Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Sorensen did announce his retirement, but well, so did Terry Funk. Sometimes, guys announce things out of emotion without really planning their next step and end up changing their minds.
I saw Triple H got a huge reaction at NXT last night. If had run the ECW Arena as they originally planned, would he have been booed out of the place? It was the home of ECW!
Yes, but ECW hasn't run a show since December of 2000 and if you think the same fans are going to that venue in 2015 you would be mistaken. There's been a complete change-over with the audience in Philly just as there have been in all audiences over the last 15 years. Triple H would have walked out in front of NXT fans and gotten the big reaction you would have expected him to get in Orlando. He wasn't going to walk out in front of the ECW faithful in 1997.
Considering most people, including myself feel the intercontinental title is an afterthought these days, I was hoping that Daniel Bryan would bring prominence back to it. Since the title is arguably no longer relevant who do you feel was the last relevant intercontinental champion was? I'm torn between Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett.
I don't think the belt has meant what it used to mean since the late 1990s or early 2000s. That's when the title changes came furiously and there was a glut of so many different championships, so the focus and care that was put into the IC division had to change, since there were so many other things that WWE had to try and get over at the same time. I loved the entire of Bryan as the champion as a way to bring it back to prominence and hopefully WWE can continue that even without him.
Any early word on the Daniel Bryan book?
I've seen an advance copy and if the final product remains the same, the book is excellent and is quite similar to the first Mick Foley autobiography. I'll have more on the book when it's released in July.
Whatever happened to The Little Tokyo?
Little Tokyo passed away in 2011, sadly. I wrote the following when he passed away:
Legendary midget wrestler Little Tokyo (real name Shigeri Akabane) passed away earlier today at the age of 70. It is believed Akabane suffered a heart attack, although he had been battling tongue cancer for much of the last year.
Akebane was a regular member of the troupe of midgets who worked a number of territories in the United States in the 1970s and early to mid 1980s, where midget matches were used semi-regularly as comedy undercard attractions. Tokyo pretty much always worked heel, teaming with the likes of Lord Littlebrook. By all accounts from those I spoke to tonight, he was well liked and respected and was considered vastly underrated as an in-ring worker.
Tokyo held the NWA World Midgets championship several times in the early 1970s with the belt being recognized in a number of strong territories, including Georgia and Texas. Tokyo captured the belt in 1971 and would hold it several times through 1983.
When WWF made their national expansion in the 1980s, Tokyo made a number of memorable appearances, including Wrestlemania III where he teamed with King Kong Bundy and Littlebrook in a mixed tag against Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver and The Haiti Kid. When Bundy slammed Beaver, his team was DQ'd, leading to all of the midgets and Jim joining forces against the behemoth.
Tokyo was also involved in a silly but memorable skit on Tuesday Night Titans where he came out dressed identical to manager Mr. Fuji, who then tried to claim that he was only going to give Tokyo a "little money" because Tokyo was "little" and that's all he needed.
Tokyo's last major national TV appearance was for Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation's final event. Broadcast via Sportschannel America as a live special titled "The Blackjack Brawl" before a sparse crowd in Las Vegas, Tokyo was among the talents to win UWF titles that would never be defended, defeating The Karate Kid for the promotion's Midget championship.
Tokyo, who was living in St Joseph, Missouri at the time of his passing, made one final public appearance that I am aware of earlier this summer for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, NY.
PWInsider.com would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Little Tokyo.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
