THURS. UPDATE: Anniversary of legendary bout, Lesnar's first WWE PPV, Canseco to wrestling, White

Thursday's News, Notes & Links

 

--Brock Lesnar is now being advertised to appear on the Extreme Rules PPV show in Chicago on 4/29.

 

--The new TNA TV contract with Spike TV goes through the fall of 2014, so it is a new two-year deal.  There are a lot of people in TNA breathing easier, not because of any fear Spike would get rid of wrestling, but there was genuine fear they could switch their affiliation.  

 

--Alistiar Overeem's steroid test came back with a 14-1 testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.  He has yet to respond to the complaint.  A 1-1 ratio is normal.  A 4-1 ratio is the cutoff in many sports but Nevada uses a 6-1 to be on the safe side.  What kills Overeem in the idea that maybe his test is much higher than usual is that he was tested several times before the Lesnar fight and always feel within average ranges.    

--Daniel Bryan on Twitter said that the new "Yes, Yes, Yes" t-shirt is being released and could be as early as this coming week.

 

--A tweet from Dixie Carter indicates Jose Canseco will be on Impact tonight after Canseco teased it on Twitter saying he'd like to work with Hulk Hogan.  TNA has a history of spending money on celebrities and it meaning nothing for ratings and with Canseco, it's pretty much a lock this won't either.  There are celebrities and then there are people the public thinks are pathetic rundown losers, for better or worse.  Pathetic rundown losers only drag down your company by association, not build it up.  Real celebrities if they are genuine stars can make a difference. If they are stars from 30 years ago, they usually don't hurt if they aren't considered losers.

 

--The quarterfinals of the Japan Cup tournament took place earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with Hirooki Goto pinning La Sombra with the shoten kai; Karl Anderson pinned Shinsuke Nakamura with the stun gun showing that they are really upping his push now that he's a singles wrestler, and Anderson is possibly the most underrated American in the business right now; Togi Makabe pinned Minoru Suzuki with a kneedrop off the top rope and Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Tetsuya Naito with a small package.  The semifinals and finals take place on Sunday at Korakuen Hall, with Tanahashi vs. Anderson and Makabe vs. Goto.  The tournament winner faces Kazuchika Okada in May for the IWGP heavyweight title.

 

--Dana White needs to have a meeting with his talent pronto. Stuff like this, even if it's really just a bad attempt to do humor, given the track record of the guy and others of his guys could blow up in their face. Seriously, if there is anything that should be off limits to MMA fighters, it's rape jokes given the fact most don't find them funny and that a few fighters have had arrests on sexual assault charges.    

 

--UFC signed a four-year-deal with Multi Screen Media to broadcast UFC events on SIX, MSM's new sports channel in India.  There are also plans to do a specialized Ultimate Fighter show for that market.

 

--UFC is also allowing fans to vote for a match on a live TV show. On the 6/8 show, just announced earlier today as being from Fort Lauderdale at the BankAtlantic Center for FX, you can vote for either Scott Jorgensen vs. Eddie Wineland, Mike Pierce vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha or Lance Benoist vs. Seth Baczynski as the final televised bout on FX for the main card. Tickets for the show go on sale on 4/13 to the public at ticketmaster or the BankAtlantic Center. Fight Club members can get tickets on 4/11 from the Fight Club web site and newsletter readers can get tickets on 4/12.     

--Nigel McGuinness' fundraising efforts for the documentary he is producing on his career and why his career is over will end in a few days.  He surpassed his original minimum fund raising goal quickly but there are still three days left to help the project. If you haven't already, check out our interview with McGuinness on Observer radio as it is one of the best of the past year.

--Today is the 30 year anniversary of the very first Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman match on April 5, 1982, at the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis.  While nobody outside of the Memphis metro area knew about the match beforehand, by the end of the week, it was easily the most famous pro wrestling match of its era. Scott Bowden looks back.

While it was an angle and they built storylines that lasted more than a year off it (including Kaufman costing Lawler the AWA title in a match with Nick Bockwinkel that was one of the most brilliant angles of that time), I remember that there was at least one major promoter afterwards who sent Lawler a thank you to him for the way he protected the business by injuring Kaufman.

--Evolve is doing a Cinco de Mayo show at the World Yacht Marina from Noon to 5 p.m. at West 41st and West Wide Highway in New York, with drinking, dancing and mariachis as well as pro wrestling and Lucha Libre.

 

--New Japan debuted its new television show on BS Asahi today at 11 p.m. (which is a few hours ago) airing two matches from the 2011 Tokyo Dome show with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima (where Tanahashi started his long title run that won him Wrestler of the Year honors for 2011) and Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP jr. title.  Next week's show will have more from that cared with Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki, La Sombra & Mascara Dorada vs. Jushin Liger & Hector Garza, Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Takashi Iizuka, Takashi Sugiura & Yoshihiro Takayama of NOAH vs. Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada and Togi Makabe vs. Masato Tanaka.  Interesting that their new TV show next week shows Okada, the current champion, in basically a young boy job guy role. (thanks to Jose Gonzalez)

 

Who should face Junior Dos Santos for the title if Alistair Overeem is out?

Frank Mir 43.7%

Cain Velasquez 36.6%

Mark Hunt 19.7%

 

Does this drug test failure affect your interest in MMA?

Yes, it's getting tiresome 47.1%

No, I care but just expect that it's an inevitable byproduct of high level sports 40.0%

No, don't care at all 12.8%

 

--Here's a crazy story about Dan Kroffat (the Calgary star of the 70s, not Doug Furnas' old tag team partner) when he was taken hostage in a prison.

 

--A story in today's South Florida Sun Sentinel about WrestleMania.

 

--Joslyn Jarrett, the daughter of Jeff, was named the Middle School County Girls Basketball Player of the Year in the Nashville area.  Jarrett, who attends Ellis Middle School in Hendersonville, TN, averaged 11.6 points per game and was the star, leading her team to a 21-0 season. A lot of people don't know this, but Jeff was a good high school basketball player before he got into pro wrestling as a teenager. 

 

--I Believe in Wrestling on Saturday night in Orlando at the Team Vision Dojo features the pro debut of Tim Zbyszko, managed by father Larry, plus Mister Saint Laurent and Chasyn Rance defend the AWA tag team titles.

 

--Crossfire Entertainment on 5/19 in Nashville at the Fairgrounds features Matt Hardy vs. MVP, plus Maria Kanellis, Kevin Sullivan, Cassidy Riley, Chase Stevens, Kid Kash, Jerry Lynn, Brian Christopher, Wolfie D, Shark Boy, Shane Douglas and more.

 

--CZW Best of the Best 11 takes place on 4/14 in Voorhees, NJ and will be an iPPV show.  Announced in the tournament first round so far are Sami Callihan vs. Drake Younger vs. Trent 7 vs. MC MCKinnan, Chuck Taylor vs. Johnny Gargano vs Samuray del Sol, A.R. Fox vs. Lince Dorado vs. ACH and Alex Colon vs. Willie Mack vs. ?.

 

--New Era Wrestling on 4/21 in Shelbyville, IN at the Boys Club.

 

--EWF on 4/21 in Converse, IN at the Borderman Gym headlined by Carlito vs. Troy Miller

 

--In a correction from yesterday, the Future Stars of Wrestling show tomorrow night in Las Vegas will be at their gym on 6658 Boulder Highway in Las Vegas, not at Sam's Town Casino. The Sam's Town Casino show is 4/22.    

 

--ECWA's Super 8 tournament takes place on Saturday night in Newark, DE at the Greater Newark Boys and Girls Club.  The eight competitors are Papadon, Kekoa the Flyin Hawaiian, Bobby Fish Tony Nese, Azrieal, Gregory Iron, Kyle Matthews and Bandido Jr.

 

--The autobiography of Jim Duggan is now out, ghost written by Scott Williams of the Observer staff.  Duggan looks at his high school and college sports days, a state champion in wrestling and a starter at SMU in football, playing in the NFL and CFL, breaking into wrestling in Dallas through Fritz Von Erich, becoming a star in Mid South and his WWF run, plus his incident with the Iron Sheik that nearly ended his WWF career.

--Paul "Butcher" Vachon, the brother of Mad Dog and Vivian, and stepfather of Luna, has his autobiography called "Wrestling with the Past:  Life In And Out Of The Ring" that was released today. Vachon looks at his career from the 50s, working all over the world, booking and being part owner of Grand Prix Wrestling, talks about the death of Luna, his role in the stardom of Andre the Giant, the McMahons and more. Vachon will be bringing his book to the Cauliflower Alley Club for copies on 4/16 to 4/18 as well as the Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, NY on 5/18 and 5/19. 

 

--The WWE's new ECW DVD called ECW Unreleased Volume 1 has:

Shane Douglas vs. Too Cold Scorpio 8/27/94

Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven 4/15/95

Dean Malenko & Too Cold Scorpio vs. Taz & Eddy Guerrero 7/15/95

Shane Douglas vs. Cactus Jack 2/17/96

RVD & Sabu vs. Eliminators in a tables and ladders match for the tag titles 2/22/97

Sabu vs. Taz 4/13/97 in the main event of the company's first PPV show, Barely Legal

Shane Douglas vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 11/30/97

Sabu & RVD vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki 8/2/98

RVD vs. Jerry Lynn 8/15/98

Shane Douglas vs. Taz 1/10/99

Lance Storm & Justin Credible vs. RVD & Jerry Lynn 7/18/99

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka 11/7/99

Tommy Dreamer vs. Taz 4/22/00

Tommy Dreamer vs. Justin Credible 4/22/00

Rhino vs. Sandman 7/16/00

Rhino vs. Spike Dudley 12/3/00

Yoshihiro Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck vs. Kid Kash & Super Crazy vs. FBI 1/7/01

plus one of the Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis matches

 

Blu Ray Extras are the Shane Douglas vs. Terry Funk vs. Sabu Night the Line Was Crossed match and a 1994 Tommy Dreamer vs. Jimmy Snuka match

 

--There is a new Bloodstained Memories 2 DVD coming that includes D-Lo Brown, Rollerball Mark Rocco (original Black Tiger in Japan), Abyss, Tammy Sytch, Nora Greenwald, Al Snow, Dawn Marie, Tito Santana and Terry Funk that is expected to be released in June.

 

--High Velocity Wrestling on 5/5 in Hendersonville, NC, headlined by Matt Hardy vs. Kirby Mack.

 

--Tim Sylvia will be an honored guest at the 4/14 Fight Night show in Biddeford, ME, and will make a special announcement at the show.

 

--Now that Ty Bailey is gone from WWE, former developmental wrestler Jay Bradley decided to go public with a three-part interview discussing what he felt was unnecessary verbal abuse from his former boss.