Welcome one and all to the World Wrestling Newswire for Monday, June 29. Announcements and results galore for today’s Newswire, so let’s get down to brass tacks shall we?
Taue named new President of Pro Wrestling NOAH
Following the recent death of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s founder, CEO, and president Mitsuharu Misawa, a new president has been appointed by the promotion, and his name is Akira Taue, according to Tokyo Sports.
Taue, 48, is one of the many wrestlers who left All Japan to form Pro Wrestling NOAH after Misawa was removed from his position of president of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Taue is best known in Japan for tag team wrestling and has been the co-holder of several tag team championships throughout his wrestling career. He held the All Asia Tag Team Championship with Shinichi Nakano. Taue also captured the All Japan Unified Tag Championships six times, once with Jumbo Tsurata and six times with Toshiaki Kawada.
Taue and Kawada were known in All-Japan as the Holy Demon Army. The team spilt up when Taue left to go to Pro Wrestling NOAH and Kawada decided to stay with All Japan.
Taue is also an accomplished singles wrestler as well. Taue is a former All Japan Triple Crown champion (the top championship in All Japan) and a former GHC Heavyweight Champion as well. Taue also won All Japan’s prestigious Champion’s Carnival tournament in 1996.
Taue worked extensively with Misawa over the years in both All Japan and NOAH. Taue received a staggering 14 five-star match ratings between 1990 and 1997 from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Every one of those matches were singles or tag matches that involved Mitsuharu Misawa as his opponent.
The boots that Taue must fill for Pro Wrestling NOAH are awfully huge, but if there is anyone who is capable of carrying on Misawa’s vision of Pro Wrestling NOAH, it is Akira Taue.
There will be a public memorial show for Mitsuharu Misawa on July 4th in Tokyo.
Misawa died on June 13, 2009 in Hiroshima as a result of spinal cord damage suffered in a tag team match pitting Misawa and his partner, new GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki, against Bison Smith and Akitoshi Saito.
Ring of Honor Results
This past weekend, Ring of Honor hosted shows in Detroit on Friday and Chicago Ridge on Saturday. Here’s a look at what happened:
June 26, 2009
Detroit, MI
-A ten bell salute to the late Mitsuharu Misawa opened the show. Misawa worked two shows for Ring of Honor in November of 2007 and Pro Wrestling NOAH has a close working relationship with Ring of Honor.
–Grizzly Redwood, known to ROH fans as “The Littlest Lumberjack,” defeated Silas Young after using a roll up. For those of you haven’t seen the ROH videowire that features Grizzly Redwood sitting at a bar chugging maple syrup like it was beer, I suggest you go to rohwrestling.com and check it out.
-The team of Rhett Titus and Kenny King scored an upset victory over Brent Albright and Erick Stevens when King rolled up Albright. Albright, according to live accounts of the event, was busted open, the hard way, on the back of his head early in the contest. Titus and King are both apart of a faction with current World Champion Austin Aries, so I’m not terribly surprised by this victory. King is by far the more talented of the two, though.
-Ric Flair came out and cut a promo putting over Ring of Honor, the talent, ROH owner Cary Silkin, and the city of Detroit. It is said to have been your standard sort of Ric Flair promo, filled with wooing and references to spending money.
I have to say that whatever ROH paid to bring in Flair, it really wasn’t worth it at all. He’s contributed virtually nothing in terms of story lines. I expected more from Flair.
-Nigel McGuinness, recently returning from a double biceps injury, fought Claudio Castagnoli to a double count-out. Both are incredibly talented, but for whatever reason, they haven’t always been able to put together great matches. Several of their main event bouts in the past have been disappointing and I imagine this bout sat this low on the card for that very reason.
-Former Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated The House of Truth, a tag team composed of Chistian Able and Josh Raymond.
Able and Raymond were accompanied to the ring by Truth Martini, which is where the name “House of Truth” comes from. It also refers to Truth Martini’s wrestling school. This was said to be a good match and the match of the night up to this point in the show.
-New Ring of Honor World Champion Austin Aries won a non-title six-man match after pinning Joey Ryan. Delirious, “The Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams, “The New Horror” Sami Callahan, and Rasche Brown also competed in the contest.
Nothing much to write home about here. One would expect the new champ to win in this situation heading into his big title defense the following night against McGuinness.
-Colt Cabana (formerly known to many of you as Scotty Goldman from the WWE) defeated D’Lo Brown after using the ring bell. The match was said to be highly funny and filled with comedy.
The fact that the WWE couldn’t find a better way to use Cabana is just foolish on their part. Cabana always finds a way to entertain whatever crowd he’s in front of. I held out hopes for a long time that maybe a Punk heel turn would lead to the formation of an alliance with Cabana in the WWE, similar to the one they had in ROH. No such luck.
-Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) defeated KENTA (from Pro Wrestling NOAH) and Roderick Strong to retain their titles after Edwards made Strong tap out to a half Boston crab. There were reportedly “tons of cool moves and reversals” in what many are calling a great match that is a must see on the DVD release.
For those of you haven’t seen either one of Davey Richards or KENTA before, by all means, please, check out this. When the fans are chanting “F@*$ Wrestlemania!” you know it’s good.
-Former Age of the Fall stablemates faced off in a steel cage match in the main event. Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs after Black splashed Jacobs through a table. This appeared to be the end of a long feud between the two, but 30-40 masked Jacobs sympathizers stormed the ring and destroyed Tyler Black.
Jacobs utilized a technique known in pro wrestling circles as “the nWo effect” in bringing 40 people that are all part of the same faction to the ring. Screams were heard echoing throughout the arena as the beat down happened. Jacobs declared that this was only just the beginning of his Age of the Fall faction.
June 27, 2009
Chicago Ridge, Illinois
–Pre Show Matches
-Another ten bell salute for Misawa kicked off the show.
-Six-man mayhem match kicked off the show Saturday night in Chicago Ridge. Delirious, Sami Callahan, Rhett Titus, Silas Young, Egotistico Fantastico and “Sugarfoot” (known to some as Sugar Tits) Alex Payne put on one hell of an opener.
Titus, who portrays a character that can be best described as a blend of “Ravishing” Rick Rude and Shawn Michaels with elements of a wannabe ladies man, was the focal point of a number of comedy bits during the match. All the competitors got the chance to hit their finishers with Delirious getting the victory after hitting his finisher, Shadows Over Hell on Silas Young.
Here’s a look at the competitors in this match: Delirious, Sami Callahan, Rhett Titus, Egotistico Fantastico, Silas Young, and Alex Payne.
Erick Stevens defeated Rasche Brown in what was described as a hard hitting, intense, slow, typical big man power match.
Ric Flair came out to cut another promo for the weekend and puts over Chicago as the greatest city he’s ever wrestled in. I swear I’ve heard him say that in about 12 other cities as well. Flair also put over the fans, himself, Ring of Honor, the work rate in Ring of Honor, the locker room, Cary Silkin, and then spoke about how much money he’s spent in Chicago.
There also was apparently a lot of wooing, just like last night’s promo in Detroit. Aside from name recognition, Flair has given Ring of Honor virtually nothing.
Kenny King defeated TNA castaway Petey Williams. After the match, Petey hit the Canadian Destroyer on King and then cut a promo, praising the ROH locker room while the fans chanted “Please come back.”
I’m still trying to figure out why the hell TNA let Petey Williams go. Hopefully Williams catches on with someone significant soon.
-Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kenta defeated Tyler Black in what was said to have been an amazing, must-see match. Given the talent level of these two wrestlers, I imagine their match would be worth the price of the DVD, or for that matter the admission to the event, alone.
It took Kenta hitting his Go 2 Sleep finisher twice to keep Black down for the three count. For those who are wondering, C.M. Punk did indeed take his finisher from someone else. That someone else is Kenta.
-Following the match, the Age of the Fall rushed the ring and attacked Tyler Black. Jimmy Jacobs called for a cable to be lowered from the ceiling so that he could hang Tyler Black from the ceiling the same way he hung Jay Briscoe from the ceiling at ROH’s Man Up Pay-Per-View on September 15, 2007.
At Man Up, a debuting Black, Jacobs, and Necro Butcher stormed the ring and brutally attacked the Briscoes after their match with Kevin Steen and El Generico. The three men bloodied the Briscoes and then had a cable lowered from the ceiling.
Jacobs, Black, and Butcher proceeded to tie the cable around the ankles of the profusely bleeding Jay Briscoe and then raised Briscoe high above the ring, upside down! Briscoe’s blood poured like warm maple syrup from the heavens while Jacobs, dressed completely in white and carrying a cane, stood beneath Briscoe and showered in his blood while cutting a promo that gave birth to the Age of the Fall faction.
Incidentally, the Wrestling Observer named Man Up the pro wrestling show of the year in 2007.
Nearly two years later, Jacobs attempted to pull the same trick on Black that the two of them pulled in the debut of the faction they together had founded. Jacobs almost succeeded, but Kevin Steen and El Generico ran in and made the save. Black was able to quickly recover thanks to the help of the team the fans call Steenerico, and hit Jacobs with his finishing maneuver, God’s Last Gift.
Delirious, a former member of Age of the Fall only to realize that Jacobs was using him for his own personal gain, came out to help Black and Steenerico continue the beatdown of Jacobs.
Black then took the cable and tied it around the ankles of Jacobs and had him lifted toward the heavens. In the same fashion that Jacobs gave birth to the Age of the Fall, Black declared the Age of the Fall dead and buried.
-Hometown hero Colt Cabana teamed with Brent Albright to defeat the team of Claudio Castagnoli and Joey Ryan in a Chicago Street Fight. Cabana is a sentimental favorite in Chicago not only because he’s from Chicago.
Once upon a time, Cabana formed a formidable faction in Ring of Honor along with C.M. Punk and “Crazy” Ace Steel (who portrayed Donald Trump in the WWE’s sham match between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump on a horrible episode of Raw). The three were collectively known as The Second City Saints. Cabana and Punk teamed together to capture the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships on one occasion.
For those who were wondering what C.M. Punk was referring to when he made a shout out to Scotty Goldman when he won a slammy award awhile back, well, he was referring to Colt Cabana.
Cabana, of course, earned the victory for his team by pinning Ryan after delivering one of his favorite moves, the Flying Asshole, to Joey Ryan through a table that was set up in the corner of the ring.
-D’Lo Brown defeated Roderick Strong after rolling up Strong and holding the ropes to insure that he pinned Strong. D’Lo was reportedly very over in Chicago, even more so than Strong, a long time favorite of ROH fans.
Strong defeated Matt Hardy in Chicago Ridge shortly after Hardy was fired during the Edge-Lita affair. Strong’s victory was considered a huge upset at the time and considered one of Strong’s biggest victories to date.
-Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions The American Wolves in a non-title contest to earn a title shot under any stipulations they choose.
One fan’s account called this the match of the night and the best tag team match they’ve seen in Ring of Honor since a show in April of 2008 entitled Return Engagement, where the Motor City Machine Gun defeated The Briscoes in a damn near five star match. Generico scored a pinfall victory for his team after hitting poor Davey Richards with his sick top rope brainnnnbustaaaaaaahhhhh!
-Ring of Honor World Champion Austin Aries defeated Nigel McGuinness to retain his title. Aries won the match after a vicious kick to Nigel’s head and a brainbuster. This match was said to not be nearly as good as the last two title matches these two had with Nigel as champion (I was there in Orlando for the second one, and man was it awesome).
These two men have pretty good chemistry and even a below average contest is better than most main events you’ll see on Raw on a regular basis.
Kennedy (or is it Anderson?) returns
Ken Anderson, the real name of former WWE Superstar Mr. Kennedy will making his first appearance since being made a member of Vince McMahon’s future endeavors club for the WWC in Puerto Rico. Anderson will be appearing at WWC’s Anniversario show.
The following is the current card for that show. It should be noted that it features current and recently fired WWE Superstars, as well as some names from TNA. It should also be pointed out that the Colons no longer hold the WWE Unified Tag Team Championships.
– MVP (who I’m sure is just LOVING that Mark Henry is allowed to beat Orton as a face on Raw)vs. Umaga
– Apolo vs. El Bronco
– ODB vs. Traci Brooks
– WWC Universal Title Match: Steve Corino © vs. BJ
– Hair vs. Mask Match, special guest referee: Felix Trinidad: Ray Gonzalez vs. La Pesadilla
– WWE Unified Tag Team Champions vs. WWC Tag Team Champions: Carlito & Primo Colon vs. Thunder & Lightning
– WWC Puerto Rican Title Match: Idol Stevens © vs. Shane Sewell
– Lucha X (a.k.a. Ultimate X) for the WWC Junior Heavyweight Title: Tommy Diablo © vs. Ricky Reyes vs. Hiram Tua vs. Carlitos vs. Johnny Styles vs. Angel vs. Chicky Starr
The real ECW lives again
Former ECW valet Francine promoted her “Legends of the Arena” ECW reunion show this past weekend at the old ECW Arena in Philadelphia. The show was said to be a fun night filled with nostalgia, though one has to wonder whether or not these ECW reunion shows have run their course.
The wrestlers showed their appreciation to the fans after every match by hugging and shaking hands with the fans at ringside, some of which attended many of the ECW shows during the company’s heyday in the nineties. The attendance was estimated to be somewhere between 500 and 700 people and was a charity event intended to raise money for The American Cancer Society. Here are the results:
-Too Cold Scorpio pinned CW Anderson.
-Bilvis Wesley pinned The Musketeer when Bilvis had New Jack’s entrance theme played over the arena sound system. This distracted the Musketeer and lead to Wesley quickly pinning Musketeer.
-“Confederate Currency” Chris Hamrick defeated Crowbar by submission with a form of the Tazmission. Prior to the match, Crowbar bad mouthed Taz, who declined to work at this event, before the match.
Crowbar also put over his “WCW legacy,” which I’m sure must of have gone over like gangbusters. Why the hell is Crowbar even on this show? Francine must really be pissed at Taz for not working the show. She let frickin’ Chris Hamrick use the Taz Mission? Wow.
-Rhino, who was probably all too happy to work this event since he’s being jobbed to death in TNA, defeated U.S. Male Scotty Anton (formerly of WCW’s American Males) and Jamie Dundee (formerly of J.C. Ice of PG-13) when Rhino gored the holy hell out of Dundee and pinned him. Prior to the match, Dundee got on the mic and referred to Anton as Buff Bagwell’s bitch and Rhino as Jeff Jarrett’s butler. Now that’s just funny. Rhino appeared to be legitimately pissed off about Dundee’s comments and abruptly left the ringside area after the conclusion of the match.
– Next, there was a Hardcore Hall of Fame ceremony. Former ECW mole Tod Gordon, Sabu, and the late Chris Candido and Eddie Gilbert were all inducted. The segment was hosted by the Sandman and “Pitbull” Gary Wolfe. Not surprisingly, the Sandman was reportedly drunk and the segment went on way too long.
The only interesting thing that happened was Sandman cutting a promo on Raven and saying that Raven was only there for the money. Raven responded by standing up from his autograph table and throwing full cans of beer at the Sandman. Right. I can see why someone would say this went on too long.
-The Hardcore Chair Swinging Freaks Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney defeated the team of Da Baldies, which was composed of Tony DeVito, Angel & HC Loc in a South Philly Street Fight. If you are looking for a technical thriller, don’t look here.
There was much blood, usage of imported items, and of course, chair shots. Reportedly, Balls lost a tooth during the match and was actually upset by this, though I can’t imagine why, he only had about five left in his mouth in the first place.
–The Blue World Order (Blue Meanie & Nova) defeated the FBI (Little Guido & Big Sal E Graziano) when Meanie pinned Guido.A dance-off between the 600-plus pound Sal Graziano and the portly Blue Meanie broke out half way through the match. No word on whether or not there were any survivors. Both teams also announced that this would be there last match at the old ECW Arena.
-Francine came out and thanked the loyal Philadelphia fans for coming out to the show.
-Al Snow, with The Head, pinned Jerry Lynn. Lynn was substituting for Shane Douglas, who reportedly injured his farmer’s tan at the most recent TNA Pay-Per-View.
How the hell does TNA let Shane Douglas wrestler with a farmer’s tan like that?
-Sandman and his sky high BAC teamed with Sabu to defeat Raven and Justin Credible after Sabu pinned Credible. Raven was accompanied to the ring by former porn star Chastity and Justin Credible was accompanied to the ring by the “Sexiest Man Alive” Jason. I had no idea I was working the show.
Sabu was seconded by the whistle blowing Bill Alfonso. I really missed that guy during Rob Van Dam matches in the WWE. Alfonso frantically blowing the whistle for all of RVD’s antics really added something to Van Dam’s act.
Terry Funk was also the special guest referee for this contest. Sandman’s son Tyler (who Raven turned against the Sandman in a storyline over a decade ago) hit Raven with a DDT to help Sandman and Sabu win the match.
Beat Me If You Can, Survive if Francine Lets You!
As I mentioned above, Taz was called out during Francine’s ECW Reunion Show. Apparently, Francine is none too happy that Taz couldn’t be bothered to work her charitable endeavor. Taz has actually posted a response to this call out on his Facebook page:
“Apparently, at the ECW Legends Show promoted by Francine yours truly was “called out” and knocked that I wouldn’t work the event….an event which I was invited to.
Well 1st and foremost I would like to say that I commend Francine on putting on an event for such a great charity and I know the charity effects her greatly personally.
I apologize that I couldn’t make the event but I had several reasons why I couldn’t be there which include spending my 90 days in a quality time fashion with my family!! If that offends anyone I greatly apologize.
Just for the ECW fans who did not attend the event I believe that there were several other original ECW acts that were not at the event either. I saw the talent list whom performed on the show and it seemed to be an excellent line up and I hope a lot of $$ was raised for a great cause…..a cause that my wife and I have donated $$ to in the past as it has effected our family also.
Honestly speaking, its was charity show and if you wanted to put a guilt trip on me you did.”
Sounds like a case of sour grapes on the part of Francine. I don’t know that having Taz on the card would have drawn more fans than actually showed up, considering the man no longer wrestles. I don’t really see the big deal about him staying home to be with a family he probably hasn’t seen much of in the last several years.
I appreciate Francine’s cause as cancer has claimed some of my own family members, but other people have lives as well, and sometimes the business, much less any business, comes second. Francine should understand that, given the cause of her event.
New Pro Wrestling Documentary?
It has been reported that there is a new pro wrestling documentary in the wood works. This particular project is entitled Hard Knocks and will feature several current and former professional wrestlers from WWE, TNA, and the Independent circuit.
The film will mark the directorial debut for one Arthur Cauty, who, according to what I’ve read on-line, has been involved in the production of several award winning features and shorts for several different media networks.
The film will feature Al Snow, Chris Masters, D’Lo Brown, Kip James, Mick Foley, Raven, and CM Punk.
Among the lesser-known names in the film will include promoters Alex Shane and Len Davies, referee Steve Lynskey, and wrestlers Andy “Boy” Simmonz, Chris Andrews, Dave Rayne, Robbie Everest, Sam Andrews, The Ballard Brothers, Twinkletoes, T-Bone and The UK Kid.
I will be reporting more on this documentary as it becomes available.
That’s all for this week folks. Tune in next time.
Sources: puroresufan.com, declarationofindependents.net