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I'm @ALL_IN_2018
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) January 10, 2018
September 1st pic.twitter.com/wehXTTpA3A
It appears we have the date of the long talked about self-financed Cody Rhodes and Young Bucks promoted live event. All three began pushing the date 9/1 with the term "I'm All In" today on social media, leading fans to a Twitter account using the same name, so that appears to be the target date for the event.
PWInsider.com had previously reported the trio were targeting the Chicago area for the event, which would be especially eventful is the trio could get former WWE champion CM Punk on board. Punk has not shown any interest in professional wrestling since departing WWE in 2014, but Matt Jackson has noted that Punk made it clear if he was ever interested in doing something, it would be related to the Young Bucks.
What is interesting about the 9/1 date is that it would likely preclude the expected involvement of WWE's Daniel Bryan, who's current deal is slated to expire later that month. However, it would not prevent any announcement of a second date promoting a return with Bryan appearing, potentially returing with a huge draw for show number two.
The goal behind the event is to draw an independent crowd in the area of 10,000, an idea that was sparked when The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer stated he did not believe it could be done, leading Rhodes to say he wanted to take on that challenge.
***
As noted yesterday on PWInsider.com, there were a number of rumors making the rounds in the wake of CWF Mid-Atlantic firing booker Brad Stutts with the fallout also hitting Modern Vintage Wrestling, another promotion that runs North Carolina and had at times, run the same market, Burlington, that is home to CWF. We noted yesterday that MVW canceled their scheduled 1/20 event in the wake of Stutts CWF firing as a number of talents that worked for both promotions announced they were pulling off.
In speaking with PWInsider.com today, MVW's Charlie Armstrong claimed that the decision to cancel the show was made the same night Stutts was fired by CWF as he realized the wrestlers were going to be put in between the two promotions. There are others who have diputed that account and it should be noted that no official announcement of the cancellation was made prior to talents announcing they were going to pull off MVW. That said, Armstrong provided PWInsider with a screenshot showing that at 2 AM this past Saturday, he began canceling talents and that does fit with his timeline.
Armstrong has been the subject of a lot of conversation over the last several days, including rumors of alleged illegal activity, leading to him releasing the following statement on his Facebook page:
"In the past several days, there have been many rumors about me circulating among the wrestling community. Although none of these rumors have been made public on social media, they have the same impact on my reputation as if they were. Most have been hurtful and without any proof. The persons who started these rumors did not have the courtesy of speaking to me directly as a man, but rather spread unfounded gossip like a 13-year-old girl. Despite this, I did try to reach out in a mature manner, but unsurprisingly this fell on deaf ears. This situation is out of control and has affected my personal and professional life. These people are trying to ruin my reputation and the relationships I have formed in my business. They are giving people ultimatums to not associate with me or they will be blackballed in wrestling. This is slander and my sole purpose here today to clear the air.
I am not a dishonest person and have always been upfront with who I am. Yes. I do have criminal past. During my 20's I, like many other people, I did not make the best decisions and landed myself in prison. Why am I telling you this? Well, the persons slandering my name are spreading incorrect information. I am guilty of the serious crimes of burglary and writing bad checks, during a period of my life when I was struggling with drug addiction. I am not guilty of the heinous crimes these people are saying. It is completely fiction and despicable that someone would accuse someone of this with no proof. I'm not making excuses for my actions, but since 2010 I have not been involved with any illegal activity. After I served my time, I have transformed my life. I gained employment and worked to save to start my own business. I work every day towards building my business as well as maintaining employment working as a sales consultant with a satellite company. I maintain insurance on my business and I am fully licensed. I live my life on the straight and narrow every day, so I better myself from the person I used to be.
Now that I have stated the truthfulness to this gossip, most of the claims against me are completely false. I am not the type of person who spreads gossip. I am not here to say what is true or not, just to say I was not involved. There is no way to defend myself with lending some information, however, I am not saying anything these people are spreading is 100% accurate in any way. I work in a business where sometime people have their own agendas for saying and doing things to maintain their status and get ahead. I am sure that for all persons involved in the start of this gossip this is true for all of them.
I have come to learn from several credible sources, the reason for my supposed involvement. This company and myself have both employed Brad Stutts as a booker and announcer. I also have maintained a close friendship with Brad over the past few years. This company has accused Brad of things I am not going to be specific on, but have basically they accused me of the same behavior because of our relationship. I am here to say I had no knowledge of any of this before the rumor had gotten to me. The person who started this rumor did not have any proof that I had any involvement, so the went looking for something to expose about me. They dug into my past and spread my mugshot to people and said I was involved in these heinous crimes I spoke of before. This was none of their business and had nothing to do with the situation. My criminal history is public and not something I hide. It is, however, something I don’t go around telling everyone. In my opinion, the past is in the past. I just try to be a better person and learn from my mistakes.
As far as the accusations made against my friend, Brad Stutts. I am not going to say they are true because I do not know. There are three sides to any story as the saying goes. I do wish him well and hope he finds some peace in all of this. He has resigned from my company and has moved on. I made the decision to cancel my show on January 20th as a professionally courtesy. It wasn’t because I was forced to, but because I felt it the right thing to do to ease some of this drama that has ensued between myself and this company. I don’t think it is fair to involve any of the talent’s livelihood or force them to pick sides. I met with one of the owners of this company yesterday and had a great meeting. We both agreed to go our separate ways and wish each other the very best and he thanked me for my professionalism during our relationship.
In conclusion, I just hope this matter will be put to rest and everyone to move on. I believe everyone makes mistakes in life and deserve a second chance. I believe this because I know what it is like to make mistakes in life and to make them right. I took my second chance in life and made something of it. I did this with hard work and sacrifice. I did not take the easy road and did things the right way. I just want to thank everyone for their continued support and wish everyone the best in life."
In speaking with PWInsider.com this morning, Armstrong stated that any issues that led to Stutts leaving CWF Mid-Atlantic were completely separate from his relationship to Stutts and that whatever alleged behavior CWF felt required them to cut ties with Stutts was not behavior Armstrong was involved with nor had any prior knowledge of before Stutts' CWF firing. Armstrong said he and Stutts remain friends but Stutts opted to resign his post as the MVW booker.
Armstrong also stated he felt a lot of the issues stemmed from jealousy of Stutts and others getting opportunities outside of CWF Mid-Atlantic through his dealings. He said that he's attempted to make contact with CWF's Jeff Rudd to clear whatever issues may stand between them but has not heard back. Armstrong also said he was personally hurt by people assuming rumors were true without reaching out to him for his side of any story that is floating around..
In regard to rumors of current illegal activity on his part, Armstrong provided PWInsider.com with a copy of his company's LLC and federal tax ID number, noting that if he was willing to go through the process of creating and building his company the right way, he wasn't going to risk it by doing something illegal. "If I did that," Armstrong said, "The entire house would fall," Armstrong also stated that while he did cancel 1/20, "canceling one show was not canceling an entire company" and that he intended to run Modern Vintage Wrestling going forward.
PWInsider.com has been told Stutts has told several he is done with professional wrestling and is moving on with life, focusing on his family and moving forward. Stutts has declined to speak to PWInsider.com.
In the midst of all this, CWF Mid-Atlantic returns to the Sportatorium in Burlington, NC this weekend.
***
Dan Barry, a regular for House of Hardcore and a long-time stalwart of the Northeast independent scene, announced that he was going to enter 2018 with the idea of it being his final calendar year as a professional wrestler.
"I have decided to make a tough decision," Barry wrote on his Facebook page. "As of February 2019, I am ending my professional wrestling "career." This will be my last year as a professional wrestler. I have been thinking about this for a while, and I think it is time for me to move forward and pursue other interests. I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for supporting me over the years. It has meant a lot. Let's make this last year awesome and I will do my best to give you everything I have."
Barry, 34, who also performs as a stand up comic, was seen on the WWE Network Holy Foley! reality series, training Noelle Foley to become a professional wrestler at the NYWC Wrestling school in Deer Park, Long Island.
Barry broke in the business in 2001 after being trained by Mikey Whipwreck and currently teams with former WWE developmental talent Bill Carr as one half of Team Tremendous, who have become quite a popular act on the Northeastern independent scene. Barry is also one of the hosts for Highspots' popular "An Officer and a Gentleman" DVD series.
***
Absolute Intense Wrestling announced today that when Ray Rowe returns to the company to face Keith Lee on 1/19 in Cleveland, Ohio, it will be Rowe's final appearance for the company. As PWInsider.com had previously reported, Rowe and War Machine partner Hanson had been expected to sign with WWE and join the WWE NXT brand.
Rowe, 33, was broken into the business by Lou Marconi. He and partner Hanson finished up with Ring of Honor at their most recent TV taping in Philadelphia last month and finished up with New Japan at the 1/5 New Year's Dash event in Tokyo.
***
Legendary Japanese star The Great Muta will make a rare appearance in the United States on Friday 1/19 for PCW Ultra in California, teaming with Penta El Zero M to face Sami Callihan and Johnny Ultra (John Hennigan, adding yet another nickname to the list).
The event will air live on FITE for $14.99, which you can download for free for your cell phone or mobile device by clicking here. FiteTV can be streamed from your phone to Samsung Smart TVs and recently debuted a Roku channel as well. The app is HIGHLY recommended by yours truly and is free to download as well with tons of weekly free programming, including ROH's weekly TV series, Booker T's Reality of Wrestling and more.
Also scheduled for the event:
*PCW Ultra Tag Team champions Warbeast vs. Joey Janela & Jimmy Jacobs.
*PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight champion Douglas James vs. Ganseki Tanaka.
*Brian Cage vs. Alexander Hammerstone.
*Flip Gordon vs. AR Fox vs. Shane Strickland vs. Brody King
*Kikutaro vs. Mariachi Loco.
*ACH vs. Rey Fenix.
***
Bobby Lashley and Ryback are being advertised for a 2/10 date in Chandigarh, India by World Wrestling Professionals.
Brian Pillman Jr. will make his New York area debut on 1/20, having been added to the Create-A-Pro event benefiting the local Make-A-Wish Foundation chapter at Nassau Community College with former WWE World champion Christian appearing. Impact Wrestling's KM, Alex Reynolds, Kai Katana, Nikki Adams and more appearing.
PROGRESS Wrestling in Great Britain will return to The Dome in Tufnell Park tonight, Thursday 1/10 with Maverick Mayhew vs. Connor Mills, Pastor William Eaver vs. Kip Sabian, TK Cooper vs. Mike Bird, Strangler Davis vs. Amir Jordan, Nina Samuels vs. Charli Evans, and Bea Priestley vs. Millie McKenzie, among other matches.
Ohio Valley Wrestling returns tonight with a TV taping at the Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky,
Chaotic Wrestling (which our own Paul Crockett does a great job of covering) will be running Woburn, MA this Saturday 1/2 with CW Tag Team Champion Anthony Greene in a handicap match against The Maine State Posse and CW Women’s Champion Ashley Vox vs. Delmi Exo on top. Warbeard Hanson is slated to appear as well, so this may be a farewell for him there.
WALTER vs. Nick Gage, Joey Janela vs. Joey Lynch, Shane Mercer vs. KTB and Matt Riddle vs. Rayo are tournament matches set for the 8th and final Style Battle tournament for the concept's first season this Sunday 1/13 at 3 PM at St. Finbar's Church in Brooklyn, NY.
Impact Wrestling regulars OVE, Jake and Dave Crist, appeared on 1/6 for Pure Pro Wrestling in Birch Run, Michigan, losing to Michigan tag team champions Ace Evans & CJ Anderson.
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