wrestling / Columns
Your News, My Views 06.24.08
Welcome THA MUTHASHIP of news columns on 411mania . . . You News, My Views! As you may have already noticed, I am not Larry Csonka. The bossman is out this week having some work done on his throat, so he managed to coax yours truly out of semi-retirement with a half-eaten box of Raisinettes and a really bitchin’ 1989 back issue of Nintendo Power magazine.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Ryan. I wrote here for a while. Then I stopped. That’s my autobiography in a nutshell.
BUYS or NO BUYS
This is normally where Larry regales you with quick stories about professional wrestling, current events, and his personal life. You guys have absolutely no background on my personal life to go off of, so this should be pretty interesting.
One of the things that stepping away from 411mania has allowed me to do is make a return to following foreign wrestling in more detail. When I first started getting in to the internet wrestling scene heavily in the late 90’s, I was all over the Japanese product, especially smaller companies like Michinoku Pro (which RULED from ’95 to about ’98) and a little bit of joshi. Joshi and M-Pro are still around but not making near the noise that they were a decade ago. However, there’s still a lot of great stuff out there on the international scene if you want to dig around. I think that there’s a bit of a undue bias towards NOAH and Dragon Gate in contemporary English language coverage of Japanese wrestling on the internet because of those companies’ affiliation with Ring of Honor. In reality, I think you get the most bang for your buck out of New Japan and All Japan.
I reviewed TNA Impact for this website from August 10, 2006 until May 1, 2008, when I determined that I could just not take it anymore. Since that May 1, I have not watched one single episode of Impact. I have no desire to. The funny thing is that, within weeks of my reviews coming to an end, other people’s opinions of the show seemed to become significantly more favorable. The World X Cup matches, Samoa Joe versus Frankie Kazarian, and AJ Styles’ face turn have all gotten rave reviews . . . but none of it has been enough to get me to turn Impact back on. Frankly, I have so much ill will built up towards the company after sitting through so many months of inane booking that I don’t want to watch their product at this time, no matter how good it might be. Maybe that will change with time. Maybe it won’t. I don’t really care either way.
Over the years, many people have come to me and said, “Ryan, your opinions are always dead-on when it comes to professional wrestling. Please tell me what music to listen to as well!” Okay, so nobody’s ever actually said that to me. However, I still like to promote my favorite bands, so let’s take a look at the five songs I’ve listened to the most thusfar in the month of June:
5.) Francis Dunnery – “Good Life”
4.) Jane’s Addiction – “Jane Says”
3.) The Smoking Popes – “Megan”
2.) Sundowner – “My Boatless Booze Cruise”
1.) Bad Astronaut – “Single”
Go check these out if you haven’t heard them yet!
WWE’s Shopzone is selling “Jeff Hardy Armbads” for $15.00 a pair. These things are essentially women’s hosiery cut in such a way that they’ll fit on your arms. My immediate reaction upon seeing this product is “Who in god’s name would buy something like this?” Well, it turns out that it’s currently the Shopzone’s number one selling product. I guess that technically makes it “BUYS” instead of “NO BUYS,” but I cannot fathom people buying these instead of just making their own for less than half the price. Oh well, nobody ever accused wrestling fans of being particularly frugal. Or bright.
I don’t know what the social life of the typical 411wrestling reader is like, but, after the weekend that I just had, I want to advise all of you to get out there and enjoy life to its fullest. Experience things. Don’t pigeonhole yourself. On Saturday night, I had an invitation to go to this tiny little redneck dive bar that I never would’ve set foot in to otherwise to listen to a band that I never would’ve listened to otherwise. The bar was filthy, the patrons weren’t my normal crowd, and the band shouldn’t quit their day jobs. I’d never go back to the bar, and I never wanted to hear that band play again in my life, but I still had an AWESOME TIME. How? It’s all about making the most out of the situations in which you find yourself placed. I could’ve bitched and moaned about the awful music, but instead I decided to have a good laugh at the four out of shape toothless folks who decided to dance on the bar to “Bad to the Bone.” (One of them shirtless.) I could’ve walked out immediately upon realizing that the entire establishment was permeated with odors that at the most only should have been found in its men’s room. Instead, I stuck it out and threw back a few with a bunch of factory workers who I’d never seen before in my life and who I will never seen again. Play the hand that you’re dealt, kids. If you master that skill, life will be worth living.
Wait a second, George Carlin died? That’s some bullshit right there.
Today in Wrestling History
~ 1963: Luchador Angel Azteca was born in Durango, Mexico.
~ 1969: Deathmatch wrestler Madman Pondo was born in Flora, Illinois.
~ 1972: Abdullah the Butcher defeated Ernie Ladd to win the NWF Heavyweight Title. This title was originally based out of a New York promotion but would later become a major championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
~ 1978: Reigning NWA Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce was born in Lake Forest, Illinois.
~ 1984: Blue Panther defeated El Brillante in Queretaro, Mexico in a hair versus hair match.
~ 1984: El Canek defeated Dos Caras to in Naucalpan to win the UWA Heavyweight Title.
~ 1984: Wahoo McDaniel defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the NWA United States Title in Greensboro, North Carolina due to interference by Tully Blanchard.
~ 1988: Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Riki Choshu to win the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title.
~ 1988: Shiro Koshinaka defeated Owen Hart to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title.
~ 1990: Villano I, Villano IV, and Villano V defeated Zandokan, Kahoz, and Rambo to win the UWA Trios Titles.
~ 1995: Harlem Heat defeated the Nasty Boys for the WCW Tag Team Titles in Atlanta, Georgia.
~ 1996: Harlem Heat defeated Sting & Lex Luger and the Steiner Brothers in a triangle match to win the WCW Tag Team Titles in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sting and Luger were the champions headed in to the match.
~ 2000: TBS ended a twenty-seven year long tradition of airing wrestling on Saturday evenings when the final episode of WCW Saturday Night was broadcast.
~ 2001: Yoshinobu Kanemura defeated Juventud Guerrera in the finals of a tournament to become the first ever GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion.
~ 2001: Gamma defeated Super Delfin to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title.
~ 2001: The WWF hosted its ninth annual King of the Ring pay per view event. The show featured Edge defeating Kurt Angle to win the King of the Ring tournament and Booker T. making his debut with the company by putting Steve Austin through a table.
~ 2002: Bret Hart was involved in a bicycle accident which caused him to have a stroke. Hart had previously been inactive as a wrestler since late 1999 due to post-concussion syndrome, though many consider the stroke to have definitively destroyed any chance of an in-ring comeback by the Hitman.
~2004: Bryan Danielson defeated Mark Briscoe, Colt Cabana, Austin Aries, Homicide, and Samoa Joe to win ROH’s Survival of the Fittest tournament.
~2006: Ring of Honor presented its “Chi-Town Struggle” card, featuring Bryan Danielson retaining the company’s World Title over Colt Cabana in the main event.
CLOSE THE WINDOW, BECAUSE I FEEL A DRAFT!
Thank you for indulging me as I made that lame pun.
The big topic of conversation in pro wrestling is last night’s WWE draft, in which a bunch of wrestlers were sent packing to new “brands” within the world’s largest wrestling promotion. Before we get in to the traditional news breakdowns of this column, let’s take a look at who went where, what it means for their careers, and what it means for the company.
Rey Misterio, Jr. comes to Monday Night Raw: I’d expected this jump heading in to the show, and, even though it was a bit predictable, it was probably one of the best moves that WWE could have made. Misterio has been a Smackdown wrestler since his debut with the McMahon-run promotion in 2002, and he’s not been heavily featured in interpromotional angles as other wrestlers have. As such, moving him over to Monday nights actually creates SEVERAL fresh matches, which is the entire point of doing a draft in the first place. Though they have locked up on a handful of occasions, Rey Misterio and Shawn Michaels, Rey Misterio and Triple H, and Rey Misterio and John Cena are all pairings that have not been done in WWE as far as high visibility feuds are concerned. They could also all be damn fine matches. Kudos to the company on making this move when it makes the most sense.
Oh, Rey’s new shirt was pretty cool too.
Jeff Hardy comes to Smackdown: I’m of two minds on this pick. On one hand, Jeff Hardy was fitting in very well with the likes of Randy Orton and Triple H on Raw, and it would have been nice to see his recent interaction with those men pay off in a major championship victory over one of them. On the other hand, the guy has screwed up every major opportunity he’s ever been given in WWE, mainly because he just can’t seem to stay on the good side of wellness. If he’s going to continue down that road, you may as well give up on him as a top guy on the a-show and make him a top guy on the b-show, where it doesn’t matter nearly as much if his next drug test winds up as an EPIC FAIL.
CM Punk comes to Monday Night Raw: I enjoyed the guy’s run in ROH, but CM Punk in no way excites or entertains me in 2008. He’s fairly bland as a JTTS on Smackdown, and now he’ll be fairly bland as a JTTS on Raw.
Matt Hardy comes to Smackdown: Once Jeff Hardy headed over to Smackdown, you had to figure that Matt was jumping to either Raw or ECW. Both guys are beyond the point at which being in a tag team is beneficial to them, and the temptation to book them in exactly that manner (along with the desire of some fans to see them booked in that manner) would always be present if they remained on the same brand. Thus, in order to get the most out of both wrestlers, they need to be on different rosters. Also, Matthew is a fine choice to be the newest member of the ECW roster. Last year, WWE attempted to place Chris Benoit on that show so that he could serve as a bit of a mentor to the numerous young talents who populate the “Land of Extreme.” That plan did not work out too well for WWE. Though Hardy is nowhere near the wrestler that Benoit was in his prime, he is an accomplished veteran and should do quite well in the player-coach role on the Sci-Fi Network.
Jim Ross and Michael Cole trade places: It’s fitting that such a trainwreck of a finish to the women’s tag team match lead to such a horrible pair of draft picks. Yes, for literally years now the rumor has been that WWE has wanted to move Jim Ross away from his position on the Monday Night Raw announce team. They tried to put Jonathan Coachman in his spot. They tried to put Joey Styles in his spot. They attempted to hire Mike Goldberg away from UFC to replace him. The allegedly hired Mike Adamle for the sole purpose of grooming him to be Raw’s lead commentator. Now it appears that the company’s latest attempt at cycling Ross out of the limelight has begun, as they’ve moved him down to the company’s b-show and replaced him with Michael Cole.
This is a dreadful idea. Yes, there are individuals out there who attempt to argue that Jim Ross is not nearly the announcer that he used to be because he occasionally confuses Jillian Hall with Beth Phoenix or once in a blue moon blows the name of a relatively inconsequential hold in a midcard match. However, getting one hundred percent of your facts right one hundred percent of the time is not what being a professional wrestling announcer is about. Being a professional wrestling announcer is about being a salesman. It’s about convincing your audience that the emotion you have for the product is legitimate so that their emotion for the product will in turn be legitimate, which theoretically leads to them spending money on pay per views and live event tickets. THAT is what Jim Ross does every week, and that is why Jim Ross is the greatest announcer in professional wrestling history, bar none. (Yes, he’s even surpassed Solie in my book.) Now, instead of putting this master salesman on the program that is the focal point of their promotional efforts, WWE is shoving him in to the background and replacing him with a man who does not have one fifth of Ross’ talent despite being given ten straight years on national television to ply his trade. It’s an unfortunate decision, and I can only hope that it is reversed sooner rather than later.
Batista goes to Monday Night Raw: Like Misterio, this was a predictable move but one that should have been made regardless. Big Dave has been hanging out on Smackdown for quite some time, and a change of scenery is exactly what he needs. Granted, due to his past with Triple H and his recent feud with Shawn Michaels, Batista doesn’t have nearly as many fresh opponents on Monday nights as Rey Rey does. However, it feels like there have been more Batista versus Undertaker and Batista versus Edge matches in the last couple of years than I am capable of counting. If nothing else, he needs to get the hell away from those men, even if the alternative is something that we technically may have seen before.
Umaga goes to Smackdown: This one has been rumored for months, but, yet again, it’s the right move despite the fact that it has been heavily telegraphed. Umaga has wrestled virtually everybody on the Raw roster, and the only way to get him new opponents was to either turn the guy face or put him on a different show. Though he definitely got over huge when a face turn was teased a few months back, I sincerely doubt that such a move would have legs for the long haul. Thus, sending the Samoan over to Smackdown makes worlds more sense than making him a good guy. Upon arrival, he probably needs to spend a few months hanging around the lower card and squashing folks in order to rebuild some of the aura that he has lost due to his high volume of jobs in the last six months. However, once that process has been completed, I look forward to some excellent encounters, particularly the Bulldozer against the Undertaker.
Kane goes to Monday Night Raw: Kane is a good hand in the ring and has his character down pat, but he’s been around so long that I don’t know what you can do with the guy that qualifies as new or interesting. We’ve seen virtually everything that he’s capable of pulling out. Moving the reigning ECW Champion to Raw certainly provided a nice “WTF?” moment for the live broadcast and created an air of unpredictability around the draft after some expected changes going down, but I doubt it will lead to anything long-term. Also, how odd is it that Sunday’s ECW Title match now features a Raw wrestler going up against a Smackdown wrestler? Poor ECDub just can’t catch a break.
Ken Kennedy goes to Smackdown: File this one with CM Punk under “Guys I could not possibly care about if you paid me.”
Triple H goes to Smackdown: Well, this was the big shocker of the evening. It’s been mentioned numerous times on numerous websites and in numerous newsletters that HHH just flat out doesn’t want to leave Raw. His remaining on that show has pretty well been a foregone conclusion. As such, there was probably no bigger surprise that the company could have pulled out than this switch. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the move will stick or whether there will be some sort of “trade” worked out that keeps Trips on his home turf. In fact, my gut tells me so strongly that this will be reversed within the week that I have a very had time discussing it as a legitimate change within WWE.
Overall: On the whole, I have to give this year’s installment of the draft a thumbs up. Between Umaga, Batista, and Misterio, there were three major moves just begging to be made that did in fact take place. Furthermore, with the exception of the announcers being switched around, none of the moves should have a negative effect on the product. As much as the Ross/Cole exchange may have annoyed me, the fact of the matter is that, at the end of the day, it’s not going to matter as much as anything involving the wrestlers.
Also, it’s getting late and I don’t want to write an extended essay on this, but I suppose that I have to make some comment on the show-closing angle with Vince McMahon. It seemed to be a lame attempt to refresh the “Vinnie Mac gets blown to smithereens” angle that got cut short a year or so ago. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as effective as that closing scene was. Instead of a heavy angle with major special effects involved, this was VERY hokey and came off as a spot from a Roadrunner cartoon. When the pyro started going off around McMahon and the stage collapsed from underneath him, my immediate reaction was to begin laughing instead of feeling concerned. It was a pratfall, not an injury angle, and Vince didn’t help matters by immediately popping up to his feet. Combine that with the fact that the portion of the stage that allegedly crushed him obviously came nowhere near the man’s body, and you’ve got all of the ingredients for a horrid conclusion to Raw.
However, all will be forgiven if I tune in to the show next week and the storyline is that Vince McMahon spent so much money on the million dollar giveaway that he had to skimp on the structural integrity of the stage.
Your News: Michael Hayes’ racist comments may cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
My Views: By now, you’ve probably all heard the story in which former Fabulous Freebird and current Smackdown head writer Michael P.S. Hayes was suspended for sixty days for supposedly telling Mark Henry that Hayes was “more of a n*****” than the World’s Strongest Man. This past week, we learned that the former Mid-South star’s indiscretion cost him more than just sixty days worth of pay, though. Now that he is back on the road, Hayes has apparently been demoted from his position as a vice president of the company, a move that costs him bonuses and stock options which in good years could add an extra six figure sum to his paycheck.
To say that Hayes’ comments have generated a maelstrom of discussion on the internet would be an understatement. In the days and the weeks following the writer’s suspension, some individuals attempted to defend Hayes’ actions and argue that he was an innocent man wronged by a world that’s too politically correct for its own good. Others argued that the man’s comments were indefensible and that Mark Henry should have ripped Hayes’ arms off and beaten him to death with the severed appendages.
Which of those two extremes is my opinion closer to? I’m not going to tell you. The time for that discussion is over. What I am going to tell you is something that you should agree with regardless of whether you felt that Hayes was out of line or whether you felt that he was just making a good-natured joke. Michael Hayes is a lucky, lucky man. He’s lucky that he works in professional wrestling, an industry which is in many ways outside of the scrutiny of the mainstream media. He’s lucky that those around him, though they might not approve of his behavior, tolerate it for better or for worse. He’s lucky that he’s not working in any other publically traded, multi-million dollar corporation based in the United States, because, if he were, he’d be out of a job and possibly even blackballed from the industry.
So, count your lucky stars, Mr. Hayes. You may be out hundreds of thousands of dollars, but at least you’re not relegated to doing “legends” conventions in Tupelo and hawking twenty-five year old Badstreet, USA baseball caps in between Virgil and Lanny Poffo’s gimmick tables.
Your News: WWE shows make Emmy ballots.
My Views: Yes, Raw and Smackdown are both on the ballot under the heading of “Outstanding Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series,” while Wrestlemania is on the ballot under the heading of “Outstanding Variety, Musical, or Comedy Special.” WWE will in all likelihood attempt to play this up as a major accomplishment, but the simple fact of the matter is that, practically speaking, it won’t amount to a hill of beans. WWE’s core audience will not be impressed by a spot on the Emmy ballot, and, even if they are, it certainly isn’t going to cause them to watch the programming more frequently. Furthermore, I sincerely doubt that this will get enough mainstream press to convince non-fans to give either Raw or SD a shot. Wrestling is something that the vast majority of individuals have already made up their minds about, and, short of another Steve Austin or Rock level star emerging, you’re not going to sucker non-fans in to watching the product.
If anything, the significance of this story is not its effect on the size of WWE’s audience. The significance of this story is what it says about how much professional wrestling has changed in the last twenty years. A mere two decades ago, most professional wrestlers and virtually every professional wrestling promoter would have been APPALLED by the suggestion that their television shows were “Variety, Musical, or Comedy” programs. Nowadays WWE isn’t just complimented by this distinction. In fact, they actively campaigned for it.
Your News: Ashley Massaro has a new full body tattoo.
My Views: Rumors that this is the beginning of Ashley being repackaged as “Batistcita” are completely unfounded.
Your News: FUN WITH JR’S BLOG~! (Part 1, Part 2)
My Views: Comments from recent entries in Jim Ross’ official blog are below in italics with my responses in normal text.
There are no plans for Ric [Flair] to wrestle again but I liked seeing him on Raw even though one can argue that by promoting his appearance that it might have helped increase interest in the broadcast. Hindsight is usually 20/20 and reasonable arguments can be certainly made that the return of the legendary Flair could have been handled with more fanfare and impact.
Sometimes, you can tell when good ole’ JR is going out of his way to be diplomatic. This is one of those occasions. Despite the rush that big surprises may give to fans watching the show, the fact of the matter is that they don’t often translate in to bigger ratings or increased business. Ross knows this, even if he isn’t in a position where he can say it outright.
[W]hat happens if a champion IE Matt Hardy who is the reigning United States Championship which appears to be a Smackdown title is drafted to Raw?
That joke is what folks in the comedy business call a “two percenter.”
Regarding the conclusion of Raw Monday night, lots of folks are wondering, why Lance Cade? Why did Cade insert himself in the main event mix near the end of Raw? I suggest, why not? The only way new wrestlers are going to rise to the next level is for them to step in the deep in of the pool and either sink or swim.
People seem a bit annoyed with my recent support of Lance Cade in 411’s Wrestler of the Week column, but the fact of the matter is that Cade is a young man with a lot of talent. Furthermore, Ross is dead on when it comes to his assessment of how to elevate talent. People on the internet constantly bitch and moan about having to see the same main event mix of wrestlers every week, but then when WWE actually attempts to elevate somebody, their immediate reaction is “LANCE CADE?! WHY LANCE CADE?!” Perhaps instead of being so quick to dismiss him as a nobody, we should give Cade the opportunity to sink or swim as JR suggests.
I have great empathy for the entire and unfortunate situation especially for the young man who was so severely injured in the car crash but for the media to bring Hulk’s divorce and personal life into this tragedy seems like piling on to me. I still think Hogan got bad advice going on the “Larry King Show” last week but that’s just one man’s opinion. I certainly would suggest that Hulk lay low and let the process play out but the same can be said for the media that wants to exploit all aspects of the Hogan family.
You’d think that somebody who has been around professional wrestling for so long wouldn’t be worked so easily. The media isn’t “piling on” to Hulk Hogan, Mr. Ross. Hulk Hogan and his family have the media exactly where they want them. In the twenty-first century, there is no such thing as bad publicity. The Hogans may not have planned for John Graziano to be injured, and the divorce may not necessarily be an angle, but the fact of the matter remains that I’m sure in the back of his head the Hulkster is relishing having his reality show-induced career resurgence extended just a bit further by all of this attention from the tabloids.
Osamu Nishimura is cool because is ISN’T cool. You want cutting edge fashion? Too bad. Nishimura is coming out to the ring in a robe that looks like it was purchased at the Giant Baba’s estate sale, and he doesn’t care. You want a jacked, chiseled physique? Too bad. Osamu Nishimura is the gangliest wrestler this side of El Gigante, and he doesn’t give a rat’s ass. You want long, flowing locks? Too bad. Osamu Nishimura has been balding since he turned five years old, and he’s still one dapper mofo. You want high flying, innovative, cutting edge wrestling? Too bad. Osamu Nishimura will put his opponent in an octopus hold, work that bad boy for eight minutes, and you will LOVE IT.
It used to be that rebels were cool. Now everybody is a rebel, and to stand out you have to be a member of the old guard. Nishimura is so old school that, somewhere in the world, Bob Backlund is reading this column and screaming, “Dude, get with the times!” That’s why Osamu Nishimura is the coolest dude I know this week, and perhaps the coolest dude of all time.
The Shimmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Dance Break!
Your News: Nikki Roxx set to return to SHIMMER on July 5 tapings.
My Views: Oh, SHIMMER. My dear, beloved SHIMMER. On Saturday, July 5, everybody’s favorite all-women’s wrestling promotion will be returning to the Eagle’s Club in Berwyn, Illinois for the taping of Volumes 19 and 20 of its DVD series. General admission tickets are still available through SHIMMERwrestling.com. I will be there live to take in the action, and, in recent days, we’ve started to get some indication from the promotion and its wrestlers as to what I will be seeing when I make my latest trip up the Chicago suburbs.
The biggest news of all is the return of Nikki Roxx to the promotion. Roxx, a skilled young wrestler based out of Boston, made her debut with the company at SHIMMER’s first ever event but has been missing in action since Volume 14. Where did she go? Why she went to TNA, of course! Roxx has recently been seen hanging out around six sided rings portraying the character of Roxxi LaVeaux on Impact, formerly dancing around as a voodoo queen and more recently getting her head shaved live on pay per view. In a little under two weeks, though, Roxx will be making her return to SHIMMER rings, presumably sans TNA gimmick.
No, Nikki has not been released from TNA. How does this work, you ask? Though it did not get a lot of press at the time, SHIMMER announced shortly after their last taping in April that they had cut a deal with TNA in which female members of the TNA roster will be able to compete in Berwyn and appear on the versions of SHIMMER DVDs sold through ROHwrestling.com. The tradeoff is that TNA contracted talent CANNOT appear on the SHIMMER DVDs that are released in national retail outlets through Big Vision Entertainment, meaning that the Big Vision SHIMMER DVDs will soon become “Best Of” releases as opposed to full events. According to promoter Dave Prazak, though the wording of the TNA deal will technically allow “Knockouts” like Gail Kim, ODB, and Angel Williams to work in SHIMMER, the promotion does not currently have any plans to bring in TNA women who have not previously competed in SHIMMER rings. (In other words, the agreement will be used to keep women like Cheerleader Melissa and Rain in SHIMMER rings without bringing in new faces.)
The return of Roxx will certainly be a welcome one, particularly since there are many first-time SHIMMER matches in which she could potentially participate. Nikki Roxx versus MsChif? Nikki Roxx vs. Cheerleader Melissa? Nikki Roxx vs. Mercedes Martinez? None of them have taken place in the promotion before, all of them are now possibilities for July 5, and all of them would cause me to mark out like a small child.
What else is on tap for 7/5? Nothing else has officially been announced by the SHIMMER office, but the promotion’s reigning champion MsChif has been featured prominently in promotional materials for the taping, making it a safe assumption that she’ll be on board. Also, former champion Sara Del Rey recently posted this blog entry on her MySpace page. The entry actually says that Del Rey may or may not be at the tapings, but, even if she does not show up, the (largely kayfabed) entry seemingly indicates where the Death Rey’s character in SHIMMER is headed. In it, she references the fact that the live audience at the April 26 tapings largely turned their backs on her, perhaps building up to a full-time heel turn by the most dominant performer in the short history of promotion.
Also, though they have not officially been announced as appearing by the promotion, wrestlers Allison Danger, Serena Deeb, Ashley Lane, and Lorelei Lee have provided some indication through their official websites and/or MySpace accounts that they are booked for the tapings.
. . . BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! For those of you who can’t make the tapings live but want to check out SHIMMER on DVD, you will have new opportunities to do so this coming Thursday, when Volumes 17 and 18 of the company’s DVD series will be released through ROHwrestling.com. These shows were taped in April, with Volume 17 featuring a great match between Sarah Stock and the Lovely Lacey and Volume 18 being headlined by the big title match between Sara Del Rey and MsChif. I was at both of those tapings, and I can guarantee that the discs are worth every penny that you spend on them.
So that does it for my latest SHIMMER update. Again, DVDs are available Thursday from ROHwrestling.com. Tickets for the July 5 taping are available from SHIMMERwerestling.com. The promotion rules. Give it a shot.
FOR THE LADIES~!
