wrestling / Columns

The Custom Made News Report 7.01.07

July 1, 2007 | Posted by Ryan Byers

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Custom Made News Report. As Stuart Carapola mentioned last week, he’s decided to give up the reigns of the Sunday news report here on 411 Mania, and that opened the door for yours truly to stage a hostile takeover. I’ll be here every week for the foreseeable future, covering not just WWE and TNA news but also tidbits from around the US indy circuit and the rest of the world.

With that said, let’s jump straight in to it.

All the Stuff from Stamford

The Lead Story You All Knew was Coming . . .

I suppose that I have to say something about the Chris Benoit situation, though I’m going to keep it brief because a.) there really hasn’t been much additional information reported since 411’s last news report and b.) every great writer and every two-bit hack on the internet has already had their chance to say something, so I’m sure that none of you actually care about one more opinion being lumped on top of it all.

First of all, I hope that nobody is trusting cable television news coverage of this story in the slightest. From what I’ve seen, it’s been largely ill-informed as the stations scramble to uncover dirt – sometimes completely irrelevant or inaccurate dirt – in order to gain a ratings advantage. Channels like Fox News, and, to a lesser extent, MSNBC, are becoming the tabloids of the television news world, seemingly caring more about entertaining viewers than providing them with facts and meaningful analysis. If you want the latest in accurate information on the story, I STRONGLY recommend sticking with the print media, as they have the luxury of not constantly having to grab for their audience and thus tend to be a bit more diligent in their investigating and reporting. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been excellent in their coverage, as has Dave Meltzer in his Wrestling Observer newsletter. (And, yes, if you want the full story from Dave, you do actually have to shell out some money and subscribe as opposed to just looking at the website.)

Also, a brief message to those that have been writing opinion pieces on this topic: Those of you painting Chris Benoit as the ultimate villain and damning him to an eternity in hell are wrong. Those of you taking Chris Benoit and excusing all of his behavior before putting him up on a pedestal are just as wrong. The truth in these matters is usually somewhere in between those two extreme viewpoints, and we’ll never know exactly where it falls here because the only individuals to ever know what went on in the Benoit household have all passed away . . .

. . . and, sadly, that appears to be the part of the story that is now being ignored by many. Three human lives, one of them a completely innocent child, are gone. Regardless of whether you believe Chris Benoit is worthy of being mourned and regardless of whether you believe that Nancy Benoit is worthy of being mourned, Daniel Benoit definitely is. The fact that so many people have failed to do that in their rush to point fingers and advance their personal agendas sickens me.

That’s all I have to say on the matter.

WWE vs. TNA?

No, I’m not talking about the John Cena/Ron Killings rivalry that recently spilled over on to the internet or D-Generation X finally accepting the New Age Outlaws’ challenge to fight them at the Alamo. However, a WWE vs. TNA match actually did take place last night, which surprised quite a few people given that WWE has often been quick to pull their talent when situations like this are about to take place. There’s no word on how or why WWE allowed this to happen or whether they even knew it was taking place.

However, the match happened in Pasadena, Texas Friday night for Pro Wrestling Alliance, the indy promotion connected with Booker T’s wrestling academy (for more information, check out Booker’s website. The Dudley Boys appeared in the main event, where they were able to get the victory in a hardcore match against Booker and Dawg Cheetum, a student out of Booker’s academy who does a gimmick based on Dog the Bounty Hunter. Other notable appearances on the card included Jaykus Pliskin (formerly Biohazard), a trainee of the Texas Wrestling Academy who participated in some of the early Ring of Honor cards and appeared regularly for the defunct Deep South Wrestling, albeit without a WWE developmental deal.

Even Deeper South Wrestling

On Thursday of this past week, Florida Championship Wrestling opened its doors. FCW, operated by veteran Steve Keirn, is the developmental territory created by WWE to replace Jody Hamilton’s Deep South Wrestling, which WWE closed in April for reasons far too numerous to list here. To nobody’s surprise, the talent roster is virtually identical to that of Deep South. Highlights of the card included third-generation star Harry Smith teaming up with childhood friend TJ Wilson to take on second generation star Afa, Jr. and former TNA wrestler/Dusty Rhodes pet project Sonny Siaki. Elsewhere on the card, Jim Neidhart’s daughter Nattie beat Shantelle Taylor and Krissy Vaine in a three-way comprised entirely of SHIMMER alumni, while Mike Knox and Rene Dupree proved that they haven’t dropped off the face of the earth by competing in undercard action. The evening was topped off by a twenty-one man battle royale, which Smith won in order to become the first Florida Championship Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Champion. Hopefully this new territory works out, because WWE needs to focus on making sure that its new recruits are well-rounded as possible, and the best way to pull that off is giving them several different trainers with different styles. Having the territories in different geographic areas is quite helpful as well, since there is still some variance in how audiences in different states will react to different types of wrestling.

What’s up with Orlando? (Not Jordan.)

Crazy Like a FOX

PWInsider.com is threatening me with the prospect of TNA having more TV time in the near future. Apparently Dixie Carter and her crew have been in talks with the fine folks at FOX about getting an additional show on one of the media conglomerate’s many networks. Nobody’s sure that a deal will be struck, though there is speculation that TNA may actually wind up on more than one FOX network if things go through.

I’ve got mixed feelings on this one. As many of you already know, I already talk about TNA a good deal on this very website. I love the thought of a legitimate, viable alternative to WWE existing somewhere on national television. However, I’d also like that alternative to consistently put on good programming, which TNA has been completely incapable of doing with their Impact show. The belief within the company and amongst many of the company’s fans is that they simply need “more time” to “tell stories,” and all of their problems will be magically solved when this extra hour of television is granted to them. Frankly, I can’t buy in to that line of thinking. There are thousands of scripted shows on television right now. The vast majority of them manage to effectively develop characters and “tell stories” in a thirty minute window of time, half of what TNA has now. If the folks at TNA really want to improve their product, what they need to focus on is the writing of the shows, not getting a second hour in which to increase their output of poorly booked television.

And, for those of you who want to argue whether TNA is poorly booked or not, just look at the numbers. The company’s main source of revenue right now is their PPV sales, and, despite the fact that they manage to get an average of one million viewers to tune in to Impact every week, they only average twenty thousand pay per view buys per month. These numbers have remained roughly the same for quite some time now, and that level of PPV purchases has not been enough to make TNA profitable. If the booking isn’t making people buy PPVs and therefore not making the company enough money to survive without its Panda Energy backing, there’s something wrong with it.

Foreign Fanatics

Angle Makes Lesnar Tap

On June 29 in Japan (June 28 in the States), Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar wrestled each other in Tokyo’s Sumo Hall for the first card of a new promotion known as Inoki Genome Federation. (Now there’s a hell of a name.) The company, obviously formed by Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki, primarily used men who have some sort of mixed martial arts or other legitimate combat sports background in worked professional wrestling matches. Angle and Lensar were the main event, and your Olympic hero made the former University of Minnesota standout submit to the ankle lock in roughly ten minutes.

There was a little bit of controversy surrounding this match, primarily concerning a championship that either was or wasn’t on the line depending on who you talk to. For those of you who haven’t followed Lesnar’s career in the Land of the Rising Sun, he debuted with New Japan Pro Wrestling, one of the nation’s largest promotions, in 2005. He almost immediately won their top championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Title. However, there was a falling out between Lesnar and NJPW in 2006, which lead to Brock leaving the company and being stripped of the championship. Despite the fact that he was stripped, Lesnar never gave back the title belt, which was a brand new, rather expensive design created just before his reign.

Lesnar brought the belt with him to Japan for this match and defended it against Angle. Of course, Angle won, but he is NOT an IWGP Champion as recognized by New Japan since they stripped Lesnar approximately one year ago. Whether Inoki Genome is currently recognizing Angle as a champion is unclear at this point, though he now does have physical possession of the belt in addition to his TNA strap.

Hail Sabin!

All Japan Pro Wrestling is in the midst of a big junior heavyweight tournament, and none other than TNA’s Chris Sabin has been called abroad to participate. However, Sabin hasn’t just been part of the tournament. He’s been DOMINATING in the tournament, beating Dick Togo, “brother” YASSHI, and AKIRA. The round robin tournament has been divided in to two blocks, and the Murder City Machine Gun is currently ranked number one in Block B, which means that he’s earned the right to face Shuji Kondo, former holder of AJPW’s World Junior Heavyweight Championship in the finals. The match between the two has most likely taken place as of press time, though results haven’t popped up online quite yet. I’ll let everybody know how it turned out next week.

Sabin has also been in non-tournament action on the current AJPW tour, including main eventing a show as part of a six man tag that saw him team with Taiyo Kea and Keiji Muto to defeat Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, & T28 when the Michigan native was able to pin T28, a relative newcomer to the world of wrestling, with the Cradle Shock.

What is a Stage Dive but a Modified Tope Suicida?

If you’re in the United States and always wanted to get in to lucha libre but never had the chance to see it, this may be your lucky break. AAA, one of the two largest wrestling promotions in Mexico, has teamed up with the Vans Warped Tour. The tour, which kicked off this past Friday, will feature three AAA matches on every one of its dates. The luchadors who are participating in the tour aren’t that well known in the United States, though they’ll certainly be hungry for the exposure and no doubt putting it all on the line as a result. (As an aside, one of the men is wrestling under the name Psicosis . . . though it’s NOT the Psicosis we all know and love from the WWF, WCW, and ECW.) If you’re interested in checking out one of the shows, the full schedule is available at the Vans Warped Tour website.

If you wind up going, feel free to send in a report on the lucha, and be sure to also check out some of my favorite bands that are on the tour this year: Big D & The Kids Table, Paramore, and Amber Pacific.

Indy-Sent Headlines

BOLA at Ya Boy

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s big Battle of Los Angeles tournament is scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 2 this year, and they recently announced the complete lineup of wrestlers who will be appearing. I’m sure that I’ll have plenty more to say about BOLA as it approaches, but, for the time being, the names involved are:

Joey Ryan, Doug Williams, Susumu Yokosuka, Dragon Kid, Chris Bosh, Davey Richards, Jimmy Rave, Chris Hero, Human Tornado, Jack Evans, Tyler Black, Pac, Roderick Strong, El Generico, Matt Sydal, Scott Lost, Claudio Castagnoli, Shingo Takagi, Kevin Steen, Bryan Danielson, Super Dragon, Rocky Romero, Nigel McGuiness and CIMA.

In short, it’s the regular PWG crew plus some folks from Dragon Gate and a couple of Brits. I’m sure that the tournament will create a lot of good matches, though it doesn’t feel quite as “fresh” as it did last year when the DG representatives were getting their first opportunity to interact with the PWG roster. First round pairings should be available within the week.

From the “Where Are They Now?” File

For those of you wondering about the whereabouts of Daniel Puder, winner of WWE’s fourth Tough Enough competition, he has returned to his roots in mixed marital arts and this coming Tuesday will be making his debut with the Bodog Fight promotion. If you’re so inclined, you can check it out on BoDog’s weekly television show, which will air at 11 PM EST (10 PM CDT) this Tuesday on the Ion Television network.

And, yes, Puder is still pushing for an MMA bout against Kurt Angle, stemming from the infamous incident during Tough Enough in which Puder legitimately trapped the Olympic gold medalist in a keylock and came close to snapping his arm. You can even purchase something from his line of “I HURT KURT” merchandise at DanielPuder.com.

SHIMMER Like a Girl Should

One of my personal favorite indy promotions, SHIMMER: Women Athletes has a big show scheduled for this evening. The company, which has primarily been stationed in Berwyn, Illinois since its inception will be holding its first event in Florida in conjunction with FIP. If you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out, as the SHIMMER product is a great one to watch live . . . and I can vouch for that based on personal experience. Those of you who are interested can head to the Citrus County Auditorium in Inverness, Florida tonight. Doors open at 5 PM EST, and, as far as I know, tickets will be available at the door with prices at $10 for adults and $5 for kids thirteen and under. (And, yes, the shows are actually quite family friendly.) Since I’ve got way too much free time on my hands and way too much knowledge of this product, here’s a rundown of the card that’s set to take place:

Serena Deeb vs. Malia Hosaka: The outcome of this match should be very telling for the future of Serena Deeb in the company. She’s started turning some heads recently with a strong performance against Lacey at the taping for Volume 9, and she’s also had the honor of appearing on two recent ROH shows in SHIMMER showcases. All of this is in addition to her regular work in Ohio Valley Wrestling. That would make it appear that she’s on her way up the card. However, on the other side of the ring, Malia recently scored a huge upset during the SHIMMER title tournament, beating Allison Danger after not previously having received a singles win in the company. Whether that was a one-shot deal or start of a larger role in the company for the veteran remains to be seen. However, both women appear to be at a turning point in their SHIMMER careers, and the victor here will likely be due for a bigger role.

Ariel vs. Amber O’ Neal: After having amassed a pretty impressive singles record in the company, Ariel really hit the skids at the last set of tapings, dropping three consecutive matches. O’ Neal, meanwhile, had to miss the big tournament weekend but was looking impressive before then, working a series of matches that changed several people’s prior impression of her ring work. On one hand, I could see O’ Neal’s improvement in the ring leading to more of a push for her (as to this point she’s been the proverbial JTTS), though it would also appear that Ariel is in need of a victory to keep up her reputation as a solid part of the company’s midcard. Either way, these are two of the better women who work underneath on the SHIMMER shows, so I’m looking forward to a fun match.

Lexie Fyfe vs. Daffney: This is Daffney’s debut with the company as a wrestler. She’d previously been managing MsChif, and it doesn’t look like that relationship is over. I know that Daffney has been wrestling almost constantly since she was let go by WCW in 2001, though I personally haven’t seen any of her matches. Even though she was completely new to the business in WCW and, quite frankly, looked pretty bad, she’s now a six year veteran and probably wouldn’t be setting foot in to a SHIMMER ring unless she was at very least competent. Even if there are still some weaknesses in her game, she’s in there with Fyfe, one of the more experienced women on the roster, who should be able to get her to a watchable match even if all else fails. The real interesting thing to watch here will be where, if anywhere, Daffney’s debut as a wrestler takes her on-camera partnership with MsChif.

Cheerleader Melissa vs. Rain: These two have a bit of a history, as a confrontation with Rain and her tag team partner Lacey resulted in Cheerleader Melissa teaming up with former rival MsChif, forming a formidable unit in SHIMMER. Though MelissChif lost their match against Lacey and Rain’s Minnesota Homewrecking Crew, Melissa can get a measure of revenge here. From a technical standpoint, this could be the sleeper match on the card, with Rain being a quite solid wrestler, albeit one that is perpetually overshadowed by her more famous (infamous?) tag team partner. Melissa, meanwhile, is far and away one of the top wrestlers on the company’s roster and would be capable of making this in to a fine encounter even if Rain wasn’t.

MsChif vs. Daizee Haze: In a card dominated by rematches, this is perhaps the most interesting first-time SHIMMER matchup. Though both are fan favorites, these two will lock up in a match that no doubt has massive implications in terms of crowning a number one contender to the SHIMMER Title. It’s also a unique match because, if anything, these two are almost more renowned for the beatings that they TAKE from opponents as opposed to the beatings that they dish out, so it’s a unique opportunity for one of them to uncharacteristically dominate in a big match instead of being dominated and ultimately pulling out the victory in the end. One would think that MsChif is more suited for this goal, given her size and advantage and brutal offense like the Obliteration (second rope piledriver). However, it’s also entirely possible that Daizee will take the lead in this one, as she is the proverbial proof that dynamite does come in small packages. She recently went toe to toe with the much larger Amazing Kong, perhaps even getting in more offense against the massive competitor than MsChif did in her match against Kong. Regardless of who manages to get on the offensive first, what this match will really come down to is which competitor has the greater will to win and move her way back in to title contention.

Allison Danger vs. Cindy Rogers – Two Out of Three Falls: While the previous match has everything to do with title contention, this match has absolutely nothing to do with it. This one is personal. On SHIMMER Volume 7, Rogers started displaying some uncharacteristic behavior, as she went for a handful of tights while attempting to pin Portugese Princess Ariel and then refused a post-match handshake. This continued on Volume 8, where she beat Serena Deeb and then continued to assault her after the bell. Allison Danger attempted to put Rogers on the straight and narrow by teaming with her on Volume 9, but Rogers turned on her partner with the X-Factor, allowing the Experience of Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka to beat them. Naturally, a match followed on Volume 10, and it was an encounter in which the ladies spent more time on the floor than they did in the ring. Ultimately Rogers took home the victory in a controversial fashion, but things were only just beginning to heat up. On Volume 11, the two went at it in a street fight, with Danger getting a measure of revenge and the pinfall. However, when the two went met again in a dog collar match on Volume 12, Cindy was back to her underhanded ways. Under the rules of the match, all four corners had to be touched to win, and it looked like Danger was well on her way to accomplishing that goal. However, Rogers was touching the corners behind her. When it came down to the fourth and final corner, Allison wanted to put her rival away with the STO, but, as she was delivering the move, Rogers’ hand slapped against the top of the turnbuckle, thereby giving Cindy the win.

Now, in this match, Rogers has proclaimed that she’s done with the gimmicks. She’s done with the brawling. She’s going to live up to her nickname, the “Definition of Technician” and prove she’s better than Danger by outwrestling her in a two of three falls encounter. This has become perhaps the most personal issue in SHIMMER since Danger’s rivalry with Rebecca Knox, and the winner here will no doubt claim victory in the feud and gain some major bragging rights.

Nikki Roxx vs. Amazing Kong: Kong made her debut on SHIMMER Volume 5 by taking on Roxx in a match that nobody expected to be competitive. However, despite those expectations, Nikki took it to her much more experienced opponent, and in the process, created a much talked about match that put Roxx on the map. Ever since that time, her goal has been to move up the SHIMMER card in to the main events, which she did by putting away the likes of Lacey, Rain, and Malia Hosaka in big matches. Eventually Roxx did get her shot in the main event, locking horns with Sara Del Ray at the top of SHIMMER Volume 10. Though that match was a loss for the young lady from Massachusetts, it proved that she was on the level of the very best that the promotion had to offer and obviously earned the respect of the Death Rey, as she selected Roxx as her tag team partner against the Minnesota Homewrecking Crew for the main event of SHIMMER Volume 12. Now, with worlds more main event experience beyond her, Roxx looks to take on Kong again, perhaps this time gaining the victory that eluded her in the past.

However, that’s not going to be easy. After her initial match with Roxx, Kong has been on an absolute tear every time she’s set foot in to a SHIMMER ring. She tossed Ariel, Cindy Rogers, and Josie around like rag dolls during Volume 6 and then decimated MsChif and Daizee Haze in contests taped for Volumes 9 and 10. Many fans have speculated that there is nobody on the current SHIMMER roster that could put away Kong, not even Sara Del Ray herself. If Roxx, who is familiar with Kong’s style, is incapable of getting the job done, those fans may in fact be correct.

Sara Del Ray (c) vs. Lacey for the SHIMMER Championship: This is the first defense of the SHIMMER Championship, won by Del Ray in June. It’s also a rematch of the tournament finals in which she gained the belt. Of course, these two are quite familiar with one another, and it’s a familiarity that goes back to the beginning of SHIMMER. It was on SHIMMER Volume 2 that they first set foot in to the ring against each other, as they competed against Daizee Haze and Mercedes Martinez in a four way. Del Ray won that match handily, though Lacey would fire back on Volume 7, where she and Rain teamed up to defeat Del Ray and Mercedes Martinez in hotly contested tag action. More recently still, the two women were on opposite sides of the ring at the top of Volumes 11 and 12, with the former being the aforementioned tournament final and the latter being another tag encounter, this time with Sara and Nikki Roxx taking out the Homewrecking Crew.

Though Del Ray has been quite successful against Lacey in the past, recent events have proven that the Eddie Sharkey trainee is still not to be taken lightly. Just this past Friday, Lacey and Del Ray again met up in a four way match, this one taking place as a “SHIMMER Showcase” on a Full Impact Pro Wrestling show. With Daizee Haze and Allison Danger also being thrown in to the mix, Lacey was able to take home the victory, reminding fans that, under the right circumstances, she can certainly triumph over the champion. Will those circumstances be present tonight when Lacey tries to wrestle the title away from one of her most bitter rivals? Only time will tell.

More information on SHIMMER can be found on the company’s website SHIMMERwrestling.com.

Going Home

And that does it for the debut edition of the Custom Made News Report. As with all of my writing on this site, I’m more than open to constructive criticism, so feel free to shoot me an e-mail with any changes that you’d like to see made. I’ll take them all in to consideration, and I’ll be back next week with more from the wrestling world.

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Ryan Byers

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