim, CA's Honda Center October 23rd(Credit : MMAFighting).
-David "King" Bollea(3-0) continued his undefeated streak at Tachi Palace Fights 5 this past Saturday in Lemoore, CA, with a quick 2nd round armlock submission over Cody Gibson(3-1) in 31 seconds. The main event of the card saw Rob McCullough beat Isaac De Jesus via TKO from strikes 4:31 in Round 1(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-DREAM 15 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan saw Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki bounce back from his loss to Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez on CBS months ago by tapping out Tatsuya Kawajiri by anchilles lock 1:53 in to Round 1 Saturday. Though Aoki challenged Melendez to a rematch - in DREAM - after his fight, also bouncing back from a loss on CBS was Gegard Mousasi, who also won via submission in his match, tapping Jake O"Brien to a guillotine choke 31 seconds in to Round 1(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Impact FC 1 : The Uprising took place Saturday night in Brisbane, Australia's Brisbane Entertainment Center, which saw Josh Barnett quickly defeated Geronimo Dos Santos via TKO(strikes) 2:35 in the main event's 1st round. Also, Jeff Monson defeated Ubiratan Lima Marinho by unanimous decision and Karo Parisyan defeated Ben Mortimer via rear-naked choke submission 4:18 in round 2(Credit : MMAJunkie)
-WWC held three 37th Anniversario shows this weekend in Puerto Rico. Sunday July 11th saw the last show, where Ray Gonzalez defeated Scott Steiner to win the vacant Universal title, and Orlando Colon beat Carlito to win the Puerto Rican title.
-Consequences Creed won ECWA's 14th Super 8 Tournament on Saturday in Newark, DE.
-Shane McMahon has invested in sports-management firm International Sports Management based out of Great Britian(Credit : Manchester Evening News).
-Bobby Lashley will be fighting on Strikeforce's Houston show August 21st, against a-to-be-determined opponent, the same show where Tim Kennedy(12-2) will face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza(12-2) for the vacant Middleweight title(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Dave Meltzer reports Jim Ross has been pushing for Danny Hodge to be inducted in WWE's Hall Of Fame this year, deservingly so.
-WWE has signed Northeast indy wrestler Bill Carr to a developmental deal(Credit : WGN).
-Former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber has pulled out of his next scheduled fight - his first fight at bantamweight(135 lbs.) August 18th against Takeya Mizugaki in Las Vegas - due to an injury suffered in training a week ago.
-Triple H's neck surgery is reported to be a minor neck operation by WGN, and still has a targeted return of a few weeks.
-Scott Hall was hospitalized this past Thursday with double pneumonia(Credit : WGN).
-Bobby Eaton was hospitalized in Arkansas for fluid built up around his heart & lungs, but is expected to recover.
(Credit : Rasslinriotonline).
-UFC reached settlements with more than 500 individuals & businesses whom they had filed suit against for illegal streaming on websites as well as bars/establishments for bootlegging UFC events(Credit : wrestling observer). The settlements on the piracy charges were confidential.
-Jerry Lawler is suing former Memphis wrestling promoter currently running for County Clerk, Cory Maclin, over videotape rights to the old Memphis wresting tape library(Credit : wmctv).
-Kansas City-based Metro Pro Wrestling has shut down after one show(Credit : pwinsider).
-Jimmy Yang will be wrestling with All Japan starting in a few weeks(Credit : WGN).
-Masato Yoshino defeated YAMATO to win Dragon Gate's Open The Dream Gate title in Kobe, Japan(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Lucha Libre USA's Masked Warriors, featuring AAA lucha, will premiere on MTV2 this Friday night(Credit : pwinsider). Also from AAA, their Heroes Del Ring video game comes out October 12 across all the major platforms.
-'Predators,' which stars former UFC tournament winner Oleg Taktarov, opened this past Friday.
-Awesome Kong is working on a children's book(Credit : WGN).
-Greg Valentine claims WWE is producing a DVD & book on his career(Credit : pwinsider).
-Tommy Dreamer will be inducted in the (ECW) Arena' Hardcore Hall Of Fame, as Trent Acid was this past weekend at this memorial show, at Chikara's next stupidly-titled show there.
Thursday, July 8th, 2010 :
-"Midge" Ciminello & myself, Eric Santamaria, will be hosting a new monthly internet show from Pro Wrestling Respect, Slam Session! Look for that to premiere later this week!
-UFC 116 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this past Saturday in Las Vegas, NV. For the second year in a row, Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar(5-1) unified his title against an Interim Champion, in this case the previously undefeated Shane Carwin(12-1) in 3:52 of the 2nd round via head/arm triangle tap out(Credit : WGN). Lesnar, who is expecting his third child to be born in a couple weeks times, is co-writing his autobiography with Paul Heyman, and will be defending his title next against the second undefeated heavyweight in a row, Cain Velasquez, some time later this year if it goes as planned. Also, middleweight Chris Leben defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama in the co-main event by triangle submission with time having almost run out of the third round, and light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar secured his spot in UFC with a decisive 2nd round TKO victory over Krzysztof Soszynski.
-M-1 Global has denied closing their head office, located in Holland, The Netherlands, despite firing several employees(Credit : SBNation). M-1 is also at odds with Strikeforce for about the third time in a row about Fedor Emelianenko's contract, that has 1 fight left ; M-1 wants a rematch with Fabiricio Wedrum, whereas Strikeforce wants Fedor to fight Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, where a champion's clause(that will dictate Fedor keep fighting for Strikeforce should he win the title) is to be negotiated(Credit : MMA Fighting).
-Batista started a two-day training camp yesterday at Cesar Gracie's California gym to evaluate a potential MMA career, the same day he met with Strikeforce's matchmaker Rich Chou to negotiate a deal(Credit : Sherdog).
-Ed Ferrara has left the creative team at TNA(Credit : 411mania). Doug Williams & Magnus have been signed to long term contracts, however, while Mick Foley is expected back on TV before the end of the summer.
-Psicosis II will be getting tryouts with WWE July 26th & July 27th at their shows in Texas(Credit : Luchas 2000). Congratulations to the Bravado Brothers of Pro Wrestling Respect on their recent WWE tryouts in North Carolina!
-Dixie Carter has stated that TNA house shows will be announced in Europe & the Middle East soon, and they hope to run Australia again as well.
-Ricky Steamboat is expected back home in North Carolina later this week for a month's worth of recovery as he suffered a ruptured blood vessel last week, not an aneurysm as originally reported(Credit : WGN).
-Triple H just had surgery, though it has not been discovered what for(hopefully a vasectomy), while WGN reports Hulk Hogan's back is still in bad shape & may require another surgery soon.
-CM Punk had minor arm surgery last week(Credit : WGN). He will be out a few weeks.
-Golf company Acheshnet & eye lens company Intercast Europe are opposing WWE's trademark of "NXT," both claiming their own previous trademark of the term(Credit : pwinsider).
-Two in a row : After no-showing his arraignment on June 9th, Scott Hall also didn't appear for his July 1st pre-trail conference for disorderly intoxication & resisting arrest charges in Florida(Credit : WGN). The judge has ordered a review hearing on July 22nd.
-Super Crazy will be returning to All Japan on a tour for the AJPW Jr. League, from July 25th-August 8th(Credit : Lucha World).
-Booker T has been added to the July 11th WWC Anniversario show(Credit : pwinsider).
-WGN says Teddy Hart has "apparently" been fired from AAA.
-WWE runs their first show in China August 22nd at the Shanghai World Expo(Credit : cageside seats). UFC plans on opening a China office as well, soon to be followed by India & South Korea.
-Lance Storm is working on a reality series about his school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada called World Of Hurt that will be airing in early 2011 for the National Canadian Network(Credit : WGN).
-Eric Bischoff's Micro Championship Wrestling runs a show in Austin, TX on August 6th(Credit : 411mania).
-Gene Snitsky will star in the movie Manos : The Search For Valley Lodge(Credit : kvia).
-MVP & R-Truth are working on new entrance themes(Credit : WGN).
-Ring Of Honor has turned Tag Wars in to a tag tournament this year, culminating in an Ultimate Endurance match August 28th in Charlotte, NC.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 :
-The Wrestling Roundtable is happy to announce our new Mailing List. A great way to stay up-to-speed on all things Roundtable, including site updates, wrestling/MMA news, exclusive content & more! You can sign up by using the form on the front page of wrestlingroundtable.com or by going here.
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio will return this Tuesday at 11pm EST/8pm PST on BlogTalkRadio. Call 347-857-4647 to share your thoughts on the latest happenings in the worlds of MMA & pro wrestling, as we'll be discussing the results & fallout of Strikeforce : Fedor Vs. Werdum, UFC 116, Martha Hart's lawsuit against WWE & more.
-Pro Wrestling Respect 4, sponsored by The Wrestling Roundtable, takes place Sunday July 18th at the Burlington National Guard Armory in Burlington, NJ, featuring Austin Aries, Delirious, Daizee Haze, Ricky Reyes, Pelle Primeau, Bobby Dempsey, Rhett Titus, Jamilia Craft, Mike Sydal and many more. The Roundtable will be there as usual, and we hope you will be too! Tickets can be purchased at our Store.
-Scorpio(Rafael Nunez, former UWA Champion luchador in the 70s & 80s), 67, died Friday morning.
-Toni Adams(Tony Donahoo, 45), wrrestler/valet in Tennessee & Texas during the late 80s/early 90s, died Thursday.
-Pro Wrestling Respect's Alex Payne, frequent Roundtable guest panelist, debuted in Pro Wrestling NOAH on their Sunday June 27th "Summer Navigation Part 1" event at ACT City Hamamatsu in Japan, teaming with Naomichi Marufuji in a losing effort against company President Akira Taue & Mohammed Yone. Payne is booked on several more shows for the tour, big congratulations to Alex Payne!
-Strikeforce(…oops, AND M-1 Global!) presented 'Fedor Vs. Werdum' this past Saturday on Showtime at the HP Pavilian in San Jose, California, and the main event sent shockwaves throughout the MMA world, as 2-time BJJ World Champion & BJJ black belt Fabricio Werdum(14-4) became the first man to ever decisively beat heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko(31-2), and did so by tap out due to triangle choke after 1:09 in the first round. While they initially promoted Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem(who might be done with DREAM, as he was supposed to face Ricco Rodriguez at their 15th show in Japan on July 10th but has since backed out) facing the winner, it remains to be seen whether they will follow through with that fight or instead do a Werdum/Fedor rematch on PPV, as that has been talked about. Dana White had recently squashed an attempted sponsorship of Fedor by clothing line(and UFC sponsor) Affliction, threatening them with being banished from UFC if they went through with the proposed T-shirt deal with Fedor. Elsewhere, middleweight Cung Le(7-1), returning from Hollywood, avenged his only loss, against Scott Smith(17-7) by defeating Smith 1:46 in to round 2 via TKO, and Women's Featherweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos(9-2) destroyed Jan "Cuddles" Finney(8-8) by TKO 2:56 in to the second round. Last by not least on the show, MMA legend Frank Shamrock announced his retirement during an in-ring ceremony. Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields was released from his contract yesterday, while Light Heavyweight Champion King Mo is set to face Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante at Strikeforce : Houston in August(Credit : Sherdog, MMAJunkie).
-Owen Hart's widow Martha Hart has filed a lawsuit against WWE, specifically Vince & Linda McMahon, in response to WWE's Hart & Soul DVD and other unauthorized uses of Owen Hart's likeness. As part of a contract(twice amended) that Owen Hart signed with the-then WWF in 1996, he was allowed to main intellectual property of his character & himself(his real name) from material created by the WWF before the contract signing. From the signing onward(1996 and beyond), the WWF would own that material. In the event of his death or his contract ending, the 'old intellectual properties' would remain his, or part of his estate. As part of the wrongful death settlement brought forth by Martha Hart in 1999 following Owen's accidental death on May 23rd of that year, the WWF agreed that the estate owned the likeness of Owen Hart, but neither gave outlines for payment in regards to what the estate would be entitled to should the need arise for royalties(which WWE has not sent checks for at any point since Owen's death) or asked the estate/Martha's permission for the use of Owen's likeness in the past several years in videos, programming, publications & other venues. As such, she notified WWE on March 25th that they did not have permission to use Owen's image, likeness or name. In a fifty page suit filed on March 29th in Canada, Martha tried getting an injunction from releasing the Hart & Soul DVD. Despite WWE admitting using Owen's likeness many times, but there was no injunction, the case was dismissed & Martha was ordered to pay WWE's counsel fees(Credit : Hamilton Ave. Journal/411mania, WGN). Since the 1996 contract was signed when the WWF was a private company, the lawsuit is being brought against the WWE company & the McMahons themselves, as they were operating these business matters directly then. No word on whether Martha's claims to intellectual property rights created before 1996 would now include the Stampede Wrestling library or even WCW(where he wrestled very briefly before his WWF career) that WWE has since purchased, though it may not be the case as the contract Owen signed in 1996 obviously only referred to WWF creations.
-New York Democrats are divided on the legalization of MMA in the state as proposed by assemblyman Steven Englebright, which has led to the bill's stalling in the state assembly after the Ways & Means committee removed the language regarding MMA in the budget, despite the state Senate recently voting to approve the bill(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-UFC president Dana White has banned vuvuzelas, the ultra-annoying horns blown during soccer/football games, from the 116 event this Saturday headlined by Lesnar/Carwin's Heavyweight Title unification fight, the winner of which will defend against Cain Velasquez in their first defense. Also, Chris Leben has replaced Wanderlai Silva in Silva's middleweight semi-main event bout on the card against Yoshihiro Akiyama after Silva cracked ribs in training, while Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Vs. "Little Nog" Antonio Rogerio Nogueria will take place likely in September or later(Credit : MMAJunkie). UFC signed undefeated Korean middleweight Dong Yi Yang Tuesday.
-The Pope returns to TNA tonight on iMPACT!, as does Rhino, as part of the ECW group with Dreamer, Stevie Richards & Raven.
-Triple H is expected to return at Summerslam against Sheamus(Credit : pwinsider).
-WWE confiscated Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson signs at the Fatal Fourway PPV in Uniondale, NY the other weekend(Credit : WGN). There's that 'freedom of expression' they always talk about.
-Carlito, Daizee Haze & Steve Corino have been added to WWC's Aniversario shows next month(Credit : WGN).
-Scotty 2 Hotty, Mickie James & Nick "U-Gene" Dinsmore will wrestle for Tajiri's SMASH promotion on July 24th in Japan(Credit : WGN).
-Wade Barrett & Drew McIntyre(who recently married Tiffany) were written off of WWE television due to their working VISAs running out(Credit : WGN). They returned to England & Scotland respectively until the situation was sorted out, with Barrett expected back on Monday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Velvet Sky recently signed a long-term contract extension with TNA, while TNA has it in mind to tour India soon. Rumor is they might sign Shane Helms soon, though other rumors talk about a 'signing freeze,' so whatever(Credit : WGN).
-Ricky Steamboat went to the hospital late last night after complaining of pains in his neck & shoulder, suffering what turned out to be a brain aneurysm(Credit : wrestling observer). He is now in stable condition.
-Christopher Daniels suffered a ruptured eardrum at ROH's Death Before Dishonor iPPV in a match against Kenny Omega(Credit : WGN).
-WWE fired Savannah(Angela Fong, NXT ring announcer) a week ago today. Ashley Valence has taken over for Matt Striker as host on NXT, which saw Titus O'Neil 'eliminated' on Tuesday. WWE appears to be done using Virgil as well. Dos Caras Jr is expected to debut soon using the name Alberto Del Rio(Credit : WGN).
-Former WrestleMania main event Lawrence Taylor was indicted a week ago on third degree rape & criminal sexual act charges, as well as endangering the welfare of a child, sexual abuse & patronizing a prostitute stemming from his arrest in Montebello, NY on May 6th(Credit : WGN).
-Shelly Martinez & Annie Social will debut for Los Perros Del Mal at their Lucha Libre Expo show in Mexico City next month(Credit : Lucha World).
-The Undertaker(who, it is hoped, will return to WWE for SummerSlam) got married for the third time this past weekend to Michelle McCool(Credit :WGN, pwinsider). Bret Hart will be doing the same on July 24th, also for the third time, as well(Though not to Michelle McCool). Kenta Kobashi announced his marriage in Tokyo on October 1st to singer Mizuki Mai.
-The TNA iMPACT! : Cross The Line video game was released Tuesday for the Nintendo DS & PSP by South Peak Games(Credit : WGN).
-Raven does stand-up comedy July 8th at Cozzy's Comedy Club in Newport News, VA. Yeah, he's SOOOO funny in those annoying shoots he does.
-Bonnie Steamboat will be writing an autobiography about her experience in wrestling(Credit : WGN). Dutch Mantell is working on a second book already.
Monday, June 21, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns tomorrow night at 11pmEST/8pmPST on BlogTalkRadio. Did you watch the wrestling & MMA shows this weekend? Call & let us know your thoughts at 347-857-4647! We'll also be talking about the NXT angle & Daniel Bryan's firing. We're also hoping to tape two new episodes of the Wrestling Roundtable next month. We'll be talking about the Attitude Era, the Best/Worst PPVs of all time & more. We're also rying to line up Dan "The Beast" Severn for the Radio program! Stay tuned!
-Congratulations are in order : Alex Payne of Pro Wrestling Respect departed today for Japan to train at the Pro Wrestling NOAH dojo for several months. Also, Rodney Leconte won ESPN's ESPY awards video contest and will be walking the red carpet on Sunday July 18th in Los Angeles, CA. On behalf of everyone at the Roundtable, way to go guys!
-Trent Acid(Michael Verdi), 29, Philadelphia indy wrestler, died Friday in Philadelphia, probably of heroin OD. Just a guess.
-Jesse Jenkins, 66, Alabama wrestler & manager, died Friday morning from cancer(Credit : WGN).
-Charles Bender, 35, Florida indy wrestler, died 8 days ago from cancer(Credit : WGN).
-UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale was Saturday from The Pearl at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Middleweight Court McGee submitted Kris McCray by rear-naked choke 3:41 in the second round of the main event. Light Heavyweight Matt Hamill defeated Keith Jardine by unanimous decision.
-WEC 49 was on Versus last night from the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. WEC's Canadian debut saw lightweights Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus end in a draw, and featherweight Mark Hominick defeated Yves Jabouin by TKO 3:21 in the 2nd round.
-Sengoku 13 took place in Tokyo, Japan Sunday which saw Marlon Sandro defeat Featherweight Champion Massanori Kanehara in 38 seconds by KO in the main event.
-WWE Fatal Fourway was presented Sunday at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, and saw every title in a four-way match change hands. Divas Champion Eve Torres lost the belt to Alicia Fox in a match that also featured Gail Kim & Maryse, Rey Mysterio claimed the (WCW) World Heavyweight title for a second time when he defeated Champion Jack Swagger, the Big Show & C.M. Punk in Smackdown's world title match, and the show ended with the NXT gang(possibly soon to be called "Nexus," as WWE filed for that trademark along with "The Network" recently) chase new WWE Champion Sheamus(who won the belt for a second time by defeating Champion John Cena, Edge & Randy Orton) to the back(Credit : wrestling observer).
-ROH presented Death Before Dishonor VIII at the Ted Reeves Arena in Toronto, ONT, Canada this past Saturday on GFL iPPV. The Kings Of Wrestling retained the Tag Team titles against The Briscoes, and Champion Tyler Black defeated Davey Richards(who is claiming now that he is going to leave wrestling after his ROH contract runs up at the end of the year to become a fireman) in the main event. Roderick Strong hurt his ankle against Colt Cabana in the second Toronto gauntlet, which he won and is now guaranteed a world title shot(Credit : Scirppsnews).
-The same day we reported him no-showing his disorderly conduct arraignment, Scott Hall was fired from TNA a week ago after he & Dixie Carter agreed to split ways. TNA, however, will be adding the Xplosion show Thursdays 8-9 on Spike TV, making a four-hour TNA block on Thursdays with Xplosion, iMPACT! & Reaction. Ric Flair's faction of Desmond Wolfe, Kazarian, AJ Styles & Beer Money will be called Fortune. Raven, Stevie Richards & Tommy Dreamer's faction appear on Thursday.
-UFC has moved the Versus 2 show on August 1st from the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, UT to the San Diego Sports Arena in CA due to poor ticket sales in a move that President Dana White claims is the first time in company history(moving a show due to poor ticket sales)(Credit : examiner.com).
-No guest host on WWE RAW tonight as Pat Sajak was originally scheduled but a deal was not finalized(Credit : pwinsider, WGN). Florence Henderson, however, will host July 12th.
-Rumors of Batista(who attended the Strikeforce Live show Wednesday night in Los Angeles headlined by middleweight Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeating light heavyweight Robbie Lawler in their catchweight bout by unanimous decision, along with Bill Goldberg, Josh Barnett, Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio & Ernest Miller), signing a 2-fight deal with Strikeforce are premature, although there have beens talks(Credit : gantdaily, WGN, wrestling observer), one of which took place after the show as he considers an MMA career. Batista is still recovering from a small hairline fracture in his back from his last bump in wrestling(the finish of the WWE Championship match with then-title holder John Cena at Over The Limit on May 23rd which saw Cena FU Batista off a car through the stage) and is also negotiating to be a part of a reality show while hoping for acting work, though he has an offer from a smaller MMA promotion. Meanwhile, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker hasn't offered Middleweight Champion Jake Shields a new contract yet, and should Sheilds leave for UFC, an 8-man tournament will take place to crown a new champion(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-UK female wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling EVE's Jenny Sjódin won the Women's Advanced No-Gi(weight 120-139.9 lbs) Silver Medla at Grappler's Quest 2010 National Championships on Saturday June 12th in Morristown, NJ(Credit : Grappler's Quest).
-Melina wrestles in FCW this week in preparation for her WWE comeback. Recently-signed Calgary indy wrestler Tiger Raj Singh will be renamed Jinder Mahal, and Ryan Tran & Daniel Skyler were just added to FCW as referees(Credit : WGN).
-At a NJPW show Saturday, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson won the IWGP Tag Team titles by defeating Champions Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue and Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito in a three way dance. IWGP Jr. Champion Naomichi Marufuji lost the title to Prince Devitt on the same show. Austin Creed will be touring New Japan this weekend(Credit : WGN, wrestling observer).
-Groon XXX suffered a knee injury on May 2nd's Perros Del Mal show in Mexico City, receiving an injection in the hospital for inflammation that will also require surgery to remove abscesses. Perros Del Mal announced they will be "invading" the AAA TV taping June 20th in Zapopan, Mexico.
-Jushin "Thunder" Liger & Nobuo Yoshihashi will be participating in an upcoming EMLL tournament(Credit : Lucha World).
-Nashville indy wrestler Steve "Woody" Johnson was found guilty of murder May 22nd for a home invasion shooting in 2008(Credit : WGN).
-Carl Lewis, a 58-year old man who killed 22-year old Kentucky indy wrestler Glen "ice Pick" Bussell in April in a alcohol-fueled four-car pile up, was charged with murder & four counts of wanton endangerment(Credit : WGN).
-Jarrod Wyatt, an amateur MMA fighter from Klamath, CA, killed Taylor Powell, 21, on March 21st at their apartment, police finding a naked Wyatt standing over a dead, bloody Powell with Powell's heart pulled out and most of his face torn off(Credit : wrestling observer). Wyatt pleaded not guilt due to insanity to charges of torture & murder Thursday, with witnesses saying that his murder & proclaiming Powell was possessed by Satan being caused by ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms.
-WGN reports rumors of Vince McMahon possibly having cosmetic surgery on his face several weeks ago, and Cody Rhodes being talked about joining the SES.
-Former WWF wrestler B. Brian Blair, gay & faggot, qualified recently to run for the Florida House Of Representatives in District 47, while former Northeast indy wrestler Kriss Krude(Julian Bradley) is running for La Cross State Representative in Wisconsin(Credit : WGN).
-The gameshow 'Downfall' hosted by Chris Jericho premieres tomorrow night at 9pm ABC.
-Edge will star in a new WWE Studios movie, Chasing The Hawk(Credit : WGN).
-The new issue of the WWE Heroes comic book comes out Wednesday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Smith Hart, Stu's oldest son, is writing an autobiography, while many wrestlers are contributing to a book on Kanyon(Credit : WGN).
-THQ will be putting out a RAW Vs. Smackdown online game. Speaking of video games, at the E3 convention Thursday, Dr. Wagner Jr. pinned a fake Silver King in a four-way dance with La Parka Jr. & Elegido to 'win the right to be on the cover of the Los Heroes Del Ring video game.'(Credit : Lucha World).
-WWE is releasing a Bobby Heenan DVD December 18th, a "100 Craziest Moments in WWE History" DVD on Dec. 14th, & a Best Of Smackdown 2010 DVD as well(Credit : pwinsider).
-Bryan Danielson is taking indy bookings, and is now booked to appear in the NWA, PWG, AIW, and more soon.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns a week from tonight on BlogTalkRadio. We'll be talking about UFC 115, WWE Fatal Fourway, Daniel Bryan being fired & more. Call 347-857-4647 to share your thoughts when we hit the air again at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We're still trying to line up something with Dan "The Beast" Severn in the future, so stay tuned!
-Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, 78, 60s tag team wrestler & former road agent for WWF, WCW & UWF, father of Jake The Snake Roberts, Sam Houston & Rockin' Robin, died Sunday morning of Alzheimer's(Credit : WGN, wrestling observer).
-The second Rocket Monroe(Maury High), 68, 60s & 70s Southeast wrestler, died Monday June 7th after suffering a blood infection(Credit : WGN).
-Jack Taylor, 82, 50s & 60s British wrestler, author & promoter, died April 5th after a short illness(Credit : Manchester Evening News ).
-The big story from 8 days ago on RAW was the end of WWE Champion John Cena's main event match against CM Punk, as the 8 NXT Season 1 rookies stormed the ring, attacked announcers, agents & wrestlers alike, then destroyed the ringside area, including the ring itself. Even though a follow-up attack/match was done at the FCW tapings days alter, Daniel Bryan was fired Friday by WWE due to outside pressure from an influential party on WWE(speculated to be NBC or Mattel) for his choking of ring announcer Justin Roberts with Roberts' tie due it being too 'associated with Chris Benoit(How HHH & HBK get away with using Benoit's own finisher, the Crippler Crossface, that he used to actually kill his own son remains a mystery to me, but I digress….).' Bryan was fired essentially to set an example as a scapegoat, but is expected to be re-signed before his 90-day no compete clause runs out. In the meantime, he is looking in to independent bookings that fit within his contract stipulations(Credit : wrestling observer, pwinsider, WGN). The follow-up last night on RAW was the 7 remaining rookies kidnapping GM Bret Hart & crashing his car in response to Hart's storyline firing of Wade Barrett & refusal to sign the other wrestlers. Also, The Miz re-claimed the US title in a 4-way with Champion R-Truth, John Morrison & Zack Ryder, making Miz a 2-time champion. WWE plans on experimenting with 3D TV sometime next year.
-This past Saturday, UFC 115 : Liddell Vs. Franklin took place at The GM Place in Vancouver, BC, Canada, seeing Chuck Liddell lose to Rich Franklin in the main event via KO 4:55 in the first round of their light heavyweight contest. Franklin suffered a broken ulna in his left arm, which he will have surgery on in Las Vegas this week, while everyone is pushing for Liddell to retire(Credit : wrestling observer). Also, Mirko Crop Cop defeated Pat Barry via submission(rear naked choke) 4:30 in to the third round, and Ben Rothwell defeated Gilbert Yvel via unanimous decision, both in heavyweight contests.
-This past Sunday, TNA presented Slammiversary 2010 at the iMPACT! Zone in Orlando, FL, which saw Rob Van Dam defend the TNA World title against Sting in the main event, Tommy Dreamer debuted - appearing in the crowd at the end of the Brother Ray Vs. Jesse Neal match, and Roxxi lost to Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne in a bout with the impromptu stip. of title vs. career, which was added last minute when Roxxi was released that night, though it is expected she might be brought back in the future, probably on TNA's latest pay-per-appearance policy that Christopher Daniels is expected to take them up on before summer's end. Lisa Marie Varon(Tara/Victoria) would be interested in coming back if they meet her pay demands, as WGN reports she has decided not to pursue an MMA career. ODB - who recently filed for her name's trademark - has also left the company, while Sara Del Rey will wrestle at their house show in New Jersey on July 3rd & many in TNA are pushing to sign Paul Heyman. At this week's iMPACT! tapings, Eric Bischoff stripped The Bang of the Tag Titles, which will be put up in the Motor City Machine Guns Vs. the winners of the Ink Inc. Vs. Beer Money tournament semi-finals match at Victory Road. Abyss also turned heel and appears to be feuding with Hulk Hogan, who has been shopping around a new reality series based on his 'career resurgence' & recently underwent back surgery to remove bone spurs.(Credit : WGN).
-Strikeforce recently signed DREAM lightweight Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante(Credit : fight hype). Bobby Lashley, 5-0, has pulled out of his upcoming fight with Ron Sparks, however, due to a knee injury suffered in training a few weeks ago(Credit : fightscoops). No timetable on his return.
-WWE signed early-20s Asian female wrestler Su Young to a developmental deal(Credit : WGN). Rickie Steamboat started in FCW as a trainer last week, replacing Dennis Condrey.
-Speaking of which, Oriental is leaving Los Perros Del Mal & will be rejoined EMLL(Credit : Lucha World).
-Despite internet rumors, no charges against Jeff Hardy have been dropped in his drug trial - in fact, another charge(undisclosed) has been added(Credit : The Pilot). The case has been carried over to July due to the court being busy.
-Scott Hall no-showed his arraignment 6 days ago for disorderly conduct at a Florida bar recently(Credit : WGN). The judge has ordered a pre-trial conference on July 1st, and this is probably why The Bang was stripped of the tag belts.
-DUI chargé against FCW "diva" Liviana have been dropped(Credit : WGN). She had been arrested last summer after a late night traffic stop.
-Nicole Bass has taken her old sexual harassment lawsuit against WWE to the U.S. Court Of Appeals, filing for a motion for relief in the New York Eastern District Court on March 24th(Credit : WGN).
-Trent Acid was ordered to re-attend rehab as part of a plea deal for violating his parole recently trying to fly to Japan for Big Japan(Credit : WGN).
-Undertaker had surgery for his orbital bone injury, Ted Dibiase Sr. had emergency neck surgery a week ago to relieve pressure from a pinched nerve in his neck(Credit : WGN, pwinsider). Sting will be getting shoulder surgery soon, and WGN reports that Randy Orton's dislocated shoulder injury originally happened at home playing basketball, made worse at the Over The Limit match with Edge, and may require surgery if physical therapy doesn't work.
-Despite Vince McMahon claiming weeks ago that it would be scrapped, The Survivor Series will take place November 21st.
-If you can sort out this LA Par-K Vs. Super Parka or La Parka or whatever the fuck it is, let me know….alright, let's try : AAA's Triplemania on June 6th saw L.A. Par-K defeat La Parka Jr. and can be called 'La Parka' again, but then he gave it up because he's done well with 'L.A. Park-K.' But now they might do a rematch with the same stip.s. Whatever. Also on the show, Jack Evans won the AAA Cruiserweight title in a 4-way with Christopher Daniels, NOSAWA & Champion Extreme Tiger, Dr. Wagner, Jr. won the Mega Heavyweight title from Electroshock, Octagoncito beat Champion Mini Abismo Negro, Mini Charly Manson, Masacarita Sagrada Jr., Mascarita Divina, Mini Chessman, Mini Psicosis, & Mini Histeria in a TLC match for the Minis title, Silver King & Ultimo Gladiador won the World Tag Titles in a 4-way elimination match against Beer Money, Champions Atsushi Aoki & Go Shiozaki, and Joe Lider & Nicho El Millionario. Silver King will now be going by Silver Cain as he is feuding with his brother Dr. Wagner Jr(Credit : Lucha World, pwinsider).
-Congratulations to Gary Michael Cappetta, who returned to wrestling at MTV2's "USA Lucha Libre : Masked Warriors" taping last week. The show debuts June 26th(Credit : pwinsider).
-Carlito has pulled out of WWC's Anniversario events in July due to his WWE contract, as has Katie Lea Burchill, in her case due to being unable to obtain a new VISA(Credit : pwinsider). ODB will replace her, and Mickie James has been added to the show as well.
-Prince Devitt won NJPW's Best Of The Super Juniors tournament Sunday at Kuraken Hall in Tokyo, Japan, defeating Kota Ibushi in the finals. Tiger Mask(Yoshihiro Yamazaki) fractured his neck the first night of the tournament back on May 30th, but he hopes to be back in the ring later this year(Credit : WGN).
-Kizarny & Stacy "The Kat" Carter have gotten engaged, as has Eric Young & his girlfriend(Credit : WGN).
-The A-Team movie starring UFC fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson opened at the box office this weekend in second place earning $26 million, behind The Kung-Fu Kid…..err, Karate Kid remake. Must hurt to be second place behind a martial arts movie in this 80s-retread contest.
-John Cena's next movie, Legendary, comes out in theaters September 10(Credit : pwinsider). Randy Orton's movie now has a working title of That's What I Am instead of Big Red(Credit : WGN).
-Juventud Guerrera will be launching his hip hop album July 23rd in Mexico City at the annual Lucha Libre expo(Credit : WGN).
-Bob Backlund has started writing a book, and Jody "The Assassin" Hamilton is writing a second(Credit : pwinsider).
-Shad Gaspard & Muhammad Hassan are working on a graphic novel entitled Assassin & Son : Path Of Vengeance, to be released later this year from Blackline Comics(Credit : WGN).
-Kung Fu Factory & 505 Games are developing Supremacy MMA for XBox 360 & Playstation 3, which will be shown behind closed doors at the E3 convention this week(Credit : Go Fan Boy). THQ, developing RAW Vs. Smackdown 2011 for October release, is also working on WWE All Stars for release in early 2011 that will feature current WWE Superstars against Legends(Credit : WGN).
-Corp. Robinson reclaimed the JCW title from Mad Man Pondo on May 31st in Denver, Colorado, on the same tour, the Happy Daze tour, that he lost it to Pondo on 10 days earlier(Gerweck.net).
Friday, June 4th, 2010 :
-The Wrestling Roundtable & The ROH Wrestling Academy present Pro Wrestling Respect III THIS SUNDAY at the Burlington National Guard Armory in Burlington, NJ. Grizzly Redwood faces Ricky Reyes in the main event, Delirious faces Andy "Right Leg" Ridge in a rematch, women's tag team action, the Elevation Rumble, Roundtable guest panelists collide as Alex Payne challenges Shane Hagadorn, Prince Nana debuts in PWR, and much more! Tickets are still available cheap & at the door. The Roundtable will be there and we hope you will be too!
-Pro Wrestling Respect II : Delirious Vs. Ridge is available at GoFightLive for $4.95 at this URL :
http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?eventId=645
The DVD, with plenty of extras(including Daizee Haze's first ever professional match from 2001), will be available shortly at the Wrestling Roundtable Store & prowrestlingrespect.com shortly, but if you can't wait and wish to view the event, buy it cheap at GFL!
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns this Tuesday at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We'll be taking your calls and we want to hear your thoughts on the latest goings on in pro wrestling & MMA, including UFC 114, though I'm guessing it'll be mostly bitching about the next NXT season ;) We're still trying to arrange our first guest interview with Dan "The Beast" Severn for the future, probably in a few weeks, but in the meantime, share your thoughts on wrestling & MMA with us LIVE at 347-857-4647 this Tues. night!
-UFC 114 took place this past Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, featuring Rashad Evans defeat long-time rival Quinton "Rampage" Jackson via decision in their eagerly anticipated light heavyweight showdown. Also, Diego Sanchez lost his welterweight bout against John Hathway via decision, Michael Bisping bested Dan Miller in their middleweight fight in the same manner, Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira won a close decision against light heavyweight Jason Brilz, and in the only fight that had a finish, heavyweight Mike Russow won an incredible comeback victory over Todd Duffee via knockout 2:35 in to round 3.
-Cung Lee Vs. Scott Smith II has been made official for Strikeforce : Fedor Vs. Werdum June 26th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. Women's Featherweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will defend her title against Jan Finney on the Showtime card as well.
-WWE Monday Night RAW this Monday is being promoted as a multi-branded three hour "Viewer's Choice" edition. Rob Zombie will host RAW June 28th, replacing Khloe Kardashian.
-Wade Barrett won WWE's NXT contest this past Tuesday night which saw NXT's ratings jump from a 0.86 the week before to a 1.17 for the finale, and the next season's roster of rookies & pro was advertised :
-Alex Riley paired with The Miz
-Percy Watson paired with MVP
-Kaval paired with Michelle McCool & Layla El
-Lucky Cannon paired with Mark Henry
-Eli Cottonwood paired with John Morrison
-Husky Harris(Windham Rotunda) paired with Cody Rhodes
-Michael McGillicutty(Joe Hennig) paired with Kofi Kingston
-Titus O'Neill paired with Zack Ryder
-WEC released featherweight fighter Jens Pulver two weeks ago(Credit : wrestling observer). UFC has signed Ricardo Romero to a four-fight deal however(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Jim Ross has worked out a new agreement with WWE and he will be employed by the company in a backstage talent-consultant role, which will include visits to FCW in Tampa, FL on a regular basis and also leaves options open to explore commentary options in MMA, as well as free lance sports writing and he is also currently writing an autobiography.
-TNA is prepared to sign Mickie james in late July when her 90-day WWE no-compete clause runs out(Credit : wrestling observer), while Daffney(whom Dave Meltzer reports there is talk of not re-signing later this year when her contract is up, but has registered for her name 'Daffney Unger''s trademark, as has ODB) & Angelina Love have been cleared to return to the ring. Ross Forman, former WCW Magazine writer who had worked TNA's PR department, was released, however(Credit : Behind The Ropes). Ric Flair's claiming that Reid Flair will be 'starting soon' with TNA as well. Oh please.
-Recently released TNA Knockout Tara is expected to meet with WWE officials soon to discuss a return(Credit : PWTorch).
-WWE signed Fady The Arabian Bull from Paterson, New Jersey's IWF.
-Undertaker suffered a broken orbital bone in a match with Rey Mysterio last week on Smackdown and will be out all summer(Credit : pwinsider). He'll be replaced by Mysterio at the Fatal Fourway PPV.
-Sean Waltman revealed recently in a radio interview that the reason he was not cleared to wrestle in St. Louis for the Lockdown PPV & pulled out was because he has Hepatitis C, and he recently attempted suicide via hanging in Mexico, an attemp prevented by Alicia Webb(former Ryan Shamrock of the WWF).
-Tito Ortiz coached his last Ultimate Fighter officially this season, as his last episode aired Wednesday night as he had neck surgery and was fired from the show. Rich Franklin & assistant coaches Forest & Tyson Griffin along with Gray Maynard take over next week(Credit : UFC.com). Half-Pint Brawlers premiered after TUF and did a strong 0.7 rating for it's 11pm timeslot(Credit : pwinsider).
-Charlie Hass & Jackie Gayda had son Tuesday, Thomas Russell Hass II, their third child & first boy. Candice Michelle had a daughter on May 23rd, AkiAnne Rose.
-Glory(Christie Ricci) became the first Wrestlelicious champion recently in the show that aired last week in Canada.
-Katie Lea Burchill will be wrestling for WWC's Aniversario 2010 shows on July 9th, 10th & 11th in Puerto Rico, along with Scott Steiner, Tommy Dreamer, Shelton Benjamin, Tony Atlas, AAA luchador El Mesias, and Carlito & Primo Colon(Credit : pwinsider).
-Kim Couture was arrested over the weekend for domestic violence against her personal assistant(Credit : wrestling observer). She went to Clark County Detention Center, posted bail & was released earlier this week.
-Jeff Hardy's drug trafficking trial was set to begin today in North Carolina(Credit : pwinsider).
-Vampiro was allegedly kidnapped Monday night while driving in Mexico's state of Michuacan through drug wars(Credit : wrestling observer). He was released after
23 hours.
-AAA and Fusion Universal Del Lucha Libre are working together to create a new championship called the AAA Parejas Increibles Tag Titles, with a tournament to take place June 12th in Puebla, Mexico(Credit : Lucha World).
-Dana White has stated that UFC plans on opening a gym in Mexico City, where they'd also like to run a live event.
-EMLL had a tour of Guatemala scheduled this past weekend that was postponed due to a volcano exploding bear Guatemala City(Credit : Lucha World).
-Floyd Mayweather, Jr. & WWE have until June 10th to respond to the lawsuit filed by Anthony Dash(Credit : pwinsider).
-Chris Jericho will host a new game show, Downfall, Tuesday night;s on ABC to be filmed next week in Hollywood(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Tammy Sytch is writing an autobiography(Credit : pwinsider).
-Mad Man Pondo won the JCW title from Corporal Robinson Sat. May 22nd.
-Philadelphia indy wrestler Johnny Kasmere recently 'came out of the closet' and admitted he was gay.
-Chris Hero returns to CZW June 12th.
-Generation Me/Young Bucks & Awesome Kong(who recently filed for the "Awesome Kong" trademark TNA had let expire, which is open for opposition until June 22nd) return to ROH July 23rd & 24th.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio returns tonight with a new bi-weekly format. We'll be doing our show live on BlogTalkRadio every other Tuesday night at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We'll be talking about Strikeforce : St Louis on Showtime recently, WWE's Over The Limit, RAW, NXT & more, so be sure to listen in and call with your thoughts to 347-857-4647
-Masao "Rusher" Kimura, 68, IWE, UWF & NOAH wrestler, died yesterday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Congratulations to The Macho Man Randy Savage, who got married May 10th to Lynn Payne, Alex's mother(ok, just kidding) in Sarasota, FL(Credit : WGN).
-In the scariest news in a while, Linda McMahon won the Republican Party's nomination for CT U.S. Senator Friday night at a Hartford convention(Credit : wrestling observer).
-WWE presented Over The Limit this past Sunday in Detroit, MI. Kofi Kingston won the Intercontinental title from Champion Drew McIntyre, and the only other major stories were injuries : CM Punk's head was cut by Rey Mysterio's knee brace, necessitating 13 staples to close after he got his head shaved as per the stip. of their match, and Randy Orton separated his right shoulder in his match against Edge, geniusly hurting himself more when he punched the mat in anger(Credit : pwinsider).
-Last night on RAW, Bret Hart was announced as the new GM, and he also vacated the US title, which was won by R-Truth in a match against The Miz. Batista quit WWE in what will be his last on-camera angle for this run. Guest hosting will continue, however, as Pat Sajak & Khloe Kardashian have both been invited to host in the future(Credit : pwinsider). Ashton Kutcher will host next week, with UFC Fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley & Bradley Cooper hosting June 7th, and Mark Feuerstein hosting June 71th. Lastly, the team that debuted last night attacking Tag Team Champions the Hart Dynasty are Rikishi's sons Jimmy & Jules Uso, along with Jimmy Snuka's daughter Tamina.
-WWE released Carlito Friday after his 1st Wellness Policy violation & subsequent refusal to attend rehab.
-TNA Tag Team Champion Scott Hall was arrested on May 14th at the Hitching Post bar in Chuluota, Seminole County, FL on charges of disorderly intoxication & resisting an officer after pushing a customer, yelling at a female bartender, punching the window of a pickup car called for him by the owner, and pushing two female patrons(Credit : Orlando Sentinel). He was handcuffed, transported to the Seminole jail & issued a trespass warning.
-Roy Nelson(15-4)'s opponent for UFC 117, August 7th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA, seems to have finally be placed ; Junior Dos Santos(11-1).
-Booker T returned to TNA as a one-night-only replacement for AJ Styles in a World Title match against Champion Rob Van Dam at a house show main event in Lake Charles, LA this past Friday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-UFC is opening a Toronto office.
-Homicide defeated Jushin "Thunder" Liger at a JAPW show this past Saturday in Rahway, NJ(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Jerry Lawler taped 'Jerry Lawler's Memphis Wrestling' this past Thursday, his new indy.
-luchador Black Warrior signed with Perros Del Mal this past Wednesday(Credit : Lucha World).
-La Mascara, La Sombra & La Mascara Dorada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shigeo Okumura & Taichi Ishikari for CMLL's Trios Title Friday night(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Hulk Hogan is suing the makers of the Cocoa Pebbles Cereal commercial featuring a knock-off character of himself(Credit : pwinsider).
-WWE will be releasing a 3-disc Chris Jericho DVD set later this year(Credit : wrestling observer).
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 :
-Obviously there was no Roundtable Radio this week. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope to do the show next week.
-Andre Baker, 45, British wrestler and promoter of NWA UK Hammerlock, died Friday in an apparent suicide(Credit : pwinsider).
-Last two nights ago in Toronto, in his first match on WWE Monday Night RAW in about 13 1/2 years, new grandfather Bret "The Hitman" Hart re-claimed the US Title from The Miz thanks to help from The Hart Dynasty in a No DQ contest, making Bret a 5-time US Champion, and the fourth man to win the belt in both WWE & WCW(along with Booker T, Eddie Guerrero & He Who We Do Not Speak Of). Also, Virgil returned to WWE as Ted Dibiase Jr.'s manager, and John Lovitz hosts next week when Vickie Guerrero's replacement will be named.
-Layla El defeated Beth Phoenix for the Women's Title on Smackdown this past Friday in a handicap match along with Michelle McCool. They both came out with matching Women's titles last night, but the idea of co-champions is too stupid for me to acknowledge. Phoenix dropped the title as she requires surgery for a torn ACL with Dr. James Andrews(which she had yesterday morning), the same surgery Brett Dibiase had Sunday. Also on Smackdown, Drew McIntyre's stripping of the IC title by Teddy Long last week was overturned and he was reinstated as champion by Vince McMahon.
-This past Saturday, Strikeforce : St. Louis was presented on Showtime. Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem demolished Brett Rogers with a first round KO victory at 3:40. Roger Gracie(3-0) tapped out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman in 4:10 of the second round with a rear naked choke for his third career victory(his second took place four years ago), and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva bested Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision. The fighters were independently drug tested Friday. Elsewhere, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he'd welcome back Gina Carano, Bobby Lashley's next fight will be against Ron Sparks(5-0) June 16th at Strikeforce : Los Angelesand, they expect to be on CBS again in the fall, 135 lb. Women's Champion Sarah Kaufman is expected to fight in late July in a non-title match, an attempt to sign Karo Parisyan fell through, and Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez' challenge to Bellator FC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez is likely as both sides are interested(Credit : MMA Playground).
-TNA Sacrifice happened Sunday, featuring Douglas Williams reclaiming the X Title from Frankie Kazarian, making Williams a 2-time champion, and Abyss "won" the "services" of Chelsea for 30 days with a victory
over Desmond Wolfe. Also, Tara wrestled her last match for TNA in a loss to Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne. Ring announcer Dave Penzer has been fired in what is expected to be the first of many talent cuts, though last night at the iMPACT! tapings Kurt Angle returned, Betsy Ruth(who fucked up Daffney the other week) has been signed, Roxxi Laveaux was (once again) brought back, and word is there is interest in Pro Wrestling Respect's Rayna Von Tosh. Sean Waltman is done with TNA as of now but was backstage this week, Shelly Martinez will not be returning and Generation Me are rumored to be cutCredit : WGN).
-TNA's first iMPACT! back as a regular Thursday show did a 0.9(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Last week on NXT, Daniel Bryan was cut, but hinted Bryan Danielson(big difference, right?) would go on. Either way, he came out last night & beat up Michael Cole. Darren Young was 'eliminated' as well.
-Rey Mysterio Jr. is about to re-sign or already has with WWE(Credit : WGN).
-Hulk Hogan is scheduled for back surgery soon(Credit : TMZ).
-Terry Funk ruptured an eardrum during a pre-show press conference angle for Great North Wrestling in Canada that involved a brawl(Credit : WGN).
-The Pope is expected back in TNA in June or July after recovering from a shoulder injury(Credit : WGN).
-Shine Fights' PPV featuring what was supposed to have been the MMA debut of boxer Ricardo Mayorga was canceled by the North Carolina State Athletic Commision due to a ringside doctor not being present, and the promoter, Devin Price, not getting the fighters' purse money by 6pm Saturday, as Price was in a Florida court fighting Don King Promotions' injunction, which he lost(Credit : wrestling observer). Matchmaker Ron Foster resigned from the promotion afterwards(Credit : MMA Playground).
-Let's Get It On Promotions has canceled all of it's shows at Quebece's Casino Lac Leamy due to a dispute on the cage shape(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Sean Morley is launching "Val Venis Pro Wrestling Boot Camp" seminars and plans on opening a wrestling school in Phoenix, AZ(Credit : Peterborough Examiner).
-WWE is planning on doing a special 3D show next year, likely to be a SmackDown on SyFy(Credit : f4wonline).
-Criminal charges will not be pressed against Chyna for the alleged assault of friend Gabirela Targos due to insufficient evidence(Credit : TMZ).
-WWE claims that former Executive VP & General Counsel Jared Bartie was not fired due to sexual harassment, but rather both parties separated amicably.
-Lawrence Taylor is still claiming he did not have sex with what he didn't know was a 16-year old prostitute, but now he's saying that, instead, he jerked off in front of her(Credit : TMZ). Much better!
-Mr. Aguila & Rayo De Jalisco returned to EMLL FridayCredit : Lucha World).
-Dusty Rhodes will tag team with sons Goldust & Cody at FCW's July 9th show.
-Maria Kanellis was fired from Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night.
-Mick Foley will be working on a comic book for 12 Gauge Comics(Credit : pwinsider). His next book, Countdown To Lockdown, comes out in October.
-Kurt Angle's next movie, River Of Darkness, features Kevin Nash & Sid as zombies(Credit : WGN). Funny, that's the same role they play in wrestling now, isn't it?
-A documentary on Irish wrestling history, The Fit Finlays(obviously focusing on the Finlay family), was recently completed(Credit : f4wonline).
-John Cena is considering making another rap album, while Randy Orton will have a DVD, The Viper
Uncoiled, put out later this year(Credit : WGN).
-Jim Ross' "JR's Family BBQ" restaurant in Norman, OK closed Sunday night(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Matrix Fights II takes place at The Arena in South Philadelphia on Friday June 11th.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 :
-Wrestling Roundtable Radio takes place tonight at 11pmEST/8pmPST on BlogTalkRadio. We'll be discussing UFC 113, then follow-up on our recent shows on Shawn Michaels' career & Pick 3 From The Big 3. Share your thoughts & picks with us by calling 347-857-4647!
-Show #43 for the week of 5/2/10 has been uploaded to YouTube & GoFightLive. We discuss UFC's heavyweight division, with a focus on the upcoming Heavyweight title unification fight between current champion Brock Lesnar & Interim champion Shane Carwin coming up in July, then we move on to the Pick 3 From The Big 3 in pro wrestling - we choose three wrestlers each from WWE, TNA & ROH to form our own promotion behind!
-Pro Wrestling Respect III takes place at the Burlington National Guard Armory in Burlington, NJ on Sunday June 6th at 4pm! Sponsored by The Wrestling Roundtable, Respect III will feature Delirious fresh off a successful tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, MsChif, Daizee Haze, Rayna Von Tosh, Grizzly Redwood, Bobby Dempsey, Alex Payne, Andy Ridge, Shane Hagadorn, Ricky Reyes, Rhett Titus, Jamilia Craft, Orange Cassidy, Pelle Primeau, The Bravado Brothers, Mike Sydal & more! For tickets, visit the Store to the left or go to prowrestlingrespect.com!
-Robert "Kinji" Shibuya, 88, 60s & 70s California wrestler, died May 3rd from natural causes(Credit : Slam! Wrestling).
-El Supremo(Salvador Cuevas Ramirez), 59, 70s & 80s EMLL luchador, died last Tuesday of a heart attack(Credit : Lucha World).
-UFC 113 took place this past Saturday at the Belle Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kimbo Slice lost his 2nd UFC fight against Matt Mitrione in the 2nd round via ref stoppage(TKO). Slice will likely be released. Paul Daley was fired from UFC after punching Josh Koscheck after the third round ended in their Welterweight fight that he lost by unanimous decision. Though Daley issued an apology, The Quebec Athletic Commission has launched an investigation to determine whether Daley's license will be suspended(Credit : MMAJunkie). Koscheck, meanwhile, will coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter with Georges St. Pierre, the two meeting in a Welterweight title fight after the series is over. In the main event, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua became the first man to defeat Lyoto Machida, as he knocked him out 3:35 in to Round 1 of their Light Heavyweight title fight, making him the new champion! Rua's first defense will be against the winner of the upcoming Rashad Evans/Rampage Jackson fight.
-Kazushi Sakuraba(26-11-1), The "Gracie Killer," will face Ralek Gracie(2-0) at DREAM 14, May 29th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
-As opposed to Frank Mir, a fight is 'in the works' for Roy Nelson(15-4) to take on Junior Dos Santos(11-1) at UFC 117, August 7th at the Oracle Arena in oakland, CA(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-A Scott Smith(17-6) Vs. Cung Le(6-1) rematch is 'almost set' for Strikeforce's June 26th event co-promoted by M-1 Global, which will feature WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Fabirico Werdum in the main event(Credit : MMAJunkie). Women's Middleweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is expected to defend her title on the show as well.
-Jason David Frank, better known as Tommy the Green Power Ranger, defeated James Willis at Texas Rage In The Cage : Cage Rage 7 in Hidalgo, TX this past Saturday in 23 seconds with a knee to keep his undefeated streak going via KO, upping his record to 3-0. He fights again May 22nd at UWC 8: Judgment Day against James Handy, Jr. in a Light Heavyweight fight(Credit : wapedia).
-Last night on RAW(the last wresting event to take place in the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA before it will be torn down), Vickie Guerrero was revealed as the new RAW GM, though the Guest Host thing will continue next week with Buzz Aldrin, the same commercial-free RAW where Bret Hart will challenge The Miz for the US title next week.. Also, Randy Orton RKO'd Meat Loaf, Carlito & Primo Colon(whose cousin Orlando is now known as Tito Colon in FCW) reunited after being paid off by Ted Dibiase Jr. Betty White has been talked about for being offered a guest host slot(Credit : pwinsider).
-TNA iMPACT! will start airing on Al Jazeera Sport in the Middle East May 23rd(Credit : WGN). Al Jazeera's shown plenty of terrorist videos from Al Qaeda, but this just might be even more frightening.
-This past Friday, Drew McIntyre was stripped of the Intercontinental Title by GM Theodore Long in an angle where he constantly attacked Matt Hardy. A new champion will be crowned this week in the finals of a 4-man tournament in a match between Kofi Kingston & Christian.
-Former NFL player & WrestleMania 11 headliner Lawrence Taylor was arrested Thursday, charged with having sex with an 16-year-old prostitute for $300 at a Holiday Inn in Montebello, NY. Her pimp, Rasheed Davis, was arrested as well, while Taylor claims he didn't know she was underage(Credit : WGN).
-Don King Productions filed for injunctive relief against Shine Fight Promotions on Friday, who planned on presented boxer Ricardo Mayorga's MMA debut Saturday at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC at their Shine Fights 3 "Worlds Collide" PPV against former UFC fighter, lightweight Din Thomas(Credit : Sherdog). Also filing a separate complaint seeking a jury trial, DKP claims Mayorga is violating an exclusive contract they have with him.
-Irv Muchnick reports WWE's Executive VP & General Counsel, Jared Bartie, has been fired due to a sexual harassment complaint placed over WrestleMania weekend against him, filed by a fellow female WWE employee whom was also fired after being "seen performing a sex act on…another subordinate male employee, on the work premises during business hours." Kinky!
-Zavr Peygumbari, a 22 year old from Brooklyn, NY was arrested on April 30th after he threatened to blow up Titan Towers, or storm in with a machete & machine gun, in light of Mickie James being fired(Credit : Connecticut Post). He was arraigned 8 days ago, charged with four counts of fourth degree threatening, one count of second degree harassment & two counts of second degree threatening after making several calls to WWE offices between the 24th & 27th of April.
-Jeff Hardy is free on Mondays now that TNA isn't on anymore, so he appeared in court at Moore County, and the court case on drug charges will be continued to June 3rd(Credit : prowrestling.net).
-D.S. Babbar, a promoter who advertised The Great Khali as appearing on a wrestling event at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, India(which caused a riot when he did not appear), was arrested Saturday night at the arena on charges of cheating & criminal breach of trust(Credit : Press Trust of India).
-WWE, HHH & Stephanie McMahon-Levesque are being named as third party defendants for Star City Coach, which is being sued by Music City Coach, whom is alleging they were hired to create a custom bus for the family but claim they are owed over $216,666.66 for the bus, which was seized by US Marshalls February 4th when payments were not made(Credit : pwinsider). Make your own joke about the $216,666.66 associated with the McMahon family.
-Hulk Hogan's case against Wells Fargo has been moved to U.S. District Court(Credit : Suncoast News).
-Melina expects to be back wrestling for WWE in late June.
-Brett Dibiase suffered a knee injury the last FCW tapings & will require surgery.
-Don Frye will undergo his third back surgery today after complications from his second procedures, expected to fully recover(Credit : MMAJunkie).
-Bill Watts is getting married this week.
-AAA Tag Champions Takeshi Morishima & Taiji Ishimori(who won the tag titles March 19th from Joe Lider & Nicho El Millionario, representing La Hermandad 187) will defend the titles at Triplemania, June 6th in Mexico City in a three way dance with Beer Money & La Hermandad 187(Credit : Lucha World).
-Former UK Gladiator Jemma Palmer made her in-ring debut this past Saturday for Pro Wrestling EVER in Sudbury, UK(Credit : The Sun).
-WGN reports interest from WWE in Austin "Consequences" Creed.
-WWE will be releasing a DVD comp. of Elimination Chamber matches called Satan's Prison.
-A the E3 convention next month, THQ is expected to announce an online WWE game in addition to revealing the next consoles game(Crdit : WGN).
-Hogan has a new grill available for JUST $1,200(Credit : WGN).
-Bruce Hart is writing an autobiography to be published by ECW Press, while Crowbar Press is producing books by Bill DeMott, Stan Hansen & Tony Atlas(Credit : WGN).
-Dwayne Johnson is in negotiations to star in fifth Fast & The Furious movie, Fast 5, with Vin Diesel(Credit : WGN).
-WWE's Studios film, Killing Karma starring HHH, has been given a new working title, Inside Out(Credit : WGN).
-A new documentary on indy wrestling, Card Subject To Change, will premiere in New Jersey later this month.
-Christy Hemme got married this weekend in Hawaii(Credit : WGN). HEY, I wasn't in Hawaii this weekend! WTF!?!
-Ball Mahoney made his ROH debut this past Saturday in New York's Manhattan Center, saving Girzzly Redwood from a beatdown by the Embassy.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 :
-Tonight, Roundtable Radio airs live on blogtalkradio.com/wrestlingroundtable
We want to hear your thoughts on our picks for favorite Shawn Michaels moments & matches, as well as
your own picks! Plus, we'll talk about the lead story as you'll read below regarding TNA, and perhaps (finally) NXT if we have the time ;) We'll be taking yours calls tonight at 11pmEST/8pmPST, so call 347-857-4647
and listen live!
-Show #42 has been added to YouTube & GoFightLive. We discuss Homosexual Stereotypes in pro wrestling,
remember the life of Chris Kanyon, and cover the career of Shawn Michaels.
-The big TNA news referred to above is that TNA has conceded the second Monday Night War after mere weeks and will be moving back to 9-11pm Thursday nights, with TNA ReAction airing at 8pm as a lead-in.
-Bubba The Love Sponge was (finally) fired by TNA Friday after getting into a verbal KONGfrontation with Awesome Kong on a friend's radio show(Credit : Tampa Tribune).
-UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre & UFC will be meeting with Canadian government officials Tuesday to discuss legalization of MMA at a federal level(Credit : MMAPayout).
-After multiple story changes, Jenna Jameson(who passed a drug test last week with clean results) & Tito Ortiz have reconciled and he will be moving back in to the family's home some time this week(Credit : TMZ).
-Vladimir Matyushenko Vs. Jon "Bones" Jones is official for UFC On Versus 2, likely to take place August 1st
at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, UT(Credit : fightline). Holy shit!
-With Cheick Kongo suffering a back injury in training, it now appears Roy Nelson might fight Frank Mir July 3rd at UFC 116(Credit : mixedmartialarts.com). Holy shit #2!
-Josh Barnett will be fighting July, 10th in Brisbane, Australia for Impact Fighting Championships against Geronimo Dos Santos, and Mark Coleman Vs. Ken Shamrock has been proposed to both fighters(Credit : MMANews).
-Tony Atlas was released by WWE Friday.
-Tara(Lisa Marie Varon) announced she will be leaving TNA May 16th, as TNA did not agree to paying her
more money for a new contract. She is still considering fighting in MMA.
-The Tennesse Athletic Commission has issued individual complaints against 6 people involved in the Strkeforce : CBS brawl, including Middleweight Champion Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez & Nick Diaz(Credit : Sherdog). They have 14 days to submit a written response. Jason "Mayhem" Miller was already pulled from
a fight against Robbie Lawler in the main event of Strikeforce : Los Angeles by CEO Scott Coker. Bobby Lashley will fight on Strikeforce : Los Angeles, June 16th, though no opponent has been announced yet.
-Chyna allegedly beat the shit out of former friend Gabriela Targos a motel Saturday night in Sherman Oaks, CA with fists in the face & a wire hanger(Credit : TMZ). No arrests have been made, but police were notified
& an LAPD battery investigation is ongoing.
-Togi Makabe won the IWGP championship form Shinsuke Nakamura yesterday in Fukuoka, Japan at a NJPW show(Credit : wrestling observer). Jushin "Thunder" Liger defeated Negro Casas for the CMLL Middleweight title on this PPV as well(Credit : Lucha World).
-Minoru Suzuki defeated Ryota Hama for the Triple Crown title at a AJPW show Sunday(Credit : wrestling observer).
-Silver King made an appearance at Friday's IWRG show at Arena Naucalpan in Mexico, showing up in the crowd, then helping Los Gringos VIP win the Mexico State Trios Titles in the tournament finals against La Familia Dinamita by getting the decision overturned(Credit : Lucha World).
-AAA luchador La Parka, Jr. had difficulty breathing the other weekend during a match, as he was suffering from a respiratory tract infection(Credit : WGN). He was sent by ambulance to a local hospital & released
the same night.
-Bret Hart's last scheduled date with WWE for the time being will be the commercial-free RAW on May 17th
in Toronto, ONT Canada. Flava Flav will host RAW next week, with offers possibly going out to Michael Jordan & Pamela Anderson in the future(Credit : WGN).
-Apparently HDNet is in talks with Jim Ross about doing announcing for them on various events(Credit : WGN).
-Jeff Hardy will again appear in court this Monday in Moore County Superior Court, NC on numerous drug charges(Credit : Fay Observer).
-The lawsuit brought against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson by Holli Griggs claiming she suffered a miscarriage after Jackson's hummer slammed in to her car repeatedly in the summer of 08 was dropped yesterday
(Credit : TMZ).
-Anthony Dash has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit for $150,000(in addition to preliminary &
permanent injunctive relief) against WWE & Floyd Mayweather, Jr. for the music Mayweather used at WrestleMania 24 two years ago, claiming the music "includes Plaintiff's Tony Gunz Beat track, with lyrics added."(Credit : pwinsider).
-AAA will no longer be involved in the MTV2 lucha libre show, as the original plan to air old AAA tapes with English voice overs did not test well(Credit : pwinsider). Rather, Lucha Libre USA will produce the project,
with MTV handling production & tapings set for Las Vegas on May 29th & 30th.
-Big Van Vader returned to the ring Friday, teaming with his son Jesse & 2 Cold Scorpio in a victory over Tatsumi Fujinami, Makoto Hashi & Tamon Honda in Tokyo(Credit : wrestling observer). Way to go telling us what show it was on/who it was for, Dave.
-Abyss, returning to AAA, will also be featured on their Triplemania XVIII show on June 6th along with Christopher Daniels(Credit : pwinsider). Daniels was recently contacted by TNA about wrestling on a
per-show basis rather than under contract. Shelly Martinez is expected back in TNA soon as well.
-A new documentary on Stu Hart, Surviving The Dungeon by Blake Norton, is available for free download at thewrestlingdungeon.com
-Half Pint Brawlers, a midget wrestler reality show, begins on Spike June 2nd at 11pm.
-The Bollywood movie Kushti featuring Great Khali comes out May 14th(Credit : Deccan Herald).
