Pinfall Recall News Feed for February 2, 2009
WWE
Tonight’s Raw lineup
- The updated lineup for tonight’s Raw:
*Randy Orton’s response to the Shane McMahon attack last week.
*Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston vs. Kane & Mike Knox.
*Beth Phoenix vs. Candice Michelle.
Credit: PWinsider.com
Discuss Raw and all things wrestling right here on the Pinfall Recall Message Boards. The topic is located here
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Chavo Guerrero moves to Smackdown, Kizarny removed from roster page
- It now appears as if Chavo Guerrero is a full-time Smackdown talent as his name was moved from the ECW roster to the Smackdown roster. Although Guerrero’s picture still remains on the ECW page, his profile is now gone and can be accessed on the Smackdown page.
- Rarely seen Smackdown talent Kizarny has had his profile removed from the Smackdown page. He has been wrestling with the brand at house shows, but has yet to recieve a formal push of any kind on TV.
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Talk about Smackdown and the roster right here on the forums
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WWE shuts down offices, re-opens relationship with OVW
- WWE shut down their Australian office last week, and will now be shutting down their Canadian office, which has been open for over 10-years. The television sales staff will keep their jobs, as the WWE deal with the Score in Canada is different from their US TV deals. WWE gets to sell their own ad sales under the Canadian deal
- WWE is opening a new working relationship with OVW, which is why JBL recently worked with the company, and also why Mickie James will work an OVW TV taping next month.
Credit: 411mania.com
Discuss these stories right here with our forum members
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TNA
Against All Odds PPV lineup
- The following is the current, non-spoiler card for TNA Against All Odds:
* Scott Steiner vs. Petey Williams
* Booker T vs. Shane Sewell
* Matt Morgan vs. Abyss
* Knockouts Title Match: Awesome Kong © vs. ODB
* TNA World Tag Team Title Match: Beer Money Inc. © vs. Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed
* TNA World Title Match: Sting © vs. Brother Ray vs. Kurt Angle vs. Brother Devon
Credit: 411mania.com
Talk TNA right here on the forums
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ROH
ROH Newswire for Feb. 2nd
- Everyone here at Ring of Honor sends a humongous THANK YOU to the great fans of Detroit and Chicago for making the events of the past weekend a wonderful success! ROH returns to the Motor City on Friday, June 26th and to the Windy City on Saturday, April 25th. Tickets for both events are now on sale at www.rohwrestling.com. This past Saturday’s event called “Caged Collision” will debut on Pay-Per-View Friday, April 17th.
- ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness escaped Chicago with the gold after defeating El Generico at “Caged Collision”. We now know he will defend the title on February 7th in Orlando. ROH officials spoke with Nigel late last night, and an agreement was made. “People come to ROH to prove themselves,” said Nigel. “And this coming weekend in Florida is all about that. But it isn’t just up-and-coming grapplers that have to prove something; it’s also the top shelf talent like me, and even has-beens like Geritol Lynn. Now another has-been can add his name to the list. And that’s you D-Lo Brown. Sure, everyone knows your name, and I can’t really downplay your achievements in wrestling, but c’mon sunshine, why are you coming to ROH? To prove yourself! And you will, because you’re only getting one shot, love. And that’s against me in Orlando. And just to show that I know you’re far past your prime, I’ll put up the title and prove once again that ROH has no one to challenge me. One shot, Mr. Brown. That’s all you’ve got.”
- Ring of Honor officials announced the very first ROH television tapings will take place in Philadelphia on Saturday, February 28th and Sunday, March 1st! ROH and HDNet officials selected Philadelphia due to the city’s passionate fans and extensive wrestling history. Now you can add another historic event to that already rich Philly wrestling heritage. Tickets for the event on the 28th are already on sale. Tickets for the March 1st (special 3pm bell time) event will go on sale this coming Wednesday at 10am EST at www.rohwrestling.com. You don’t want to miss what will go down as perhaps the most important weekend in ROH history! We’ll have talent announcements and updates as we go forward.
- Fresh off of the huge victory over Sweet-N-Sour inside the Steel Cage last Saturday, Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens were probably looking forward to a little “R and R”. But it doesn’t look like that will happen. Chasyn Rance, Kenny King, and Rhett Titus have signed an open contract to face Strong, Stevens, and a partner of their choosing in Coral Springs on February 6. “We know those guys can’t possibly be 100%, especially not after that cage match, and we’re striking while the iron is hot,” said Kenny King. “The time is now, and now is OUR time.”
- Bryan Danielson suffered a concussion after being powerbombed brutally to the floor by Bison Smith last Saturday at “Caged Collision”. Danielson is still scheduled to be in Florida for “Proving Ground ‘09″ this weekend, but his status for the events is up in the air at this point. We still do not know what the agenda of the massive Bison is, and Kyle Durden’s attempt to get comments gave as no further answers. Durden’s “interview” will be in this week’s Video Wire.
- The BIG TEN SALE continues at www.rohwrestling.com until Wednesday night at 9pm EST. We have over 100 DVD’s on sale for $10 each, tickets for all events in February for only $10 each, plus save an additional 10% off your order. For complete details on the sale click here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=860.
- ROH Referee Paul Turner made a crucial judgment call last Friday night in Detroit that has upset Brent Albright and left Claudio Castagnoli elated. In the closing moments of the contest, Albright had Castagnoli locked in the Crowbar. Claudio was able to make contact with the ropes, which would necessitate a break. Albright did not break the hold, sending an apparent message to Larry Sweeney who was “observing” the match. Referee Turner began the customary “5 count” when Albright would not break the hold. The excruciating pain from the hold got to Castagnoli, as he tapped out just as Turner reached the count of 5. Rather than award Albright the decision via submission, he disqualified him for not breaking hold before the allotted count of 5. “In any situation, the rulebook is our world,” said Turner. “And I know Brent is upset. Even though Claudio submitted, it was to a hold that was ‘illegal’ in its application because of the contact with the ropes.” ROH officials stand behind Turner’s decision, and several phone calls from both Albright and Castagnoli on this subject have been fielded in the last 48 hours.
Credit: 411mania.com
Talk about Ring of Honor wrestling right here on the message boards
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Other
Reid Flair’s debut postponed
- The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Reid Flair will be unable to compete in his match at the Florida State Fair next week due to a stress fracture injury he received to his leg during training. The match has been postponed, and we don’t know at this time whether or not the rescheduled match will be taped for Brooke Hogan’s reality show on VH1. Hogan and her camera crew were supposed to be at the fair next week to get footage of the event for her show.
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Talk about this and more on the PFRC forums right here
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NWA News and Notes link
- For those of you who follow NWA, click here for an update on the company.
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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.
CK@pinfallrecall.com
JG@pinfallrecall.com
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RDB@pinfallrecall.com
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Pinfall Recall News Feed for December 16, 2008
WWE
Tonight’s ECW on Sci-Fi main event
- The WWE Tag Team champions John Morrison & The Miz and Jack Swagger will face the team of (former champions) CM Punk & Kofi Kingston and their partner Ricky Ortiz in the ECW Main Event on Sci Fi tonight, Tuesday 12-16.
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Talk about all things wrestling on the Pinfall Recall Message Boards. This topic is located here
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Raw and Smackdown ratings, Jeff Hardy’s post match celebration
- The December 12, 2008 edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown did a 2.0 broadcast rating. (wrestlezone.com)
- Last night’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw scored a 3.33 cable rating. During the 9-11PM slot last week, the show scored a 3.17. Overall, last week’s three-hour edition of Raw scored a 3.0 cable rating.
- WWE.com has posted match footage of Jeff Hardy’s title win at Armageddon, which you can see here.
Credit: 411mania.com
Discuss the ratings and the new champ right here on the forums
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TNA
TNA iMPACT tapings set up Foley’s in-ring debut (Spoilers)
- Mick Foley in ring announced two matches Booker T & Scott Steiner vs AJ Styles & Brother Devon, and Kurt Angle vs Rhino with Jeff Jarrett seconding Rhino
Chris Sabin def Kioshi with Shane Sewell as ref to advance to the finals of the X Division Tournament. Bashir attacked Sewell postmatch, Suicide saved
Styles & Devon def Steiner & Booker T. Postmatch Main Event Mafia attacked Styles and Mick Foley saved. Sets up Foley, Styles & Devon vs Nash, Steiner & Booker T for Genesis on Jan 11, Foley’s in ring wrestling debut for TNA.
Christy Hemme, Roxxi, Taylor Wilde & ODB def Sonjoiner Bolt, Awesome Kong, Raisha Saieed, & Rhaka Khan
Kurt Angle def Rhino DQ with Jeff Jarrett involved. Sting was out postmatch and all 4 brawled.
For Xplosion Consequenses Creed def Sonjay Dutt
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Talk about Foley’s in-ring debut and the TNA product right here on our message boards
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Kaz injured
- Jason Powell of www.prowrestling.net is reporting that Kaz (Suicide) (Frankie Kazarian) suffered a bicep injury of some kind likely at the TV Taping on Monday.
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Talk about this with our forum members right here
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ROH
ROH to go head to head with WWE Hall of Fame ceremony
- Ring of Honor released the following announcement today:
Two Shows In Houston Announced!
Ring of Honor will present their annual Wrestlemania weekend shows in Houston, TX on Friday, April 3rd and Saturday, April 4th at the George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston, TX 77010.
Tickets for both events will go on sale Thursday, December 18th at 11am EST at www.rohwrestling.com.
Credit: 411mania.com
Will ROH draw in the crowds against the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony? Talk about it here
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Other
Where is Perry Saturn?
- From Bill Behrens at wrestlezone.com
I received an e-mail from a fan who found a website promoting “exclusive” info on Perry Saturn who has been MIA for quite a while, and some believed might have died.
There is at least one source that suggests he now lives in Albert Lea, MN which is a small town about 90 miles south of the Twin Cities.
I last saw him at TNA in Nashville when he decided to walk out toward the ring in his underwear during a post show fan interaction.
I have no idea whether the info below is valid.
http://www.wrestling-news.com/artman/publish/article_3837.shtml
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Discuss this disturbing news right here
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Foley speaks on The Wrestler and how he thinks Vince will view the film
- Mick Foley recently spoke with New York Magazine and discussed the movie The Wrestler. Foley recently saw the film, and was very complimentary as he stated:
“I walked in something of a cynic, figuring there was no way an actor could ever really get a feel for what we do without having done it. But within the first five minutes, I was completely sold. From an emotional standpoint, I found Mickey Rourke to be so believable. He made it so easy to suspend disbelief that within five minutes in the movie, I never once thought of him as being Mickey Rourke, let alone an actor. He was Randy the Ram. It was the little cues that really registered — like how he lived to get a reaction from people, even if they were just customers at the deli counter.”
When asked what he thought Vince McMahon would think of the film, Foley commented…
“I personally don’t think Vince will like it, because Vince really believes in the philosophy of keeping wrestling as entertainment for the fans. And part of that is keeping up the mystique of what goes on behind the scenes. I’m not sure he would enjoy a film that shines a light on the hardships that some wrestlers go through.”
You can read the full interview here.
Credit: 411mania.com
Will you see The Wrestler? Leave your musings about it right here on the PFRC forums
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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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DC@pinfallrecall.com
RDB@pinfallrecall.com
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Pinfall Recall News Feed for October 30, 2008
WWE
McMahon on Today Show, Bourne’s MRI, Miz on Ghosthunters, more
- Here’s a link to Vince McMahon’s appearance on the Today show, where he promoted this coming Monday’s 800th episode of Raw. I’d expect WWE to push this episode really hard in as many outlets as they can in an attempt to turn around the recent ratings downtrend.
You can check out the video of his appearance by clicking here. (PWinsider.com)
- Evan Bourne will undergo an MRI today to determine how bad his ankle injury is. The fear within WWE is that he could end up missing four months.
- The pre-sale password for the 12/6 Florence, SC Smackdown/ECW show is HARDY.
- Umaga is expected to return at any point now.
- The Miz will appear on tomorrow’s Ghosthunters Halloween Special at 7PM on the Sci Fi Channel.
Credit: 411mania.com
Excited for Raw’s 800th episode, Umaga and/or Bourne’s comeback? Discuss and share your opinion on our Pinfall Recall Message Boards here.
Chris Jericho talks whether he sold out RVD, his broken tooth, and his World Title run length
- On RVD’s claim that Jericho held him back because he was insecure: I’ve never been insecure about anything with my spot. I tried to help Rob, because he was supposed to be a heel and he still was interested in being a babyface. Rob wants to be Rob. He doesn’t want to play along, because he’s RVD and he’s going to do what he wants to do. I’m about business. If I’m a heel, I want to be hated; if I’m a babyface, I want to be cheered. When he was a heel, he wanted to be cheered, so I tried to help him with that. He thought I was insecure about my spot, and I’m sorry that that’s the case. I’ve always been a fan of Rob’s even when most people in the office weren’t, and I always stood up for him. So, if he feels that way it’s too bad, because I was actually one of his biggest supporters.
On his broken tooth from his recent ladder match: “[My wife] wasn’t happy about it, but it was more that she was sad that I got hurt. My son wasn’t happy about it either, but that’s the business. I’m a warrior and sometimes things like that happen. I’ve never lost a tooth before; I hope I don’t ever lose one again. You live with it. You look like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber until you get to the dentist. And then the next thing you know, you get the crown on there and you never notice anything different. It’s a war wound and that’s the way I treat it. I think it made that match even more dramatic. I think a lot of people said that was the best ladder match they had ever seen, and that’s probably one of the reasons for it, because they knew it was real. Once again, something happened that was outside the box of what a “normal” wrestling match is. I’m actually lucky that I didn’t lose more teeth. The dentist told me that I should have lost all four of the teeth. So I’ll take the half-tooth and just consider myself lucky.”
On whether his World Title run was too short: “I was very happy with the work I did while I had it on this run, and how long you keep a title has nothing to do with me. That’s up to the boss, and whatever he wants to do, I’ll be happy to do it. And I’ll get my chance again, and when I do, I’ll do exactly the same thing I did when I had it the last time, which is do the best work that I possibly can and make people hate me even more. Usually in Vince’s grand scheme of things, even though things sometimes don’t seem like they’re the right way to do things at the start, in the big picture they usually always are. And I’ve been around long enough to know that you have to trust the boss when he has a feeling, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Check out the full interview here.
Credit: 411mania.com
What did you think of Jericho’s reign, or his ladder match with HBK? Talk about it here on our message boards.
Randy Orton’s in-ring return, ECW entertainer blasts creative
- The rumor making the rounds is that Randy Orton will return to the ring at Survivor Series, however it should be noted that he has been medically cleared to return to the ring for a couple of weeks now. We reported yesterday that Orton will be appearing at the FCW tapings tonight, and The Wrestling Observer is reporting that his return to the ring is “imminent,” which indicates that he will either return on or before the Survivor Series PPV.
- ECW’s Kevin Thorn, who hasn’t appeared on WWE television in over a year, has posted a rather controversial blog on his WWE Universe account where he essentially accuses the creative team for their lack of direction. Thorn writes, “So who do you want to be for halloween???? Me I just want to be me again, the resident bloodsucking dark prince of ECW. I want to be undead again because it seems like I have been dead for a year now. but wait, I cant be dead though because they stuck that stake in my back, when they really should have stuck it in my heart!!! If they really wanted to get rid of me. Thats gonna come back to haunt them. A Year ago, I was told there is a new direction and we want you to be normal!??? THAT really doesn’t work ,when you already were being what you thought was normal.I mean ,who wouldn’t want to be a vampire? He also added: “I WILL RETURN IF NOT HERE, SOMEWHERE VERY SOON AND WHEN I DO ! I WLL FIGHT FOR THE BROKEN ,BRUISED,PICKED ON AND ABUSED I WILL BE YOUR VESSEL OF RETRIBUTION FOR THE DARK IS ABOUT TO FALL UPON THEM!!!”
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Sympathize? Empathize? Don’t care? Excited for the in-ring return of Orton? Let us know right here on the PFRC forums
TNA
Card for tonight’s iMPACT
- Impact tonight on Spike at 9 p.m. has:
Christy Hemme & ODB vs. Angelina Love & Velvet Sky
Eric Young vs. James Storm
Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Volador Jr.
A.J. Styles & Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash & Booker T
Abyss vs. Kurt Angle
Credit: f4wonline.com
What do you think of the card or TNA in general? Share you opinion here on our message boards
TNA holds a “Wrestler’s Court”
- To clarify, our sources wanted to put over how their version of “wrestler’s court” was not like WWE’s version where wrestlers seriously try to beat down the person being “charged”. They were simply having fun while they waited for the writers to come out of a meeting. It was a lot of fun for everyone that ended up in a huge party after the Impact Tapings.
The rib took place on a plane that boarded Bashir, Kip James, and Rhino. Bashir told the flight attendant to announce that it was Kip James’ 66th birthday. Bashir was then taken to “wrestler’s court” because they decided he hadn’t been in the company long enough to pull a rib over on a veteran.
Brother Ray served as the judge, Brother Devon was going to represent Bashir until he showed up late to court and was fired by Bashir. Bashir then decided to represent himself. B.G. James represented Kip and agent Pat Kenney (Simon Diamond) served as the bailiff.
Rhino was supposed to be Kip’s witness. However, he turned heel in the court and ended up being Bashir’s surprise witness. Rhino helped Bashir prove that Kip had actually been lying about his age and that he was at least 66 years old or older.
Note: Bashir and Rhino literally doctored up 1970’s images and placed Kip’s picture in the background. The photos of Kip were of him in his 30’s, which by mathematics, would make him in his 60’s today.
They kicked Vince Russo and WrestleZone.com’s own Glenn Gilbertti out of the courtroom claiming it was “Wrestler’s Only”.
The result ended up with Bashir taking a plea bargain which made him buy beer for the entire locker room. He did and numerous TNA wrestlers and wrestling personalities had a huge party after the tapings.
Apparently, there are plans to possibly bring charges against Kip James at the next tapings due to Kip not staying and participating in the party.
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Who would you have defend you in wrestlers court? Tell us here on our forums
Other
NWA teams up with “Big Vision” to create new show
- The National Wrestling Alliance and Big Vision Entertainment will begin taping episodes of a new series “NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood” the weekend of 11/14-11/16 in Hollywood, California.
The series concept is something of a throwback to the type of studio wrestling shows that made Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and Memphis so much fun in the 1980s. I haven’t heard much in the way of talent for the series beyond new NWA champion Blue Demon Jr. at this time, but I expect to have more details on the series, talent, and ticket information shortly.
The NWA tapings will be free and held at Columbia Square Studios on Sunset Boulevard, which is actually the first studio CBS used on the West Coast. There is already a link up for reservations at www.bigvisionentertainment.com.
The plan is for Big Vision to distribute the series internationally via cable and syndication deals, so these tapings are designed to get the concept rolling and have footage in the can for pitches and syndication meetings.
Big Vision and the NWA have been working on the NWA relaunch for some time and Big Vision will also be handling forthcoming DVD releases for the company.
Credit: PWinsider.com
Talk about this new wrestling venture by NWA, and more here on our forums
Pinfall Recall News Feed for October 14, 2008
WWE
Lance Cade released
From WWE.com:
- World Wrestling Entertainment has come to terms on the release of Raw Superstar Lance Cade as of October 14, 2008. WWE wishes Lance the best in all future endeavors.
Credit: 411mania.com
Discuss your thoughts on the PFRC forums right here
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New Cyber Sunday match
WWE has added a “Divas Halloween Costume Contest” to the Cyber Sunday PPV, with fans being able to vote on WWE.com during the duration of the PPV to determine the winner.
Credit: pwinsider.com
Talk Divas here on our forums
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Honky Tonk Man injured, Smackdown breaks rating records again, 3 hour Raw in the works
Starrcade/Hell in a Cell DVD, Raw Rating, WWE Stocks
- The 3-disc WWE Starrcade DVD set is scheduled to be released on January 13th, 2009.
- WWE’s new Hell in the Cell 3-Disc DVD set comes out today.
- Last night’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw scored a 3.1 cable rating, up from last week’s 3.0 rating.
- WWE sent out this statement today.
WWE® Top 200
STAMFORD, Conn., October 13, 2008- World Wrestling Entertainment®, the company who outperforms the S&P 500 by 30%* and has a high yielding dividend (9.7%)*, continues to be a leader among entertainment stocks. In this week’s Forbes magazine, WWE was named one of the top 200 Best Small Companies. Qualifications for this category require that a company have sales up to $750 million and a stock price of at least $5 as of Sept. 29.
*as of today’s close.
Credit: 411mania.com
Excited WCW’s Wrestlemania is finally being released? Talk this and Hell in a Cell and stocks right here
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TNA
iMPACT taping news, More on Angle/Devine releases, House show announced, More…
- The following has been announced for the TNA Impact taping tonight.
* Appearance by new TNA Champion Sting.
* Why Kevin Nash turned on Samoa Joe.
* Mick Foley says goodbye to TNA.
* Booker T vs. Hernandez
* Roxxi vs. Raisha Saeed
* Sheik Abdul Bashir & Sonjay Dutt vs. The Motor City Machineguns
* Latest on the 10/23 live Impact from Las Vegas.
- Karen Angle and Johnny Devine have been removed from TNAwrestling.com’s roster page following their releases. Kevin Nash has been added.
- Word is that the tension between Karen and Kurt Angle backstage has grown drastically since she filed for divorce. Realizing this, TNA apparently opted to let Karen go because they felt she wasn’t as important to them as she thought she was. Kurt Angle apparently wasn’t consulted before the decision was made.
- Devine wanted his release because he felt like he wasn’t making any progress in TNA.
- TNA has announced a 12/5 show in Troy, Ohio.
- The theme song for TNA’s 11/9 Turning Point PPV will be Disturbed’s “Indestructable.”
- TNA’s Ultimate Matches DVD is due out on 10/21.
Credit: 411mania.com
Discuss the card, Karen Angle, Johnny Devine, and more on our forums located here
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More taping news, Jimmy Rave injured
- Kevin Nash vs. Consequences Creed has been added to tonight’s Impact taping.
- Jimmy Rave suffered a neck injury at the Bound for Glory PPV on Sunday. Some feared early on that he might have fractured a vertebrae, but that isn’t confirmed.
- TNA did not bring The Prince Justice Brotherhood, Traci Brooks, ODB and Rhaka Khan out to the Impact taping today.
Credit: 411mania.com
Talk TNA on our forums here
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Other
Dr. Death health concerns, Tiger Mask DVD, St. Louis Wrestling HOF inductees, Stacy in Maxim again
- Steve “Dr. Death” Williams received bad new last week and catscans done on October 1st and 2nd showed swollen lymph nodes, the fear is that his cancer may have returned. Before these tests, Williams had been cancer free for the last 4-years. He will now have to undergo biopsies and other procedures, which will be unpleasant since they have to go through his stomach and lungs.
- A complete DVD of “The Original Tiger Mask,” with all of his big matches from 1981-83 was just released in Japan. A similar VHS was released back in the early 90’s during the tape-trading boom, and was very successful as far as sales go.
- The St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame officially added six new members in its move to the South Broadway Athletic Club, which has been the site of local independent wrestling for more than 50 years. Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr., Joe Garagiola (the first voice of “Wrestling at the Chase”), Rocky Johnson, Buddy Rogers and long-time referee Lee Warren were all inducted into the Hall.
- New photos of former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler in the new issue of Maxim Magazine are available here
Credit: 411mania.com
Discuss this and a variety of other news on our forums
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Mick Foley sitcom, New Bret Hart interview
Dear Readers:
I would like to set the record straight regarding the reported information about Mick Foley rejoining our project (working title) Hey, Dude!
I’ve had many inquiries as to our project, and I’d like to not only set the record straight on the current reported information, but also on the development of our show itself.
It’s true! Amdram Productions is pleased to announce that Mick Foley has now re-attached himself to our sitcom Hey, Dude! We’re also in talks with various other entertainment industry talents, and we’re going to be uniting a cast of well known comedic actors that one would never have guessed would be working together in a sitcom.
Regarding the show’s working title: “Hey, Dude!” :
Back in the early 90’s, Nickelodeon aired a western-themed show entitled Hey Dude, geared towards a demographic of 14 and under. Our show is in NO WAY related, and nos NO resemblance to that show, as our Hey, Dude! (note the punctuation marks- it’s also working title which is still subject to change) was created by me to be a scripted sitcom with an ensemble cast, based upon a comedic take on the life of former pro-wrestler/NY Times 8-time bestselling author Mick Foley, his family, and his crazy best friend Marky. My partners and I will be writing this show (with some of Mick’s input of course), and again, I must stress that it is absolutely no relation whatsoever to the Nickelodeon show of the same name. Also, unlike a reality show (such as “Hogan Knows Best”), our Hey, Dude! is to be a scripted sitcom in the same vein as Curb Your Enthusiasm, with much pop culture humor incorporated a la Family Guy. The show was not written by Foley, as it is an Amdram Productions project, but again created with him in mind as one of the primary leads which features Mick in an ensemble cast.
While we are looking forward to working with Spike TV for future endeavors, Hey, Dude! does not currently have a distribution home and is not a Spike TV show. Because of the cutting edge/ground breaking humor, we see this more along the lines of a premium channel endeavor and we are currently undergoing negotiations in order to establish the perfect network fit for Hey, Dude!
I am very confident that we will soon solidify our choices, and on behalf of my producing partners- Jonathan Mankuta, Steve Strangio, and Richard O’Sullivan- we are extremely excited about the talent we already have on board, as well as signing new actors into the mix. As soon as we determine which network will be a perfect fit for us, we will let you know, but as of this writing, the project is still open for distribution. One thing I can say is that quite a few major networks (left unnamed) have contacted me, and we’re hopeful that we will soon come to a decision.
Thank you for your continued interest in Hey, Dude!, a project that we’re very much looking forward to producing! Our promise at Amdram to the viewing public is to create a truly ground-breaking comedy which has been never before been realized on network television!
Warm Regards,
Gail Bleckman
Producing Partner,
Amdram Productions
- Bret “The Hitman” Hart stopped by Sirius XM Radio’s “Hip Hop Nation” studios for a one on one interview with Orlando Quinones where he talked about the U.S. release of his autobiography, “My Real Life In The Cartoon World of Wrestling“. The following video footage is in 2 parts: here
Excited for Foley, want to talk Bret’s new book? Talk here on our forums
Pinfall Recall Wrestling News Updates for October 10, 2008
WWE
WWE Related News from the FCW Taping
- Umaga returned to the ring at Thursday’s FCW TV taping.
- Batista, Kelly Kelly, and Chris Jericho all appeared at the FCW TV taping.
- Edge and Tomko were both in attendance at the taping but didn’t appear before the crowd.
Credit: 411mania.com
You wanna share your thoughts? Then simply check our forums.
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More Friday News
- Jim Ross has a new edition of his WWE.com Smackdown This! column up here or you can read it below.
- Bret Hart’s appearance on the Opie & Anthony Show today will be replayed on Sirius 197 and XM 202 at 3PM and 7:30PM ET.
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Greetings to all from under the black, custom made hat from WWE’s resident Okie, who has looked forward to this week much like many of us do for WrestleMania … it’s time for Saturday’s Oklahoma-Texas Red River Rivalry college football game in Dallas. More on that later, but now on to the ever-popular “Random Thoughts.” (Which is a metaphor for one not knowing exactly what to write about so one writes about many things.)
Even though the “World’s Angriest Announcer” and me had only two matches to broadcast at No Mercy, I personally enjoyed the pay-per-view and thought the fans in Portland helped elevate the presentation. The final three bouts of the pay-per-view, two of which were ironically, wink-wink, broadcast by the Friday Night SmackDown announce duo, really rocked and closed No Mercy on a noticeably, high note.
What are some of the things we may have learned at No Mercy? Here’s a short list:
* ECW Champion Matt Hardy is a legit, main eventer who has elevated his game. Matt is an overachiever who believes in himself, which is contrary to our American political system. Matt does really well when he isn’t dating a WWE Diva.
* No one seems to be sure what role WWE HOF’er Tony Atlas fulfills in Mark Henry’s world.
* Beth Phoenix is a winner but is her “better half” Santino Marella?
If you’d like to share your feelings on these topics, just check our forums.
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Returning WWE Star Spoiler
- Randy Orton vs. CM Punk is being advertised for WWE’s November European tour, an indication that he will be returning soon.
Credit: PWInsider.com
Wanna tell everyone how you already knew this was coming? Do it on our forums.
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WWE News with some Armageddon Spoilers
- Former TNA and current WWE developmental talent Sinn Bowdee is expected to debut shortly on Smackdown. WWE has already filmed several video packages for the debut, where he speaks in “carny.” It appears as if they will play off of his “strange look” and debut him during the Halloween season.
- The following matches are being advertised by the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY for the December WWE Armageddon PPV:
* World Title Match: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena vs. Batista
* WWE Title Match: Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Credit: Pwinsider.com
Wanna discuss this with other wrestling aficionados? Check our forums.
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From WWE.com:
STAMFORD, Conn., October 10, 2008 - In accordance with its Wellness Program, WWE has suspended Nick Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) for 30 days for his first violation of the company’s policy.
You’re not surprised, and neither are our forum members.
TNA
Want Some Friday TNA News?
- Traci Brooks has been added as the special referee for the Beautiful People and Cute Kip vs. Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan match.
- The Impact replay will air at 9am Saturday morning this week.
Credit: 411mania.com
If you’d like to talk about how much Rhaka Khan scares you too, check our forums.
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Christian Cage Interview
Christian Cage recently did an interview with Slam Magazine, which can be read here. Or you can read below:
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TORONTO, ON — Approaching his third anniversary in TNA Wrestling, Christian Cage has accomplished goals that many wrestlers wouldn’t be able to in their entire career. Rather than coast on his past achievements, though, Cage is looking for even more success in the future. This weekend’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view seems to him like the perfect launching pad.
“My goal? To get to the top,” he told SLAM! Wrestling while on a promotional stop in Toronto this past week for Viewers Choice Canada. “I want to have another long world title reign, and as champion, keep moving the company in a forward direction, continue on with good house show business and pay-per-views and things like that.”
For Cage, wearing the belt one more time — since coming to TNA, he’s twice won the NWA Heavyweight Championship — is more than simply being recognized as a great wrestler. “When you’re the champion,” he explained, “it shows that the company has the trust in you to be the face of the company, to represent it, and to be the measuring stick by which everybody else is compared. You become the centerpiece of the company.”
Cage won’t get the chance to win the belt at this weekend’s pay-per-view, however, he will still be involved in a high-profile match. It was announced on TV this week that Cage will be competing in a three-way dance against A.J. Styles and Booker T. Beyond the match, there is an underlying storyline around this contest, one in which Cage will undoubtedly play a pivotal role. For the past few weeks, the company has been setting up an onscreen feud between its veterans and its younger stars (the main event of the PPV is one such affair, as Samoa Joe defends his TNA title against Sting). The concept of the feud isn’t entirely new — indeed, WCW tried a similar storyline in its waning months, where young up-and-comers squared off against veterans who had been in the company for years and refused to pass the torch — but Cage says that TNA’s version “is actually a bit different than how it was done before.”
“(In this case), the young guys were the first ones there. They were the building blocks for the company that took the opportunity to make it into something even before anybody even really knew who they were. When (the veterans) saw there was something here, that’s when they jumped over and tried to take all the glory for it, saying that it was because of them that the company has a Spike TV deal and monthly pay-per-views, and that without them, the younger guys wouldn’t be becoming household names. I think it’s going to be more interesting this time around.”
Cage hasn’t yet picked a side in the feud, and it’s expected that his allegiance will be revealed in the Booker-AJ match. “I’m the guy who’s just sort of become a veteran and stepped up to a spot where a younger guy would be trying to get. But I’m not too far removed from being that young guy who was looking to step up and take that spot. I’m playing it in the middle right now, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
No matter which way he sides, Cage is sure that the fans in attendance will let their reactions be known, as he has nothing but praise for the Chicago crowds. “I think Chicago fans are comparable to those in Toronto, in that they really get into the shows. They really support the talent and have an appreciation that (we’re) there to entertain them, and they let you know what they like and don’t like, and that’s what it’s all about.” When the crowd feels like they’re part of the show, he elaborated, it always leads to a better product. “They feel more attached to it, rather than when they just watch it at home like a soap opera or a sitcom every week,” he said.
For this reason, Cage likes the direction TNA has been taking over the past couple of years, whereby increasingly, pay-per-views are being held outside of the company’s home studios in Orlando. It’s important to do so, he said, if the company wants to continue to grow. “Eventually, you take it to the masses, and give the people who are watching the show the experience to watch it live. We have to do whatever we can to get as big as possible, and make the shows intriguing for our fans. If we can do that, they will want to tune in and come to our shows, and the rest will take care of itself.”
That will not only help TNA specifically, but the wrestling business as a whole, and that’s of paramount importance to Cage, as he’s hoping to be active in the business as long as he can, whether it’s in-ring or otherwise.
“I’m going to keep (wrestling) as long as I can stay healthy — knock on wood, I’ve never had a major serious injury. After that, I would definitely love to pass on to younger guys whatever I’ve learned, whether it’s with promos or announcing or training. It feels good to be in a position to be able to help guys out, and especially guys who have a hunger to learn and to step up and want to go far in the business — it’s humbling, but it’s nice.”
“Beyond that, I’ve always said that I would do it until it wasn’t fun anymore. Once it became like a real job, maybe then it will be time to hang it up and do something else. But when you’re walking into the ring every day and still say to yourself that you love your job, then there’s no reason to quit.”
If you’d like a chance to voice your opinion on Christian do so on our forums.
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Is Impact the New Thunder?
When I started reading Josh’s column, I found that while there were some points that I agreed with, there would some that I couldn’t disagree with more. So as I went to reply to his forum post and tell him as much, my reply grew to column length, I changed my plans, and have posted this counterpoint instead.
While it is true that many past WWE and old WCW guys have gone to TNA, in most cases it was because they were already WWE cast-offs (Gail Kim, Jeff Hardy at the time, Rhino, Daivari, Matt Morgan, Tomko, Raven, Hemme, D-Lo, Killings, Ken Shamrock, etc), fallout from the death of WCW (Sting, Nash, Ramon, and to an extent, Jarret) or guys that felt screwed or restrained by the WWE in some way (Cristian Cage, the Dudleys, Booker T, and the “too stupid to take a break so I’m not paralyzed” Kurt Angle.)
While it was exciting to watch all of these guys come in to TNA, the fact of the matter is that none of them really bumped ratings at all. While TNA’s rating has been slowly (very slowly) but surely been growing in their desired demographics, even beating their best two weeks ago, their overall rating has barely moved for the past two years, which is a sign that they have a very solid niche audience that will always watch, but they really aren’t getting any attention from the majority of the WWE audience. Foley would have even less of an impact than Angle had, and that is hard for me to say because he is one of my all-time favorites. But Foley isn’t even the WWE draw that he used to be. TNA just wants him because he is a big part of WWE history that they can tout as another “big” pull from WWE. It seems clear that TNA is just trying to be WWE, while claiming to be the alternative.
Their solution to this so far has been to bring on people instrumental to WWE’s past success, both in the form of talent and bookers (Vince Russo), in an attempt to emulate that style. And that is exactly why we are seeing some of the same mistakes being made. TNA is also willing too give these big past WWE stars some creative control, which is always hurtful to the product, and only serves to grow the egos of already established names while preventing the growth of future assets to TNA. What TNA is failing to do in most cases is grow their own talent, and in the cases where they succeed, they manage to hurt them again. Samoa Joe was nearly unstoppable, but the right time to give him the belt came and went over and over again, and when he finally got the strap, it was too late, and didn’t have nearly the same impact. This type of story rings true all over TNA’s recent history.
If you want proof that they aren’t pushing and growing their own talent correctly, let’s look at the past couple years. For a long time, two of the biggest and most successful tag teams in TNA were the Dudleys (not TNA homegrown) and BG James and Kip (not TNA homegrown). In fact, another very successful tag team, LAX, was managed by Konnan, who of course is also not TNA Homegrown. The first Knockout Champion? Gail Kim, who is certainly not TNA Homegrown. How about the World Championship? Let’s look at the list of champions from the very first TNA champion until today. In fact, I’ll even post the order.
- Ken Shamrock
- Ron Killings
- Jeff Jarrett
- A.J. Styles
- Jeff Jarrett
- A.J. Styles
- Ron Killings
- Jeff Jarrett
- A.J. Styles
- Raven
- Jeff Jarrett
- Rhino
- Jeff Jarrett
- Christian Cage
- Jeff Jarrett
- Sting
- Abyss
- Christian Cage
- Kurt Angle
- Sting
- Kurt Angle
- Samoa Joe
If you look at that list, there are only three people in TNA’s HISTORY who can be considered TNA Homegrown stars. AJ Styles, Abyss, and Samoa Joe. Every other champion (Shamrock, Killings, Jarrett, Raven, Rhino, Cage, Sting, and Angle) came from other companies. Even more incriminating, if you look at all of the championship reigns since June 19th of 2005, which is just a bit more than 3 years back, there have been 13 different title reigns, 11 of which have been non-TNA homegrown Stars. Only 2, Abyss and Samoa Joe, have been TNA groomed. I think that more then proves that they aren’t growing their own talent, which is the same problem that WCW had, and ultimately led to its demise.
Now I will agree that TNA has improved, and I’ll be the first person to tell you that WWE certainly has its share of problems, not the least of which is booking their shows so heavily on a few people that they cripple themselves when an injury hits. But I heavily disagree that Raw has become stale. It has greatly improved since the draft, and while not the A show (that firmly sits with Smackdown at the moment), they have taken great strides to improve the product. I don’t even think they will be as badly damaged by the injuries as they would have been before the draft. But compared to WWE, TNA is having major growing pains. They are at that point in their “youth” where they just want to copy the big kids. But in a few years, if they survive to grow out of it, there will be potential for some real competition. They just need to improve their own product to go side-by-side with the talent from other organizations to make it happen.
Editor’s Note: Do you agree with Me or Josh? Let us know on the forum! You can find a discussion board dedicated to this point-counterpoint right here!
Is Thursday the new Monday? (Potential Spoilers)
Hey PFRCers,
JG here to bring you a very important question… Is Thursday the new Monday? I don’t know about y’all, but I haven’t been having too much fun watching Monday Night RAW lately, especially with John Cena now being out (not that I’m such a big Cena mark, but he def brought energy to the show), and motorcylcle-accident-faking Randy Orton coming back this coming Monday. In fact, let’s run down for a second what happened last week on RAW…
CM Punk v. JBL (Punk wins), more Kane Kraziness, Kelly Kelly beats Beth Phoenix (WTF??), Primo Colon beats Charlito (WTF again?), More Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho awesomeness (which leads to Shawn getting his tricep seriously torn), Priceless beats Lawler and Duggan (again…), more with Cryme Tyme and Pricelss (which I do like), Santino beats Kofi with Beth’s help (again…), and Batista beats Kane by DQ.
Honestly folks, how stale and shitty has Monday night RAW become? It’s supposed to be the A show, but I’m slowly and surely finding myself watch more and more of Smackdown (esp with the current Undertaker angle), and I’m DEFINITELY watching TNA, which brings us to the true topic at hand.
TNA is on Thursday nights here in the good ol’ USA, and I’ll be damned if they aren’t putting on a better show than WWE has in quite some time. TNA has shown that they’re willing to push everything to the limit, including physicality, athleticism, and comedy. If you ask this old man, Thursday has definitely become the new Monday for me.
First of all, let’s mention the TNA Knockouts. These girls are absolutely RIDICULOUS. Awesome Kong is just that… AWESOME. She’s basically a female Mark Henry, but with the ability to actually wrestle and DOMINATE her opponents. The best part is that she can also actually sell her opponents and let them get some good rights and some good moves in. The girls are almost as tenacious as the guys in the high flying, the stiff shots, and the great show-person-ship (??). I don’t know if any of you watch the commercials during the show, but in one particular commercial they (the knockouts) all talk about how they don’t do lingerie fights, and they don’t do bra and panty matches because “that crap is for Divas”. They also talk about how they truly risk THEIR bodies and are willing to do what it takes to be a TRUE knockout. They aren’t kidding. ODB might be a disgusting tub of goo to look at, but she really takes it to her opponents. She about beat Awesome Kong half stupid (which I’m aware would’ve made her officially retarded) on Thursday night in their little post-squash brawl. “The Beautiful People” are fucking great on the mic… they need A LOT of work in the ring, but on the mic they are golden. Unfortunately we see Kip James acting the part that we all knew was true as he’s their gay advisor (Cute Kip). I am actually really excited to see a knockout match on TNA and there’s even been talk about giving them their own show and to tell you the truth, I would watch it in a heartbeat.
The X Division is also bringing their game fully loaded as you would expect. These guys put WWE cruiserweights to shame (mainly because they’re allowed to do awesome moves) as they fling and fly and zip about the ring so fast at times that it makes you feel like you can’t handle all the action happening. Sheik Abdul Bashir (Daivari) has been generating some SERIOUS heat over on TNA and has successfully been putting himself in feuds with “The Maple Leaf Muscle” Petey Williams, and Consequences Creed (which is basically a Harlem Globetrotter that wrestles). We basically get to watch the old days of wrestling back when the Iron Sheik was there. The international feud is something that TNA is NOT afraid to use to their advantage and the crowd goes right with it. The good news is Daivari is so good on the mic that he could draw heat from even the smartest of smarks. “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal is also so good at the whole “Macho Man” Randy Savage impression (including the facial expressions) that I really feel like I’m watching Randy again and to be honest that makes me mark out a little. The feud that’s going on currently with Jay Lethal and “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt is so amazing that last week Jay speared Sonjay into a love seat (during Karen’s Angle — great name for a segment btw) and tipped it over. It was one of the most fun segments that I’ve ever seen.
Speaking of Karen’s Angle we got a good view of Abyss (or Chris Parks… or maybe Mankind, I’m not sure) being crazy and psychotic and reading a “love poem” that he wrote for Karen Angle which ended in him giving his hair to Karen as a “gift”. While we’re talking impressions we also have Shark Boy who now wears a vest (a la “Stone Cold” Steve Austin) and even talks like him claiming that he’s going to “stop a fishing hole in your ass” which cracks my shit up. We have Jim Cornette backstage talking about people’s shelf-lives coming up and that they “wish them well in their future endeavors” (he even did a finger quote obviously jabbin at the “E” and was clearly referencing Gail Kim as she’s expected to return to WWE). We also have Curry Man who I swear is supposed to be mocking Scotty 2 Hotty though unfortunately he doesn’t do The Worm, and Super-Eric which is Eric in a super hero outfit (which might be compared to Owen Hart as The Blue Blazer). We need to also make mention that TNA is a place where lots and lots of WWE/WCW talent is either BEING drawn or HAS BEEN drawn. Let’s make a list (off the top of my head) of the past or current WWE stars either in currently or have been in TNA: Jeff Jarrett, Sting, Gail Kim (even though she’s going back), Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Booker T and Charmel, The Dudley Boyz, Shannon Moore, Matt Morgan, Raven, Christy Hemme, Christian Cage, Rhino, Taylor Wilde, “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, “Razor Ramon” Scott Haul, CM Punk, Kaz, AJ Styles (WCW), “The Fallen Angel”/”Curry Man” Christopher Daniels (WCW) and I’m sure there are more but I have a headache so that’s all you get right now. Anyway, as you can see… with that much WWE/WCW talent coming over to TNA, of course they’re going to draw some of the audience with them. Hell, even Mick Foley has talked about doing a couple of PPVs for TNA; tell me that wouldn’t be a ratings booster! If TNA continues on the track they’re on now… they’ll be a true competitive force and hopefully can start another Monday Night war. Let’s see WWE remain PG if that happens 
Any which way about it, I’m pretty happy that TNA is now taking a bit of a more direct shot at WWE and backing it up with actions and great shows. Even though they’re pushing WWE in the schoolyard, they’re still putting on fantastic shows which is something that can easily get lost when you’re trying to beat up a bully. TNA is standing strong and most likely within the next 3-5 years will make a major step in WWE’s back yard and start eating all the hot dogs at the cookout. Start watching (if you don’t) right now. If you can’t get the station, then download the damn shows, but start watching because TNA is bringing a product that you can’t possibly miss. If you love wrestling and you’re willing to be able to laugh and still see great sports entertainment, then start watching TNA. I’m sure that if you start watching, or if you do watch you might be able to agree with me that Thursday is indeed the new Monday.
That’s all for now PFRCers. Comment as you’d like and feel free to chat about my column on the forums! Direct any questions or comments specifically for me to the JG Columns and Interactions board in the Direct Connect section of the forum. Remember to listen to our show from two weeks ago and also to read the forum stuff at http://www.pinfallrecall.com/smf/ We’re BACK BITCHES!
JG is out for now guys, PEACE!