Posts Tagged ‘J.J. Dillon’

NXT Preview For Tonight, Ric Flair/J.J. Dillon, New Ross Report Podcast

– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with Ring Of Honor star Michael Elgin, is now available. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

– The latest edition of Ric Flair’s “Wooo Nation” podcast, which features an interview with J.J. Dillon, is also available today. You can download that one at Play.it.

– The following matches and segments were taped on June 18th in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.

* Eva Marie promo

* NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy vs. Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins in a non-title match

* Sami Zayn appears

* Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the NXT Women’s Championship

Tough Enough Crew Headed To RAW (Photos), New WWE Legends Deals, More

– WWE Hall Of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami has signed a new WWE Legends deal. WWE Hall Of Famer J.J. Dillon is also expected to sign a WWE Legends deal in the near future, if he hasn’t already.

– Sean Waltman celebrates his 43rd birthday today. Also celebrating birthdays today are Akira Hokuto (48), Necro Butcher (41) and ECW Original Chris Michaels (54).

– The WWE Tough Enough cast is on their way to tonight’s edition of WWE RAW in Atlanta, Georgia. WWE posted the following photos of the crew, along with WWE Hall Of Famer Amy “Lita” Dumas, heading to the arena.

Kurt Angle To Be Honored During A Presentation At The Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame Ceremony

TNA Champion Kurt Angle is scheduled to be honored during a presentation at the Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame ceremony, with Jim Ross, Gerald Brisco, J.J. Dillon and others scheduled to appear.

Below is a press release issued today with more details on the event.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum will recognize Kurt Angle during a special presentation at the Dan Gable Museum. The reception is exclusive to all-access pass holders and banquet ticket holders.

Angle was inducted into the Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame in 2013 but was unable to attend.

The special reception will be held in the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame at 4 p.m. on Fri., July 10. Angle will be presented two rings: one for winning the World Championships in 1995 and one for winning the Olympic Games in 1996. He will also sign the Mat of Honor.

Due to his schedule, Angle will not be present on Saturday, July 11. This ceremony replaces his appearance at the Hall of Fame banquet.

“Kurt Angle is arguably the greatest athlete to step foot in a wrestling ring,” said Kyle Klingman, director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. “His athletic background is second to none. We are honored that he will participate in our hall of fame week. This is truly special for everyone involved.”

Angle won NCAA championships at heavyweight for Clarion in 1990 and 1992. He went on to win a freestyle World championship in 1995 and an Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, both at 220 pounds. Angle continues to have a highly successful professional wrestling career, winning every major title at every level. He has won World titles with both WWE and TNA.

This year’s induction ceremony marks the 20-year anniversary of Angle’s 1995 World championship.

“I’m excited that Kurt will be in my hometown of Waterloo,” said museum namesake Dan Gable, also a World and Olympic champion. “Kurt was part of a very successful era of international wrestling for the United States. We need to have that kind of success again.”

All-access passes to the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame induction weekend are available for $100. Banquet tickets are available for $50. They can be ordered by contacting the Dan Gable Museum at dgmstaff@nwhof.org or by calling (319) 233-0745.

2015 Hall of Fame induction class
Lou Thesz Award—Brian Blair
Jim Melby Award—Wade Keller
Frank Gotch Award—Beth Phoenix
George Tragos Award—Matt Lindland
Distinguished Member (living)—Greg Wojciechowski
Distinguished Member (living)—TBA
Distinguished Member (posthumous)—Jim Londos
Special honoree—Kurt Angle

Scheduled to appear during weekend
Jim Ross
Gerald Brisco
Wes Brisco
J.J. Dillon
Baron Von Raschke
Dan Hodge
Jim Brunzell
Larry Hennig
Colt Cabana
Bob Holly

Top Five Factions In The History Of Pro Wrestling

A lot of the factors in pro wrestling are subjective. Some people enjoy this, some people enjoy that. Some fans prefer a better in-ring technician, some like a strong promo guy and others enjoy a great character. No one is wrong, because it’s all personal preference.

Generally speaking, when an editorial features a list, it’s “the best of” or “the worst of.” Today, we are going to switch gears a bit.

In keeping with the subjective theme, today we are going to look at who I personally consider to be the five best factions in the history of the business. Not the five best, my five favorite. And I’ll explain why, starting with …

#5. The Varsity Club

Many of the current generation of wrestling fans may have never even heard of The Varsity Club. Growing up, they were one of my favorite wrestling stables.

The original group consisted of Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner, all of which wore their amateur wrestling letterman jackets. The guys were among the most legitimate tough guys in the business at the time, and the group had the perception of being the baddest son of a bitches on the planet.

As is the case with any wrestling stable, as time went on the group was watered down. Members such as “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and “Dangerous” Dan Spivey were added to the mix, and before too long, the group ceased to exist. While they were around though, in my opinion, they were pretty damn cool.

#4. The Fabulous Freebirds

As far as I’m concerned any writer who doesn’t include The Fabulous Freebirds on their “top stables” or “top factions” lists should have their head examined. The Freebirds were as cool as it got when I was a youngster.

The group was led by Michael “P.S.” Hayes, a current WWE creative team member who is credited with introducing theme music to the ring-walk portion of the professional wrestling presentation. The group consisted of Hayes, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy and Buddy Roberts. Roberts was considered a great in-ring technician, and prior to the Birds, had a lengthy career worthy of Hall Of Fame status. In fact, Roberts was part of the original “Hollywood Blondes” tag-team, a name that was later used for the team of “Stunning” Steve Austin and “Flyin'” Brian Pillman. Gordy was a legend in Japan and portrayed the “enforcer” role in the group. Hayes was a rock star and easily one of the most charismatic wrestlers of his time, if not of all-time.

Later on, Hayes and Jimmy “Jam” Garvin would bring back The Fabulous Freebirds as a straight tag-team act. How this group has yet to receive an induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame confuses me to this very day.

#3. D-Generation X

I’m of the belief that there is not a fan of North American professional wrestling that has not heard of D-Generation X. That would mean they did their jobs and left a lasting legacy in the business.

D-X consisted of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna and Rick Rude. When the group officially formed, you could make the argument that along with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, they officially ushered in the infamous “Attitude Era” in WWE. They did things for shock value at a time when Howard Stern, The Jerry Springer Show and many other shock-television style shows reigned supreme. It was a natural fit, and the group really cemented Triple H as a main event performer in WWE.

Later on, as is the case with every faction or stable in history, an attempt was made to get the gang back together, only this time — it worked. You could argue that the second version of D-X was actually more successful than the first. The second group featured Triple H as the leader instead of Michaels, and his group consisted of Chyna, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn and “The Road Dogg” Jesse James. Anyone who saw WWE RAW the night that D-X “invaded” WCW will never forget that moment. It was amazing entertainment and really symbolized the “Monday Night War” going on at the time between WWE and WCW.

D-X was brought back again in the 2000s as a straight tag-team act that featured the two original members — Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Personally, I didn’t enjoy that run nearly as much as their first run, but it was still a cool thing to see the two back together having fun.

Continued on page two …

Arn Anderson Says Dolph Ziggler Could Be A Top WWE Star, Talks Four Horsemen

The following are highlights of a new Post & Courier interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Arn Anderson:

Being a Horseman: “Being a Horseman isn’t something you put on in the morning and take off at night. It’s a state of mind. It’s excelling to the best of your ability. It’s four individuals thinking singularly, acting collectively.”

Fans supporting him all these years: “For me to still be recognized after all these years of not being on TV, by anybody anywhere, is still a thrill and I really appreciate it. You know the guys who did it for the money … they’re not around. You knows the ones who did it for the glamor … they’re not around. But when we went through that curtain, we tried to outdo each other. Tully and I would try to outdo Barry and Ric, and Ole and I went out and tried to outdo Tully. We were feeding our own egos to see if we could do it, but it basically was for the fans. They were the benefactors. They got the best show possible. It was for them, and we always knew that. Without them, nothing happens.”

Learning from Tully Blanchard and J.J. Dillon: “I learned from them. Both of them, in their own way, were a lot better than I was. I was very fortunate and very lucky to have been in their presence. There was a time that – I don’t think, I know – we were the best in the world. And I have no problem saying that. It was each man carrying his own weight. J.J. was a smart man, a great talker, a great organizer. Tully was a great performer – as good as anybody out there – and a great partner. So it was a very special time, and it will be great to relive that at this event. It will be a celebration of just that.”

What might have been if he would have been able to continuing competing: “I would think for sure I would have had at least five more years. Without the last neck injury, even running on fumes for the first two, I could have gotten by. But who knows? Maybe 10 more years. Thirty-seven is not that old. The crazy thing is that I had those terrible neck injuries, and I wasn’t one to come off the top (rope). I really feel for these guys today.”

Working with Dolph Ziggler, who he says has potential to be a top WWE money maker and is one of the best in the business: “Dolph has got to be one of the toughest men to put on a pair of boots. But he’s going to be like Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) in another five years because that kid beats his body up more than anybody on the crew. I do know this. In my dealings with him, when I’m his producer, he gives everything he’s got. He does some really phenomenal, athletic stuff.”

Check out the complete interview at PostAndCourier.com.

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  • J.J. Dillon Speaks On Daniel Bryan/WWE, WCW Legend Not Being In WWE HOF

    The following are highlights of a new Busted Open Radio interview with WWE Hall Of Famer J.J. Dillon:

    On Daniel Bryan’s injury and pushed wrestlers having to leave due to injury: “It’s happened numerous times over the years on both sides of the extreme. Look at Magnum TA and what a future Jerry Allen had in terms of ‘the skys the limit’. He had the look, the speed, the size and on a rainy slick night his car slammed into a tree, slammed his head into the car and broke his neck instantly ending his career. It’s not only the dangers that one faces in the ring because of the natures that wrestling is. There’s as much danger traveling. During the glory years of The 4 Horsemen, Arn Anderson had continual problems with his neck. It got worse and worse and he felt a numb in his arm. It kept getting further and further down and finally it reached his hand. Arn was so committed to the Horsemen, he said numerous times that it was a level of excellence and commitment that doesn’t come along every day. Arn continued to go out there every day and as a result, the nerve damage continued to progress that he needed surgery and when he finally had surgery, the damage wasn’t reparable.”

    On injured wrestlers coming back from injury who were popular when they left: “I think you have to look at each case on an individual basis. Daniel Bryan, there’s a guy that, from an outside perspective, it would appear that there’s a guy who didn’t set the mold of what you would expect Vince McMahon and the WWE to give a push. He had that ‘it’ factor. The fans wouldn’t give up on him and WWE had to elevate his status because the fans demanded it. It’s sad that a guy finally gets his chance and was on the climb to who knows where and how long and then this injury comes along. Doctors will look at a guy and sometimes a guy will get a second opinion from another doctor and the doctors will sometimes not agree on the situation. The one reality of the whole situation is not only in WWE but in the whole genre of Pro Wrestling, you don’t have the depth of talent that was there years ago. You don’t have another guy you can plug into that spot and keep the momentum going. It’s the sad state of reality of the business today. Take a look at Ronda Rousey. She caught the world by storm. What happens if she goes down from injury. There is no one left.”

    On Daniel Bryan and WWE creative: “From the times I’ve seen him, he has that it factor and connects with the fans. One thing about creative is there were a lot of ideas over time throughout my career and the ultimate judge and jury is the fans. You would take a guy who had the right talent and didn’t have the right situation for him and you’d put him in a situation that’s kind of like just being in limbo just to keep him out there. Sometimes it catches on fire like you couldn’t imagine. That’s one of the things about pro wrestling, sometimes you have the right pulse and sometimes you don’t. Vince McMahon picked more winners than losers, but no one is perfect.”

    On the emotion he and the Four Horsemen had being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame: “When I first started I was a fan. It was in the late 50’s and I thought I could become a professional wrestler and appear at Madison Square Garden. The Hall Of Fame at that point was Baseball in Cooperstown. There was no wrestling hall of fame. You just took it day by day and pursued your career and I’ve said it time after time that the fans made wrestling the way it is today. Their the greatest fans in the world and whatever success myself and the Horsemen had was because of the fans. We gave everything every night. It’s like in any other business, you have to give respect to get respect. At the end of the road, I wrestled full time for 5 years before I managed, then I continued to wrestle while managing. After 20 years I had over 3,200 matches. I have done it all and when you look back and you’re being inducted into the hall of fame, all of my children were there in attendance to share the experience with me. We were treated with great respect by the fans and the stars of today. The following day going in front of 70,000 people getting cheered and a standing ovation, it was a very emotional moment.”

    On Ole Anderson not being inducted into WWE HOF: “Well there are political issues that go back to Georgia Championship Wrestling. If people do their research, they would realize that there was a negative tension between Vince McMahon and Ole Anderson. Ole probably wouldn’t accept it if they offered it to them. The Horsemen wouldn’t be the way they were without Ole. When Lex Luger came around we camouflaged his flaws and he came along at the right time. When Barry came along I think that was the elite group. With Barry you had the young looks, athleticism and skills.”

    Check out the complete interview at BustedOpenNation.com.

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  • J.J. Dillon Speaks On How The Four Horsemen Were Formed, Ric Flair’s Work Ethic

    J.J. Dillon Speaks On How The Four Horsemen Were Formed, Ric Flair’s Work Ethic

    The following are highlights of a new WGD Weekly interview with J.J. Dillon:

    How the idea for the Four Horsemen first came about: “It wasn’t really an idea that had been laid out in advance…Baby Doll was there with Tully and there was the deal where I orchestrated the thing and got Tully away from Baby Doll…Dusty came to her aid…and that’s how I’m with Tully. Flair was the World Champion, Ole and Arn were the World Tag Team Champions, and Tully was the National Champion, and he was the only one I was managing…One of the weeks, I don’t know if it was short on time or what, somebody said, ‘You guys have all the belts, all of you go out together. Just tell everybody where you’re gonna be this week. That’s what happened.

    “Flair went out with the World Title over his shoulder, Ole and Arn went out with the tag belts, Tully went out with his belt, and I went out because I managed Tully. As the mike passed around, Arn Anderson took it and said, ‘You people at home take a good hard look at your screen, we’re all champions. Never have so few wrecked so much havoc on everyone,’ and he said, ‘you’d have to go back in the history books to the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse,’ and he held up the four fingers. It was just a statement that he threw out there. Then, the next thing you know, when one of us went out there in the studio, it became an interactive thing, holding up the four fingers…it was probably a couple of weeks before Jimmy Crockett said, ‘what is this Four Horsemen thing I keep hearing about.'”

    What made the Horsemen such a special group: “I don’t think anyone could’ve ever imagined that it would become as big as it became and last as long as it did. But what happened was, it was a group of guys, who the chemistry was just there. Every night, even though we weren’t always in the same match, actually, I think Arn in his WWE Hall of Fame acceptance speech said, a guy would go out there and basically throw down the gauntlet and challenge the rest of us to go out and top what they had done. So, it was a friendly competition, and the ultimate winner was the fan, because they knew when we were on the card, they were going to see our best effort, every single night, in every town, no matter where it was or the size if the crowd.”

    “The differences in traveling and other aspects of the wrestling business in his days on the road as opposed to today : “It was a different time in the business then. Because, we didn’t fly around, we traveled. The guys had opposite dressing rooms. The guys that we wrestled against, we had very little contact with, we would rarely even see them. In the small towns, like Amarillo, if you would go to a restaurant and see a guy who would be across the ring from you, you would go somewhere else. It was just how it was in those days, and I think that has a lot to do with why the fans had a lot more respect for us, because we commanded that respect by not giving them any reason to disrespect us. In the middle of the night on those long trips, we would pass each other, and here we would be on a stretch of highway between Colorado Springs and Albuquerque in the middle of the night. We would flash our lights to pull over, we’d get out and have a beer together and a hug and nobody would ever know. But it was the camaraderie driving in the car where more ideas were created that drew tremendous amounts of money…It was the kind of things we did, like that, and we drew money, and the business was fun…The trips were long, it was physically demanding…it was just pride that the people in the business and gave up their bodies for it had.”

    Ric Flair’s work ethic earning him the respect of the fans: “Flair would give you the same effort if it was an arena with a crowd the size of 25,000 people or if we went to somewhere where the television show that week didn’t air because there was a problem and there was only 500 people. You would think, here is a night where he is just going to go through the motions, but that just was not Ric. He would give you the same match and that is what the fans came to respect.”

    How he lived out his dream to wrestle at Madison Square Garden in 1984: “Eddie Graham came into the office one day, which he would often do. I was working in the office and I told him how I had dreamed of one day going to wrestle in the Garden, too. This was 1984, I broke in in 1971…father time was not on my side. Eddie never said anything, he got up and walked out. A day or so went by, and he walked back in and said, ‘you are booked on the next card at Madison Square Garden. They are going to send you a plane ticket, you will be booked on the card, you will fly up and then fly back. After our conversation, he called Vince McMahon, Sr., who remembered me and at the time, it was right when Vince, Jr. was declaring war on everybody and taking over. The father was very sick at the time with lung cancer…I called him to thank him…he told me that he remembered me fondly and that he heard I had this dream and he wanted to make it happen. I still have a copy of the program on my wall…April 23, 1984… they juggled the card around and I ended up wrestling Tito Santana, who was the Intercontinental champion at the time.”

    Check out the complete interview above.

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  • Jim Ross At Boxing Weigh-Ins (Photo), Bill Apter Interviews J.J. Dillon (Video)

    – The following is a photo of WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross at the official weigh-ins for the Rocky Juarez vs. Rene Alvarado boxing match, which of course is the main event of the FOX Sports 1 event that he will be providing television commentary for tonight.

    – Below is a new video of Bill Apter interviewing legendary wrestling manager J.J. Dillon:

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