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Rich

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Thank you for the recap TUP it was an enjoyable read.    

I definitely LOL'd at the Ernie Todd tapping out Dan Severn...  the ego is hilarious.  

WFX did have good indy names on the show mixed with legends and recently dropped WWE talent.    It was a good mix and had some good local talent.   It was doomed to fail because I counted maybe 250 people tops at one of the first shows and they had easily a dozen maybe even more names on the show.   Just to transport itself would of been a tonne of cash.   They did have a proper television production crew and the facility was great for wrestling.      I assume it failed because of poor advertising.    

The highlight of my WFX experience was watching Teddy Hart nearly losing it because a fan booed his shooting star press.   I thought he was going to cork the kid in the face but at the last second he pat the guy on the shoulder....  Teddy Hart was a super weird dude to meet.  

I've yet to go to a PCW show,   my friends have gone.   They did say that it used to be way over the top hardcore where fans brought weapons and everyone bladed... that's what mostly made me avoid going to the shows back in the day since I was more into wrestling then the hardcore stuff.   

I also found that the behind the scenes drama of local wrestling was way more entertaining then the in ring product.   The non pro local wrestlers took everything way to seriously and they almost made it seem like going to a rival show was going to commence some kind of massive brawl a la the movie the Warriors.   I found the drama to be hilarious and very Trailer Park Boys like.    

 

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2 hours ago, bigg jay said:

You would have loved the moondogmanson forums then.  It was both entertaining and disgusting back in the day.

No love for RME in that recap TUP?  Lol ?

Is RME = Ringmasters?   If so I had a load of fun at those shows... the bar shows out in the country were so hilarious that you couldn't script them if you tried. 

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12 hours ago, Brandon said:

Thank you for the recap TUP it was an enjoyable read.    

I definitely LOL'd at the Ernie Todd tapping out Dan Severn...  the ego is hilarious.  

WFX did have good indy names on the show mixed with legends and recently dropped WWE talent.    It was a good mix and had some good local talent.   It was doomed to fail because I counted maybe 250 people tops at one of the first shows and they had easily a dozen maybe even more names on the show.   Just to transport itself would of been a tonne of cash.   They did have a proper television production crew and the facility was great for wrestling.      I assume it failed because of poor advertising.    

The highlight of my WFX experience was watching Teddy Hart nearly losing it because a fan booed his shooting star press.   I thought he was going to cork the kid in the face but at the last second he pat the guy on the shoulder....  Teddy Hart was a super weird dude to meet.  

I've yet to go to a PCW show,   my friends have gone.   They did say that it used to be way over the top hardcore where fans brought weapons and everyone bladed... that's what mostly made me avoid going to the shows back in the day since I was more into wrestling then the hardcore stuff.   

I also found that the behind the scenes drama of local wrestling was way more entertaining then the in ring product.   The non pro local wrestlers took everything way to seriously and they almost made it seem like going to a rival show was going to commence some kind of massive brawl a la the movie the Warriors.   I found the drama to be hilarious and very Trailer Park Boys like.    

 

We are the least hardcore promotion in Manitoba and always have been.  In fact, we rarely even have a DQ! lol  They must have only shown up to a specific show that featured a Fans Bring The Weapons match, which we have done....2-3 times in 15 years.  But the idea of a weapons match is that the fans bring amusing or unique things.  For example, I've seen French Bread, Pumpkin, keyboards (always explode nicely), old Nintendo, that sort of thing.  Not ECW style violence.

Or they confused us with someone else.  Since 2003, we've been the "worker" promotion where its more focused on ROH/X Division style athletics and work (not everyone is that good, so Im not saying we're that level, but you know what I mean).

Im not sure what you mean by "non-pro" locals.  Do you mean guys that never trained and do backyard shows?  Virtually everyone that appears for a legitimate local company is considered a "pro" (unless its a guest spot like Troy Westwood, Doug Lunney etc) and even then, they train for the match.   I dont think guys take it anymore seriously than any small business group would take their business and competition.  Some crappy wrestlers have thought they were better than they were but you can probably say the same about most industries.  lol

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8 hours ago, Brandon said:

Is RME = Ringmasters?   If so I had a load of fun at those shows... the bar shows out in the country were so hilarious that you couldn't script them if you tried. 

The problem with RME is Im not sure they ever scripted anything...

Jokes aside, Im friendly with their former owner EZ Ryder as he works for PCW now.  But yeah, I forgot about RME, thanks @bigg jay lol

RME would slide in around 2002.  They actually started up almost the same time we did, just after I think.  in the US, ROH and TNA also started up the same time (trivia note).

I recall sitting in our offices on Pembina HWY when RME announced they were starting up and we thought "oh boy, here's some competition".  Their owner has inherited some money (or so the story goes) and bought a fantastic ring and custom made belts.  And we thought, these guys look really professional.  Then they announced their roster and it was basically...the promoter was friends with certain guys and regardless of how good they might be, those were going to be the guys they pushed on top.  So we werent concerned about them at that point.  They had some good talent sprinkled throughout the roster but just not enough.  And their promoter was a really nice guy but even his friends in the locker room said he was completely clueless about wrestling. 

I was really critical of them for a time because I felt, any fans they draw will never be convinced to go see anyone else because they'll assume this is "wrestling" in Winnipeg and not worth it.  Eventually I realized they werent going away so I offered to do a joint show with them and they declined.

It all climaxed when I was asked to do a live debate with one of their guys on a local campus radio station.  The night before, RME had a show and the talk was about what this guy would do to me on the radio so he arrived all hyped up, barely able to speak he was so adrenalized and basically after a few minutes threatened to fight me.  I laughed and he physically attacked me in the radio booth.  We brawled for a bit and then he sat down and said now I can shake your hand. lol  So maybe there's an example of someone taking it too seriously ;-)

RME eventually just ran less and less shows and then no shows and quietly disappeared.  I got together with their owner, EZ Ryder, and we made a deal for him to come to PCW and that was that. 

As I recall, RME had one footnote concerning CWE.  The core CWE group was made up of four guys that had been PCW regulars.  When we switched venues in 2008 and took a couple months off in the process, they asked to renegotiate their deal to stay with PCW.  It didnt work out and they went to RME where they were by far the best talent RME had.  They went in under the assumption that they'd have freedom to re-invent RME in their image...better work, more athletic, etc.  But it didnt happen.  So they decided to start their own promotion, CWE. 

The behind the scenes stuff is really interesting and not just locally.  Its literally the same, just on a different scale, in WWE and everywhere else. 

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So the on air radio fight was not a work?  I remember my roommate at the time playing it and we thought it was just good radio?

Also the non pro locals comment is more so for the guys who went to a few classes and then were put into a ring way before they should of been.  Also having the attitude that they were legit wrestlers despite not being able to put on a quality match. I fondly remember someone attempting to do the lion sault and slipping on the rope and sacking himself,  it was hilarious to watch both the guy writhe in pain and the promoter shake his head.   

 

 

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25 minutes ago, Brandon said:

So the on air radio fight was not a work?  I remember my roommate at the time playing it and we thought it was just good radio?

Also the non pro locals comment is more so for the guys who went to a few classes and then were put into a ring way before they should of been.  Also having the attitude that they were legit wrestlers despite not being able to put on a quality match. I fondly remember someone attempting to do the lion sault and slipping on the rope and sacking himself,  it was hilarious to watch both the guy writhe in pain and the promoter shake his head.   

 

 

Not a work.  I have a transcript somewhere.  It was hilarious.  I was too much of a jerk to those guys back then.  I did later offer that guy (D-ick Walker) a spot but he didnt like the idea and declined.  I had two ideas for him.  His partner was named Bugsy Slugliano so I said we'd change his name to Balls and they'd be **** Walker & Balls Slugliano - **** & Balls.  Didnt like that.  We also had a young kid named Jay Walker so I wanted to bring in **** Walker as his Uncle.  Jay even cut promos referring to his Uncle ****.  Didnt like that either.  boooo

haha, I found the transcript.  I'll only include the part where the fight breaks out because its long.

This was around 2009 live on the air on U of W's radio station.

Andrew is me.

**** is **** Walker, local wrestler for RME.

Mike is Mike Arnott, host of the radio show (still works for PCW).

Wayne is Wayne Stanton, long time local promoter (River City Wrestling). 

Quote

Andrew: When you sent an email to Mike Arnott, you made reference to wanting to come on this show because of people with no knowledge or the love of the business like you and you're talking about either Wayne, Mike Arnott or myself and quite frankly I don't think you've done anything in the business to question Wayne or myself...

****: I'm not questioning Wayne.

Andrew: You want to question me?

****: Yeah I am because you question the boys...

Andrew: Question me on what?

****: You question the boys all the ****** time.

Andrew: What boys do I question?

****: Everyone...

Andrew: In what way? Because the show is the shits? Because your best friend, your best friend couldn't book his way out of a wet paperbag and the boys lose...

****: ****** say that again and I'll ****** strangle you...

Mike: We are losing control here on Winnipeg's only wrestling radio show.

Andrew: Your best friend couldn't book his way out of a wet paper bag. Okay? And you have yet to strangle me.

Music begins playing

Andrew: Oh you wanna go?

background yelling

Mike: This is Winnipeg's Only wrestling radio show. It is the most uncontrollable show on radio today.

****: Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are?

Mike: Thank you for joining us here on the squared circle

Andrew: **** Walker is a never was, never going anywhere...

****: I know that! I know! I'm a local flunky!

Andrew: You come on here and act like...and do nothing and when I ***** slap you you still do nothing.

Mike: This is live folks! Live on Winnipegs only wrestling radio show.

Andrew: Come on ****...

Mike: Wayne, get outta the way! Hey, Hey!

Music continues, some yelling in the background

Mike: Ladies and gentleman, I am not kidding you, we have an actual fist fight breaking out in the studio here.

???: I have a question...

Mike: **** Walker, Andrew Shallcross sit down, sit down for two minutes because we still have five minutes left on this radio show and you guys are coming to blows...wait wait...**** Walker, I have no problem with you. I think...I've only known you for an hour...

****: He insulted my ****** friend

Mike: I have no problem with you...

****: He insulted my friend..that's why people hate his guts because he gets insulting...

Mike: Why? Wait, wait wait ****, ****...

Andrew: He's the booker and he can't book

****: Don't insult people.

Mike: Wait, wait wait, two minutes.

****: Don't insult people. Don't make it personal.

Andrew: It's not personal! He's the booker and he cant book. That's not a personal insult.

****: He's booked two shows, prick!

????

****: I don't know, he booked Canada Day

Andrew: The boys didn't even like it

****: I don't care if the boys didn't like it. The boys aren't important. The fans, the fans are important.

Mike: Okay, you have a point there, ****. The fans are more important. Okay you guys, I didn't want this...

Andrew: The development of the guys is also important. You know ****, you come here and you huff and puff but you really have nothing to say.

That makes me laugh.  Every few years I send it to people and we laugh and laugh. lol

By the way, the show airing after us had already come into the station and were sitting in an adjoining room with a window into the studio.  So they saw the whole thing and called security.  Security came and wanted to call the cops but Mike convinced them it was a work to hype the show.  lol  Mike did get suspended for salty language.

Also, I fully admit I was a jerk at times.  I would handle the debate totally differently today.  I think this was the 3rd or 4th time people had "challenged" me to debate wrestling live on the air thinking since I wasnt a wrestler I shouldnt be in the business.  So I was generally ready to be on the defensive.

But I mean...yeah people take it seriously.  This was the first actual fist fight I'd seen over wrestling although I know of, and been involved in, a few heated exchanges and near fights.  But you also have to remember this isnt like two small business minding their own business.  Locally, there used to be a TON of dirty tricks to screw your competitor.  Doesnt happen anymore, fortunately.

Also, can we change the moderation so **** isnt screened out?  Its a name! lol

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11 minutes ago, Brandon said:

That's hilarious and more entertaining then what I've ever watched locally lol.  

I also can't picture Dirty D Walker being a guy wanting to fight,  he seemed to be a nice and non confrontational type of guy.  

Yeah but to be fair haven't we all wanted to punch TUP at one point or another?

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45 minutes ago, Brandon said:

That's hilarious and more entertaining then what I've ever watched locally lol.  

I also can't picture Dirty D Walker being a guy wanting to fight,  he seemed to be a nice and non confrontational type of guy.  

He was really hyped up by his guys. Lots of tough talk so he was sort of in a no win scenario.  It made for great radio! And like I said, I talked with him a couple of times about coming in so no hard feelings. 

The best part, and it’s not in that transcript snippet as it was a bit later, he admitted the booking did suck after all. Lol  

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Omega/Jericho received 5 Stars.

The opening to the Observer newsletter this week, which is always worth subscribing to if you like news, behind the scenes and especially analysis of the business:

Quote

Wrestle Kingdom 12, headlined by Kazuchika Okada’s retaining the IWGP title over Tetsuya Naito and Kenny Omega beating Chris Jericho in a U.S. title match was the biggest non-WWE pro wrestling event on a worldwide basis since the collapse of WCW.

The 1/4 show at the Tokyo Dome kicked off the year with what is likely to be a strong candidate for best show of the year, just as Wrestle Kingdom had won the same award in 2015 and 2016, and was a favorite to make it three in a row in 2017.

Whether the wrestling was as good as the other years is debatable, but for a number of reasons, this show was far bigger, in both attendance, market value and overall interest.

The appearance of Jericho brought a new fan base that watched new Japan for the first time, either on New Japan World, AXS TV or through other means. It wasn’t just the idea that a WWE star was facing a New Japan star in the “Alpha vs. Omega” match, but the brilliance in which the angle played out. You could have a bigger WWE star like Roman Reigns, John Cena or Brock Lesnar face a New Japan star, and it’s extremely doubtful they’d have drawn the same money just because the angles and storylines wouldn’t have been as good. It wasn’t WWE vs. New Japan that was the main draw, although it was an underlying theme. It was more a newly-reinvented Jericho and the series of angles that built to the match, combined with Omega becoming such a strong underground draw in the U.S. It was also the work of serious hard promotion.

 

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Meltzer summarizes the WWE TV situation.  Their contract is up next year but they want to finalize a new deal by spring.  And Hunter has had meeting with FOX.  The speculation is FOX wants WWE if they dont re-sign UFC.  The talk is they'd move RAW back to 2 hours but put it on the main FOX network with SD on FS1.  And with Fox behind it, it would push the Network higher.

The other option is FOX might be interested in buying WWE outright so they never have to worry about TV rights fees again or losing a product they invest in. They were interested in UFC until the bidding went beyond $3.5 Billion.   I dont know what WWE would command for a sale price but it would surely be beyond $2 Billion.  I'd suspect in the $3 billion range.

If they got a UFC-level offer, they'd almost surely sell because they're obligated to be responsible to their shareholders and its ridiculous generational money for the family.  Viacom has always expressed interest in owning wrestling but not necessarily WWE (Im not sure what that would entail because if you were going to buy any of the smaller brands like TNA or ROH there Im not sure there's a ton of value in buying them rather then starting from scratch other then 16 years of video library to use as content).

In 2004 the non-compete Ted Turner had on him expired and he explored starting up.  He was always a wrestling fan and had a special affinity for WCW feeling it was the foundation upon which he built TBS.  Which is why he kept WCW even when it lost money and was willing to invest when Eric Bischoff presented a vision to beat WWE.  He lost power in the series of Turner mergers and had no control over WCW when it was sold.  His people estimated a $50 million loss for start up and losses in growing a wrestling promotion from scratch and that number made Turner walk away.

If I was an executive with FOX or Viacom or whomever and they wanted wrestling but not WWE, I'd suggest buying ROH if the price was right because of the content (tons of WWE stars).  But Sinclair Broadcasting is a massive media company themselves and unlikely to sell ROH.  Impact would be virtually useless to buy, again, outside the video library but there is negative value to the TNA brand in my opinion.

Speaking of Impact, there TV tapings are happening this week under the new leadership of Don Callis.  Back to the 4 sided ring (thankfully, six sided ring is stupid) and

Spoiler

Austin Aries returned to Win the World Championship

Also, as discussed previously, Winnipeg's Candice Le Rae has signed with WWE after passing medicals.

And two names rumoured for the Women's Rumble are

Spoiler

Molly Holly & Michelle McCool

Kenny Omega signed a new contract with New Japan.  They sign one year deals so he's locked up til Jan 31 2019 now.  I joked with him last year that he should make his contract expire the day before the Rumble instead of a few days later just to watch the Internet go insane. 

Cody Rhodes announced the Bullet Club show "All In" for September 1st.  This came about because Dave Meltzer said no indy promotion could draw 10,000 in the US and Cody took the challenge.  The Bucks, Omega, Stephen Amell (TV's Arrow) are all confirmed and rumours have it as possibly the first Kenny vs Cody match in the main event.  Rumoured location is Chicago (one of the placed Omega got added to an ROH show and massively increased ticket sales).

Its interesting timing because its also the weekend of PWG's BOLA tournament which always draws big for Indy fans and has a lot of big indy names working.  But Cody had to clear the weekend when ROH and New Japan had no shows.  Its a long weekend allowing for travel for fans easier as well (Im interested in going myself).  And Daniel Bryan's contract expires at the end of September.  Thought had been they'd wait til his contract expired and his appearance would be the big draw. 

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3 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Alicia Fox signs a new 3 year contract.  Good for her.  She's great.

Likely will never be champion but she is very funny and actually quite good in the ring.  Knows her role and plays it perfectly.

I could do without all the screaming but that's a complaint I've had for years about many "divas"... I'm grateful I don't have to listen to Summer Rae wailing in the ring anymore.

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Paige's wrestling career with the WWE is over due to a neck injury. I saw the video of how she was injured. Paige was kicked in the back by Sasha Banks. While it was a somewhat stiff kick, it wasn't that hard. If that caused her injury then she had no business being in the ring in the first place as it was inevitable she'd get hurt again. On social media, some fans are harshly criticizing Banks for kicking Paige that way but again, it was hardly her fault. Anyway, WWE won't allow her to compete so her career may be over permanently.

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28 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Paige's wrestling career with the WWE is over due to a neck injury. I saw the video of how she was injured. Paige was kicked in the back by Sasha Banks. While it was a somewhat stiff kick, it wasn't that hard. If that caused her injury then she had no business being in the ring in the first place as it was inevitable she'd get hurt again. On social media, some fans are harshly criticizing Banks for kicking Paige that way but again, it was hardly her fault. Anyway, WWE won't allow her to compete so her career may be over permanently.

Being compared to Edge’s injury. Which would really suck. She’s very young. Maybe in time she can come back. 

As for the spot. It’s tough. Paige has her back to Sasha so she can’t see the kick coming. Sasha has to be really light and careful. But she’s striking the “meaty” part of the back flat footed. 

But paige already had a bad neck. To me it looks like the whiplash effect might have done the damage. 

Sasha has hurt people and herself. And is considered reckless. So...watch out for her getting buried. 

Paige is such a pro that she kept trying to work. You can see her shaking both arms as they went numb and still tries to continue to work.

 

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2 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Being compared to Edge’s injury. Which would really suck. She’s very young. Maybe in time she can come back. 

As for the spot. It’s tough. Paige has her back to Sasha so she can’t see the kick coming. Sasha has to be really light and careful. But she’s striking the “meaty” part of the back flat footed. 

But paige already had a bad neck. To me it looks like the whiplash effect might have done the damage. 

Sasha has hurt people and herself. And is considered reckless. So...watch out for her getting buried. 

Paige is such a pro that she kept trying to work. You can see her shaking both arms as they went numb and still tries to continue to work.

 

In fairness to Banks, that kick isn't any worse than being thrown hard into the turnbuckle or coming off some aerial move like coming off the top rope or wrestlers landing on a group of wrestlers outside the ring. I will say that the kicks you see in today's matches are ridiculous. The Japanese wrestler who injured Brian Kendrick & the other injuries suffered. Kicks to the head should be banned. There's a guy in NXT who all he does is kick. Wrestlers are getting injured. 

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20 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

It’s different when you’re in control vs your opponent. When running into the turnbuckles you control your bump. 

In many stiff kicks there is no whiplash effect. For example kicking a seated opponent. I really think it was the whiplash here. 

For sure. but still it looks like her neck was screwed up before & that's why the kick did the damage.

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