John Cena is not the only former champion who is ending his multi-decade wrestling career in 2025 as former TNA star Homicide has confirmed his retirement as well.
The former TNA X-Division champion recently spoke to the Counted Out podcast and discussed his recent health struggles. During the interview, the wrestling veteran noted that even his close friends are urging him to call it a career now and explained that his current work is his retirement tour:
“This is my tour if you want to call that. My end days physical, yeah, I’m done because my life is more important. My health is more important. I got a daughter. I need to pick her up and right now I’m not feeling good. So I need to end it and be a full-time producer.”
Making his in-ring debut in 1994, Homicide has been active in the business for over 3 decades now. During this time, he has had runs with promotions such as ROH and NJPW, wrestling legendary names such as Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and more.
He is probably best known for being part of the TNA roster during the company’s rise to prominence from 2005 to 2010. He was part of a tag team with Hernandez in the promotion and the duo had multiple tag title reigns during this time.
The 47-year-old has been wrestling for GCW, ROH and New Japan in recent months and he has also been working behind the scene with NWA.
Ring of Honor veteran Homicide has expressed his gratitude and excitement following his recent return to the promotion after several years away. The former ROH World Champion teamed up with Rocky Romero on a recent episode of ROH TV to secure a victory over QT Marshall and Aaron Solo.
When Ring of Honor’s camera crew caught up with Homicide, the wrestling veteran reflected on his return.
“It’s a blessing. It’s overwhelming. I’m teaming with my boy, we’ve got The Rottweilers back… I came back home.”
Homicide also highlighted his pivotal role in ROH’s history, reminding fans of his contributions alongside some of the promotion’s other iconic names:
“I built this company way back in the days. Everyone talking about Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, my buddy Phil from Chicago [CM Punk] but that’s a different story. But I built this. I brought the violence in this company!”
EXCLUSIVE: Homicide speaks candidly about the beginnings of Ring of Honor and what it means to be back with The Rottweilers stable mate from 2004 @azucarRocpic.twitter.com/HjYsHtmnB3
Homicide’s return marks his first appearance in ROH since his match at Final Battle 2021, which was the last event before Tony Khan acquired the promotion in early 2022. His illustrious career in ROH includes ending Bryan Danielson’s legendary 14-month reign as World Champion in 2006.
Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest on Homicide now that he is once again a part of Ring of Honor.
Posted December 27th, 2024 in ROH. Tagged: Homicide.
NWA premiered their new season of NWA Powerrr on Mar. 22 at Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
The main event saw the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide defend the title against Austin Aries. The latest episode also had the OGK challenge The Briscoes in a tag team non-title match. The episode is available on video on demand on FITE and will premiere on Youtube on Friday.
Just days after winning the NWA World's Junior Heavyweight Title, Homicide must defend it against a HUGE challenge in @AustinAries!
Will Homicide's reign be cut short?
Find out tonight on #NWAPowerrr on NWA ALL ACCESS. ONLY on @FiteTV
Matt Cardona started the program with Mike Knox and VSK to recap the Crockett Cup. He refutes that he tapped to Nick Aldis and said that a rematch would not happen. He ends by saying that he and his faction are the saviors of the NWA.
The Briscoes defeated OGK
NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebellion did a backstage promo. During the promo, they teased a potential feud with The Briscoes.
Trevor Murdoch defeated Brett Buffshay
After the match, Murdoch cut a heel promo and promised if NWA continues to feed him hacks, the blood will be on their hands, not his.
The NWA showed a taped backstage promo with Nick Aldis and Mickie James talking about the finish at The Crockett Cup Night 2. Aldis declares that the feud with Cardona isn’t over.
Tyrus and Austin Idol cut a promo and makes a challenge that if anyone bodyslam Tyrus they will get an opportunity to challenge for the NWA Television Championship.
The Hex defeated Paola Blaze and Jennacide with Taryn Terrell to retain the NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship. Blaze and Jennacide split up after the match.
Thom Latimar and Kamille cut a promo. Latimar shared that he ended his relationship with Chris Adonis. Kamille called Adonis “dead weight.”
Homicide defeated Austin Aries to retain the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
The commentators congratulated Homicide to end the show.
GCW presented The Wrld on GCW Sunday night live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York.
Here are the results:
GCW Tag Team Championship Match – Matt Tremont and Nick Gage b. The Briscoes (c) – NEW CHAMPIONS
GCW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) b. Homicide – Moxley took the win after hitting the Deathrider on a chair
Jeff Jarrett b. EFFY – Jarrett took the win after hitting Effy with a guitar and then the Stroke
Ruby Soho b. Allie Katch – The crowd were not happy that Allie lost
Matt Cardona w/ Chelsea Green b. Joey Janela – Cardona hit a Ruff Rider through a door after a million people interfered including Marko Stunt, Hornswoggle, Virgil, Brian Myers and X-Pac
Blake Christian b. Lio Rush – Christian took the win after hitting the 450 footstomp. Jonathan Gresham had to be replaced due to a medical precaution
Gringo Loco, Flamita & Arez b. Bandido, ASF & Laredo Kid – Gringo Loco took the win after hitting a Gotch style piledriver on ASF
Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match: AJ Gray b. Jordan Oliver vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Alex Colon vs. Lio Rush vs. PCO vs Tony Deppen – Gray was a last minute addition to the match after Eddie Kingston was unable to make the event and their match was cancelled
PBR Kickoff Scramble: Grim Reefer b. Jack Cartwheel vs. Dante Leon vs. Ninja Mack vs. Nick Wayne vs. Alex Zayne (Kickoff Show)
PBR Kickoff Battle Royal (Kickoff Show): Big Vin won after eliminating Charles Mason
Jon Moxley is back. Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) has announced Mox is ready to handle business inside the ring again.
Moxley will put his GCW World Championship on the line against Homicide. The match will headline THE WRLD ON GCW, the company’s upcoming show from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City (Jan. 23).
This is encouraging news and hopefully means that Moxley’s health is in a better place than it was when he took a hiatus from wrestling back in November.
The WRLD ON GCW card also features:
Janela vs Cardona
Allie vs Ruby
Gresham vs Blake
Team Bandido vs Team Gringo
Jon Moxley’s Hiatus
Moxley has been away from the wrestling business as he checked himself into an alcohol treatment program. The announcement was made by AEW boss Tony Khan back in early November.
“Jon Moxley has allowed me to share with you that he is entering an inpatient alcohol treatment program,” Khan said. “Jon is a beloved member of the AEW family. We all stand with him and Renee, and all of his family and friends, as he shifts his focus to recovery.”
“Jon is making a very brave choice to get help, and we’re embracing his choice and supporting him however we can.”
The former AEW and WWE Champion had been promoting his book titled, “MOX.” He planned to go on tour but this matter was simply more important.
Former TNA and ROH star Homicide made his AEW debut during tonight’s Rampage tapings after AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam special.
The special 2-hour long Rampage episode dubbed Rampage: Grand Slam featured a lights-out tag team match between the teams of Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston and Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer.
Towards the ending of this main event bout on Rampage, the opponents handcuffed Mox and started hitting him with a trash can lid and kendo sticks. This is when the former TNA star made his debut.
Homicide came out to help Moxley and he freed the former AEW champion from the handcuffs. Kingston then placed a trash can over the head of Archer. Eddie Kingston proceeded to hit Archer’s head with a kendo stick over a dozen times.
He then pinned Lance Archer to pick up the victory for his team. The trio of Homicide, Kingston, and Moxley celebrated in the ring after the match was over.
Hometown star Eddie Kingston also cut a promo and claimed that New York is now AEW’s town. Making his pro wrestling debut in 1993, Homicide has a history with Kingston. The two were part of the LAX faction during their time in TNA.
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.
Former ROH Champion Homicide spoke to to John and Chad of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling this week to give his take on his last Impact Wrestling run and what went wrong with the BDC. He also takes us all on a journey back to his intense rivalry in ROH with Steve Corino as well as the CZW vs. ROH feud which culminated in a huge POP that nearly blew up Ring of Honor. We also find out from Homicide how he aspires to be a trainer of the stars of the future and how he feels that he can offer a lot to WWE NXT from a coaching capacity. Here are the highlights:
Becoming a trainer post retirement and his next run being his last: “I think I would bring back what professional wrestling was supposed to be like. I know it’s sports entertainment and it’s about marketing and I would bring none of the cookie cutter, I would bring realistic out there and people could say I don’t know if this is real or fake. When I trained I trained like the way Fit Finally and Steven Regal wrestled, but I don’t do none of that stuff on TV or on the Independents. But now it’s different as I make my comeback, I’m changing my style. But I would teach them to be aggressive, to have guts and not to quit and just be the best. I’ve got so much knowledge and so many ideas that I could bring. I’ve been telling people on the Independents to look for the hard camera and not just look to the left or the right, there’s a reason why. It’s little things like that and I think I’m good with it and I’m very confident that I could be one of those big time scouts, agents or whatever. I’m going to be one of those guys in the future. First I’m going to have my last run and my comeback and then afterwards I am going to go behind the scenes.”
What went wrong with TNA and how did it change over the time: “The first time I went there it was pretty awesome. The staff, the camera crews and the people who write the books but when Hogan and Eric Bischoff came in everything just changed. I was one of those guys that was like when if you’ve ever seen the old Dave Chappelle sketch “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong” well I was one of those guys who kept it real but sometimes in professional wrestling, especially corporate wrestling you need to play the games. Meaning sometimes you have to be quiet and sometimes you need to not say things. I would just outburst and didn’t care. I didnt care if I got fired. But when I did get released it felt like freedom and like I was a slave, almost because when Hogan and Eric Bischoff came in it was like everthing was different and a lot of people were scared of losing their jobs. When I got released it was like I got woken up I had people like The Dudley Boyz, Konnan and my teacher Manny Fernandez teaching me about the game about corporate wrestling and how it really is. I look back and say maybe I made a mistake just going out there and I didn’t care. Now, I am getting older and the way the wrestling industry is right now you need to keep you job and you’ve got to be quiet and just have to play along.”
Has he heard from TNA since his last run: “I’ve got respect for TNA. Even though if they are doing bad because I don’t hear anything from them anymore. If they are doing good or bad, I’ve got respect for them because I had a lot of fun with those guys.”
The BDC (The Beat Down Clan) and the calamity that led to the end of the group: “Me and MVP and Low Ki go way back. We love the Wu Tang Clan, the Japanese culture of wrestling even anything Jiu-Jitsu. I made a joke and said we were like the Wu Tang Clan of pro wrestling and that joke became something. Myself, Samoa Joe, MVP and Low Ki just got together with the blue print of it and we knew we were different and we spoke to the management of TNA. Suddenly things were not going well. I got injured, I had a bad shoulder since my Ring of Honor days. Then Samoa Joe had the “guys from Connecticut”. The WWE was looking at him and they gave him a great offer. So, so many things just came out. When things got a little more hectic we had our good friend Kenny King (who I think is the most underrated wrestler right now) and we brought my former LAX partner Hernandez from Lucha Underground coming back to TNA and still things didn’t go very well so we just broke it off. But we feel in spirit that we are the Beat Down Clan inside the locker room of course. But we wanted to make this bigger and so big that we would go to Japan and face The Bullet Club because that is the hottest faction right now in Pro Wrestling.”
A dream feud of The BDC vs. The Bullet Club and who would Homicide love to face: “I love AJ Styles, I faced AJ Styles so many times and actually him with Christopher Daniels had great feuds with LAX. The Young Bucks are guys that are just keeping it real and I love them. But, I would say Tonga, the face paint, I know his brother and I actually trained with him at the Dudleys school in Kissimmee, Florida. He is very talented and I’d like to face him because I think he is the one who is going to break through. After AJ, The Young Bucks and all the guys in the group I think Tonga is the one who is going to break through it all. Homicide also gives extreme detail about his feuds in Ring of Honor, the intense rivalry with Steve Corino, how ROH has changed since he first debuted with the company, heat with Dan Maff, Winning the X-Division title, his love of baseball and how his John Sterling Home Run Call would sound.”
– TNA star Homicide noted on social media recently that he will be undergoing rotator cuff surgery on April 7th.
– TNA’s Jeremy Borash has recently been doing some voiceover work for The Howard Stern Show on SIRIUS-XM Satellite radio.
– TNA recently held meetings regarding resuming non-televised live events in June. Despite the fact that meetings were held on the subject, the latest word going around is that a deal has not been reached to bring back touring as of yet.
King, who is now a two-time X-Division Champion, defeated Rockstar Spud, Tigre Uno and Mark Andrews in a fatal-four-way ladder match to become the champion. Homicide interfered in the match, helping King pick up the win.
The match will air on Destination America at some point in late April.
TNA stars MVP, Low Ki, Samoa Joe and Homicide all appeared together on a special round table edition of The Sam Roberts Show recently to discuss the current state of TNA.
Additionally, the four guys talk about being independent, their time in WWE, the culture of internet fans, training and more.
The following matches are confirmed for tonight’s Destination-X edition of TNA Impact Wrestling from New York City, New York:
TNA World Heavyweight Championship
– Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Aries
TNA Tag-Team Championships
– The Wolves vs. The Hardy Boys
TNA X-Division Title Qualifiers
Match 1: Low Ki vs. Manik vs. DJ Zema Ion
Match 2: Sanada vs. Brian Cage vs. Crazzy Steve
Match 3: Samoa Joe vs. Homicide vs. Tigre Uno
– Also, Dixie Carter will be appearing with Team Dixie, including Snitsky and Rycklon “Zeke” Stephens.
— Gunner lashed out at the Internet wrestling community on Twitter following last night’s No Surrender pay-per-view, writing, “Amazing job from all Impact talent tonite! No Surrender was a success! SUCK IT DIRT SHEETS AND FAT COMPUTER MARKS AT HOME.”
He responded to criticism over his remarks this afternoon, writing, “So apparently the message boards are calling me an “egomaniac”! Ahhhh u guys are silly!! FAT COMPUTER MARKS…oooppss I did it again.”
The ten-year veteran continued, “Good thing the so called message boards don’t really mean crap to me! My true fans are the ones who know we all bust our tails to entertain u all.”
He then added, “We need to get FATCOMPUTERMARKS trending!”
— Former X Division Champion Homicide was backstage visiting former colleagues last night at No Surrender. He parted ways with TNA in August 2010 after requesting his release from the organization.
— Gunner stated on his Twitter account that he will face AJ Styles this Thursday on Impact Wrestling in a “Bound For Glory Series” match. He also said Samoa Joe will face Devon in the BFG Series.
— Bob Ryder, Director of Talent Bookings and Travel for TNA Wrestling, refuted online reports via Twitter that Homicide and Jack Evans were backstage at yesterday’s Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando, Florida.
— TNA Wrestling performer Brooke Adams (a/k/a Miss Tessmacher) competed in the 15th Annual Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant last Saturday in Miami, Florida. Representing the Hooters restaurant in Kirby, Texas, she was one of 100 contestants. She did not finish in the top ten.
— Kurt Angle will be on hand for an autograph signing this Saturday at the Wrestling Universe 34-29 Francis Lewis Blvd. Flushing, New York. Visit WrestlingUniverseOnline.com for more information.
Former TNA star Homicide was interviewed by Canada’s Slam Wrestling and spoke candidly about his release from the company. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Politics In TNA, Being Miserable & His Eventual Release:
“I’m not going to lie to you, I was telling my girlfriend honesty, it hurts everybody. When I speak the truth, it hurts. I didn’t say anything aggressive. I was frustrated in the end. I’m very confident that I can do better. Politics just got me in the butt and just caught me. I was miserable at the end of my days in TNA, I didn’t like it.”
Despite all that, Homicide looks back fondly on his time in TNA. He told Slam, “I miss the boys, I miss the staff, I miss everything,” he said. “I became a smarter businessman when I went to TNA.”
Working With Hernandez & Konan In Mexico:
“He’s in Mexico right now, he’s still in TNA, but he’s doing more coverage in Mexico. There’s a big rumor that me, Hernandez and Konnan are going to do the 5150 tour in Mexico, and hopefully we’re going to bring it to the States and we’re going to have a LAX reunion.”
— In addition to Homicide, it would appear that both Tomko and Rosie Lottalove have parted ways with TNA Wrestling as their respective profiles were removed from the company website’s roster page Thursday. All three were sparingly used in recent months.
In Homicide’s case, he noted on his social networking accounts earlier in the day that he had parted ways with the organization. Meanwhile, Lottalove’s photo gallery was removed from the Knockouts media section.
Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Daniels and ODB were also removed from the page, though their respective TNA departures were noted months ago.
— It was announced during this week’s episode of TNA ReACTION that Samoa Joe would be returning to iMPACT! on next week’s show. The program’s narrator teased: “Where will Samoa Joe stand when he makes his return to iMPACT! next week?”
The former TNA World Heavyweight Champion was reportedly suspended last month due to breach of etiquette.
– Reigning Ring of Honor champion Tyler Black reported to Florida Championship Wrestling this week. He participated in this week’s training sessions and is expected to finish up with Ring of Honor next month.
– TNA Wrestling has released former X-Division and Tag Team champion Homicide. Homicide wrote on Twitter:
“my tna days is over, thank u for the staff members and the boys and girls in the locker room, had a great run, bbllaattt187 for life.”
He also noted he would be taking the next month off to rest his body before announcing his next move.
- After being forced to pull out of a scheduled independent show on 8/28 due to WWE commitments, Daniel Bryan will be making it up to the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) by appearing at their 9/11 show. NYWC sent out the following today:
WWE’s Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) is confirmed for Sept 11
We here at the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) are pleased to announce that Bryan Danielson who is currently known as Daniel Bryan in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will be appearing at “Never Back Down” on September 11, 2010 at the Sports Arena in St. James, NY. Bryan felt terrible about canceling his prior scheduled appearances with the NYWC and the WWE has allowed him to compete for us on September 11th. We would like to thank Bryan and WWE for going above and beyond for our fans to make his appearance possible. Make sure to purchase your tickets right away because this event will sell out fast! Tickets to “Never Back Down” are available now at NYWCWrestling.com.
— Sean Waltman said during an in-studio interview with The Cowhead Show on Thursday that he missed last month’s Lockdown pay-per-view because he tested positive for Hepatitis C. He also said he tried to commit suicide in Mexico, hanging himself with a garden hose and taking pills. However, the attempt was foiled when Alicia Webb (formerly known as Ryan Shamrock in WWE) found him.
— Homicide is working with bad ribs, which he suffered a few weeks ago wrestling in a bad ring at an independent show. He hurt himself worse working against Jushin Thunder Liger at a Jersey All Pro Wrestling event last Saturday as they concluded the match prematurely. The X Division has no plans on taking any time off.
— Last Saturday’s TNA live event at the Verizon Wireless Theater in Houston, Texas drew approximately 1,500 fans.
— Two TNA stars in Homicide and Madison Rayne were on hand for Jersey All Pro Wrestling’s 12th Year Anniversary Show last night in Rahway, New Jersey. Homicide beat former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Masato Tanaka while JAPW Women’s Champion Sara Del Ray pinned Madison Rayne.
— Today is TNA creative director and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vince Russo’s birthday, who turns 49 years old.
