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WWE

4.22.09 House Show Results

Thought I’d pass along the RAW House Show results from Liverpool, England on the 22/04/09.

William Regal (w/Layla) defeated Dolph Ziggler after a boot to the face
Regal played the face. Match didn’t last long, seems it was ended early due to Regal recieving a nasty looking cut after bashing heads with Dolph and bleeding quite badly. After the match Layla grabbed an English flag as Regal brought his niece into the ring and posed for a picture.

John Morrison beat Jamie Noble with the Moonlight Drive.
Not much to say, Morrison was over with the females in attendance. Not a bad match at all, with some nice reversals and Morrison doing well playing the arrogant (yet cowardly) heel.

Beth Phoenix and Santina Marella (w/Rosa Mendes) beat Kelly and Women’s champ Melina.
Mostly played for laughs, Beth arguing with Santina telling him she knew it was Santino. Stalled alot at the beginning with Santina and Kelly delaying locking up. Finish came when Beth hit Melina with the Glam Slam and Santina tagged “herself” in and got the win. Seems like they’re playing up the breakup of Rosa and Beth already as Rosa started celebrating with Santina, who gave a playful hug to Beth and a more intimate hug to Rosa.

Kane beat Kofi Kingston
Kofi was very over. Good match with lots of near falls and reversals of chokeslams. Kane eventually trapped Kofi after he missed Trouble in Paradise.

Primo and Carlito beat Charlie Haas and Mike Knox for the Tag Titles
Charlie (playing the heel) was VERY pumped up for the entire match (showed ALOT of charisma) and played to the crowd. Primo played the face in peril before Carlito won with the Backstabber to Charlie.

The Miz beat Goldust
With no offence meant, the worst match of the night. Not bad, just bland. Miz was also over with the women in attendance and won with the Reality Check. Goldust showed no character at all. Disappointing.

CM Punk beat Y2J
Match of the night in my opinion. Both men brought their A-Game with a back and forth contest. At one point CM Punk hit the GTS only for Y2J to roll out the ring and by the time he got him back in, he had time to kick out. Y2J was also able to hit the Codebreaker but took too long to cover (like on Monday’s RAW). Finish came when Jericho brought a chair into the ring and RICKY STEAMBOAT ran down and took it off him, but had the chair booted in his face in retaliation. CM Punk used this distraction to hit the GTS for the win. After the match CM Punk told the audience not to cheer for him but for Ricky, hyping his match at Backlash.

Cena and Rey beat Big Show and Edge
Cena and Rey were, unsuprisingly, very over. Cena had the majority of the crowd’s support and no doubt got the biggest reaction of the night. Lots of comedy moments in the beginning with Big Show and Edge trading chops to tag themselves in. Show/Edge got the advantage in a good, lengthy match which ended when Cena turned things round after Edge accidently speared Big Show, leading to Rey getting tagged in and hitting the 619 on Edge followed by a splash from the top rope as Cena hit Show with an Attitude Adjuster. After the match Show got hit with a 619 and another Attitude Adjuster from Cena. The two Attitude Adjusters shook the ring, literally.

Overall a very good show with everyone (except for Goldust) giving it their all. Kofi and Charlie Haas deserve credit for giving 110% to both of their matches, despite losing and it was also nice to see pretty much everyone having fun with the show. Little comedy moments with Regal, Beth, “Santina”, Charlie, Miz, Big Show and Edge added so much to their matches while Kelly, Melina, Y2J and Punk also seemed to be having a ball performing.

credit: 411mania.com

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WWE’s Reaction To Lashley-TNA Signing

- WWE’s reaction to Bobby Lashley signing with TNA was pretty much a non-issue. Most within the company expected Lashley to eventually sign with TNA, and officials feel that it won’t help TNA or hurt WWE in any way.

credit: 411mania.com

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TNA

Impact Taping Results (Spoilers to come)

Credit: Alex Hernandez and Credit: Pwinsider.com

Xplosion/TNAWrestling.com Matches:
* Sarah Stock defeated Taylor Wilde.

* ODB defeated Velvet Sky.

* Lethal Consequences & Eric Young defeated Team No Limit & Kiyoshi.

Impact:
* The Main Event Mafia comes to the ring without Sting. Kurt Angle says that when Mick Foley hit him with a chair last week, he didn’t know there would be consequences. Angle proposes to Jeff Jarrett that Angle be put into the Ultimate Sacrifice match at the PPV and if he loses, whoever pins him becomes the new leader of the MEM. Angle says he’s going to take over Mick Foley’s office and the show tonight.

* Team 3D Tournament: X-Division champion Suicide & The Amazing Red defeated The Motor City Machineguns.

* LAX was scheduled to wrestle but Hernandez was jumped by Brutus Magnus, Doug Williams and Big Rob Terry (a Team 3D student who was signed awhile back) - they are a new British faction it appears. Homicide came to the ring and it turned into a handicap match which the Brits won.

* Awesome Kong defeated Madison Rayne in a Stretcher Match.

* In a match where only Abyss couldn’t use weapons, he defeated Cody Deaner.

* The Motor City Machineguns come out and call out Daniels or Suicide or whatever he is calling himself. They begin running down reasons that they know he’s really Suicide. Daniels comes out and says he doesn’t owe them any explanations, then lays them out.

* Booker T and Kevin Nash defeated TNA Legends champ AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. Joe didn’t come out until halfway into the match, at which point he and Styles began arguing. Booker drilled Styles with the belt to set up the finish. After the match, Styles slapped Joe and they brawled until the referees broke them up.

credit: 411mania.com

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ROH

April 22 Newswire

- April 22nd Newswire: Jimmy Jacobs was seen wearing an eye patch following the intense street fight last Saturday in Markham, Ontario. Delirious was able to secure victory by locking in the Cobra Stretch while digging Jacobs’ own railroad spike into his eye. After losing the match, Jacobs was clutching his eye and immediately left the building, seeking treatment at a nearby hospital. ROH officials have been informed that Jacobs has apparently suffered a severe corneal abrasion, but is not expected to miss this weekends events in Dayton and Chicago Ridge.

- The Fight Network was on hand in suburban Toronto and reporter John Pollock put together a piece on Ring of Honor’s return to Canada. You can hear comments on the future of ROH by ROH President Cary Silkin as well as Bryan Danielson. Ring of Honor thanks Mr. Pollock and the Fight Network for their support! Please click the link to see the video. http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=mp019wLgcaw

- If you saw yesterday’s newest installment of the Ring of Honor Video Wire (http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=uzKO8FV7hJo&fmt=18), you saw that Joey Ryan once again made a proclamation about bringing “sleazy” to Ring of Honor. We can now confirm that Joey Ryan will be on hand and in action on May 8th in Boston and May 9th in Edison. We’ll have his match announcements soon right here in the Newswire.

- Kenny King and Rhett Titus have been as vocal as anyone in ROH, and even more so after aligning themselves with “A-Double”. Now they may have bitten off more than they can chew. ON May 8th in Boston, King and Titus have signed to face the Dark City Fight Club in tag team action. Can the brash and cocky King and Titus overcome the in-your-face intensity that the DCFC have brought to Ring of Honor? We’ll find out in Boston!

- Also signed for Boston is the unexpected battle of “drinking buddies”. The Necro Butcher and Jay Briscoe are known to toss back a few cold ones after ROH events, and now it seems they’ll toss fists. This isn’t a grudge match by any means according to Briscoe. “It’s good to test yourself against all styles in wrestling. That’s why I signed to fight Roddy Strong – he is one of the best. Now I signed to fight Necro. Not because I have any problems with him, just because I know he’ll keep my brawling sharp. Plus, I know he’ll buy the first round after it’s all done.” Briscoe has split decisions with Roderick String on recent cards, beating him in Markham. Strong has asked for a third match. Could Briscoe be using this match with Necro to sharpen a new strategy for his next battle with Roddy?

- Due to scheduling issues and circumstances beyond our control, Ring of Honor regrets to inform the fans that the following live events have been canceled. Danbury, CT on July 17th, Montreal, Quebec on July 24th, and Elizabeth, PA on September 25th. If you have purchased tickets for any of these events please email ROHTickets@aol.com for refund information. Look for new live events to be announced in place Danbury & Pittsburgh in the coming weeks. We apologize for the unexpected inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you for your business and continued support.

- Ring of Honor’s return to Toronto just got even bigger. Just added is a second live event on Friday, July 24th at the Ted Reeve Arena, 175 Main Street, Toronto, Ontario M4E 2W2. Tickets for the July 24th show will go on sale this coming Monday at noon EST at www.rohwrestling.com . Tickets are already on sale for the July 25th date featuring “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Stay tuned to ROHwrestling.com for additional details on this big weekend.

- Eddie Kingston is coming to Edison, NJ on May 9th to show the ROH fans that he belongs. He was successful in defeating Sami Callihan in ROH on HDNet, and that victory has earned him praise form the ROH faithful. But when he gets to Edison, he’ll be taking on a man making a stop in his old ROH stomping grounds, a former ROH World Tag Team Champion, “The Havana Pitbull” Ricky Reyes. Will Reyes show Kingston why he has held ROH gold and earn a “W” before he goes back to Puerto Rico, or will Kingston show everyone why “the last of a dying breed” is on the rise?

- Kevin Steen is waiting like all of us to find out if El Generico will be healthy enough to chase down the American Wolves and the ROH World Tag Team Titles. But the uncertainty isn’t going to stop Steen from doing what he does best – wrestling. To that end, Steen has signed to face Sonjay Dutt on May 9th in Edison! “I respect Sonjay,” said Steen. “But I’m angry. Mad at the Wolves, mad at circumstance, just mad. And I pity Dutt if Generico is out for a while. All of my frustration might end up being taken out on him.”

- The first ROH on HDNet commercial featuring the new Ambassador of ROH, the legendary 16-time World Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair is out and ready for viewing (http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=u1RhW_JV5kA&fmt=18). The episodes featuring Flair begin airing on HDNet on May 2nd. For more info on Ring of Honor on HDNet, please visit http://www.hd.net/ringofhonorhtml or http://www.twitter.com/rohonhdnet .

- Less than 24 hours remain in the Big Ten Sale at ROHWrestling.com. This offer features over 100 DVD’s priced at only $10 each. You can also general admission tickets for upcoming shows in Dayton, Chicago, Boston, & Edison for $10. On top of that, save 10% off your next order. For a complete list of all items included in the sale plus the 10% off discount code click here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=860 .

- We’ll be back tomorrow with a look at the weekend’s event in Dayton, OH and Chicago, IL, as well as more info on ROH’s return to Boston and Edison!

credit: 411mania.com

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WWE

Rey Mysterio Unmasks

- Rey Mysterio was accidentally unmasked two times during his match with Chris Jericho last night in Aberdeen Scotland. [Credit: Wrestlingobserver.com]

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WWE Films Box Office Breakdown

- According to BoxOfficeMojo.com here are how the WWE Films compare to each other in the box office overall:
* The Marine: $22,165,608
* See No Evil: $18,420,968
* 12 Rounds: $12,712,242
* The Condemned: $8,635,183

credit: 411mania.com

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Major PPV Spoiler

Due to the fact that after the WWE draft both the WWE champion (Triple H) and the World champion (John Cena) ended up on the same brand (RAW), there is likely to be a title change at the upcoming Backlash pay-per view on April 26th.

While Triple H has his title up for grabs in a trios match with all RAW talent, Cena is defending his World title against SmackDown! star Edge. This pretty much guarantees Edge winning the World title to keep the top-two singles titles on opposing brands.

Of course, WWE has been known to switch booking ideas simply to fool people watching, but even still this seems to be a lock.

credit: wrestlezone.com

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TNA

Christopher Daniels Update

- Christopher Daniels may pull double duty tonight, working as Suicide in the opener and then later as himself in the Lethal Lockdown match. [Credit: Wrestlingobserver.com]

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Mick Foley Comments On WWE To TNA Decision

“It’s been great for me. I have no doubt that it was the right move to make. I think anyone who watches iMPACT can see that I’m having more fun. That I enjoy really being part of the mix. I’m working on a book right now detailing my adventures leading up to this one match. It’s similar, in that respect, to the book that I wrote in 2006, about leading up to a big match in the WWE. The biggest difference is that it’s so much easier for me to try to get my vision across to viewers. Part of what made the last book a good read I think was that it detailed the constant battles I would have with the WWE creative department and with Vince McMahon. Those battles don’t really exist in TNA for me.”

credit: wrestlezone.com

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ROH

4.18.09 House Show Results

Credit: David Musgrave & WrestlingObserver.com

Pre-show:

A) Player Uno and Alex Payne defeated Michael Elgin and Ash. Fun opener with the crowd being into everyone. Nice to see Ash and Elgin on the show.

B) Josh Raymond and Christian Able defeated Grizzly Redwood and Bobby Dempsey. Fun match, Raymond and Able seem like they could do well on the regular card.

Main Show:
1) Brent Albright defeated Jimmy Rave by submission with the crowbar. Jimmy Rave and Prince Nana seem to have fit right back in. The toilet papering went over well. Rave did enough heel stalling to get heat but limited it enough to not be Larry Zbysko. Lots of chopping with good selling by Rave. Albright looked good in victory, he seems to have trimmed and was in the best shape and worked the best I’ve seen him in a while.

2) Chris Hero d. Necro Butcher by DQ after Necro used a chair. This was a fun brawl that went out of the ring a lot and also involved wrestling. The DQ finish didn’t feel ill-timed. There was a great taunt by Hero when Necro was down and Hero said “Where’s your Oscar?”

3) Colt Cabana d. Claudio Castagnolli via pinfall. Cabana has fit right back into his comedic role and the crowd was right with him. It sucks that WWE wasted two years of hislife (sic) but he feels refreshed. Claudio was probably in the best heel mode Ive seen him, which happens when you shave your head and wear a scarf. Fun match.

4) Austin Aries, Rhett Titus and Kenny King d. Kevin Steen Kenny Omega and Player Dos. Aries, Titus and King were great as a trio and come off like a top act. This match was filled with lots of great ? along with Dos being worked over. It was cool for Generico to be there and kudos to ROH for announcing this upfront. Great match, second best of the night.Great chant of “Heppa-Titus” (sic) at Rhett.

Intermission.

5) The start of the second half was being announced when Delirious and Jimmy Jacobs appeared in the crowd already brawling.They were close to me so that was fun. They went into the stands, then to ringside, setting up a table for later. They got ine ring and brawled back and forth. Eventually Delirious tried to suplex Jacobs out of the ring onto the table but Jacobs fought back, hit the ropes and speared Delirious through the table. Eventually Daizee Haze got involved. During the finish, Delirious blew black mist, covering Jacobs’ face. Daizee hit Jacobs with his own spike and then Delirious put him in the Cobra Stretch with the spike digging in Jacobs black-covered face until Jimmy tapped. This is the best I’ve seen from either guy in a while.

6)Jay Briscoe d. Roderick Strong in a strong wrestling match. Lots of chops, lot of nearfalls (sic) and an ending sequence of rollups (sic) that ended with Jay winning. A really good match that was exactly what it needed to be.

7) Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards vsm (sic) Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black went to a 45-minute time limit draw in the best match I have seen live since Danielson v. Black from Detroit last July (ppv match).The 45 minutes flew by and caught the crowd by surprise with the one-minute warning while both Danielson and Black did elbow strikes to the Wolves followed by duelling (sic) Cattle Mutilation when the warning was given. Crowd was heated that it ended but good heat and a remacth (sic) should be good. Lots of innovative spots including Black and Danielson tagging in and out while taking turns bodyslamming (sic) Edwards. Simple, but it got over. The Wolves seem like a great classic tag with lots of great double-teams, many of which involve kicks and leg lariats. Crazy spot with all the guys in the crowd after dives by Richards and Danielson, then both Black and Richards getting back in at 19.5 when it seemed they would’t (sic). Danielson also had a crazy bruise on his left thigh the size of a melon and he sold it the rest of the match. I would have though he had broken it except he was able to work on it (stand,run,etc) and his opponents worked it the rest of the match with texas (sic) cloverleaf’s and dragonscrews (sic).

credit: 411mania.com

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____________________________________________________________

That’s all for today’s Wrestling News Digest. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another easy to digest batch! Or, subscribe to our blog feed to get the latest Wrestling News, as well as our columns and podcasts, delivered right to your favorite feedreader. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact the Pinfall Recall team on the forums or by emailing them directly through the links below.

Cliff Karklin (CK) - CK@PinfallRecall.com

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Robby Boydstun (RDB) - RDB@PinfallRecall.com

Milo Taibi (Milo) - Milo@PinfallRecall.com

Ed Battes (Ed) - Ed@PinfallRecall.com

Danny Charisma (DC) - DC@PinfallRecall.com

WWE

WWE Supplemental Draft Note

The WWE Supplemental Draft has been scheduled for Wednesday at noon on WWE.com and WWEUniverse.com with Howard Finkel set to host.

credit: 411mania.com

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DVD Release Date Schedule

- Here is the updated list of WWE DVD releases:
4.14 - WWE’s Greatest Stars Of The 90’s
5.05 - Tagged Classics (No Way Out 2004/Backlash 2004)
5.05 - Tagged Classics (Judgment Day 2004/Bad Blood 2004)
5.19 - Wrestlemania 25 - Both Standard and Blu-Ray Releases
5.26 - Backlash 2009
6.09 - Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection
6.16 - Judgment Day 2009
7.07 - Extreme Rules 2009
7.14 - Allied Powers: The World’s Greatest Tag Teams
7.28 - The Great American Bash 2009 [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

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TNA

Danny Bonaduce Match Update

- Danny Bonaduce has been discussing his match with Eric Young on his radio show recently. When a caller asked why the match wasn’t being promoted, Bonaduce stated that there was a rumor from Dave Meltzer’s newsletter that Dixie Carter had made the call for the match to be a dark match since “she didn’t want a comedy match on is supposed to be a serious PPV”. Bonaduce called Carter and found out that his match would be placed on the PPV pre-show as a way to entice people to buy the PPV. He liked that idea and said he didn’t care about being on the PPV anyway and just wanted to up the profile of his radio show. He again stated that he isn’t even being paid for the match. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

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ROH

ROH HDnet Episode Results

Ring Of Honor Episode 10
* The American Wolves cut a promo promising to win the Tag Titles when they put Kevin Steen and El Generico through a table tonight. A table was in the ring. Steen and Generico hit the ring and the Wolves retreated, leaving Shane Hagadorn to be put through a table.

* Kenny Omega won a Three-Way over Kenny King and Jay Briscoe when he pinned King.

* The Dark City Fight Club beat Irish Airborne.

* Chris Hero beat Eddie Kingston by DQ when he refused to stop beating Hero in the corner.

* Necro Butcher & Delirious defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee.

Ring Of Honor Episode 11
* Roderick Strong defeated Rhett Titus.

* SHIMMER champ MsChif won a three way over Daizee Haze and Sara del Rey.

* Erick Stevens defeated Sami Callahan.

* The American Wolves defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico in a Tables Match to win the ROH Tag Team belts. Great match.

Ring Of Honor Episode 12
* Colt Cabana & Brent Albright beat Claudio Castagnoli & Ernie Osyris.

* Bobby Dempsey beat Sal Rinauro.

* In a great Match, Roh champ Jerry Lynn defeated Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black and Austin Aries when he nailed the cradle piledriver on Danielson.

credit: 411mania.com

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Other

Ted DiBiase Sr. Religious Statement Controversey

In a recent interview with the LaCrosseTibune.com, Ted DiBiase Sr. made the following statement: “Jesus said go and make disciples…It wasn’t a request. It was a command. And unfortunately in America, 90 percent of all people who profess Christianity never led anyone to Christ. So I’m an evangelist, and that’s what I do…I challenge people. We’ve got people who are willing to blow up themselves and buildings, die for something that is a total lie: Islam. … But we have Christians who have never been a witness.”

credit: wrestlezone.com

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WWE

Updated Wrestlemania Card

Here is the updated WWE WrestleMania XXV card:

* Chris Jericho vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Rowdy Roddy Piper w/Ric Flair

* The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

* IC Title Match: JBL © vs. Rey Mysterio 

* Extreme Rules Match: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

* Winner Takes All – WWE Tag Team Titles vs. World Tag Team Titles – Unified Tag Team Title LUMBERJACK Match: The Miz and John Morrison © vs. Carlito and Primo Colon ©

* 25-Diva “Miss WrestleMania” Battle Royal: Known Participants - Melina, Maryse, Mickie James, Gail Kim, Michelle McCool, The Bella Twins, Alicia Fox, Kelly Kelly, Maria, Eve Torres, Katie Lea Burchill, Beth Phoenix, Layla El, Rosa Mendes, Candice Michelle, Natalya Neidhart, Jillian Hall, Tiffany

* Money in the Bank Ladder Match: CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Finlay

* World Title Match: Edge © vs. The Big Show vs. John Cena

* WWE Title Match: HHH © vs. Randy Orton

credit: 411mania.com

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TNA

Impact Ratings

TNA Impact did a 1.3 rating last night.

Credit: WrestlingObserver.com

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ROH

Latest ROH Newswire

Three HDNet main events are announced! 

- March 27th: ROH officials are happy to announce the first three of the next 6 television main events to be filmed for Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet. The next National Television taping will take place on April 9th and 10th at The Arena in South Philadelphia. Tickets are on sale now and available at ROHWrestling.com. These three main event matches will take place on April 9th.

- Roderick Strong was on a very successful tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH when ROH filmed its first 6 weeks of television, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that could dispute either his importance or dedication to Ring of Honor. ROH officials are very happy that Strong will be at the next tapings, and not only that, he’ll be main-eventing one of the first 3 weeks to be filmed. ROH officials decided that his opponent should be one that will bring the best out of Strong. The ROH Booking Committee has decided that that man is none other than Austin Aries. The history between these two is well-documented, and we can’t think of a better match to show the world the style that made ROH famous. These two just tangled on March 20th in Pittsburgh, with Aries getting the duke with some help from his new found friends, Titus and King. Will that trend continue on National TV?

- The second of the first 3 main events to be filmed is a rematch from the 6th week to be filmed at the inaugural television tapings on March 1st. It is match-up of arguably the two most popular competitors in ROH at this time, and without question, two of the most talented athletes in all professional wrestling. One of these men has been World Champion the other aspires to accomplish the same thing. Once more, it will be Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black one-on-one for the world to admire. There is no hype necessary anytime these two step into the ring.

- The final of the three main events to be filmed on April 9th will feature the first time that the ROH World Tag Team Champions will appear together on Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet. During the first set of tapings, El Generico was conspicuously absent to the dismay of many. Now he will be at the side of “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen, and they will oppose one of the best up-and-coming tag teams in wrestling in a rematch from Indianapolis on March 14th– Kenny King and Rhett Titus. King and Titus fell short in Indy, but now they’re apparently under the tutelage of Austin Aries. That alone could make a huge difference in this contest.

- The “Triple Savings Sale” returns this weekend at www.rohwrestling.com. The first part of the sale is 30% Off All Live Event Tickets. This is a great opportunity to save on tickets for Ring of Honor live action in your area. The second part of the sale features over 60 DVD’s priced at $5 Each (or less). Includes in the sale are many Straight Shootin’ titles, FIP DVD’s, and ROH Best of DVD’s. The third part of the sale allows you to save 15% Off Your Next Order. You can use this part of the sale to save even more money off the previous deals mentioned, or you can save on almost everything else we sell. Complete details on the sale can be found here:http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=2151.

- ROH is poised to return to the wonderful fans in Dayton and Chicago on April 24th and 25th. Already signed for both events: Bryan Danielson, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Jerry Lynn, Chris Hero, and making their Dayton and Chicago debut, The Dark City Fight Club. Tickets for both events are on sale now at ROHWrestling.com. We’ll have more talent announcements soon right here in the Newswire!

- You can catch Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet Saturday night at 8:00 PM. In action will be Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards, Sara Del Rey vs. Daizee Haze, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Alex “Sugarfoot” Payne, and the main event features ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe. For more information visithttp://www.hd.net/ringofhonor.html. HDNet is available in the U.S. and Canada on Bright House Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Charter Communications, Comcast (Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, & Minneapolis), Insight Communications, Mediacom Communications, Time Warner Cable, NCTC Affiliated cable systems, Verizon Fios, Bell Express Vu, Star Choice, Shaw, and Cogeco.

- Don’t forget that Ring of Honor is happy to be working with Booker T and the Booker T Fights for Kids Foundation in support of the “Legends of Wrestling” Fanfest, taking place at the George R. Brown Convention Center on April 3rd in Houston from 1-8pm. General Admission Booker T Fanfest tickets are free to anyone who has already purchased a ticket to “Supercard of Honor IV”, taking place that night at the Convention Center! For more information on this great event, please visit www.bookertlow.com.

- This week’s version of the ROH Video Wire can been viewed here: http://www.rohvideos.com/watch?v=sM4itgq2IPA. You’ll hear comments from the returning Colt Cabana, Davey Richards, Bryan Danielson, Julius Smokes, plus see highlights from last weekend’s live event in Elizabeth, PA.

- We’ll be back next week with the first look at the cards for Montreal on April 17th and Toronto on April 18th, as well as news on the second three TV main events to be filmed on April 10th in Philly!

credit: 411mania.com

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Other

12 Rounds Update

- Reviews for 12 Rounds are mixed so far. The film is projected to do about $10 million at the box office this weekend. If it does that, it’ll be the most successful WWE Films opening ever.

credit: 411mania.com

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Weekend Schedules

A pretty busy weekend! 

- Friday night March 27th at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, MN [TNA House Show]:
* Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett
* TNA Legends Champion AJ Styles © vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
* ODB vs. Sojo Bolt
* Also scheduled: Team 3D, TNA X Division Champion Suicide, TNA Tag Team champions Beer Money, Inc., Chris Sabin, The Latin American Xchange, No Limit

- Saturday night March 28th at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer, Iowa [TNA House Show]:
* Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett
* Tables Match: TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money, Inc. © vs. Team 3D
* TNA X Division Champion Suicide © vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
* Also scheduled: TNA Legends Champion AJ Styles, LAX, ODB, Chris Sabin, Sojo Bolt, No Limit

- Saturday night March 28th at the Laredo Entertainment Center in Laredo, Texas [RAW House Show]:
WWE Title Match: Edge vs. Shawn Michaels
Rey Mysterio vs. Kane
ECW Title Match: Jack Swagger vs. Christian
Cryme Tyme vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes
CM Punk vs. Mike Knox
WWE Women’s Title Match: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina ©
Also Appearing: Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, Tony Atlas and Tiffany

- Saturday night March 28th at the Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas [SD House Show]:
* Triple H and The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton and Big Show
* Jeff Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov.
* US Title Match MVP © vs. Shelton Benjamin

- Sunday Night March 29th at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas [RAW House Show]:
WWE Title Match: Edge vs. Shawn Michaels
Rey Mysterio vs. Kane
ECW Title Match: Jack Swagger vs. Christian
Cryme Tyme vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes
CM Punk vs. Mike Knox
WWE Women’s Title Match: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina ©
Also Appearing: Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, Tony Atlas and Tiffany

- Sunday Night March 29th at the Kay Yeager Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas [SD House Show]:
* Triple H and The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton and Big Show
* Jeff Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov.
* US Title Match MVP © vs. Shelton Benjamin

- Monday night March 30th at the Impact Zone in Orlando Florida [TNA Impact Taping]
* Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde
* The Latin American Xchange and Lethal Consequences vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir, Kiyoshi and No Limit

- Monday night March 30th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. [WWE Raw, ECW, SD Taping]

- Tuesday night March 31st at the Impact Zone in Orlando Florida [TNA Impact Taping]

credit: 411mania.com

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WWE

3.22.09 House Show Results

- Good show, LOTS of kids, took a while to get everyone inside.

Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix w/Santino Marella
Solid opener, crowd was into it. Mickie got an impressive head scissors before Phoenix ended it with the double arm chickenwing slam. Around **.

Santino got on the mic and took up some time by talking, and gave an open challenge.

*Glass Shatters*….for Stone Cold Charlie Haastin! Huge pop, but the crowd was a little deflated when it turned out to Haas.

Charlie Haas vs. Santino Marella
Charlie did the mudhole stomps and Lou Thesz Press, while Santino did some basic cheating. Charlie hit an exploder before finishing with the Stone Cold Stunner. Crowd wasn’t into it very much, but it was solid. Around *.

After the match Beth carried Santino outside. Kelly Kelly was in the nosebleed seats, asked some kid what Wrestlemania was coming up and the kid and his family got front row seats for the show.

Kane vs. Kofi Kingston
Strange match due to the crowd being REALLLLY into Kane. Kane was motivated and did more than the checklist match he often does. Kofi wasn’t able to do much, but got a wheel nice Pele Kick, before we got an unexpected Wrestlemania series of nearfalls. The best one was an impressive sunset flip counter to a chokeslam, but Kane eventually got the real deal for the win to a good pop. Kofi got a good ovation after the match. Around **1/2.

Colons & Bella Twin 1 vs. John Morrison, the Miz & Bella Twin 2
Pardon me for not knowing which Bella was which, but they barely played a roll. Crowd was behind the Colons. These guys had the typical high energy match they’ve been having for the last few months, with Mizorrison working over Primo before Carlito got the hot tag. Lots of spots, but Carlito botched his Backstabber before getting the 3 count. Around ***1/2.

Belfast Brawl: Finlay w/Hornswoggle vs. Mark Henry w/Tony Atlas
Kids loved Hornswoggle. Very slow match for most of it, with Henry controlling and doing THREE nerveholds. There was also a bizarre spot where Henry used a kendo stick to poke at Finlay instead of smacking him as usual. Finlay finally made a comeback with some PLUNDAH, and Atlas ate a Tadpole Splash. Hornswoggle distracted Henry long enough for Finlay to use the shackilacki for the win. Long, mostly boring, but the antics and stiff shots made up for it a little. Around *.

After the match Finlay brought in some kids and Kelly Kelly gave them shirts. A little kid made my night when Kelly asked him who his favorite wrestler was. “The Hardyz.” “Which one?” “MATT!” “REALLY?” Huge boos but it made me laugh.

Intermission.

ECW Championship Match: Jack Swagger vs. Christian
Christian got a good amount of cheers and they worked smartly to get the crowd into it. Good, long match that was very similar to the one they had on ECW, minus the extended armwork and a few of the dives. Crowd was with them every step of the way, and bit hard on a nearfall after a tornado DDT. Swagger eventually sent Christian shoulder first into the post, which prevented an unprettier and allowed Swagger to hit the Doctor Bomb for the win. Christian got a standing ovation after the match. Extremely good match that was easily best of the night. Around ****.

Biggest mark out moment came when RICKY STEAMBOAT was introduced. Steamboat thanked the fans for coming, but was interrupted by Chris Jericho, who got a TREMENDOUS amount of heat. Jericho started tearing into him and said that there was nobody to save Ricky this time, which brought out CM Punk. Seeing Steamboat, Jericho and Punk in the same ring was SWEET.

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
Somewhat slower match, with Jericho working over Punk for most of it. Punk did his stuff, Jericho did his stuff. The crowd was WAY into it, but more into booing Jericho than cheering Punk. Punk got the ropes to escape the Walls of Jericho, so Jericho got a chair. Steamboat made the save, which led to Jericho beating up Steamboat to more loud boos. Back in, Punk hit the Go To Sleep for the win. Nothing special, considering the talent, but these two can have a good match in their sleep. Around ***.

World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. John Cena
Cena came out to an earsplitting pop, as practically everyone was behind him. Edge got a mild reaction, more boos than cheers but no crazy heat. Edge worked a very old-school heel approach, and only hit like two or three actual moves, preferring to soak in the boos by keeping Cena outside and trying a count-out victory. It picked up near the end, with Cena trying the Super “Attitude Adjustment” but getting hit with an electric chair drop, Cena countering the Spear into the STF, and Edge getting a very close nearfall off of a Spear. Edge used the belt which drew a disqualification. Edge went for some chairs, but I was denied my conchairto and Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment to send the crowd home happy. Funny to note that a lot of the kids were still calling it the FU. Good match, but hurt by Edge’s stalling. Around **1/2.

Overall, the show was fantastic, and people who are going to RAW house shows can probably expect something similar.

Biggest Pops:
1) John Cena (By a large margin.)
2) Ricky Steamboat
3) CM Punk
4) Charle Haastin (Followed by apathy.)
5) Christian

Most Heat:
1) Chris Jericho
2) Jack Swagger
3) Edge
4) Miz & Morrison
5) Santino Marella

credit: 411mania.com

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Changes Coming to Smackdown’s Network

- Media Daily News has an article up on how MyNetworkTV is nullifying all their current affiliate deals as part of their change to airing only repeat programming outside of Smackdown. The previous five year affiliate deals will now be changed to annual deals. MyNetworkTV Executive Vice President Paul Franklin said he doesn’t expect to lose affiliates. Smackdown is the highest rated show on the network. The new format will see the network air Law & Order reruns, movies, and other syndicated programming in prime time.

credit: 411mania.com

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ROH

3.21.09 Results!

The return date is June 13th.

I guess attendance isn’t quite what they expected, they just broke down two sections of GA seating. I’m really bad at gauging attendance, but this place is nowhere near full.

Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens defeated Rhett Titus and Kenny King

While Titus was handing out his card with his numbers to the girls at ringside, one girl handed him a card with her number. Pretty funny. Roderick and Stevens are looking pretty badass tonight. Strong has improved a million percent, looks in great shape, and is so on the money tonight, I wish they’d find a direction for him. Stevens has gotten really lean and cut as well, the two of the look pretty intimidating. Strong and Stevens batter Titus to start, killing him with an endless series of chops, but a cheapshot from the outside by King on Stevens turns the tide. Fans start chanting HepaTitus at Rhett. King kills Stevens with a clothesline for two. Titus and King have gelled great as a team and are terrific at cuttin the ring off. Roderick makes the hot tag and cleans house, then it’s back and forth for several minutes until Stevens puts Titus away with the Doctorbomb.

Brent Albright defeated Claudio Castagnoli by DQ

Claudio has a new robe with the Swiss cross thing and is doing the tried and true heel European gimmick of having his weight announced in kilos rather than pounds. Albright is really over with the NY crowd. Claudio cheapshots him from behind to start and then they start trading blows. Claudio bails to the floor and Albright hits a tope and tosses him back in. Albright gets the (very) delayed vertical suplex for 2, but misses a crossbody and shish kebabs himself on the ropes to give Claudio control. Claudio’s looking a lot more cut tonight too. Did somebody hire these guys a dietician? Albright makes a comeback, but Claudio takes his head off with a big bicycle kick. Albright with an Air Raid Crash for 2 and gets him in the Crippler Crossface (drawing a surprisingly large Benoit chant) but Claudio makes the ropes so Albright does the Benoit snot blow. Albright comes off the top and Claudio catches him with a European uppercut for 2, then they go to the outside where Albright gets a wicked suplex. Both men beat the count and Claudio starts working him over, but Albright gets the Crowbar. Claudio escapes and hot shots him on the top rope, but Albright gets a big superplex with one minute left in the time limit, drawing a groan from the crowd. Toe to toe until the bell rings and they keep going after the match ends. The crowd starts chanting for five more minutes, which of course always works. Claudio grabs the mic and says he knows he can beat Albright if he has five more minutes, and for the first time in history we actually get it. Albright with the Crowbar, Claudio reverses into a Crowbar of his own, Albright escapes and tries to get the half nelson suplex, but Claudio kicks him low for the DQ. Claudio with the Ricola Bomb and then fights off security before delivering the headstomp with the chair. Great match with a fun ending that left you unsatisfied, but in a good way.

Bobby Dempsey defeated Adam Pearce

Some guy from NBC is the guest timekeeper. Okay. This is a “Sweet N Sour Challenge Match.” Okay. Adam does a bit with the NBC guy and threatens to John Stossel him, then shoves him into the ropes. Okay, I really can’t see Dempsey beating Pearce. Pearce looks way better than last time I saw him, maybe he’s preaching his secrets to the roster? Just to make me look bad, Dempsey hits the Death Valley Driver for the win in like 30 seconds, then parties in the ring with the NBC guy. The lights briefly went out in the middle of the match, the second time that happened. I figured the first was a mistake, but this makes me think it’s some kind of angle.

Jerry Lynn defeated Mike Quackenbush

This is gonna be good. Counter wrestling to start as they trade armbars and wristlocks. Lynn with a flying headscissors and corner clothesline, but Quack blocks a bulldog and counters to a leg lace. Quack with a beautiful springboard headscissors and a rolling fireman’s carry into a crossed leglock. Lynn with the springboard dropkick sends Quack to the floor, Quack dives over Lynn’s baseball dropkick attempt, but Lynn gets the guillotine legdrop on the ropes. Quack counters by sweeping Lynn off the apron, but Lynn then counters another headscissors by swinging Quack into the guardrail. Back in the ring Lynn hits a nasty German suplex and a tornado DDT. Quack counters another tornado DDT and gets a nice magistral cradle for 2. This is really awesome. Lynn with a backslide for 2, then a series of reversals ends with Lynn trying to slam Quack off the top, but Quack rolls through and goes for a superplex, but Lynn with a top rope sunset flip/ powerbomb for 2. Quack with his version of the Jig And Tonic for 2, but Lynn gets the cradle piledriver out of nowhere for the win. This was a counterwrestling fan’s Christmas present. They shake hands after and Lynn raises Quack’s hand.

Tyler Black, Necro Butcher, and Delirious defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Brodie Lee, and Austin Aries

This is elimination rules, with a different stip for each fall and the whole thing being No DQ. Aries now not only has the “strip club for lunch” mustache, but also a soul patch as well. Joey Ryan has nothing on this guy when it comes to sleaze. Delirious is back in the green and black.

Fall #1

Brodie lays out Tyler and Delirious then calls out Necro, which ends badly for him. Jimmy winds up alone in the ring with all three opponents and gets destroyed. I guess the first fall is tornado rules? All six men end up brawling on the floor. Necro goes for the dive to the floor, but Brodie yanks him down and hits the big boot. All six men back in the ring as Aries and Jacobs continue to snipe at each other even as they try to work together. Tyler with the big dive to the floor and then Necro hits his to a big pop. Now Daizee goes for hers but Aries grabs her, drawing Delirious in to the rescue. Aries misses the corner dropkick, Brodie comes in but Delirious takes out both men. Delirious gets Jacobs in the Cobra Stretch, but Brodie with the Black Hole Slam and Aries with the brainbuster to eliminate Delirious.

Fall #2

This fall cannot be won by pinfall. Aries and Jacobs start their repressed love thing again, allowing Black to come back, but Brodie comes in and shuts him down. Heels triple team Tyler until Necro comes in and cleans house. Everyone’s back to the floor where Necro and Brodie end up brawling through the crowd and to the back, and the ref used that excuse to DQ both men. This whole fall got TNA chants.

Fall #3

No stip announced for this fall. Jacobs and Aries double team Black but spend as much time shoving each other around. Jacobs blocks Aries from hitting the missile dive to the floor so Aries attacks him and they start brawling. Black uses the distraction to try a comeback, but quickly gets shut down. I guess Aries and Jacobs are working together again. Jacobs gets 2, so I guess pinfalls count again. Aries misses a corner dropkick and kills Jacobs with it, but hits a second one for 2. Black and Aries go back and forth until Black gets the corner powerbomb and superkick, then locks in the End Time to eliminate Aries.

Fall #4

This fall can’t end by submission. That may be the least creative stip of all time. This match has gone beyond boring chants and now the crowd is just laughing. Jimmy gets the spike out, Tyler gets ahold of it, but misses and buries the spike in the top turnbuckle. Jimmy gets the Contra Code for 2, then locks in the End Time but there’s NO SUBMISSIONS! Tyler reverses the End Time to God’s Last Gift to mercifully end this one.

Not only did this not get over at all, but this may have been one of the worst matches in ROH history.

Bryan Danielson and Colt Cabana defeated Bison Smith and Jimmy Rave

Prince Nana came out in a Barack Obama shirt and made stimulus remarks to a girl at ringside. This guy’s hilarious. He announces Jimmy Rave as Bison’s mystery partner, which got a big pop from the crowd. Rave gets a big welcome back chant. Danielson ran into the ring before he could even be announced and got destroyed. Grizzley Redwood came out to make us think he was the mystery partner and was quickly disposed of, then the real partner came out…Colt Cabana! He got an even bigger reaction than Rave did. This match has gotten the biggest reaction of the night so far and they haven’t even started wrestling yet. Cabana and Rave start and the crowd starts a “die Jimmy die” chant. This match is bringing me right back to 2005. Danielson and Cabana take turns working Rave over until Rave tags to Bison, who presses Danielson into the corner. Heat segment on Danielson, but Cabana tags in after only a couple of minutes, but Bison no-sells everything and hits a big shoulder block. Danielson comes in and together they’re able to turn the tide, but Danielson tries a dive to the floor, and Bison catches and slams him. Bison with the claw slam onto Jimmy’s knee, and then tries another claw slam, but Danielson comes in and together they send Bison to the floor where Danielson hits the big dive. Rave catches Cabana in the heel hook, but Cabana reverses into a rolling press for the win. After the match Cabana calls for the Final Countdown and it begins playing over the sound system. This came totally unglued, but was still pretty good. I was a bit bummed that Bison didn’t get into total destruction mode.

D’Lo Brown defeated Jay Briscoe

D’Lo gets on the mic before the match and thanks WWE for releasing him and wishing him luck in his future endevours, because his future endevours are right here in ROH. Brown overpowers Jay to start and does the head thing, but Jay with a Frankensteiner and a dropkick and they do the indy stalemate. Jay with a series of legsweeps frustrates Brown, but Brown distracts the ref and gets a low blow to take control, then hits a big short clothesline. Brown working a very methodical style here, measuring Jay before getting a big running clothesline in the corner and a vertical suplex for 2. I want to see someone try a horizontal or, even better, diagonal suplex someday. Jay tries to go toe-to-toe with Brown but that doesn’t end well for him. They go chop-for-chop, but Brown goes to the eyes and catches him in a top wristlock/half nelson combo. Jay escapes, but eats the flying heel kick. Brown with a series of stiff short clotheslines gets 2. Brown with a springboard dropkick sends Jay to the floor and fakes a dive, but Jay caught him with a dropkick to the face when he did the dive for real. Dueling chants start as both men get back in the ring and Jay hits an inverted STO into the turnbuckle, big boot, and clothesline for 2. Brown with the Sky High for 2, then a Death Valley Driver for another two count. Brown moves out of the way of the top rope legdrop and rolls up Jay with the tights for the win. Crowd was asleep, but it was fun to watch D’Lo play the grizzled veteran who doesn’t mind doing whatever he has to to win.

Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated the American Wolves to retain the ROH World Tag Team Title.

I will be very surprised if the Wolves don’t get the straps tonight. This is no DQ. Good for Eddie Edwards, who first appeared as an occasional undercard guy two or three years ago and is now working the semi-main on one of ROH’s big four events. Steen and Generico run in before their announcement and attack the Wolves, sending them to the floor where Steen hits the big dive. Generico throws a bunch of chairs in the ring and Steen gets a flipping legdrop/conchairto on Edwards. Richards drags Steen to the floor and launches him into the rail, then gets in the ring and Tomvstones Generico on the chairs. Wolves start working Steen’s knee over with a chair. Crowd is dead for this one. I just noticed Edwards seems to be sporting a shiner. Wolves are pretty brutally working Steen over while Generico’s on the floor. They tie Steen’s knee in the ropes and take a run, but Steen moves and they go to the floor, where Generico hits a top rope somersault on both opponents. Back in the ring, Generico kills Edwards with a chairshot then gets a top rope splash on Richards for 2. Steen brings out a ladder and rams it into Edwards’ face in a pretty brutal display. Now it’s Steen and Generico’s turn to double team Richards, beating him up in the corner before Irish whipping him into the ladder and suplexing him on it. Generico with a split legged moonsault for 2. Edwards runs in and nails Steen, but eats a corner Yakuza kick from Generico. Generico misses a dive and audibly crunches onto the ladder as the crowd finally comes alive. Wolves with the double team alarm clock and a sick chairshot to Generico, but Steen breaks up the fall and takes out both men, then hits the corner cannonball. Steen places the ladder over the Wolves and Generico hits the coast to coast somersault dropkick, but that only gets 2. Great match. Steen gives Edwards a Fisherman’s Buster on a chair for 2. Richards takes out Generico on the floor then pushes Steen off the top rope and he lands on the knee. Richards with a chairshot to the knee and a Texas Cloverleaf, but he toughs it out until Generico makes the save. Generico misses a chairshot and nails Steen and Richards tosses Generico to the floor. Richards misses a shooting star press and Steen starts working Richards’ knee over with a chair then traps him in the Sharpshooter for the win. So much for my theory. Wolves attack after the match and Edwards just kills Steen with a chairshot, then put Generico through a table in the ring. Steen still tries to fight back, but they tape him to the ropes and work over his knees with a couple of chairs before finally finishing with a conchairto and walking off with the belts.

ROH Champion Nigel McGuiness vs. KENTA.

Nigel looks awful, he’s got both arms taped up. KENTA gets a lukewarm welcome back chant, and Nigel doesn’t get much reaction either. How does KENTA always end up wrestling badly injured ROH World Champions in New York? KENTA goes right to work with a pair of big kicks to Nigel’s arms that drop him immediately. KENTA continues kicking away on the arm and rams him shoulderfirst into the ringpost before putting Nigel in an armbar. KENTA is just mercilessly kicking away at Nigel, getting some big cheers from the strongly anti-Nigel crowd. KENTA with a big running boot for 2 and a key lock, but Nigel makes the ropes. Ref keeps checking on Nigel after each barrage to see if he wants to continue. Finally Nigel gets in some offense by moving out of the way of a kneedrop and getting a Tower of London to the floor. Back in the ring, Nigel starts working on KENTA’s arm. You’d think he’d go after the legs since kicks have been KENTA’s main offense, but what do I know? Anyway, Nigel gets 2 off of an arm-assisted suplex and gets a chickenwing, then catches KENTA with a surprise dropkick, which we never see him do. KENTA comes back with a vertical suplex and a flying clothesline for 2, then it’s back to the key lock, but Nigel makes the ropes. More vicious kicks from KENTA, but Nigel with a big forearm in the corner. He’s dramatizing it, but Nigel is obviously in pain. Nigel knocks KENTA off the ropes to the outside and then whips him into the rail, but misses a charge and eats the rail himself. KENTA drapes Nigel over the rail and hits a top rope kneedrop to the outside. Nigel just beat the count, and KENTA started killing him with kicks and a fisherman’s buster for 2. Flying clothesline gets 2 on Nigel, series of pinfall reversals ends with Nigel catching KENTA in the London Dungeon. He makes the ropes, so Nigel hits another Tower of London for 2. He tries a third, but KENTA blocks, so Nigel goes for a superplex instead. KENTA turns that into a top rope Falcon Arrow for 2 then another series of reversals into a German Suplex for 2 by KENTA. KENTA finally hits Go To Sleep, butNigel gets his foot on the rope. Crowd didn’t like that one. They battle on the apron and Nigel hits a Tower of London to the apron. Both men again just beat the count and Nigel reverses out of the Go To Sleep and hits one of his own for 2, then gets KENTA in the London Dungeon again, but KENTA reverses to a cradle for 2. Nigel catches him in the London Dungeon yet again and bridges all the way back until KENTA taps. Awesome match, on the level of KENTA-Danielson from 2006. Some idiot fan got a little overzealous after the match and Zack had to eject him.

Well, there were two awesome matches and two good matches, but the rest was moderate to really bad, and the crowd was dead. It was good, but not as good as it looked on paper.

credit: 411mania.com

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Other

Ricky Steamboat Update

- Ricky Steamboat appeared at the WWE house show in Topeka, Kansas. He spoke briefly before being confronted by Chris Jericho. Jericho talked bad about Steamboat until CM Punk came out to wrestle Jericho. Punk went on to beat Jericho.

credit: 411mania.com

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Lashley Wins Another Bout

At tonight’s boxing and MMA show, “March Badness”, Bobby Lashley took his pro MMA record to 2-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Jason Guida.

Lashley easily won all three rounds and his conditioning looked very good in the 15:00 fight. Guida had Lashley in trouble at one point in the third round, locking in a tight guillotine, but Lashley was able to escape and held on for the victory.

After the fight, Lashley admitted that the guillotine was tight, that he had to dig deep and that he went into the fight with the wrong plan and frame of mind. He promised to go back, watch the tape, learn where he could have finished the fight, and go on from there.

- Here are the MMA results from the card:

# Bobby Lashley defeated Jason Guida via Unanimous Decision (30-27 Across The Cards)
# Jeff Monson defeated Roy Nelson via Unanimous Decision (29-28 Across the Cards)
# Din Thomas defeated Gabe Lemley via RD1 TKO
# Dennis Hallman defeated Danny Ruiz via RD1 Submission

credit: 411mania.com

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WWE

Wrestlemania Ticket Prices

- WWE has raised the price of WrestleMania by $5 this year. The base price is now $54.95. WWE gets $2 out of every $5 that they charge for a PPV, and with buyrates dropping due to the economy, they are assuming that their loyal fanbase will pay the extra $5 and help make up for the lower number of buyers.

credit: 411mania.com

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WWE.com Results For Greatest ‘Mania Match

- WWE.com Legacy has posted their latest “Greatest WrestleMania Matches” as voted on by the fans:
* WrestleMania XI: Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel 
* WrestleMania XII: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart 
* WrestleMania 13: Bret Hart vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin 
* WrestleMania XIV: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels 

credit: 411mania.com

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ROH

Nigel McGuinness Injury Update

Will he work tonight’s show? 

According to Pwinsider.com, ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness will work tonight’s ROH Seventh Anniversary show and defend the ROH World Title against KENTA.

credit: 411mania.com

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3.20.09 ROH Results

*Delirious pin Sterling James Keenan in a good back & forth ten minute opener. He scored the pin with a splash to the back off the top rope.

*Erick Stevens & Matt Cross vs. Rhett Titus & Kenny King.. Pre-match, Austin Aries confronted. Cross and Stevens leading to the other team attacking them to state the match. King got the pin on cross in about 15 minutes hitting a clothesline from the top on cross while Titus held him up. Solid action throughout.

*Bryan Danielson defeated Mike Quackenbush with a small package in about 20 minutes… Lots of chain wrestling throughout. Both guys worked hard. The story of the match was quack selling the left arm as Danielson worked on it throughout.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jerry Lynn and Brent Albright in a fast paced high impact match. Castagnoli got the submission on lynn with an arm breaker after Albright worked over Lynn’s arm and did the damage to the arm.

The Age of the Fall vs. Necro Butcher and Tyler Black. They brawled all over the place and beat the hell out of each other. Jacobs got the win on black with a guillotine choke. Great brawl.

Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong was a solid back and forth match. Aries got the pin on strong with a brain buster after outside interference from King and Titus. Great action packed match.

*El Generico and KENTA vs. Davey Richards and ROH champ Nigel McGuinness. Nonstop action throughout. The match went about 25 minutes. An awesome tag match and an awesome main event. KENTA got the pin on McGuinness with the GTS. 

credit: 411mania.com

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Other

New JR Blog

I’m not sure what happened earlier with our website but nonetheless it is back. If you haven’t read our last blog with more about Andrew Martin and drug use in our society, I hope that you will check it out. Our Q&A section has also been updated and you can check it out too while you are here. Anyone else have March Madness? So let’s tip this one off. 

The “historic” 500th episode of Friday Night Smackdown is history and aired as a solid, two hour wrestling show. I’m sure it could take a spanking in the ratings this week, with male viewers especially, because of the NCAA Basketball Tournament that’s underway. I will admit I was checking out scores during Smackdown commercial breaks. 

With the challenging American economy, it is always encouraging to see ticket sales for WWE events doing well in many venues. It looks as if even though the NCAA’s are in Kansas City this weekend that Monday’s Raw could well be a sellout in KC. One has to believe that this Monday’s Raw will be hot as there are only two Raws remaining until Wrestlemania. The Raw on March 30 in the American Airlines Center in Dallas is also selling briskly and could well be sold out by that event’s show time. The Hildago, Texas event the night before Dallas on March 29 has already gone clean.

What’s the over/under on The King wearing another black T shirt this week on TV including the fact it could be another freebie from the frugal WWE HOF’er. If you have black and something with “King” on it you are likely in the money. I guess I’m subconsciously trying to figure a way to get some exposure for J.R.’s Family BBQ on TV. No, the BBQ logo on my hat is not a consideration. It’s o.k. for my poker hero Doyle Brunson to plug his “Doyle’s Room”  poker site on his hat but I don’t think that would fly w/  WWE management. 

As mentioned previously, in Dallas on Monday March 30 Monday Night Raw will be produced plus a few bouts for Smackdown and for ECW. I love a nice “car trip” such as this one as the Mrs. and I can drive down and back to Big D as we don’t leave for Wrestlemania until Thursday April 2. Hopefully I will be over the hump battling this bout of pneumonia by then.

Wrestlemania still has seats available and WWE is shooting for over 70,000 fans in Reliant Stadium on Sunday April 5. The WM25 gate is already in excess of $6.2M. I remember when Mid South Wrestling promoted the first Super Dome event in New Orleans and it was a huge hit back in the 70’s and I think the gate was around $76,000. How times have changed.

European ticket sales are doing well for the April tour after Wrestlemania and the Annual WWE Draft. In a recent blog,  we mentioned several venues that had already sold out and now you can add Geneva, Switzerland to the list. Tickets in London for Raw and Smackdown TV’s are not sold out as of yet but are “this close” so I suggest WWE fans in the UK to hustle and get your tickets to these London events which will obviously have different looks as they are after the Draft. 

Man, reading some websites reviews of various wrestling TV shows can be morbid, kind of like talking to an ex-wife. Some reviewers seem to never like anything and to be auditioning for a job in either stand-up comedy or creative writing with their ramblings. I wonder how many of those dudes are unemployed. Some websites do offer fairer degrees of objectivity which balances things out.

Something tells me that this year’s WWE Draft will really shake things up even more than last year. No one has tole me this but it just seems like the deck will be completely reshuffled in Atlanta and that could include some new announce teams put together. Again, this is only speculation so for those considering this the Gospel please, “Lighten Up Francis.”

Did you see the take down of OU’s Blake Griffin Thursday night in the NCAA’s? Oklahoma’s National Player of the Year kept his cool after being “modified arm dragged” over the shoulder of an opponent who got ejected from the game for his unsportsmanlike efforts. There were the obligatory, “Sports Center-like” wrestling references to the move including one of the talking heads mentioning Ric Flair and his partner doing a “WHOOO.”

I love it when the “legit” sports world’s broadcasters use a wrestling reference and they usually do it reluctantly as if someone wrote their script for them or with tongue firmly in cheek because no one from the “real sports world” would be caught deal watching ‘rasslin. They watch,  don’t let them kid you.  

Friday night late I watched the Legends Roundtable that is currently airing on WWE 24/7 On Demand regarding Texas Wrestling and it is really a fun, quick hour of TV to watch. Lots of stories of famous, Texas born or based wrestlers didn’t make air due to the one  hour format of the program but several greats were discussed and some classic footage aired. Gene Okerlund was the host and Gene does a great job in that role while the panel consisted of Michael Hayes, Dusty Rhodes, Cowboy Bill Watts, and me. Personally, I like being a panelist better than hosting but being a part of the Roundtable in any form is super and one of the most fun broadcasts to be a part of in WWE. I am told that after WM25 we will be heading back to Connecticut at some point to produce two more Roundtable shows but I don’t know the subjects or the panelists yet. 

From what I hear, WWE will be back in Oklahoma in September with Raw going live from Tulsa’s BOK Center on Monday September 28. Smackdown and ECW will emanate from the Ford Center in OKC on Tuesday September 29. Those dates are subject to change but that’s the latest that I have heard. I don’t expect tickets to go on sale for these events until probably August so, please, no phone calls or emails wanting tickets from my “friends” who I don’t hear from as a rule unless I bump into them at a watering hole or until WWE is in the area.  

On a side note regarding the last blog that I wrote about drug abuse and additional thoughts on the late Andrew Martin, I feel that all wrestling organizations should begin instilling in their prospects early in the training process the dangers of drug abuse and that it has no place any where especially in the wrestling business. On-going education regarding drug abuse should be covered as in depth as learning to withstand a body slam. I know that I am old school and damn proud of it for the record but I also think that wrestling students should be challenged with written tests as well as the established physical tests that they endure and that drug education should be an important part of their curriculum. To be fair, some training entities may already be doing some of these things but education at an early age is key to this problem that I feel ( I hope) has peaked and will become less of an issue as time goes by but this issue will never be completely eradicated because humans are, well, human. 

I have WWE Axxess appearances this year on Thursday and Friday night in Houston. I’m looking forward to them and the chance to meet many of you. Thursday night I will be at the Announce a Match booth and Friday night I will be signing autographs with the King. J.R.’s Family BBQ won’t be a part of this year’s Axxess as we could not strike a fair deal with the concessionaire but some of our products, J.R.’s Beef Jerky and our Bar Nuts, will be available in limited supply at WWE’s souvenir stand at Axxess. If you buy ‘em, I’ll sure as heck sign ‘em!

Thanks for the many get well wishes as they are appreciated. Also, we want to thank all of you that shop with us in our on line store. Your business helps keep us a float plus we are proud of everything we sell and won’t put our name on inferior products. Thanks, again, and be well.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

JrsBarBq.com

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WWE

New match added for WrestleMania 25

- The Miz and John Morrison vs. The Colons with both the World and WWE tag-team titles at stake has been added to the official line-up for WrestleMania 25. With that now known, here is an updated look at the card - as things stand now - for the year’s biggest event:

* WWE Title:
Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton

* World Title:
Edge (c) vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show

* Brother vs. Brother:
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy

* Undefeated Streak On The Line:
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

* World & WWE Tag-Titles:
The Miz & John Morrison vs. The Colons

* 3-On-1 Handicap Match:
Chris Jericho vs. Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat & Jimmy Snuka (w/ Ric Flair)

* Money in the Bank Ladder Match

* 25-Diva Battle Royal Match

Credit: wrestlezone.com

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Raw and Smackdown ratings, WWE lowers ticket prices

 - The February 27th episode of Smackdown scored a 2.3 rating, so along with Raw, Smackdown is also slipping in the ratings right now.

- The 3/16 edition of Monday Night Raw saw World Wrestling Entertainment’s recent ratings drop continue as the show did just a 3.6 cable rating. That is down from last week’s 3.7 and also from the 4s that they were doing as the build for WrestleMania began. 

- WWE is lowering their lowest ticket prices down to $20-$25 for live events in order to counteract the recession.

Credit: 411mania.com/PWinsider.com

Talk Raw, Smackdown, and tickets with our forum members here

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TNA

TNA DVD and house show news

- “Second to None - TNA’s Toughest Tag Teams” is set for a May 5th release date. Team 3D will host the DVD and be featured on the cover. 

- The company has opened up a website to hype the April 14th release of the Jeff Jarrett: King of the Mountain DVD set. You can check out the website here. 

- This Friday, tickets will go on sale for the following TNA house shows:

* Knoxville, TN on April 30th 

* Corbin, KY on May 1st 

* Huntington, WV on May 2nd 

* Pikeville, Kentucky on May 3rd 

Credit: 411mania.com

Talk TNA here on the boards

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ROH

Kevin Steen injured, Matches for Houston shows, Lineup for April TV tapings 

- Ring of Honor tag-team champion Kevin Steen will miss this weekend’s ROH shows due to an injury in his knee. He’s definitely off the Pittsburgh show and may try and work through his scheduled date in New York City, where he’s scheduled for a tag-title defense against The American Wolves.

- Added to the April 3rd show in Houston, Texas (the “Supercard of Honor”) is AAA’s Alex Koslov vs. Bryan Danielson and a six-man featuring Eddie Edwards, Chris Hero & Incognito vs. Kevin Steen, Jay Briscoe & Magno.

- KENTA and Tyler Black vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima and Austin Aries has been signed for the ROH Take No Prisoners 2009 PPV, which will be taped on April 4th in Houston, Texas.

- And finally, added to April’s ROH on HDNet tapings are Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Tyler Black, Prince Nana, Rhett Titus, Kenny King, Chris Hero and Eddie Kingston.

Credit: 411mania.com/wrestlezone.com

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WWE

Title match scheduled for Smackdown, Harley Race at Axxess, Boogeyman news

- During this past weekend’s airing of AM Raw, the ticker which runs at the bottom of the screen announced that Shelton Benjamin will be defending his United States Championship against MVP on this Friday night’s edition of Smackdown.

- It’s being reported that Harley Race is expected to make an appearance during the Wrestlemania weekend. It will most likely be at the Axxess weekend event. 

- It’s also being reported that due to his 90 day no-compete clause, The Boogeyman has pulled himself from all indy appearances until his WWE deal officially expires. The man who plays Boogeyman, Marty Wright, is claiming that he will retain his Boogeyman gimmick when he begins working on the indy scene even though it seems likely that WWE owns the intellectual rights to the name and gimmick.

Credit: wrestlezone.com

Discuss this news and everything wrestling on the Pinfall Recall Message Boards. The topic is here

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Sci-Fi network name change, Where Smackdown may end up, Mysterio injured

- Sci-Fi, the network that hosts the WWE’s ECW program, will undergo a name change from “Sci-Fi” to “SyFy”. They made the following statement on the change:

“We love being sci fi and we’re still embracing that,” said network president Dave Howe on Friday in a Hollywood Reporter article. “But we’re more than just space and aliens and the future – the three things most people think of when they think of ’sci fi.’ What this does is hopefully give us the best of both worlds. You keep the heritage, but also open up to a broader range of content.”

- It is believed that if MyNetworkTV shuts down, WWE Smackdown could end up on the “SyFy” network, as they will be looking to expand their viewership

- Rey Mysterio tweaked his knee when he slipped on the floor while doing a 619 spot at a house show over the weekend, but he isn’t expected to miss any time. 

Credit: 411mania.com

Talk about ECW, Sci-Fi, Smackdown and Mysterio right here on the forums

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TNA

Top matches scheduled for Lockdown (SPOILERS), Creed injured

(SPOILERS START HERE)

- The top three matches for the 4/19 TNA Lockdown PPV in Philadelphia, PA are:

* TNA champion Sting vs. Mick Foley.

* Team Jarrett vs. Team Angle - Lethal Lockdown.

* TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money Inc. vs. IWGP Tag Team Champions Team 3D - Both titles on the line.

(END SPOILERS)

- Consequences Creed has been pulled from wrestling at tonight’s Impact taping. Apparently he has very little memory of the Ultimate X match after being knocked out from a suplex.

Credit: PWinsider.com

Talk TNA with our forum members here

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ROH

Card for debut ROH show

- ROH debuts on HDNet on Saturday night, March 21st, and features the following lineup:

* Jerry Lynn vs. Delirious 

* Sami Callahan vs. Kenny King

* Brent Albright vs. Rhett Titus

* Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black

Credit: 411mania.com

Discuss Ring of Honor right here on the boards

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Other

Test news

- The Tampa Tribune reported tonight that “prescription drugs, including painkillers and steroids” were found by authorities in the late Andrew “Test” Martin’s apartment in Tampa.

To read the article, click here.

- Andrew Martin’s father spoke with Slam Wrestling about his son’s death, which you can read here.

- Lance Storm remembers Andrew Martin here.

Credit: PWinsider.com/411mania.com

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If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact the Pinfall Recall team on the forums or via e-mail.

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WWE

From T & A To DOA: Andrew “Test” Martin Found Dead At 33

- Andrew Martin, best known for his days as Test in WWE, has been found dead in his apartment at the age of 33. He would have been 34 in four days. Authorities in Tampa, Florida, where Martin lived, have not provided any details yet. They have stated that a body was found in a condo, but have not confirmed that the body in question was Martin, however multiple people within the wrestling industry have confirmed that it was Martin’s body that was found.

Martin was released from WWE back in February of 2007 after failing a drug test. He then worked for TNA but was not offered a contract and went on to work a bit in Japan.

Credit: 411mania.com

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Santino Turns 30, Bryan Clark Turns 45

Popular WWE star Santino Marella turns 30 years old today. Former WWE and WCW star Bryan Clark also has a birthday today, as he turns 45.

credit: wrestlezone.com

Discuss with our forum members!

Vince McMahon Has Big Plans Following the Draft

The Wrestling Observer is reporting, as we have been reporting for several days now, that WWE intends to put much more focus on Raw as the flagship show when the draft returns after Wrestlemania. It’s being said that Vince McMahon wants to fill the roster out with more big name stars, which means Smackdown may be losing some top names following the draft.

It’s being said that Vince wants Smackdown to focus more on the Hispanic demographic it’s seemed to have lost since Rey Mysterio left the show to wrestle on Raw. Therefore, as we’ve reported before, don’t be surprised to see Mysterio return to Smackdown to help get that target audience back.

credit: wrestlezone.com

Discuss here!

TNA

Updated Destination X Card

The following matches have been scheduled for tonight’s TNA Destination X PPV:

- Angelina Love, Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi, Taylor Wilde and “The Governor”
- Scott Steiner vs. Samoa Joe
- 10,000 Thumbtacks Match: Matt Morgan vs. Abyss
- TNA Legends Title Match: Booker T © vs. AJ Styles
- TNA Knockouts Title Match: Awesome Kong © vs. Sojourner Bolt
- TNA Tag Team Title Off The Wagon Challenge Match: Beer Money © vs. Team 3D
- TNA X-Division Title Ultimate X Match: Alex Shelley © vs. Chris Sabin vs. Suicide vs. Black Machismo vs. Consequences Creed
- TNA World Title Match: Sting © vs. Kurt Angle - With Jeff Jarrett as Special Referee and Mick Foley as Special Enforcer

credit: 411mania.com

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ROH

Upcoming Show Update

ROH will make their Indianapolis debut tonight at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The following is scheduled.

* Nigel McGuinness & Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn
* Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus for the ROH Tag Team Titles
* Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega vs. Claudio Castagnoli
*Jay Briscoe vs. Chris Hero and The American Wolves vs. Brent Albright & Roderick Strong

credit: 411mania.com

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Other

Chris Benoit Tidbit

In case it hasn’t already been brought up, an interesting thing about the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania issue of WWE magazine, the cover says every match but for some odd reason the index skips from Wrestlemania XIX to Wrestlemania 21.  I searched through virtually the entire magazine, and there is no matches listed for Wrestlemania XX, yet at the time they made a big deal about WM20 being “where it all begins again”. Strange they avoid that just to completely ignore Chris Benoit, yet he is still listed for Royal Rumble winners.

credit: wrestlezone.com

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Lashley Interview

Twelve years ago, Bobby Lashley was one of the most impressive college wrestlers in the country. Two years ago, he was one of the most popular professional wrestlers in the country. But now he has a new challenge in front of him, making the transition from wrestling to mixed martial arts.

I interviewed Lashley this week about his upcoming fight with Jason Guida (Lashley told me he knows nothing about Guida and asked me to tell him what I know), about the cancellation of his previously scheduled fight with Ken Shamrock (Lashley doesn’t hold it against Shamrock that he was suspended after a positive steroid test) and about his goals in MMA (Lashley wants to be a champ).

The full interview is below.

Michael David Smith: How did you find out that Ken Shamrock tested positive for steroids and your fight with him was off?
Bobby Lashley: A photographer that I did a photo shoot for sent me a text message. I thought it was a joke at first, but then I found out that he did test positive and the fight is off.

How prevalent do you think performance-enhancing drugs are in MMA?
I really don’t know. I haven’t heard a lot of people talk about it. I’ve heard people saying as much as, “Hey, some of the fighters are on something.” I don’t think that’s actually true, and I also don’t like the name “performance enhancing.” I don’t think people take them to enhance their performance so much as trying to help them train harder. I think that’s more what it is.

I think that Ken wasn’t out to take that substance so that he could beat that Ross Clifton guy. I’m sure he wasn’t using for that. I know he wasn’t thinking, “Oh, I’ve got to fight Bobby in a couple months, I’ve got to get huge.” I think like any other fighter or any other athlete who takes supplements, he was taking something to enable him to train harder and train longer.

How prevalent are performance-enhancing drugs in pro wrestling?
I don’t think there’s any now.

Really?
They have a really, really, really strict testing policy in the WWE. I know that for a fact. So I know that there is no one who is really on anything now. I think in the past there were some, but — and also, in professional wrestling it’s not “performance-enhancing.” You’re not enhancing your performance. You’re getting bigger and stronger, but it’s not like that makes you win in wrestling. I think there used to be more wrestlers on something than there are now, but it’s not like everyone was on something in professional wrestling. Not at all.

What do you know about your upcoming opponent, Jason Guida?
I know that his brother is Clay Guida. That’s about it. If you can tell me anything, that would be great.

Well, I can tell you that he has a losing record. His career record is 17-19.
Yeah, but the thing is, it’s not so much how many you’ve won, it’s how many you’ve been in.

Do you expect to watch video of his fights in the next week?
I’ll watch everything that I can on him.

So you think film study is important?
Oh, yeah. I trained at the Olympic Training Center with some of the greatest athletes in the world, and at the top level in every sport, elite athletes all watch film. Football players watch their opponents. In baseball, hitters watch pitchers. Wrestlers watch other wrestlers. You’ve got to scout your opponent so you can come in with the proper game plan.

When I was going to fight Ken Shamrock, I was watching video of Ken. How he approached his opponents. How he got into his submission holds. How he gets takedowns. How he reverses.

What are your goals in MMA?
I want to be a champion. That’s the main goal. Of course, everybody wants to make it in the UFC. That’s the top organization. But Affliction is coming up real strong. Strikeforce is coming up real strong. In Japan there are a lot of great fighters there. I just want to make it to the top. When I went into professional wrestling, I wanted to go to the top, and now that I’m a fighter, I’m training as hard as I can, as long as I can to make it to that level, to be the best.

Do you have any idea of how long that would take? Everybody compares you to Brock Lesnar. He was 1-0 when he got into the UFC, he lost his first fight to Frank Mir, then he beat Heath Herring and he got his title shot and became a champion. Is it realistic for you to think it can happen that quickly?
No, because that’s not the route I’m taking. I want to build up my skills. I’ve got a lot to learn and I want to learn before I fight for a title. I’m taking my time, but at the same time I hope that in the near future I beat some people and I do get that chance.

But you’re 32. Is it realistic for you to take the time to build your skills the way most fighters do?
That’s true, I’m not planning to spend 10 years in the business.

Do you have an idea when you might fight again after Guida and who your opponent might be?
I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I want to stay active. I want to fight. If Ken ever wants to fight with me, if he wants to go to Japan and do that fight, I wouldn’t mind doing that also. I know it’s kind of a touchy subject, but to do one fight in Japan, I don’t mind doing it. I think it’s a great fight. I think he’s a great fighter. And I know that the guy wasn’t maliciously trying to go out there to try go gain an advantage over anybody. At the same time, I don’t want to burn any bridges. But if people want us to fight in Japan, I wouldn’t mind doing that.

So you could fight Ken Shamrock this year?
I don’t know. That’s completely up to him.

But if a Japanese promoter came to you and offered you a fight with Ken Shamrock, you’re open to that?
Yeah, I would. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Do you think the state commissions would have a problem with that? In a sense, you’d be helping him circumvent his suspension.
I wouldn’t want to do it if it hindered my career. I want to fight him, and it’s unfortunate that it happened to him. I really wanted to fight him. I wouldn’t do anything against the commissions’ wishes. I wouldn’t do that at all.

Let’s go back to your own training. Do you have any veteran MMA fighters who train with you and teach you a lot, and anyone you watch and you try to emulate?
Not too much trying to emulate, but I look at the fighters at the top of the game and I try to find out what put them there. Some of the fighters we have at the gym, American Top Team, are right up there with the UFC’s best, and I try to watch their training regimen. I watch Mike Brown. He trains hard. He’s in the gym all day, training, working, sparring. He helps other people and he’s an incredible person.

Another person is JZ Calvan. If you every see him work out, you’ll get tired just watching him work out. After everyone is done training, he’s still shadow boxing. He works to be the best. Another one is Thiago Alves. He works, he’s a machine. He’s going, going, going. At this gym, there are so many high-level athletes that you have to step up your game.

The sense I get is that “stepping up your game,” that challenge, is what made you decide to leave a successful career in professional wrestling to try MMA.
I wanted to test myself. I wanted to go into a different realm. This is an opportunity to challenge myself. I want to push myself to be the best.

credit: http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/03/14/bobby-lashley-on-leaving-wwe-for-mma-i-want-to-be-a-champion/

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