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May 12th Southern States Wrestling (SSW) promoted the third annual Mark Curtis Memorial Show at the Civic Auditorium in Kingsport, TN on 5/11. For those who are new fans of pro wrestling, Mark Curtis was a legendary WCW & SMW referee who was one of the most respected men in the history of the sport. A fan of wrestling from childhood, he trained under Dominic DeNucci in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Classmates included Shane Douglas and Mick Foley. Though considered too small to make it as a wrestler, he frequently had very good matches on the indie circuit using masked gimmicks such as the Ninja Turtle or El Technico Rudo. But Curtis, whose real name was Brian Hildebrand, made his biggest mark as a referee, first in SMW, and later in WCW. Even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he continued to work as often as possible and to study classic and Japanese tapes. The key ingredient in the Mark Curtis Memorial Shows is old-fashioned wrestling, the type of grappling Curtis loved the most. In the era of "sports entertainment", it's easy to forget how much fun basic wrestling can be. SSW promoter Beau James ran an afternoon show using local talent, and also a show the night before in nearby Bristol. But the main card was the evening show in Kingsport. There was also catering (barbeque) for Golden Circle ticket holders. And lots of great road stories from area veteran Jim White, George South, and Beau James in the hours leading up to the show. The show itself was very good, with everyone working hard, including bumping on the unpadded floor. It was traditional southern style wrestling with lots of brawling and working the crowd. GEORGE SOUTH JR. & KID APOLLO defeated NEW YORK ASSASSIN & JASON KING. Fast-paced opener. Apollo was flying around all over the place. He hit a quebrada and a huracanrana. He also bumped like crazy, including on the unprotective floor when the heels got heat on him. South Jr. got the pin with a forward roll (what some call a victory roll) on King. It was announced that Ivan Koloff, who was scheduled against Jimmy Valiant in a match billed as their last Russian Chain Match, would not be there due to transportation problems. SSW announcer Joe Wheeler noted all the recent passings in the wrestling world, including Wahoo McDaniel, Lou Thesz, and referee Randy Anderson. There was a ten bell salute and a moment of silence. That was a real touch of class. IRON CROSS beat ROGER ANDERSON. Anderson did the traditional complaining heel ("He pulled my hair, ref") role. It's a role he's very good at. Cross, who looks to be in very good shape, gives out religious tracts before his matches. Cross won with a Thesz press. The babyfaces went over in most of the matches. THE MIGHTY YANKEE beat ANDY DOUGLAS. Yankee was accompanied by manager Steinbrenner. Douglas looks like Jeff Hardy without the weird hair colors. He does the fast mat stuff while Yankee is a traditional brawler. Yankee won clean with an elbow after Douglas missed a legdrop in a rare heel victory. JIMMY VALIANT defeated GEORGE SOUTH in a Legends Match. Commissioner Ken Bowles was about to declare Valiant the winner via forfeit over Koloff when South (Sr., not Jr.) came out. He cut a promo that was better than most of the WWF roster. Unfortunately, there was a "what" chant from the crowd as well. I can't escape that no matter where I go. Anyway, South said he hates Tennessee and put over Mid-Atlantic wrestling as superior to any sissy Tennessee stuff. He called himself the only true legend in the building. He said Tennessee may have had Ken Bowles, Ron Wright, and Jim White, but the Carolinas had the Andersons, Johnny Weaver, and Rick Steamboat. He vowed to take a stand for Jim Crockett Promotions and Mid-Atlantic. He went off pretty good on the crowd as well, and kept screaming that he was a legend. So the match began and, as expected, South started stalling and kept bailing out to avoid Valiant (who, ironically, was also a big star for Crockett and Mid-Atlantic). Eventually, Bowles got on the mic and said we need some lumberjacks, so serveral guys surrounded the ring, including White (who was Jerry Lawler's tag partner in the early 70's) and Super Mario (who looks just like the video character of the same name). Valiant did as many of his old spots as he could, with South bailing and being thrown back in by the lumberjacks. South finally got on offense after raking the eyes but soon got locked in a sleeper which was dropped into a roll-up for the pin. The crowd loved this match. JOHN NOBLE beat TRACY SMOTHERS. Tracy was managed by The Duke (our old friend Allan Barrie). Duke and Tracy threatened violence if the fans chanted "Tracy sucks". They did. The crowd around here really hates Tracy since he turned "scalawag". Tracy said the fans here make him ashamed to be from the Volunteer State. Both guys really worked hard here. Tracy sold until Duke's interference put him in command. Noble came back and nailed Duke. He hit a crossbody to the floor on Tracy. He also hit one off the top inside the ring. Duke caused Noble to bump out and he put the boots to him. They did a ton of near falls at the end and were chopping each other like crazy. Noble won with seconds to spare with a cradle. Tracy flipped the crowd off afterward and promised never to return to Kingsport. CODY MICHAELS defeated BUDDY LANDEL. Landel came out and greeted the crowd as a babyface, but then wrestled as a heel. Michaels is an old friend of Mark Curtis from Pittsburgh. Landel used all the old heel tactics, such as raking the eyes, pulling hair, and biting until Michaels won out of nowhere with a simple roll-up. Buddy attacked Michaels afterward and put him in a figure four until Valiant made the save with a chair. Before leaving, Landel got on the mic and was gasping as if totally out of breath (it was a work) and demanded to know if Michaels wants any more of him. He thanked the crowd for standing with him during his victory and said he couldn't have done it without them. Up next was this year's Hall of Fame and special awards ceremony. Several prior inductees were there, including Sandy Scott, Ken Bowles, Melvin Johnson, and Jim White. Pam Hildebrand, Mark Curtis' widow, was also present. A special humanitarian award was given to Tony Richardson for his work with special needs kids. Super Mario, who has faced some personal tragedies in recent years, received an award. Hall of Fame inductees were the late Bud Adams (this area's version of the Spoiler), former athletic commissioner Paul Steele, veteran local competitors Kim Birchfield and Charlie Peters, and "White Lightnin'" Tim Horner. Ricky Harrison, whose retirement match was the scheduled main event, received a special friendship award for his 15 years of working the indies. BRANDI ALEXANDER beat BRANDI WINE to capture the U.S. Ladies Title. Both ladies were in great shape. This was a total serious style women's match like in the old days. Duke came out with Wine (the wrestler, not the beverage) and ran down Alexander on the mic. They did everything by the book, and while both ladies were very attractive, it wasn't the WWF-style T & A. The finish saw Duke accidentally trip Wine, leading to her loss. They teased a break-up afterward, but ended up hugging. BRIAN OVERBAY & RAY IDOL beat EQUALIZER & CHIC WHITE. Equalizer takes a lot of bumps for a guy his size. Like Roger Anderson, he does the traditional complaining heel gimmick. Overbay & Idol are local guys who are always over with the crowds here. Overbay chopped the hell out of White. The heels then got heat on Idol and worked on his leg. All four ended up brawling, leading to a double pin after the heels collided for another babyface win. SHANE DOUGLAS beat TIM HORNER by DQ. Douglas looked in a lot better shape than at the end of his ECW & WCW runs, where he had taken so much punishment it was starting to overtake him. The long rest while his Time-Warner contract ran out did him a lot of good. He was great on the mic, though he may have overdone it a little on the profanity for this area. He said he had heard East Tennessee is God's country, and after seeing it he now knows heaven has a ghetto. He put over being from Pittsburgh and said it's home to wrestling legends like Bruno Sammartino, Larry Zbyszko, Kurt Angle, and himself. He ran down the Hall of Fame inductees as not being good enough to lace his boots or carry his jock strap. He called himself the savior of the business. Horner arrived and put over area legends such as Ron Wright, Don Wright, Whitey Caldwell, Ron Fuller, and Ron Garvin. The match began and Horner kept out-wrestling Douglas, who would flee from the ring after each lock-up. He even threatened to exit the building at one point. He almost got counted out and barely beat a ten count to get back to the ring, but immediately bailed out again. Horner continued to dominate until Douglas hit the greatest low blow of all time. He went on offense using basic moves and brawling, with the crowd staying with it. There was a ref bump. Douglas pulled out a chain and KO'ed Horner. He then put the chain in Horner's hand. The ref revived and saw Horner holding the chain while Douglas writhed on the mat in mock agony, pretending to have been hit in the mouth with the weapon. Horner, who was just starting to regain consciousness, was DQ'ed. It was pretty funny as Douglas kept checking his teeth in front of the ref, but would smirk to the crowd behind the ref's back. Before leaving, Douglas got on the mic and said, "He knocked a tooth loose, damn it....that cheating son of a bitch!" BEAU JAMES & WAR MACHINE beat K.C. THUNDER & STEVE FLYNN. The entire Duke Dynasty came out with Thunder & Flynn, including Duke himself. P.J. Sharpe was with Beau & Machine. Duke ran down Beau for alleged dirty tactics, including the "banned in Tennessee" piledriver. Earlier on the TV show, Beau had vowed to refund all the fans' money if he failed to send a member of the Duke Dynasty out on a stretcher. Duke said Beau would fail, and the fans would get their welfare money back and could then spend it on booze and prostitutes. The fine art of heel managing may be dead in WWE but it's alive and well in the small promotions. As for the match, well, it was a brawl all over. Nothing fancy, just brawling. Duke set new speed records fleeing from Beau, Machine, and Sharpe, and he wasn't above sacrificing other Dynasty members to save himself. Beau juiced, which was the only blood on the show. Beau threw a fireball in Flynn's face and he staggered out blinded. This left Thunder to get massacred, as his arm was tied up in a submission hold and then wrapped around the post. The match just sort of ended with Beau announcing that he heard Thunder's arm breaking. Thunder was stretchered, as Beau had promised. RICKY HARRISON beat TERRY TAYLOR. This was Harrison's retirement match after 15 years as a regular on indies throughout the region. Harrison, who loves any wrestling from 1987 and before, does a "Rock & Roll" gimmick and patterns his style off of the Southern wrestling he grew up on. Duke came out once again, this time as Taylor's manager. Sandy Scott was special referee. Harrison went out with style, with a good match. He did a fast criss-cross sequence with Taylor. He also took a major bump into the post to put Taylor on offense. Harrison made a comeback and hit a neckbreaker but Duke distracted Scott. Taylor then laid Harrison out and pinned him using the ropes for leverage. But Ken Bowles ran in and told Scott about the infraction and the match was re-started. They kept going for a few more minutes rather than having a quick babyface win after the re-start. Harrison hit a ton of dropkicks, including one on Duke, before scoring the pin. Harrison thanked the fans afterward. A good ending to a very entertaining show. 2002 - It was announced that the Paul Hough documentary "The Backyard" had been picked up for theatrical distribution. The film, which featured Rob Van Dam and followed several backyard wrestlers, would pick up several awards on the festival circuit: HQI MEDIA & IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRE AWARD WINNING DOC THE BACKYARD AND SET THEATRICAL RELEASE New York/Tribeca Film Festival- HIQI Media & Image Entertainment have acquired the critically acclaimed backyard wrestling documentary THE BACKYARD hot on the heels of its audience award at the BROOKLYN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. In this real-life "Fight Club", director Paul Hough traveled the backyards of America to find kids with dreams of wrestling stardom and names like The Lizard, Scar, and Big Mac with a Spork. These amateur wrestlers put on shows for parents and friends using staple guns, razor blades, and barbwire covered bats in their bloody bouts. It 1s a world that most Americans and many wrestling fans would prefer not exist. Hough, with a keen observant eye, takes a close look at the cockeyed world of these masochistic performers and their friends and families that support them. NWA:TNA PPV REPORT INCLUDING AJ STYLES VS. CHRIS HARRIS, AMAZING RED VS. SONJAY DUTT, FOX SPORTS, LUCKY CHARMS, THE BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER & MORE Mike Tenay said the last two years have been a roller coaster ride for everyone in NWA:TNA. Tenay said that he was happy to announce that TNA, Universal Studios, and the Fox Sports Network will be working together to produce "Impact" a weekly series starting Friday June 4th. Mike Tenay thanked everyone for their support and invited them to enjoy tonight's PPV. I'm glad Tenay was the one to make the announcement as he has a ton of credibility with the fans and has been the MVP of the promotion from Day One. A video feature on recent events in NWA:TNA aired. Outside the "Asylum", Pat Kenny was outside waiting for the NYCs. Mike Tenay announced that Kenny had challenged them outside the building as he didn't want to interrupt the show. The opening contest saw NWA Tag Team champion Kid Kash facing James Storm. Kash was backdropped over the ropes to the floor. They brawled on the floor. Kash had his arm heavily taped, which the announcers noted was due to a bite from a brown recluse spider and it's been haunting him. They brawled into the crowd. Kash was tossed over the guard rail. Tenay joked that he was worried for the spider because of who he bit. Right now, Jess McGrath is chuckling. Kash ran into the crowd and was chased by Storm. Kash threw a chair but Storm caught it and sent it back. Kash locked on a one-legged Boston Crab. Dallas made his way to the ring. Dallas tried to hit Storm with the pipe but missed. Kash got the pipe and went to use it but the referee grabbed it. Storm superkicked Kash for the pin. Dallas and Storm began beating Storm. Storm fought back but was cut off. D-Lo Brown hit the ring but was beaten down as well. Dusty Rhodes hit the ring and ran off Kash and Dallas. They went to a pre-taped interview with Mike Tenay interviewing Vince Russo. Russo said that the entire company earned the slot on Fox Sports, from the ring crew to management. Russo said that he isn't protecting AJ Styles because Styles only needs to defend the belt once a month but is defending it every week. Tenay brought up Raven and Ron Killings. Russo said that they deserve rematches but you can't have the inmates running the asylum by booking their own matches. Russo said he knows Konnan was the one who destroyed his office last week. He said they were friends before they were enemies and Konnan sometimes acts like a child. Russo explained that Killings and Raven would be handcuffed to the ringposts tonight in order to prevent interference and make sure that the best man won tonight. Monty Brown made his way to the ring and took the ring mic. He said that it wasn't rabbit season or dog season, but it was open season on 3 Live Kru. BG Jammes made his way to the ring and they quickly brawled towards the back of the building. Brown hit Jammes with a trash can lid, then set up a table. He tried to put Jammes on the table but he fought back and they brawled into the upper level of the building, into the fans. They brawled back down the stairway, and Brown slammed Jammes into the guard rail. Jammes was whipped into a wall, but was able to stop Brown and powerbombed him through a table. Brown hit an atomic drop on the railing on Jammes, then slammed Jammes' leg with a chair several times. The commentators noted that he was going after Jammes' left knee. They brawled back to the ring and Brown hit the Pounce for the pin. Brown grabbed a chair and continued to beat Jammes with it. The other members of Three Live Kru hit the ring. The winner of the bout, Monty Brown who remains unbeaten. Outside, Pat Kenny was running the stairs and doing pushups, waiting for NYC. They went to a pre-taped segment with Don West talking to Desire, talking to her outside in a park about her back injury. Desire said it felt like her back exploded but she had the adrenaline to finish the bout. She yelled at Sonny Siaki not to let "the kids" climb too high, off screen. She said that her children drove her to return to the ring as she had to pay the billls. She didn't have a choice but to return to the ring. She said when she was hurt, Siaki took care of the kids and made their lunch because she was too hurt to do anything. She said Siaki was concerned about her. West said that Trinity was out to hurt her and put her out of wrestling. She said that she was a competitor and Trinity shouldn't forget that. Trinity attacked her and rammed her into a wooden fence, then kicked her in the back and locked on a surfboard in the grass. West got punched as well. Where was Siaki? Siaki finally ran off Trinity as Desire cried not to let the kids (who were never seen) see her this way. The next bout was the second match in the "Three Strike Series" with Sonjay Dutt vs. The Amazing Red. They noted that Dutt was up 1-0. No mention of Desire. Dutt and Red shook hands as the match started. X-Division champion Frankie Kazarian's music hit and he came out to watch them from the stage of the building. They locked up with neither man getting the advantage. They did a series of reversals which ended with a faceoff. They noted that Siaki was "off with the kids and wasn't able to help" during the Trinity attack on Desire. They went to the floor. Red got tossed over the guard rail. Dutt dove off the guard rail with a flip dive but only grazed Red's back. Back in the ring, worked over Red. Red jumped in the ring, using the ropes as a catapult and landed on Dutt's back, turning it into a sunset flip powerbomb for a 2 count. Red climbed the turnbuckles , but was caught by Dutt. He shoved off Dutt who came back with a dropkick in the corner. Red fell off the turnbuckle to the floor and hit the table as he went down. Dutt went for the Hindu Press but missed. Red hit the red spike and the Infrared standing splash for the pin. It's now tied up one each. Scott Hudson interviewed 3 Live Kru in their locker room. BG Jammes was on the floor in pain. Ron Killings said Jammes is hurt and that's not right. Killings said that Chris Harris has a title shot tonight and that's not right. Killings said Vince Russo was responsible. Konnan said he was going to find Russo and deal with this. They aired a video on the Shane Douglas-Michael Shane feud. Michael Shane made his way to the ring with Traci Brooks. Douglas then made his way to the ring for the "Corporal Punishment" bout, with the ring surrounded by leather straps and wooden mallets. Oddly enough, they went to the mat early for several pin attempts and Douglas used a rear hammerlock to wear down Shane. Shane slapped Douglas and retreated outside the ring. Douglas hit several elbows and a headbutt. Douglas grabbed a paddle but Traci grabbed him. Shane charged and Douglas backdropped him over the ropes to the floor, where he landed glancingly on Traci. Douglas throws Shane into the guard rail and spit water in his face. He slammed Shane into the ringpost. Shane battled back and slammed Douglas into the ring steps. Douglas powerbombed Shane on the floor. Douglas gets a two count after tossing him into the ring. Douglas was shot into the turnbuckle, but hit a rolling neck snap as he came out of the corner. Douglas began whipping Shane with one of the leather strap. Backstage, Konnan was screaming at Vince Russo and said he has no respect for him. Russo argued back and Konnan said, "What are you going to do, suspend me?" They continued to go at it as we went to.... Somewhere else, in an empty arena, Pat Kenny was beating up Glen Gilberti and Johnny Swinger. Swinger was rolled down bleachers and slammed him into a fence. Trinity hit him with a trash can and beat him with it. They poured syrup on Kenny and poured Lucky Charms on Kenny. They ran a video feature on Erik Watts vs. Goldilocks. Goldilocks addressed TNA and Vince Russo and said they have a problem because Watts has a job again when he doesn't deserve one. She said he slandered her name and she never stole his money. She said that he stole it on his own merit. Goldilocks said she spoke to other women (her alter egos) and they told her she is right and she told them that Watts can be dismissed or she will take it to the lawyers. She said she wants a public apology. She said that when Russo is down with his title mess, she has someone ready to take over and Abyss stepped into the screen. Tenay and West talked about Goldilocks being out of her mind. They ran a video feature on the World X Cup PPV on 5/26. Team Canada's Petey Williams and Bobby Rude with Scott D'Amore made their way to the ring for their bout with Team Mexico, announced as Heavy Metal and Hector Garza. Abismo Negro made his way to the ring. Mike Tenay covered saying Jeremy Borash didn't know about the change as AAA's Antonio Pena made the change to throw off Team Canada. It started with Williams and Garza. Garza hit a standing fall away slam. Williams hit a top rope hurrancanrana. Bobby Rude and Garza faced off. Garza offered his hand but kicked Rude in the hamstring. Rude put Negro on top but he battled out and hit a double leg takedown. Williams made the save and they hit a doubleteam bulldog off the top rope. Team Mexico hung up Rude upside down in the corner, then ran Williams into him. Williams went down and Team Mexico crotched him on Rude, still hanging upside down. Rude began beating Garza with a series of kicks. They went back and forth with several near falls. Williams hit a head scissors takeover on Williams. Garza tagged in with several kicks to the hamstring. Williams hit a deep armdrag, sending him out of the ring. He slingshot himself over the ropes into a hurrancanrana. Negro clotheslined Rude. Scott D'Amore hit Negro with the hockey stick as he was coming off the ropes and Rude hooked the tights as he rolled him up for the pin. Your winners, Team Canada. They continued the beat down and Jerry Lynn hit the ring. The Canadians were run off. They had D'Amore cornered, but he escaped. Lynn said that D'Amore is always talking about how he should be replaced as the captain of Team NWA but at least he's wrestling, not hiding behind his team. Lynn challenges D'Amore to step in the ring for 5 minutes. D'Amore says that if Lynn can defeat Bobby Rude, D'Amore will step in the ring. D'Amore says that if Lynn wants it, he needs to step down as the captain of Team NWA. Lynn agreed. They go to the back, where someone had jumped Konnan. Ron Killings was over Konnan and asked him if it was Vince Russo. Konnan said he didn't see who it was. Killings said he needed to go find Russo but Don Harris said he wasn't going anywhere but the ring and handcuffed him. Mike Tenay and Don West did a hard sell on the TNA trading cards, the TNA school, and next week's PPV. They announced they would be on the Best Damned Sports Show tomorrow on the FOX Sports Network as well. They announced the return of Dusty Rhodes next week, teaming with James Storm against Kid Kash and Dallas in a Bunkhouse match. Dusty made his way to the ring. Rhodes said that everyone wants to get aboard a super fast train when it's hot and that's why FOX Sports are jumping on board with NWA:TNA. Rhodes said that Storm is coming next week for Dallas and Kid Kash, and he's coming with Storm. Dusty took off his boots and laid in the ring. He put the hat on top of the boots and said it was "Kid Kash with the stuffing kicked out of him." He told "Kash" that hell is coming in the form of he and Storm. The crowd chanted Dusty's name. They did a video feature on the main event. Backstage, Raven told Scott Hudson that he can't believe Vince Russo would allow Chris Harris to interfere in his title match and then give one to Harris. Raven said that he can't believe he has to be handcuffed to the ringpost. He said that it's not a matter of if he will win the belt, just a matter of when. He promised that it won't be the destination, but the journey. Raven promised the darkest journey of his career. Harris handcuffed him and led him offscreen. Ron Killings made his way to the ring to be handcuffed to the ringpost. Raven then made his way to the ring to be handcuffed. Chris Harris made his way to the ring. AJ Styles made his way to the ring and they did very boxing-like ring introductions. Styles and Harris began feeling each other out. Harris shoulderblocked Styles down. Styles hit an armdrag and locked in an armbar. Styles slammed Harris. Harris began fighting back, but Styles kicked him and cut him off. Harris hit a clothesline and Styles hit a flip bump off of it that looked great. Harris hit a running powerslam out of the corner. Harris hit a fullnelson into a slam for a two count but Styles got his shoulder up. Harris and AJ battled in the corner. AJ flipped over and tried for a powerbomb but Harris held on. AJ focused on his back and then hit a German Suplex off the ropes on Harris. Styles went for a Styles Clash but Harris turned it into a sharpshooter. Konnan came out with bolt cutters and freed Ron Killings. Harris charged Styles, who ducked and Harris hit the ringpost shoulderfirst. With the referee distracted, Killings clotheslined Styles. Security removed 3 Live Kru. Harris hit an elbow off the top rope but Styles kicked up at two. Harris dove off the ropes but Styles kicked him down. Styles charged and hit Harris in the corner. Harris hits Catatonic but Raven pulled the referee out of the ring at the 2 count. Raven got the key to the handcuffs from the prone referee and hit the ring with a chair. Raven hit Harris with the chair in the midsection. He hit the drop toehold on the chair on Harris. Sabu hit the ring and dove over the ropes with a legdrop on Raven outside the ring. Sabu and Raven brawled into the crowd. Styles covered Harris but only got a two count. Styles springboarded off the ropes but Harris speared him for a two count. They showed Russo watching in the back. Sabu and Raven brawled out of the back of the building. Harris went for the Catatonic again but Styles turned it into a crucifix for a two count. Both men clotheslined the other and crumpled to the mat. Kid Kash and Dallas came out. Kash hit Harris in the chest with the lead pipe. He stumbled towards Styles, who hit him with a big clothesline for the pin. Your winner and still NWA champion AJ Styles! Styles and Harris faced off after the match. Raven hit Styles with a chair as Harris watched. Harris then hit a spear on Raven. Killings hit the ring. The locker room pulled everyone apart. Vince Russo came out and said enough is enough. He told Raven, Killings, and Harris that they would all get a title shot next week, so go ahead and kill each other. The brawl continued as they went off the air. 2005 - Captain Lou Albano was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. There were no major changes to the Ring of Honor product as a result of the PPV taping, with the exception of some small music changes to either generic clones of known songs (such as in the case of Bryan Danielson) or new, original music (such as in the case of Rocky Romero). It was, however, the ROH that has made its name over the last five years - long matches, lots of matwork and striking that wouldn't seem foreign to a MMA fan coming across the product, wrestling based around athletics, not looks and matches built around the Japanese style with hard hitting athletics, submissions, strikes, lots of big moves and kickouts, and highspots galore. This show wasn't meant to compete with WWE or TNA, but to be an entirely different niche product for fans to sample. My feeling watching it was that if you were already an ROH fan, you'll probably like the show. If you are into MMA or old school wrestling, you'll like aspects of it but it will seem different. There was no mistaking the work ethic of the performers involved as they went all out balls to the wall physically, with the only downside to that being the fear (at least on my part) that eventually it becomes impossible to top yourself, and where do you go from there? That, however is the future, and tonight was something of a start for the small company that started struggling at the Philadelphia Murphy Recreation Center. It was the latest in a series of small steps to expand the product's awareness and hopefully, bring in more of an audience over time by ROH owner Cary Silkin. In that respect, it was a good first step, particularly during a phenomenal first half of the show, which was among the best first halves of any live show I've seen ROH produce. Full results of the show, in order (with segments confirmed to be airing on the PPV listed as such), saw: *In a pre-PPV taping bout, Brent Albright pinned Tank Toland with an exploder suplex. Toland is the former James Dick in WWE while Albright was Gunner Scott on Smackdown. Toland is ripped physically with veins protruding even out of his thighs. He is supposed to be something of a personal trainer here for heel Chris Hero and was managed by "Agent to the Stars" Larry Sweeney. Bobby Dempsey, an ROH school trainee who is really heavy, came to ringside with them as the backstory is that Toland is trying to get him in shape. Toland would do exercises while on offense, including doing situps while Albright was locked in between his legs with a scissor, elbowing Albright in the back of the head while he pulled himself up. Match was an OK opener with some spots that didn't work perfectly but the crowd was really into Albright and getting on Toland's case. ROH announcer Dave Prazak came to the ring with BJ Whitmer. Whitmer, one of the senior members of the locker room, is something of a Tommy Dreamer for the company, having some great brawls and also really sacrificing himself physically when needed, like the CZW feud. Prazak hyped up the crowd and pushed how important it was that the debut PPV was being taped in New York City. That was a shoot in that management wanted it in NYC because of the importance factor of the Big Apple as well as the hot crowds. PPV SEGMENT - Prazak handed it over to Whitmer who opened the PPV inside the ring welcoming everyone at home to Ring of Honor. He said that in ROH, they let their wrestling do their talking for them and challenged anyone who thought they could take him out to come to the ring for a fight. Out came ROH champion Takeshi Morishima, which the live crowd popped for. PPV SEGMENT- Takeshi Morishima pinned BJ Whitmer in a good, but short match. Whitmer got near falls on the champion with an Exploder and a lariat. Morishima, who physically works like Terry Gordy in his prime, drilled Whitmer with a lariat and a big boot. Whitmer kicked up. Morishima drilled him with another lariat and then hit a backdrop driver for the pin. British star Nigel McGuinness came to the ring and congratulated Morishima on a good match. He told Morishima, "You are one hell of a wrestler, but so am I" which the place popped for and challenged him for a title match tonight. Bryan Danielson, dressed in dress clothes came to the ring and noted he was champion for 15 months while dropping names of people he defeated as champion like Lance Storm, Homicide, and even McGuinness. He said that if anyone deserves a title shot, it's him. McGuinness and Danielson begin to argue with Danielson poking his finger in Nigel's chest. Nigel tells him that if he does it again, he's going to break Danielson's finger off and shove it down his throat. Danielson attacks Nigel and they begin fighting. Morishima assists Danielson and they lay out Nigel. As Morishima is trashing Nigel, Danielson picks up the ROH title belt. Morishima sees this, snatches it away, teases a fight, then walks off. Nigel has recovered by then and when Danielson realizes it, he rolls out of the ring.. Naomichi Marufuji defeated Rocky Romero in a good match with Sliced Bread #2 off the ropes. He offered Romero a handshake at the bell, but Romero spit at his hand. Marufuji did some fast offensive mat wrestling to start. Romero broke out an Octopus submission, before turning that into a near fall. The crowd began doing "Rocky sucks" chants. Romero mounted Marufuji like an MMA fight and began slapping him with both hands. There were a lot of MMA style back and forth striking sequences tonight. Marufuji hit a springboard dropkick onto Romero, who was outside on the apron, sending him into the guard rail. On the floor, he picked up Romero and rammed him knee first into the ring post. He worked over Romero's knee back in the ring, even locked on a figure four leglock. Romero came back with several Tornado DDTs for near falls. Romero went to the top rope but was dropkicked and then his with a dragon screw legwhip while on the ropes, sending him into the ring. Marufuji escaped a Dragon Suplex, landing on his feet, then drills Romero's face into his knees. He nails a powerbomb for a two count. Marufuji goes to the top rope but Romero uses a takedown to bring him to the mat from the ropes, locking on a cross armbreaker in the process. Marufuji got to the ropes. Marufuji hit a Van Terminator from one corner to the other on Romero, who kicked out. At that point, I thought they were doing too much. Romero tried for a Dragon Suplex and got a two count before Marufuji nailed the Sliced Bread #2. Real good match. I thought it was probably the best Romero ever looked for ROH. PPV SEGMENT - Nigel McGuinness returned to the ring. He said that he didn't come to New York with a separated shoulder and a herniated disc in his back (Both true, which necessitated his missing the CT house show on 5/11 in order to be physically able to wrestle at the PPV.) He said that in ROH, they settle their problems in the ring and challenged Morishima and Danielson to come back out and fight. Morishima hit the ring and they fought back and forth. Danielson hit the ring and they doubled on Nigel. Pro Wrestling NOAH's KENTA hit the ring and made the save, nailing a big boot on Danielson, who bumped out of the ring. Nigel drilled Morishima with a lariat. Nigel said that apparently KENTA has his back, so tonight they'll have a tag match. In what was billed as a Grudge Match, Davey Richards defeated Erick Stevens via tapout with a keylock submission. Richards is part of the No Remorse Corps with Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero. Stevens is part of the Resilience with Matt Cross and (until he was yanked by TNA) Austin Aries. The two factions have been feuding since Strong turned on Aries at the last Manhattan show. With Aries' departure, the feud continues. Stevens is new to the company but has worked for sister promotion FIP, so the audience is somewhat familiar with him. He does the Godfather Ho Train charge into the corner and yells "Choo Choo" when he does it, so the crowd chants it at him. Richards attacked Stevens at the bell but ended up on the defensive. Stevens went for the "Choo Choo" (and Lord, I feel silly typing that) but Stevens exited the ring. They brawled around ringside. Some fan got tossed for pouring beer on Richards. As Stevens returned to the ring, he was caight by several stiff kicks to the chest as he was in between the ropes. Richards nailed a big boot with Stevens taking the Cactus Jack Nestea Plunge backwards into the railing. Richards worked him over on the floor, then got a two count with a legdrop off the ropes. He grabbed Stevens' neck in leg scissors. Richards hit a sick innovative move where he suplexes Stevens over the top rope out of the ring, but as Stevens was falling backwards, Richards held on and pulled him over the ropes back into the ring with a reverse brainbuster of sorts. Stevens came back and suplexed Richards over the top rope to the floor. I remember the first time I saw Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger do that and I thought it was the most incredible thing ever. Now, it's just another in a series of insane spots. Weird how evolution goes. Stevens hits the "Choo Choo" (as opposed to the "Moo Moo"), then drills Richards with a TKO for a near fall. Richards snaps on his hammerlock submission but Stevens gets to the ropes. They go into back and forth with strikes. They end up battling in the corner, where Richards nails Stevens with stiff as hell headbutts to the nose. Stevens eventually goes down and Richards locks on the keylock submission for the win. Leaving, Richards looked to be favoring his arm and pectoral muscle, but he could have been selling. PPV SEGMENT - ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal after nailing a Doomsday Device on Sydal. This was easily my pick for the best match of the night and was completely off the charts. Claudio now sports shorter hair and was wearing a suit when he came to the ring. He did mic work slowly so the crowd would finish his sentence and reminded me of both Andy Kaufman and movie character Borat in delivery and look, but not in a lame knockoff way. There was tons of great back and forth wrestling here and everyone really busted their ass. Briscoes were in control early and it was something of a tag team showcase, which is smart on ROH's part since no one else really showcases their tag teams in a pushed position. Jay Briscoe hit a split legged moonsault on Claudio. Sydal backdropped Mark over the ropes to the floor, then caught Jay with a rana while he was on the top rope. Claudio walked the ropes and dropped an elbow. The Briscoes pulled out double beel throws on Sydal and Claudio. I popped for those. As if that wasn't awesome enough, Claudio did the big swing on Jay. Perfection! Mark finally gets tagged in. Jay hits a flip dive to the floor on Claudio. Mark evades a Sydal rana while on the top, then dives off, catching him with a sunset flip takedown. By this point, there was far too many spots and near falls to remember. Jay nailed a flying bodypress on Caudio for a two count. Sydal drags Mark to the floor, where they brawl. Jay gets tossed out. Sydal jumps on Claudio's shoulders and dives down onto the Briscoes. Sydal nails a shooting star on Mark but Jay breaks it up. Jay presses him over his head and drops him, nailing a death valley driver. Mark dives out of the ring on Claudio, setting up the Doomsday Device, with Mark springboarding off the ropes to clothesline Sydal. Phenomenal stuff here. PPV SEGMENT - With the Briscoes still in the ring celebrating, ROH announcers Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak (making what I believe to be their first on camera appearance) are in the general admission section of the audience, with their backs to the ring. They talk about how important the ROH live experience is and run down many of the cities the company will be coming to soon (strangely enough, they didn't mention Tokyo) and how those shows may host future PPV tapings. Kevin Steen and El Generico interrupt them and demand a title shot against the Briscoes. The Briscoes offer to go right now, so the Canadians come through the crowd and they do a pull apart brawl in the ring. The Briscoes are removed to the aisle by officials, leaving Steen and Generico to destroy two students and former ROH regulars Deranged and Azrieal (of Special K fame, although I don't know how they will be referred to on the broadcast). Generico did a dive onto everyone in the aisle (think Kid Kash in ECW) and they all brawled to the back. Crowd was into the segment. After intermission, Sara Del Ray defeated Daizee Haze in what was billed as a SHIMMER Women's Wrestling bout. Haze tried to hit a flying bodypress early but was caught and nailed with a Fall Away Slam. Ray got several near falls and locked a Boston Crab on Haze, who got to the ropes. They battled in the corner while on the ropes, which Haze won after pulling out a heart punch, which sent Ray sailing back into the ring. Haze was finally caught in an over the shoulder backbreaker style submission but escaped and turned it into a sunset flip. Ray finally got the win with a forward roll.. Solid. In a Scramble match, Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated Mitch Franklin & Pelle Primeau, Irish airborne, and Jimmy Rave & Adam Pearce. The crowd was into Steen bigtime, especially after he hit a dive onto everyone. Steen's put on a lot of girth since the last time I've seen him. At one point, Pearce pulled out a RepoMan style mask and put it on to mock fans who chant "Repo Man" at him since there's a resemblance to Barry Darsow. This was all crazy spots and far too much to cover. It put the car crash in car crash wrestling. I didn't personally get into this one (Scramble Matches to me are either perfect or not entertaining, there's no in between) but edited properly it will look like one hell of a highlight reel of spots. PPV SEGMENT - Roderick Strong defeated Delirious with a sitdown powerbomb in a match that the crowd was into but I thought would have benefited from being placed earlier on the show. It was a little slow building during the first third and that felt weird coming off some of the matches seen earlier on the show. Delirious, who wears a mask and babbles in odd tongues, went insane during his introduction, causing Strong to go to the floor early. Delirious began running around and they battled on the floor. Crowd was loving messing with Strong by reciting his name "Rooodeeriiiick" in a whiny fashion. Strong played off the crowd, screaming at them, which again, seemed weird for a match that late in the show. Delirious hit a rana from the top on Strong, who came back drilling him facefirst into the turnbuckles. Roderick was working on removing Delirious' mask early, even trying to tie it to the ropes, which didn't seem to work out as planned. Strong nailed a number of backbreaker variations and gutbusters and chops. Delirous drilled Strong with a neckbreaker. Strong came back with a Fall Away Slam off the ropes. Some of the crowd chanted, "This match sucks" but were shouted down by others in the audience. Delirious hit a dive onto the floor on Strong. In a sick spot, Strong suplexed and dropped Delirious on the apron outside the ring. After the pin, the No Remorse Corps. all beat down Delirious. They bridged a piece of guard rail between the ring and railing. Strong hit a powerbomb on Delirious onto the rail. Erik Stevens hit the ring for the save. The crowd chanted "Thank you Choo Choo." I'll be interested in seeing how this is edited or changed in positioning for the PPV broadcast. It wasn't terrible but just seemed like it was in the wrong place on the card, plus I think the crowd was getting a little restless. PPV SEGMENT- ROH champion Takeshi Morishima & Bryan Danielson defeated KENTA and Nigel McGuinness when Danielson forced KENTA to tap out to the Cattle Mutilation submission while Morishima beat down Nigel in the corner. Lots of great back and forth wrestling here. For a guy with a history of shoulder problems in the last year, Danielson looked great, For someone who was working with a separated shoulder, Nigel is a monster, and the NOAH talents are out of this world. All of that led to a really fun main event. Danielson and KENTA started with back and forth exchanges. Morishima shoulderblocked Nigel down. Danielson drilled McGuinness with a forearm off the ropes. KENTA nailed Morishima with a boot to the face but was caught by Danielson with a Dragon Screw leg whip. All four faced off center ring, which led to a "ROH chant." Nigel DDT'd Morishima on the apron outside the ring, but Takeshi shrugged it off and powerbombed him into the railing ringside. KENTA tried to help but was whipped into the railing. He held KENTA for Danielson, who came charging with a running boot to the face. Danielson and Morishima worked over Nigel in the corner and on the mat for awhile with Danielson focusing on his knees. KENTA finally got the hot tag in and nailed a springboard missile dropkick to Danielson Morishima nailed one of his own on KENTA and followed that up with a sideslam. KENTA powerslammed Morishima, which the place came unglued for due to the size different. Nigel tagged in and began drilling Morishima with strikes and thrusts, taking him out in the corner. McGuinness hit a running charge into a forearm, which looked awesome. Morishima came back with a big boot, but missed a missile dropkick. Nigel clotheslined him for a two count. Morishima went for a cartwheel into a handspring elbow, but Nigel drilled him with a lariat for another near fall. Nigel and Morishima battled atop in a corner. Danielson tried to get involved so KENTA attacked him. It ended with Morishima dropping down on Nigel like former WWF champion Yokozuna would. Morishima nailed a backdrop driver but KENTA broke up the two count. KENTA hit a diving knee onto Danielson, who was draped against the ropes. . Danielson nailed a Dragon Suplex then locked on a Crossface Chicken Wing. KENTA pushed off the corner and Danielson nearly ended up pinning himself. Danielson goes to the top but Nigel comes from under him and nailed a powerbomb. KENTA tries to hit a bodypress from the ropes but Morishima catches him and tosses him with a suplex. Nigel nailed a forearm off the ropes on Danielson. He tosses Morishima into the first row, then dives off the top rope onto him. Danielson goes for a diving headbutt on KENTA but KENTA gets his feet up. He nails a dropkick and hits the Go To Sleep for a two count, but Morishima breaks the count. Morishima clotheslined KENTA and Danielson nailed him with a backfist. KENTA kept kicking out. At some point, Nigel ripped up his arm as he was at ringside taping it up and you could see blood peering out from under the tape. He rebounded off the ropes and drilled a lariat into Morishima, but went down selling the arm. KENTA nailed a suplex and got a two count on Danielson. The place changed ROH. KENTA was drilled with a back suplex and Danielson went for the Cattle Mutiliation but didn't get it. He nailed a back suplex on KENTA and began beating him with elbow after elbow, teasing a MMA-like ref stoppage. They then went to the finish. After the match, Morishima laid out Danielson and Nigel in the ring and began swinging the ROH title above his head. Not sure where the PPV will end, but live Danielson left to his theme music and the company thanked the fans for attending. NOTES: It was the fourth sellout for the company in the Manhattan Center....ROH returns on Saturday 8/25, the night before Summerslam 2007....A lot of the wrestlers were sporting new gear and tights in honor of the PPV. You could see a lot of the talents were trying hard to do the most they could, although as I wrote earlier, the downside to that is it can sometimes be too hard....The first half of the show was rocking and I loved the main event. For a $10 price tag, you probably won't get a better amount of wrestling for your money. Thanks to /strong> www.thehistoryofwwe.com for their assistance with archival results.
On this day in history in ....
1964 - The WWWF ran a television taping in Bridgeport, CT at the City Arenafeaturing:
-WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Magnificent Maurice.
-WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Dave Morgan.
-Jerry & Luke Graham defeated Tony Marino & Manuel Soto.
-Miguel Perez defeated Frank Hickey.
-Bobo Brazil defeated Matt Gilmore.
-Don McClarity defeated Boris Malenko.
-Ernie Ladd defeated Pedro Rodriguez.
-Gorilla Monsoon defeated Carlos Milano.
-Killer Kowalski defeated Ted Lewin.
1965 - WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino competed in two different markets on the same day. Sammartino teamed with Argentina Apollo to defeat Waldo Von Erich & Smasher Sloan in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-1 in Fredericksnburg, VA before heading to Pittsburgh, PA to successful defend his championship, defeating Bill Miller by DQ.
1965 - The undercard of the aforementioned WWWF event in Virginia featured:
-Arnold Skaaland pinned Tony Newberry.
-Miguel Perez defeated the Golden Terror via disqualification.
-Wahoo McDaniel fought Bill Watts to a draw.
1966 - WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino & Antonio Pugliese fought Curtis Iaukea & Bill Miller to a draw in the main event of a card in Washington, D.C.
1972 - WWWF ran two events on the same day. Here are the complete results:
North Attleboro, MA at Witschi's Sports Arena:
-Tony Contilles defeated Joe Nova via disqualification when Nova hit the referee.
-Jimmy Valiant pinned Ricky Sexton.
-Chief Jay Strongbow pinned Smasher Sloan; stipulations stated the loser would have to leave New -England.
-Sonny King pinned Juan Caruso
-Rene Goulet fought the Black Demon to a double count-out; Demon was unmasked as Tony Nero.
Queens, NY at Sunnyside Gardens:
-The Haiti Kid & Sonny Boy Hayes defeated Frenchy Lamont & Sky Low Low.
-Baron Mikel Scicluna defeated Manuel Soto.
-Thomas Marin defeated Chuck Richards.
-Victor Rivera defeated King Curtis via disqualification.
1976 - The WWF ran White Plains, NY at the Westchester County Center, headlined by Ivan Putski defeating Superstar Graham.
-Kevin Sullivan defeated Johnny Rodz.
-Skandar Akbar defeated Louis Cerdan.
-Tony Parisi fought Baron Mikel Scicluna to a draw.
-Susan Green & Vivian St. John defeated Paula Kaye & Kitty Adams.
1978 - WWF ran Pittsburgh, PA at the Civic Arena with the following results:
-Dewey Robertson defeated Chris Tolos.
-Ivan Putski defeated George Steele via disqualification.
-Billy Lyons defeated Nick Busick.
-WWWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Spiros Arion via countout.
-Gorilla Monsoon defeated Butcher Vachon.
-Superstar Billy & Luke Graham defeated Dusty Rhodes & Haystacks Calhoun.
1979 - WWF ran Baltimore, Maryland with the following results:
-Nikolai Volkoff defeated Johnny Rivera.
-Tito Santana defeated Johnny Rodz.
-Cowboy Lang & Tiny Thumb defeated Little Tokyo & Butch Cassidy.
-Hussein Arab defeated SD Jones.
-WWF North American Champion Ted DiBiase defeated Jimmy Valiant via disqualification.
-Ivan Putski defeated Bulldog Brower.
-WWF Tag Team Champions Johnny & Jerry Valiant defeated Steve Travis & Dominic DeNucci.
-WWF World Champion Bob Backlund fought Greg Valentine to a no contest.
1980 - WWF ran Totowa, NJ at Ice World with the following results:
-Baron Scicluna defeated Jose Estrada.
-Larry Sharpe defeated Angelo Gomez.
-Tor Kamata defeated Frank Williams.
-Rick McGraw defeated Johnny Rodz.
-WWF Tag Team Champions the Wild Samoans defeated Dominic Denucci & Rene Goulet.
-WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Patera defeated Pat Patterson.
-Larry Zbyszko defeated Ivan Putski.
1981 - WWF ran Portland, Maine with the following results:
-The Great Yatsu defeated Don Serrano.
-Rick McGraw defeated Johnny Rodz.
-SD Jones defeated Frank Savage.
-Tony Garea & Rick Martel defeated Lou Albano & Moondog Rex.
-WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Killer Khan.
1983 - NWA World champion Ric Flair defeated Billy Jack Haynes via disqualification in Yakima, Washington.
1983 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran Norfolk, Virginia, featuring Mike Rotundo & Rufus R. Jones defeating Dory Funk Jr. & Jake Roberts and NWA U.S. Champion Greg Valentine defeating Johnny Weaver in the main events.
1983 - WWF ran Manchester, NH at JFK Coliseum with the following results:
-Johnny Rodz defeated Frankie Williams.
-Jose Estrada defeated Pete Sanchez.
-Salvatore Bellomo defeated Pete Doherty.
-Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Victor Rivera.
-Iron Mike Sharpe defeated SD Jones.
-Jules Strongbow defeated Samula via disqualification.
-WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Afa via disqualification.
1984 - NWA World champion Kerry Von Erich defeated Ric Flair in San Antonio, Texas.
1984 - New Japan Pro Wrestling ran Niage, Japan, headlined by Tatsumi Fujinami defeating John Quinn,
WWF Tag Team Champion Adrian Adonis defeating Otto Wanz and a tag bout where Riki Choshu & Mr. Saito defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan & the Masked Superstar via disqualification.
1984 - The Masked Outlaw (Dory Funk Jr.) defeated NWA Mid Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Angelo Mosca Jr. to win the championship at a Jim Crockett Promotions event in Spencer, NC. On the same card, Mark & Jay Youngblood defeated NWA Tag Team Champions Ivan Koloff & Don Kernodle (with Gary Hart) via disqualification at around the 7:40 mark after Kernodle struck Jay with a clothesline using a loaded forearm pad; after the bout, Wahoo McDaniel and Pez Whatley ran out to make the save.
1985 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran the Omni in Atlanta, GA featuring the following results:
-The Barbarian defeated Sam Houston.
-Superstar Billy Graham defeated the Italian Stallion.
-Buzz Sawyer fought Krusher Kruschev to a draw.
-NWA U.S. Champion Magnum TA defeated John Tatum.
-Tully Blanchard defeated National Heavyweight Champion Ron Garvin.
-Jimmy Valiant fought Abdullah the Butcher to a no contest.
-Thunderbolt Patterson & Manny Fernandez defeated National Tag Team Champions Ole & Arn Anderson
-Dusty Rhodes & Dick Slater defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions Ivan & Nikita Koloff.
1986 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran Oakwood, VA headlined by NWA World Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey defeating Manny Fernandez & Hector Guerrero.
1986 - JCP also ran Greenville, SC at The Memorial Auditorium featuring the following results:
-Thunderfoot defeated Rocky Kernodle.
-Black Bart fought Don Kernodle to a draw.
-Ron Garvin defeated Ivan Koloff.
-Wahoo McDaniel defeated Jimmy Garvin via disqualification.
-NWA National Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard & NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson fought The Rock N' Roll Express to a no contest.
-Nikita Koloff defeated Magnum TA in a Russian chain match.
1987 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran Columbia, SC for a TV Taping, featuring NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard (with JJ Dillon) defeated Robert Gibson (with Ricky Morton) via disqualification around the 17 minute mark when the referee was knocked to the floor, allowing Morton and Dillon to interfere. Gibson backdropped Blanchard over the top rope. After the bout, NWA World Champion Ric Flair came out, attacked Morton in and out of the ring, and helped triple team him before Gibson made the save.
1987 - The WWF ran a long Superstars taping in Anaheim, CA headlined by Hulk Hogan defeating King Harley Race to retain the WWF championship in a dark match main event. The same taping featured Hogan making a rare televised wrestling appearance on the syndicated series (Hogan would wrestle on NBC specials but never on syndication, which was designed to sell tickets to live events) as he pinned Bob Orton in a match that aired Memorial Day weekend. Bobby Heenan was introduced as the manager of the Islanders at the taping as well.
1988 - WWF ran three events the same evening with the following results:
Erie, PA at the Civic Center in front of 1,000 fans:
-Iron Mike Sharpe pinned Scott Casey.
-Brady Boone pinned Steve Lombardi.
-The Junkyard Dog pinned Ron Bass.
-The Ultimate Warrior pinned Hercules.
-Bret Hart fought Bad News Brown to a double countout.
-WWF Women's Champion Sensational Sherri pinned Desiree Peterson.
-Strike Force, Rick Martel & Tito Santana defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition via disqualification.
Columbus, GA at The Municipal Auditorium in front of 3,600 fans:
-Hillbilly Jim pinned Steve Lombardi.
-The Young Stallions Paul Roma & Jim Powers fought The Bolsheviks, Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov to a draw
-Greg Valentine pinned Outback Jack.
-Dino Bravo pinned Ken Patera.
-WWF Intercontinental Champion the Honkytonk Man defeated Brutus Beefcake via countout.
Winnipeg, Manitoba at the Arena in front of 4,000 fans:
-Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated The Killer Bees, B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell.
-Don Muraco (sub. for Bam Bam Bigelow) pinned the One Man Gang.
-George Steele defeated Jim Neidhart via countout.
-Koko B. Ware pinned Bobby Heenan.
-Haku & Sivi Afi defeated Hillbilly Jim & Don Muraco.
-Jake Roberts fought Rick Rude to a double countout.
-WWF champion Randy Savage pinned Ted Dibiase,
1989 - Roddy Piper, who had retired at Wrestlemania III in March 1987, made a surprise return to the ring in the main event of the WWF house show in Los Angeles, CA before 15,000 fans. Piper was a surprise substitute for the injured Jake Roberts, returning to the ring and pinning Ted DiBiase. The same card saw Randy Savage defeat WWF champion Hulk Hogan by countout while Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect went to a 15 minute time limit draw.
Other results from the LA card:
-Paul Roma pinned Boris Zhukov.
-WWF Women's Champion Rockin Robin pinned Judy Martin.
-Dino Bravo pinned Hercules.
-The Bushwhackers defeated The Brain Busters, Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard.
1989 - Beyond the Los Angeles card, WWF also ran two other events the same night. Those results saw:
Miami, FL at the Arena:
-Greg Valentine pinned the Blue Blazer.
-The Honkytonk Man pinned Hillbilly Jim.
-Rick Martel pinned Tito Santana.
-The Ultimate Warrior fought WWF IC Champion Rick Rude to a double count-out.
-The Genius pinned Jim Powers.
-Brutus Beefcake pinned Bad News Brown; Ron Garvin was the guest referee for the match.
-WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition defeated the Big Bossman & Akeem via disqualification.
Springfield, MA at the Civic Center in front of 5,100 fans:
-Tom Magee pinned Tim Horner
-The Red Rooster pinned the Brooklyn Brawler
-The Warlord pinned Koko B. Ware
-Big John Studd defeated Andre the Giant via disqualification
-Jim Duggan pinned Haku
-Barry Horowitz pinned Mike Reskin
-Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated The Rockers. The Rockers won the match via pinfall but the referee, groggy after being knocked down moments earlier, mistakenly awarded the bout to the Rougeaus.
1990 - The NWA ran Detroit, Michigan at The Cobo Arena, drawing 1,700 fans, featuring the following results:
-Robbie Idol pinned Ned Brady.
-Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Paul Drake.
-Jonnie Stewart defeated Kevin Sullivan via disqualification at the 42-second mark; after the bout, Sullivan attacked Stewart.
-NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk defeated the Samoan Swat Team; Zenk sustained an injury during the match.
-Mike Rotunda (substituting for NWA Tag Team Champion Rick Steiner, who was bumped up to the main event) & NWA Tag Team Champion Scott Steiner defeated The Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane.
-The Road Warriors defeated Doom in a Street Fight.
-NWA Tag Team Champion Rick Steiner (substituting for NWA U.S. Champion Lex Luger, out with a staph infection) defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification at the 21-minute mark when Flair hit the referee. Due to Luger's illness, refunds were offered to fans in attendance.
1991 - WWF ran Albuquerque, NM at Tingley Coliseum, drawing 5,500 fans with the following results:
-IRS pinned Jimmy Snuka.
-Bret Hart pinned the Barbarian.
-The Bushwhackers defeated the Orient Express.
-Ricky Steamboat pinned Haku.
-The Big Bossman defeated the Mountie.
-Sgt. Slaughter defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan via disqualification.
1991 - WCW ran Dayton, OH at The Nutter Center with the following results:
-Sam Houston defeated Ron Cumberledge.
-Brad Armstrong defeated the Black Scorpion.
-The Junkyard Dog & Sam Houston defeated Rip Morgan & Jack Victory when Rhodes pinned Morgan.
-Bobby Eaton defeated Terrance Taylor.
-Big Josh & Tommy Rich defeated the Angel of Death & Dan Spivey when Rich pinned the Angel of Death.
-Sting defeated WCW World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification.
1994 - WCW taped WCW Worldwide at the Disney-MGM Studios. Several one hour tapings were filmed over the course of the day with admission being free to those attending the parks. The most newsworthy results saw Ron Simmons defeat Maxx Payne in a Streetfight,"Stars and Stripes" (Marcus Alexander Bagwell and The Patriot) debuting as a team defeating Dick Slater & Chris Sullivan and the first ever Marquee of Queensbury Rules bout in WCW with featuring European Rounds rules and several judges. In Round 5, WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated WCW World TV Champion Lord Steven Regal. The match was originally ruled a draw by judges Jimmy Jet, Randy Anderson, and Sgt. Craig Pittman but referee Nick Patriot issued an overtime period.
1994 - WWF ran a rare show in Guam while heading to Japan for a tour, featuring the following results for their event at the University of Guam Fieldhouse:
-Adam Bomb defeated the 1-2-3 Kid.
-WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Bull Nakano.
-WWF Tag Team Champions the Headshrinkers defeated the Smoking Gunns.
-Doink the Clown defeated Bob Backlund.
-The Undertaker defeated Yokozuna via disqualification.
-Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Tatanka.
-Randy Savage defeated Rick Martel (substituting for Shawn Michaels).
-WWF World Champion Bret Hart defeated Owen Hart.
1994 - Smoky Mountain Wrestling ran Norfolk, Virginia with the following results:
Tracy Smothers defeated Steven Dunn
SMW champion the Dirty White Boy defeated Kendo the Samurai
Rock N' Roll Express defeated SMW Tag Team Champions Brian Lee & Chris Candido via disqualification
Tracy Smothers won a pole battle royal
1995 - WWF ran Providence, RI at the Civic Center featuring the following results:
-Man Mountain Rock defeated Kwang.
-Jacob & Eli Blu defeated the Bushwhackers.
-WWF IC Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Bob Holly.
-Razor Ramon defeated The Roadie.
-Bret Hart defeated Jerry Lawler in a Kiss My Foot match.
-Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Tatanka.
-The New Headshrinkers defeated the Heavenly Bodies.
-WWF World Champion Diesel & the Undertaker defeated Psycho Sid & Kama.
1996 - The multi-day WWF Kuwaiti Cup tournament ends Kuwait City, Kuwait, with Ahmed Johnson defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley to win the Cup. Here are the results from the full event:
-Bushwhacker Luke defeated Aldo Montoya.
-Bushwhacker Butch defeated Leif Cassidy.
-Duke Drose defeated Marty Jannetty.
-Yokozuna & Savio Vega defeated Bob Backlund & Isaac Yankem DDS.
-Bret Hart & the Undertaker defeated Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith.
-WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Steve Austin.
1996 - WCW ran Knoxville, TN in front of 2,800 fans with the following results:
-Alex Wright pinned Disco Inferno.
-The Booty Man pinned Arn Anderson.
-Eddie Guerrero pinned Chris Benoit.
-The Nasty Boys defeated Public Enemy.
-WCW TWorld V Champion Lex Luger defeated Jim Duggan.
-Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair; Flair originally won the match but the bout continued after the referee found him with a foreign object.
-WCW World Champion the Giant defeated Sting via disqualification.
1996 - The WWF ran a second show in Binghamton, NY, drawing 3,278 fans with the following results:
-Justin Bradshaw defeated Barry Horowitz.
-Marc Mero defeated the Brooklyn Brawler.
-The Smoking Gunns defeated Samu & the Tahitian Warrior.
-WWF Tag Team Champions Skip & Zip defeated Henry & Phinneas Godiwnn.
-Mankind defeated Jake Roberts.
-Jerry Lawler defeated Razor Ramon; Mr. Perfect was the guest referee for the bout.
-The Ultimate Warrior defeated Vader.
1997 - WCW broadcast Nitro from Baltimore, Maryland in front of 8,058 fans with the following results:
-Meng defeated Rick Fuller.
-Mortis defeated Super Calo.
-Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Psychosis.
-Glacier defeated Villano IV.
-The Giant & Diamond Dallas Page defeated Harlem Heat.
Nitro:
-WCW World TV Champion the Ultimo Dragon defeated Juventud Guerrera.
-WCW U.S. Champion Dean Malenko pinned Steve McMichael.
-Wrath pinned Scotty Riggs.
-Konnan & Hugh Morrus defeated Alex Wright & Ice Train.
1997 - Meanwhile, WWF filmed Raw in Newark, Delaware with the following results from the taping:
Shotgun Saturday Night- (airing 5/17/97):
-Jim Neidhart pinned Marty Garner with a bodyslam
-Leif Cassidy pinned Matt Hardy with a fallaway slam
-Rocky Maivia defeated Rockabilly disqualification when Honkytonk Man hit Maivia with his guitar
-Farooq pinned Jason Ahrdnt with the Dominator
Raw is War:
-King of the Ring Quarter-Finals: Ahmed Johnson defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/ Chyna) via disqualification when Chyna interfered and hit Ahmed with a steel chair
-Scott Putski pinned Leif Cassidy with a suplex; after the bout, Putski won a brief brawl with an incensed Cassidy
-The Legion of Doom defeated PG-13 following the Doomsday Device on both Wolfie D and JC Ice; after the bout, the Nation left their fallen teammates behind
-WWF World Champion the Undertaker defeated Savio Vega (w/ the Nation) via disqualification in a non-title match when Farooq interfered after the champion hit the tombstone and began whipping Taker with his belt
-Rob Van Dam pinned Jeff Hardy with a split-legged moonsault at 2:29; prior to the bout, Jerry Lawler introduced RVD to the crowd, nicknaming him “Mr. Monday Night”, and then both he and RVD cut an anti-ECW promo in RVD's first-ever WWF appearance.
-WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith defeated the Headbangers, the New Blackjacks, and Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon in an elimination match; order of elimination: Furnas & LaFon, Blackjack Windham & Blackjack Bradshaw by the Headbangers via interference from Furnas & LaFon who remained ringside, the Headbangers.
Dark Matches:
-WWF World Champion the Undertaker defeated Mankind
-Steve Austin & Legion of Doom defeated Brian Pillman, WWF Tag Team Champions - WWF IC Champion Owen Hart & WWF European Champion Davey Boy Smith
1999 - WCW ran Springfield, MO at the Shrine Mosque with the following results:
-Vampiro defeated Lash Laroux.
-Hugh Morrus defeated Jerry Flynn.
-La Parka & Silver King defeated Super Calo & Lizmark Jr..
-Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Juventud Guerrera.
-Konnan defeated Disco Inferno.
-WCW World TV Champion Booker T defeated Brian Adams.
-Sting defeated Ric Flair and Diamond Dallas Page.
1999 - WWF ran Tallahassee, FL, drawing 8,203 fans with the following results:
-Matt & Jeff Hardy defeated Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor
-Steve Blackman defeated Darren Drozdov
-WWF Hardcore Champion Al Snow defeated Hardcore Holly
-Kane & Test defeated Skull & 8-Ball
-Mankind & Ken Shamrock defeated the Acolytes; the Acolytes played the faces for the match due to Farooq being a Florida State alum; to help in that effort, Mankind & Shamrock wore University of Florida jerseys to the ring
-The Big Show defeated the Big Bossman in a steel cage match
-WWF Intercontinental Champion the Godfather defeated Goldust
-Val Venis & Jackie defeated D-Lo Brown & Ivory
-Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett defeated Christian & Edge
-The Rock defeated Billy Gunn
2001 - John Zandig defeats Wifebeater in Smyrna, Delaware to win the Combat Zone Wrestling World Heavyweight Title for a fourth time, ending Wifebeater's second reign.
2002 - Keiji Mutoh, George Hines & Kaz Hayashi defeat Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi & Nobutaka Araya to win the All Japan Giant Baba Memorial Cup Six-Man Tournament.
2002 - WWE ran Halifax, Nova Scotia at the Metro Centre before 4,500 fans with the following results:
-Christian defeated Sho Funaki.
-Hardcore Holly defeated Randy Orton.
-WWE Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri defeated Billy Kidman and Chavo Guerrero.
-WWE Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo defeated Al Snow & Maven when Palumbo pinned Maven after Rico interfered and hit a spin kick
-Mark Henry, the Hurricane, & Val Venis defeated Lance Storm, .Albert, & the Godfather when Henry pinned Storm.
-Test pinned Farooq with the boot to the face.
-D-Von Dudley defeated Tazz.
-Chris Jericho defeated Rikishi.
-Torrie Wilson defeated Ivory and Stacy Keibler in a swimsuit contest.
-Edge defeated Kurt Angle in a steel cage match, despite interference from Chris Jericho, by leaving through the door.
2002 - Southern States Wrestling promoted the Third Annual Mark Curtis Memorial event. Tim Whitehead filed the following live report:
Curtis was so deeply respected that Ric Flair presented him with a replica of the World Title at a WCW show in Knoxville. And a few weeks before his death on September 9, 1999, many of the top stars in the industry volunteered their time for a fundraising show for him in Rostraver, PA. No one who was at that show will ever forget it, or the get-together afterward at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.
HIQI Media will open the film theatrically in New York and Los Angeles July 25th with additional dates leading to Image Entertainment1s DVD release. THE BACKYARD premiered at SXSW and has garnered awards and special attention at other film festivals including The Silver Lake Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival (Best of the Fest), Sonoma Film Festival, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (Closing Night Film), the Texas Film Festival and the Coachella Independent Film Festival. HIQI Media (www.HIQI.com) is a distributor of music-based and lifestyle documentaries and recently released SYNERGY: VISIONS OF VIBE, WORD, and DRIVER 23 on DVD in conjunction with Image Entertainment. Paul Hough is a graduate of NYUs film school. THE BACKYARD is his first feature film. THE BACKYARD deal was negotiated by Josh Braun on behalf of director Hough, and Oren Bitan on behalf of HIQI Media. 2002 - WWF broadcast Sunday Night Heat. John Keane filed the following report: Heat Report for 5/12/2002.
Matches taped on 5/6 in Stamford CT.
Your Announcers are Jonathan Coachman and Raven.
The pyros go off, Coach and Raven welcome us in, and we go straight to work…
1st Match; For the Intercontinental Championship: Tommy Dreamer vs. champ Eddy Guerrero.
Eddy gets fantastic heel heat, nice pop for Tommy. Eddy attacks before the bell, laying in forearms to Tommy at the ropes. Eddy whips Tommy off opposite ropes, sends him down with a shoulder. Eddy lays in boots, brings Tommy up, scores belly-to-back suplex. Tommy down, takes a kick, Eddy brings him up, lays in more forearms. Tommy to corner, Eddy hits an uppercut, snapmare, Tommy down, Eddy does classic spinning boot-grind to face. Eddy keeps up assault as Tommy crawls toward corner, Eddy continues with forearms, Tommy down in corner. Eddy brings Tommy up, hits textbook bodyslam. Eddy goes outside to apron, goes for springboard senton splash, Tommy rolls out of way, Eddy down and up quickly. Tommy gets in a Spinebuster, both men down. Up, they exchange punches, Tommy forces Eddy toward ropes, whips him off opposite, scores big back-body drop, Eddy down. Up, Eddy goes for kick, Tommy catches boot, leg whip sets up a Russian leg-sweep, both men again down. Up, Eddy to corner, Tommy scores forearm to face, whips Eddy to opposite, charges, Eddy scores with a shoulder, Tommy staggered-nope, he was playing possum, Eddy walks into a powerslam, goes down for 2. Up, Tommy goes for whip, reversed, Tommy off ropes, Eddy goes for crucifix, Tommy counters with Death Valley Driver attempt, Eddy rolls over, attempts roll-up, Tommy gets leverage, gets Eddy's shoulders down for another 2. Up, Tommy gets in boot to gut, DDT, JUST good for 2.
(Commentary: Tommy Dreamer, Intercontinental Champ-has a nice sound to it. Oh well.)
Eddy down, Tommy goes to apron, ascends top turnbuckle, goes for Frog Splash (!), Eddy rolls out of way, Tommy eats mat. Up, Eddy scores boot to gut, brainbuster suplex, ascends top turnbuckle, hits the Frog Splash, 1-2-3.
Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Eddy Guerrero.
Raven sounded a LOT more excited than usual during this match. Break.
Coach and Raven return to recap last weeks Raw. We see footage of The Big Show explaining his turning on Stone Cold Steve Austin and joining the n.W.o. 2 weeks ago. He felt Stone Cold had been holding him down, reminding us that he was headlining Wrestlemania 16 while Austin was injured. However, since Stone Cold's return, he feels he's been buried, wrestling on Heat and signing autographs in restaurants. As he ranted, Ric Flair made his entrance, and shut the whining Big Show up. Scott Hall then got on the mic, declaring that later on the show, the n.W.o. would reveal a surprise that would change the future of the company.
We see Ric backstage attempting to gather some clues regarding Hall's statement. He found some circumstantial evidence that seemed to indicate a possible alliance between Bradshaw (who, along with Stone Cold, he'd be teaming with against the n.W.o. in the nights main event) and the boys in black and white. When confronted by the former Acolyte, Flair was told he was (in a nutshell) full of crap. We then see the currently suspended founding member of the n.W.o. Kevin Nash arriving at the arena.
The match eventually went on. Austin, Flair and Bradshaw had severe problems working as a team, all seeming to harbor deep suspicions regarding each other. No such problem for Hall, X-Pac and Show, who meshed just fine. End saw Show and Austin alone in the ring after a ref bump. Flair came in with a chair, but walked into a Show chokeslam attempt. Austin made the save, hit Show with a Stunner and made the cover-no ref. As Austin went to revive him, Flair got the chair and laid out Stone Cold. He then got a mic, and informed Austin that he'd be facing himself and Show in a handicap match at Judgment Day. He then put Stone Cold in the Figure-4, getting some help from Show.
Coach feels Mr. Flair has some explaining to do. Break.
After a video for Rocky's 'Scorpion King' flick, we get an update on Lita's condition. She suffered a severe neck injury doing a stunt on the TV show 'Dark Angel', and had surgery 2 weeks ago. From all reports, she'll be out at least 6 months.
Back to the ring…
2nd Match: Matt Hardy vs. Curt 'Mr. Perfect' Hennig.
(Commentary: Bit surprised this match is airing. As I'm sure you're aware, Curt was fired last week for getting in Brock Lesnar's face on the becoming-legendary 'plane ride from hell' bringing the wrestlers home from the U.K.-only 'Insurrexion' PPV.)
Nice pop for Matt even without Lita or Jeff, big heat for Curt. They circle, lock up, break, circle and lock up again. Both try to apply hammerlocks, Matt succeeds, Curt trips him, sending him through ropes and out of ring. Curt gets in a knee to the face as Matt tries to come in, reaches for Matt outside, takes punch. Curt joins Matt outside, chase ensues, Matt re-enters, Curt follows, Matt goes off ropes, Curt drops to mat in preparation for leapfrog, Matt puts on brakes, lays in series of 'bi**h slaps' to Curts head. Matt bails from ring, the enraged Curt follows, he pauses to yell at crowd, Matt takes the opportunity to score another humiliation shot to the back of Curts head. Curt re-enters, Matt by apron, Curt drags him up by hair, snapmares him into ring. Curt scores uppercut, applies headlock, Matt gets him to ropes, breaks hold, whips Curt off ropes, Matt drops to canvas, leapfrog sequence ends with Curt scoring dropkick. Both men down, Curt up first, lays in boots. Curt sets Matt in corner, lays in chop, whips him to opposite corner, charges, takes boot to face. Matt scores Side Effect (reverse DDT variation), Curt down. Matt brings Curt up, slams him right back down, goes to 2nd turnbuckle, scores with the legdrop. Curt up groggily, Matt signals for Twist of Fate, gets it he does, 1-2-3.
Winner: Matt Hardy. Later, Mr. P.
Coach and Raven wish Matt's girlfriend Lita a quick recovery. Break.
Back, we get a HIGHLY edited video recap of the Hulk Hogan/Undertaker confrontation from last week, where the Hulkster first stole and later destroyed 'Takers prized motorcycle. Break. 'Taker gets a shot at the Hulkster's Undisputed Championship at Judgment Day. Break.
Slam of the Week: William Regal defeats Spike Dudley for the European Championship last week. Post-match, Regal continued the assault on Spike, save made by former Euro Champ D'Lo Brown.
Coach and Raven recap last weeks Women's Title match. Hardcore Champ Steven Richards accompanied Jazz to ringside, and assisted her in retaining the belt. This was followed by run-ins from a horde of wrestlers, all focused on Stevie's HC strap. In rapid succession, Bubba Ray Dudley, Raven, Justin Credible, Crash Holly and Jazz's original opponent Trish Stratus (!) had seconds-long reigns as Hardcore Champion. The schmozz ended when Steven covered Trish, who had just been 'mistakenly' put through a table by Bubba Ray (he'd taken a fire extinguisher blast to the eyes, courtesy of Jazz). Steven Richards is once again Hardcore Champ. Afterward, Bubba Ray realized his mistake and carried Trish from the ring.
(The shot of Trish going through the table was edited for MTV.)
Raven reminds us he's now a 22-time Hardcore Champion. Break.
Burn of the Night: Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy defeat Booker T and Eddy Guerrero last week. Bungled interference from Goldust on Eddy and the Book's behalf was partially responsible for their loss. RVD gets his shot at Eddy's IC belt at Judgment Day.
This leads nicely into our Main Event…
3rd Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Goldust.
Standard big pop for RVD, crowd hates the Man from Hollywood. Stalling to start, lockup, Rob applies a side headlock, Goldust makes it to ropes, breaks hold, shoots Rob off opposite ropes. Rob ducks a clothesline, nails Goldust with a standing dropkick. Goldust rolls out of ring, Rob backflips out, Goldust sidesteps, misses with another clothesline, Rob scores boot to gut, brings Goldust up, sets him on barricade. Rob to apron, spinning legdrop sends both men down outside. Rob scores quick kick, rolls Goldust in, follows, covers for 2. Goldust to corner, Rob attempts whip, reversed, Rob to corner, Goldust charges, takes elbow to face. Rob to 2nd turnbuckle, Goldust avoids dropkick, Rob to mat, Goldust slingshots him face first into top rope. Rob down, Goldust boots him toward corner, brings him up, sends him face first into turnbuckles. Goldust gets in chops, kicks, applies boot-choke, ref calls for break. Goldust brings Rob up, shoots him off ropes, sets for backdrop, Rob back-somersaults over. Goldust ducks a kick, scores Atomic drop, clothesline sends Rob down for 2. Rob up at ropes, Goldust gets in a quick punch, sends Rob off ropes, sets for another backdrop (dummy), Rob counters with a facebuster. Goldust quickly but groggily gets to feet, goes for kick, Rob catches boot, connects with stepover spin-kick, Goldust down. Rob gets in quick kick, Goldust to feet, Rob gets him to corner. Whip attempt reversed, Rob to opposite corner, Goldust charges into a boot to face, staggers, Rob goes up top, scores single-leg dropkick, Goldust down. Rob scores modified Rolling Thunder (set up rather like Rocky's finisher-Peoples's Thunder?), covers Goldust for 2. Both up, Rob avoids bodyslam attempt, scores spinning kick to lower back, Goldust down. Rob sets him up, goes up top, 5-Star Frog Splash, 1-2-3.
Winner: Rob Van Dam.
Hype for tomorrow nights Raw ends the show.
Didn't I read that Heat was going to focus more on matches than recap? If so, why did we get 3 short matches that totaled less than 10 minutes? Well, I read on the spoilers that the show started about a half hour late last Monday, guess they were pressed for time. Hope things pick up after Judgment Day.
2002 - WWE ran Halifax, Nova Scotia. Justin Heisler filed the following live report:
I just got back from the WWE House show in Halifax, NS and thought I'd send along the results.
Tony Chimel welcomes us to the WWE Live and goes over all the rules.
1st Match: Christian vs. Sho Funaki
In the surprise of the night, Christian makes an appearance to a mild pop. He gets some heat for ragging on Halifax until he's interrupted by Funaki! Indeed! Funaki mocks Christian's temper tantrums. In a replay of their Jakked/Metal classics, Christian gets the duke after the Impaler.
2nd Match: Tough Enough Challenge - Hardcore Holly vs. Randy Orton
Surprisingly enough, Orton comes out to a chorus of boos, while the crowd loves Hardcore. Orton plays the heel in the match for some reason. Hardcore is stiff. Real stiff. He gets the win after an Alabama Slam much to the delight of the crowd. Orton is booed out of the ring after the match.
3rd Match: WWE Cruiserweight Championship Triple Threat Match - Tajiri vs. Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Chavo, who was scheduled to meet Funaki, was a late addition to this one. Lucky us. He gets no reaction. Kidman gets a small pop. Tajiri gets the biggest pop, despite being the heel. Strange stuff. Anyway, Tajiri gets the win following a vicious kick to the head. Good match, but way too short.
4th Match: Test vs. Faarooq
Test comes out to a pretty big pop, as does Faarooq. Test gets the win following a boot on the former WCW Champion. Unfortunately, we don't get to see a stiff Faarooq spinebuster. The crowd chants "APA" as Faarooq leaves.
5th Match: WWE Tag Team Championships - Billy & Chuck w / Rico vs. Al Snow & Maven
Decent pop for Snow and Maven. Snow chases Tony Chimel around the ring for some reason. The champs come out to MASSIVE heat and plenty of chants regarding their "alternative lifestyle." Rico constantly interferes. With the referee distracted, he spin kicks Maven allowing his boys to retain their titles. After the match, Al and Maven have a bit of an argument, but hug and make up. While they hug, Maven puts his hands on Snow ass. Snow chases Chimel around some more. Best match so far. Very entertaining. Snow is a riot!
6th Match: Six Man Tag - Albert, Godfather & Lance Storm vs. Hurricane, Mark Henry & Big Valbowski
Albert and Storm come out to minimal reactions. Godfather comes out to a decent pop. The biggest so far. Apparently the crowd missed his heel turn on Metal. His pop is surpassed by my favorite superhero, The Hurricane! Mark Henry and Val Venis come out to small pops. While Henry and Albert, who really needs to wear a shirt or something, plod around the ring, the crowd chants "We Want Storm." Lance almost ruins his serious gimmick by cracking a smile. They get it alright. Moments later he does the J-O-B to the Big Show wannabe O'Henry. It's a shame the WWE is wasting a talent like Storm. After the match, Hurricane and Mark Henry use his cape as a towel and poke fun at Val.
Intermission: No Hulk Hogan merchandise! Wassupwitdat?!?
Chimel announces the winner of the 50-50 draw. After every number, the crowd screams, "What?"
7th Match: Reverend D-Von vs. Tazz
D-Von cuts a promo - I mean sermon for us. Deacon Batista is nowhere to be found. He says everyone in Halifax are sinners. He tells us to give money to the D-Von building fund or we won't get into heaven. OK. Sure. Tazz comes out. He says he's making himself an official resident of Halifax, and he'll make D-Von just another victim. D-Von wins by covering Tazz and using the ropes for extra leverage. After the match, Tazz puts him in the Tazzmission.
8th Match: Chris Jericho vs. Rikishi
Jericho comes out to a Y2J chant and a decent pop, but gets his heat by, that's right, running down Halifax. Rikishi comes out to a few boos and not much else for some reason. He says he thinks Halifax is cool to get a bit of a pop, but we still love Jericho. Jericho teases throwing his t-shirt to the crowd, but doesn't. Rikishi grabs it and is about to throw it to the crowd, but decides to wipe his ample anus with it first, and then throw it out. Great...I really want that t-shirt now. Jericho knocks the Phat Man down in the corner and pulls down his tights to reveal a Speedo. Looks to be the one he was wearing in his revolting poolside interview on Smackdown! around Christmas. Anyway, he tries for the Stink Face, but Rikishi counters. Rikishi survives the lionsault and Walls Of Jericho. Rikishi goes for the Bonzai Drop, but Jericho gets his knees up for a low blow, and the win. After the match, Rikishi gives him a Stink Face.
9th "Match": Smackdown! Swimsuit Challenge - Stacy vs. Torrie vs. Ivory
Stacy and Torrie come out to HUGE pops. Ivory comes out to a chorus of boos. She says we're all perverts for watching a degrading swimsuit challenge on Mother's Day. She's probably right, but oh well. She says she won't participate and is about to leave when Torrie and Stacy attack her and rip off her clothes to reveal a yellow bikini. An embarrassed Ivory runs to the back. Torrie and Stacy disrobe. The crowd decides the outcome. Torrie wins. Stacy kicks her. Torrie fights back and knocks Stacy out of the ring.
10th Match: Steel Cage Main Event - Kurt Angle vs. Edge
The puny looking cage is put up. Still, it's somewhat of a bonus since there's no Hogan or HHH. Angle comes out to HUGE heat and YOU SUCK chants. Edge comes out to a big pop, beaten out only by Torrie and Stacy. Edge and Angle put on a great cage match. These guys are two of the best in the business. You'd never know it was a house show from the quality of this match. It totally saved an otherwise mediocre show. Canada chants for Edge. Angle has the chance to leave the cage, but comes back in to inflict some more punishment. Big mistake. Angle gets slingshotted into the cage and is hit with Edge's reverse neckbreaker thing for a near fall. Angle hits the Angle Slam for a near fall. Edge hits the spear for a two count. Angle climbs to the top of the cage, put Edge pulls him back in and crotches him on the ropes. Edge crawls towards the door, but Jericho runs down and slam the door on his head. Angle puts Edge in the Ankle Lock, but he rolls onto his back and kicks him in the face. He crawls out the door t
After the match, Angle gets the mic and says he's not leaving Halifax without kicking someone's ass. He's met by a chorus of "What's." He chooses referee Tim White. He smacks him around, but White low blows him and escapes. Angle says there's no need to worry. He's OK. His balls hurt, but he's OK. Angle says it hurts his feeling when we tell him he sucks, and chant what...but not nearly as much as his balls hurt right now! Kurt continues to rip up the Canadian crowd to some more "What's." He talks about his new t-shirt and the one Edge made up. He says he's going to beat Edge at Judgment Day and we'll have a bald Canadian. Angle's music hits and he leaves to a chorus of "You Suck's." Show's over.
Other notes:
The building, which holds a little less than 11 000 with floor seats, was only a little over half full. Not a good sign. I know there was no Hogan or HHH, but there were over 10 000 there in September for a card headlines by Angle vs. Rhyno and a six man tag featuring Undertaker. The small attendance doesn't bode well for a return any time soon.
Biggest Pops:
1. Torrie
2. Stacy
3. Edge
4. The Hurricane
5. Tie - Al Snow & Maven / Christian / Chris Jericho
Most Heat:
1. Kurt Angle
2. Billy & Chuck
3. Ivory
4. Chris Jericho (after insulting Halifax)
5. Reverend D-Von
Overall, a decent show which was saved by the fantastic main event. And for the record, Kurt doesn't suck, though it is really fun to chant! 2003 - WWE taped Raw and Sunday Night Heat in Philadelphia, PA at The First Union Center. Former WCW tandem Devon "Crowbar" Storm and Daffney reunited for a WWE tryout as Storm defeated Mike Bell. Daffney was signed by WWE, but Storm was not. ROH star CM Punk defeated Khalsha Singh at 2:44 in a tryout match as well. Punk was signed by WWE to a developmental deal two years later. In matches taped for Sunday Night Heat, which aired internationally only:
-WWE Women's Champion Jazz (with Teddy Long) defeated Jackie at 3:59.
-Lance Storm defeated Joey Matthews at 4:57.
-Maven defeated Steven Richards at 4:43.
-Rico defeated Spike Dudley at 4:17.
Tim Whitehead filed the following report on the Raw broadcast:
The 5/12 edition of RAW IS A PENCIL NECKED GEEK aired live from Philadelphia. I enjoyed much of the show, though a few things didn't click, and I fail to see anything on the RAW side selling many buys for the Judgment Day PPV. There was more emphasis on wrestling this week and less on the Steve Austin vs. Eric Bischoff controversy. The show opened with Christian in the ring, which was surrounded by a steel cage. He complained that Austin scheduled his cage match against Goldberg as the opening bout. He said the match should be cancelled on the grounds that no one wants to see the new people's champ (i.e., himself) brutalized in a cage. He also claimed to have a photo shoot tomorrow and said he can't show up for that with bruises. Jerry Lawler agreed with Christian, but Jim Ross said he had the limbertail. Austin came to the ring and got a zillion "whats" by making a series of snide comments about Christian. It appears, unfortunately, that Austin likes the "whats" because every time they started to fade, Austin would repeat whatever statement he had just made with more enthusiasm so as to jump start the "whats" again. Austin told Christian that Goldberg wasn't even at the arena yet so it wasn't time for his match. Christian said he asked backstage when the match was scheduled and that Austin had held up a finger to indicate it was match number one. Austin said he was just flipping Christian off. Christian, who kept referring to the crowd as his peeps (people), accused Austin of forcing him into this cage match because of resentment over losing to his close friend Rock at WrestleMania. Austin said he was trying very hard not to lose his patience. A "lose it" chant started. Austin threatened to pull Christian from the IC Title battle royal at Judgment Day if he didn't stop whining. Rob Van Dam then came out for no apparent reason, other than to note that he was entering the IC battle royal, which he vowed to win. Christian said if RVD thinks he's so great, he should take his place against Goldberg in the cage. Austin asked the crowd for a big "hell yeah" if they want to see Goldberg kick Christian's ass in the cage. Of course, they said "hell yeah". RVD asked them to chant "RVD" if they think he'll win the IC belt in the battle royal. So they chanted it. Christian then asked the peeps to shout "Christian rules" if they think he should be given the night off. No one said anything, so Austin said that proves the crowd thinks Christian sucks. Austin warned both RVD and Christian not to copy his material. He then told Christian to leave or get stunnered. Kane came out (yes, this was a long segment). He vowed to win the IC battle royal even if he has to go through his partner RVD to do it. RVD said he'll eliminate Kane if that's what he has to do. Austin said he sensed some tension between the tag partners, and recommended drinking some beer to alleviate it. At this point, Bischoff came out. He said that last week he promised to raise the bar, sarcastically informing Austin that he wasn't talking about the type of bar where you drink beer. Instead, raising the bar meant he had hired a team to challenge RVD & Kane for the World Tag Titles. Bischoff called this team the greatest of all time and said RVD & Kane have never faced them before. It turned out to be Hawk & Animal, the Legion of Doom. They came out to a good pop, and the match just sort of began (by the way, during this overly long segment the cage was raised back up). RVD & Kane defeated the Legion of Doom to retain the tag belts in 3:11. Not too much heat once the match began. It wasn't a pretty match, though RVD stayed very active with his kicks and acrobatics. RVD hit a rolling thunder on Hawk after a kick. The finish looked really bad. Animal had RVD on his shoulders for the doomsday device, or devastation device, or whatever it's now being called. Hawk came off the top with the lariat, which RVD was supposed to duck. However, Hawk got such poor altitude that RVD essentially ducked nothing. Kane went to boot Animal in the face, which missed by a mile but Animal still sold it. Kane then chokeslammed Hawk and RVD frog splashed him for the three count. Not sure why they A) brought the LOD back or B) squashed them in three minutes after bothering to bring them back. Trish Stratus was backstage getting her make-up applied for her scheduled hardcore bout against Victoria. Why wear make-up to a hardcore match? Anyway, Victoria & Steven Richards began taunting her. Victoria said Trish might someday get her women's belt back, but she'll never get her pretty face back after it gets smashed. Highlights aired of last week's long Triple H vs. Kevin Nash brawl. Through the magic of editing and sound enhancement, it looked much better than it did live. A heavily bandaged HHH visited Chris Jericho, who was scheduled to fight Nash in the main event. HHH said they were in a famous arena. Jericho asked what was so famous about it, given that every Philadelphia sports team sucks. HHH said it was famous because it was the arena where Nash tore his quad last year. Jericho noted that he was the one who tore HHH's quad two years ago. Technically, that tear was accidental but in storyline Jericho was sort of given "credit" for the injury. HHH noted that Jericho became Undisputed World Champion by milking the fame he got off of that. He then told Jericho he could advance his career again by injuring Nash. Jericho said that would also help HHH out by eliminating his Judgment Day opponent. They ended the segment by shaking hands, though there was some tension there as each had made some sarcastic comments about the other. Goldberg arrived in his limo. As his door opened, a car roared by and hit it, knocking it shut. Goldberg was unhurt, since he hadn't yet stepped out. JR & Lawler sold it like it had been an attempted hit on Goldberg. Theodore Long approached Austin, calling him a "playa". Austin asked not to be called that, but Long kept it up. He wanted Austin to put a "man of color" in the IC battle royal and kept plugging Rodney Mack. Austin said it was a great idea to put a man of color in the battle royal, which pleased Long until Austin informed him that the man of color he was talking about was Booker T. Rodney Mack defeated Mike & Ken Phoenix in a white boy challenge handicap match in 1:30. At least these two white boys got their names mentioned. Long did (man of) color commentary again. He said Mack is "hungry", so Lawler suggested he should get a Philly cheesesteak. Might I recommend Tony Luke's, where I always used to go when I went to see ECW? Long said Austin is controlled by "the man", which is why he picked Booker over Mack. The rules here required Mack to beat both white boys in 5:00, and he forced them to submit at 1:05 and 1:30 respectively. Jonathan Coachman tried to interview Bischoff about the car nearly running down Goldberg. Bischoff had no comment, and ran Coach off when he kept asking questions. Bischoff then encountered Freddie Blassie, who was in his wheelchair, accompanied by his wife (Blassie had the good taste to marry a Japanese lady years ago). Blassie was there to promote his new book (titled "Listen you Pencil-Necked Geek", and it should be great given the type of career Blassie had). Bischoff said the deal to hype Blassie's book was put together by his fired chief of staff (Chief Morley), and that with him gone, the deal was off. Bischoff acted like it would be beneath him to plug a book for Blassie. At this point, Rico walked up. He said Three Minute Waning, er, I mean, Warning have been in a slump for the past two months and asked Bischoff for some ideas to jump start their careers. Bischoff smirked and said he had an idea. So he returned to Blassie and told him he would plug the book after all. Everyone could see what was coming. Austin visited Goldberg, who was furious and very intense with anger that someone had tried to run him down. Austin said he understood, given what had happened to him in the past. Goldberg said he didn't see the driver. I hope it wasn't Rikishi. Goldberg promised to take his anger out on Christian. A promo for Confidential aired, and yes they're still exploiting the Miss Elizabeth tragedy. Bischoff brought Blassie out to the ramp top and put over his book. He then began making fun of his age, saying he might have only three minutes left. Rosey & Jamal & Rico appeared in the ring. Bischoff wheeled Blassie down to ringside where the heel trio surrounded him. But before they could act, Austin came out. He unilaterally announced that he had lifted the suspension on the Dudleys, and out they came at full speed. A match began immediately.... The Dudleys defeated Three Minute Warning in 1:58. I guess this was a handicap match since Rico was involved. They did ring the bell to start the match, but there was no referee. The Dudleys laid all three foes out, but when Bubba started to ask for the tables, Austin stopped him. Instead, Blassie told D-Von to get the tables. The Dudleys put Rico through the table, which just sort of ended this impromptu match, I presume with a TKO victory for the Dudleys, though nothing was made official.
Hour two began with Goldberg defeating Christian in the cage match in 6:48. Christian came out with a chair, boasting that it was the chair Rock beat Goldberg up with a few weeks ago. He called it the people's chair. He swung it at Goldberg immediately but missed. Christian tried to climb out but Goldberg pounded him. Christian hit a low blow and retrieved the chair. He hit Goldberg with several chairshots, a couple of them pretty stiff. Christian also laid in the stomps. Christian almost climbed out (why he didn't just go through the door is a bigger mystery than the origin of UFOs) but got pulled back down. Christian went for a spear but Goldberg moved and Christian crashed into the cage, juicing big time. Goldberg hit the spear and jackhammer and pinned Christian clean in the middle, so I guess you could win this either by pinfall, submission, or escaping. Jericho was shown doing warm-up exercises. Austin encountered Ric Flair. Flair was friendly to Austin, but was also adamant that Austin should defer to HHH's demands since HHH is the guy who calls the shots. Hurricane popped up and said Nash will turn HHH into "Triple Bitch" at Judgment Day. Flair and Hurricane argued, so Austin told them to go ahead and fight it out, but to be sure to fight down toward the ring. Flair said he wasn't in his gear, but Austin didn't care and just said "ding ding" to start the match.... Flair beat Hurricane in 4:47. They fought out to the ring, including a brief skirmish at the announcers' desk which knocked Lawler's headset off. In the ring, Flair's pants got ripped and his ass exposed. Hurricane hit a bodypress for a near fall. Flair laid Hurricane out and did a strut. Hurricane chokeslammed Flair and did a strut of his own. Hurricane scored two after a shining wizard. Flair hit the chop block and began stomping the hell out of Hurricane's leg. He hooked the figure four and Hurricane tapped out. Flair was so elated to finally win one that he was bouncing all over the ring in celebration. HHH came out and congratulated him. He also gave Hurricane a pedigree and left him laying. Scott Steiner & Test & Goldust beat La Resistance & Christopher Nowinski in 4:26. La Resistance ran down the U.S. over the Iraqi war and praised Nowinski as a rare American who isn't a barbarian. The babyfaces dominated until Test got tied up in the heel corner. Test hot tagged Steiner and he lit the lariats and suplexes on everyone. Rene Dupree took a major suplex bump. The finish saw everyone brawl out to the floor except Steiner and Nowinski. Steiner plastered Nowinski with his neckbreaker type move for the pin. Afterward, Stacy Keibler wanted to celebrate the win, but Steiner and Test remained a little aloof from one another. Richards gave Victoria a pep talk. JR & Lawler did a promo for Judgment Day, hyping the RAW matches, and then cut to Stamford where their colleagues Tazz & Michael Cole hyped the Smackdown bouts. Once again, so much for the brand separation, though I guess in its own way, it did sort of keep them separate. Terri asked Jericho if he knew anything about the attempt to run down Goldberg in the parking lot. Jericho took offense and said if he was going to assault Goldberg, he'd do it man to man. He promised to win the IC belt at Judgment Day, and to beat Nash in the RAW main event. Trish beat Victoria in a hardcore match in 4:45. Richards came out with Victoria, and to balance him off, Tommy Dreamer came out to support Trish. This got a good pop in Philly due to Dreamer's ECW popularity there. Trish did a headscissors takedown. They messed up a spot where Trish was supposed to kick a pan into Victoria's face, so they re-did it and got it right the second time. Trish did a really cool marital arts arch backward to avoid a shot from a garbage can lid. It was like in movies where someone arches backward like doing a limbo routine and then pops right back up. Victoria whipped Trish with a strap. Richards attacked Dreamer and tried to go after Trish, but Dreamer recovered and hit Richards with the kendo stick. Trish got the stick, walloped Victoria twice with it, and hit the Stratusfaction for the pin. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho ended inconclusively in either 6:55 or 8:13, depending on the call. Jericho deserves some type of special award for bumpng like crazy to make this a watchable match. Nash just did power moves and deflected blows, while Jericho was flying and bumping all over to make the match entertaining. Jericho finally hit a low blow and began working over Nash's leg (the one with the torn quad last year). He wrapped the leg around the ring post. Jericho hit a bulldog and a lionsault and scored two. At this point, which was the 6:55 mark, HHH & Flair ran in, which theoretically should have earned Jericho a DQ, though no call was made since they threw referee Earl Hebner out of the ring. Shawn Michaels ran in to help Nash. The heels quickly ejected Michaels, but Nash made a big babyface comeback. He gave HHH the snake eyes (looked a little weak) and then lariated him out. Michaels came back in and gave Flair the sweet chin music. Nash plastered Jericho with the jackknife and Michaels counted Nash's pin on him at 8:13, though I presume that didn't really count, but in WWE you never know. I guess Nash was sort of the winner either way. HHH came back in and Nash jackknifed him, with Michaels counting Nash's pin on him as well to end the show and set up the PPV showdown. RHETORICAL QUESTIONS:
Doesn't Freddie Blassie rule?
If the Goldberg vs. Christian match wasn't the opener, then why was the cage down?
Shouldn't Philly fans know better than to chant "what"?
Why didn't Austin argue with Bischoff over his unilateral hiring of the LOD?
Why didn't Bischoff argue with Austin over his unilateral lifting of the Dudleys' suspension?
When Bischoff said he had signed the greatest tag team ever, did anyone besides me expect Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada to come out? Remember the good old days when promoters, commissioners, general mangers, etc., only came out about twice a year to make a major announcement or something like that? 2004 - NWA: TNA ran their weekly Wednesday night PPV event in Nashville. Mike Johnson filed the following PPV report:
This week's NWA:TNA PPV opened with Team Canada saying that only dirty Americans steal cable. Well, no that's not true but they did say the American crime rate is out of control, so please pay for the PPV because that's what they do in Canada. They then began singing "O Canada." That was funny!
Mike Tenay and Don West welcomed everyone to the show.2006 - WWE's Raw ran Hidalgo, TX at The Dodge Arena with 7,396 fans, witnessing:
-The Big Show defeated Shelton Benjamin.
-The Highlanders defeated Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch.
-Matt Striker defeated Jim Duggan.
-Viscera defeated Rob Conway.
-Umaga defeted Eugene.
-Torrie Wilson & Maria defeated Candice Michelle & WWE Women's Champion Mickie James.
-Carlito Caribbean Cool defeated Chris Masters.
-WWE Raw Tag Team Champions the Spirit Squad defeated Goldust & Gene Snitsky.
-WWE World Champion John Cena defeated Edge and Triple H; Ricky Steamboat was the guest referee for the bout. 2007 - Ring of Honor taped their very first PPV event. Mike Johnson filed the following live report: Ring of Honor, coming off their fifth anniversary of being in business, taped their debut PPV event "Respect is Earned" on Saturday 5/12 before a sellout crowd at the Manhattan Center in New York City. Several matches from the live event will be edited and turned into a two hour PPV, which will air on 7/1 via all PPV providers with the exception of DirecTV, which has not yet signed on to carry the show. The complete show, with the exception of one segment, will be released on DVD.
Ring announcer Bobby Cruise said they had a very special guest to introduce. The theme to Kill Bill hit and out came NYC's own Homicide and Julius Smokes. The Manhattan Center went insane for it. Homicide said that he lives 10 minutes away and said that everyone should have known he wasn't going to miss the biggest party in New York City. He asked where the Boston fans were, then tossed a Red Sox hat one of them was wearing into the crowd. The crowd started chanting, "F*** TNA" which Homicide just smirked at. He took a long time because the crowd was going nuts for him and then said that everyone has their own opinion, but then directed the fans to show their love for those in TNA that had been in ROH like Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and "The man I wish was standing next to me right now" Austin Aries. Homicide said he's got to go back care of "some LAX business." The crowd booed a little. He said that he wanted to come out and thank ROH and their fans for supporting him for the last five years. He said he wanted to thank the "Three Kings of ROH", Cary Silkin, Syd Eick, and Gabe Sapolsky. He told Sapolsky he was a "genius booker, the next Bill Watts." He told the fans that Ring of Honor is going to be the number one company in the world and added, "That's right, I said it. I don't give a F***." He said that he thanks everyone whether they booed or cheered him for their support over the last five years. He kissed the ROH ring mat, and asked the ROH sound guy to play his theme "for the last time." He returned to the locker room, where several of the wrestlers and Sapolsky met him at the entranceway. Homicide hugged Sapolsky for a long time before everyone returned to the back. The Homicide segment was done specifically for the live New York City audience and will not be released on DVD or PPV for obvious reasons. At the time of the indictment, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the patients allegedly received illegal prescriptions for Percocet, Oxycontin, Demerol, Lorcet, Ritalin, Vicodin, Xanax, Adderall and Soma. Astin also treated former ECW and WCW World Tag Team champion Mike "Johnny Grunge" Durham. Astin was linked to 32 of 36 prescriptions written for Durham in the year prior to his passing and had written a prescription for somas just a day before Durham was found dead in February 2006 - the prescription bottle was empty. Durham's widow Penny had come out strongly against Astin for enabling her husband when he should have been treating him. 2009 - ECW on Sci Fi aired on the Sci Fi Network. Richard Trionfo filed the following report: We start off and Christian and Jack Swagger are in Tiffany’s office. Tiffany mentions that this is the return of the Peep Show for the first time in four years. This is a good way to help their match at the pay per view but she is afraid of the chaos that can happen. Since they are ECW’s main event, they cannot do anything to jeopardize their match. There can be no contact during the Peep Show and she asks if they understand. Christian says that he understands and leaves. Tiffany tells Jack that she is serious and Jack says that he heard her. We are live on tape from Dayton, Ohio and your announcers are Matt ‘Shoulder Massage and a Sprite’ Striker and Josh ‘Yes, he is my driver’ Mathews. Match Number One: Mark Henry with Tony ‘Sleeves’ Atlas versus Tommy Dreamer We are told by Matt Striker that Tommy is taking care of some injuries before they lock up and Henry with an elbow into the midsection and a biel. Dreamer with punches and then Henry Irish whips Dreamer under the ropes like he was Rey Mysterio. Dreamer drops Henry’s arm on the top rope and then Dreamer goes up top and hits a double sledge. Henry with a short arm clothesline and Dreamer is dazed. Henry works on the neck and then he stands on Dreamer’s chest. Henry with punches to the neck and then he returns to the neck to wear down Dreamer. Dreamer gets to his feet and then he hits a jawbreaker. Mark with a kick and head butt followed by a near fall. Henry with an Irish whip and Dreamer slumps into the corner. Henry with head butts in the corner. Henry charges into a boot from Dreamer and then Dreamer comes off the turnbuckles but Henry catches him. Henry with a body block and Dreamer goes down again. Henry misses an elbow drop and Dreamer with a drop kick to Henry that puts the big man on his back. Dreamer with a series of elbow drops to Henry and he gets a near fall. Dreamer with the E . . . C. . . W baseball slide to Henry. Dreamer with a DDT but Henry gets his foot on the rope. Tony gets on the apron and that allows Henry to recover. Henry sends Dreamer into the corner and then Dreamer tries for a school boy but Henry with a leg drop onto Dreamer’s arm and then he hits the power slam for the three count.
Winner: Mark Henry
Gregory Helms is with Tyson Kidd and Natalya in the interview area. Helms mentions that Natalya is banned from ringside. Natalya says that Tyson does not need any help. Tyson says that Finlay might love to fight, but at the Hart Dungeon, they learn to fight. Tyson goes to the ring and Helms asks Natalya to watch the match in the back with him and Natalya walks away. Helms lets out a watupwitdat. We are back and we see footage of Finlay costing Tyson Kidd his match against Evan Bourne by using his illegal shillelagh. Match Number Two: Tyson Kidd versus Fit Finlay in a No Natalya at ringside Match
They lock up and they move around the ring in the collar and elbow tie up until Finlay with a side head lock and take down. Finlay gets a near fall and he stays with the arm and gets a near fall. Kidd with a forearm but Finlay with an elbow to the arm followed by a side head lock. Finlay with an elbow to the top of the head followed by a European uppercut. Kidd with a step over toe hold as he works on the leg but Finlay tries to block the effectiveness. Kidd works on the ankle but Finlay kicks Kidd off. Finlay with a cloverleaf into a back breaker and Kidd rolls to the floor. Finlay with a kick to Kidd from the apron and then Kidd trips Finlay as Finlay tries to return to the ring. Kidd tries for a baseball slide but Finlay uses the ring skirt to stop Kidd. Finlay with punches but Kidd does hit the baseball slide. Kidd with a drop kick on the floor that sends Finlay into the ring steps. We go to commercial. We are back and Kidd works on Finlay’s arm and wrist and Kidd with an arm bar and he has the neck isolated. Kidd with a knee to the arm but Finlay with a chop. Kidd with a kick and he continues to work on the arm. Kidd with a key lock to Finlay and then he turns it into an arm bar. Kidd with a shoulder breaker but Finlay hits a shoulder tackle with his bad arm. Finlay with a kick to the head followed by forearms. Kidd with a boot to Finlay but Finlay pulls Kidd off the turnbuckles. Finlay with clotheslines and then he hits the fireman’s carry slam for a near fall. Finlay with an Irish whip followed by a shoulder into the corner. Finlay sets for the Celtic Cross and DH Smith hits a big boot and the referee calls for the bell. Winner: Fit Finlay by disqualification After the match Smith with punches and forearms to Finlay in the corner followed by a kick. Finlay fights back but Kidd hits Finlay in the back of the leg with the shillelagh. Smith throws Finlay out of the ring and then he sends Finlay into the announce table and the ring steps. They hit the Hart Attack on Finlay. Natalya joins Kidd and Smith in the ring and they celebrate over Finlay. We go to commercial. We are back and Did you Know that people go to WWE.com more than a lot of other websites. We have a moments ago moment of the return of DH Smith. We go to a Raw Rebound. Zack Ryder is in Tiffany’s office and she asks Tiffany if she can go to the gym. He leaves when Paul Burchill and Katie enter. Paul comments on how he is not on this week’s show and Tiffany apologizes. Paul asks if that is how things are going to be and he leaves. Katie tells Tiffany that when her brother has too much time on his hands, he gets into trouble. Time for a Vladimir Kozlov video package.
We go to commercial. Match Number Three: Vladimir Kozlov versus Chad Collyer Collyer with a waist lock but Kozlov with a hip lock take down into a side head lock and Collyer gets to the ropes. Kozlov with a kick to Collyer and Collyer with a kick of his own. Kozlov with head butts to the chest. Collyer comes off the turnbuckles and Kozlov with a head butt followed by a boot. Kozlov with the Red Square Spinebuster for the three count. Winner: Vladimir Kozlov After the match, Josh Mathews enters the ring to interview Vladimir Kozlov and he says that Russian martial arts are the best in the world. He says that he will dominate ECW. We go to commercial. It is time for your main event and it is a talk segment. Christian comes to the ring for the Peep Show and remember that his guest is Jack Swagger and neither can make contact during the segment. Christian welcomes everyone to their show . . . the Peep Show. Christian says that he is happy to bring back the show tonight and it is his first show as ECW Champion. He brings out his guest, the former ECW Champion Jack Swagger. Christian welcomes Jack to the Peep Show. Jack says that this is stupid and Christian wants to know why Jack has to be like that because people will think he is a sore loser, instead of realizing that he is a loser. Jack says that he doesn’t want to talk about Judgment Day. He wants to talk about Backlash when Christian cheated to steal his title. Jack says that he has a clip and we see what happened at Backlash. Jack wants to know what Christian has to say for himself. Christian points out that Jack just showed how Christian beat him for the title. Christian says that Jack conveniently left out Swagger trying to expose the turnbuckle. Christian says that he has a video package and we thee what he hath to thay. Jack wants to know what that proves. Christian says it does not prove anything and that he just wanted to make Jack look stupid. Jack says that on Sunday they will be in his world and he says that Christian will not be smiling when Jack takes his title back. Jack says that Christian will be fading off into nothing and he hopes that Christian enjoys the spotlight again because in six months, Christian will be sitting at home regretting his comeback. Jack points out the edict from Tiffany about no contact during the show. Christian says that he can say when the show is officially over and Christian hits Jack with the mic and Jack leaves the ring. 2010 - TNA signed Team 3D trainee Betsy Ruth to a contract. Ruth debuted as Rosie Lottalove on Impact but was rarely used before TNA released her later in the year.
2010 - Former WWE Creative team member Chris Gough founded Metro City Wrestling in Kansas City with the first taping set for June featuring Tommy Dreamer, Trevor Murdoch and Angel Medina as the biggest names booked.
2010 -- AAA held a press conference announcing details of Triplemania 18, including American stars Abyss, Christopher Daniels, Beer Money and Hernandez coming in for the card.
2011 - It was publicly announced that Brock Lesnar had suffered a recurrence of diverticulitis. The disease would force him to undergo surgery to remove a piece of his colon. The surgery and recovery would effectively end his UFC fighting career (he returned for one final bout, losing via TKO to Alistair Overeem) and opening the door for his return to WWE in March 2012.
2011 - We are live at the New Japan Pro Wrestling press conference at the Ramada in Newark, New Jersey. Mike Johnson filed the following coverage of the press conference:
A number of NJPW wrestlers will be appearing with the daughter of Jumping Bomb Angel Itsuki Yamazaki translating for the American media. Yamazaki is in attendance as well. Tiger Hatori will be moderating the press conference.
New Japan Pro Wrestling President Naoki Sugabayashi thanked everyone for coming and officially began their press conference. He stated that all the stars of NJPW are very excited to be here and we know the fans are excited as well. They would like the tour to be a success and return next year, so he invited all the American fans to come to the shows and enjoy themselves.
They introduced Tiger Hatori, who was referred to as the Producer of the tour. He said that after the disaster in Japan, they need to have a lot of energy from NYC to Japan to help make it successful for everyone. He thanked JAPW Promotions for helping them with creating three sucessful days of events.
Ryusuke Taguchi said he was very excited to be in the United States and to wrestle here.
Tiger Mask said that while he's wrestled in the United States before, its the first time New Japan is here and he hopes the fans will enjoy the experience.
Jado said that he looks forward to showing the United States how amazing New Japan Pro Wrestling here. Gedo said that they have been partners for 20 years and they look forward to showing the American fans the power of their team.
They brought Jushin Liger to the dias, announcing that Liger will be defending the JAPW Light Heavyweight championship against Kenny Omega. Liger introduced himself and said he won the belt last year and he has brought it back to America to defend it. He said that he expects to bring the belt back to Japan. He said that even though he is in America, he is wearing his New Japan colors as he wants to show NJPW is in his heart at all times. He said that as a representative of NJPW, he wants to do his best. Liger was wearing a mask with long bright red hair.
Satoshi Kojima said that he is very excited that NJPW has come to the United States. He said that while he has been wrestling for a long time, he still wants to show his skills to the fans in America. He said that he will satisfy all the American fans with his performance and thanked everyone for coming.
Shinsuke Nakamura said that in his opinion, no one has his style of wrestling and wants to show America his original, strong style of wrestling.
They began taking questions to the press:
Liger and Tiger Mask were asked their feelings on being part in the tour and on being in the opening match of the card. Mask said that it doesn't matter what match they are in on the card because they can show their style in the ring. Liger said that he wants to win his match and retain his championship. Liger said that Homicide and Low Ki are good wrestlers but they are better and greater.
I then asked the panel what it meant to them to compete under the NJPW banner in the United States. Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger answered. Mask said that there is WWE and TNA in America but this is their chance to show the differences and the style evolution that the Japanese wrestlers have to offer the world. Liger said that everyone under the NJPW banner are amazing wrestlers and they all want to show the world their love of New Japan and that they want to satisfy the fans.
New Japan then brought in the next group of wrestlers. They showcased the IWGP Intercontinental championship and said they would have words from those competing in the tournament for the championship.
Hideo Saito said that he's wrestled in Puerto Rico and has won championships there, but after seeing the belt today for the first time, he'd like to win it and bring it back to PR, then take all of them back to Japan.
Kazuchika Okada said that he lost last year in the Toky Dome, so he wants to avenge that loss by winning the tournament and take the belt back to TNA.
Tetsuya Naito said that it's been two years since he wrestled in the United States. He said that everyone in Mexico knows his signature pose and he wants to show it to everyone in the States to know it as well. He said he would like to win the championship.
Yujiro Takahashi stated that he would like to bring the belt back to Japan, but also to have his name spread across the fans in America so he becomes more well known as well.
Toru Yano asked if America was listening, as he was going to show everyone what his style was going to be.
MVP said he doesn't need an introduction as he's half man, half amazing. He said that he likes to collect precious metals. He said he was a World Tag Team champions and the longest reigning U.S. champion in WWE history. He is all about making history. He said that NJPW is making history by running in America for the first time and the first IWGP Intercontinental champion is going to be crowned. MVP said that everyone is nervous because he's the home team. He said everyone is talking about what they would like to do. He said that he's going to keep the title here in the United States. He said he was going to teach everyone about ghetto strong style. He told everyone else competing it wasn't personal, but business. He promised that MVP was going to make history again because he's straight-up ballin'. He walked out of the conference, having made his point with a hell of a promo.
They opened the floor for questions.
They were asked if there are plans for the title to be defended internationally. Tiger Hatori said that once the first champion is crowned, they hope it will be defended in Japan, Korea, Australia and all over the world.
They brought in Togi Makabe, saying he would be competing in the main event of the Philadelphia event. He said that even though he is wrestling for NJPW, he...Rhino burst in and said that he was tired of Makabe talking sh** in Japan and . He said that everyone needed to talk about how Rhino was going to destroy him. Makabe said, "f*** you." Rhino said that Makabe is coming to his house and said that he hopes Makabe kisses his family goodbye because he's going to destroy him.
Rhino was forced out. The hotel thought the angle was a shoot and almost called the police.
Makabe was asked what the issue between he and Rhino was. He said they had no relationship but since he is the best at all styles, Makabe will show he is the best, period.
IWGP Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi was brought in. They announced he would defend the championship against Charlie Haas in New York City. Tanahashi said that he is the Ace of Wrestling in Japan and is the proud holder of the IWGP title. He said that its the first time New Japan is wrestling here in America. He said that they are here as NJPW because they have shown Japan how powerful they all are and now they want to show the United States as well. He said that he will be defending his title against Charlie Haas but he is still vert excited. He said that all the wrestlers promise America with a high heart and high confidence that they will show them all what New Japan Pro Wrestling is.
Tanahashi was asked if this was the first time the belt will be defended outside of Japan. He said that it was defended once in America ten years ago with Scott Norton but he will be defending it here for the first time.
Tanahashi was asked about winning and holding the title.
They brought everyone, except Rhino, in for photos with the media as a group.
The press conference will be streaming live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jersey-all-pro-wrestling-live.
Fans can follow JAPW's Jonny D via Twitter for a chance to win backstage passes to each of the NJPW events at twitter.com/jonnydjap.
We will be doing live, ongoing coverage of the conference once it begins. PWInsider.com will also have live coverage of all three NJPW events this weekend.
The announced lineups for this weekend's events will feature:
Friday 5/13/11 in Rahway, New Jersey at the Rec Center
*The Strong Style Thugz, Homicide and Low Ki vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV.
*IWGP champion Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs. Rhino & Charlie Haas.
*IWGP Intercontinental championship Tournament: MVP vs. Kazuchika Okada.
*IWGP Intercontinental championship Tournament: Dan Maff vs. Toru Yano.
*IWGP Intercontinental championship Tournament: Tama Tonga vs. Tetsuya Naito.
*IWGP Intercontinental championship Tournament: Hideo Saito vs. Yujiro Takahashi.
*Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenny Omega.
*Eight Man Tag Team Battle: IWGP Tag Team champions Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson & Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jado & Gedo & Davey Richards & Shinsuke Nakamura.
Saturday 5/14/11 in New York at Basketball City
*IWGP Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Charlie Haas
*IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Prince Devitt vs. Low Ki
*IWGP Intercontinental championship tournament Semi-Finals.
*Additional Matches to be announced.
Sunday 5/14/11 in Philadelphia at the Asylum Arena
*IWGP Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Davey Richards
*South Philadelphia Street Fight: Togi Makabe vs. Rhino
*JAPW Light Heavyweight champion Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kenny Omega.
*IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team champions Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Low Ki & Homicide
*IWGP Intercontinental championship tournament final.
*Additional Matches to be announced.
Each of the events will feature pre-show meet and greets for fans holding golden ringside tickets.
The tour will end with a post-tour farewell party for the crew on Monday in New York City.
2011 - WWE broadcast Superstars. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We are live on tape on the internet and we start off with the Smackdown brand and your announcers are Matt Striker and Jack Korpela.
Before our first match, Michael Hayes introduces himself and he says that he is back in the business because the business needs him. He says that business is good, it is real good. The greatest plane cannot fly without a pilot. The greatest team cannot win without a coach. The greatest coach cannot win without players. He says that he has a good player in Tyson Kidd. Some people lack the killer instinct but Tyson Kidd does not matter if he is stepping on someone’s toes. In life, if you are not stepping on somebody, they are stepping on you.
He says that it is time for Tyson Kidd to get stepping.
Match Number One: Tyson Kidd with Michael Hayes versus Trent Barreta
They lock up and Kidd works on the arm and wrist. Trent escapes and takes Kidd down and puts Tyson in a side head lock. Trent works on the arm but Kidd with a single leg take down. Trent with a rollup for a near fall and Tyson rolls to the floor to talk to Michael.
Hayes gives Tyson some advice and he returns to the ring. Kidd with a waist lock but Trent with a side head lock take down. Kidd kips up but Trent with a drop kick followed by a European uppercut. Trent with a running knee for a near fall on Kidd. Trent goes to the turnbuckles and he punches Tyson but Tyson moves when Trent tries a second time and Kidd kicks Trent in the legs and Tyson takes advantage.
Kidd chokes Trent in the ropes and the referee warns him. Kidd with a hard Irish whip to Trent followed by a knee drop and he gets a near fall. Tyson with a reverse chin lock on Trent. Trent gets to his feet and Tyson tries for a belly-to-back suplex but Trent lands on his feet. Trent with a back elbow and then he clotheslines Tyson over the top rope to the floor. Trent leaps to the apron when Tyson moves out of the way and Kidd trips on the apron as we go to commercial.
We are back and Trent with a forearm but Kidd with a hot shot to Trent. Kidd with a drop kick to the head and he gets a near fall. Tyson with a forearm across the chest followed by a kick to the back and he gets another near fall. Tyson returns to the reverse chin lock. Trent punches Kidd but Kidd runs Trent into the corner. Tyson puts Trent in the tree of woe and Tyson with a series of kicks to Trent.
Tyson runs into a boot from Trent while still in the tree of woe. Trent goes up top and hits a corkscrew splash onto Kidd for a near fall. Trent with chops to Kidd followed by an enzuigiri and Kidd is down. Trent with a running elbow into the corner and then Trent sets for a springboard drop kick and he gets a near fall.
Tyson sends Trent into the middle ropes and then he hits a German suplex with Trent landing on his head but Kidd can only get a two count. Tyson with punches to Trent and then he kicks him. Kidd tries for a Sharpshooter but Trent kicks Tyson into the ropes and he gets a near fall with a rollup. Kidd goes to the apron for a springboard elbow drop but he connects with Trent’s knees.
Trent with a running Yakuza kick for a near fall. Trent gets to his feet first and he picks up Tyson and tries for the tornado DDT but Tyson counters with a Sharpshooter and he finally gets Trent over and Barreta taps out.
Winner: Tyson Kidd
We go to commercial.
We are back and it is time for the Raw portion of the show and your announcers are Josh Mathews and Scott Stanford.
Match Number Two: Zack Ryder versus Vladimir Kozlov
Before they lock up Zack gives out a woo woo woo for you. Ryder retreats to the ropes when Kozlov wants to lock up. Kozlov with a take down and Ryder goes into the ropes. Kozlov with a fireman’s carry and Ryder gets to the ropes again. Ryder with a kick and side head lock but he runs into Kozlov and he falls to the mat. Ryder bumps into Kozlov and Kozlov doesn’t move. Kozlov slams Ryder and then he traps the arms and he head butts Ryder in the chest. Kozlov misses a boot but he does not miss a clothesline that sends Ryder over the top rope to the floor.
Kozlov goes to the floor and he gives Ryder a knee but Ryder gets out of a slam attempt and Ryder sends Kozlov into the ring post. Ryder kicks Kozlov before going back into the ring. Ryder with a forearm and knees as soon as Kozlov returns to the ring. Ryder chokes Kozlov in the ropes and he follows with a neck breaker and he gets a near fall.
Ryder with a reverse chin lock on Kozlov into a front face lock. Kozlov powers out of the hold and then he connects with a boot to the chest and a running shoulder tackle. Kozlov runs Ryder into the turnbuckles but Ryder with a knee to stop the shoulders. Ryder punches Kozlov in the corner but Kozlov pushes him off.
Kozlov sends Ryder over the top rope to the floor. Kozlov returns to the floor and he sends Ryder back into the ring. Curt Hawkins comes out and he grabs Kozlov’s leg. Kozlov looks at Hawkins on the floor and Ryder hits the Rough Ryder for the three count.
Winner: Zack Ryder
After the match, Ryder and Hawkins celebrate together on the ramp.
We go to commercial.
We are back with the Smackdown Rebound.
Match Number Three: Drew McIntyre versus Chris Masters
They lock up and Masters backs Drew into the corner and Masters with a clean break. Drew shoos Masters away. They lock up again and Drew with a waist lock but Masters with a standing switch. Drew with an elbow and forearm to the back of the neck followed by a front face lock. Masters gets out of the hold and he sends Drew to the mat. Masters tries for the Master Lock but Drew escapes the hold and he retreats to the corner.
Drew has a kick blocked by a he slaps Masters and then he punches and kicks Masters. Drew with an Irish whip but Masters with a clothesline to Drew. Drew with a kick and punches to Masters. Masters with a series of chops to Drew. Drew tries for a leap frog but Masters counters with a reverse atomic drop and then he hits a delayed vertical suplex for a near fall.
Drew goes to the apron and the floor but Masters pulls Drew back in by his ponytail. Drew kicks Masters and then he grabs Chris’ leg and he sends it into the ring post. Masters hobbles on his leg and Drew with a drop kick to the knee. Drew with an elbow drop to the leg and then he applies more pressure to Masters’ leg.
Masters with chops to Drew followed by a punch. Drew goes for Masters’ knee and takes him down again. Drew with a kick to the chest and then he tries for a figure four leg lock around the ring post but the referee starts his count.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Drew continues to work on Masters’ knee. Drew puts Masters’ leg in the ropes and he kicks the thigh to continue to wear Masters down. Drew with a dragon screw leg whip and he gets a near fall. Masters punches Drew to try to get out of Drew’s grasp. Masters tries for a slam but he cannot hold Drew’s weight. Drew with a drop kick and kip up before he pulls down the knee pad. Drew gets a near fall.
Drew stomps on the bare knee and then he punches Masters and Chris falls to the mat. Drew fails to take full advantage of the situation and then he casually signals for a figure four. Masters is able to kick Drew to the floor and then Masters with a Samoan drop. Masters struggles to get to his feet and Drew is the first to get back to his feet. Masters with a boot to Drew and then he hits a clothesline from the turnbuckles that does not make the full impact. Masters with a sit out spinebuster for a near fall. Masters with a chop on Drew.
Masters’ knee gives out when he is Irish whipped. Drew tries for the Future Shock DDT but Masters counters with a back body drop. Drew tries for a back slide but Masters counters and he pulls Drew over. Drew tries for the Future Shock again but Masters escapes. Drew kicks Masters in the knee but he misses a charge into the corner and hits the ring post. Masters applies the Master Lock and Drew is out.
Winner: Chris Masters
2011 - TNA broadcast Impact Wrestling. Stu Carapola filed the following TV report:
Okay, we all know what's coming tonight and none of us are happy about it, but I'll at least try and play it straight and then vent my soul on the postgame show in the Elite section.
Hulk Hogan is pacing around backstage with a pipe in hand, waiting for the Network rep to show up, but Bischoff tries to talk him out of doing anything drastic and just play the game. Hogan thinks it over and obliges. We then go to a recap of last week's Karen Jarrett-Velvet Sky confrontation and then Kurt Angle's declaration that the Chosen One will be here this week, as well as Sting telling Hulk Hogan that the Network rep will be here this week.
We head out to the ring for our opening promo, as Jeff and Karen Jarrett kick the show off. Jeff says he and Karen talked it over and want to offer a truce, and they know they did this before and screwed him over, but this time it's sincere. He points out how innocent and fragile Karen is, and how wrong it is for her to be put in harm's way at Sacrifice. Out of all the matches he and Kurt have had, all of which he's won by the way, Karen has had nothing to do with it, and the idea of Kurt and his mistress doing any kind of harm to the Queen of the Mountain is a crime in and of itself. Karen comes over and gives Jeff a touching hug, then tells Kurt that she knows he's had a lot of matches and maybe got his bell rung one too many times because she's not the thorn in his side he thinks she is, he's been a giving and caring ex-wife and a great mother to their kids. Everything that's happened between then and Big Daddy has been a complete misunderstanding, because even the restraining order was in his best interests and she's always looking out for his best interests. She'd like for him to come out tonight so she can humbly accept his apology, and they can all be one big happy family.
Kurt Angle comes out to the ring to share his thoughts, and he tells Karen that it's done, because after being married to him for as long as she was, you'd think she'd realize not to keep pushing him the way she has, but she and Mr Douchebag have been pressing all the right buttons. He's tolerated it because she's the mother of his kids, but now he doesn't even remember why he married her and it's only a matter of time before Jarrett realizes she's pure evil and she takes him for everything he has just like she did to him. But first, Angle's going to get something out of it because at Sacrifice, it'll be the two of them against Angle and his associate. Angle wanted to introduce her now, but the Network told him to wait until later and he can't wait to see the look on the Jarretts' faces because Jeff knows who she is. Gee, I winder if she knows anything about housekeeping.
Time for our opening match...
Madison Rayne & Tara vs Knockouts Champion Mickie James & Miss Tessmacher
Mickie and Tara start us off and have a feeling out process to start, exchanging wristlocks and then throwing simultaneous dropkicks, ending up at a stalemate. Mickie extends her hand and Tara shakes it, then tags Madison in, much to the former champ's dismay. Mickie gets a Thesz Press right away, but Madison gets a knee to the ribs and a running knee off the ropes. Miss Tessmacher tags in and throws a seris of hard forearms at Madison, gets the boot in Madison's face, and gets a victory roll for 3! GO TESSMACHER!
Winners: Mickie James & Miss Tessmacher
Madison and Tara argue after the match and Tara walks off on Madison.
Ric Flair struts into Hogan and Bischoff's office, and Hogan calls him a son of a bitch and says he's been smartening the Network up. Flair asks if he's out of his mind and knows who he's talking to, but Bischoff calms everyone down and Hogan apologizes and says he's so rattled over the Network thing. Flair gives Hogan a pep talk and tells him to screw the Network, and Hogan syas he's sorry again and needs to find out who this Network rep is. Hogan and Flair share a high five as the team solidifies. What a lovely scene.
A limo is arriving backstage! Could it be the Network rep? FIND OUT NEXT!!!
We go backstage to Tara, who says she hopes Madison loses at Sacrifice because they always disagree. She says Madison is a skank and she wants to be free from her. Madison comes in and asks why Tara called her a rat, and Tara says she said skank. Madison says she's going to make Tara's life miserable after Sacrifice.
The Mystery Cameraman catches up with Tommy Dreamer to get answers out of him, and Dreamer says to leave him alone because he has a personal life outside of TNA. AJ Styles comes out of nowhere and asks him what his problem was, and Dreamer says he's too young and innocent to know what he's doing. Styles says he's a grown man with three kids and asks if this is about EV2.0, and Dreamer says that's not it and Styles doesn't understand and never will. AJ challenges Dreamer to a match at Sacrifice, and Dreamer says AJ doesn't know everything that goes on in the back. AJ says if Dreamer doesn't back off right now, they're going to go at it right now. Dreamer goes to walk away, and AJ says Tommy Dreamer is walking away and backing down from a fight and asks if this is who he is now, and Dreamer says nobody knows who he is and tells him to walk a mile in his shoes.
We go backstage to a photo session with Sting displaying the TNA World Title, and Sting says Rob Van Dam is one of the greatest martial arts guys around and he hopes he can zig when RVD zags. Sting says he'll be fighting for his life, and sometimes that brings the best out of you. The Mystery Cameraman asks if there's any update on the Network, and Sting says their guy is here tonight and soon, it'll be showtime.
We see a video package hyping Beer Money and their dominance of the tag team scene over the last few years, and then they hype their title defense against Matt Hardy and a mystery partner this weekend.
Beer Money come out to cut a promo and Robert Roode says that he heard Matt Hardy and someone special were challenging them at Sacrifice, and he says everyone knows who his partner is, and challenges Hardy to come out and say who it is so they can accept his challenge face to face. Hardy comes out and says Roode impressed him last week when he called out Hulk Hogan because for the first time, Roode showed that he had a set and everyone saw him become a man. Hardy says he's taking Beer Money seriously, and says he's noticed that James Storm comes out and drinks his beer and gets drunk, and that makes him sick and that makes him worthless, and being one half of the greatest team in the history of the industry gives him the right to say that. Storm was raised to be a drunk cowboy who is full of hot air, and Bobby Roode was raised to be another annoying Canadian and an arrogant egomaniac, and he's going to put them in their place when he and his partner take the tag title away from Beer Money. Storm cuts him off because he's wasting everyone's time because everyone knows the Hardys are great, Storm is a redneck who likes adult beverages, but he doesn't go around disrespecting people, and Hardy calls him an alcoholic who's full of hot air.
Storm puts his beer down and steps out of the ring to go face to face with Hardy, takes his hat and glasses off, and says that he's the man who would walk into a bar and bust Hardy in his face and then walk out with his girlfriend, make Hardy buy him a case of beer, and watch him have a good time with his girl. Storm says to get his brother out here and see how good they really are, but Hardy says this is going to happen when he wants it to and that is not tonight and if these piece of trash fans wanted to see the greatest team in the industry, they'll have to pay to do it, but his partner won't be Jeff, it'll be someone who knows Storm inside and out and knows his weaknesses.
Suddenly, the America's Most Wanted music hits and Chris Harris comes out looking like he weighs 350 pounds and stares Storm down as we go to commercial.
Time for the next match...
Sangriento vs Suicide
Suicide immediately takes Sangriento to the corner and unloads with repeated clotheslines, but misses a charge and Sangriento hits a climbing dropkick and spinning headscissors to send Suicide to the floor. Sangriento hits a twisting dive to the floor and rolls Suicide back in, then follows right up with a missile dropkick and hits a running forearm into the corner. Suicide counters with a running Yakuza kick to Sangriento and a modified version of the Scorpion Deathdrop for 2. They exchange chops in the middle of the ring and Sangriento hits a spinning enziguiri and a running clothesline in the corner, followed by a twisting DDT for 2. Sangriento goes up top but misses a senton and Suicide gets a full rotation back suplex, but only gets 2. Suicide tries a charge in the corner but Sangriento gets the boot up and hits a leaping DDT, then finishes him with a springboard Diamond Cutter.
Winner: Sangriento
Immortal's music hits after the match and Hogan, Flair and Bischoff come out to the ring. Flair nails Suicide in the yambag and kicks him out to the floor, and Hogan says the games are over and it doesn't matter what, Hogan runs this place and he wants the Network rep out there now. We'll find out what happens...AFTER THIS!
Okay, we're back and the Jarretts are now out there with Hogan, Flair and Bischoff, and Hogan is demanding that the Network rep comes out right now. Here comes Mick Foley, who says that everything was going great with Immortal until the Network started getting in the way and the plans started to unravel. Mick Foley was the man pulling the strings and asks Bischoff if he has something to say, then shoves him on his ass and tells Hogan that if he wants to, he can go ahead and take a shot at him but he'll be outta here because the show isn't about him anymore, it's not about anyone in Immortal, and this show is now about wrestling because as of now, wrestling matters once again. It mattered when he was a kid and he watched Hogan in Madison Square Garden and when he saw Flair and Steamboat in East Rutherford, and this show is no longer TNA, it's Impact Wrestling, and every time he hears that name, he'll think back to this and realize he doesn't matter. Tonight's main event will now be a 25 man battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the TNA World Title. Foley says he calls the shots and introduces Kurt Angle's tag team partner for Sacrifice...yeah, you know who it is. He/she comes strolling out, somehow looking even more plastic than she did ten years ago, looking way too smug for someone who spent the last ten years melting down on VH1 and doing crappy porno movies. Karen looks distraight as we go to commercial.
We go backstage to Mick Foley, who says it's great to be back and he was pouring out adrenaline and it's good to be back somewhere where he can make a difference and where wrestling matters. He wanted Hogan to knock him down because he wanted to fire Hogan and Flair. There's going to be 25 men in the ring tonight, and Jeff Jarrett's goingto be one of those men and if Karen Jarrett is out there, he wants Chyna to be there too.
We go to Ken Anderson, who says that Mick Foley's been holding him back and preventing him from getting his rematch, and he's going to love throwing the other 24 men out over the top rope tonight to get his title shot.
Three way time... Abyss vs Crimson vs Samoa Joe
Crimson and Joe have an uncomfortable staredown as the bell rings. Crimson and Abyss go at it and Abyss takes Crimson to the corner, but Joe comes in and goes after both men. Crimson tries a charge but Joe breaks free and this a leaping enziguiri, then gets an inverted atomic drop, running boot, and running senton on Abyss. Crimson nails Joe with a running boot and then goes back after Abyss, hitting a series of big boots and then getting a three quarter nelson and ramming knees to the head and converting to a rolling neckbreaker. Joe and Crimson go at it again and exchange forearms in the middle of the ring, Crimson goes back to the three quarter nelson again, but comes off the ropes right into a snap powerslam by Joe. Abyss recovers and hits a Black Hole Slam on Joe, but Crimson spears Abyss and covers Joe for 3.
Winner: Crimson:
Crimson gets a big win going into this weekend, and Joe gets up behind Crimson and looks really pissed off. Abyss suddenly comes out of nowhere and nails Crimson before Joe can do anything, and Joe just rolls out of the ring and walks off and tells the camera that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam on Crimson and stands tall in the middle of the ring showing off his busted teeth.
The 25 participants in the battle royal are backstage, and that match is up next!
Rob Van Dam is backstage saying he's got a front row seat for tonight's battle royal, and if things go his way at Sacrifice, tonight's winner will be his first title defense.
Time for our main event...
25 Man Battle Royal For #1 Contender Spot
The match starts and Douglas Williams and Brutus Magnus both go out immediately. Orlando Jordan follows him out, and then Anarquia and then we have a bit of a break in the eliminations as everyone fights it out in the ring. Eric Young runs back and forth on the apron until Jeff Jarrett nails him and drags him back in as Matt Morgan chokes Shannon Moore out in the corner and then turns his attention to Gunner. Hernandez tosses Jesse Neal and then dumps Moore on top of him and then flings Robbie E out as well. Gunner tries to toss Eric Young, but Young skins the cat back in and dumps Gunner. Young is so happy he jumps over the ropes and eliminates himself, then walks off with Gunner's TV Title belt as we go to commercial.
We're back and the match is still going, Christopher Daniels is feverishly trying to eliminate Jeff Jarrett as the Pope stomps away at Devon. James Storm unloads with right hands on Matt Hardy as Jeff Jarratt suplexes Frankie Kazarian to the floor and Kazarian seems to hurt his knee when he comes down. Storm and Hardy fight it out on the ring apron and both tumble to the floor and are eliminated. Hardy hops onto the apron and pulls Robert Roode out as well and Hardy runs for the hills as Mick Foley joins Mike Tenay and Taz at the broadcast table. Bully Ray dumps Daniels as Matt Morgan unloads with the rapid fire elbows on Hernandez and then clotheslines him to the floor. Steiner runs in and dumps Morgan to the floor, but spends too much time jawing with Morgan and Bully Ray comes from behind to dump Steiner as well. We've getting down to the nitty gritty as Bully Ray yells at Tommy Dreamer to do what he's told, then goes to nail Angle and prevent him from dumping Jarrett. Ray tries to dump Angle but he just oges to the apron, and Pope nails AJ with a Stinger Splash. Pope unloads with a series of elbows to Devon, but Devon nails him and goes for a charge, but Pope drops down and Devon sails over the top to the floor. Pope mocks him from inside the ring, and turns around as Angle clotheslines him over the top. We're down to six and we're at commercial again.
We're back and AJ Styles is fighting off both Jeff Jarrett and Bully Ray, but Tommy Dreamer nails AJ from behind as Angle gets Bully Ray in the anklelock until Dreamer makes the save. Angle with a back elbow to Dreamer as AJ Styles dropkicks Ray to the apron, but Dreamer sneaks up from behind and dumps AJ Styles. Ray high fives Dreamer, then comes from behind and dumps him to the floor and we're down to Jarrett, Bully Ray, Ken Anderson, and Kurt Angle. Ray tries to suplex Anderson to the floor but Anderson holds on and opens up on Ray with right hands in the corner. Anderson tries to dump Ray as Angle tries to dump Jarrett in the opposite corner, and Ray manages to slip back in and clip Angle's knee to save Jarrett. Anderson lays into Ray with right hands and clotheslines, then Anderson and Ray tumble through the ropes and Angle and Jarrett go at it in the ring. Angle with an overhead release suplex and tries to Angle Slam Jarrett over te top, but Karen pushes them back into the ring and Angle dumps Jarrett. Karen takes another grab at Angle and Kurt goes after her, but Jarrett dumps him from behind and then Karen gets in the ring to celebrate with Jeff. Suddenly Chyna comes into the ring and dumps Jarrett, then goes face to face with Karen. She chokes Karen, but Jeff drags her to the floor and they run for their lives.
It's down to Anderson and Bully Ray and they exchange blows in the middle of the ring. Ray runs Anderson over with a clothesline and tries to dump him, but Anderson survives and nails Ray, then goes for a Swanton but Ray gets the knees up and dumps Anderson to the apron. Ray nails him with a bunch of haymakers, but Anderson grabs Ray in a front facelock and drags him ot the floor.
Winner: Ken Anderson
Ken Anderson is now the #1 contender to the TNA World Title, and introduces himself as the new #1 contender to the TNA World Title and to Sting what the Navy SEALs were to Osama Bin Laden. He's locked, loaded, and ready to go and he's going to give Sting a headshot.
Sting is backstage saying that he's happy for Ken Anderson, and he'll be happy when he shuts Ken's mouth in the middle of the ring. Rob Van Dam comes in and says that he'll need to go through him to get to Anderson, and then Anderson comes in to say that he doesn't care who wins because he promises that at Slammiversary, he'll be at rare form and he'll be an equal opportunity asshole.
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