Saturday 29 October 2011

The Indy Corner (26/10/11)

The Indy Corner (26/10/11)

WOW, what weekend in Indy wrestling both in the US & UK.
In order of events, on Friday Oct 21st Dragon Gate began their 2011 tour of the UK in Broxbourne. The show by all accounts was amazing topped off by a great main event of SHINGO over PAC.

Night 2 was in Nottingham and I was in attendance myself. Before the show there was an official press conference for which I was also in attendance for. I must admit, I was a bit unprepared as I was caught off guard when I got there. Questions aimed towards the Japanese workers were put across via a translator and I know for one, what I asked seemed lost in translation. The only real notable thing from the press conference was the announcement of CIMA's mystery partner and this was his former partner GAMMA, the two are now in different factions in Dragon Gate in Japan. The current program in DGUK was that if anyone was to have 5 losses they would be removed from the DGUK roster and leading up to night 2 CIMA was 0-4 so had to win on Night 2.

As I thought it would be, the show was amazing. The show was based around the third meeting on UK soil of SHINGO vs. Yokosuka. The show had a slow build but got exciting really at the semi-main event time where we had the UK's own PAC, the current Open The Brave Gate champion defeat Dragon Kid who's name and mask is in tribute to his trainer & mentor Ultimo Dragon. The match to no surprise was great and where I was sitting in the arena right in front of me I had the parents of PAC sitting right in front of me. I did have a chat with them and his mom was constantly covering her eyes every time there was a spot against him but overall they were really proud of their boy and so they should be.


Above: PAC & Dragon Kid show respect to each other following their great match - Picture credit John Searle.

The main event was well, AMAZING to say the least. The other 2 matches in the series were crackers and this one probably just shades it for me as I was in attendance. These guys gave everything and I wasn't disappointed at all. Great showing by all involved. Full credit to Mark Sloan and his team from A-Merchandise.

Elsewhere on this site there is a more detailed review of night 2 by my chief writer Shaun Nichols who was in the second row for the show.

On the same night as the first DG show, the awesome FightClub:Pro had another show at The Planet in Wolverhampton which I was unable to attend which I was annoyed about as it featured the top prospect in my opinion on the British scene MK McKinnan against El Generico, more on him in a bit. FCP champion Trent Seven beat Clint Margera, in a ladder match, I like both guys as workers and as people so gutted I missed this one too, fingers crossed, these matches will make it to DVD speaking of which, FCP now have on sale on their site all 3 nights of the Project Mayhem shows, as you may recall, I attended nights 2 & 3 so to see night 1 on DVD will be great. CZW are selling nights 2 & 3 as they were not involved in the first night but I urge all listeners to buy from FCP direct not only because you get all 3 nights but buy buying off FCP the money is going back into the company which will help them grow and put on more great shows. The next of which is Infinity on 25/11 again at The Planet in Wolverhampton, no details yet for matches but follow me on twitter @WLHSTU and when I know, I'll post it there.

Now back to El Generico, after he faced MK for FCP he jetted off back to the US as he was booked to face PWG champion, one of my personal faves in the business at the moment, Kevin Steen in a ladder match and yes, the ever so popular 'generic luchadore' won the PWG title for the first time, congrats to him great achievement. After the match, the Young Bucks came out to attack Steen and he was saved by none other than SUPER DRAGON, Dragon hadn’t wrestled in PWG since May of 2008 but has remained behind the scenes with the promotion. Dragon & Steen will face the Young Bucks on December 10th.



Other notable results from the PWG show entitled ‘SteenWolf’ were TJ Perkins over Rocky Romero, Davey Richards over Willie Mack, PWG tag team champions The Young Bucks over Future Shock (Kyle O’Reily & Adam Cole) and Ricochet over Chuck Taylor.

Nigel McGuinness is making a return to in-ring action, he’ll be wrestling first for Squared Circle Wresting (2CW) in New York on 11/11, the following night he’ll be back to where it all began for him in the US at the Heartland Wrestling Association and he will also embark over to his homeland of England and one of the companies he’ll be working for is Steven Fludder’s Preston City Wrestling on 03/12 so go to http://facebook.com/PrestonCityWrestling for more info

Wednesday 26 October 2011

The Indy Corner's Interview with Blk Jeez of CZW

The Indy Corner returned on October 26th and during the show we had an interview with one half of the CZW tag team champions Blk Jeez, look for the show on iTunes in the next day or so but here is the interview in full conducted by the one and only Steve Grieve.

On the subject of CZW, please got to http://fightclubpro.com and buy the Project Mayhem Triple DVD set featuring CZW, BJW, WXW from Germany and the guys of FightClub: Pro

Sunday 23 October 2011

Quick Review: Dragon Gate UK- Shingo vs Yokosuka 3 (22/10/2011) By Shaun Nichols

Crowd was probably approx 650-700 and was generally good. With some decent chants and the usual shit ones.

BxB Hulk defeated Lion Kid in the opener, I was sitting 2nd row and can tell you that Lion Kid works very light and it's also very strange that he's over to the extent that he is. Hulk saw this as a night off I think. Usual mix of kicks from Hulk and the odd dive from Lion Kid. Some saw this as a breakout performance from Lion Kid, think that's either optimistic or they think he's particularly useless. Average fare **1/4



Akira Tozawa beat Naoki Tanazaki, this was supposed to be a 3 way featuring Gamma but Gamma was revealed as CIMA's mystery tag partner at the earlier press conference so this was switched to a standard singles match which I for one was happy about it. Both guys are in Blood Warriors stable but Tanazaki slapped him so Tozawa went temporary babyface. Tanazaki was a lot of fun as the dastardly heel, doing lots of cheap tactics and distracting the referee. He also got the standard UK chant of 'You're a Pussy' in which he shrugged and said he didn't understand, I LOL'd. Tozawa's offence is very fan friendly and we got the usual 2 consecutive dives to the floor which got a great reaction. Tozawa won with his delayed everest german suplex, after the match the fans were still chanting his name Tozawa decided it was time to announce that he no longer liked the UK. We didn't care, match was fun. ***1/2



Masato Yoshino defeated Naruki Doi, I had high expectations for this but they were not met. That's not to say it wasn't a good match but this a re-match from the main event of Final Gate 2010 and I was a bit underwhelmed. We did get most of the big moves, Yoshino did his missile dropkick, slingblade, lightning spiral and finally on the third attempt secured a submission win with Soi Naciente. Doi who actually looks more suited to being a heel used among other things Doi Fives and the great sliding bakatare kick. ***

CIMA & Gamma beat Marty Scurll & Mark Haskins, Haskins it appears is now starting a transformation into Chris Hero. Fans had fun reminding CIMA that upto now he's the owner of 0-4 record in the UK. Both Haskins and Scurll were working a lot lighter than everyone else so it appears to be a UK thing. This again wasn't quite as good as I expected and Scurll didn't have the best of nights. Gamma is one of those guys that either people love or they don't understand his appeal at all. He did his spitting spots and used his singapore cane all in front of the referee. Quite a few of the fans were expecting a DQ but they are standard Gamma spots in Dragon Gate that you expect to see. The UK team did dominate the majority of this which gave the result away. CIMA picked up the win with meteora on Scurll, the rest of Blood Warriors came out to celebrate the win and also to attack Gamma who is actually in Junction 3. Yoshino, Scurll & Haskins made the save. **3/4

PAC defeated Dragon Kid to retain the Open the Brave Gate title, due to transportation issues the title wasn't actually there. This led to a 'Fuck BA' chant, well it makes a change from random 'Fuck TNA' chants. We didn't get confirmation that it was a British Airways flight by the way. Fans obviously were loving PAC although his change in physique didn't go un-noticed with some 'Pac Lesner' chants. PAC dominated the majority of this although Dragon Kid did get his moments as well though they didn't last that long. Highlight was PAC landing on his feet after Dragon attempted a reverse huracanrana, PAC then went went for a release german suplex but Dragon landed on his feet before hitting PAC with a DDT. PAC secured his 10th successful defence by hitting Dragon with a 360 splash. ****

Shingo beat Susumu Yokosuka in the main event, after their two previous UK matches the fans were expecting to see something very special they were not disappointed. Out of everything this match was worked in very tight and well structured manner, both guys had long periods where they were in control. Yokosuka working on the knees of Shingo, Shingo in returned attacked the right arm. Not many big moves in the opening 15 minutes but because everything looked good they never lost the fans. We got the Yokosuka zombie spot which is basically him refusing to sell his opponent's offence. Fans for some reason did duelling 'Let's go Shingo' chants not understanding they were cheering for the same guy. Last five minutes was awesome, lots of big moves and great false finishes with Yokosuka hitting his finisher which is a stiff lariat and Shingo responded with his Made in Japan in which he hit twice for a ridiculous two count. Literally everyone was standing for the kick out. Shingo was not to be denied and finally got the win with the Last Falconry. ****1/2

Personally I thought the first DG: UK show in Oxford 2009 was a better show overall. Before the final two matches this a show that was not setting my world on fire but the final matches easily meant that was a thumbs up show. I also think that the main event was better than anything on the NOAH show from Wolverhampton back in May.

EDIT: Results from Night 3 thanks to @daftpenguin on twitter

1. GAMMA over Mad Man Manson
2. CIMA over Lion Kid
3. Dragon Kid & Yoshino over Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby and BxB Hulk & Tanizaki in a 3 way
4. Akira Tozawa over Marty Scurll
5. PAC over Susumu Yokosuka
6. Shingo over Mark Haskins

Tuesday 18 October 2011

WLH Prediction League: GREAT prize for the winner


Here we are again, this weekend the WWE return with another PPV and it's Vengeance. Looks a decent card on paper but I don't really watch the product so I'll leave my opinions at that.
Don't forget, whoever has the most points by the time the final PPV of the year roles around will win a multiple signed WWE PPV DVD, names included are Shawn Michaels, Triple H & Trish Stratus plus more.

WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena ( Last Man Standing)
World Champion Mark Henry vs. The Big Show
WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne vs. US Champion Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger
Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton
WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres
CM Punk & Triple H vs. The Miz & R-Truth

Monday 17 October 2011

Kurt Angle – 2012 Inductee to the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame By Alex Kirkham

It was announced recently that TNA Champion Kurt Angle will be one of the inductees into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012. The ceremony itself will be held on April 14, 2012 and will be hosted by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, in Waterloo, Iowa.
May i be the 1st to congratulate Kurt Angle, for this tremendously well deserved achievement in his career, one which he has spilled blood, sweat and tears to obtain. Angle of course found worldwide fame with his simply amazing win at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, winning the 100kg gold medal. It was this success, which would help catapult a young Angle into the world of professional wrestling, signing an 8 year contract with the WWF which would see him grow into one of the greatest superstars to ever grace the sport of wrestling.
He would hold numerous titles within the WWF / E, culminating in him becoming the 5th grand slam champion, joining the prestigious group of Chris Jericho, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Kane as a grand slam champion at the time. Not only did Angle gain this prestigious honour during his time with the WWF, but he was also part of some of the most memorable and entertaining feuds of the generation. Whether it was Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, Eddie Guerrero or Edge, Angle always brought it all to the ring and would always leave the fans with a great feeling. Maybe the most memorable of Angles WWF matches was the Hair vs Hair match with Edge, which culminated in Angle losing his hair, a look which he continues to use to this day.
Angles part in the Invasion storyline cannot be overlooked either, he was a pivotal part of both Team WWF and then Team Alliance when he turned on the WWF which brutal chair shots. Along with Steve Austin, Kurt Angle was arguably the superstar who did most for the Invasion storyline due to his continued involvement amongst ppv matches and the ever swapping titles.
At the end of his WWE run, Angle was drafted to the newly reformed ECW brand, where he would see out his WWE career with victories over Randy Orton at One Night Stand 2006 and a rematch loss to him at Vengeance of the same year. What followed were sporadic appearances by Angle, until August when he would ask for his release from WWE, stating the need to rest injuries as his reason. At the time, Angle stated that when he left, WWE lost their very top talent, as he was at the very top of the payroll.
Upon leaving the WWE, Angle would take a month out, but would then go on to sign for Florida based TNA Wrestling, run by Dixie Carter & former WCW champion Jeff Jarrett. His debut for the company was for me one of the most impactful of his generation, entering the ring to confront Samoa Joe, before head butting him and brawling with him. It showed that Angles passion for wrestling was still strong, and he was ready to prove himself against a whole different bunch of competitors in TNA.
Again TNA would provide Angle with top class competiton, and give the fans memorable matches for years to come. His matches with Sting, Jarrett, Aj Styles, Christian Cage, Rhyno & Abyss would be ones to match if not better those which Angle strived to within the WWE. He would go on to be successful ,becoming the 2nd Triple Crown champion in TNA, to go along with his Grand Slam in the WWE. Angle is the current TNA champion, retaining only yesterday over Bobby Roode at their annual Bound For Glory PPV.
After 15 years in professional wrestling, 20 title reigns, an Olympic gold medal and a wave of fan support, Kurt Angle is a perfect example of hard work and graft to achieve goals within professional wrestling. He now joins George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame with the likes of Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Roddy Piper, Curt Hennig, Harley Race & Antonio Inoki. He joins a prestigious grouping of the sports brightest and best, one which will keep the illustrious career of Kurt Angle in our hearts and minds for years to come. Once again a huge congratulations to Kurt Angle for this huge achievement, and i wish him a long and happy run with TNA.

Any comments, hit me up on twitter @WholeKirknShow

Save TNA’s Tag Division By AH Walker

A year ago TNA had one of the best tag divisions in recent history, even rivaling ROH and CHIKARA Pros. Yet here we are a year later and it is a pile of shit. As I am a wrestling fan who happens to mark like a motherfucker for tag division, I am here to bring a spice of life to what once was a decent part of TNA. Now I am going to split this into two parts the first is Assemble and the second is Acquire. Now you all are smart people so I don’t have to explain what I mean by assemble and acquire so let’s get to it

Assemble
There is a vast majority of TNA guys not getting TV time (or maybe they are on Xplosion but I haven’t watched Xplosion in years so bear with me) so maybe you should pair a few together and see what happens.

Team 1- Doug Williams & Mark Haskins
Age and experience meets youth. Two brits that have the same mat style but one has a slight hi-flying style and the other is more classic Brit Style. I’m sure a new version of the British Invasion would be interesting to see for all to see as it has something for the Brits to see and Mark Haskins is a great antagonist.

Team 2- Magnus & Crimson
I’m not a fan of Crimson and I love Magnus, but I think Magnus could bring out a personality in this the shitty second coming of Goldberg. And these two aren’t small fellas even though they aren’t mastodons, so I think these two could be a great fit in this division.

Team 3- Jesse Sorenson and Tony Nese
Two bland X-Division guys. As they are X division they should bring a nice pit of adrenaline into the tag division which sets up a great match between MCMG when Sabin heals up.

Team 4- Austin Aries and Zema Ion
Two great X-Division heels. This is hopefully for the temporary as the aim of this is to get Ion over to the point that he could take Aries place at the top of the X-Division tree, if Aries ever got hurt. I hope Aries never gets hurt though. OK that’s enough assembling for now. Let’s move on

Acquire
Now getting two people and pairing them up is a good idea for a while, but getting some guys from the independent scene that have made waves in the tag division and force them into TNA…

Team 1- The Briscoes
You know who these guys are. They have been teaming for almost 15 years, they can wrestle any style. The only bad thing is that they may need a mouth piece as they won’t let Jay cut his awesome swear filled promos.

Team 2- Future Shock
Another X-Division team. They pick up where the Young Bucks left off. Also these two can break off into singles in anytime and can easily become X-Division champion. Also Adam Cole looks like he could be a fantastic heel

Team 3- Incoherence
Do I need to say more? They have a PG gimmick and they make for some entertainment. Hallowicked can branch out and grab a TV title and Frightmare can bring home an X-Divison championship. Maybe having these guys accompany Eric Young can make for some comedic moments

Well that’s a few of my ideas, think you have a few, then tweet me @AH_Walker and we will have a chat/debate about it.

Thanks for reading, take care….

Austin's Comeback - Against Who?

I have been talking for a while now about Steve Austin maybe making a comeback and probably for just one match at Wrestle Mania. Now, going by what has been happening on the social networking site called twitter, it looked like Austin, if he returned would probably facing CM Punk, who as we all know had a great couple of months but has now gone off the boil, nothing to do with him or his talent but just the way he has been booked. The WWE gave him the platform to do his thing, and the "smart" fans on the internet were wowed by what Punk was doing, myself included but as stated, WWE have seemed to have lost faith in Punk in the character he was portraying with his 'pipe bombs' etc. He is still being featured in the main events in a team of sorts with Triple H.

Now, the reason I decided to do this article was I have been hearing recently that if Brock Lesnar finishes up with the UFC after his next fight, he may be brought back to the WWE and may face Austin at Wrestle Mania. To be fair, this WM probably is too soon but 2013 could be too late. I personally hope it will be still Punk but we don't usually get what we want.



If Lesnar is coming back to the WWE I am looking forward to it, and it would make me interested in the product and if he didn't face Austin at WM could he actually face The Undertaker after all they did have that 'incident' at a UFC PPV.

Any thoughts, let me know, either below this article or on twitter @WLHSTU

Sunday 16 October 2011

WLH PPV Prediction League Phase 2: A Great Prize To Be Won


This is the prize for the second half of the 2011 WLH PPV Prediction League as long as we have 20 plus taking part.
It is a WWE R1 (NTSC) Backlash 2006 DVD signed by Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Edge, Triple H, Kane, Big Show, RVD & Trish Stratus. It comes with the COA (Certificate Of Authenticity)Picture at the bottom of this post.

So for those who don't know, what you have to do from now until the last PPV of the year in the WWE or TNA you have to predict the winners of each match, 2 points for a correct prediction. A table will be created and posted on the right side of the site, the new one is there so you can see what I mean. This is open to ANYONE, ANYWHERE in the world. All predictions MUST be submitted to me by 22:00 hrs GMT on the night of the PPV via email wlhstu@aol.co.uk. Good Luck guys.

Here is the line-up

1. Kurt Angle (c) vs. Bobby Roode Singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
2. Sting vs. Hulk Hogan No Disqualification Match for control of TNA
3. Winter (c) vs. Velvet Sky vs. Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne Four-Way match for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship
4. Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn Full Metal Mayhem match
5. Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray Falls Count Anywhere Philadelphia Street Fight
6. Austin Aries (c) vs. Brian Kendrick Singles match for the TNA X Division Championship
7. Mexican America (Hernandez and Anarquia) (c) vs. Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore) Tag Team match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship
8. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Friday 14 October 2011

TNA - Heading For Bigger & Better Things With Dave Lagana?

The news has broke that former WWE creative writer Dave Lagana who was most recently working with ROH has signed with TNA as Director of Creative Writing. Dave runs the very successful website iwantwrestling.com and the podcast show under the same name.

I am not going to lie, Dave and myself have had some disagreements on twitter because of me being silly to be honest but I am glad Dave has this opportunity not just for himself but for TNA and hopefully it's growth. We all know the Florida based promotion is behind the WWE in popularity in the US at least and so, maybe with Bruce Prichard taking over from Vince Russo as head writer and with the addition of Lagana, things could be looking up for TNA. I am told the last few weeks of the TNA IMPACT Wrestling show has been very good, I am a bit behind myself but I usually catch the PPV's without fail and the next PPV which is this Sunday - Bound For Glory looks like it could be very good and I really hope it is.

In closing, not sure if Dave will read this or not but I want to wish all the very best in his new venture with TNA.

How this will affect ROH I don't know, but they have have suffered losses before and survived so I am sure they will survive again.

Follow me on twitter @WLHSTU

I'll Moan if I Want with Matthew 'Buzz' Burrows

I have a question, do wrestling fans have the same course for complaining as
sports fans do. If your a Man Utd fan you can complain the team didn't play well
or the tactics used by the New England Patriots just weren't right or David Haye
boxed terribly.

These sports are all with in the control of the individual's and fans spend a lot of money attending these events, buying merchandise so they have the right to complain. They have the right to go on phone in shows and slag of the guy in charge or star player. However put that over to wrestling fans, do we have as much right to complain.

We as wrestling fans pay for merchandise, buy PPV's and spend money to get sports channels to see these shows just like any other sports fans. However this is an industry where the favourites are selected, the results are pre-determined and the story lines are written in advance.

At what point does the right to complain stop, I mean sure complain about a match or how a wrestler performs is no different to any other sports fan. But unlike any other sport we have story lines and promos, do we have the right to complain about these. Or is it part and parcel of wrestling nowadays that we as the people paying their wages can complain about what ever the hell we like. If we didn't have views or opinions about the industry as whole we wouldn't have websites like this one or online wrestling shows like The Total Wrestling Show.

So in my opinion if I am forking out this amount of money I will moan and
complain about what I like. I'm a wrestling fan if I'm not happy about a
storyline or who is winning or who is champion then that's my right.

What are your thoughts?

Hit me up on twitter @buzzuk

Justin Credible is Back!!!

The Following press release was sent to me:

The Resurrection Begins Now!

WATERBURY, Connecticut (October 11th, 2011) – There comes a time for everyone when they realize what their true purpose is in life. Apple, Inc. founder, Steve Jobs once said, “Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.” That same brick Jobs is talking about, hit Peter Polaco, also known as, Justin Credible in 2006 when the WWE wished him well in his “future endeavors.”

Polaco’s storied career peaked after winning the ECW World Championship title in the early 2000’s. The demise of ECW led to Polaco resurfacing in WWE, where he would go on to become 8-time Hardcore Champion. His career would also place him in promotions, such as, TNA (Impact Wrestling) and Ring of Honor before receiving those best wishes from WWE in 2006. This was the turning point in Polaco’s career. Polaco says, “From 97’ to 06’, I was living a dream. I had friendship, success and respect from my peers. After my release in 2006, I felt like I lost my way. I had a very hard time adjusting from being on the road nearly 365 days a year to only working a few times a month.” He followed with, “From 2006 until now I have had ups and downs, meeting economic challenges like everyone else. I have regrets about decisions I’ve made, but I am a much different person now than I was even a year ago. I am 37 years old and I am not ready to quit on the industry I love. I’ve been blessed with an injury free career and feel I have many, many more entertaining matches left in me.”

The resurrection begins now! Polaco is back where his career started, on the road, working the independents. A recent show for Fight the World (FTW), based out of Long Island, NY has landed him a permanent gig with the federation. FTW promoter Sean Stern said, “Peter is a great talent, I booked him and he was everything the crowd expected.” Independent promotions, like FTW, are all over the United States and there isn’t a location that Polaco won’t visit. Polaco mentions, “I want a chance to show every fan, wrestler, and promoter out there that the resurrection of Justin Credible has begun.”

Polaco recently debuted a live, web-based, interactive show that airs on Thursday’s at 7 p.m./Eastern. The show started with a core group of viewers and has now grown each week since its inception, earlier this month. His live show allows wrestling fans of all types to interact with him through a question and answer session. Polaco expresses, “It has been great interacting with old friends, as well as, new fans that have seen me on the indie circuit.” Since the show’s debut, Polaco has received hundreds of friend/fan requests via Facebook. As Peter says, “That is, just incredible! I think I’m creating a unique connection to my fans with this show.”

Polaco has rediscovered the passion which drove him into the wrestling industry seventeen years ago. Polaco says, “You only live once… all I can do now is focus on showing the world that the best of Justin Credible is yet to come.”


For press related inquiries contact RingsideRelations@gmail.com. Contact Dean Wentworth to book Justin Credible via justincredibleinfo@gmail. Follow Peter on Twitter @pjpolaco and on Facebook via www.facebook.com/realjustincredible. Catch his live show weekly by visiting www.justin.tv/peterpolaco1.

Thursday 13 October 2011

The Indy Corner Presents An Interview with Homicide

On Wednesday October 12th, the Indy Corner went LIVE for the first time and on this very first show we had a great interview with top indy worker Homicide, below you can click the player to listen to this terrific interview. It was conducted by Steve Grieve, my co-host of The Indy Corner and I would like to thank Dan Barnsdall & Andy Evans of TWS for their help too. And one final thank you to Sean Walford for adding the interview to the site for me. Enjoy the interview.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Duckman Returns With A Cracker - WWE/UFC......


Above: UFC's Chael Sonnen

"Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck! Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business. I'm calling you out Silva, but we're upping the stakes. I beat you - you leave the division. You beat me - I will leave the UFC for ever."

Chael Sonnen, after his win at UFC 136 on 8th October 2011, challenges Anderson Silva to a ‘loser leaves town’ rematch for the UFC Middleweight Title.


Hello strangers! Yeah, I know, it’s been a while since you last saw me here at Wrestling’s Last Hope. Well I’m back and better than ever baby! Where have I been and what have I been doing you ask? Mind your own business you nosey bastards! Ah, don’t worry – I’m only kidding. Sadly it’s not exactly the most exciting way to start a new article but seeing as you asked I’ll tell you. Aside from a few secret missions for WLH, the results of which I hope we’ll see here soon, I’ve been on holiday. Well, a holiday from being online but a holiday nonetheless.

Here’s the deal - every few months I like to unplug almost completely from the internet for a few weeks. I find that every now and again I have to remind myself that life is not solely about debating the creative direction, or lack thereof, in TNA/WWE. It’s not even about watching a video of a monkey peeing into his own mouth on You Tube. Although both activities are equally pointless and hilarious.

I usually have a tipping point where I get an overwhelming urge to get offline completely. I’ll go spend some time with loved ones. Maybe, if I’m lucky, get a bit of skin on skin human interaction. It’s nice for a while to just leave the annoyance, ignorance, prejudice and general assholishness of the internet locked away in a dark corner. Please don’t get me wrong - I don’t hate the internet…just the majority of the people who use it!

But like Michael Corleone in Godfather III - just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in! So I’m back to ignoring the outside world and my friends and family – they’re annoying anyway. Now it’s time to get back to the important shit in life like; discussing the recent WORST EPISODE OF RAW EVER (copyright overly reactionary internet wrestling fans) or complaining about TNA booking two men (one of whom could be classed as physically disabled) at least 25 years past their primes in the biggest match on their biggest PPV of the year, oh and maybe writing a few sarcastically entertaining tweets. That right, bitches, Duckman is back!

Right, now that’s out the way let’s get back to the whole comment/opinion/entertaining read you’re all here for! I know some of you are probably wondering why there’s a quote from a UFC fighter at the top of this article. Yeah, yeah, I know this is Wrestling’s Last Hope -the number one stop for all your indy and other wrestling opinion and content. You’re here to read about ROH or PWG, right? Maybe find a breakdown of Hell in the Cell or something, right? You want some wrestling based opinion, not some MMA bollocks. Well wrestling based opinion is just what you’re going to get. But you have to follow me down the path of enlightenment first. Allow me to explain…

You see I had this big idea to write a piece about HHH’s comments a few weeks back where he said WWE and UFC aren’t in competition and how UFC, rather than WWE, needs to evolve their product. I had a big load of smart arse comments lined up to counter that. Stuff like, “the only company that needs to evolve is the one who hasn’t changed its TV format in over 15 years,” and other such zingers. But it just didn’t seem right. I couldn’t join the dots in my argument. It was just degenerating into pointless name calling and threats.

So I was when extremely thankful when I finally had some inspiration and after three abortive attempts at writing something semi coherent and entertaining, I decided to write about professional wrestling being done well…and that’s where Chael Sonnen comes in.

Yes, Chael Sonnen the highly talented and extremely controversial UFC fighter. I told you, we’re going down the path of enlightenment, trust me. It’ll all make sense in the end. If it doesn’t, you can write to Stu and ask for him to kick me in the balls for wasting everyone’s time.

I know I’ve written about my admiration for Sonnen’s verbal ability to sell a fight before but I don’t think enough people appreciate what Sonnen is doing and how that links to what WWE should be doing. Plus the dude fucking entertains me! The crazy thing is some people are calling what Sonnen said at UFC 136 the best promo in the history of the UFC! It only took 46 words and the excitement and interest levels for Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva II went through the roof.

Oh and if you don’t know who Chael Sonnen is shame on you. Google him, You Tube him, do whatever you have to do and listen to the man talk. You don’t need to know how the guy fights. You don’t even need to know what his record is. You just need to know that no one cuts a promo like Chael Sonnen and no one sells a fight as well as he does. Personally I’d put him slightly ahead of CM Punk as the number one best promo man in the world in any form of sport or entertainment.

Many MMA insiders and experts are predicting a massive buy rate for the fight. The kind of buy rate Vince would happily kill his first born child for. A buy rate that combines all the buy rates of his last three PPVs. Plus a few 100K more. In other words - big bucks.

A lot more knowledgeable and qualified people than I have long said that the UFC does what WWE used to do back in the 1980s but now seem almost incapable of doing. They create new stars and build on the popularity of their current stars. They make their Titles seem important. But most importantly of all - they give their fans a reason to care about their fighters or a particular fight and hopefully, for UFC, those fans will pay to see that fighter or the outcome of that fight.

Chael Sonnen understands this and he has used his knowledge of professional wrestling booking to make the kind of match that has the MMA world buzzing. Granted a large percentage of that buzz is MMA fans bitching about UFC turning into WWE with this ‘loser leaves town’ stipulation that Chael came up with. They fail to grasp that Sonnen has played the whole MMA world perfectly and in turn, generated more interest in him, Silva and their eventual Title fight.

So who’s going to watch this fight? Everyone! Those who want to see either man win. Those who want to see either man lose. Those who want to see if Sonnen can live up to his big words. Those who want to see if he follows up on his promise if he loses the fight. Those who want to see a Title change. Those who want to see Silva shut Sonnen up for good. EVERYONE. Sonnen has given people a HUGE reason to watch the fight. He’s promoted the simplest of pro wrestling angles for his big rematch and for at least the next 3-4 months the hype and interest around this fight is going to grow and grow. I mean, shit, what happens if Anderson Silva actually ACCEPTS the stipulations?!

In the meantime UFC has a roster of elite and varied talent that it has protected, grown and built up over the past few years. As well as signing top talent from outside the company. This allows them to give a huge match like Sonnen vs. Silva 2 the kind of time it needs to build up, while still running 13 PPV shows per year. UFC can take their time, let the hype machine take its natural course. They can put together their teaser videos and they can send Sonnen out to work his promo magic and come April 2012 (or whenever the fight actually happens) people will be chomping at the bit to see Sonnen and Silva hook ‘em up again. It’s wrestling promoting at its most basic level and it FUCKING WORKS. It always has and it always will.

So it’s with utter confusion and a level of frustration that is bordering on insanity that I ask the question; WHY THE FUCK CAN’T WWE DO THIS? Especially when they have the opportunity to completely manipulate the outcome of every single aspect of any story they tell, right down to the finish of the match. They’re in total control and yet they seem almost incapable of producing the kind of interest that Sonnen has and more importantly – keeping that level of interest and making some fucking money from it by selling PPVs.

It’s a two part problem that is playing out on our TV screens every week on Raw and Smackdown. Those problems? A lack of real stars and a ridiculously counterproductive creative process/schedule. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here and this does seem a little like comparing WWE and UFC. But I’m not. I’m just saying UFC promotes professional wrestling better than WWE does. Crazy, eh?

When I talk about ‘stars’ in WWE I don’t mean good wrestlers or guys that are seen as being big names by internet wrestling fans. I’m talking about those wrestlers that your sister or your math teacher or your parents would know. My parents know who Hogan, Austin, Undertaker and The Rock are. Neither of them have ever watched WWE. They know who Cena is. These stars are guys who can legitimately ‘shift the needle’ when it comes to TV ratings, PPV buys and selling tickets. These are the guys, like Chael Sonnen, who can sell a match through their own personality and their great in-ring/cage work.

In reality WWE currently has two top level stars on their roster – John Cena and Randy Orton (but to a much lesser scale). CM Punk looked to be joining that group but given how many steps backwards his character has taken since MITB, it’s doubtful he’s going to ever become a legitimate household name. Taker and HHH aren’t working full time schedules so I’m not counting them. This is a horrendous situation which results in Randy Orton vs. Christian wrestling every minute of every day for four months. Or at least that’s how it felt to me. The whole thing is made even worse by the stop/start push that SO many young WWE guys have received in recent years (Kingston, Riley, Bourne, Swagger, McIntyre and on and on).

How can a fan emotionally invest in someone who one month is going toe to toe with Randy Orton and the next month is jobber food for Great Khali? Or a guy who is booked to be a breakout babyface (Riley) only to be dropped after one PPV cycle and relegated to “dude standing in the background while HHH gets more camera time?” YOU CAN’T. No one will pay to watch these guys because of how they’ve been presented and shortsightedly booked into oblivion. You can’t create stars unless you present them as stars.

As for the creative process/schedule for WWE compounding their problems? I’ve harked on for years about how pointless and counterproductive it is that WWE run 12 PPVs a year. If they were still drawing more than 250K buys per show domestically I’d understand it. But they barely break 150K on most of the shows these days – bar the big ones. If WWE cut back to even 8 PPVs a year and just slowed the fuck down, they would have time to effectively build new stars and logical money drawing angles. I’m certain if the CM Punk angle was given 3 months instead of 3 weeks they would have seen a dramatic rise in interest in their product.

The creative process in WWE is bizarre beyond words. It’s well known that the shows are written and then rewritten countless times before they go to air. The writing team and the politics of the process is something that is an article in itself. Vince McMahon is famous for getting the final show format and then just completely changing everything the morning of the show. There is almost no way to plan and execute effective angles with such constant change. It sounds like a living hell and most ex WWE writers I’ve heard talk on the subject pretty much describe it as a nightmare.

Imagine if the writers of The Sopranos or Breaking Bad worked in this same way. They turn up on the first day of shooting for the season and they haven’t even worked out how the season is going to start, let alone end, or whatever the fuck is going to happen in the middle. It’d be like watching Lost. Sorry to all the Lost fans out there for that joke, the finish of that series just killed the whole thing for me. Sucked monkey balls.

So here we are. Finally - the end of the path of enlightenment. What have we learned? Apart from the fact I seem to have a monkey obsession as I’ve mentioned them twice in this article? Well we’ve learned that Chael Sonnen is a promotional master. We’ve learned that a MMA promotion books wrestling angles more effectively than the biggest wrestling company in the world. We’ve learned that no matter what HHH says WWE, for its own good, really does need to evolve. Just maybe not in the way he’s currently doing it. Kind of.

Well those are the theories I’m throwing out there. You can agree or disagree – that’s the beauty of the internet. Ah, internet. I forgive you. It’s nice to be back. Hope you guys have enjoyed this long and winding road of enlightened opinion. Feel free to comment on all the nonsense I’ve just written. If I don’t reply, don’t worry I’m just on internet holiday again!

Thanks for reading and don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @WLHDuckman. Thanks for continuing to support Wrestling’s Last Hope and make sure to like the page on Facebook!

Until next time...

Peace

Duckman

The Indy Corner (12/10/11)

As some of you may know, I have been doing a little segment on the Total Wrestling Show's pre-show most Sundays covering independent wrestling and tonight as I type this, The Indy Corner got it's very own show LIVE. I'm not going to lie, it didn't go as well as I would of hoped but hey, we did it and maybe those who didn't listen to it will go to iTunes and download it and give me some feedback. At the end of the show Steve played a great interview with the notorious 187 Homicide and this will also be available on iTunes as a separate download, WELL WORTH a listen.

Anyway, here is the stuff I had prepared for the show - enjoy.

ROH has now aired 3 weeks of their new TV show on the Sinclair Broadcast Group and for the wrestling itself, it has been nothing short of amazing. Production wise which is always picked up on by the non fans leaves a lot to be desired but I hope with time that will change. Week one saw the last ROH appearance of The Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero & Claudio Castignoli as they were defeated by the ROH world tag team champions The World’s Greatest Tag Team Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin. Week two had an absolutely terrific ROH TV title match as Jay Lethal beat El Generico in ‘overtime’ to become the new champion. And this past weekends show finally saw the ROH World champion Davey Richards make his debut on the new TV show as he faced former champion Roderick Strong. It’s no secret, Stuart Rodgers is a massive fan of Davey Richards and the American Wolves overall and to no surprise, this match was totally amazing. Anyone who hasn’t checked out the new ROH TV show yet please do so, I am guessing, anyone listening to this type of radio show would be a fan of ROH and hopefully of checked it out.

Anyone who is a fan of the American Wolves and is in the UK should maybe make plans to come to Birmingham for Jan 1st 2012 where the Wolves will be facing each other under the banner of New Scene Wrestling, it’s sure to be a cracker. Of course although long partners & friends, it was Eddie Edwards who Davey won the ROH title off at the ROH iPPV Best in The World and the word is, the two will have a rematch at Final Battle on December 23rd in New York City so this match in England will be hot on the heels of that one and should be amazing. Anyone interested in attended the show, please click the show poster and you will be linked where you can get tickets for the event.

I have been to a few wrestling shows this year for FightClub: Pro in Wolverhampton where I got to see the guys from CZW, WXW in Germany & wrestlers from Big Japan Wrestling, also in Wolverhampton I got to see Pro Wrestling NOAH perform live once again and on October 22nd I’ll be venturing to Nottingham to see the stars of Dragon Gate which I am sure will be an amazing event. Again, go to the right-hand side of the site where you will see a link if you want to try and get your hands on tickets. They are in Broxbourne on the 21st, as mentioned Nottingham on the 22nd and in Notts again on the 23rd. Come out and support British wrestling and like New Scene, FightClub: Pro and A-Merchandise who brought NOAH over and are bringing Dragon Gate over spend a pretty penny to do this for the great fans of the UK who appreciate great wrestling.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Eddie Guerrero - Happy Birthday 'Viva La Raza'

Today would of been the 44th birthday of Eddie who passed away on November 13th 2005. Many rate Eddie as one of the all-time greats and he was just that. The world of wrestling really did lose a great when Eddie passed. Eddie had so many classic matches, not just in the WWE but back in WCW and before that AAA, Japan & ECW. Those who have not seen much of Eddies work should check it out be it on DVD or YouTube, he really was a great worker.

Miss you Eddie

We Got Two Words For Ya: BYE-BYE with Azan Saigol

This past week on Monday Night Raw, we saw the aftermath from the Hell in a cell ppv. We saw Santino return, a 12 man tag match, but most importantly we saw Triple H the COO get a no vote of confidence. . Laurinaitis reminds HHH that he punched him last night during all of the chaos. Laurinaitis says the locker room is in an uproar and Triple H needs to ask them how they think he's doing his job. Laurinaitis asks if Triple H can look the talents in the eye and hear their answers. Laurinaitis asks if Triple H is scared. Triple H grabs him by his tie and tells him to get everyone in the ring, and to make sure he's there too. Now we head down to the ring, Raw and Smack Down heels & faces, divas and referees, all head down to the ring. We then see the COO walk down to the ring. He reminds everyone how he is doing everything for the fans. What I liked here was how Barret was the first one to speak up just to have The Game shut him up by telling him that a year ago he tried to take down the WWE. I loved seeing the referees speaking up. Mike Chioda speaking and really showing some sincerity was a nice touch. They really try to hide referees most of the time, but they are employees. It was different and added another dimension to how much this "seemed real." Jerry Lawler’s speech was excellent, because he reminded everyone of CM punk’s argument to the fact that someone doesn’t like HHH running the show. This leads us to think that someone was the same person who let Truth/Miz into the building and lowered the cell. They showed the cameramen walk off, the announcers, the referees and all of the superstars. The thing that made it seem real was the fact they showed the cameramen put their cameras down and walk off. Last but not least they had Jim Ross walk off. This showed how JR was brought back by HHH walked out as well.

Now with this all taking place the question that comes to mind is what will happen next week?

3 questions come to mind

1. Will the superstars refuse to perform?
2. Will HHH resign
3. Do we see the return of Vince?

Now this is what I am looking forward to next week on Monday night. This article was basically to show you what I felt off this past Monday. I loved it and I am excited for next week.

If you have any comments or suggestion to what will happen next week, get back to me on my twitter @azansaigol

Friday 7 October 2011

WLH PPV Prediction League Phase 2: A Great Prize To Be Won

This is the prize for the second half of the 2011 WLH PPV Prediction League as long as we have 20 plus taking part.
It is a WWE R1 (NTSC) Backlash 2006 DVD signed by Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Edge, Triple H, Kane, Big Show, RVD & Trish Stratus. It comes with the COA (Certificate Of Authenticity)Picture at the bottom of this post.

So for those who don't know, what you have to do from now until the last PPV of the year in the WWE or TNA you have to predict the winners of each match, 2 points for a correct prediction. A table will be created and posted on the right side of the site, the new one is there so you can see what I mean. This is open to ANYONE, ANYWHERE in the world. All predictions MUST be submitted to me by 22:00 hrs GMT on the night of the PPV via email wlhstu@aol.co.uk. Good Luck guys.

Here is the line-up

1. Kurt Angle (c) vs. Bobby Roode Singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
2. Sting vs. Hulk Hogan No Disqualification Match for control of TNA
3. Winter (c) vs. Velvet Sky vs. Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne Four-Way match for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship
4. Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn Full Metal Mayhem match
5. Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray Falls Count Anywhere Philadelphia Street Fight
6. Austin Aries (c) vs. Brian Kendrick Singles match for the TNA X Division Championship
7. Mexican America (Hernandez and Anarquia) (c) vs. Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore) Tag Team match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship
8. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

I Have A Question. By Jimi James

On October 15th, Awesome Wrestling Entertainment is having a Pay Per View. The Main Event of this Pay Per View is the Rock 'n Roll Express vs. a "fired" WWE superstar and a mystery partner. That "fired" WWE superstar is, Kevin Nash.

I heard this news the week before Hell in a Cell. At that time I had angry thoughts of Nash and Triple H capitalizing on the great "Summer of Punk" idea to further their storyline and bury Punk. But as time went by and I thought about it, my anger turned to curiosity.

I wanted to wait to write this piece until after Hell in a Cell and the following nights Raw. I wanted to see how this would all play out to set up Survivor Series. Only thing is, Nash was not present at either.

My prediction for Hell in a Cell was that Nash would interfere in the WWE title
Cell match. Maybe come up through the ring ala the Undertaker. Instead, Nash was not present for either broadcast. Nor was his name even mentioned by commentary. Now, I realize Nash was "fired", but Punk lost to Del Rio at Summerslam somehow, so why wouldn't he be mentioned at least once. Also, Miz and R-Truth were "fired", but they have still shown up on TV.

So is Nash really fired? From a business standpoint, I can't understand why WWE
would let one of their talent work another company's Pay Per View. Especially since that talent was not cleared medically to work a WWE PPV event. Daniel Bryan worked indy events while he was "fired" last year, but not Pay Per Views.

Another thing that stood out to me was who runs Awesome Wrestling Entertainment. AWE is run by Marvin Ward, who is a former pro wrestler and is the listed promoter for the October 15th event. The other person, more importantly, involved with AWE is Dave Hebner. Hebner is a former WWE referee and twin brother of current TNA referee, Earl Hebner. Hebner left WWE on bad terms. Which is why I question Nash working this event if he is a contracted WWE talent.

In researching AWE, I found out that Kevin Nash has ties to the organization. He knows both Hebner's from WWE and TNA. AWE has a roster of legends who all should have prior dealings with Nash. AWE's website hinted that Nash's mystery partner might be Diamond Dallas Page. Also while researching, I found video that shows that Nash helps AWE by tutoring students at the AWE school.

I thought maybe Kevin Nash working this event would be to prove that he is healthy enough to work a match for Survivor Series. But, why would WWE want Nash to work an advertised Pay Per View instead of working him out at FCW or even in the seclusion of Titan Towers in Stamford?

In my opinion, Nash coming back for an appearance at Survivor Series is not that
big a deal. For example, if Nash is a part of an event that features John Cena teaming with the Rock, will anyone be talking about Nash on Monday? Unless they set him on fire, I highly doubt it.

I might be making a bigger deal out of this than it might actually be. Whether Nash returns to WWE or not, it won't phase me or really make a difference in how this whole storyline turns out. But I find it funny that when Nash came back at Summer Slam, I actually thought he would be the Anonymous Raw General Manager. Instead he was never named as the GM, but he might suffer the same fate as the GM, to be forgotten about and never be mentioned again. So of all the questions being asked in WWE these days, I stumbled upon one more. I just hope we start getting answers soon.

Monday 3 October 2011

PPV: What are we paying for? By Shaun Nichols

In 2008 WWE Summerslam attracted over 300,000 Domestic buys (North America) and three years later they failed to secure 175,000 PPV buys which is less than 60% in the same markets than a mere three years earlier. Why as PPV business fallen so quickly? An easy answer would be to blame the economy, people all over the world simply don't have the same amount of disposable income. This is undoubtedly true but it is also true to say that if you promote a big event and portray it as something special then people will find a way. If a 5 or 6 friends chip in to pay for the event then they are basically paying about $10 each so there as to be something else.
If we look back at Summerslam in 2008 and the card that the WWE offered, in the main event we had the Undertaker defeating Edge in a HITC match. This worked as a draw due to the fact that they had been feuding over a number of months that year and this would be the final blow off. HITC could still theoretically work as a PPV attraction if there is a match that warrants it. Putting two matches into the cage with hardly any build and just because its that time of year won't. Which is why the HITC PPV from 2010 and 2011 will be seen as big disappointments due to the fact that the structure alone will not draw, you have to put wrestlers in the cage that have been feuding over several months and book the HITC match as the final chapter not a mere calling point along the way.
Also on the show was the first John Cena vs Batista PPV singles match and so had a little bit of mystique of it. The WWE were giving the fans something they had not seen before on PPV at the 'biggest event of the summer' and it worked. On top of this we had two decidedly average world title matches pitting Triple H vs Great Khali and CM Punk vs JBL. Whle those matches weren't anything to be excited about, Triple H has been a PPV draw for several years so he doesn't hurt the card but he's kept away from the top two matches. The fans are given reasons to go out and buy this show and they did.
Fast forward three years and these simple rules have all been ignored. This year's Summerslam followed a mere 4 weeks after the MITB PPV where CM Punk had left the arena with the WWE Title, in the following two weeks Summerslam was hardly mentioned at all. We did get Rey winning the vacant title but losing it shockingly to John Cena later on in the show and we also saw Triple H becoming the COO and replacing Vince as the on-screen boss. CM Punk returns 13 days after the MITB PPV to pose with Cena to end the show. What this means is that we are less than 2 weeks away from Summerslam and we know nothing of an event that evidently the company would like us to pay for.
In the last two weeks the WWE do finally get around to promoting the show, the main event of Cena vs Punk is probably made less important when they decide to add Triple H as a special referee. We also get Christian vs Randy Orton for the 5th time, and although they do have good matches it's difficult to see why this match would make one person order the show that wasn't already doing so. Yes Edge made an appearance, but he wasn't advertised and so the WWE didn't see him make any difference at all.
We have seen the Miz & R-Truth given plenty of TV time but we were not told specifically that they would be on the show. They were in an opener which featured four other men including one of the biggest babyfaces in company history in Rey Mysterio and also Alberto Del Rio who won the Raw MITB briefcase on the last show and would leave the event as WWE champion. After the final Raw before Summerslam did we know we would see Kofi, Rey & John Morrison vs Miz, Truth & Del Rio? No we didn't, but we certainly should have done. The WWE cannot expect all their fans to go to their website to get full details of the card on the day of the show, they should use their TV shows to clearly tell their viewers what matches they will be showing.
Did you know that on the Summerslam card was Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett? Do you know the storyline behind that match? Of course not. And that's the problem the card only featured 6 matches if you don't count Del Rio cashing in the case at the end. So you would think that all matches would mean something, have storylines that the fans are aware of and can relate to. I think Sheamus vs Mark Henry had a bit of a build to it and the Diva's matches count for very little.
Two days before the HITC PPV, Stu put up a post for the prediction league which featured five matches but didn't include Air Boom vs Dolph & Swagger or Cody Rhodes defending the I-C title against John Morrison. That's not his fault but it is the fault of the WWE who seemingly fail to grasp how to promote a PPV with the exceptions of the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania.
TNA are hardly any better and often get to the final week of TV before announcing anything like a full PPV card. And surely that plays a role in why they often fail to attract 10,000 PPV buys. Instead we know that PPV is not quite the dying business that some people would have you believe, the recent Floyd Mayweather boxing match against Victor Ortiz earned well over a million buys. That despite the fact Ortiz had previously meant very little on PPV but the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao do mean giant buyrates to the cable companies. UFC although not having its best year knows the importance of advertising and using countdown specials to convince potential viewers to make the call. And when they have a really big fight they are rarely disappointed when the numbers come in.
WWE especially will continue to struggle on PPV if they continue to neglect the need to build up strong storylines and tell the fans what matches they will be seeing on the next PPV because at the moment it seems that they have forgot what the TV shows are actually for and it's costing them big time.

Sunday 2 October 2011

The Indy Corner (2/10/11)

Nearly every week I record a segment on the Total Wrestling Show (link on right of page) called The Indy Corner, I do a brief outline of what I am going to talk about and this is below, it gets covered to an extent but never in full so here it is for your reading pleasure.

As you will know, I was at Fight Club: Pro 'Project Mayhem' last week so I didn't record The Indy Corner but I just want to say, the two shows I went to out the three were friggin' amazing! You heard my call last week I hope where I said I had seen one of the best matches of the year in my opinion and to see it live was great, that was of course Adam Cole who was representing CZW but is also part of the ROH team Future Shock with Kyle O’Riley and he was facing UK worker MK McKinnan (match pictured above & below). MK went over to the US earlier in September to work for CZW and CHIKARA and at the show, someone I was standing with said he’s not sure if MK is a bit over-rated because he wasn’t that good in his CHIKARA match but after that match last weekend he has changed his opinion. I told MK himself, I hope there are big things for him in the future as he is an outstanding talent.

Now, when I called into the show last week someone said in the chat room that CZW was ‘trash wrestling’ and I know Steve defended CZW in every way he could but I just want to have my two pence worth. CZW, for years has been based around a lot of the death match style of wrestling, they started in 1999 I believe and I got into them in 2001 and was a big fan for a number of years. They had the death match stuff back then too but also had some good wrestling so it was a mixture of the two styles. CZW is where the Briscoes of ROH fame cut their teeth so to speak in the business. As Steve pointed out, CZW is now under the ownership of DJ Hyde who was at the FCP shows I was at and he hasn’t left the death match stuff behind but he does want to have good actual wrestling on his shows and with the likes of Cole, Jonathan Gresham, Philly Most Wanted & more he has some good workers on his books. In closing, don’t dismiss CZW because of the death match stuff they do, they have some great wrestlers and deserve a chance.


One final note on Fight Club: Pro – October 21st has a show with El Generico booked and he is also booked for PWG in a ladder match for Kevin Steen’s PWG title, El Generico himself confirmed to me via twitter he is working both shows so we’ll have to see what occurs.

So my final topic this week is about a proposed show booked for the UK on Jan 1st 2012, yes, that's right, NEW YEARS DAY by a company called New Scene Wrestling. The show is scheduled to take place right here in my own city of Birmingham but January 1st is a bit much. For me to go to a show even that local on new years day it would have to be special so who has this little known company booked? Well none other than current ROH world champion Davey Richards! After missing out on seeing Davey last time when he was over here for Fight Club: Pro as I had to leave the show early I really should be attending this show and then I find out who his opponent is and it's none other than the man he took the title off, fellow American Wolf Eddie Edwards, I will talk more about that shortly. I'm not sure who else if anyone else with a name is coming in for the show but be sure enough, when I know, you'll know. Now back to Davey vs Eddie, I read a comment which I thought was great and that was do we really need to see those two face off against each other because we've had that match on the last but one ROH iPPV ( which if you haven't seen yet you NEED to) and on the old ROH TV show when it was on HDNet. As said by that person and someone who was at the FCP show on Sunday last week, these 2 big named Indy guys should be facing British guys to give them the rub, Davey did this when he was over last time, he wrestled 3 different guys from the British scene. I'd be interested to see what other people's thoughts on this are.

Picture credits to John Searle.

This weeks Indy Corner was the last in the pre-show on a Sunday because as of Wednesday October 12th The Indy Corner will have it's own show LIVE at 20:30 GMT over at http://totalwrestlingshow.com as myself and Steve Grieve will be bringing you all the indy news you need - The pre-show for that will start at 20:00. Please come and join us and you can interact with us and other fans of independent wrestling in the chat room

The Indy Scene, Can it be saved by Honor? by James Caine

Truthfully, I've never cared for the Indy Wrestling Scene. It's like watching a High School football game. To me the people who talk about the Indy wrestlers like they are so much better than WWE, or Impact Wrestling stars are idiots who probably support 'underground' music. To me, there is no such thing as 'Mainstream'. Mainstream is just a cop-out way to say that people have sold their talent for money. But isn't that what everyone wants to do? Nobody wants to work their ass off for free.
So we move forward to the point of Independent wrestling federations. What makes them so special that all those Smarks out there talk so big about them? The answer, absolutely nothing. The only difference between them and 'mainstream' wrestlers are a few zeros on their paychecks, well that and a few more ounces of drugs, but that's besides the point.
So what does Ring of Honor have to do with any of this? Recently Ring of Honor has been pushing for a major television time slot. Will this make Indy wrestling more popular? Will ROH become the Premier Indy Wrestling company? Well if Music and history have taught us anything, the answer to all these is a resounding no fucking way. In fact quite the contrary, Now you will have all those imbecilic smarks out there who used to cheer and promote ROH as the best Wrestling company in the world, calling ROH a bunch of sellouts, mainstream losers, and the like.
Why do people do that? Most people don't know the answer as to why people turn on something they once cheered, (Like John Cena and Hulk Hogan), but I do. The reason people turn so easily, is related to a book I once read. That book was called the 'Wizards First Rule', within the book is (Obviously) the Wizards first rule which states quite clearly, "People Are Stupid. People can be made to believe any lie because they want to believe it is true, or because they are afraid that it is true."
So what in the name of JR's great barbeque sauce does a fantasy book have to do with Independent Wrestling? People are stupid and will believe that ROH is now 'mainstream' because it has a primetime television slot. So just because your Independent wrestling company is on Network television and your roster of once awesome stars receives a bigger paycheck... the world now hates you for selling out, and everyone on that roster now magically sucks overnight.
In closing, nothing can save Independent Wrestling because it doesn't need to be saved. People just need to grow up, grow out, and grow some fucking brains. There is no difference between the mainstream wrestling and the independent wrestling circuits.