For a few months now, there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not WWE has some kind of relationship, official/formal or otherwise, with WWN, the parent company of a few indie promotions, most notable Evolve and Shine.
You have supported us and you deserve an answers. You want to know what’s going on with WWE and The WWN Family. This is the absolute truth. There are no answers. Yes, there is obviously a growing relationship. What direction it will take is unknown. There are rumors and speculation, but this relationship changes and develops almost weekly. This is a road that has never been traveled before. There is no precedent. We don’t know what to expect nor what is possible. All this means is that anything can happen. There are infinite possibilities. The only sure thing is that this will be a wild, unpredictable and thrilling ride. We will all find out where this road goes together. There is no telling what will happen next.
There’s been a lot of speculation about where this will go, and that will most likely continue for a while until more pieces fall into place.
This past Monday night, there was some confusion about whether or not Steve Austin was appearing live in front of the crowd at next week’s show in Dallas, Texas. He was not shown on the slate with photos of the other legends who are appearing even though he will be in attendance to do his podcast with Brock Lesnar.
Within a few hours, Austin chimed in with this:
@CnoEvil I'm doing the podcast. I was never scheduled to do Raw. Once again, bad information. #StoneColdPodcast w Brock Lesnar.
In spite of this, the WWE.com blurb for this Monday’s Raw now includes a photo of Austin and makes it explicit that they’re saying he’s appearing live (emphasis ours):
As Brock Lesnar’s Go to Hell Tour winds its way toward Los Angeles, The Beast Incarnate’s infernal caravan will make a stopover on WWE’s flagship show, where a few Legends and Hall of Famers will join the ride.
WWE.com can confirm that the Oct. 19 Raw, scheduled to emanate live from Dallas — the home city of WrestleMania 32 — will not only feature a live appearance by Lesnar, but also WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Ric Flair, as well as Lesnar’s Hell in a Cell opponent, The Undertaker.
When I asked Austin if he’s aware of a change, he replied quickly:
@davidbix I have no idea at this point. All I know is I will be in Dallas.
Since his departure from WWE last year, Alberto El Patron, the former Alberto Del Rio, has become one of the top acts on the independent scene. Unfortunately, he’s also one of the most controversial, having had at least a few high profile incidents where he no-showed bookings either without any notice or without insufficient notice. The latest issue was with Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) and Swiss Wrestling Entertainment (SWE).
WXW issued a statement in German explaining that they had booked the dates and the Economy Plus airline seats all the way back in December after a previous cancellation by Alberto. Six days out from the events, Alberto’s manager demanded the flight be changed to Business Class airfare from a different location in Mexico than originally arranged. This would have cost WXW a $7,000 premium. WXW offered to cancel the flight, have Alberto pay the cancellation fee, and allow him to rebook a flight himself where Alberto would use his frequent flyer miles to upgrade it over what WXW was covering. That was refused and the booking was cancelled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCGh0CJqGgM
Alberto, for his part, tweeted out an official statement that didn’t help his cause in some eyes because he referred to the non-business class airfare as “subhuman.” That’s als considering that WXW has an excellent reputation for how they treat the wrestlers (especially the fly-ins) and Alberto’s reputation has been less than sterling. Here’s the whole statement, transcription courtesy of my friend Keith Harris at Cageside Seats:
As you know, I hardly reply to comments against me in Social Media but this time my fans are affected.
WxwGermany tried to hire me under a third party under totally different agreements than I usually do. Obviously, I did not approve and we agreed on the normal terms. Terms that are always the same. Why do they want to be treated differently? Over a year of doing [the] Independent circuit and all the promoters have agreed to [the] same terms (fees, hotel & transport, and business class).
I am deeply thankful to them.
WxwGermany take the physical challenge and please tell me/fans what promoter has flown me coach and not Business. Inquiring minds want to know.
Why is it after they have sold tickets and just a couple [of] days away from [the] event they want to cling to old agreements? How is my manager to blame? Threats of screenshots and emails. Nowadays this is easy to falsify. Let’s be professional.
Speaking of professionalism; they also did NOT supply us with a tangible itinerary or concrete information. Where was I going to stay, where and when was I to travel and match info??? More importantly where is my Working Visa papers? Were they ever prepared?
I love this sport but let’s not be fooled. Flying in a small seat for 16 hours is not comfortable. I will not be bullied by promoters into working conditions I did not agree. Not all promoters are the same. I speak against those that treat us wrestlers like subhumans. I will never bow my head to this type of treatment, but you already knew that.
Thank you to my true fans in Switzerland and Germany.
To promote his upcoming U.K. speaking gig, Hulk Hogan appeared on BBC Radio 5’s Sarah and Dan’s Extra Edition. Not surprisingly, he was asked about his leaked racist comments that were on on a sex tape shot without his permission. He’s changed his tune a little from the stock answer he was using on his apology tour. Here’s what it said:
Why did I say it? I don’t know why I said it. Biggest mistake I’ve ever done. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made. It’s kind of like The Rock said, ‘Everybody talks smack once in a while.’ I was in a bad place, and it doesn’t even matter that it was said in private. I never should have said it, I feel horrible for it.
The WWE, what they did, that was just…they had to do what was best for their business. At the time, that was their choice.
Yeah[, it affected my career]. It’s been a crazy ride the last couple months because at first, everybody knee-jerk reacted and kind of went crazy, then went ‘Wait a minute, we know who this guy is!’ and they thought about it and realized what the situation was. That this one thing doesn’t define what we feel or what we think about Hulk Hogan. Then, a lot of the critics and the media who beat on me so hard, they actually got sympathy on me. People actually feel bad that the media’s been so abusive.
So it’s been a crazy couple months, but everybody out there knows who I am and I’m really good right now.
[..]
These people I hurt so bad, I apologize for. But I think that once it sank in, they went ‘He said this where? And it was in private? And it was eight years ago? And he apologized? I haven’t changed the way I feel about Hulk Hogan, he just made a huge mistake, and he’s very upset about it. I think the people had a chance to think through it, and like I said, they know who I am, so everything’s really good. [beat] If you wanna talk about wrestling, I’d love to keep talking with you.
After the interview was edited into the show, one of the hosts joked that it was “a legal minefield.”
Earlier, Eric noted that late last night, Variety reported that WWE Studios (in conjunction with Great Point Media) has hired Josh Gad and writing partner Ryan Dixon to write a script for a biopic of WWE Hall f Famer Gorgeous George. Gad has written before, mostly for TV, but he’s best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen and currently co-starring with Billy Crystal in “The Comedians” on FX.
The Gorgeous George project has been floating around within WWE for several years. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in March of 2010 over WrestleMania weekend. A few weeks later in April, Deadline first reported that WWE Studios had optioned the 2008 book Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture. Written by John Capouya, it’s a heavily researched look into the life and career of George Wagner, the man behind the Gorgeous George gimmick. Much of it is sourced from his interviews with Wagner’s ex-wife Betty (who accepted his HOF induction), and it’s about as detailed as you could ever hope a book about wrestling from the early television era could be.
Before long, the project was turned into a documentary, with WWE even soliciting relevant home movies and memories from locals in the paper of record in Wagner’s old home town, the Houston Chronicle. Not long after that, Betty Wagner passed away, and it seemed as if the projected had been permanently shelved. That was the last anyone heard until last night. While projects with big name writers can still fall apart, this news definitely shows a renewed commitment on WWE’s part.
The result of today’s hearing on Jimmy Snuka’s murder charges is that the case is now going directly to trial. Per local news outlets WFMZ, The Allentown Morning Call, and Lehigh Valley Live, here’s what you need to know:
Snuka’s defense attorney said they’d be willing to skip a preliminary hearing if they were given access to the grand jury transcripts, later saying “Those transcripts are worth their weight in gold.” The prosecution agreed to the deal.
They still need to officially arraign Snuka on his charges before a trial.
Snuka, who had previously been thought to be cancer-free after surgery, will be starting chemotherapy shortly, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to have a speedy trial.
Snuka’s lawyer, Robert Kirwan II, made an odd comment to the assembled media, saying that “Mr. Snuka, if his health continue to deteriorate, he’d like to leave this world knowing that he’s an innocent man, not whatever you think he’s guilty.” Even forgiving the odd syntax, wouldn’t he know if he’s innocent? He also described the death of Nancy Argentino as “simply an unfortunate accident…not murder,” though he didn’t give any further details.
Snuka is charged with third degree murder and a lesser included charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of girlfriend Nancy Argentino. She died from a fall where here head struck an object on the way down and Snuka told numerous different stories of how, including versions where he pushed her. The investigation stopped suddenly after about two weeks, was left open, and wasn’t touched until the grand jury was impaneled after an investigative article in the Allentown Morning Call.
With NXT TakeOverL Respect taking place tomorrow night, NXT Women’s Champion Bayley did some media to push the show, which she’s main eventing against Sasha Banks in a 30 minute Iron Man Match. As has become common on WWE media days, one of those interviews was with RollingStone.com. Here are some of the highlights:
On who she wants to work with and why:
And this might sound bad, but I really want to work with Eva Marie, just because it seems like that’s what people want. [“Why would that sound bad?”] [Bayley laughs] My fans don’t like her, so I don’t want them to be like, “Oh, why do you want to work with her?” But the reason is because she’s a different competitor and I think we’d have an interesting dynamic. I get a lot of tweets about Eva, and I can’t blame the fans, because all they really know is what they see on Total Divas, and they base their cheers on that, I guess. I’ve never personally had a problem with her; I don’t see her much, but the shows that she has done, I’ve seen her progressing each match, each show, each training session. I know that the drive is there to get better, so it’s up to her to see how far she can go.
The responsibility of being NXT Women’s Champion:
I feel like this is a very important part of my career. With the top three girls gone, and me being the champion, I’ve never been the person in the locker room who’s been here the longest – it was always Sasha and Charlotte. And now that I’m literally the leader in the locker room, and the champion, it’s a huge opportunity for me to help girls while I have the chance. Girls who don’t have any experience at all, I’m asking to get matches with them, so I can help them and bring them up. Paige and Charlotte were very helpful to me when I first arrived. It’s really important; you can be the best wrestler in the world, and make the most money, but if you’re not a good person in the back, that says a lot about you. I’ve never wanted to be that person, because I’ve had so much help along the way and I want to continue that. I want everyone to be comfortable in the locker room and the ring, and be hungry to make this division even bigger than it already is.
There’s much more in the original article, including Bayley’s thoughts on her friends leaving for the main roster, the term “diva,” and much more.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 was a surprising success on pay-per-view in January, getting about 15,000 homes to buy a show that aired in the middle of the night and then on tape delay the next day. That was thanks in part to strong publicity built around Jim Ross, who called the show. If you missed it, the show will air on AXS TV with new commentary from Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett over the course of five episodes starting next week. Today, AXS TV issued the following press release to announce the schedule:
As the home to NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING, AXS TV has acquired the promotion’s action-filled 2015 pay-per-view event “Wrestle Kingdom 9.” This special edition will feature all 10 matches from the celebrated annual event, including an entire episode dedicated to the headlining rematch between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and rival Kazuchika Okada. The 10 matches will be broadcast over five consecutive weeks starting Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with commentary from Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett.
NJPW’s biggest annual event, “Wrestle Kingdom” takes place every Jan. 4 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Last year’s “Wrestle Kingdom 9” counted over 36,000 fans in attendance and featured a number of high-stakes clashes, including battles for IWGP Heavyweight, Intercontinental, Junior and NEVER Openweight Championships.
AXS TV’s presentation of “Wrestle Kingdom 9” kicks off with two junior heavyweight matches Oct. 9 starting with a four-way match for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship followed by Ryusuke Taguchi defending his IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Kenny Omega. Then, on Oct. 16, Tetsuya Naito and A.J. Styles face off in a singles match before Tomohiro Ishii defends the NEVER Openweight title against Togi Makabe.
NJPW’s “Wrestle Kingdom 9” continues on AXS TV Oct. 23 with three full matches: first the Bullet Club squares off against Tomaoki Honma and veteran tag team Tencozy in a six-man tag team match; then MMA legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Minoru Suzuki face off in a special single match; and Bullet Club members Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows put their IWGP Tag Team Championship belt on the line against Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata.
NJPW airs an hour early Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT featuring an epic eight-man tag team match before Kota Ibushi challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship title. AXS TV wraps up “Wrestle Kingdom 9” with the anticipated main event between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and his rival Kazuchika Okada Nov. 6.
AXS TV’s NJPW episodes are produced by and acquired from TV ASAHI CORPORATION.
The episode listings are as follows:
Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship four-Way Match – Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish; KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley; Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov; and Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Ryusuke Taguchi versus Kenny Omega
Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT Tetsuya Naito versus A.J. Styles NEVER Openweight Championship – Tomohiro Ishii versus Togi Makabe
Oct. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomaoki Honma versus the Bullet Club (Jeff Jarrett, Back Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi) Special Single Match – Kazushi Sakuraba versus Minoru Suzuki IWGP Tag Championship – Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows versus Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata
Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT Toru Yano, Naomichi Marufuji, Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste versus Takashi Iizuka, Shelton X Benjamin, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Shinsuke Nakamura versus Kota Ibushi
Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Hiroshi Tanahashi versus Kazuchika Okada
Late last week, we told you about the latest development in Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker for publishing clips of a sex video recorded without his knowledge. Various news agencies and media companies, most notably the Associated Press and Scripps, had filed a motion to unseal the FBI case file of the investigation into an extortion attempt made using the sex videos. Gawker had successfully sued to get a copy of the case file, but the judge overseeing the Hogan case made it “eyes only” to each side’s lawyers it when they filed the information in court.
This means that it’s sealed off to everyone else, including Gawker founder Nick Denton and the media. Hence the motion to unseal it, which could be bad for Hogan because we now know the contents include the transcript of his racist tirade among other things. The media companies argued that with Florida’s open records laws, the judge in the Gawker-FBI lawsuit ruling the case file was public record, and the sealing being highly unusual, the records should be made public.
Well, on Friday, we told you that, per the Associated Press, Judge Pamela Campbell had ruled against the motion just a day after it was filed. No reason was given, which was strange. Well, it turns out that the Associated Press actually messed up a story about themselves, as they issued a correction last night. It turns out that the motion struck down last week was an earlier attempt to unseal from the Summer. The timing appears coincidental.
Yesterday, we told you about a motion filed by the The Associated Press and other news organizations in Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker. Gawker had successfully sued the FBI to get them to release the records of their investigation, which looked into an attempt to extort Hogan using the videos of him having sex with Heather Clem. However, the judge in Hogan’s suit against Gawker, the Honorable Pamela Campbell, immediately sealed the records. Being that this is highly unusual and the federal court had already ruled that the file was public record, the AP and others were trying to get Judge Campbell to unseal it.
Well, Judge Campbell made up her mind pretty quickly. The Associated Press is reporting that the judge denied the motion just a day after it was filed. As of right now, those are the only details we really have, but if we get a copy of the order, we’ll keep you updated. As it stands right now, only Gawker’s lawyers are allowed access to the FBI records, with even Gawker founder Nick Denton locked out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLztVGd414
Hogan’s side had demanded an investigation when the transcript of his racist rant on one of the videos was leaked to The National Enquirer and Radar Online. Being that it was on one of the videos in question and the person of interest in the investigation (Los Angeles lawyer Keith Davidson) had also prepared transcripts, Hogan thinks Gawker’s lawyers leaked it. Gawker’s side insists that the transcripts had been floating around Tampa for years and didn’t have to come from them. The existence of the racist comments (but not the actual quotes) were first reported back in 2012.
Another wrench just got thrown in the private life of Hulk Hogan. Today, the Associated Press reported on a motion that they filed in Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker.
As you may recall, about three years ago, Gawker published an article about being sent one of the videos that shows Hogan engaged in sexual relations with Heather Clem. The videos were shot on the Clem family home security system without Hogan’s knowledge, and Gawker included a “highlight reel” of the video they were sent with the article.
Hogan sued Gawker right away, and Gawker later sued the FBI for the records of their investigation into Hogan being extorted by a third party over the videos. Gawker quickly won the FBI case, but the judge in the Hogan case ruled that the products of that investigation(including a video and transcript of Hogan’s racist rant) must be sealed. The AP and its fellow intervenors want the records unsealed.
Charles Tobin, who filed the motion, said that “It’s highly unusual for this much secrecy to surround a civil proceeding. Ordinarily, whether it’s a celebrity or an average citizen, once you ask the court to help solve a dispute you open the proceedings up to public review. What’s going on in Hulk Hogan’s case certainly is not the norm when it comes to public transparency of the courts.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRpnLCvRhkw
I’ve obtained a copy of the filing, and here’s what we can add on top of what the AP noted in their own report:
Joining the Associated Press in filing the intervening motion are First Look Media (The Intercept and Reported.ly), WFTS TV (a Tampa, FL TV station), WPTV TV (a West Palm Beach, FL TV station), Scripps Media (owns many local newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations), Journal Broadcast Group (a multimedia company that recently merged with Scripps), and the Tampa Bay Times.
The argument is, essentially, that the files were ruled public information in Gawker’s lawsuit against the FBI, and Florida’s own state laws err on the side of court records being incredibly open. But…
…even if there was a time where the sealing was warranted, the argument is that Hogan demanding an investigation into a potential leak means the records must go public because he put them at issue.
While none of the intervenors would be expected t publish the sex tapes if this action succeeded, it wouldn’t really matter since they’d be ruled public record and someone else would release them.
The “Magnificent” Don Muraco is the latest guest to appear on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, and they covered a large variety of topics in their conversation with him. At least a few of those have to do with current events in the wrestling business. Some of the highlights include:
His thoughts on Hulk Hogan’s post-coital racist rant going public:
Honestly, I was never a part of his clique so I don’t have a dog in the fight. I was never a part of his clique with the guys they used to fawn around him and kiss his ass for work and for bookings and for places on the card. He always seemed though to be one of the guys, kind of. Even though he wasn’t because he was “The Hulk”. He had the TV, the NBC, the movies and everyone coming after him. I never did see or saw him as a racist or a bigot or anything. He got caught. It was stupid for a guy that spends that much time talking publicly like we are talking now for a person that spends that much time being taped it was dumb and pretty insensitive. I don’t know if he was secretly being taped or what the story is but still with all the political correctness and stuff going down now you have to watch your p’s and q’s all the time.
Was he aware of the issues between Jimmy Snuka and Nancy Argentino at the time?
I was right there around it the whole time. It was the week after we shot the thing where he tore all my clothes off and I hit him with the microphone. The same night, it was the oddest coincidence. That same night Eddie Gilbert had run his brand new Lincoln Town-car off the back end of a semi-truck and got drug down the freeway and he called me in the middle of the night and that’s how I ended up crossing over with all of the State Troopers and everything else and that’s how I got involved but I could see my whole future going down the drain there for a while.
Has he talked to Snuka lately?
I was talking to him on the phone until he started having his medical issues. I haven’t spoken to him in a while. His wife wanted me to see him when I’m up in New Jersey and she wanted me to say hello to him and kind of perk up his spirits.
Where does he stand on the wrestlers suing WWE for negligence in treating concussions:
I would have to be more for the personal responsibility. Although we were getting run really hard. I don’t know, but I guess I would follow (Dan) Spivey where you have to take responsibility for yourself. I just saw a tape of Led Zeppelin doing Stairway to Heaven and Jimmy Page and the four of them and I think the girl from Heart was doing it too and they are all still surviving. So if Led Zeppelin is still going then a lot of wrestlers should be. I think though I have to agree with Danny Spivey and you have to take personal responsibility for yourself when it comes to addiction and taking care of your bread. We are all afforded the opportunity to make money and when you lose it and you are knocked off your high horse you want to blame somebody else.
In the full interview, Muraco talks about working for both Vince McMahons, his run with Hogan, “Fuji Vice” on Tuesday Night Titans, and more.
Frank launched JAPW in 1997 as a hardcore themed independent promotion where he was in the mix as part of top tag team NC-17. Early on, the promotion got a lot of attention when he made an elaborate prank call to the Howard Stern Show. Claiming to be an indie wrestler who had a “big match coming up against NC-17,” he said that he and friends who had been abused by their high school principal tracked him down and badly beat him. It was quickly determined to be a hoax, obviously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2eb_e2S-gg
JAPW took a turn in 2001. Thanks to local news coverage shining a spotlight on JAPW and rival Combat Zone Wrestling’s bloody, weapons-filled matches and New Jersey’s lack of pro wrestling regulation, the state legislature felt the need to take action. They banned “extreme wrestling,” which was defined as “an activity in which participants struggle hand-to-hand and cut, slash or strike each other or themselves with an implement to intentionally cause bleeding or perform any intentional act which could reasonably be expected to cause bleeding, primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft3AssT5b60
This led to a style change, and JAPW began to load up on the best local talent in addition to producing their own through their wrestling school. Wrestlers like Homicide, Low-Ki, and Da Hit Squad made JAPW their home promotion, and their school was churning out a steady stream of promising prospects. Most of them, like Dixie, Insane Dragon, Deranged, Tony Lazaro, and Rainchild eventually quit the business, but one, Jay Lethal, is currently the man that Ring of Honor is built around. On that note, JAPW wrestlers made up the nucleus of the early ROH roster, and it’s hard t imagine what ROH would look like if there was no JAPW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDzD9a1pEC0
Frank was usually the head booker, and JAPW featured some of the best show to show storytelling in indie wrestling. The episodic nature of the shows lessened over time, especially once they lost their own building (Charity Hall, a converted A&P supermarket in Bayonne that doubled as the wrestling school) and thus had to run less shows. Still, JAPW continued to hook fans in good storytelling. Most memorably, the feud between Homicide and Teddy Hart that kicked off the post-Charity Hall era.
Eventually, Frank developed a relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. It started with Jushin Thunder Liger appearing on JAPW shows and putting over Homicide, but eventually, it led to a JAPW-hosted “NJPW USA” tour of the northeast in 2011. Attendance was not bad per se, but it wasn’t enough to offset Frank’s costs. The timing just wasn’t quite right: Access to Japanese wrestling footage in the west was at an all-time low, and of the fans who were able t get anything, they were heavily concentrated in the United Kingdom. Three years later, with NJPW having added internet pay-per-views available worldwide, ROH was able to do great business for ROH/NJPW dual branded shows.
Since then, JAPW had only run about once a year. Their anniversary show on November 14th in Rahway was announced with a Rey Mysterio vs. Low-Ki dream match main event, and as of this writing, it’s not yet clear what’s going to happen to that event. Since Frank generally did have some kind of outside investor, it wouldn’t necessarily be a surprise if the show still goes on as a memorial show, but that’s purely speculation on my part.
JAPW was an irreplaceable part of the indie wrestling boom of the 2000s and none of it would happened without Frank Iadevaia. Rest in peace.
Coming out of this past Sunday’s WWE Night of Champions pay-per-view event, there was a throughline to the big news stories: Wrestler safety. On the undercard, we saw the latest in the series of recent fan run-ins/attacks on wrestlers, leading to the fan in question getting arrested. In the main event, Sting suffered some kind of neck injurytaking a turnbuckle powerbomb from Seth Rollins, and it was bad enough that they quickly went to the finish. On the surface, they’re separate problems, but the safety issue ties them together. WWE already appears to be increasing security to deal with unruly fans, so we’ll set that aside for today.
Sting’s injury gave me a lot of pause about both WWE using older wrestlers (especially in a main event position) and the type of moves they allow. Sting is in fantastic shape for a 56 year old man, but he’s still a 56 year old man. The buckle bomb, as Seth Rollins normally does it, is relatively safe, and it looks that way, too. Just look at how Rob Van Dam took it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPso908-68
The goal is to come down as parallel to the ring post as possible, the way Van Dam did. Personally, I always thought the move was kind dumb because of how obviously Rollins is trying to protect his opponent. If you want the move to look “good,” you do it the way guys like Ricky Marvin did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2u7oWHdV24
Of course, that’s clearly many orders of magnitude more dangerous than the way Rollins usually does it. If there’s no real middle ground and the safer version looks ineffectual, why do it in the first place?
Sunday at Night of Champions, Sting hit the turnbuckles much more folded over than Van Dam did in the first example. This type of newer spot that uses the areas of the ring you’r not supposed to bump on require incredible body control and timing ven by pro wrestling standards. If I had to hazard a guess, maybe a 56 year old man who barely wrestles anymore doesn’t have the reflexes to ever take the buckle bomb correctly. That’s nothing against Rollins, and he could very well have done everything on his end correctly, but my gut is that whoever produced the match for them should have nixed that spot. Maybe it was just a miscommunication and Sting could hav taken it safely, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Eo-rpv4gfA
Sting’s injury reminded me of how a couple months ago at Battleground, for whatever reason, the show was full f wrestlers taking bumps on the ring apron. Apron bumps were popularized on the independent scene in the IWS promotion in Quebec where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn first made a name for themselves. The whole point is that everyone knows it’s legitimately unsafe (again, but relative standards) to bump on the apron because of the lack of give. It’s just a cheap pop, especially when it happens repeatedly on the same card, and Battleground showed a surprising lack of continuity in WWE when it came to limiting those spots. Like with a man nearing his 60s taking a buckle bomb, it’s hard to believe it happened.
Of course, there’s also the question of whether or not someone Sting’s age should even be taking bumps, doing dives etc. I hesitate to say they shouldn’t wrestle at all because you can work a simple, safe match, but Sting being expected to work a 2015 WWE main event style match with modern indie influences was not smart. He’s a beloved legend who still looks really athletic doing his trademark spots and should not have been put in that position when something safer would have sufficed.
After thinking about it for a few days, my gut says WWE needs to b more diligent about cutting guys off and not letting them wrestle past a certain age. Jerry Lawler was, by all appearances, an ageless freak of nature who could wrestle forever until his heart stopped right after a match on Raw. Ricky Steamboat suffered a brain bleed much worse than most fans realized after the 2010 angle where the Nexus attacked him. Hulk Hogan, who has no business taking a bump these days, took one on the floor at WrestleMania, though he may have gone into business for himself on that spot.
And that’s is really part of the problem: You can’t guarantee that they’ll agree to work a restricted style while they’re amped up in the ring. WWE has been pretty careful as of late with how they’ve used older wrestlers, but they’re in a business where they can never be too careful.
Akira Hokuto(real name Hisako Sasaki), best known in the west as the only WCW Women’s Champion, announced on her blog (Japanese) that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Mainstream Japanese sites like Huffington Post Japan have picked up the story. No real proper translation has shown up yet, so some of the details are still vague, but what’s clear is that doctors have discovered a malignant tumor in her right breast and she’s going to be undergoing surgery. The details lost in translation are just how major the surgery is (removing the tumor vs. removing the entire breast or both breasts).
In Japan, there are cultural taboos and superstition when it comes to talking about cancer. When past Japanese wrestling superstars, like Giant Baba, had cancer, it was kept quiet. When Baba passed away, it was reported as being from “internal organ disease,” Hokuto is a huge mainstream television star in Japan, regularly appearing on talk shows, variety shows, travel shows, etc. She has enough of a media presence that speaking openly about her battle with cancer (and especially breast cancer) could legitimately have a pretty big cultural impact.
Hokuto is usually considered, at worst, on of the five greatest female workers of all time. Under her real (maiden) name of Hisako Uno, she was being groomed for stardom by the All Japan Women promotion in the late ’80s when she broke her neck taking a second rope tombstone piledriver in the first fall of a best two out of three falls match. Somehow, she finished the match, which was the beginning of her well-earned reputation for toughness and working through injuries. She returned as “Dangerous Queen” Akira Hokuto and made her mark one of the very best in the world regardless of gender throughout the ’90s and into the early aughts.
If you thought that the recent string of fans hitting the ring during matches involving former Shield members Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose was an angle, we can now be pretty certain it wasn’t. Today, PWInsider.com reported that the fan who jumped the rail and ran in the ring as Reigns and Ambrose uneviled mystery partner Chris Jericho at Night of Champions has not only been charged, but will be doing some jail time.
Oscar Ramirez, a 37 year old fan from Houston, Texas, was dressed in Shield attire and started posing before he was quickly removed by security and arrested. He was charged with criminal trespass of a property or building with no forced entry. Within hours, Ramirez entered a guilty plea and will serve 10 days in jail. If found guilty at a trial, he could have been sentenced to six months behind bars.
Until the fan was identified, the incident was used by a few fans as proof that the whole series of incidents had been a work. At least in the screenshots of his brief on-camera appearance, he had more than a passing resemblance to NXT referee and former independent wrestler Drake “Drake Younger” Wuertz. This caused Drake t take to Twitter to make it clear that he had not appeared on the pay-per-view:
The website for the Toronto International Film Festival has an entry from a new wrestling-related movie titled “Bleak Street” or “La Calle De La Amargura.” It premiered at the festival last week. The movieis based on the 2009 murders of Alberto and Alejandro Jiménez, a pair of brothers and mini luchadores best known as La Parkita (mini La Parka) and Espectrito Jr. Women posing as prostitutes lured them to a hotel room where they drugged the brothers’ drinks and intended to rob them while they were unconscious. Not accounting for their size relative to the men they normally targeted, the men overdosed and died. Police tracked down the two women, who were convicted a year later and each sentenced to 47 years in prison.
The film festival’s site summarizes the plot as follows:
The 2009 deaths of fraternal wrestlers La Parkita and Espectrito Jr. made headlines all over Mexico. These miniluchadores — little people who function as mascots for their hulking counterparts — were drugged by two women in a Cuauhtémoc hotel. The women only meant to knock out the brothers and take their money, but the doses were misjudged, and the robbery turned into murder.
As reimagined by scenarist Paz Alicia Garciadiego, Ripstein’s wife and long-time collaborator, this sensationalistic news item becomes a platform for a series of engrossing character studies through which we get to know the brothers and their two killers. Sketching the events just before and after that fateful night in the hotel, the film conducts a wry examination of Mexico City’s marginalized, whether they be exploited entertainers with threadbare costumes or aging sex workers trying to earn enough to support their dependents.
The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the movie after the Venice Film Festival, lauding the cinematography but not necessarily the character building in th writing.
“As many of you may already know, Sting is undergoing treatment for the injuries he sustained in last night’s match with Seth Rollins. Doctors will continue to evaluate his condition, but he is a man of remarkable health and resiliency, especially at his age and with all he’s endured throughout his stellar career. Therefore, we are optimistic he will have a speedy recovery and return to full health soon. Sting has kept his body in excellent shape, due largely to the guidance he’s received from his personal trainer Jeff Cavaliere (ATHLEAN-X), and we trust this will prove beneficial to the recovery process. As a side note, we later learned the greatest damage to his body took place before the match was over, but being the true professional he is and among the hardest workers to ever step foot in the ring, he insisted to see the match through to the end.
-Steve Martinez”
Last night, during the Sting vs. Seth Rollins main event, Rollins gave Sting the Buckle Bomb and Sting appeared to not take the bump as straight as he should. THe match was stopped briefly but Sting got his wind back and they soon went to the finish, with Rollins getting the pin by countering the Scorpion Deathlock into a cradle.
According to TMZ, Sting underwent a CAT scan at the hospital Sunday and thankfully there were no fractures. Sting was released Monday afternoon and is on his way home. He’s able to walk but is in significant pain. TMZ’s headline reads, “Full Recovery Uncertain.”
WWE Night of Champions may see a major return tonight according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider. He’s reporting that Kane is backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the arena housing tonight’s pay-per-view. Kane has been out of action since the July 13th edition of Monday Night Raw at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. That was the show where Brock Lesnar dropped the steps on his ankle and Seth Rollins then stomped on it to turn Kane babyface.
During Kane’s last few weeks on TV, they made a point of having Paul Heyman repeatedly refer to him as “The Undertaker’s baby brother.” That seemed like foreshadowing that Kane and The Undertaker would reunite soon, though with Undertaker still programed with Brock Lesnar exclusively, that seems less likely right now.
While he was away, Glenn “Kane” Jacobs was filming the WWE Studios film “6:42,” which is the same movie that Dolph Ziggler was filming during his most recent hiatus. WWE.com describes the plot of the movie as follows:
Ray Fitzpatrick (WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler) is a tough as nails narcotics cop working the beat in Los Angeles. After a drug bust goes wrong, Ray is forced to shoot his own partner, leading to his suspension from the police force. Before you know it, Ray is dragged right back into the thick of it when a mysterious package arrives at the station addressed to him.
The package leads Ray and his colleagues to an encrypted website where an unidentified kidnapper broadcasts a threat to Ray and the entire police force. The kidnapper, it turns out, is holding a young boy hostage and unless the police department can come up with a $2 million ransom, he’ll set off a time-bomb strapped to the child’s chest.
The department, led by Lt. Cronin (WWE Superstar Kane) comes up with the payoff and Ray is tasked as the bagman. When the handover goes down, Ray is forced to shoot and kill the kidnapper before he can set off the bomb and kill the child.
With 6 hours and 42 minutes left before the timed explosive detonates, Ray and Internal Affairs agent Julia Baker (Katharine Isabelle from “See No Evil 2”) race against time to find the now deceased kidnapper’s hidden lair and save the child before it’s too late.
THe Pretty Boy Killers defeated The Washington Bullets in the dark match.
Episode #1
Matt Sydal defeated ACH via Shooting Star press to tie their best of five series at two wins apiece. After the match, The Addiction attacked both men, but The All Night Express made the save to set up a new program between the two teams.
Silas Young lead the Real man training with the Beer City Bruiser with the Boys
Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser def Boys with Misery
Jay Lethal defeated Watanabe to retain the ROH Television Championship with the Lethal Injection after hitting a low blow while Truth Martini ran interference.
Episode #2
All Night Express defeated The Addiction.
Michael Elgin and reDRagon issued a challenge to the Kingdom who then cut a promo on them.
Jay Briscoe def eated Adam Page in a no disqualification match with a Jay Driller through a table.
Episode #3
Moose defeated Donovan Dijak
Dalton Castle and Cedric Alexander got into some kind of of skirmish,.
Cedric Alexander defeated Dalton Castle. After the match, Veda Scott complained about unsafe working conditions and announced that she and Cedric were suing ROH
Jay Lethal and Truth Martini cut a promo that led to Nigel McGuinness naming Roderick strong the number one contender to the television title.
reDRagon and Michael Elgin defeated The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Mike Bennett, and Matt Taven) after reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Bennett. Cole laid out his opponents after the match. Kingdom laid out Kyle O’Reilly. O’Reilly challenged Cole for a match that night. This all led to McGuinness booking the next week’s main event.
Episode #4
The Young Bucks defeated The Boys.
Mark Briscoe and B.J. Whitmer got into it.
Roderick Strong defeated Will Ferrara by submission with the Stronghold.
Adam Cole defeated Kyle O’Reilly and A.J. Styles in a triple threat match.There was a big brawl with all of the stablemates with the Bullet Club coming out on top.
All week, there’s been a noticeable pattern in Donald Trump coverage from mainstream and semi-mainstream media: Linking his theatrics and showmanship on the presidential campaign trail to the theatrics of pro wrestling. As you may remember, Trump has been involved with WWE on and off for over a quarter century, first by paying a site fee to host WrestleMania IV and V and his Atlantic City casino. In 2007, putting his hair against Vince McMahon’s at WrestleMania 23 led to the most bought WrestleMania worldwide in traditional pay-per-view history. Later, he did a brief angle where he bought the Raw brand and finally went into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
The latest link comes from TMZ, who talked to Virgil of all people about Trump. They wrote that he said “he met Donald at WWE events in the ’80s and ’90s, and claims the business mogul picked his brain for tips on being a great showman.” TMZ also quoted him directly as saying that “People like the spectacle. People want to see confidence. He is confident just like a wrestler. […] All people want to know is that they can pay the bills and live a good life. They want confidence they can eat.”
Trump got in on it himself after CNN’s Republican debate Thursday, saying that “Vince McMahon would’ve loved it, because that was a WWE kind of a thing, Actually a couple of them came up and they said, ‘you know what Donald—can I hit you so that I can get a little bit more time?’’ Because some of these guys, I felt badly—a lot of them are friends of mine and they got, they got no air time last night.”
Back on Monday, Judd Legum of ThinkProgress tried to figure out Trump’s theatrics by putting them in the context of French philosopher Roland Barthes’ famous essay about pro wrestling. He cited quotes like this one:
It is obvious that at such a pitch, it no longer matters whether the passion is genuine or not. What the public wants is the image of passion, not passion itself. There is no more a problem of truth in wrestling than in the theater.
Given the type of statements and bombast that are getting Trump attention, this probably won’t end any time soon.
Time for live coverage of CMLL’s biggest show of the year, which is streaming live at CMLL.Cleeng.com with no VOD replays.
Esfinge, Fuego ,& The Panther vs. Disturbio, Puma King, &Virus
Virus’s rudo team won by taking the second and third falls. Really good, smooth opener with lots of cool flying and exchanges. As always, Virus is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world holding everything together. Nice way to start the show since everyone looked good and they didn’t do too much.
Guerrero Maya Jr., Maximo, & Stuka Jr. vs. Dragon Rojo, Polvora, & Rey Escorpion
The rudos (Dragon/Polvora/Escorpion) won the first fall after Stuka Jr. missed a moonsault and Maya got dropped with a second rope Dominator. Technicos took over with a dive train in the second fall, with Stuka hitting a top rope splash while Maya hit a tope. Maximo kissed Escorpion (and made a big show of making it look like he was using tongue) to get a roll-up pin. Third fall went back and forth and they slowed it down a bit to make the finishing stretch more spectacular. Stuka did what can only be described as a reverse pencil dive over the post while Maya did a somersault tope, but Escorpion dodged a Maximo kiss and hit a package piledriver for the win.
Don’t ask why that’s not a DQ. Sometimes they’ll introduce new moves for heels that aren’t “officially” illegal “martinete” piledrivers.
Two rudo wins in a ow so far.
Dark Angel vs. Princesa Sugehit in Dark Angel’s last match before starting as a WWE coach
This is up now. Being Angel’s last match they’ve probably got something special in mind.
Lots of chain wrestling to start followed by some cools spots where they each tried to feint openings and set traps for each other running the ropes. Slower build than the other matches so far. After some exchanges on the ramp, the first really big spot was Angel crashing and burning on the floor after Sugehit dodged a tope. Angel won a very good one fall match with the Reinera submission (think a torture rack but around her back) for the win. Ceremony was pretty low key but nice.
Dragon Lee, Mistico II, & Valiente vs. Negro Casas, Felino, & Mr. Niebla
This is the super flashy high flying technico team against the veteran rudos, with Casas (who I’m pretty sure hasn’t aged since 1996) and Felino being brothers. Rudos win the first fall quickly when Niebla put Mistico in La Neblina, the submission hold where he ties you in a knot and poses.
Please don’t ask about Kemonito (the dwarf in the blue monkey costume). He’s impossible to explain quickly.
Technicos won the second fall when Mistico pinned Casas with La Casita (his own move, basically the same as La Magistral) and Lee hit a facebreaker out of a tombstone setup. Yes, hardcore lucha fans or more sick of the rushed first two falls than you are.
Crazy triple dive (Valiente does a moonsault as the other two do somersault dives) hit perfectly by the technico team in the third fall. Their timing on that spot is ridiculous. Speaking of which, Casas’s timing, speed, and reflexes are unreal for a guy in his mid 50s, and he took his trademark bump over the top rope to the floor perfectly. Lee eliminated Casas with a tree of woe double foot stomp and then Mistico submitted Niebla with La Mistica for the win. Really, really good match.
Shocker, Volador Jr., & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Marco Corleone, Rush, & Thunder
Entrances for this on now. Corleone may be familiar t newbies, as he’s the former Mark Jindrak. Thunder is a tall, jacked Australian who the promotion is really high on even though he’s not exactly good. Rush is the one to watch for new viewers, like a younger version of Negro Casas. Yes, he uses Chris Benoit’s old music.
First fall ends with Marco hitting Aire Italia (running dive from the ramp over the top rope into the ring) as Thunder hit a top rope splash. In theory. Thunder was late.
Second fall was fun. Corleon accidentally hit Thunder with Aire Italia, so Guerrero capitalized and hit a delayed suplex on Thunder (legitimately really impressive) while Shocker hit a top rope elbw drop.to take the fall. Volador also hit his plancha off the screen onto Rush, which always looks crazy.
Guerrero is tremendous at carrying Thunder and hit an awesome looking running flying clothesline off the ramp. Thunder is still super green to the point Guerrero had to very obviously jump into his arms for a Randy Orton style quick turning powerslam. Another great flying clothesline by Guerrero, this time diving over the barricade into the crowd.
Finish saw Rush hip toss the referee (Tirantes) and then kick him in the head. Tirantes got up, helped Volador dump Rush out of the ring, and raised Volador hand for a win by DQ. Crowd enjoyed the finish. Rush and Volador seemingly agreed to a hair vs. hair match during the post-match mic work. Good match, crowd was really hot for it, and the intensity was at a level above everything else so far.
CMLL’s Edecanes (ring girls) out to dance in glow in the dark bikinis before the main event.
Atlantis vs. La Sombra (Mask vs. Mask)
Just how much jeopardy is Atlantis’s legendary mask in?
Atlantis is bumping like he knows this is his last big match.He physically looks great so far. Atlantis wins the first fall by DQ when Rush (Sombra’s second) pulled the referee out of the ring to stop a pin attempt.Volador ran in to fight him, and both were ejected to the back.
Sombra takes the second with schoolboy rollup into a deadlift into a sort of a powerbomb. Alright, time for la tercera caida!
Crowd getting super hot but clearly can tell they haven’t peaked for a finish yet. Awesme spot where Atlantis sends Sombra over the rail and then hit a running tope on the floor from ringside into the crowd. Atlantis hit a gorgeous top rope plancha that they got great camera angles on. GREAT near fall with Sombra countering La Atlantida into his schoolboy powerbomb. They teased Sombra winning with a foul while the ref was bumped, but Atlantis blocked it and hit multiple quebradoras (tilt a whirl backbreakers).Ramping up with bigger moves including a German superplex near fall for Atlantis.
RUSH RUNS OUT TO DISTRACT THE REF WHILE SOMBRA IS IN LA ATLANTIDA. Oh my. Sombra goes for a tombstone, ref stops him, Atlantis gets La Atlantida, drops to his knees, and that’s it! Great match, great drama with some clever teases, but the crowd didn’t sound like it believed Atlantis’s mask was in as much jeopardy as it was last year.
Time to meet the man behind La Sombra. They showed his family crying in the crowd, and he made a lat ditch effort to escape with Rush as his bodyguard. Eventually he unmasks and puts over Atlantis as a legend. The ring announcer reveals that La Sombra is Manuel Alfonso Andrade from Gomez Palacio Durango, and 25 year-old with 11 years as a pro. Sounded like they said this was Atlantis’s 29th mask to add to his collection.
Really strong show with a great, emotional main event and post-match. CMLL fund a way to put this up without a paywall so you’ll probably get plenty of chances to see this online if you missed it.This right here is pro wrestling:
According to ShowBuzzDaily.com‘s cable rating chart for last night, this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown on Syfy was seen by 2,083,000 viewers. James Caldwell at PWTorch.com noted that they’ve averaged 2,476,000 so far this year on Thursday nights, which is down from a 2,700,000 average on Fridays last year. The results for last night’s show were:
Naomi and Sasha Banks defeated Paige and Becky Lynch.
Big Show defeated Cesaro with the knockout punch.
Kevin Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler after Rusev interfered.
Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeated Sheamus and Seth Rollins.
The show also featured “Bellabration” segments with Team Bella and a New Day “Save the Tables” segment that the Dudleys interrupted. Next week’s show will b taped Tuesday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Tonight kicks off one of the most loaded non-WrestleMania weekends in recent memory. If you include MMA, there are a whopping three major shows tonight (CMLL, ROH, and World Series of Fighting), one tomorrow night (Bellator MMA’s first annual “Dynamite” event), and then WWE Night of Champions on Sunday. Being English language products, you probably know all you want to know about most of them, but not the CMLL show (available live for $10 U.S. at CMLL.Cleeng.com)…even though it may very well go down historically as the biggest of the weekend.
The show is being headlined by Atlantis vs. La Sombra in a mask vs. mask match, the highest stakes in all of lucha libre. Sombra is one of CMLL’s top younger stars, while Atlantis is the longest tenured and most beloved legends. He’s headlined more anniversary shows than anyone other than El Santo, the biggest and most revered star in lucha libre history, and was responsible for the last two years’ shows drawing the biggest gates in the history of Mexican wrestling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePqN8RvEX04
Last year, he defeated former partner and long-time rival Ultimo Guerrero to take his mask. As big a moment as Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania win streak was, it couldn’t touch the mask match for overall emotion.
This year’s main event doesn’t have the years-long build of last year’s, and was hastily thrown together to draw another huge house, but the result is incredibly difficult to predict. At 52, Atlantis doesn’t exactly have much time left in his career, but at 25, La Sombra has enough time ahead of him that he could easily overhaul his image. Atlantis losing is a very real possibility, and that is what makes this a must-watch; it’s the type of wrestling history that comes along very rarely.
He’s successfully defended the mask at least (records in Mexico are often sketchy) 17 times since 1984, when he won the mask of Talisman in the anniversary show main event as a rookie. There are very few masks of this stature left to be won that have any real prospects of actually happening. It’s hard to find a close American equivalent, but The Undertaker’s streak is the easiest comparison to understand.
With such a big main event, CMLL hasn’t really stacked the undercard, though there is one big match that ties into WWE news. Dark Angel, real nam Sarah Stock, is leaving CMLL after this show to take a coaching job at the WWE Performance Center. She’s effectively replacing Sara Amato (the former Sara Del Rey), who’s moving to a full time main roster producer/trainer position. Stock was so popular on smaller shows that CMLL gave her a shot when they weren’t booking women regularly, and she impressed so much that the luchadoras have become a company fixture. She’ll be facing Princesa Sugey, a long-time rival.
If you weren’t happy with the wrestling on the AAA TripleMania pay-per-view recently, don’t let that keep you from checking out this show. CMLL and AAA are very different, with AAA being more reliant on run-ins and the like, while CMLL much more old-school, sometimes to a fault. Their cards are generally a mix of more traditional lucha libre and high flying with the likes of the current Mistico (the one who replaced the man who became the original Sin Cara and is now Myzteziz in AAA) who do some of the best high flying in the world. Of the veterans, most can still go, especially Negro Casas. The style will look weird, idiosyncratic, and sometimes overly cooperative if you’re not familiar with it, but once you get used to it, you realize that great lucha libre is the best type of wrestling.
As far as rules and other things to keep in mind to understand the in-match storylines, here’s what you need to know:
All matches are best two out of three falls unless otherwise specified (“a una caida”).
Trios matches are captain’s fall rules: To win a fall, you must pin the captain or both of his partners.
In all tag team matches, tags are not required. You can jump in as soon as your partner hits the floor.
Piledrivers (“el martinete’), low blows (usually referred to as “fouls”), and removing the mask of an opponent are the most common rule violations. Piledriver variations are protected as the most dangerous moves in all of lucha libre.
Submissions are, in a way, treated more like they would be in a shoot: The struggle is about not getting into the hold as opposed to being put in a hold and teasing rope escapes, counters, etc. While tap outs happen in lucha libre, you’re more likely to see the submitting wrestler wave his hands with the signal to the fans being the referee waving his arms to end the fall/match.
A lot of the exchanges are based on one-upmanship, both on the mat and when exchanging flying moves. Take that into account in terms of understanding how the psychology differs from American and Japanese style pro wrestling.
Atlantis’s finisher is La Atlantida, a variation of the Human Torture Rack/Argentine Backbreaker. Last year, the way he beat Ultimo Guerrero was a callback to his most famous mask win, his one fall victory over Villano III in 2000: Getting him in the hold, then dropping to his knees to “add leverage.” If that happens, he’s probably about to win.
The internet PPV of the anniversary show won’t be saved as an on demand stream or download, so if you’re trying to choose between CMLL and ROH, choose CMLL: You might witness some once in a lifetime wrestling history.
Alberto Del Rio, currently known as Alberto El Patron in AAA, is on a media tour to promote the new Combate Americas MMA promotion which he’ll be doing commentary for on NBC Universo (formerly mun2). Along the way, he gave an interview to Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden in which he spoke of various topics, including the somewhat controversial one of voluntarily unmasking when he signed with WWE. Del Rio is a second generation wrestler, the son of the legendary Dos Caras and nephew of not only Mil Mascaras, but also El Sicodelico. He was carrying on his father’s legacy as Dos Caras Jr. when he signed with WWE. Snowden asked him about making the change, and here’s what he had to say:
In Mexico we see the business in a different way. But when I moved here to the States and started to work for WWE, I saw quickly the differences between one place and the other.
Here you have to be able to communicate, to tell the audience what you are feeling, your emotions. If you’re feeling pain, if you’re happy, if you’re frustrated. It helps you sell your character even better.
As far what his father and uncles thought, he said:
They did approve my decision. Before doing it, before removing the mask, I asked them. Especially my dad. I asked my dad if he was good with the idea of me doing that. Because if he would have disagreed, I wouldn’t have done it. Ever.
All my decisions are based on what my father says, because he has been with me since the beginning of my career. The beginning of my life. For me, it’s really important what my dad has to say.
When I asked him, he was totally cool with the idea. He said “You belong with the most important wrestling company in the world. And removing the mask is going to take you to the place where you deserve to be. So be it.”
I did it and the rest is history.
In the full interview, Del Rio talks about his MMA career (where he usually wore his mask!), working for Combate Americas, CM Punk’s MMA prospects, and more.