THE WRESTLING

PRESS ISSuE 14
Message from the Editor
W
ell, who would have ever
May 2011 imagined that the Rated R
Superstar would have retired
FRONT COVER on the 11th April 2011 edition of Monday
Edge by John Smolek Night Raw. It was another one of those
incredibly real and emotional moments
that now and again wrestling can
provide.
EDITOR & While Adam “Edge” Copeland not have
ADVERTISING gone out on his own terms, there isn’t a
Darren Wood much better way to fade into the sunset
dtwooduk@hotmail.com than retiring as a world champion and
successfully defending your title at
Wrestlemania? He can now spend time
with his family and enjoy life knowing that
ONLINE EDITOR
he has accomplished great things in the wrestling industry.
David Schmida His retirement leaves a major spot open in the main event scene, who
dschmida@hotmail.com will fill that vacancy? Only time will tell, but it definitely is going to be
interesting who WWE feels can make the leap towards the main event.
To coincide with this shocking announcement, inside this latest issue of
TWP, we detail Edge’s wrestling career in depth from his beginnings in
DESIGN & LAYOuT the wrestling business all the way through to the present day.
Greg Johnson
We also take an in depth look at the history of WWE Tough Enough;
ed@thewrestlingpress.com
delve into the future of iPPV and detail why TNA let their workers call
their own spots and promo’s in the ring.
Plus our feature interviews this month are with the voice of TNA Jeremy
Borash and WWE Hall of Famer “The million dollar man” Ted Dibiase
The Wrestling Press is an I’d also just like to announce the winners of last month’s competitions,
independent publication the winner of the signed Low Ki picture and t-shirt is Scott Downs.
and is in no way The winners of the WWE All Stars competition are Kevin Malton, Jeroen
endorsed by WWE, TNA Degens, Danielle Irving and Nicholls.
or UFC. The views
Last but not least, the winners of the JR’s BBQ sauce competition are
expressed by the writers
Moulvi, Michael Cole, James Shaw and Mark Sanchez.
do not necessarily
represent the views of Thanks to all who entered, our competition this month is to win 5 WWE
The Wrestling Press. No DVD’s, so get them answers coming in.
part of this publication I hope you enjoy May’s issue of TWP and once again as always feel free
may be reproduced to get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions for future TWP
without the written issues, you can e-mail me at dtwooduk@hotmail.com
permission of the
Adios,
publisher.
DARREN WOOD (Magazine Editor) – dtwooduk@hotmail.com
© Riot! Promotions 2011

2 www.thewrestlingpress.com
 CONTENTS May 2011
Web
update
4 THaNK YOU EdGE 54 sUPER 8 WITH davId scHmIda
Adam Copeland tribute ECWA’s 15th annual tournament
I'd like to take the
11 FROm aWEsOmE TO 58 daIcHI HasHImOTO time to welcome
aWFUL Unlimited potential? three new writers
Is Miz’s reign beyond repair after to TWP Online.
Wrestlemania? Walandi Tsantiridis
61 GREaT KNIGHTs FOR from Germany will
BRITaNNI provide you with
15 THE ROcK ON a ROLL? Pro Wrestling Eve Results his reviews of
Challenging Rock’s loyalty TNA's PPVs while
Stefano D'Alessio
64 cLaUdIO casTaGNOLI from Italy will keep
20 THE OTHER Pro Wrestling NOAH interview you updated on
WREsTLEmaNIa’s the Italian
Big time alternatives
68 aLPHa FEmaLE independent
Debut column from pro wrestler wrestling scene on
24 TEd dIBIasE INTERvIEW Jazz a monthly basis.
Recap from Dropkick Radio Andrew Dixon
from the UK
70 FIGHT cLUB FINLaNd 2011 introduced himself
30 TOUGH ENOUGH More from the Canadian Rebel to TWP Online
Chronicling the reality tv show with his article on
74 aBsOLUTE aNdY the Rock ‘N’
Wrestle festival
34 JEREmY BORasH German stand-out profiled
which includes a
INTERvIEW competition to win
Mr TNA on the UK wrestling market 78 UFc: THE YEaR aHEad tickets for the
Big news of 2011 - Part Two three-day event in
39 aNd I QUOTE... September and
Scrutinizing promo’s will continue to
80 REvIEWs cover different
DX One Last Stand areas here at
44 FILLING THE vOId TLC 2010 TWP Online.
Who can capitalise in Jeff Hardy’s WWE All Stars
These guys are
absence? Road Warriors
great additions to
Bruce Hart
our team and will
TNA Double Pack
48 THE WREsTLING PRIEsT help us offer you a
UFC 122 and 123
variety of articles
Dave Lagana is blessed!
touching a wide
90 THE WOLFE PIT range of subjects
50 dGUsa sPEaRHEads THE 30 year retrospect related to the sport
FUTURE OF INdY WREsTLING (or entertainment,
An eye on iPPV’s if you want) we
love.

www.thewrestlingpress.com 3
 THANK YOu,
EDGE!
adam cOPELaNd RE
TIREs

| Words JOHN MILNER |

“
N
o matter what, I came out
here and I tried to give
you guys as much as I
had every single night
and in turn, you guys gave it
right back to me.” Adam “Edge”
Copeland on Monday Night Raw
April 11th 2011.
It was the fall of 1997 when I first
saw Adam “Edge” Copeland.
Back then, he was still known as
Sexton Hardcastle and he main-
evented an independent show at
the Western Fair in London,
Ontario. On that afternoon, he
plied his trade in front of
perhaps 100-150 people. His
opponent was Jay Reso,
another youngster the wrestling
world would soon come to know,
who wrestled as Christian Cage.
By that point, Copeland had proven
himself on the independent circuit in
Ontario and Michigan, to the point
where WWE had come calling, signing

G
STEPPING INTO A WWE RIN
COM E TRuE,
WOuLD bE A DREAM
SILY
buT NOT ONE THAT CAME EA

Main picture © John Smolek

4 www.thewrestlingpress.com
him to a development deal. (Reso, who
would later portray his “brother” in
WWE, would soon sign a similar deal.)
For Adam Copeland, simply stepping
into a WWE ring would be a dream
come true, but not one that came
easily. Judy Copeland was a single
mother that worked two jobs to support
her son. It was she that accompanied
Adam to Wrestlemania VI on April 1st,
“
1990 at Toronto’s Skydome.
Copeland had grown up as a
wrestling fan, with favourites
including Ricky Steamboat,
Mr. Perfect and Hulk Hogan.
As he left the Skydome that
day, the young Adam had
decided he wanted to pursue
a career in pro wrestling.
“I saw Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate
Warrior and I said ‘I’m doing this one
day.’”
A door opened for him when he won an
essay contest, which led to his training
by Canadian wrestling legend Sweet
Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchinson. In
training under Hutchinson, he would
join a wresting alumni that includes
Christian, Tiger Ali Singh, Gail Kim and
Trish Stratus among others.
But being trained by Siki and
Hutchinson didn’t immediately translate
to a career in WWE. Making sure his
family was provided for came first, and
Adam worked several jobs before
heading to Humber College to earn a
diploma in radio broadcasting.
Copeland would, however, make his
way into the ring. As Sexton
Hardcastle, he began to win acclaim on
the independent circuit as a member of
Thug Life, an anti-American stable that
included his childhood friend Reso
(wrestling as Christian Cage), Joe E.
Legend (who would appear as “Just
Joe” in WWE in the late 1990s),
“Bloody Bill” Skullion and Rhino
Richards (who would appear in ECW,
WWE and TNA).
Hardcastle would team with Legend as
Sex and Violence and later with Cage
as Hard Impact, the Suicide Blondes
and, in Japan, as the Canadian
Rockers.
Copeland, Cage, Legend, Rhino and
others would take part in tours across
the frozen expanse of Northern
Ontario, driving across frozen lakes in
trips that would become legendary
amongst indy fans and workers. They
did so because they were dedicated to
their craft, bound together by a love of
wrestling and a dream of someday
making it to the big time of WWE.
For Copeland, the first taste of the big
time would be working for WCW (a TV
match against Kevin Sullivan and
Meng) and a dark match for WWE.
One of the people who witnessed that
dark match was Bret Hart.
The Hitman was impressed
enough with what he saw
out of his fellow Canadian
that he put in a good word
for the youngster,
and that led to
Copeland’s
developmental
contract.
Copeland
would further
his training under Dory
Funk in the Funking
Dojo alongside other
would-be wrestlers
who would later
become familiar
names to WWE fans,
including Marc Henry,
© TNA
www.thewrestlingpress.com 5

Christian © John Smolek
VEN
EDGE AND CHRISTIAN HAD PRO
T AS
THEY COuLD ENTERTAIN juS
M the Steve Austin-Triple match that served as
WELL AS THEY COuLD PERFOR
Marc Mero, Taka Michinoku, Tiger Ali Singh,
Ahmed Johnston and Sean Morley (Val Venis).
But while Sexton Hardcastle became a fixture in
WWE dark matches during the late winter and
early spring, vignettes for a mysterious loner
named Edge began appearing on WWE
programming.
“I’ve gone from being the silent guy running
around the streets of New York with a trench
coat that was way too small for him…”
6 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Adam Copeland’s morph from Sexton
Hardcastle to Edge was complete when he
claimed a victory over Jose Estrada, Jr. in his
television debut on the June 22nd edition of
Raw. And the youngster who had gone to a
pay-per-view in Toronto in 1990 would finally
appear on pay-per-view himself in 1998, when
he was Sable’s tag team partner against
“
Jacqueline and Marc Mero for SummerSlam.
Initially a face character, that
changed when his feud with
Gangrel (David Heath) turned into a
partnership with the vampire-like
character and a debuting Christian
(Reso) to form the Brood.
“…to a pseudo-vampire in the Brood…”
The Brood would join and then depart the
Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness, and
Gangrel would also leave Edge and Christian
and, later, the WWE. But in turning on Edge
and Christian, Gangrel took his former
teammates into a feud with Matt and Jeff
Hardy.
History will little remember the series between
Edge/Christian and the Hardys as having
anything to do with the Brood, little more than
they will remember the Terri (Runnels)
Invitational Tournament. Instead, what fans will
remember are the exciting matches between
Edge and Christian and the Hardys that they
spawned. At No Mercy in October 1999, Edge
and Christian battled the Hardyz in a ladder
match that is still remembered far more than
the Main Event.
By Wrestlemania 2000, the Dudley Boyz, the
WWE Tag Team Championships had become
part of the picture, which only added to the
excitement. That day, the three teams took part
in a Triangle Ladder Match, and at
Wrestlemania X-Seven a year later, the three
teams repeated their impressive and death-
defying performances in the second TLC
(Tables, Ladders and Chairs) match. (The first
had taken place between the Hardyz, Dudleyz
and Edge/Christian at SummerSlam 2000.)
But between the two Wrestlemania’s, Edge and
Christian had proven they could entertain just
as well as they could perform. Ditching their
dark, Brood personas for that of goofy jokesters,
Edge and Christian soon became two of the
most entertaining characters on WWE
television, as they interacted with Mick Foley,
Kurt Angle and especially the live crowds.
“…to being one of the funny, goofy guys
along with Christian, posing for the benefit
of those with flash photography…”
During their partnership, Edge and Christian
won seven tag team titles together. But when
Edge won the King of the Ring in 2001, cracks
began to form in the partnership between and
Edge and Christian. Christian began to carry
around Edge’s King of the Ring trophy, but, it
would be out of jealousy, rather that pride.
Eventually, Christian would turn on his long-time
friend, and the two would feud over Edge’s
Intercontinental title he won from fellow
Canadian Lance Storm at SummerSlam 2001.
(Edge’s first Intercontinental title was a one-day
reign in July 1999. He won the title in his
hometown of Toronto but dropped it back to Jeff
Jarrett the next night at the Fully Loaded pay-
per-view.)
© WWF PR
www.thewrestlingpress.com 7
By the end of 2001, Edge was firmly established
as a singles competitor, feuding with Test and
William Regal over the Intercontinental
Championship, and later Booker T and Kurt
Angle. Drafted to Smackdown, Edge returned to
his tag roots, picking up WWE Tag Team gold
with his boyhood idol, Hulk Hogan, as well as
Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit.
In 2003, injuries (neck, groin) began to carve
great chunks of time out of Edge’s career. But
Edge was able to overcome these adversities,
returned as part of the Raw brand in the latter
part of 2004 and continued to make his way
towards the Main Event.
“…I knew I was wrestling on borrowed time
from that point on…”
While he would win Money in the Bank at
Wrestlemania in 2005, perhaps the biggest
news about Edge that year surrounded his real-
life relationship with Lita (Amy Dumas), who had
been involved with Matt Hardy, who was later
released by the company. Drawing off the
internet rumours surrounding the situation, the
WWE paired Lita and Edge together and when
Hardy returned, the two men battled in a feud
where the lines between reality and sports
entertainment were blurred. Edge got the upper
hand in the feud, sending Hardy to Smackdown
after one match.
A brief feud with Ric Flair culminated in a match
at New Year’s Revolution 2006. Edge lost by
disqualification but by the end of the night was
WWE Champion, having cashed in his Money
in the Bank title shot against a spent John
Cena, who had just competed in an Elimination
“
Chamber match.
The next night on Raw, Edge became
“the Rated-R Superstar” by stating
he would mark his Championship
victory with a “Live Sex Celebration”
with Lita on Raw. That celebration
gave Raw it’s best ratings of the
year. However, Flair and Cena would
interrupt the proceedings.
Even a feud and then an alliance with Mick
Foley only briefly derailed Edge’s fued with John
8 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Cena over the WWE Championship throughout
the course of 2006.
Eventually, however, Edge began teaming with
Randy Orton as Rated RKO to feud with D-
Generation X and win Edge’s 11th Tag Team
title. The Edge-Orton team was dominant but
eventually, loses to the team of Shawn Michaels
and John Cena, as well as their desire to win
the WWE Championship spelled the end of
Rated RKO.
ALL THOSE ATTRIbuTES HAD
T
COMbINED INTO SuCCESS THA
ONLY A FEW WILL EVER KNOW
Winning Money in the Bank in 2005 had meant
one title victory for Edge, and it would do so
again in 2007. This time, Edge earned MITB by
defeating Mr. Kennedy in a one-on-one match
for the title shot in May, 2007. Days later, Edge
arrived on Smackdown and defeated the
Undertaker (tired from a match vs. Batista and
hurt from a Mark Henry attack) to win the World
Heavyweight Championship.
After defeating Batista and Kane to retain the
title, Edge was forced to relinquish his title due
to a torn pectoral muscle that kept him out of
action until November. He would interfere in
another title match between Undertaker and
Batista, eventually re-claiming the World
Championship during a Triple Threat match
involving all three competitors.
As 2008 began, World Heavyweight Champion
Edge was at the top of the Smackdown roster.
He had aligned himself with Smackdown GM
Vickie Guerrero, who he would later “marry” as
part of the storylines, and had allies in Zach
Ryder, Curt Hawkins and Chavo Guerrero.
Edge wasn’t always the champion, losing it to
the Undertaker and C.M. Punk, but he remained
the centre of the Smackdown world, due to his
“relationship” with Vickie. They became a
parody of the power couple, with the ebb of their
romance depending on whether Edge was
holding the gold. By August 2008, Edge broke
up with Vickie, only to return in November when
she inserted him into a WWE Championship Triple
Threat match at the Survivor Series, where he pinned
Triple H. (Vladimir Kozlov was also involved.)
Edge continued to win and lose championships over
the course of the next several months. However, the
end for he and Vickie came after he lost the WWE
title to Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules in June 2009.

© John Smolek
During the event, Edge humiliated Vickie, causing
her to resign as Smackdown GM. On the next
Smackdown broadcast, Edge revealed he had only
married Vickie due to her power as GM, and was
getting a divorce.
After winning the Unified Tag Team titles with
Chris Jericho, Edge suffered an achilles
tendon, and, it was expected he would
be out of action for a year. A year
became a little over six months, as
Edge was the surprise return at
the 2010 Royal Rumble,
eliminating Chris Jericho and
John Cena.
His return to the ring in 2010
saw Edge battling many of
his former partners,
including Jericho at
Wrestlemania, Christian
(in a move that saw
Edge revert back to his
heelish ways) and
Randy Orton. His
heel turn lasted until
the fall, when he
destroyed the Raw
GM’s laptop and
was sent to
Smackdown.
A feud with Kane and
a victory in a TLC match
at the pay-per-view of the
same name won him yet
another World Championship,
his 10th. An 11th would come after
the title was held up in a match
against Dolph Ziggler.
“There’s no way, if you’d told me when I
was eleven years old that I would win more

www.thewrestlingpress.com

© John Smolek
championships than
anyone in the history of
this company…no way I
would have believed you.”
At Wrestlemania XXVII, Edge
would retain the title against
Alberto Del Rio. On-screen,
he was paired once again
with Christian, who, as Jason
Reso, had grown up with
Edge. The two of them were
together in the Main Event
scene on Smackdown.
“Man, I couldn’t dream of a
better way to go out, I really
couldn’t.”
Little did anyone know,
perhaps not even Adam
“Edge” Copeland himself that
his battle against Alberto Del
Rio was Edge’s last match. A
neck injury, diagnosed as
cervical spinal stenosis,
would mean the end of his
career.
10 www.thewrestlingpress.com
But while Edge had suffered
injuries in the past, few
expected him to show up on
Raw on April 11th to announce
his retirement. We had last
seen him on Smackdown, as
the rematch (this time a ladder
match at Extreme Rules) was
set up between he and Del
Rio.
At first, word of Edge’s
retirement came from the
commentators on Raw
speculating about rumours
over why he was going to
appear on Raw. At first, many
assumed it was a ruse. No one
comes out and announces
their retirement in wrestling on
live TV.
When Bret Hart, another
Canadian wrestling legend,
retired due to injuries there
was no speech. He simply left
WCW and returned to Calgary.
But as word of that
retirement spread, so too did
the tributes from those fans
who had grown up watching
Edge, and those who had
worked with him.
In Adam “Edge” Copeland,
wrestling had an attraction who
combined rock star looks with
a great in-ring ability and a
presence on the mic that could
be just as humourous as he
could be intense. And all those
attributes had combined into
success that only a few will
ever be able to know.
And for wrestling fans,
Copeland realized the dream
of all of us who used to plunk
themselves in front of the
television every Saturday
morning and watch Hulk
Hogan and Ricky Steamboat,
Randy Savage and the British
Bulldogs. And for that matter,
he’s the embodiment of
everyone who ever had a
dream that seemed too distant
to ever realize.
He put his dreams aside, but
never away, growing up. He
went from attending
Wrestlemania to main-
eventing Wrestlemania. He
drove the long, cold roads to
wrestling in front of a few
dozen people so that one day
he could wrestle in front of
tens of thousands.
Whether it was battling the
Hardy Boyz in a TLC match, or
clowning around with Christian
for a “5-Second Pose”,
whether it was cashing in
Money In the Bank or hosting
the Cutting Edge, Adam “Edge”
Copeland gave this business
everything he was able to give.
He was always the guy you
remembered when you turned
off the TV or left the arena after
a show.
He was a decorated champion,
and he earned and deserved
every accolade he received.
He loved this business, and
worked as hard as he could for
as long as he could
“I’m going to miss all of this,
all of this…if you ask me if
I’d do it again? In a
heartbeat.”
We’ll miss you, too, Edge.
Thank you.
n Contact John at jmilnerre-
sume@gmail.com
Is Miz’s Reign
Beyond Repair After
Wrestlemania?

FROM “
AWESOME . . .
To Awful
Words JOHN MILNER
Photos JOHN SMOLEK
A
lthough overshadowed by the
© John Smolek
intense glare of the young fan in
the audience, the Miz’s
celebration of defeating Randy
Orton for the WWE Championship should
have been one of the most enduring images
of 2010. He had just cashed in his Money in
the Bank title shot, reversed Orton’s attempt
at an RKO and hit the Skull Crushing Finale.
As realization that he had won the title set in,
Miz pounded the mat. Moments later, with tears
in his eyes, he raised the championship belt
above his head. All the doubters, all the nay-
sayers, all of those who had told him he would
never amount to anything had been silenced.
It has been almost six months since the night
that Miz became champion. Many expected he
might drop the title at the Royal Rumble back to
Orton. More expected John Cena to walk out of
Wrestlemania with the championship, at the

“
expense of the Miz.
Instead, as of this writing, the Miz
remains the WWE Champion. He
made the rounds on the talk show
circuit and dubbed himself “the Most
Watched Champion in WWE
History.”
However, as Wrestlemania came to a close, it
wasn’t the Miz who stood tall. It was the Rock,
who was acting as the Host of Wrestlemania.
Having cost John Cena the championship
match in the first place, the Rock returned to the
ring to clash with the Miz. Getting the better of MANY ExPECTED HE MIGHT
AL
the champion, the Rock hit many of his DROP THE TITLE AT THE ROY
signature moves on a fallen Miz. Certainly not RuMbLE bAC K TO ORT ON
the way the Miz must have wanted to end his
evening. up to Wrestlemania, it seemed like it was more
From a booking standpoint, one could argue about putting the Rock over than worrying about
that made sense. It’s the old story of “Send ‘em such things as WWE Championships.
home happy!” The biggest night of the WWE’s Almost since the moment that the Rock stepped
year had to end with a face, not a heel, standing into the arena to declare his involvement in
tall. Wrestlemania XXVII, he seemed less interested
But did it make sense, from a long-term in discussing his role as the host of the event,
standpoint, to have the reigning WWE and more in cultivating a vendetta between
Champion be made to look weak against a himself and the Miz’s challenger, John Cena.
“host”? Of course not, but in the weeks building With Cena offering a colourful rebuttal and the

12 www.thewrestlingpress.com

© John Smolek
Rock responding to that, etc, the issue of Cena
vs. The Miz for the WWE Championship almost
seemed forgotten.
The Miz did make his presence known, by
attacking Cena several weeks in a row on Raw
and declaring himself not to be “an
afterthought”. But even in developing a new,
albeit brief, catchphrase, the Miz was
acknowledging that his program with Cena was
being overshadowed by a much more-hyped
program between the challenger and the host.
There have been some who argued that if you
didn’t know better, you’d think it was the Rock
vs. John Cena scheduled for Wrestlemania.
Having Miz retain the title helped to repair some
of the “damage” done, but the fact remains that,
on the Raw after Wrestlemania, it wasn’t the
Miz everyone was talking about – it was the fact
that the Rock – Cena had finally been signed,
for Wrestlemania XXVIII.
The Miz, meanwhile, was more concerned with
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin and his introduction
of the new Tough Enough class. This post-
Wrestlemania direction for the WWE Champion
has to leave many of WWE pundits shaking
their heads.
Does anyone in WWE have any idea how to
book the WWE Champion? Even if they are
building to a Stone Cold-Miz match, is this really
where they want to go with the Miz? Getting
stunners from a guy who hasn’t wrestled a
match in over half a decade?
E
DOES ANYONE IN WWE HAV
ANY IDEA HOW TO bOOK THE
WWE CHAMPION?
Despite having a road to the championship that
would be considered inspirational if Miz weren’t
a heel in wrestling and being one of the best
guys on the mic in the business today, his reign
as champion has been hit or miss at best.
They’ve done some things right, like having
Miz defend the title in rematches against
Randy Orton, most notably at the TLC:
Tables, Ladders and Chairs and Royal
Rumbles pay-per-view. And his
Wrestlemania title match against Cena
should have been a natural.
In the Miz, you have a charismatic but vain heel
who is both hate-able and yet has the “it” factor
that Roddy Piper and Ric Flair had, that
intangible that will win over a certain portion of
the audience. In Cena, you have the clean-cut,
but personable face that makes for a great poster
boy for wrestling, even though it’s those same
qualities that draws boos from many fans. In
other words, you had two guys who could have
headlined a Wrestlemania on their own, and not
needed any added aspects, like a returning Rock
serving as Host, to distract from their match.
But having Miz overshadowed by the feud
between Cena and the Rock is far from the only
misstep the WWE has made with the Miz. If you
take the rematches against Orton out of the story
of Miz’s Championship, what are you left with?
www.thewrestlingpress.com 13

© John Smolek
A feud with Jerry “the King”
Lawler.
Lawler is a legend for sure,
but not the person that Miz
should have been feuding
with, as he tried to carve out
his own spot in WWE title
history. Especially since it now
looks as though the whole
Lawler-Miz program was in
place to set-up Lawler’s feud
with his fellow commentator,
“
Michael Cole.
It’s one thing to play
second fiddle to the
Rock, it’s quite
another to do so to
Michael Cole.
14 www.thewrestlingpress.com
By virtue of his being WWE
Champion, the Miz needs to be
booked as though he is one of,
if not the, most important
person on the Raw roster. And
title defenses against John
Cena and Randy Orton will
help to make that happen, but
only when they are the norm,
not the exception. Every great
champion has had someone
who brought out the best in
them. Hogan had Piper and
Savage, Flair had Rhodes,
Austin had the Rock and vice-
versa. For the Miz, Jerry
Lawler, his Hall of Fame
credentials notwithstanding, is
not that person. It wasn’t like
Hulk Hogan battled Gorilla
Monsoon or was left laying by
Killer Kowalski at the end of
the first Wrestlemania.
For the Miz and, by extension,
the WWE Championship, to
avert the risk of becoming “an
afterthought”, he needs to find
his Piper, his Rhodes. In Cena,
he may have found that
person, in Orton he may have
found that person. The title
defenses don’t have to be
clean; Ric Flair made a career
out of retaining the title with
hooked tights and feet on the
rope. But at the end of the
night, people need to leave the
arena talking about how the
Miz retained the title, not how
he got beat down by some
part-time wrestler or “host”.
n Contact Phil at
PhilUK1@aol.com

THE ROCK ON A ROLL?
“Finally, the Rock has
come back to
Wrestlemania!”
“Finally, the Rock has
come back to Raw!”
“Finally, the Rock has
come back to
wrestling!”
Finally, the Rock has realised
he is not having the superstar
film career he wants, perhaps.
He was all over our
consciousness with a starring
role in “The Scorpion King”,
and we thought things were
going to be a red carpet
cornucopia.
A
NICA L
Y
C MIND NIC
HE CY
with T
Then he did a Hogan. Rather
© John Smolek
than a Statham.
Jason Statham is an unlikely
success story. He is a
successful film star. A man who
can barely string a paragraph
together. And why is he
popular? He knows what he’s
good at. He knows he can do
the action stuff, put on the
gravelly voice, show off his
pecs, secure “The Transporter
51”. He doesn’t stretch himself
because if enough people love
him for staying in his comfort
zone, why move?
But Hogan didn’t do that. He
went another way. A comedy
way. Because he’s a comedian,
right? Well, no. Because he can
sell a joke? No. Because he’s a
wacky character? Well, he has
got a big ‘tasche. Hogan was a
character, a good talker. And
that made Hollywood come
calling. Family films, comedy
pap, was what he was shoved
into; but you have to be good to
do that, a really good performer.
Terry wasn’t and so we had the
www.thewrestlingpress.com 15

awful “Suburban Commando”, “Mr Nanny” and
risible smallscreen “Thunder In Paradise”.
Anyone can make a mistake. Look at Vin Diesel.
Look at him. Boring, isn’t he? Anyway, he had
the big arms and the action stuff locked away.
But he wasn’t content. He thought the real
money was in Hollywood pap. And so his hard
man image was compromised on disasters like
“The Pacifier”. He is trying to come back with
bigger arms, a moodier stare and a berth in the
diminishing returns “Fast and Furious” franchise.
FE
HE DIDN’T STICK TO HIS SA
TOuGH GuY SLATE, HE
PuSHED THE ENVELOPE . . . .
Yes, the Rock was given the chance to
impress. He didn’t need to come up with new
material, he just parroted the same catch
phrases and we ate it up like slack jawed
dullards. He didn’t need to fight for his spot,
Uncle Vince ensured it was there every week.
He didn’t need to cultivate a cool; that was
arranged too.
And so he thought he was a comedy God. He
thought he was BOTH Chuckle Brothers. (“To
me, to me...”) And so he didn’t stick to his safe
tough guy slate, he pushed the envelope.
“The Tooth Fairy” is almost a comedy film. And
Rocky is almost a comedy actor. To turn silage
into spun gold, you need more than a winning
smile and a raised eyebrow. You need comedy
chops. The Rock has none.
And we can’t even allow him these awful films
because we know him and love him. We don’t
really know him. He’s a wrestler. All of America
does not bow down to the dirty canvas, it is not
the family event it used to be, and Dwayne
came out of the Attitude era anyway. Who are
his films aimed at? Families. Who wouldn’t be
watching the Attitude era? Kids. Whose bright
commercial idea was that?

And look who’s here too. The Rock. It all comes “Daddy, who is that man?” “I don’t know. And I
together. I don’t just write this without a second don’t think he does either.”
thought on deadline day you know. Nooo. It’s
an almost-dead series. So what’s the coming
action man film star doing here? Staying afloat,
that’s what.
For Dwayne has walked slap bang into Hogan’s
Syndrome. You see, Rocky thinks he’s a
comedian. He has a few catch phrases. He
ruled Raw and Smackdown, taking pauses that
were, if we’re honest, just slightly too long. A
comedian would know that, Rocky. In the land
of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. And
anyone in the grape game who has half an
ounce of comic microphone ability is hailed as a
genius, given loads of airtime and cosseted.
© John Smolek

Yes, cosseted. Dig that double S; that’s the

power of language, a power you will never
have. Along with picking up women or getting a
job that pays more than 12K.

16 www.thewrestlingpress.com
At least he has the grace to look a bit abashed
when walking through the sub-Disney disasters.
You do one “Tooth Fairy” or “Gridiron Gang” and
sometimes you don’t come back. That’s why it
will be interesting see how well “Fat and
Fabulous 6” (or whatever it’s called) does.
That’s why it was interesting to see him back in
a wrestling ring.
It’s made out that he did it for us. He didn’t need
to take a step from his winged chariot and
entertain us. But ask yourself this, would Rocky
have been there if he was this year’s Arnie? Or
even this years Statham? Nope, he would have
been too popular, too rich, too important to stoop
so low. But when you’re not doing so well, it
doesn’t seem that low, does it? When you don’t
set the box office alight, when people aren’t
screaming your mane from behind the red carpet
ropes, where do you go? Back to the family.
But don’t let that make you bill and coo. This is
purely a career move, a way to get a hit from his
first loves. So don’t hang on his every word.
Don’t scream his name, don’t let your hand
move inside the waistband of your velour sweat
pants (definitely don’t do that). This is the man
who cruelly spurned us, and although we didn’t
chant “please don’t go” as ECW fans did for
their Franchise, out eyes were moist and out
mouths agape in a silent scream for our
franchise. When he deigned to come back, we
should have changed that stupid lock, we
should have made him leave his key. But we
didn’t. We accepted him as one of our own.
Have we no shame? He just picks us up
whenever he wants and then drops us
whenever he chooses.
We made him, godammit! He’s ours! And he
takes our reverence and tramples it. Worse, he
uses it to make more money and a bigger
career elsewhere! Ah, but fear not. This
appearance in WWE won’t be enough to use.
It’s not enough to save an actor who can’t really
act. The TV shows are beckoning, Rocky.
And what’s that sound? That’s the sound of a
million wrestling fans, sniggering.
n Contact The Cynic (if you dare) at
hearditallbefore@hotmail.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 17
The Other
WrestleMania’s
So you’ve watched this year’s WrestleMania, marvelled in the production
values, gasped at the big matches, and wowed at those WrestleMania
moments. That’s it for another year then. The biggest show of the year is
over and done with.
But not if you are outside of the ‘WWE Universe’.
As much as they’d like to pretend they are, the
WWE is not the be all and end all of
professional wrestling. It never has been, and it
likely never will be. And there are other
promotions out there, all of whom are
presenting their very own ‘WrestleMania’s’ each
year. Some are gone, some are still with us, but
every single one of them spends all year
preparing for that one big show.
The following are just a few of the alternative
WrestleMania’s, past and present, and the
promotions that put them on...
STARRCADE
WCW’s big show was kind of an
oddity in some ways. While it was
undoubtedly the biggest show of the
year, it wasn’t always the show that had
the biggest matches, or the culmination of
the biggest feuds. Want Hogan v Flair? You
need to go to the Bash of the Beach for that
one. Sting v Flair? The Great American Bash. In
fact, for two years straight, Starrcade brought
you nothing more than lethal lottery matches
and the substandard Battlebowl main events.
But for all its failings (Hogan v Beefcake
anyone?), Starrcade deserves to be
20 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Words: PHIL AUSTIN
remembered fondly as the granddaddy of all
shows. The biggest show of one of the big two,
Starrcade was always the most hotly anticipated
show of the year, with feuds like Hogan/Sting,
Race/Flair, or Flair/Rhodes hitting their peak at
the last big show in WCW’s calendar.
First Main Event:
Ric Flair v Harley Race (cage match, won by
Ric Flair) (1983)
Final Main Event:
Scott Steiner v Sid Vicious (won by Scott
Steiner) (2000)
SuPERCLASH
Fondly remembered by so many, the American
Wrestling Association was the third of the ‘big
three’ alongside the WWF and WCW in the
1980s. Blessed with talent such as Nick
Bockwinkel, Curt Hennig, Stan Hansen and the
Road Warriors, the AWA could certainly put on a
supershow. And none was bigger than their
annual Superclash event.
Superclash actually only ran for four years, but
is so fondly remembered by AWA fans that it is
the show they relish above all others on tape or
DVD. If you are a wrestling fan, they genuinely
are a record of some of the biggest names in
the business. Ric Flair, the Freebirds, Rick
Martel, the Road Warriors, Genichiro Tenryu,
Giant Baba, Shawn Michaels, Mick
Foley...Superclash has them all!
First main event:
Ric Flair v Magnum TA (NWA title match,
won by Ric Flair) (1985)
Final main event:
The Trooper & Paul Diamond v The
Destruction Crew (cage match, won by the
Trooper and Paul Diamond) (1990)
STAR WARS
World Class Championship Wrestling. Probably
one of the best loved promotions of the 1980s,
and home to the Von Erichs, the Fabulous
Freebirds and others. Fritz Von Erich’s
promotion may have been almost entirely built
around his boys, but it also had some of the
hottest action, and most rabid fans in the US.
And every single one of them went to the
Wrestling Star Wars events. Held throughout the
year to coincide with various holidays, these
events were intended to provide the biggest
crowds of the season with the best entertainment.
And they invariably delivered. From the Von
Erichs to the Freebirds, Gino Hernandez to Chris
Adams, these shows were all about delivering hot
action to the crowds that attended.
First main event:
Fritz Von Erich v Great Kabuki (won by Fritz
Von Erich) (1981)
Final main event:
Al Perez v Kerry Von Erich (cage match, won
by Al Perez) (1987)
TRIPLEMANIA
The Mexican version of WrestleMania,
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA)
Triplemania provides Mexican fans with the very
best the promotion has to offer. Feuds are
settled, major angles occur, some of the best
matches of the year are held, and masks and
hair is on the line for some of the biggest stars
in the company. Yep, Triplemania is very much
the same as WrestleMania, complete with
pageantry and celebrity.
In fact, Triplemania is such a big show that at
times it wasn’t even possible to contain it to just
one show a year with Triplemania’s A, B and C
being held in the very same year.
Want to see Jake Roberts in a AAA ring?
Triplemania. Want to see Jushin Liger and
CIMA alongside Mexico’s best? Triplemania. If
you are a fan of Lucha, you should really have
seen every Triplemania show by now!
First Main Event:
Konnan v Cien Caras (retirement match,
won by Cien Caras) (1993)
Last Main Event:
L.A. Park v La Parka (for rights to La Parka
name, won by L.A. Park (or La Parka now I
guess)) (2010)
FINAL bATTLE
It’s not only the big companies that can hold
their very own Wrestlemania. Even before the
advent of iPPV, Ring of Honor had been holding
the Final Battle events. Often featuring
outsiders from the likes of All Japan or Pro
Wrestling NOAH, Final Battle has become the
most hotly anticipated event on the ROH
calendar. And for good reason.
From the very start, Final Battle was a
spectacular event. Featuring Ring of Honor’s
finest, Final Battle took fans from the
introduction of Samoa Joe and the Prophecy
through to the intensity of Steen v Generico and
Papa Briscoe. But whatever year you pick, Final
Battle gave you the hardest hitting, most intense
wrestling that Ring of Honor had to offer. Don’t
believe us? Head to gfl.tv and find out for
yourself next time Final Battle rolls around!
www.thewrestlingpress.com 21
First main event:
Bryan Danielson v Low Ki v Samoa Joe v
Steve Corino (ended in a 45 minute draw)
(2002)
Last main event:
El Generico v Kevin Steen (Fight without
Honor, mask v career, won by El Generico)
(2010)
bOuND FOR GLORY
The closest competitor to the WWE, TNA is
piling on the cash to purchase top names from
the wrestling business and entertainment
industry in order to establish themselves as a
worthy contender. Have they managed it? The
jury is still very much on the side of ‘not yet’,
but that doesn’t stop them from producing
some spectacular (as well as some not so
spectacular, unfortunately) events.
And the biggest of these is Bound For Glory.
Very much designed to be TNA’s version of
Wrestlemania. A show that TNA throws
everything into, not everything sticks, but it has
produced some mindblowingly good matches
over the years, especially with some of TNA’s
younger talent such as AJ Styles, Beer Money
and the Motor City Machine Guns.
First main event:
Jeff Jarrett v Rhino (Tito Ortiz as referee,
won by Rhino) (2005)
Last main event:
Jeff Hardy v Kurt Angle v Mr Anderson
(won by Jeff Hardy) (2010)
jANuARY 4TH
TOKYO DOME SHOW
Of all the Japanese promotions, it is New
Japan that generates the biggest buzz of the
year with its annual January 4th Tokyo Dome
shows. Kicking off the year with a bang,
22 www.thewrestlingpress.com
these shows have been the site of some of
the biggest matches in New Japan’s history,
from the dream team of Sting and Great Muta
taking on the Steiners, to classic bouts
between long time rivals such as Rikki
Choshu and Genichiro Tenryu or Masahiro
Chono and Keiji Mutoh.
If you love Japanese wrestling, a set of the
January 4th shows is a real must to own. The
titles of these shows have changed (from
Battlefield and Fantastic Story to Wrestle
Kingdom), but the shows have never
changed. From combining forces with other
promotions such as WCW or TNA, to
delivering major homegrown battles, the
January 4th shows are THE place to be for
professional wrestling fans. This show may
well be even bigger than Wrestlemania!
First main event:
Rikki Choshu v Tatsumi Fujinami (won by
Rikki Choshu) (Starrcade 92 at Tokyo
Dome, 1992)
Last main event:
Hiroshi Tanahashi v Satoshi Kojima (won
by Hiroshi Tanahashi) (Wrestle Kingdom
V, 2011)
bATTLE OF LOS ANGELES
PWG is the little company that could, and did.
Based in South California, Pro Wrestling
Guerrilla has been a decent mix of great
independent talent, hard hitting matches, and
a fair amount of wackiness, especially when
it comes to the names of their shows.
Ironically, for a company that has a comedic
spirit, it isn’t KurtRusselmania that is their
annual biggest show, but the Battle of Los
Angeles. A mammoth two day tournament
pitting the very best independent talent from
around the world against each other, the
show has become a must see for
independent wrestling fans. Each show has
featured real ‘must see’ matches,
independent dream matches that have blown
away both the live crowd and the DVD
audience alike.
First tournament final:
Chris Bosh v AJ Styles (won by Chris
Bosh) (2005)
Last tournament final:
Joey Ryan v Chris Hero (won by Joey
Ryan) (2010)
KING OF TRIOS
Another major independent tournament,
Chikara’s King of Trios is also unique in that it
is a tournament for six man teams. Now,
obviously, the six man tag scene is even less
alive than the two man tag scene, so this
event has seen for some incredible
combinations. And being Chikara, a
promotion that revels in the wacky, it also
features some of the more bizarre
combinations around. So when Los
Icecreams (a team who literally dress and act
like ice cream cones!) chose a partner, it was
the return of WCW Wrestlecrap star Glacier!
But comedy aside, King of Trios gathers
international talent for some spectacular
matches in a variety of styles. The
tournament has featured Michinoku Pro,
Dragon Gate, PWG, Osaka Pro, Big Japan
Wrestling and DDT wrestlers in the past, and
has also put together such incredible match
ups as Johnny Saint, Mike Quackenbush and
Skayde v Bryan Danielson, Claudio
Castagnoli and Dave Taylor. If you like a
variety of styles and a good mix of great
wrestling, high flying action, technical
brilliance and outright wackiness, this is the
show for you!
First tournament final:
Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Shane Storm
v KUDO,MIYAWAKI,Yoshiaki Yago (won by
team Quack ShaneSaw) (2007)
Last tournament final:
Tournament ongoing as of press time....
There are many other major shows out there.
In fact, practically every promotion has that
big Wrestlemania show that it builds towards
annually. Want a European Wrestlemania?
How about WXW’s 16 Carat Gold tournament
as an example! Regardless of your tastes,
there is a Wrestlemania out there for you.
And not a Snooki or Michael Cole in sight!
n Contact Phil at PhilUK1@aol.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 23
Dropkick Radio recently had the opportunity to welcome WWE Hall
Of Famer ‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase to the program to
discuss a variety of topics ahead of the Wrestlemania 27 event.
You can hear the entire interview as part of the April 3rd edition of
the program, here is an extract of the interview.

TED DIbIASE
interview
24 www.thewrestlingpress.com
DKR – Regarding the Undertakers streak. It
has become synonymous with
Wrestlemania that the two go hand in hand.
I’d like to ask, whether [Wrestlemania 27]
will be the last appearance of the
Undertaker or not and in your opinion
should the undefeated streak remain intact
or be broken?
TD – I have mixed feelings. I really do. In one
aspect Undertaker has made such a
tremendous contribution to the WWE it’s
almost like in the NFL; certain players retire
their number. Nobody ever gets to wear that
number again because nobody could live up to
it. Undertaker has been such a big part of the
WWE and Wrestlemania all these years that it
would be fitting he’d go out undefeated. But,
from a wrestler’s standpoint the thing is when
you become an older wrestler you pass the
torch. At Wrestlemania III, Andre the Giant was
the phenom at the time, the biggest man, the
biggest star the WWE had. A guy, who had
never been taken off his feet, never got
slammed and [he] got beaten by Hulk Hogan.
That was the proverbial passing of the torch so
to speak. With that’s concerned if you had that
one character that [was perceived to be] our
next superstar, then maybe it would [be
appropriate] for Undertaker to do that. But of
course, the guy he’s wrestling is a star in his
own right. I don’t know if Undertaker’s going to
continue, again that’s [the] wrestling rumour
mill that’s not even within the inner circle,
nobody is rumouring that. The fans are saying
‘is this going to be Undertaker’s last year?’
nobody knows. Again, mixed feelings but deep
down I think the guy is deserving of being able
to go out undefeated.
DKR – Since the Rock returned some of the
general content of the WWE programming
has shifted more towards the feel of the
‘attitude era’. You mentioned in our last
interview [conducted and aired in January
2011] that you weren’t necessarily the
biggest fan of the attitude era of WWE. Do
you think this in an indication that perhaps
WWE is heading in that direction or is it
literally because The Rock is back and as
result, they are letting things slide a little?
TD – I really think it’s just because that’s who
The Rock is. I know the WWE is very big on
their programming being family friendly. It’s a
very big deal with them. So no, I don’t think this
is an indication [they’re] going back to the,
excuse the phrase, sleazy stuff. I don’t think
that’s where we’re going, because that turns a
lot of families off. I saw a Triple H interview and
he said if my children were watching television
during that time I wouldn’t have let them watch
Steve Austin. Here’s a guy who walks to ring,
guzzling beer, flipping a bird and cusses like a
sailor. Do you want your child to be looking up
at that person as a hero? I don’t. That’s not a
character I would look up to. Tough guys, real
men, men of integrity, men of their word, that
kind of tough guy, yeah, I’d look up to that guy
all day long. But not a slobbering, beer
drinking, finger flipping guy, that’s not a hero. I
would not want my son to imitate that at all.
www.thewrestlingpress.com 25
DKR – Do you ever feel the
WWE will head back to the
‘attitude era’ direction or are
you anticipating they firmly
staying in this current
direction?
TD – Well I can’t say. This is
something I don’t take any
credit for, but I know in the
time I was back there in an
advisory role it was one of the
things I said to them. I know in
the United States that the top
grossing movies are not big
blockbuster feature films. The
movies that are making the
most money at the box office
are animated children’s
features. These cartoon
movies, Madagascar is one
that comes to mind and there’s
so many more that are coming
out. Now, it’s like every two or
three months you’re seeing an
animated movie coming out
and you’re seeing big name
stars involved. You’re seeing
stars who you’d never thought
would lend their voice to a
cartoon character doing it.
Why are they doing that? I’ll
tell you why, because they’re
making more money on that
animated feature than they are
in some of their movies. It’s
one of the things I told the
WWE, last time I checked;
Disney World is still the watch that.’ Now they’re DKR – To digress from WWE
number one attraction for coming back and going ‘wow then, because there is TNA
families in this country. As a man, I’m so glad to see [that] who are promoting
wrestler, I go to these now I can sit down with my themselves as an alternative.
conventions all the time. I meet kids and we can watch it again It’s a lot more of an edgier
fans, I talk to fans and I listen because you don’t have a girl product to say the least.
to them. I’ve had so many fans that [is] just about three inches Have you ever watched TNA
and even families come up to from having sex on television’. and what are your thoughts
me and say ‘man we loved you So I don’t think you’re going to on their current direction?
guys but we can’t watch it see that. If you want that TD - Well, I don’t watch much
anymore. We can’t let our kids attitude then go watch MMA. of it. They’ve obviously got

26 www.thewrestlingpress.com
some talent that used to be with the WWE. But I
really wish they were more competitive. I really
do. But no. I don’t like the direction they’re going
in right now. It’s… Who’s at the helm of that
ship? Who’s running TNA now? You tell me.
DKR – At first glance, I would say either Hulk
Hogan, Eric Bischoff or Dixie Carter. It’s not
really very clear to be honest.
TD – Yeah. Obviously Dixie Carter is the one,
that’s the money. That’s who owns it, who hires
the people. But you’ve got Eric Bischoff there, I
know Hulk [Hogan is] there but Bischoff is
running the show now. What did Eric Bischoff do
to WCW? He sunk the ship. Quite frankly Eric
Bischoff never had an original idea. Even the
N.W.O. wasn’t his idea. The N.W.O., that whole
storyline originated in Japan and it was copied.
And the other thing that Eric Bischoff never did
the entire time he was at the helm of the ship of
WCW, he never created one star. Well maybe
one, Goldberg. The reason Goldberg was
created was because Goldberg literally walked
through every wrestler, every major star and that
got him over. He beat all these guys but then
where did Goldberg go from there? Nowhere.
He didn’t make it past that. The reason WCW
thrived for a short time during the wrestling wars,
was because the WCW bought stars that were
created by Vince McMahon. What did Vince do?
He created new stars. TNA today, who are they
featuring? It’s kind of like they’re featuring a
bunch of old men. And so if those guys were
really concerned about the TNA product those
guys, now that they are past their prime, they
should be putting those younger guys over. They
should be making those young guys, the new
stars, but that’s not what their doing. What
they’re doing, [is] just riding that thing until they
run it dry and it’s unfortunate.
DKR – With that being said, you mentioned
you’d like TNA to be bigger competition
towards WWE. I will ask then, in their current
format can they ever become big
competition against WWE?
TD – I don’t think so. Even for the three years I
was at WCW it was almost like there were too
many chiefs and not enough Indians. This guy
wasn’t going to do this, this guy wasn’t going to
do that and you don’t have that in the WWE. You
have guys that are hired, they understand their
job and the bottom line is that they’re going to
take real good care of you, but ultimately you’re
going to have to do what office asks you to do
because that’s your job. And if you don’t like it
you’re free to go somewhere else. That should
be the attitude over there [in TNA] but it seems
to be like it was at WCW, I mean I can
remember at WCW we would on the air on a live
show on Monday night and the show has
already started and they still didn’t know what
they were going to be doing in the last segment.
It was that unorganized at times. So no, I don’t
put a lot of faith in Eric Bischoff and his ability to
run the organization because I really don’t think
he did a good job at WCW.
DKR – You mentioned WCW. In March,
marked the tenth anniversary of the
promotion closing its doors. Ten years on,
what kind of legacy has WCW left behind and
has wrestling learnt from the mistakes made
by WCW?
TD – Well, I really don’t know what kind of
legacy WCW [has left]. WCW, before it was
WCW was Georgia Championship Wrestling
and owned by Ted Turner and Georgia
Championship Wrestling was part of what was
considered the NWA, the National Wrestling
www.thewrestlingpress.com 27
Alliance. In its prime it was a good organization.
The biggest wrestling angle, ever if you will was
the war between the WWE and WCW. But in the
end, the WWE won because the guy Vince
McMahon grew up in it. His father promoted it
and his grandfather promoted it. If it weren’t for
what Vince McMahon did for wrestling it wouldn’t
be the phenomenon that it is right now. It wouldn’t
have grown to the entity it has become. He and
WWE have made wrestling global. It more than
anything else has created this huge stage and it’s
the one that I think you judge all others by. Fans
come up all the time and say ‘wrestling’s just not
as good as it used to be’. In some cases that’s
true and there’s reasons for that as well. Guys
don’t have the opportunity to learn in the
business the way we did. So there’s a lot more
drama but if you were to ask a young kid, ask a
ten to twelve year old kid that’s watching the
WWE today, that’s going out and buying the
video games and action figures, ask him if that
bothers him at all. The only ones it bothers is the
28 www.thewrestlingpress.com
older generation [laughs]. The young kids today
are absolutely enthralled with it so like everything
else if it changes and it evolves then no, it’s not
the same business that I was in twenty years
ago. I can remember when I was a very young
man and I hear older guys say the same thing.
‘It’s just not like it was in our day.’ What they were
insinuating is that it’s not as good as we were.
[laughs] Now, twenty five or thirty years later
you’ve got the old guys going ‘you know, it just
wasn’t as good as when we were in it’. Well it
was different, is what it was. It was presented
different and it’s like Vince [McMahon] says ‘It’s
not wrestling anymore, it is entertainment’. It is
not just a wrestling show it is a sports drama.
You can hear the complete interview
on the archived april 3rd edition of
dropkick Radio at dropkickRadio.com
and now also at
TheWrestlingPress.com in the ‘drop
Kick Radio’ section.
L
ong before Wade Barrett and Daniel
Bryan were carrying beer kegs and
cutting 30-second promos about
flowers on NXT, long before Michelle
McCool and Maria were performing
suggestive and demeaning acts on the Diva
Search, there was another way to see young
men and women hoping to make it big in the
WWE get humiliated on a weekly basis:
Tough Enough.
As the saying goes, what is old is new again,
and sure enough the WWE have opted to revive
the show after a six year hiatus following a
lacklustre fourth season. Only time will tell what
will become of the current cast of WWE
hopefuls, but what about those that came
before them?

LD
.... buT NONE OF THESE COu
TOP THE ME MO RA bLE Words MATT WATERS
APPEARANCE OF TRIPLE H

Touted by the WWE as the original reality show,

Tough Enough was every fan’s dream: the
chance to earn a spot on the WWE roster
without having to spend years paying dues on
the independent wrestling scene hoping that one
day a WWE talent scout might notice them. Over
the course of the show’s first four seasons
thousands of applications poured in but only a
select few were chosen as contestants. So stiff
was the competition that names such as Austin
Aries, Melina, Shad Gaspard, Awesome Kong,
Shawn Daviari, ODB, and even The Boogeyman
have been turned down over the years. thirteen were out-right cut; four acquired
injuries, three felt they could not handle the
Thirteen successful applicants found their way wrestling business, and three more were
onto the inaugural season to train under Al declared runners up to series winners Maven
Snow and Jacqueline. The contestants would and Nidia.
receive advice from the likes of Kurt Angle, Mick
Foley, the Hardy Boyz, and Taz, but none of Proud winners of a one-year contract with the
these could top the memorable appearance of WWE, Maven and Nidia find themselves mere
Triple H. The Game lectured the hopeful afterthoughts a decade later. Maven managed a
superstars about the difficulty of life on the road, notable feud with the Undertaker that saw him
scolding most of the group for their attitude. In eliminate The Phenom from the Royal Rumble,
fact Triple H’s little pep-talk was so effective that as well as three unsuccessful world title shots, a
a contestant quit the series moments later. This one-night gig as General Manager of the Raw
was a common theme as only two of the brand and a short run as the Hardcore

30 www.thewrestlingpress.com
 © John Smolek
Champion. However while
that resume sounds great,
Maven spent the majority of
his career wrestling on Heat,
winning very few matches and
was released from the
company in 2005.
Nidia meanwhile spent a year
as a part of an entertaining
tandem with Jamie Noble, but
after eventually being placed
on her own in the women’s
division she barely managed
six months of sporadic themed Wrestlemania match,
appearances before being cut and becoming the manager of
loose as well. Both left the Rico and her real-life husband
wrestling business shortly Charlie Haas, managing to
thereafter and pursued new hold on to her job until 2005.
careers. She moved on to TNA for a
forgettable feud with Jeff
But it’s not all about the
Jarrett before being released.
winners; Josh Matthews
She has since had three
was hired as a backstage
children with Haas and will be
interviewer, and has been a
taking part in a reality show
full-time commentator since
about wrestling wives.
2006. Christopher Nowinski
only wrestled in the WWE
for two years, and has since
become famous as a
leading expert in the field of
concussions.
Season 2 was controversially
won by two ladies – Jackie
Gayda and Linda Miles –
despite claims by the male
contestants that the WWE
informed them one man and
one woman would be
selected as winners. Miles
was physically imposing,
but was a terrible in-
ring performer. After
returning from
further training as
Shaniqua, Miles
found herself as
the manager of
the Basham
Brothers,
demolishing
smaller divas on
the roster, but
was never placed
into a meaningful
program and after
being released became a
teacher.
Gayda suffered from similar
in-ring limitations, also
undergoing further training
before working a Playboy
© TNA
m 31
The controversy of the series having two
female winners was made all the worse
considering they beat out the likes of Matt
Morgan and Kenny King. Morgan was forced to
leave the show due to an injury but with his
towering frame quickly earned a WWE
contract, dominating the ranks of OVW but
failing to break out of the role of lackey on
television, serving as a member of Team Brock
and later the stuttering bodyguard of Carlito
before being inexplicably released. Morgan
was given a major push in Japan before joining
TNA where he has wrestled in the main event
and at one point held the world tag team titles
alone.
King also briefly appeared for TNA and for
various small independent promotions before
breaking into Ring of Honor where he has
slowly climbed the ranks and is currently
touted as one of the hottest prospects on the
indie scene, exhibiting incredible athleticism
“
and considerable charisma.
Season 3 was fairly light on talent
beyond the two winners: John
Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli. The
latter had a promising career in
OVW but was tragically diagnosed
with a brain tumour and retired
from wrestling in 2006, though he
was still paid a salary by the WWE
for three more years. The tumour
has since been removed and he
runs a gym.
Hennigan meanwhile became the most
successful winner to date, capturing tag team
titles five times, the Intercontinental Title three
times, as well as the ECW World Title,
changing his name to John Morrison in the
process. Known for his unparalleled agility,
Morrison’s rise from Tough Enough contestant
to semi-main event talent hasn’t come as
easily as one might think. Morrison was
rejected and mocked by the Tough Enough 2
judges for his arrogance, with Jim Ross
scolding him for not watching the WWE
product. Even after making it onto and winning
the show’s next season Morrison was still far
32 www.thewrestlingpress.com
from safe, with some rocky moments early on,
including multiple name changes and the
dishonour of being the first man to be defeated
by Eugene. Still, Morrison’s phenomenal
conditioning, athletic abilities and undeniable
looks coupled with hard work have taken him
right to the top. Given the fate of previous
winners, Morrison serves as the show’s saving
grace, maintaining his job and excelling year
after year.
PuDER DECIDED TO TRY AND
MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF
ON NATIONAL TELEVISION
Season 4 changed the format as the contest
was integrated into Smackdown and a million
dollar prize was offered alongside the
guaranteed one-year contract. In actuality the
show’s lone winner Daniel Puder received only
$250,000 and was let go as soon as his year
was up, making him the shortest contracted
winner to date. He would make a brief
appearance in the Royal Rumble, being tossed
from the ring immediately. After being given the
choice of a lesser developmental contract or
being released, Puder opted to try his luck
elsewhere and left the WWE. Since then he
appeared briefly with ROH and received a
decent push in Japan at the end of last year, all
the while maintaining an undefeated record in
MMA.
Puder would provide the most memorable
moment of the season during a segment with
Kurt Angle. Given the chance to wrestle the
Olympic Gold Medalist, Puder decided to try
and make a name for himself on national
television, legitimately locking in a kimura and
forcing referees to count a false pin on Puder.
To this day it has been debated as to whether
or not Puder would have been able to break
the arm of Angle or make him submit had the
referees not intervened, and one can only
dream of Vince McMahon’s response had he
managed either. Doing so at Angle’s expense
would have certainly put the reality back into
reality television and Puder would instantly

GIVEN THE
FATE OF
PREVIOuS
WINNERS,
MORRISON
SERVES AS
THE SHOW’S
SAVING
GRACE,
MAINTAINING
HIS jOb AND
ExCELLING
YEAR AFTER
YEAR
have been a made man. Instead he is
remembered as one of Tough Enough’s
biggest failures and perhaps one of the
reasons the show was put on hiatus.
Oddly enough, despite being considered the
show’s lowest point, $1,000,000 Tough Enough
actually produced one of the deepest talent
pools, with Ryan ‘Skip Sheffield’ Reeves, the
Spirit Squad’s Nick ‘Mitch’ Mitchell, Daniel
Rodimer and Chris Nawrocki all earning
contracts, and Justice Smith going on to
compete on American Gladiators. There was
also this guy called The Miz too.
Mike Mizanin was a reality television
regular, something that earned him a great
deal of mockery from his trainers.
Nevertheless, he made it all the way to the
finals in a boxing match against Puder, who
won via crowd reaction. Looking back
perhaps Miz deserved more credit than he got
for taking an MMA trained opponent with
superior reach to a draw. Miz became the host
of Smackdown and eventually moved over to
ECW forming a popular alliance with John
Morrison, winning five tag team championships
together. After being moved to Raw Miz
© John Smolek
captured the United States title twice and the
unified tag team titles once.
It would be his capture of a Money in the Bank
briefcase and subsequently successful cash-in
against Randy Orton that would earn The Miz
the status of Tough Enough’s brightest star
however, as he become the WWE Champion
and just this last month defended the title in the
main event of Wrestlemania against John
Cena. While many are annoyed by Michael
Cole’s constant assertions of Miz as the most
must-see champion in WWE history, few can
deny his incredible rise to the top, silencing
most, if not all, of his critics.
However, or every Miz and Morrison there
have been a litany of rejected applicants, from
the overweight, to the down-right ridiculous
wannabe contestants. Five of the show’s
seven winners have left the wrestling industry.
Even the show’s two success stories looked as
though they could be released a year into their
time with the company, so with that in mind can
any of the current contestants hope to make an
impact in today’s WWE? Time will tell.
n Contact Matt at matt_waters2@hotmail.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 33
© TNA Wrestling

34 www.thewrestlingpress.com
jEREMY bORASH
INTERvIEW
Hi Jeremy, thanks for taking the
time to talk to us, it’s certainly a
pleasant surprise for you to be over
here in the UK again so quickly
what brings you to the UK?
Well we kind of came up with the idea to do a
follow up from the recent tour over here and
we thought we would throw a big party to
celebrate the recent TV launch of Impact on
Challenge, we are extremely open in the fact
that the fans saved our TV deal over in the
UK. We wanted to do something to give back
to the fans, so we are going around top parts
of the country giving away tickets for our party
that we held Saturday night. We want to let
the fans know how much we appreciate them.
| Conducted by DARREN WOOD |
Why do you feel TNa’s growth over
here in the UK is so important for
the company?
The success we have had over here in the
UK, speaks volumes to other parts of the
world. When we show our product to a new
set of fans or when we leave the US it’s
always important to us that we give the best
show possible. The fan base here in the UK is
honestly second to none. All the guys in TNA
say going on tour to the UK is their favourite
tour of the year, we go a lot of places so for
them to say that is great. Every person that
comes on our UK tour always says it’s the
most fun they have ever had. The guys look
forward to coming over here to perform
because of the fans enthusiasm. It’s a great
place to come to and we love the UK fans. I
www.thewrestlingpress.com 35
don’t think they get the credit they deserve and I
don’t think any wrestling company has ever
shown them the respect they deserve. The type
of fan is different over here, their enthusiasm
shines they are rabid. Most people say the fans
are starved for wrestling in the UK, no they’re
not starved for it they just want great wrestling
and they will show you how much they
appreciate it. For us it’s a great relationship with
the UK fans.
business that are down behind closed doors,
in board rooms and obviously it’s part of the
industry. So of course we were disappointed
about Bravo closing, but it didn’t take long for
our fans to speak up and say we want TNA
wrestling. So when I say our fans saved the
TV deal here in the UK, that’s 100% true. Look
at the viewership we have on Challenge, right
now. I believe everything happens for a
reason.

TNa recently were left without a Tv challenge Tv is primarily a re-run

station here in the UK, were you game show channel, did this worry
disappointed or let down you at all when the deal to be
by Bravo being cut showcased on that channel was
and were you and finalised?
the rest of the No because the beatufiul thing about our fan
company confident base here, is they will find us. For me I was so
in finding a new excited that we were going to be on freeview,
Tv station? just because of the amount of homes we can
I was part of WCW reach. I mean now we can be seen in 90% of
and there are homes in the UK, that’s huge. As far as Im
decisions made in the concerned as long as they can get us and as
entertainment long as they can find us I had no worries. It
doesn’t matter what channel we were on, our
fans will find us as our ratings speak for
themselves. So many people now have the
opportunity to discover TNA.

does being broadcast on challenge

enable or offer TNa any further
opportunities here in the UK that
maybe Bravo weren’t willing to give
you?
Right off the bat, with Challenge it’s a new
relationship and I think they’re going to be
pleasantly surprised with how hands on we
are in our operations. We are very open with
our fans, we will always answer their
questions. Dixie Carter has always had the
stance of you respect every fan who has paid
their hard earned money to come out and
watch. You talk to every media outlet that
wants to talk to us and spread the word of
TNA. This is against what I see as a very
arrogant approach to business, it’s a new era,
its 2011. Arrogance does not work in the

© TNA Wrestling

James Storm and
the UK fans
celebrate TNA’s
Challenge tv deal!
© Tony Knox
market place anymore, what works is being
appreciative of your audience. Our talent
signs more autographs, does more meet and
greets than any other wrestling company in
the world. Personally for me I will never forget
being a fan of this business, I appreciate the
fans and unfortunately that isn’t agreed with
the very arrogant approach for our company. I
wouldn’t want to work with a company that is
arrogant.
TNa is doing pretty good numbers
here in the UK since going on
challenge, and in some cases is
getting better numbers than WWE
programming. How important are the
ratings for TNa programming here in
the UK to the company?
Our programming is now being distributed to
120 countries and that’s fantastic. Here in the
UK is the only place that we are beating our
competition (WWE) in the ratings so that’s
great. It feels good to beat the competition
obviously. We don’t live and die by the
numbers like it may have been ten years ago
because there are so many other outlets and
revenue streams for our company, but
obviously television is most important. To be
able to pull the numbers we are is a big deal,
it’s important and we couldn’t be happier with
the numbers.
What are your thoughts on taking
Impact on the road and is this
something the company is looking to
do more throughout the year?
We just did the show last week and that was our
first time out and we wanted to see how it went,
not only did the entire night go smoothly from a
production stand point but everyone left the
arena high fiving eachother because we were
proud we had done this. We didn’t know if we
could do it, to tape two shows in one night takes
a lot of organisation and a lot of pressure and it
was a long day. We needed to prove to
ourselves we could do it and we did. I would love
to see the show more on the road, I love being in
front of different crowds, the atmosphere is
fantastic, everything we do is well thought out
and planned and hopefully down the line there
will be more shows out of the impact zone.
Is putting more TNa wrestling on
television each week something the
company should be looking into more
do you feel?
Well Xplosion has really picked up and is in a lot
of countries at the moment, the show is featuring
more original content such as interviews etc, so
at the moment that’s not something on our
agenda. As far as more content goes, we are
concentrating on producing more web content,
which we are producing far more than our
competitors. So this is a far bigger part of our
future, we are trying to think of more original
content to put on the web each day.
What are the chances of having a TNa
pay per view or an Impact taping in
England and have any talks happened
about this?
We just did a show in Fayetville and it gave the
show a real different look, we are trying new
things. We realise that we need to take it on the
road, if it was upto me we would move the entire
show over here. Because of the fan base,
because of their enthusiasm. They’re a different
type of fan, they bring rowdiness to the sports
they watch like football and darts. The fanbase
here is made for wrestling. If I was in charge I
www.thewrestlingpress.com 37
 Dixie during TNA’s recent UK tour!
© Tony Knox
would move the company here in a heartbeat. I
would love to perform in front of these fans every
week and it would be a better TV product for it. I
can assure you that bringing TNA here to the UK
is on our list of things to do.
do you ever get frustrated with some
fans that never stop criticising and
taking shots at the company and the
talent?
Nah I’m used to it by now, that’s just the
passion of a wrestling fan. They know what
they want and they’re not afraid to speak up
about it. There is a really ugly side to the
wrestling fans though, I mean I really don’t think
anybody does actually wish cancer on my
mom, but I have had that said on my twitter.
You have to take the good with the bad and for
every fan that says something bad or whatever,
there are always a lot more who show
overwhelming support for TNA. If you’re
passionate about TNA and you let everyone
know about it that’s great, if you don’t like TNA
and let everybody know about it, well at least
you’re passionate about something.
What do you feel is the biggest thing
TNa needs to capitalise on or focus
their attentions on in the year 2011?
38 www.thewrestlingpress.com
I think on all levels it’s full steam ahead, I mean
we have just recorded our highest rated Impact
ever on a Thursday night, we are on a continual
growth pattern and it’s just a case of managing
that. We have seen over nine years now growing
pains rather than shrinking pains so to speak. It’s
a great case of what do we do next now, we
have to make sure though that decisions are
made in the right way. Everyone’s best interests
must be taken into account, if you ask me are we
the number one wrestling company in the world, I
will argue to my dying day that we are. If you take
a look at guys like Sting and Jeff Hardy, these
are guys that don’t need to work another day in
their life and if they wanted to could make a lot
more money elsewhere but they are here in TNA
because they love the company, they love the
atmosphere, the environment and the creativity
on so many levels. Working for TNA Wrestling is
everything to them. I don’t care if we are in a
massive stadium or in front of a couple of
hundred people, every time a TNA wrestler goes
out there they will let you know that they are
going to give you their all.
Jeremy, it’s been a pleasure talking to
you, thanks for taking the time out to
speak to us. TWP wishes you and TNa
Wrestling every success in the future.
 © TNA

Words JAMIE KENNEDY

And I
Quote...“
“I don’t have
somebody telling me
exactly how to be me
in TNA. They give me
bullet points and let
me do my thing by
letting us call our
own spots and
promo’s in the ring.”
Ken “Mr.” Anderson, Pro
Wrestling Insider, January 2010

P
rofessional wrestlers are not
trained Hollywood actors and
actresses. That statement may
seem obvious and entirely
redundant to most of you but it’s fair to say
that in today’s professional wrestling and
“sports entertainment” climate, the men
and women you see on wrestling television
are expected to be able to get a point across
and express certain emotions to a
satisfactory level – something many of them
struggle with on a weekly basis.
It’s been widely documented within the past few
years that World Wrestling Entertainment have
begun heavily scripting interview and promo
material for their performer’s, feeding them pre-
written lines of dialogue which hit the relevant
points the company wants them to. The idea
behind this is that storylines will be fully
controlled by management and the creative
writing staff, enabling them to, in theory, better
tell the story to the audience.
Many of the company’s top stars from
generations past have made their negative
feelings perfectly clear on this matter. “Stone
Cold” Steve Austin, a decorated champion from
his tenure with WWF/WWE and undoubtedly
the stand-out performer during the much-
vaunted “Attitude Era”, posted on his Twitter
profile that he felt that heavily scripting promo’s
would “stifle” talent and thus disallow any
“natural character they have to shine through”.

www.thewrestlingpress.com 39
Ken Anderson, who was once a member of
the WWE roster, has been wrestling with TNA
since early 2010. His comments at the head of
this piece, let us know how he felt regarding
the heavy use of scripting dialogue and in-ring
actions by WWE, and how much more free he
feels in the looser-scripted environment of
TNA. It seems Anderson believes that TNA
has a decided advantage over WWE in this
regard, allowing god-given charisma from men
such as himself to flow freely to the crowd –
giving everything a more natural feel.
On the surface, it’s not difficult to see why
WWE have taken such a hands-on approach
to vocal and in-ring performance. Clearly, it’s
in their best interest to provide the best
product to fans that they possibly can and they
obviously feel the best way to do this is decide
for their talent what they should be saying.
This doesn’t always help proceedings however
and can actually make things a little more
difficult for younger talent who have limited
Steve Austin –
not a fan of
scripted promos
© John Smolek
40 www.thewrestlingpress.com
experience speaking out in front of a large
crowd.
Many a hot TV moment has been effectively lost
due to the wrestler cutting the promo being more
concerned with getting through their script,
without forgetting any all-important words, in the
allotted time rather than engaging the audience.
To make matters decidedly worse, pro wrestling
really thrives off crowd interaction and audience
members being part of the show.
Can you imagine if The Rock were to ignore
the chanting of the crowd and refrain from
looking their way or reacting to anything
they were saying, choosing instead to simply
regurgitate his scripted lines word for word?
Simply put, this would take away a lot of what
makes Dwayne Johnson so good at his job, both
in the pro wrestling ring and in Hollywood. His
ability to ad-lib, creating his own material on the
fly while still hitting the necessary plot points is
what has helped get him this far in the
entertainment spectrum.
Historically, the most memorable character’s in
pro wrestling are those who simply performed as
extensions of themselves. Both Steve Austin
and the aforementioned Johnson stated that
their gimmicks were easy to play, as they simply
turned their real life personalities “up loud” and
thus felt comfortable in their given role’s.
This leeway given by TNA to their star
performers could then really work in their favour.
People who watch wrestling on television enjoy
the unpredictable nature of it, basking in the fact
that almost anything can happen at any time. On
the other side of the coin, the men and women
performing for these fans enjoy more freedom to
perform in a natural way and get a kick out of
seeing their entertaining qualities provoke a
reaction from their audience.
Cutting everyone a little slack and effectively
allowing them to be themselves appears to be
a wise move, especially in this age of reality
TV, where an emphasis is put on how
entertaining real people can be. For younger
members of the roster, the chance to get a feel
for what gets a reaction from a live crowd is all
important to their chances of success in the
major leagues of wrestling. With a looser script
 Rhino took acting
lessons to
improve his
wrestling
persona
© TNA
put in place, newcomer’s can breathe a little
easier knowing they don’t have to memorise a
ton of material while still challenging
themselves to get the relevant points across
“
and further the story.
Some wrestlers have gone out on
their own way to improve their acting
abilities, recognising that they didn’t
possess the lightning-quick wit of
The Rock or Bobby “The Brain”
Heenan.
Current TNA wrestler, Rhino has worked for
everyone from ECW to WWE and a plethora of
promotions in Europe. In 2003, he was an
important member of the WWE mid-card scene,
enjoying being able to show what he could do
inside the ring and dreaming of top-line
programs against peer’s such as Chris Jericho
and Kurt Angle.
The man realised very quickly that he didn’t
have the vocal talents of his compatriots and
decided to take a step towards rectifying this.
Out of his own pocket while on the shelf with an
injury, the master of the “Gore” paid for acting
lessons to improve his vocal ability. Perhaps if
more fledgling head liner performers had this
attitude towards improvement, there would be
far more of a connection going on with the
audience in their own career.
The beauty of the pro wrestling business is in
the harmony between the performer’s and the
audience. Strictly scripting the show cancels out
the opportunity for both to feed off one another.
It’s heartening to know that TNA have decided to
stick by such a tried and tested formula, knowing
that only those who truly deserve it will be
involved in the top feud’s and stories, with their
abilities to convey emotion or tell a story coming
to the forefront.
There is no need to create identical promos. If
the material is being written by the same people
time and time again, it stands to reason that
most of the characters on the show will come
across extremely similar. Scripting and direction
are of course important aspects of any TV show
or event, but allowing performer’s to perform
naturally is where the true artwork takes place.
n Contact Jamie at jamiekennedy@live.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 41
 Words MARTYN LICCHELLI
FILLING THE
WHO WILL, aNd sHOULd, BENEFIT FROm JEFF HaRdY’s
REcENT FaLL FROm GRacE?
S
ince the events on March 13th
at TNA’s Victory Road PPV,
there has been two words that
whenever mentioned have
yielded such a big discussion point by
all involved with the wrestling business
and those who are fans of it, these
words are Jeff Hardy.
The man who TNA had put faith into as
their top guy, above the likes of AJ Styles,
Kurt Angle and the slew of other EX-WWE
guys. It was Hardy’s actions at Victory
Road which left fans and fellow peers very
disappointed, Hardy showed up for the
PPV in no fit condition to wrestle, and had
a 90 second main event where he was
clearly unable to perform.
© TNA
Since then Hardy has been removed from
TV, whilst no official announcement has
been made about his departure, it is a safe
bet that Hardy will be removed at least until
his court date has passed (currently
scheduled for April 20th), provided the case
will not be postponed again.
44 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Whether Hardy goes to jail for a short time,
long time, not at all or just leaves wrestling
for a while to enter some rehab program
sponsored by WWE is all in the air at the
moment. No one knows Hardy’s plans, or
what the jury will decide in court. But one
thing is for sure, the removal of Hardy was
something that could and maybe even
should have changed the career of at least
one TNA roster member. With Hardy gone
from the picture, Immortal would need a
new charge, someone else to spearhead
the group towards Hulk Hogan’s goal. But
instead of using someone new, we got
Bully Ray.
While Bully Ray has been cutting some
decent old school heel promos, to have
him in a match to become the number one
contender for the TNA Championship the
night after Jeff fought for the title, is a bit
much to take when Ray lost a match on
PPV the previous evening to Tommy
Dreamer and also ended his feud with D-
von at the same time.
I won’t deny Ray has done a good job
since joining Immortal, but the fact he’s in
the group in the first place just goes to
show that TNA would rather take a guy
from WWE and give him a push, than put
some time in to their own guys. In a way it
makes sense. The faction is built up
around a bunch of names from the other
promotion, but Abyss is a TNA original, why
not throw one more in and give that guy a
push?
 © Tony Knox

RDY’S PLANS, OR
“NO ONE KNOWS HAILL DECIDE IN COuR
T.
WHAT THE juRY W FOR SuRE, THE
buT ONE THING IS Y WAS SOMETHING
REMOVAL OF HARD AYbE EVEN SHOuLD
THAT COuLD AND ME CAREER OF AT
HAVE CHANGED TH STER MEMbER”
LEAST ONE TNA RO

www.thewrestlingpress.com 45
Why not use Pope? OK, technically Elijah Burke
was a WWE guy. But he never got over in WWE,
he wasn’t massively successful and his Pope
character is a million times different to that which
we saw in WWE. Why couldn’t Eric Bischoff pay
a large sum of money to the Popes congregation
and have him join Immortal?
Pope is a good worker, good on the microphone
and is desperately in need of something to do to
help fully establish himself and get his
momentum back after TNA’s terrible usage of
him the past year. With the use of Pope in
Immortal, we’d also potentially be able to link
Samoa Joe in with Fourtune.
This would enable both men to add a new
dynamic to their feud and also ensure that both
Pope and Joe would be able to rub shoulders
with the respective members from the either
Immortal or Fourtune.
With Pope associated with Immortal, this could
help him establish a cowardly heel persona and
Joe could get back some of his monster attitude,
© TNA
46 www.thewrestlingpress.com
This idea sure as hell beats the feud including
Pope tying up Okato and whipping him, like what
lately has happened.
Recently, we saw the return of Christopher
Daniels, which was great to see but Daniels’
return itself is a slight bone of contention. While a
great worker, in his return interview he stated
how he’d left TNA and come back so many
times, which is completely true but the question
must be asked is Daniels just back in TNA for the
short term?
In 2009, before Hogan-Bischoff entered the
scene he was main eventing, and in 2010 he
was nothing. He was made worthless by TNA’s
new regime, and whilst the fact is there for all to
see that they’re now building him back up, it’s a
guy who wasn’t even in the company a couple of
months ago. So instead of bringing someone in
who was released less than a year ago why not
just use a mid-card worker who wasn’t being
used?
Eric young has been around for a long time, he’s
been messed around enough, why couldn’t
‘Super Eric’ make a brief return? Doug Williams
would have been a good choice, after all this is a
man who was helping Morgan team against
Immortal just a few weeks ago. Williams is a
pretty credible face. But, instead we got treated
to yet another turn as he shows up heel, part of a
tag team with Magnus. This has to be Williams
fifth turn, in the last 18 months. He has enough
history working with Fourtune to easily fit into the
group.
Amazing Red could have come down and done
something impressive too, his big brother is
currently working with Steiner. It’s a little skewed
since the Main Event Mafia return was ruined.
But Steiner and Crimson were there, with Angle
to set the wheels in motion for the destruction of
Immortal. Red getting involved and helping
Fourtune would be a nice natural link, and he’s
been around for a long time too so it’s
understandable he’d defend the company.
It has to be said, I’m not one hundred percent
against Daniels’ return. I like his work and
naturally I’m happy he’s back, the issue has to be
made with the lack of support from TNA for their
mid card talent.
 E
ORKER, GOOD ON TH
POPE IS A GOOD W ELY IN
IS DESPERAT
MICROPHONE AND
NG TO DO
NEED OF SOMETHI
© TNA
Their numbers shoot up every now and then
when people watch to see what’s happened after
a Pay Per View but by and large they drop off
quickly and get back down to the 1.1 average
viewing figure. It’s been this way for a year now,
yet they still have the same ideas in place. Bring
in a known name. Push them as the main event
and let everyone else just do something in the
under-card.
The X-division and knockouts division at some
point have each been TNA’s biggest draw. Both
now are pretty much non-existent. The X-
Division is mainly Kaz fighting when something
pops up, which seems to lead to title defenses
only when other peoples flights are missed, and
the Knockout division is being led by Madison
Rayne who’s doing a fine job. But she’s often off
screen in favour of the pseudo vampire hypnotist
rubbish we have with Winter and Angelina Love.
It’s nice to finally have an explanation for Love’s
terrible acting but come on, TNA’s Knockouts
were meant to be wrestlers. They had fights. It’s
what they do, but now apparently they wrestle
for 2 minutes and spend the rest of their time
trying to get some of Uncle Eric’s famous HLA
on screen.
Two of the company’s biggest assets have been
buried, and in return we get a focus on the main
eventers, but at no point has anyone who is a
TNA original benefited. AJ is out injured; the rest
of Fourtune got beat down and are in an
awkward storyline that was built for 4 non-TNA
originals. Abyss was out for a while after his
attack and still looks like a timid watered down
version of Abyss from 3 years ago. Meanwhile,
Matt Morgan has had title shots. Jeff Hardy,
Anderson, and RVD have all had title runs. Sting
is back and is the champion again; Matt Hardy is
wobbling around in the background of every
Hogan promo. They’ve all come in and got more
without ever trying, and if it was giving great
ratings then fine.
That would be great. But it’s not working. The
ratings aren’t going up; they’re as stagnant as the
product itself. But the irony of TNA’s numbers
being lackluster given the talent they have is that
they actually have an omnipresent character off
air called ‘the network’ who is apparently
demanding these main event matches because
they give great ratings.
When we see ‘The Network’ backstage, viewed
from behind, sitting at a table and booking the
shows openly I think I’m going to have to give up
on TNA. Something tells me I’ll be seeing that
sooner than I see a consistent upswing in their
ratings.
n Contact Martyn at Martyn@psychoduck.co.uk
www.thewrestlingpress.com 47
GIVING OuR bLESSINGS WITH....

E
restling is a tough business. From enjoyment that every wrestling fan had when
retirements to deaths, bad shows they were first interested to wrestling.
to terrible backstage behaviour,
Lagana has taken that passion and has started
scandals to cancelled bookings,
a crusade around it. If you’ve been on Twitter,
wrestling fans have to endure some
you’ve probably already seen it, whether you
atrocious things in the wrestling business.
know it or not. If you see #IWantWrestling, then
Yet through thick and thin, good things do
you have seen the crusade. It’s a movement to
come from the wrestling business.
re-establish what we all enjoy about wrestling.
Moments you can be proud of. Things that
To look at the positives of the wrestling
can really lift you up. Matches and
business, not to knock the bad things but to
segments that can make you remember
celebrate the good things.
why you became a wrestling fan in the first
place. Here is Lagana’s own statement of intent from :
“IWantWrestling.com was created to explore
Every issue, the Wrestling Priest blesses those
what people inside and outside the wrestling
who are making a positive influence in the
business “want” out of it. This will not be a
business. Whether wrestlers, promoters,
news site, instead a place for commentary,
backstage workers, or even fans, if they are
interviews and discussion. Are you getting
doing good things for pro wrestling, then the
what you want? Tell the world what you want
Wrestling Priest wants to give them their due.
on Twitter by using the hashtag: ”.
And this time, those blessings go to a man with
a simple mantra..... David Lagana has taken this mantra, and has
set out to invade social media with the aim to
I Want Wrestling. encourage fans to discuss what they want in
pro wrestling, what they enjoy in pro wrestling,
David Lagana is a man with a passion. In fact,
and what they remember loving in pro
he is a man who has lived his passion for quite
wrestling. He wants to give fans a positive
some time now, having been the lead writer for
voice to express what they love about
the WWE, and the producer for Ring of
something that is so derided about the outside
Honor’s recent TV shows on HDNet.
world. As we stated last issue, there are still
But more than that, and more importantly, fans out there who, through the worst of pro
David Lagana is a wrestling fan. Not a sports wrestling, will find positives to maintain their
entertainment fan. Not a cynical ‘smart’ fan. He love, either by looking to other promotions, by
is a fan who wants to retain the passion and reliving great moments from the past, or by

48 www.thewrestlingpress.com
 COMPETITION

4 WWE dvd’s uP FOR GRAbS

The Wrestling Press has teamed up with Silvervision.co.uk to offer our readers the
chance to win these amazing WWE DVD’s: Iron Will Elimination Chamber Collection,
Summerslam 2010, Money in the Bank 2010 and the Fatal Four Way 2010. To be in for a
shot of winning this great prize simply answer the following question :

Who defeated John Cena at Money in the Bank 2010?

Send your answer to dtwooduk@hotmail.com
Please remember to include your postal address. Competition closes 25th May. Winners will
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PLEASE NOTE ONLY PAL (UK) REGIONS ARE AVAILABLE

All the above titles, and so much more, are exclusively available from www.silvervision.co.uk

finding an oasis of creativity in a desert of
illogical booking.
Lagana’s website invites people to discuss
wrestling. Not wrestlers (unless they have
something specific to promote in the ‘shill this’
section), but former WWE writers, media
journalists and even fans. People who have a
lot to say about what they like about pro
wrestling, and how that is delivered to them in
2011, but people who don’t often get a voice to
say what they think.
We salute David Lagana for taking a stand for
pro wrestling. For taking an initiative to bring
back something positive to a business on the
internet, a forum that is so often used to knock
something that fans should want to promote.
Too often we hear fans talk about what is
terrible in the wrestling business. David Lagana
has taken the path less travelled in an attempt
to show that professional wrestling is worthy of
our time and effort in 2011. And with
#iwantwrestling trending more and more
regularly on Twitter, he is achieving his goal.
For David Lagana and for all his admirable work
and goals, we give this weeks blessing. Long
may his crusade continue so that we can all
once again not only show why we WANT
wrestling, but that we LOVE wrestling.

www.thewrestlingpress.com 49
 DGuSA SPEARHEADS THE
FUTURE OF INDY WRESTLING
PART 1

Words CHRIS GST

O
ctober 26th, 2008. east coast wrestling fan base, but bought online to stream
What were you which while holding a large or download to a person’s
doing that day? fan base, is known to be computer so they could
Do you remember cluttered with other top watch it for much cheaper
where you were or who you promotions including ROH, than buying it from a TV
were talking to? One man CHIKARA Pro, Combat Zone service.
most certainly remembers Wrestling, and others.
On March 21st 2011, Sal
that day if only because it
But Sapolsky knew he had to Hamaoui and his Wrestling
was the beginning of his
do something that was World Network announced
new life. Gabe Sapolsky on
different. ROH and DGUSA the launch of WWNLive.com.
that day was stepping
soon were competing not An in house iPPV production
down as head booker of
only for regular PPV buys but company that would produce
Ring of Honor. ROH had
the newly dubbed internet the iPPVs for EVOLVE, FIP,
been doing PPV in the US
PPVs or iPPVs via and DGUSA. DGUSA is
and was about to launch
GoFightLive.tv. IPPVs are largely considered to be
onto the HDNet Fights
basically pay per view shows either the 3rd or 4th top
channel owned by Dallas
Mavericks owner and
billionaire Mark Cuban and
Philip Garvin.
Sapolsky was burnt out and
openly stated over the next
few weeks in interviews and
in his own blogs that he was
ready to start the next
chapter of his life, whether or
not wrestling was a part of it.
Skip forward to April 14, 2009
where Sapolsky announced
the launch of Dragon Gate
USA with himself as its Vice
President. Later in 2010
Sapolsky also cofounded
EVOLVE Wrestling. Both
promotions were readily open
to the niche market on the
WWNLive.com - The New Home of iPPV, courtesy of dgusadottv

50 www.thewrestlingpress.com
promotion in the US and for
some it’s the 1st or 2nd
depending on your tastes in
wrestling. TWP’s Chris GST
recently contacted Sapolsky
about his thoughts as to why
WWNLive.com was created
and how it might be the future
of Independent Wrestling.
“Live iPPV is the future of not
just indy wrestling, but TV as
a whole. My business partner
Sal Hamaoui and his staff
have had 10 years’
experience in streaming.
These guys know what they
are doing. [We] realized that
we could just do this in house
and be totally dependent on
ourselves while not having
anyone else’s hands in the
pie.”
Sapolsky stated that he and
Hamaoui belief they can
provide the same quality of
service, if not better in their
production for promotions
they are related to such as
FIP compared to
GoFightLive.tv which still
provides iPPV services to
ROH and others such as
Beyond Wrestling.
When asked what he felt
about iPPVs basically
replacing the fan experience
of having to wait for a DVD
release, Sapolsky had a
surprising answer seeing as
how for the most part, 99% of
Indy Wrestling merchandise
revenue are through their
DVD sales.
“Without a doubt, in this day
and age people want to see
things live and as they
happen. They want it now.
Chris Dickinson Injures Nick Talent, courtesy of Beyond Wrestling Videos
WWNLive.com gives us the
ability to deliver our brands
live. This creates a lot of
excitement towards DGUSA
and EVOLVE. It is more fun
to watch. This is how things
are going to be done now.”
. . . . DGuSA HAS
ALWAYS WOWED
THE CROWDS
An obvious message to not
only hardcore Indy fans, but
to the general audience as a
whole that DGUSA and
EVOLVE with WWNLive.com
are looking at the future.
They want to open up their
product to more eyes thanks
to social media that can
spread faster than just the
same old PPVs on TV
services.
But is this going to be the
future? Is this going to get
more eyes on the product?
www.thewrestlingpress.com
There is definitely excitement
in the air for Sapolsky and
Hamaoui in their next step in
pro wrestling. The Sapolsky
booked, DGUSA has always
wowed the crowds with their
high flying, hard hitting action
and while they have put out
premium products with very
nicely created DVDs and
bundles, something was
missing. Fans wanted to see
the live action but DGUSA
was limited in their touring
areas. WWNLive.com was
the answer.
“We just always try to be
progressive in our thinking,”
Said Sapolsky when asked
about the future of
WWNLive.com and if he feels
that DGUSA’s natural
progression from DVDs to
iPPVs. “We are always
looking for ways to improve
and things we can learn from
the past. We are just
51
following what we believe is
the next step.”
It will be interesting to see
where Sapolsky and
Hamaoui take this. I do
believe that fans who cannot
go to certain events because
of distance or time can now
partake in that almost “live”
feeling because they can
watch it as it happens or
come home and check it out
on their computer way before
the DVD comes out, feeling
like they can partake in
discussions with those who
went. It’s a different approach
and while many felt that ROH
would have been the first to
do this, this definitely shows
that Sapolsky has his eyes
on the horizon and doesn’t
see a cloud in the sky.
Drew Cordeiro, Executive
Producer of Beyond
Wrestling who just recently
started doing business with
Mark Angel vs. Josh Thor (full match), courtey of Beyond Wrestling Videos
52 www.thewrestlingpress.com
GoFightLive to expand his
product had a few things to
say when asked about his
opinions on the future of
iPPVs and Indy wrestling.
“I think one of the biggest
benefits of working with
GoFightLive is that they’ve
built a database of customers
who have ordered both ROH
and DGUSA iPPVs. When a
new event is approaching,
GFL sends out email blasts
promoting these events to
anyone that has ordered a
wrestling iPPV in the past.
“I’m seriously shocked that
DGUSA is ending the
relationship with GFL
because it also means
eliminating an outlet which
allows DGUSA to get their
product in front of ROH fans
without any political
ramifications.”
While by no means negative
about WWNLive.com, there is
no doubt that Cordeiro offers
another look at what could be
the future for promotions that
want to get more eyes on
their product, or want to give
the fans they already have
more access to their events.
With Sapolsky working for
promotions such as FIP,
EVOLVE and DGUSA the
question remained would
WWNLive.com be exclusive
to those promotions, or was
he open to help out the
promotions that shares talent
with him.
“We will carry any promotion
out there,” Sapolsky
explained. “We offer our
services to any promoters.
We will simply charge a flat
fee, supply everything
needed and then the
promoter keeps 100% off the
buys. You can contact us at
Help@WWNDVD.com for
info.”
Sapolsky is very excited
about this path that he and
Hamouai have chosen, when
used properly, there is little
doubt that this is going to be
the future of Indy Wrestling
and fans ability to enjoy a live
product without having to
travel long distances to see
their favorite wrestlers.
Part 2 of Chris GST’s article
is in next month’s edition of
TWP, where he will continue
his conversation with Drew
Cordeiro, Executive producer
of Beyond Wrestling.
n Follow Chris on Facebook -
http://facebook.com/spawn-
syxx9
www.thewrestlingpress.com 53
ECWA 15TH ANNIVERSARY
Words ANDREW DIXON
T
hroughout wrestling history,
tournaments have been used to
create talent new talent and help
push rising talent to the next stage
of their careers. One of the most prestigious
tournaments in professional wrestling today
is held by independent wrestling promotion
East Coast Wrestling Association; their
Super 8 eight man single elimination
tournament has helped propel many
wrestlers’ careers that you see on television
today in either the WWE or TNA.
The Super 8 tournament was started back in
1997 by ECWA founder Jim Kettner and has
become a mainstay on the independent
wrestling scene, attracting many top talents and
building wrestling reputations also. Many top
names such as Christopher Daniels, Paul
London, Petey Williams and TWP Issue 13
interviewee Low Ki have won this great one
night tournament and furthered their careers,
ending up in WWE or TNA at some point. But
it’s not all about young guys proving themselves
and creating their names; the great Jerry Lynn
has even won, defeating Sonjay Dutt in the
2007 final.
Current ECWA owner Joe Zanolle explains his
thoughts on the Super 8 tournament.
“I really believe that the ECWA Super 8 is the
premier independent wrestling event and pro
wrestling tournament in the United States. I
54 www.thewrestlingpress.com
think the style of matches and work rate in the
early Super 8 tournaments was the blueprint for
the proliferation of many independent wrestling
promotions in the northeast of the United States
“
in the early 2000s.
“If you look at early Ring of Honor
(ROH), talent and style, it was based
on the previous Super 8 combatants
like Daniels, AJ Styles, Low Ki, Bryan
Danielson, Xavier, Amazing Red,
among others. The Super 8 was really
the first place that exposed a lot of
people to that style and talent live.”
Last year’s ECWA Super 8 tournament winner,
Austin (Consequences) Creed is another man
who has reaped the benefits from competing in
the event, as on July 10, 2010 he won the
tournament defeating Tommaso Ciampa in the
final, 12 days later Creed signed with WWE. He
told TWP “Winning the Super 8 was a big deal
to me; I had come out of TNA after admittedly a
nondescript run but I was given the chance to
shine and I took that chance with both hands.”
As the old saying goes ‘No-one remembers
second place’, but that statement is dead wrong
in regards to wrestling and especially when the
Super 8 tournament is concerned.
“In my mind, the Super 8 is the ‘American Idol’
of pro wrestling,” Said Zanolle. “On the one
hand, it is a platform for younger talent to get
2010 ECWA Super 8 tournament winner,
Austin Creed
© ECWA

Courtesy of ECWA
greater exposure, but also,
you don’t have to win the
tournament to parlay your
participation into something
bigger and better for yourself.
“This is the 15th annual
tournament, I think that’s a
testament to how recognised
we are on the East Coast
scene, we want to please our
fans and I see each
tournament as a thank you to
them for their continued
support and long may it
continue.
“Any given participant can
make their own moment with
the opportunity given. The
perfect example for both
points is Austin Aries, who is
also a participant in this year’s
15th Annual tournament.”
Before the 2004 tournament,
Aries had little to no exposure
outside of the Midwest. He
lost the finals of the
tournament to Daniels, but he
56 www.thewrestlingpress.com
was who everybody was
talking about after the
tournament that year and he
found great success shortly
thereafter in ROH and then
Total Non-Stop Action (TNA)
wrestling, back to ROH and
then Dragon-Gate USA (DG-
“
USA) and EVOLVE.
This year Aries
comes back in the
veteran-type role
comparable to
Daniels’ role 7 years
ago and he’s
looking to capture
the trophy that
eluded him in 2004.”
Although wrestlers today have
many independent companies
and tournaments out there to
perform on, the Super 8 has
always remained a big
tournament to all. This year’s
competition includes two guys
who have been making waves
across the wrestling world in
the past year. Sami Callihan
and Adam Cole, attempt to
step up and be known as
winner. But they aren’t the
only two who Zanoelle
believes can win this year, he
realises there’s a wealth of
talent performing in the
tournament this year.
“I think fans are aware of
Cole, Callihan and of course
Aries but you cannot discount
the likes of Rich Swann,
Tommaso Ciampa, known to
loyal ECWA Delaware fans,
as he was a 2009 and 2010
finalist, who has also been
doing well in ROH. Bobby
Shields is also known to loyal
ECWA Delaware fans in his
former character role of the
Robere Shields, but they have
not seen other aspects of
Bobby’s work and I believe he
is one of the most under-rated
and under-utilized wrestlers
out there.
Tri-State Wrestling Alliance
(TWA) (sister promotion to
ECWA) and ECWA Delaware
fans know SHOCKWAVE the
Robot, but they have only
seen one dimension of his
ring work and will certainly
see something different from
him in the tournament.
“Regardless of all the
competitor’s varied degrees of
exposure, I do think we have
one of the best fields of eight,
if not the best field, ever.”
This year is a lot different for
the tournament as for the first
time, fans all over the world
can see the event live on
GoFightLive (www.gfl.tv) on
iPPV.
“Being on GFL means we can reach a wider
audience the likes of that we’ve never had
before,” Zanolle said. “So I think it’s
something that all independent promotions
should look to do at least once. It also gives
fans seeing our product for the first time a
chance to see how we work and maybe it will
convince them to see our shows in person.
This can only be a good thing I believe.”
Having this exposure on GoFightLive adds a
new feel to the tournament and further
boosts the profile of independent wrestling
and with the event airing on GoFightLive
surely now is the time for aspiring
“superstars” to propel themselves to the top.
Adam Cole, CZW’s Best of the Best X
winner, I believe has the complete package
to go all the way and take the tournament.
Mixed with his various outstanding
performances in ROH and various other
promotions, who knows where he might be
this time next year.
Whoever wins though, it will be a fantastic
tournament and this is a show that TWP
urges you all to buy the event, we guarantee
you won’t be disappointed.

n Contact Andrew at
andrew.dixon_1990@yahoo.co.uk

www.thewrestlingpress.com 57

n the Japanese wrestling scene during
I the first part of this year there have
been many points of note regarding
the future of promotions across the
country.
New Japan Pro Wrestling will be embarking on a
three night tour in the USA in conjunction with the
Jersey All Pro Wrestling promotion. Pro Wrestling
NOAH are returning to the United Kingdom for
the first time since their ‘European Navigation
2008’ event in the Coventry Skydome. Dragon
Gate are now working to integrate members of
the DGUSA roster including the three members
of the stable ‘Ronin’ Chuck Taylor, Rich Swan
and Johnny Gargano.
However, there has been one notable
occurrence from the Pro Wrestling Zero 1
promotion that doesn’t involve expansion
internationally, but instead a very notable addition
to the roster has been added.
The late Shinya
Hashimoto in
2004
58 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Words JEREMY GRAVES
In July, 2005 one of the most influential names in
the history of Japanese wrestling, Shinya
Hashimoto passed away. The former IWGP
Heavyweight champion and founder of the Zero
1 promotion left behind a legacy that will not be
forgotten - a legacy that is now passed onto the
next generation specifically the eldest of his
three children Daichi Hashimoto.
Following the passing of his father, Daichi
expressed his desire to want to get into
professional wrestling and ultimately
continue the legacy of the Hashimoto name.
A big task for anyone to say the least, It became
quite public that he wanted to follow in his
fathers footsteps, so much so that in September,
2009 at the age of 17 the young Hashimoto was
an integral part the event celebrating what would
have been the 25th Anniversary of the career of
Shinya Hashimoto in Tokyo.
He participated in a kick boxing exhibition with
retired kick boxer Satoshi Kobayashi in which
during this match it became evident that he has
a great passion for wanting to wrestle. Following
this match Shinjiro Otani (the now head of Pro
Wrestling Zero 1) questioned Daichi, saying
(according to the ZeroOneUSA.com website)
“This is the ring that your father fought in. Did
you feel anything?” Daichi responded by saying
he felt the passion of the fans that his father
must have felt and with that expressed his desire
to want to learn. This was all Otani needed to
hear as he and Masahiro Chono trained the
young man in preparation for what would be his
debut match at the world renowned Ryogoku
Koukugikan in Tokyo. (Also known as ‘Sumo
Hall’.)
For a year and half, Daichi embarked on a
training schedule that would test him to the limit.
This past December, the company held a public
 Daichi
Hashimoto
workout day where the press reported on
Daichi’s training. Otani pushed him so hard that
day that the young man was reduced to tears,
the training appearing all too much for him.
As he was being drilled by Otani in front of the
media, he worked through each practice but
there was a notable slow down in his training
throughout, so much so that he couldn’t keep up
with what Otani was asking of him. Following the
practice, Otani made it known he was angry and
frustrated with Daichi, claiming that because he
couldn’t fully dedicate himself to training because
of school work and other activities it was a major
hindrance on him being ready. Eventually Daichi
expressed his feelings of anger towards his
performance and made it known that he knows
everyone is expecting a lot from him.
March 6th, 2011 saw Daichi Hashimoto make his
wrestling debut at the age of 18 in front of a
capacity crowd at Sumo Hall. His opponent, his
uncle and trainer Masahiro Chono, Daichi came
out to the ring using his father’s music which
erupted loud chants of ‘Hashimoto’ from the
crowd.
The ring announcer was almost reduced to tears
with the occasion when announcing Daichi
during the ring introductions. The youngster
fought as hard as he could against Chono.
© TNA
Throwing everything he could which included
some of his fathers trademarks kicks. But
ultimately Daichi was overpowered by the
veteran Chono and submitted to an STF after a
barrage of punishment that included taking two
sickening looking piledrivers, including one of
them happening on the outside of the ring.
After the match, the appreciation for the
young man’s efforts was rewarded with his
next challenge. Keiji Mutoh (whose alter ego is
The Great Muta’) was in attendance and issued
a challenge to Daichi to a match in the same
building just 15 days later at the All Japan Pro
Wrestling event. The challenge was accepted
and the two clashed, although the result wasn’t
favorable for the youngster as he lost to the
veteran Mutoh.
It is evident that this young man has some big
shoes to fill if he intends to continue his father’s
legacy. However, a unique aspect about Daichi is
what he could do perhaps primarily in the short
terms for Japanese wrestling.
When it comes to the Japanese wrestling scene,
Daichi could well be the source for an upsurge in
crowd attendance because of the intrigue factor
that comes with him wrestling and the possible
match ups he could be involved in. There is a
wealth of possibilities when it comes to whom
Daichi could face, logic would say that he should
go up against people from his father’s past, with
each match possibly being billed as the next
generation of Hashimoto proving himself against
his father’s former foes.
It will be very interesting in the coming months
to see how well Daichi not only progresses in
the ring, but how much interest he generates
within the Japanese wrestling audience.
If you’re interested in finding out more about
Zero 1, I’d suggest visiting the website
ZeroOneUSA.com. An English site that features
detailed recaps of the occurrences in Pro
Wrestling Zero 1.
n Contact Jeremy at dkrjeremy@googlemail.com
Catch Jeremy’s audio broadcast live every Sunday
night at www.DropKickRadio.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 59
 Words LEE BURTON
OF RINGBELLESONLINE.COM
Main photo TONY KNOX

© Tony Knox
A
t 18 years of age, you would
expect a wrestler to still be
learning their craft, travelling
from show to show and gaining
experience along the way. However, Britani
Knight is no ordinary 18 year old. Already a
5 year veteran, the daughter of Rowdy Ricky
Knight and Sweet Saraya is arguably the
best female wrestler in the UK, and that was
highlighted this past weekend in Norwich
and Sudbury, when Britani became the first
ever Pro Wrestling: EVE Champion after
wrestling five matches in two days to win
the tournament.
The first night in Norwich’s Project nightclub
featured opening round contests comprised of
five matches which were all four corner affairs,
and a Last Chance Battle Royal for any losers
to have a second stab at getting into the quarter
finals. Nikki Storm, Alpha Female, Erin Angel,
Shanna and Jenny Sjodin all made it through
62 www.thewrestlingpress.com
their first round outings – Britani was eliminated
after tapping out to Sjodin’s cross-armbreaker –
which left the remaining 13 who failed to get
through to fight it out in the Battle Royal.
That should have been 15, but Sweet Saraya
and a returning Blue Nikita voluntarily removed
themselves from the tournament to settle their
issues from the very first EVE show in a great
Last Woman Standing match, which unlike other
matches of this ilk, featured no weapons shots,
and was comprised of the two women just
beating each other down with wrestling moves.
Saraya won with a sunset powerbomb which
Blue Nikita couldn’t rise from before the 10 count.
Meanwhile, Britani managed to survive the Battle
Royal and was immediately faced with the
woman who beat her in round one, Jenny Sjodin.
The Female Fight Machine continued her assault
on Knight’s arm, but the 18-year old held on to
take out the Swede with a variation of a DDT
called the Knight Light in a solid end to a fun
evening of wrestling.
Night two in Sudbury would see Britani compete
in her fourth match in two days against Jetta –
who earned a bye to the semi-finals due to
winning the Three Minute Warning match at the
tapings last year and was subsequently well-
rested – and Nikki Storm – who got past Erin
Angel in a tidy outing – taking on Alpha Female –
who was tested against Shanna but ultimately
took her out with a powerslam.
. . . . SHE DID THE WHOLE THING
WITH GLANDuLAR FEVER.
THAT’S ONE TOuGH TEENAGER
Jetta initially tried to duck getting physically
involved by trying to talk Britani into joining her
European Empire, but had to get it on after her
offer was refused. In what Jetta later described
as her absolute last match ever, she fell to the
Knight Light, putting Britani into the tournament
finals. Straight afterwards, Storm handed Alpha
Female her first loss in EVE with help from her
European Empire cohorts Sjodin, Shanna and
April Davids, as well as Glamour Gym
teammates Sara-Marie Taylor and Carmel Jacob,
who have a running feud going with the muscular
German.
So that left us with Scottish Nikki Storm, the
prodigy of the European Empire – and fitting
replacement for Jetta, as they are both pint-sized
mouthy heels – and England’s Britani Knight,
who had wrestled one extra match, had a
rougher time in her matches and was out there
alone, while Storm was flanked by Empire leader
Jetta.
In what was fittingly the best match of the
tournament, Knight and Storm tore into each
other in a no count out, no DQ affair in order to
determine a clear winner, which started with
Storm gaining an immediate advantage by
delivering a hangmans DDT on the floor. Britani
Jetta
© Tony Knox
rallied back though, and was on the verge of
victory after the Knight Light, only for Jetta to
interfere. This brought out Saraya, who took the
opportunity to smash her longtime rival’s face in
and send her packing, leaving Britani free to
execute a Knight Light from the second rope to
claim the victory and the title.
What started out as a rough week for EVE
promoters Dann and Emily Read – their original
venue for the Friday date was lost days before,
and saboteurs tried to get the message out that
the show had been cancelled – turned into a
great weekend of action, capped off with Britani
Knight being crowned the best female wrestler in
Europe.
And while you think wrestling 5 matches in 2
days is rough enough, she did the whole thing
with glandular fever. That’s one tough teenager.
In full results from Pro Wrestling: EVE’s title
tournament weekend:
April 8: (Norwich, UK) – Nikki Storm b Sweet
Saraya, Rhia O’Reilly and Amazon; Erin Angel b
Super Janey B, Sara Marie Taylor & Pollyanna;
Shanna b Liberty, Destiny & April Davids; Alpha
Female b Em Jay, Carmel Jacob & Kay Lee Ray;
Jenny Sjodin b Britani Knight & Melodi; Nikki
Storm b Erin Angel; Alpha Female b Shanna;
Sweet Saraya b Blue Nikita; Britani Knight won
the Last Chance Battle Royal; Britani Knight b
Jenny Sjodin
April 9: (Sudbury, UK) – April Davids, Jenny
Sjodin & Shanna b Rhia O’Reilly, Erin Angel &
Blue Nikita; Super Janey B b Pollyanna; Destiny
b Sweet Saraya ; Sara Marie Taylor & Carmel
Jacob b Kay Lee Ray & Liberty; Britani Knight b
Jetta; Nikki Storm b Alpha Female; Jenny Sjodin
& April Davids b Destiny & Amazon; Shanna b
Sweet Saraya; Erin Angel b Blue Nikita; Rhia
O’Reilly b Em Jay; Super Janey B & Alpha
Female b Carmel Jacob & Sara Marie Taylor;
Britani Knight beat Nikki Storm to win the Pro
Wrestling EVE Championship.
n Lee Burton is the co-host of the Women Of
Wrestling Podcast and the writer of the
Ringbelles Roundup, a weekly compilation of
all that’s happened in women’s wrestling, and
can be found at ringbellesonline.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 63
By DARREN WOOD
O
n June 21st 2008, arguably the after ROH their liaison approached Chris Hero
second biggest wrestling and myself about coming over for a tour. A
promotion in the world dream came true, but at that point i was about
performed for the first time in the to head to WWE and i couldn’t go on that tour.
United Kingdom at the Skydome Arena, I had to wait another year but I made it to
Coventry. On that day Pro Wrestling NOAH Japan eventually.
hosted such legendary stars as the late
In May, NOAH returns to the UK, what are
Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi
your thoughts on the company coming to
and Kenta. It was an incredible event that
the UK, how important do you feel it is for
also saw appearances by now TNA
NOAH to go to the UK and what can UK
stars “Anarchist” Doug Williams, Desmond
fans expect from this company?
Wolfe and now WWE superstar Daniel
Bryan. Like Japan, the UK has a long and strong
wrestling history. The styles may be different,
With nearly three years gone after their terrific
but the effort and seriousness the wrestlers
debut on these shores, Pro Wrestling NOAH
put into their profession is similar. So all the
make their return to the UK for the European
fans can expect a great show with a lot of
Navigation 2011 on May 13th and 14th. The
pride.
first night will take place at the Broxbourne
Civic Hall, with the second show emanating
from the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
Appearing at the shows will be NOAH
regulars Kenta, Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi
Suigura plus some of the finest talents from
the UK and across the pond in the USA.
Claudio Castagnoli and his Kings of
Wrestling tag team partner, Chris Hero are
two names who are scheduled to be making
the trip to the UK. TWP managed to grab a
quick chat with former Ring of Honor tag team
champion Castagnoli to ask him his thoughts
about coming back to the UK.

Hi Claudio, thanks very much for the
interview. First question. Pro Wrestling
NOAH is one of the most respected
companies in the world; you have
appeared for the promotion many times
over the years. What are your thoughts on
the company and how did working for
NOAH come about?
Pro wrestling NOAH is the premier wrestling
company in Japan. It stands for the best
wrestling you can find with a long and proud
tradition. When I first started in Wrestling and
saw tapes of NOAH I was fascinated. I never
dreamed of ever working there. One night
What were your thoughts when your
appearance on the NOAH UK shows was
announced?
I was really happy. I haven’t been to the UK in a
long time and to come back and to wrestler for
NOAH is like a double bonus!
Are you looking forward to going to the UK
again and what are your thoughts of UK
wrestling and its fans?
I am definitely looking forward to coming back to
the UK. I love the English style of wrestling and
the UK fans are very dedicated so that’s always
great.

www.thewrestlingpress.com 65
What are your thoughts about getting the
chance to perhaps face some UK talent on
the NOAH shows?
I’m looking forward to it. The UK has some
great Wrestlers!
There are a number of UK wrestlers who are
appearing on the show, how important do
you feel it is for the UK guys to produce a
good enough performance to impress NOAH
officials in order to perhaps gain a more
regular spot with the company?
Well you always wanna do that when you
wrestler for a new company. So I do think it’s
important to have a strong showing.
You and your Kings of Wrestling tag team
partner Chris Hero recently narrowly missed
out on the GHC tag team gold Yoshihiro
Takayama & Takuma Sano. What were your
thoughts on the match, Takayama & Sano
and how much of an honour would it be to
capture the GHC Tag team titles?
We are very proud of that match. It showed the
world what we already knew, that we are
contenders and that we can win those titles. It’s
definitely a dream to win those belts some day.
You have won gold in many countries and
major promotions over the world, how
important is it for you to win gold in Japan
and for a Japanese company?
Very. We both love Japan an the Japanese style
of wrestling. To get that kind of recognition and
to be in the record books forever, that’s the kind
of legacy we wanna leave.
66 www.thewrestlingpress.com
For fans who have not seen a Pro Wrestling
NOAH event what can they expect and what
can fans who have not seen you expect?
They’re in for a treat! Pro Wrestling NOAH will
bring the best wrestling to England and so will
I!
Thanks very much for the interview
Claudio, I wish you every success in the
future is there anything else you would like
to add?
Thank you! Please come out to see the shows,
you will not be disappointed. And check out my
website and follow me on twitter @ccastagnoli !
Following this announcement, here’s
how the cards now look -
Friday May 13th : European Navigation
2011 (Night 1)
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli v Go
Shiozaki & Taniguchi
Ricky Marvin vs Kotaro Suzuki
Danny Garnell vs Robbie Dynamite
Saturday May 14th : European
Navigation 2011 (Night 2)
KENTA vs Zack Sabre Jnr
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli v Go
Shiozaki & Taniguchi - Rematch from
night before.
Ricky Marvin v Jonny Storm
The Saint vs Taiji Ishimori
For tickets and more information,
visit www.prowrestlingnoah.co.uk
© Stephany Smutny

ALP H A F E M ALE

Popular European wrestler alpha Female joins TWP with

a series of exclusive articles....

M
y name is Jazz, I started wrestling in 2000 and I have
two personalities. Actually I’m a really sweet girl but
sometimes this monster appears in me, that
monster’s name is Alpha Female.

68 www.thewrestlingpress.com
 Alpha Female is self-confident, strong and
unpredictable. She destroys everybody who
gets in her way, but that only happens when she
listens to this certain music and it gets even
worse when the ring bell sounds. That won’t be
the case here as I tell you some stories from
when I started wrestling, the time I spent at
American Rampage Wrestling or Pro Wrestling
EVE.
I will interview some of my friends, trainers or
wrestlers in every issue. So get ready for an
interesting, funny and different column from the
point of view of a woman who messes about
with belching and farting wrestlers in stinking
locker rooms, who has some strange and also
lovely experiences with fans.
For all who don’t know who I am: I am from
Germany, and had my first fight in 2001,
back then still as Jazzy Bi. Five years later, I
changed from the dancing wrestler to being the
monster called Alpha Female. I’m very proud to
say that I was trained at the German Wrestling
Federation by Murat Bosporus and Joe Legend.
My path led me from Germany through all of
Europe and also parts of Africa. My goals are
like probably every wrestler’s - to be in the
WWE and to live off my sport.
Why do I wrestle? Well, I have three older
brothers and often I had to fight with them about
the remote control, the dessert or my doll as
they always pinched it off me. When I was ten
years old I discovered wrestling on TV and from
then on I sat in front of it regularly and built my
life up around wrestling. At the age of 13 I went
to the gym for the first time and wanted to do
wrestling but unfortunately my parents didn’t
support me on that.
However, I was able to go my own ways a few
years later and spent some very hard and
painful hours at the wrestling school I
mentioned earlier. There were three girls
there and we didn’t get spared from the boy’s
exercises. We had to do the same amount of
push-ups, sit-ups and squats as them and the
other exercises weren’t different either. It really
toughened me up and I’m thankful for the
strenuous training.
There were some moments where I couldn’t
bear it any more, when I cried day and night. I
had aches and pains and no friends because I
had sacrificed them all for my dream.
Training, training and training again. I would and
will give everything for it, by hook or by crook.
Today I fight regularly, and I am damn proud to
be able to live my dream. I enjoy fighting in front
of an audience and I have sworn to always give
my best.
Apart from wrestling you can find me in the
gym, my second great love, and when I’m
stressed out and the world just gets on my
nerves, I go to boxing lessons. I can really
recommend boxing to you, there I just power
myself out. I’m a fighter in my heart and soul!
But enough about that, here’s an interview for
you and who would be more obvious than to
question “The Alpha Female”.
Dear Alpha Female, have you got a favourite
opponent? Everybody who still lies on the floor
on the third count!
Why do you call yourself “The Alpha
Female”? Just take a look at me and then you
know!!
What pops into head when you hear:
Pro Wrestling Eve? It’s a good stage for me to
destroy my opponents and mess with other
females.
American Wrestling Rampage? Great team,
big and professional shows, I had fun times on
tour with them, simply love AWR.
Coffee? Don´t need it, Don´t like it, but it keeps
me awake.
Wrestling? I love it, what else can I say?
Jazzy Bi? Crap!
Japan? It’s a big goal for me to wrestle there
and prove that I’m a tough woman.
USA? I would love to live there, I like the
American way of life.
n Website: www.alphafemale.de
www.thewrestlingpress.com 69
 iT E s E xCLusivELy fOR T wP
NAdiAN R E b E L” w R
“THE CA
finl and 2011
Fight club
F
ight Club Finland, or FCF Wrestling,
might be a new acquaintance to
some fans reading out there. I’d like
to introduce us, and share the
groundbreaking trek that the promotion
which I head up has spearheaded to date in
the annals of European professional
wrestling.
First of all, I really should start out by laying out
our bragging rights. We are arguably the
foremost promotion in Europe in terms of talent
export. Our promotion and wrestling school has and Aurora, in addition to myself have all made
turned out more export talent per capita than any the grade in European wrestling. Many of the
other single wrestling promotion that I am aware aforementioned have also gone on to wrestle in
of on our continent in modern times. That alone Japan.
should raise a whole sea of eyebrows and make
Our talent has also fared very well booking-wise
people take note of who we are.
abroad, showcasing viability in a highly-
Talents such as ”Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä, contested market. The fact that Yoshihiro Tajiri’s
gender bender fan favorite Jessica Love, metal SMASH promotion in Japan has built an entire
warrior Stark Adder, current rookie sensation stable solely for FCF talent in their market should
Kristian Kurki, the Ninja-like masked man speak volumes to any fan or person in the know.
Kagemanguro, former 4-time FCF Champion Simply put, we have a very credible product, and
Valentine, former standout Pasi Suominen (who we push for a very high standard of in-ring action,
has since retired due to injury), female stars Kisu with all bases covered more or less.

70 www.thewrestlingpress.com

aurora
Looking back on how we got
to where we are and where
we came from, one needs to
trek back to 2003. It was
during the summer of said
year that Finland’s first
wrestling promoter, Patrik
Pesola, braved uncharted
waters and invested over his
© Jarmo Katila
starbuck
HEIMO UKONSELKÄ
means to facilitate
professional wrestling within
Finland on a domestic level. I
personally introduced myself
to Patrik at that point in time,
after being tipped off by
Norweigan wrestling pioneer
Erik Isaksen, who had about
a two-year head-start on us in
Finland.
I became the booker and
trainer for the new promotion
that Patrik and I coined
Valhalla Pro Wrestling (or
VPW). I began teaching pro
wrestling domestically in
August 2003, with the
inaugural wrestling class of
Finnish talent, sporting about
20 students initially. Some
from the initial group
dropped out during the run
of things, but a large majority
of them stuck it through to
the end.
© Jarmo Katila
Patrik went bankrupt at the
end of 2003, after some
Machiavellian spending
beyond all reason to promote
two large wrestling events
during August and
September 2003, dubbed
Culture Shock and Blatic
Brawl respectively. A girl
named Maria Gren, who was
in schooling to become a
valet/manager, picked up
where Patrik left off, but this
time on a very grassroots
level. Maria kept things very
low-budget and was perhaps
overtly careful in playing
”safe”, without really pushing
the envelope to expand her
operation, which was coined
Pro Wrestling Finlandia (or
PWF) at the start of 2004.
After a short spell of bad
politics and internal sabotage
by a couple of my initial
www.thewrestlingpress.com 71

© Jarmo Katila
STARK ADDER
wrestling students, Maria asked me to take
over the booking and run the locker room,
upon which the guilty weeded themselves out
of the operation. I quickly got things back on
track and engineered the product in a more
professional direction, which produced
speedy results. However, come the summer
of 2006, Maria had had enough of the
promotional end of things, and she decided to
fold shop.
It was during this pivotal time that a select
group of wrestlers came to me, and sought
out advice as to how to move on. We formed
a new promotion in the fall of 2006, which I
dubbed Fight Club Finland, later to be re-
christened as FCF Wrestling. FCF proceeded
to buy out the ring and training hall from
under the auspices of Maria Gren, and our
entity became an expanded business
operation.
72 www.thewrestlingpress.com
© Jarmo Katila
KAGEMAN GURU
I should mention at this time, that the ”cream
of the crop” in European pro wrestling is a
thin upper echelon. The best that each
country has to offer, in terms of the ”total
package” (the look, charisma and skills), is
indeed a very select few. One of those select
few on our continent is a worker by the name
of Bernard Vandamme, who was trained by
”Adorable” Adrian Street. It was the Belgian
Vandamme who held the European
Heavyweight Championship, operated under
the second oldest promotion in Europe –
Wrestling Stars of France (Brian Dixon of the
UK’s All-Star Wrestling is the longest-running
promoter in Europe) – bringing the title to
Finland in December of 2006 to defend it
against me. I walked away the new
European Champion on December 2, 2006,
placing FCF on the European wrestling map
for good.
 Since that time, FCF Wrestling has hosted
well-known names such as Steve Corino
(former ECW and AWA World Champion),
Chris ”Bambikiller” Raaber (former Zero-One
and EWA World Champion), Michael Kovac
(former GSW Champion and current FCF
Champion), El Dinamico (former IWS World
Champion), Erik Isaksen (former WAW and
NWF Champion), Wesna Busic (multi-time
Women’s Champion worldwide), Yoshihiro
Tajiri (former WWE US, Cruiserweight and
Tag Team Champion), Akira Nogami (former
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion) among
others to bring prestige to our product.
The FCF Championship has changed hands
four times outside of Finland, which certainly
would suffice as a credible argument to
elevate our title to World Championship
status. In addition to Finnish talent such as
Stark Adder, Heimo Ukonselkä and Valentine,
Norway’s Erik Isaksen, Japan’s Yoshihiro
Tajiri, Austria’s Michael Kovac and myself
representing Canada have all held the FCF
belt. That makes five nationalities, in addition
© Jarmo Katila
JESSICA LOVE
to the four title changes abroad, making the
FCF Championship one of the most
prestigious titles in Europe by default and
argument alone.
At the beginning of 2011, FCF has taken on a
more aggressive strategy to expanding, with
shows in various rural communities in
Finland. Events are usually held in sports
halls or night clubs, as other venues are
unreasonable cost-wise, or beyond the scope
of reality in terms of drawing fans. With a
steady main focus and fanbase in the central
Helsinki capital area, FCF has broadened its
reach to cities such as Tampere, Jyväskylä,
Oulu and Turku over the past two years, with
varying success.
Since pro wrestling is still a fairly new
phenomenon in Scandinavia overall, the
Finnish media is slow and somewhat
apprehensive to pick up on pro wrestling as a
product, making it a challenge to reach
potential customers in new markets. That
said, this same anomaly takes place in
Norway, Denmark and Sweden as well,
leaving the Internet as the main proponent for
getting the product ”out there” to the masses,
aside from postering a said market. Even so,
the occasional TV, Radio and/or print media
will pick up on covering certain events from
time to time, with varying frequency.
Very simply put, professional wrestling in
Europe is anything but a money-making
business, aside from French promoter Flesh
Gordon (Wrestling Stars) and Britain’s Brian
Dixon (All-Star Wrestling). The absence of
television and mass media coverage is the
greatest hinderance and roadblock in
European wrestling, and FCF is not exempt
from that said predicament.
Nonetheless, FCF Wrestling is healthier and
more active than many a contemporary in
Europe today, and we continue to grow where
others unfortunately falter, and for that alone
we rightfully claim our spot among the leading
promotions on our continent.
StarBuck, www.starbuck.fi
www.thewrestlingpress.com 73

A
s a former World Heavyweight
Champion of Westside Xtreme
Wrestling (wXw) and German
Stampede Wrestling (GSW), the
two leading wrestling organizations in
Germany, “Absolute Andy” plays a significant
role in the German wrestling scene.
The 27-year old belongs to a circle of only three
wrestlers who have accomplished the feat of
winning the top belt in both the leading
promotions Germany has to offer. Besides Andy,
the Swiss Ares, who after moving to the USA
now successfully wrestles on the independent
circuit and the third man who achieved that
pinnacle is German Steve Douglas, who lost his
second GSW title to Steve Corino last October.
74 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Words DAVID SCHMIDA
Born as Andreas Ullmann, Andy debuted in the
pro wrestling world, aged 19 years old beginning
his training at German Stampede Wrestling. He
had his first bout as “Ghetto Boy” Andy at the
side of Andrew Patterson in a Tag Team Battle
Royal at the company’s International Impact in
October 2003.
It wouldn’t take long for Andy and GSW to
realize that he was meant to be more than just a
boy from the ghetto. Therefore it came as no
surprise when he turned on his partner in July
2004 after losing a match.
A new persona, “Absolute Andy”, was born, an
arrogant rule breaker who was certain that he
was absolutely great. Following his turn he set
the next exclamation point at GSW’s
International Impact in October 2004 when he
pinned former WWE star Zach Gowen in a six
man tag team match after ruthlessly attacking
Gowen’s leg.
He set his eyes on GSW’s Breakthrough
Championship and after victories against the
Austrian Chris Colen and Alex Pain he was
granted a title shot against the then reigning
champion Murat Bosporus. The two met at
GSW’s Night in Motion 5 in July 2005 in a
classic European rules match, where Andy was
able to win the strap from the Turk after a
beautiful “Absolute Elbow” from the top rope.
Meanwhile Andy wrestled his first match at
Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in March of
2005 as Mr. Erotic and you should only need
one guess to figure out what that character was
International Impact 4 on March 17th 2007 had
arrived and Andy would face Kovac for the title
in the main event. Only four months after losing
the Breakthrough Championship, Andy beat the
Austrian in a 35-minute bout which left no
questions unanswered. Dozens of fans
celebrated with Andy in the ring. He was the
number one and now even seemed to have the
fans on his side.
ANDY bEAT THE AuSTRIAN IN A
35-MINuTE bOuT WHICH LEFT NO
QuESTIONS uNANSWERED. . . .
Steve Corino was announced as the first
challenger for his newly won title. But before
facing him in June, 2007 he made sure that

“
all about. everyone realized that he didn’t actually care
The man born in Nuremberg, about the fans supporting him and attacked
Germany, would hold on to the members of GSW’s office. A furious Corino
Breakthrough Title for almost made the save and everything was set for the
eighteen months, defending it eleven main event.
times before eventually losing it to
longtime nemesis Chris Colen in
December 2006.
Colen and Andy started to wrestle at the same
time and battled it out on more than one
occasion in GSW. After Andy had beaten Colen
in a brutal two out of three falls match at the
beginning of 2006 and a time limit draw in July
of the same year, he eventually lost the
championship to Colen at GSW’s X-Limits in
December of 2006 in Oberhausen, Germany.
Also known by the moniker “Mr. 100%” Andy,
didn’t really have time to mourn about his loss
since GSW’s Battlefield which was showcasing
a Battle Royal for a shot at the organization’s
World Heavyweight Title was just around the
corner.
After successfully enduring nineteen opponents
and being announced the new challenger for
the belt, celebrations were cut short. The then
reigning champion, Michael Kovac, had
attacked and brutalized Andy’s manager
backstage. The message was clear, the lines
had been drawn.

www.thewrestlingpress.com 75
The match itself was interrupted by numerous
interferences, referees were knocked out and Absolute Andy vs
Steve Corino,
chaos broke loose. The reigning champion was
July ‘07
able to pin the challenger to defend his
championship. Nevertheless it wasn’t the last
time the two met. But let’s not get ahead of
ourselves too much.
Throughout the next few months the self-
proclaimed “Absolute Champion” beat every
challenger that GSW put in front of him,
including Joe E. Legend and Doug Williams. It
was evident that he wasn’t afraid of breaking
and bending every rule that the rule book had to
offer while doing so. Has anyone ever even
seen that ominous book everyone is talking
about? Anyway, right after retaining his title
against the Swiss Ares in October 2007 he
found out that he had to face Corino yet again. Andy attacked “Bad Bones” out of sheer
Andy had been mocking Corino by calling frustration about the fact that he wasn’t able to
himself “King of New School” in reference to his collect the only GSW title he hadn’t captured
victory against him a few months back and now yet. A bitter back and forth rivalry developed.
got the receipt. It was one of those matches that Andy didn’t just collect titles in GSW. At wXw’s
didn’t have a loser. Andy did tap out to the Back to the Roots VI in January 2007, he won
former ECW World Heavyweight Champion and his first Tag Team Championship teaming with
lost his cherished crown in a bloody street fight Josh Abercrombie and added two more Tag
but the bout actually cemented his position in Team Titles in 2007 and 2008 at the side of
GSW. Nevertheless the “King of New School” Steve Douglas. He also made sure to position
was dethroned. himself for shots at wXw’s World Heavyweight
Title. In May 2009 he beat Bryan Danielson and
was from then on part of an elite circle having
THE “AbSOLuTE CHAMPION”
won the most important titles in GSW and wXw.
bEAT EVERY CHALLENGER THAT
GSW PuT IN FRONT OF HIM Absolute Andy has developed into one of the
cornerstones of the wrestling scene in Germany
and was in addition to that able to make sure
The year 2008 saw Andy turn on his longtime ally
that the big organizations took notice of him.
“Bad Bones” John Kay. While their manager was
While he was invited for try outs at WWE during
able to keep the group, the “Absolute Alliance”
their tour through Germany, in April 2007 he
intact throughout almost all of 2007 problems first
wrestled at two of TNA’s shows in Germany in
started to appear at GSW’s X-Limits in
September of 2009.
December of that same year when Kay could
have saved Andy from losing his title to Corino. Being only 27 years old, his skills in ring and the
fact that he was spared from any serious
A month later Andy decided not to do anything
injuries so far indicates that the man known for
against his partner’s elimination from Battlefield.
his perfectly executed flying elbow could very
Despite these incidents the two managed to
well one day be part of one of the leading
face GSW’s Tag Team champions at
organizations in the world of wrestling.
International Impact V as a unit. You might
anticipate what followed. They lost the bout and n Contact David at dschmida@hotmail.com

76 www.thewrestlingpress.com
www.thewrestlingpress.com 77
 UFC
Words: MATT SINGH
I
f the UFC decides to book GSP/Silva for
the end of the year, a potential co-main
event could be Michael Bisping versus
Chael Sonnen, on the heels of a coaching
stint for both on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.
GSP/Silva alone is a record breaking financial
fight, but with the support of Bisping versus
Sonnen as co-main event coming of TUF and all
of their trash-talking, the event would
undoubtedly draw an all-time buyrate that would
be hard to beat anytime soon thereafter.
The aforementioned Brazil pay-per-view is
quickly turning into a interesting concept, mostly
in regards to the potential line-up and pay-per-
view business the show could do in Brazil. The
UFC has an abundance of Brazilian stars that
the company could use to stack the event; Jose
Aldo, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters
on the planet is, like GSP, defending a title at
UFC 129 (the bantamweight title), and four
months later the UFC runs the Brazil show, so
it’s not completely unreasonable to predict that
Brazil native Aldo, if he gets past Mark Hominick
at UFC 129, could be booked to defend his
bantamweight title at the HSBC Arena in main or
co-main event of show.
Antonio ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira has not fought
since February 2010 at UFC 110 in Australia due
to injury. A comeback spot on the first Zuffa-run
UFC show would be a huge deal in Brazil and
no doubt sell-out the HSBC Arena in rapid order,
and booking ‘Minotauro’ in a main or co-main
event would surely do great business on pay-
per-view in Brazil. The only question mark is in
regards to his potential opponent for the event,
as at 34 years old and with many brutal fights
78 www.thewrestlingpress.com
The year
ahead so
far (Part 2)
(and numerous injuries), it’s hard to see a road
back to the UFC heavyweight title for Nogueira
unless he makes a comeback in his next three
fights that is remarkable.
With that said, it should be perfectly acceptable
to fans and critics alike to book Nogueira in a
main or co-main event as he’s still a big-name
heavyweight fighter, and also still capable of
beating any heavyweight in the world. As well as
Jose Aldo and ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, the UFC
has Lyoto Machida (who fights Randy Couture
at UFC 129), Mauricio Rua, Thiago Silva and
Paulo Thiago on the roster as big-name
Brazilian fighters that could help draw a big gate
and buyrate in Brazil.
Another potential huge fight for the August show
could be an thirteen-years-in-the-making
middleweight rematch between Brazilians
Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort. Silva has been
sidelined, like Nogueira ironically, since UFC 110
due to injury, and also like Nogueira a comeback
fight in his native country, on the first Zuffa UFC
Brazil show, against Vitor Belfort in a long-
awaited rematch would do big business at the
gate and on pay-per-view in that country. The
last time Silva and Belfort fought, Belfort won via
knockout in just 0:44 of the first round, and no
doubt the hype/build-up to a rematch would
make for excellent television.
While there are no plans thus far, another
possibility in regards to breaking new ground is
for Zuffa to run its first UFC show in Japan, as
now would be the ideal time to plant their flag in
that country. The main reason for this is that
Dream, Japan’s top MMA company, is essentially
on its last legs financially, and has struggled
terribly to draw either decent
live crowds or big television
numbers, due mostly to the
organisation’s inability to
create new stars and instead
pushing the washed-up likes of
Kazushi Sakuraba and Ikuhisa
Minowa.
The UFC hasn’t run a Japan
show since the Zuffa buyout,
which is a puzzlement
considering the UFC has been
hot globally since 2006, and
with Japan being a hotbed of
MMA one would’ve thought
that the country would be one
of the first stops on Zuffa’s
global expansion (indeed it’s
quite amazing to think Zuffa-
run UFC would travel to
Australia, Scotland, Germany
and Abu Dhabi before Japan).
The UFC has a handful of
Japanese stars that could be
booked on a potential
Japanese pay-per-view, with
Takanori Gomi, Norifumi ‘Kid’
Yamamoto and Yoshihiro
Akiyama all superstars already
in Japanese MMA due to their
previous careers in the Orient.
The real ace the UFC has up
its booking sleeve though is
Yushin Okami, the current
number one contender in the
middleweight division, however
booking complications arise
when you factor-in the
potential GSP/Anderson Silva
middleweight title fight; if
GSP/Silva does indeed go
ahead towards the end of the
year, Okami will have to wait
until the first quarter of 2012 at
the earlier to get a
middleweight title shot against
the winner of GSP/Anderson
Silva.
While Okami versus GSP or
Silva would doubtless draw
huge pay-per-view numbers
and a huge live gate
(depending on which venue is
booked to stage the fight),
Okami’s last fight was
November 2010, and waiting
almost a year and half on the
sidelines for a middleweight
title fight is totally unworkable
and unrealistic. Of course, just
because a middleweight title
shot isn’t likely to happen for
Okami this year doesn’t mean
a UFC Japan show can’t
happen, or draw well, as Gomi,
Akiyama and Yamamoto are
main event/co-main event-
level fighters in Japan, and
booked opposite big-name
opponents could main event a
show in Japan. Gomi, for
example, could be booked
against someone on the level
of George Sotiropoulos (a fast-
rising lightweight, but coming
off a loss to Dennis Siver), Brit
Ross Pearson (4-1 in his UFC
career) or even the loser of
Grey Maynard versus Frankie
Edgar (due to fight for a third
and final time at UFC 130 in
May for the UFC lightweight
title).
Bantamweight Norifumi
Yamamoto lost his first UFC
fight to Demetrious Johnson at
UFC 126, however Yamamoto
remains one of the biggest
Japanese MMA stars in
Japan, and a spot on the main
card of the first Zuffa-run UFC
show would surely be a
certainty. Yoshihiro Akiyama,
like Yamamoto, is a huge star
in Japanese MMA, a cross-
over star on par with Chuck
www.thewrestlingpress.com
Liddell in the US, and a
Japanese UFC show would
doubtless feature the 3rd dan
black belt Judoka in a
prominent position, however
going 1-2 in the UFC thus far
Akiyama would be in a must-
win situation should he be
booked on the show, which
could actually turn into a great
story both in the run-up to and
during a fight on the first
Zuffa/UFC Japan show.
It’s not unreasonable to
suggest that more or less any
venue the UFC booked for its
first Japanese show would
sell-out, as the interest in the
first UFC Japan show, coupled
with a strong card consisting
of the previously mentioned
Japanese stars would be
enough to sell out even the
biggest indoor stadiums such
as the Tokyo Dome, with a
capacity of upwards of 65,000,
the Saitama Super Arena, the
site of many great Pride
Fighting Championship Events
with a capacity of around
50,000 or the Osaka Dome
with its 40,000 capacity.
Running Japan also raises the
prospect of non-Japanese
former Pride Fighting
Championship stars such as
Mirko CroCop, Wanderlei Silva
and Mauricio Rua being
booked on the first ever Zuffa
UFC Japan show, which when
combined with the
aforementioned Japanese
former Pride FC stars would
surely amount to booming
business both on pay-per-view
and at the gate for the UFC.
n Contact Matt at
mattsingh33@gmail.com
79
 DVD
Dx One Last Stand
The final D-Generation X run starting from
HHH finding Shawn Michaels superkicking a
little mouthy girl to their defeat as WWE
Undisputed Tag Team Champions is retold in
The new three-disc set released by WWE
starts in the summer of 2009 and ends early in
2010. The disc set wraps up with the entire
HBK farewell speech on
80 www.thewrestlingpress.com
RAW along with DX making fun of themselves
for being so emotional.
From Vince McMahon’s 64th birthday bash to
Little People’s Court with Hornswoggle, all the
memorable promos and moments DX created
on RAW are showcased. Full PPV matches
against Legacy in a Hell in a Cell match and
their Undisputed Tag Team Championship
against Jeri-Show in a TLC match are also
shown. Several celebrities made appearances
with DX at this time which included Bob
Barker, the wrestling debut of ‘The
Flame’ Jon Heder and many others.
The new exclusive footage for the DVD
are a few segments where HHH and
HBK are in a tank trying to go hunting.
In the special features on the first disc
there is short look at DX behind the
scenes of Monday Night RAW. The
unfiltered clip shows DX in script
rehearsals, going over their matches,
making fun of Big Show and greeting
HHH’s wife Stephanie McMahon
behind the camera.
While the DVD focuses mainly on
DX’s last run, there are many
occasions during their segments
where they show their 1997 antics
along with their war with the
McMahon family in 2006. The DVD
set is definitely a must have if you
missed on all the shenanigans DX
pulled off. Not only did DX create
memorable moments with well-
known celebrities, but they also had
some of the best tag matches they
ever had as a unit. Unless HBK
goes back on his retirement
promise, this is definitely the last
new DX DVD.
JOHNNY NORTH
 DVD

TLC 2010
Edge’s 10th World Championship win,
the first ever Divas tables match, the
end for Wade Barrett and the Nexus
capped off an historic event at World
Wrestling Entertainment’s .
The last WWE pay-per-view of 2010
featured for the first time a ladder, chair,
tables or all in every match except the
WWE Tag Team Championship match. A
triple threat ladder match for the WWE
Intercontinental Championship started
the show and was one of three times on
the event that superstars had to climb a
ladder in order to win. While the first few
matches were kept short, it helped keep
the excitement saved for the main event
matches.
The TLC match with Edge, Rey
Mysterio, Kane and Alberto Del Rio
easily was the most exciting and
featured the best action. Del Rio looked
nervous at the start, but he took a
memorable large fall through tables right
before Edge won the championship. The The main event of the show saw John Cena
different styles of all four competitors meshed finally put an end to his battles with Wade
amazingly well creating great back and forth Barrett with a chairs match. The ending to the
sequences on top of ladders and when going match was a fitting end to this long feud. In the
through tables. only special feature on the DVD, Cena gives an
LayCool battling Beth Phoenix and Natalya in interview explaining how glad he is to finally put
the first ever Divas tables match saw many the Nexus behind him after a tough 2010 with
tables around the ring, but the good Divas only them.
wanted to put LayCool through a customized Wrestling fans that have not seen this event
made pink table that had mocked versions of definitely need to check out this DVD. It is not
LayCool on it. Natalya was unsuccessful in everyday WWE gives you an event like this and
putting LayCool through with the original plan, considering how WWE likes to change their
but she made the moment even more ideas it is possible fans will never see this type
spectacular with some high-flying ability. One of of format again. Ladder and table match fans
the most unique matches ever in WWE, to see get high quality action all on one DVD.
the Divas in that type of environment was truly a
special moment. JOHNNY NORTH

www.thewrestlingpress.com 81
 GAME

them in the air again, allowing you catch their

WWE All Stars falling body with a cutter leaving them flat on
the mat where you can continue to punish
Two years ago, THQ took a risk and went for a them.
new direction away from their Smackdown vs.
Raw series with the game Legends of All regular grapples can be reversed with a
Wrestlemania. well-timed press of the shoulder buttons,
meaning you being on the receiving end of a
The game received mixed reviews, whilst cutter can quickly turn into you delivering an
nostalgia carried enough weight in some hearts arm drag. Powerbombs become hurricanranas,
for them to overlook the shortfalls, the more and piledrivers become back drops.
picky reviewers criticised the games
repetitiveness and lack of depth. When you have built up enough star power to a
signature move, a simple two button press will
THQ, this year bring us yet another take on the see Randy Orton for example punt kick his
wrestling game with WWE All Stars, and it just downed opponent in the head so hard that
might be the most refreshing change in a they’ll shoot in the air and backflip before falling
wrestling game in years. The roster is different; to the ground. His RKO, when available to you,
this time combining a mixture of WWE’s current will see The Viper grab his opponents head and
superstars with a choice of some of WWE’s jump 15 feet in the air and spin around before
finest from the past. dropping to the mat to K.O. his opponent.
The fighting is faster paced, and the graphics
are larger than life. All Stars takes the WWE
world and firmly places it into the arcade world
with great results.
The controls are basic; two face buttons are
your weak and strong strikes. The other two are
weak and strong grapple. Bumper buttons are
block and reverse, as well as run and pin or
pick up weapons. Both weak buttons do a
signature move, both strong buttons do
another, and both block buttons do your
finisher.
It’s very easy to pick up, but not always fluid.
On a few occasions I continued to finish a
striking combo when I was clearly trying to
grapple my opponent.
Despite its simplistic feel, there’s actually quite
a bit of depth in the fighting. A quick punch
combo and a strong strike can knock your
opponent into the air, where more attacks can
be landed before grabbing them for a
powerbomb. The powerbomb itself can send My Scott Steiner CAW

82 www.thewrestlingpress.com
The Fantasy Warfare mode is great, albeit short lived.
Sadly, where All Stars comes apart is that the
options and game modes are thin on the
ground, especially compared to the Smackdown
VS Raw series. However, what is here is
perfectly playable, meaning exhibition mode will
get a lot of use when your friends come around,
although the limited choice of matches leaves
you with little variation of setting.
The Create a Wrestler feature really suffers,
whilst I’ve been able to make a dozen or so
decent looking characters in the game, no one
is really able to be made perfectly. Clothes are
ridiculously in short supply and when it comes
to a move set you can only select to copy a
current roster member.
The main ‘career’ mode is also much simpler.
Titled ‘Path of Champions’ the mode allows
you to follow three different story arcs. Chase
the tag titles and face off with DX, make your
way to a WWE title shot against Randy Orton
or try and bury the legacy of the Undertaker.
All Matches were fast paced and fun. My only
real gripe is that the whole game feels a bit
short. All-Stars, is a perfect wrestling based
arcade fighter to pick up when you want to
beat the hell out of Drew McIntyre for 10
minutes.
The game is different enough from
Smackdown VS RAW to stand out, and good
enough on it’s own to fit in with the myriad of
other fighting games.
Overall, with exciting easy to access action
and a great twist on the current WWE
videogame series All Stars is a fantastic game
for all wrestling fans. But those who are
expecting any of the depth of THQ’s main
series will be left sorely disappointed. This
game is an arcade game at heart, and it comes
across as so on your console, which sadly may
leave a few feeling a little bit short changed.
MARTYN LICCHELLI
www.thewrestlingpress.com 83
 bOOK
Road Warriors
Danger, Death and the Rush
of Wrestling
Supplier: Medallion Press
Price: £14.55 (Amazon)
No. Of Pages: 288
Tag team wrestling was at its peak in the
1980’s, and there is no doubt that The Road
Warriors were to tag team wrestling in that
decade what Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were to
singles wrestling during that era. So it’s quite
fitting that finally this legendary tag team now
has an autobiography to detail their incredible
careers.
Straight away there is one noticeable change
that Animal makes to his stance on the
autobiography; he merely skims through his
early years before breaking into the business.
This is a refreshing change as let’s be honest
(and Animal is smart enough to realise this)
the reason fans by wrestling books is to hear
about stories of their professional wrestling
career, not necessarily about how the
performer grew up.
This book is incredibly detailed in chronicling
the early days of Animal and Hawk’s career,
from their initial meetings in The Gym in
suburban Minneapolis, to their days as
bouncers and training with fellow future stars
like Rick Rude, Barry “Demolition Smash”
Darsow and Scott “Nikita Koloff” Simpson.
There’s no doubt that Animal does a great job
recounting the team’s initial forming in Georgia
back in 1982, partnering with Paul Ellering as
their on and off screen manager and all of the
highlights the team encountered from that
point on. He looks back fondly on their
meteoric rise through Georgia, the Mid-
84 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Atlantic area, the American Wrestling
Association and their various stints in Japan.
Stories are told with amazing detail, as it is
evident Animal recounts this part of his career
with fond memory
The stories of the team’s wrestling career are
intertwined with Animal recounting stories of
his personal life, and how they affected and
interacted with his professional life. As their
career as a team continued on, his partner’s
drug problems and “personal demons” kept
creeping in and affecting the team’s success.
Not surprisingly the last part of their career as
a team are talked about in less detail as the
book moved on, as Animal used the space to
talk more about his personal life, his
relationship with Hawk, their relationship with
God and Hawk’s untimely death. It is obvious
that he would talk more about their glory days
of the ‘80s, but it would have been interesting
to read more of his thoughts about their final
years in the WWF, including the ridiculous
“drunken Hawk” storyline, their honorary third
member, Darren “Puke” Drozdov and their
failed run as LOD 2000.
It is evident that The Road Warriors were a
truly influential and incredibly popular act in
the pantheon of professional wrestling,
something Animal is all to aware of. He fondly
talks of “The Road Warriors pop,” which is a
measuring stick for how loud a packed crowd
of fans could cheer when The Road Warriors
entered an arena.
This book is pretty fantastic when it comes to
the plethora of wrestling autobiographies
available. He also keeps the negativity and
people bashing to a minimum, which is also
quite refreshing. While the book is certainly
not without its flaws it is truly a joy for long-
time fans.
DARREN WOOD
 bOOK

bruce Hart:
Straight From The
Hart“
Supplier: ECW Press
Price: £10.49 (Amazon)
No. Of Pages: 288

To say that the Hart family are one of most

famous in all of professional wrestling would be
a huge understatement. Indeed their impact on
the industry is so great that you’d be hard-
pressed to find a fledgling wrestler or performer
who isn’t influenced by brother’s Bret and
Owen, father Stu or the multitude of offshoot’s
from the family tree – such as Davey Boy Smith
(The British Bulldog), The Dynamite Kid or Jim
“The Anvil” Neidhart. It’s novel to hear another take on the Stampede
story and a parallel to the criticisms levied at
Rather interestingly, this book takes a detailed
Bruce by his brother Bret, in his own
look at the life and career of one of the full-time
autobiography, “My Life In The Cartoon World of
wrestling Hart clan who didn’t make it as a big
Wrestling”. While pulling no punches over
star with Vince McMahon and the WWF/WWE.
certain situations, Bruce refreshingly takes the
Bruce Hart has managed to forge a highly
high road and avoids taking pot-shot’s at others.
successful career both inside the ring and
Instead he comes across as an extremely
behind the curtain, booking for his father’s
likeable man who simply wishes to show his
Stampede Wrestling promotion in the 1980’s
love of the pro wrestling business and respect
and 1990’s.
of his father, Stu.
He was there when the aforementioned
This really is a great read and is a welcome
McMahon figuratively gobbled up his families
change from the WWE-edited book’s which
wrestling dynasty and witnessed many
have been steadily released over the past
members of his close family go on to become
number of years. The success and tragedy
huge stars under the promotion of “the boss”.
which has befallen the Hart families association
It’s captivating to read more about the true
with the wrestling business is touched on and
inner-workings of a wrestling promotion, the life
really makes the reader appreciate how much
of a booker and even event’s as recent as
these men and women have given to entertain
WWE Wrestlemania XXVI, where Bruce
and be a part of something they hold dear, to
performed as the “Special Guest Referee” for
their own hearts.
Bret Hart’s match against none other than Vince
McMahon himself. JAMIE KENNEDY

www.thewrestlingpress.com 85
 DVD
TNA Victory Road
/ TNA No
Surrender 2010
Double Pack
Supplier: TNA Wrestling
Price: £11.99 (Amazon)
Run Time: 360 Minutes
Discs: 2
With TNA putting a renewed emphasis on TV
rating’s and less precedence on Pay-Per-View
buyrates, there has been a lot of criticism over
the past few year’s regarding the quality of
these monthly, pay-to-view shows. Thankfully
the Orlando-based promotion have wisely
chose to package subsequent PPV’s together,
enabling fans to buy them as a set for a
cheaper price, rather than forking out for them
individually. This is definitely a shrewd move
and will surely lead to a bigger return for the
company.
With each event in this 2-disc set falling on
either side of the ECW tribute show “Hardcore
Justice”, it is interesting to note how much of a
different flavour they both have – with a
number of ex-ECW performers making their
way onto the No Surrender card to fit into the
“EV 2.0” plotline which dominated the late
Summer and early Autumn months of TNA
programming.
In true TNA fashion, if you could take a number
of matches from both cards and squeeze them
onto the one show, it’d be a contender for one
of the best wrestling Pay-Per-Views of the
year, certainly from an in-ring perspective.
Victory Road features a tremendous contest
between The Motor City Machine Guns and
86 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Beer Money for the TNA Tag Team Titles, one
of many highlights from their summer series of
matches which really did light up the TNA mid-
card scene. Leaving everything they have in
the middle of the ring, the four participants
here truly earn their corn.
In other highlights from the July show, Jay
Lethal battles the legendary Ric Flair in a
match which Flair desperately wanted to use
as proof he wasn’t over the hill and could still
perform to a standard up-keeping with younger
wrestler’s such as Lethal. Unfortunately, there
are a number of matches which, while decent,
don’t really have enough of a story to keep
them interesting to the live crowd. A perfect
example of this would be the tag-team match
pitting AJ Styles and Karazian against the team
of Rob Terry and Samoa Joe.
September’s No Surrender event is the show
which makes up the meat of this package and
is a better show overall. The Motor City
Machine Guns and Generation Me tear down
the house with an opener worthy of any
wrestling stage, while Abyss and Rhino give
the fans in attendance what they want with a
wild, out-of-control brawl which harks back to
the days of ECW and “Attitude Era” WWE. Kurt
Angle vs. Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson vs.
“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero are worthy top-
liners, although it must be said that the former
should have perhaps closed out the show.
Overall it’s pleasing to report that this set offers
up much in the way of entertainment. It’s hard
to shake that feeling, however, that you can
see action of a similar quality each week free
of charge on TNA iMPACT! There are a lot of
good matches here but the presentation is
stifled by the familiar surroundings and a lack
of marquee match-up’s to really sink your teeth
into.
JAMIE KENNEDY
 DVD

uFC 122
Supplier: Clear vision
(www.clearvision.co.uk)
Price: £10.99
Run Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
Discs: 2

Germany is a tough place to go for the UFC.

Their first event in the country (UFC 99) was
met with criticism from the media and minors
were banned from the event due to the
violence, a problem which also led to them
later on banning the UFC from TV broadcast
all together in early 2010. However, Dana
White and the UFC aren’t ones to back down
from a fight and in November of 2010 they
took Pay Per View to Germany with UFC 122.
Like most events held outside of America, the
card wasn’t exactly stacked with big names,
and a handful of matches suffered changes in
the weeks leading up to the event, including
the Sakara and Riviera match that was pulled
altogether when Sakara went down with
illness during the show. But unlike a lot of
events where great fights manage to save
otherwise weak cards, UFC 122 left many The guys at Clear Vision have done their
with a sour taste in their mouths. Considering usual stellar job of transferring the show to
Germany had waited so long for a second DVD, the picture and sound are good, the
event in their country, and the need for UFC extras including the weigh ins, build up and
to make a big splash, the lack of house hold interviews are all nice and present as
names and fights that changed little for expected, but whilst they normally make a
anyone left a lot of fans wondering if the next nice rounding off for a decent DVD, this was
time UFC arrive in Germany whether or not one of the only UFC DVD’s I can remember
they’ll bother with it. where I actually struggled to get through the
extras.
The only real fights that had importance were
the Okami and Marquadt main event to UFC 122 is not a terrible show. It’s just not an
decide the contender to Anderson Silva’s interesting one, and as such it’s hard to
middle weight title, and Sadollah vs Sobotta recommend for anyone who isn’t an avid
with both mean fighting for their careers in the collector.
UFC. MARTYN LICCHELLI

88 www.thewrestlingpress.com
 DVD

reflecting on his career following his two

uFC 123 previous losses to Edgar grab at you and pull
you into rooting for a legend of the octagon
Supplier: Clear vision who seems like he may be on his final run.
(www.clearvision.co.uk) The rest of the main events are built well also,
Price: £10.99 and the insight from other fighters in their
Run Time: 4 hours 5 minutes respective divisions about the two main
Discs: 2 events is a nice touch.
Overall, UFC 123 was one of my favourite
UFC fans from Europe may have been left events of late. That may well be because I’m
bitter about the poor card put out for UFC a huge fan of Penn, Jackson and Davis, but
122, but just one week later UFC was back I’m pretty sure all MMA fans will find
home with 123 with a card with the a lot more something to like on this show, and it’s
household names. Whilst that may be a bitter definitely one to add to your collection.
pill for fans who were live in Germany, for the
rest of us UFC 122 could be seen as a huge MARTYN LICCHELLI
preliminary card for the main card that was
123.
Whilst UFC 122 may have given little in the
way of highlights, UFC 123 gave plenty to
look forward to in the build up, and plenty to
reflect on in the results. Whether it was
Rampage Jackson and Machida fighting for a
chance to get back in the light heavyweight
title picture, BJ Penn getting back into the
welterweight division to take on Matt Hughes,
or the continued rise of Mr Wonderful Phil
Davis there was plenty here to be happy with.
For fans who aren’t keen on decision
victories, you’ll be happy to know only a small
selection of the matches go the full distance.
Typically in UFC though, at least two of the
decisions are controversial, and one should
have ended long before a decision was
needed but an error in timekeeping prevented
it. The rest of the fighters however have
cleared payed heed to the Dana’s favourite
phrase “Don’t leave it in the hands of the
judges”.
The DVD has everything we have come to
expect from the Clear Vision releases, and
the hype videos for this show actually really
kept me interested throughout, B.J. Penn

www.thewrestlingpress.com 89
 Dusty Wolfe
the Wolfe Pit
sTORIEs aNd OPINIONs FROm aN ORIGINaL WREsTLING JOURNEYmaN
W
hen I received this month’s
reminder, our new ‘M’ was a step
ahead of the game. Attached to
my friendly notice was a readymade
suggestion. And I liked the idea. I should
just continue with the idea of what causes a
man to give up 30 years of his life. What
about the men that represent those issues?
Even with me safe in the knowledge none of us
can go back in time, time changes everything,
and other clichés...I dare anyone to explain to
me how wrestling as a whole is better now
compared to then. We would agree that working
conditions are better for the select few that
make the WWE. I hear the WWE does more for
the talent on the medical side of life, but
honestly, Vince would only have to but a two
pack of aspirin to improve in that category.
WRESTLING IS NOW THE WWE
NOTHING ELSE MATTERS
© John Smolek
90 www.thewrestlingpress.com
Don’t ever try and tell me conditions are better
on the indie scene when a dressing area with
electricity and running water has become the
exception, not the norm.
When I was just a mere youngster, a man could
almost make a living in wrestling. A man could
actually make a living in wrestling. And
sometimes, a man made a good living in
wrestling. Some of the reasons were reputation,
talent, parents, or a combination of these
factors. BUT, we had territories to choose from
and options no one today will ever see again.
WHEN I WAS A MERE YOuNGER
A MAN COuLD ALMOST MAKE A
LIVING IN WRESTLING . . . .
I wasn’t getting rich in Kansas City, or San
Antonio, or even Puerto Rico. I could have done
better in Dallas, but I have a group of guys
named von Erich to thank for killing World
Class. I should have done better in Memphis,
but my lips just never were made to fit Lawler’s
arse. I also spent many a night learning how to
work. No one was a prefab creation from a
training facility. Yeah, we had blond hair, or wore
robes, or wore masks, or any number of clichés.
Those clichés were meant to make us stand out
from the crowd, not make us an
interchangeable part of a bigger machine. We
never had writers scripting our every move. We
had a booker that gave us a finish and left the
match up to his talent he trusted to put asses in
the seats. Talent was expected to sell the
tickets, not the brand. And what is even sadder,
today’s locals think their set of initials mean
diddly squat. Vince has accomplished his one
major goal. Wrestling is now the WWE. Nothing
else matters, and John Public
is convinced of that fact.
Today, you too can be the
WWE champion. If you have
the proper look and you can
be taught the WWE universe
method, then you are tailor
made for Vince’s success.
Even as wrestling changed

© John Smolek
and Vince slowly took control,
a man still had to learn his
craft. We had fewer choices in
territories, but dependable
indie promoters were
everywhere. Dependable is
the respects of; they knew I SHOuLD HAVE DONE
making money was THE key, bETTER
they knew what towns to
IN MEMPHIS, buT M
Y LIPS juST NEVER
promote, and they didn’t have WERE MADE TO FIT
LAWLER’S ARSE
a school raping the wrestling
business. Overseas tours were

“
still a viable option.
I haven’t heard of a
complete tour
leaving the country
since the Asian trip I
was on this time last
year. Package tours
happened all the
time. Men lived and
worked in Japan,
Mexico, Germany,
England, and South
Africa. Now? Try and
make a dime off an
overseas deal.
Every jack off that can has let
the marks in behind the
curtain. Older guys that just
didn’t care has shown others
for 20+ how to make money.
They make money not by
selling tickets, but by selling
membership in a club. These
“training facilities” and Eric
Bischoff’s use of the Power
Plant established the blue print
for what Vince has today.
The interchangeable talent
that no one cares about was
Bischoff’s goal. And he
achieved this goal at the end
of WCW. Every indie wrestler
that has wrestled for $20 and
a hotdog proved to Vince that
money no longer matters.
And from what I hear, TNA is
even better at underpaying
their talent than Vince. Vince
perfected the developmental
ideal over time, and now...we
have The Miz as the figure
head for his company.
Talent relations in the WWE
admit they want athletes that
know nothing about
wrestling. Or they want
second generation stars the
WWE can remind of the lean
times when daddy left Uncle
Vinnie. Both make for easy
teaching of a certain method.
With the lower levels of what
once was wrestling
destroyed by the morons that
should still be buying tickets,
and the only real game in
town being controlled by one
man.
And that one game being
represented by a man that
might have been known by
the MTV generation before
he entered the WWE, makes
a sad statement. How many
of the MTV generation will go
to a live event? Or make
enough money to buy a
PPV? SO....that leaves
creating a no talent insult to
my intelligence by the name
of The Miz as a champion.
I honestly am glad I retired,
and except for not crossing
paths with my friends as
often, I don’t miss a damn bit
of this convoluted mess.
n Contact Dusty at
dwolfe414@msn.com

www.thewrestlingpress.com 91
 NExT ISSuE
Former TNA star Sharkboy speaks to TWP.
Features include - Life without Vince McMahon,
WWE's new direction to be taken more seriously as an
entertainment company and a look at The Rock vs John
Cena at WrestleMania 28.

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