The Custom Made News Report 07.15.07

Welcome, one and all, to week number three of the Custom Made News Report. As you’ll all see in a couple of minutes, this week’s report really started to take on a life of its own once I started writing, so make sure that you grab yourself a nice cold drink and perhaps even a sandwich before you start reading. It’s going to be a long – but hopefully fun and informative – ride.

Grading the Talking Heads

Much to my surprise, the coverage of the death of the Benoit family and the issues that it raises about professional wrestling has not yet ended. When the tragic events first took place, I was under the impression that it would be a popular topic of discussion on television news shows for about a week, after which it would be completely forgotten about. However, professional wrestling personalities were still on major television news programs throughout this week, and, with toxicology reports for Chris and Nancy Benoit due to come out relatively soon, it could very easily catch a second wind. However, at this particular time, no new significant facts are being revealed. Periodically a new wrestler will be tied to Benoit’s physician, Doctor Astin, but otherwise what we’re dealing with in the media is a group of individuals spinning their wheels and hitting the same points over and over again as they wait for more. So, with no news to actually report on, I figured I would take a look at the performance of the individuals who have been appearing on these shows in an attempt to determine who exactly has been the best representative of the professional wrestling industry.

Bryan Alvarez – Alvarez, the editor of the Figure Four Weekly newsletter, has become somewhat of a regular fixture on CNN’s television program Nancy Grace as the former prosecutor attempts to put her spin on this story. Grace, who was slammed by wrestling fans for factual inaccuracies on her show in the week immediately following the tragedy, needed somebody without an agenda who could present the facts in a concise, lucid manner. Alvarez was a godsend in that regard, as he’s been the only person regularly on these shows to cite important facts like the text of the WWE wellness policy and dispel non-stories like the Wikipedia debacle. If Alvarez’s appearances have one negative, it’s that the format of the Grace show often doesn’t provide him with the time he needs to adequately explain things, as it focuses more on jumping from guest to guest in rapid fire fashion as opposed to allowing people to get out complete thoughts. Final Grade: A

Steve Blackman – Blackman has appeared on a number of shows, most frequently as part of a duo with Marc Mero (more on him later). Though it’s not clear why exactly these two have formed a television tag team, their appearances have been following a pretty set pattern. Blackman states that he rarely if ever used anabolic steroids, and then Mero yells at him for the rest of the segment, not allowing the former WWF Hardcore Champion to get in a word edgewise. When the Lethal Weapon does have an opportunity to say something, he generally sounds intelligent and well-mannered, but he is another person who is hurt by the format of the programs on which he has been appearing. Final Grade: C

Steve Blackman

John Cena – Aside from Vince McMahon, John Cena was the first WWE performer to make a high profile television appearance in the wake of these events. As I mentioned a little while ago, this proves that the company has a massive amount of confidence in their champion, and that confidence, for the most part, appears to have been well-founded. Though it’s patently obvious that he’s saying exactly what the company wants him to say, you can’t expect anything else from somebody currently under contract. Whether he’s saying these things because they’re his actual beliefs or whether he’s saying these things because he wants to keep in his employer’s good graces is unknown, but Cena is the most likeable and diplomatic spokesman WWE has bene able to find. Final Grade: B

Chyna – I’ve only seen one appearance from the former Ninth Wonder of the World, and it was horrific. Appearing on Greta Van Sustren’s FOX News program, Chyna completely embarrassed herself, coming off as though she barely knew Benoit and knew even less about the current levels of drug use in professional wrestling. Her reaction time was slow, her speech was slurred, and she generally looked no better than she did on The Surreal Life. Final Grade: F

Fit Finlay – Finlay was sent to the Nancy Grace show this past Friday to serve as a WWE representative. My weekend news tag team partner John Meehan thought that the Irishman would do a fine job, but, John missed the mark on that assessment. There were points at which Finlay sounded like he may as well have been reading from a WWE press release as opposed to providing any independent thought, and, when he got steered away from the company’s usual talking points, it was nothing short of a disaster. The “highlight” was when the Belfast Bruiser was asked to respond to another guest’s discussion of the WWE wellness policy, to which Finlay said “What does he know?” strongly implying that the guest was just pulling things out of his ass. However, once Finlay was informed that the facts about the policy being stated came directly from the version published on the company’s website AND WWE’s legal counsel Jerry McDevitt, he had to stick his tail in between his legs and slink back a bit. His brilliant response ultimately wound up being that the policy changes all the time, which actually makes the company he is defending look worse, not better. As for his much hyped debate with Marc Mero, both guys came off looking terrible during that segment, as they actually weren’t disagreeing with one another, but both were so convinced that the other was the enemy that they wound up yelling anyway. Next time, WWE may as well send out the Little Bastard if they want to be taken seriously. Final Grade: D

“Superstar” Billy Graham – Billy Graham always comes off as a really nice guy, and I respect his accomplishments in the business. On top of that, he’s brutally honest about the drugs that he used while in professional wrestling, and it’s nice to see that at least one person is capable of doing that. However, in his time on television, he’s not come off as the greatest representative of the wrestling business. On one particular program, discussion shifted to the death of Roadwarrior Hawk, which another panelist was attempting to link to steroids. Superstar’s response was something to the effect of “in Hawk’s defense, he was doing a lot of cocaine too.” How that is actually supposed to “defend” Hawk or the pro wrestling industry is beyond me, as a cocaine habit is by most accounts worse than a steroid problem. He went on to talk about a Dean Malenko interview he saw in which Malenko stated that he and his friends called Benoit “Houdini” because he had a habit of “disappearing” during conversations. Graham took this to mean that Benoit had preexisting mental health problems, as he was mentally tuning out during the talks. I, on the other hand, watched the same Malenko interview, and it was pretty clear that the Man of 1,000 Holds was talking about Benoit physically leaving the room, not having any sort of mental lapse. Superstar’s got a great resume and good presence, but he more often than not winds up confusing issues as opposed to providing any clarification. Final Grade: C

Bret Hart – Soft-spoken and fairly cerebral, Bret Hart often seemed out of place in the over the top world of professional wrestling, and he’s also seemed a bit out of place in the over the top world of cable “news” shows. From what I’ve seen of the man’s appearances, he tends to focus more on Chris Benoit as a person than he does any of the drug issues that Benoit’s death raises, and that’s perfectly acceptable. In the middle of this mad rush to either clean up professional wrestling or defend it from any regulation whatsoever, a ton of folks forget that, at the root of this all, we’re dealing with a real family who died in a manner most horrific. Though I don’t know if he is actively attempting to remind everybody of that fact, it is the practical effect of most of Hart’s appearances, and it is appreciated. Final Grade: B-

Chris Jericho – Jericho had two high-profile appearances, one on Larry King and one on Nancy Grace. The latter appearance took place when Grace’s coverage of this situation was at its absolute worst, with the host having no clue about professional wrestling and the guests not faring much better. Jericho was one of the first men who appeared on that show who was able to provide Grace and her crew with facts not clouded by his own agenda, and the quality of her wrestling-related shows improved greatly thereafter. (Though they’re still FAR from being the kind of program that is needed to meaningfully address the issues that they are supposed to be addressing.) On King, the format of the show allowed the wrestlers to actually speak for more than thirty seconds at a time, so everybody came off better than they would have elsewhere on the circuit. However, Jericho was perhaps the most articulate of the bunch, handling the questions addressed to him in a manner that wasn’t entirely dishonest but also wouldn’t impair the return to WWE that we all know his coming. Final Grade: B+

Ken Kennedy – Oh boy, here we go. Kennedy first got in to this debate by posting a long, rambling commentary on his official website, and then he showed up on Greta Van Sustren as a WWE representative. If Kennedy has one thing going for him, it’s the fact that he seems to vehemently believe what he is saying. He’s passionate about his points. One would think that this passion would lead him to confirm that the things he is saying are accurate, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. That’s my biggest problem with Kennedy: On several basic factual issues, he’s either misinformed or lying. Going back to his original statement, he claimed that WWE’s drug testing was as stringent as the NFL’s, only allowing a 4:1 testosterone to epitestosterone level in steroid tests. (The testosterone to epitestosterone ratio, for those who don’t know, is the primary means for detecting steroid usage.) Of course, anybody who has actually read the policy for more than five minutes knows that is not actually the case, as a wrestler can pass a WWE steroid test while having a ratio of as high as 10:1. Yes, WWE starts asking questions of talent after they pass the 4:1 threshold, but it is ENTIRELY possible under the wording of the policy to pass a test while having much higher levels, which Kennedy claims is not the case.

The other big problem with Kennedy (which was, to a lesser extent, a problem with Finlay) is that they see ANY critique of how professional wrestling is currently run or has been run in the past as an all out assault on WWE by somebody who wants to see the entire company taken down. This is a mentality that I’ve seen in a lot of fans as well, and it’s completely unfounded, ridiculous, and immature. The simple fact of the matter is that, when compared to other professions in the world, wrestlers DO have a higher death rate, and they DO have working conditions, benefits, and paychecks that are far inferior to those of other professional athletes. To look at all of those issues and say that there is absolutely nothing that could changed to make the lives of wrestlers better is living in a fantasy world. Just because somebody makes a few suggestions for change doesn’t mean that they’re threatening your entire lifestyle, and more people under WWE’s employ need to realize that. Final Grade: D

Dave Meltzer – Meltzer has long been the king of written wrestling coverage with his Wrestling Observer newsletter. Yet, during this most recent media look at the world of grappling, Meltzer has been virtually missing in action. When he does pop up from time to time, he knows more than just about anybody else in the room, which is to be expected if you look at his reputation over the last couple of decades. However, this time around, he seems to be focusing much more on his print coverage of the situation in the Observer, which is just fine in my book. Final Grade: B-

Marc Mero – Mero has become rather controversial amongst wrestling fans who are following this situation, as he is the former wrestler most persistently and actively looking for some sort of reform in the professional wrestling industry. Many people have accused him of just trying to “cash in” on this tragedy or otherwise exploit the situation for his own gain, but those people are completely misinformed about Mero’s motives. The simple fact of the matter is that he has nothing to gain from this situation. His career in the ring is all but dead due to some heart problems, so it’s not as though he’s going to get extra bookings. He’s not being paid to do his constant television appearances. In fact, virtually none of these guests are. Now if Marc Mero suddenly has a book that he’s peddling on the O’ Reilly Factor every week, then I’ll begin to doubt his intentions. For the time being, though, it sounds like the former Johnny B. Badd is out there talking about something that he legitimately believes in.

He’s also a victim of the mentality that I complained about with Kennedy, the mentality in which fans and WWE contracted wrestlers fail to realize that you can be critical of something while trying to benefit it. Professional wrestling isn’t going to die if the government starts regulating it, and, if it’s actually well booked and performed, it’s not going to become any less enjoyable if guys aren’t allowed to abuse steroids and painkillers. Nobody here is trying to shut WWE or pro wrestling down, and people who dismiss Mero because they have that misconception are fools.

Of course, that’s not to say that the “Wildman” is perfect. He’s made as many gaffes as the next guy during his media appearances and does need to polish up on a few of his facts in order to become a better respected “expert” on the subject. The most notable example of this is the list of 105 dead wrestlers that he has been flashing during recent appearances. As soon as he pulls that damn thing out, critics can immediately respond by pointing out the several people included who died from causes other than drug use. However, if he took the list and trimmed it down to the ACTUAL drug deaths, it would still be an unacceptably high number that would turn a lot the heads of people in positions to make changes within the industry. So, in short, Mero has some good points, but he needs to work on his delivery of them, and others need to actually think about those points without making defensive, knee jerk reactions. Final Grade: C+

The Ultimate Warrior – Warrior showed up on FOX News’ Hannity & Colmes, and, quite frankly, it sounded like he was auditioning for a show on the network as opposed to coming on to have an actual discussion about the issues. He yelled at people a lot, dodged questions, and generally sounded like the typical FOX News personality, even asking the hosts if they feared his “true conservatism.” Though he didn’t sound quite as insane has he has during recent rants on his website or his infamous university speeches, Warrior added nothing meanigful to this discourse. Final Grade: D+

Punk Knows Punk

ECW wrestler C.M. Punk has an opportunity to get a little bit of mainstream attention over the next couple of months, as PWInsider reports that he will be providing live coverage of the 2007 Van’s Warped Tour for Fuse TV. Fuse, for those not familiar with it, is an MTV-esque station carried on most cable providers. I don’t know whether this is something that Punk lined up himself or whether it’s something that WWE got for him, but, between this and his appearance on the Sci-Fi Network’s Ghost Hunters, he seems to receive a fairly large amount of outside media work relative to his position within the company. It’s also interesting to note that, as I discussed two weeks ago, Mexican promotion AAA is sending a group of lower card luchadores to have a series of matches at on the Warped Tour’s various dates. I’m certainly not implying that there’s going to be any sort of “confrontation” between the representatives of the two wrestling promotions, but it does seem uncharacteristic for WWE to send one of its competitors to an event that also features wrestlers from a different promotion, particularly one that plans on expanding in to the United States and becoming direct competition for the E in 2008.

Opportunity Knox

And, from just about every major news source, there is talk of Mike Knox returning to ECW with some sort of new gimmick. My first response to this was, “To get a new gimmick, wouldn’t he have to have had a gimmick in the first place?” Knox, who hasn’t been on WWE TV since February, got his start in the business in 2000 and received his first exposure of any note in Rick Bassman’s Ultimate Pro Wrestling in Southern California. UPW was a hotbed for future stars at the time, with John Cena, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Brian “Spanky” Kendrick, and Frankie Kazarian all being featured on the promotion’s shows around that same period of time. Knox didn’t make quite the splash that his contemporaries did, not signing a WWE developmental deal until 2005, at which point he was assigned to Deep South Wrestling. In his time away from ECW, Knox went back to DSW and stayed there until the company’s relationship with WWE ended. He, along with the rest of the promotion’s developmental talent, has begun working with Steve Keirn’s Florida Championship Wrestling. If he is in fact ready to receive a new character on WWE televison, it’s my opinion that this could be Knox’s last chance to really shine on the national level. He has seven years worth of experience in the wrestling business, including two years under the umbrella of the largest wrestling company in the world, and he is still by and large unable to make an impression on fans in the ring. (And, with Shawn Michaels knocking him during last year’s Survivor Series, one would think that at least some within the company are aware of that fact.) I wish Knox all the best of luck with whatever new opportunity he receives, but, if this one fails, it may be time to hand his spot on the roster over to somebody who has a bit more potential.

Oh, Ricky, You’re So Fine

Though his name has been floated around for several months as possibly being the new protege of James Mitchell, it is now certain that Ricky Banderas will soon be debuting with TNA in that role. Banderas, a thirty-two year old Puerto Rican native, is best known to American wrestling fans for his work in MTV’s short-lived Wrestling Society X promotion. He was the company’s champion at the time it was shut down, having defeated Vampiro for the title as part of a storyline in which Vamp had, at some ill-defined point in the past “burned” Ricky’s face and left it horribly scarred. (The scars seen on WSX were provided by special effects makeup and will most likely not be present for his TNA run.) He was involved in a minor bit of controversy, as the angle at one point involved him throwing a fireball at Vampiro, an act that MTV executives considered too violent when they saw the video footage despite the fact that they approved the idea prior to the taping.

Though WSX is Banderas’ best known work in the mainland United States, he is actually a ten year veteran of the sport, beginning his career for IWA Puerto Rico and even making some appearances for the original ECW, wrestling twice on their TNN show. Perhaps his greatest celebrity has come as a part of Mexico’s AAA promotion, as he was brought in to the company last year to feud with that promotion’s version of La Parka (not the original Parka, mind you). Many thought that Banderas’ masked character “Muerte Cibernetico” would be short lived due to past treatment of foreign wrestlers brought in to Mexico under hoods, but he actually has proven to have a good deal of staying power. Despite the fact that he lost his mask to AAA’s La Park on last year’s TripleMania show, he remains an important rudo in the company and is receiving a good deal of critical acclaim for the improvement of his in-ring work.

Whether Banderas will be successful in TNA remains to be seen, but the fact of the matter is that current booker Dutch Mantell was part of the Puerto Rican wrestling scene for quite some time and has shown that he still has an affinity for the style of wrestling used on the island and the wrestlers who used to be popular there. If anything, that gives Banderas a hell of a shot at becoming one of the biggest stars on the company’s roster.

TNA Going Down (Under)

TNA’s mobile service reported that the company is thinking of doing an Australian tour with the help of Aussie promoter Andrew McManus. McManus is best remembered amongst wrestling fans as the man who, alongside Jeremy Borash, began the ill-fated World Wrestling All-Stars promotion in 2002 to help fill the void left by the recently defunct WCW and ECW. WWA, much like many accuse TNA of being today, was a repository for wrestlers that the World Wrestling Federation wanted nothing to do with. It managed to produce five pay per view events – four of which were produced during international tours – before ultimately folding. However, despite being a financial failure, WWA did do decent numbers in terms of live event attendance, convincing between 3,000 and 8,000 fans to show up for their larger shows. Details about how exactly TNA and McManus would share the costs of a potential TNA tour have not yet been made public, but, given the costs of getting an entire roster’s worth of men halfway across the globe, this strikes me as being a rather poor idea for TNA unless they can either get McManus to absorb the majority of the costs or guarantee themselves very large crowds.

I Want My NTV

If you’re a Ring of Honor fan and haven’t yet checked out Pro Wrestling NOAH, you might want to once matches from this summer’s tour become available. As a part of the shows, NOAH is running its first ever round robin tournament, and said tournament features junior heavyweight tag teams battling it out in order to see who is the best of the best. I’m pointing this out to ROH fans just because the tournament lineup is quite ROH-centric. The Briscoe Brothers, who briefly held NOAH’s junior heavyweight tag team titles are a part of the field, and another team consists of Bryan Danielson and Davey Richards. Also involved are KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji (on different teams), two NOAH performers who are semi-regular competitors on ROH cards. Throw in Rocky Romero, and you’ve got a tourney full of US indy goodness. Unless there is a tie in points, the winners of the tournament should be decided tonight in Tokyo, as KENTA and partner Taiji Ishimori take on Marufuji and Kota Ibushi in one match, while the Briscoes face Kotaro Suzuki and Mexican star Ricky Marvin in another bout. As of Friday night, the tournament standings were as follows:

1.) Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi – 6 Points
2.) The Briscoe Brothers – 5 Points
Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin – 5 Points
KENTA & Taiji Ishimori – 5 Points
5.) Bryan Danielson & Davey Richards – 3 Points
6.) Rocky Romero & Atsushi Aoki – 2 Points

With two points being awarded for each win and one point being awarded for each time limit draw, Romero/Aoki and Danielson/Richards are clearly out of the running. However, there’s an incredibly tight race in the rest of the field. Marufuji and Ibushi will guarantee their victory if they win their match. However, if KENTA and Ishimori beat them, they will wind up tied with the winners of the Briscoes vs. Suzuki/Marvin match, which will force a “playoff” bout to determine who wins the first ever NTV Cup.

CMLL Holds Its Own

As noted last week, WWE’s Raw brand toured Mexico over the Fourth of July holiday, running a series of house shows that were relatively inconsequential aside from the in-ring return of Rey Misterio. Though the attendance for WWE’s events was solid for most of the tour, the promotion that received the real good news was actually Mexico’s CMLL. Last Friday, July 6, both CMLL and WWE were running shows in Mexico City, and there was concern amongst CMLL brass that their show would be hurt badly since WWE is more of a “special” event when compared to CMLL, which runs Mexico City on a weekly basis. However, despite the stiff competition, CMLL still got 12,000 fans to show up at their event, which, though less than they have recently been doing, has to be considered a success given the stiff competition. The card was described by some lucha insiders as intentionally being weak since the promoters didn’t want to give away anything big on a show that they didn’t think anybody would come to. However, there were still several names familiar to US fans appearing on the card, including the Japanese trio of Ultimo Dragon, Kensuke Sasaki, and Katsuhiko Nakajima.

One Waterloo You Probably Want to Visit . . .

Not many young wrestling fans know about it, but there are actually two professional wrestling halls of fame not run by WWE. The first is located in Schenectady, New York. The second, located in Waterloo, Iowa and run in association with the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum held its 2007 inductions last night. A plethora of pro wrestling stars past, present, and future were scheduled to attend, and the honorees were straight out of professional wrestling’s a-list. This is the Hall’s ninth class of inductees, and they join names as diverse as Ed “Strangler” Lewis, Baron Von Raschke, Antonio Inoki, and Bret Hart. The new class is as follows:

Red Bastien – Debuting in the 1950’s after initially wrestling in carnivals, Red Bastien had a lengthy career in professional wrestling that saw him traverse the entire globe. He was a fixture on the Texas and Florida wrestling scenes, claiming a version of the Florida Heavyweight Title in the 1960’s and a version of the Texas Heavyweight Title in the 1970’s. He competed in the northeast as well, as he and fake brother Lou Bastien feuded with Capitol Wrestling mainstays Eddie and Jerry Graham over a United States Tag Team Championship that would eventually come under the auspices of Vince McMahon Senior’s World Wide Wrestling Federation. He even has a connection to the modern wrestling scene, being one of the two individuals (alongside Rick Bassman) who broke Sting and the Ultimate Warrior in to the wrestling business.

“Dr. Death” Steve Williams – What can be said about Doctor Death that hasn’t already been said? Though he would periodically pop up in the WWF and WCW during the 1990’s, Williams’ real claim to fame comes form his work in Mid-South Wrestling throughout the 1980’s and All Japan Pro Wrestling in both the 80’s and the 90’s. With an impressive combination of speed and power, Williams could do it all in the ring, first forming a successful Mid-South tag team with Ted DiBiase before eventually moving on to capture the promotion’s World Heavyweight Championship. In Japan, he and Terry Gordy were the very definition of badass gaijin heels, terrorizing the likes of Genricho Tenryu, Mitsuhara Misawa, and Kenta Kobashi for the better part of a decade. Despite all of his in-ring work, Williams’ toughest opponent was probably the throat cancer that he was diagnosed with in 2004. After surgery that cost him his voice for several months, Williams was ultimately declared free of any cancer after roughly one year. He has since returned to the ring to the surprise of many. In fact, Williams was the only Hall of Fame inductee scheduled to wrestle on a card promoted by Harley Race’s World League Wrestling that was held in conjunction with the wrestling ceremony.

Dale Lewis – Lewis, who passed away due to leukemia in 1997 at the age of 62, had a storied amateur and Greco-Roman wrestling career before joining the professional ranks. After a stint in the Marines, Lewis qualified as an alternate on the 1956 Greco-Roman wrestling team that the United States sent to the Olympic Games. His next challenge was as a collegiate athlete, as Lewis enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, where he won the NCAA Championship for the heavyweight division in 1960 and again in 1961. After that, he turned pro. Though he was not quite as respected in the professional ranks as he was in amateur wrestling, Lewis earned the nickname “The Professor” and traveled the country, perhaps being best known for his work in Florida, a territory that made fellow Oklahoma amateur wrestler Jack Brisco in to a major star. While in Florida, Lewis helped to break in a young man named Gene Petit, who would team with him as “brother” Gene Lewis. Petit would ultimately move on to the World Wrestling Federation and play the role of Hillbilly Jim’s Cousin Luke.

Curt Hennig – Hennig is the youngest of the wrestlers to be inducted in to the Hall of Fame this year, and the majority of the fans reading this site probably don’t need a heck of a lot of background on him. Curt was born in to the wrestling business, as his father, Larry “The Axe” Hennig had been a major star for decades prior to his son’s birth. Debuting in the late 1970’s, Hennig’s first major break in the wrestling world came as part of the AWA, where his father was considered a legend. He would capture the promotion’s World Heavyweight Championship in its dying days, though his real fame came from his two runs in the World Wrestling Federation. Being dubbed “Mr. Perfect,” Hennig was part of the promotion during what were arguably its most successful years, and he was thrust relatively quickly in to a feud with Hulk Hogan. A series of classic matches with Bret Hart followed not long thereafter, and those two feuds made Hennig in to a star for life. His last major angle came in WCW when he turned his back on the Four Horsemen, slamming Ric Flair’s head in the door of a steel cage and joining the New World Order. Though the turn itself was an incredibly hot angle, it never played out to its full potential, and Hennig’s star fell a good deal. He unfortunately passed away in 2003 while working for TNA. Hennig’s son Joe now looks to follow in his footsteps. He was scheduled to compete on the WLW show at the induction ceremony as part of a tag team with fellow third generation wrestler Ted DiBiase, Jr.

The Great Gama – Professional wrestling in India is often ignored by historians in the western hemisphere, but it did exist, and perhaps no star burned brighter than that of the Great Gama. Legend has it that Gamma was undefeated for his entire fifty year career. Though some dispute the validity of that claim, most agree that he did in fact wrestle thousands of matches and lost incredibly infrequently. Regardless of his record, he was a cultural icon among his native people and became such a star that the western world could no longer ignore him. In addition to traveling to the England to face the best that country had to offer, a challenge to famous Polish-American wrestling Stanislaus Zbyszko resulted in Zbyszko’s downfall.

Indy Preview: Rock n’ Roll Express Tag Team Tournament

Over the past several years, if there’s been one thing that creates a lot of buzz for an indy promotion on the internet, it’s a big tournament. Tournaments on the east coast have gotten worlds of coverage, tournaments on the west coast have gotten worlds of coverage, and even tournaments in the midwest have gotten worlds of coverage. However, there has yet to be a really big indy tournament in the south that has garnered as much attention as PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles or IWA Mid-South’s Ted Petty Invitational. This coming week, Hermie Sadler’s UWF looks to change that fact with its Rock n’ Roll Express Tag Team Tournament. The company has gone out of its way to line up some top level talent for the event, which will take place over three nights on July 19th, 20th, and 21st in three cities in South Carolina, with tickets still being available through the UWF website.

The tournament is not only unique in its geographical location but also in its format. Eight different teams will compete in the first round, with two more teams receiving first round byes. The tournament will also have a double elimination format, with a full loser’s bracket being contested before a winner is crowned. Let’s take a look at the diverse body of teams that are being brought in for the event.

First Round Match – The Naturals vs. The Extreme Horsemen: Having recently been let go by TNA wrestling, Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens, better known as the Naturals, are ready to prove to the professional wrestling world that they can still be a viable act in the sport without the support of Jeff Jarrett and company. On the other side of the ring stand the Extreme Horsemen of Simon Diamond and CW Anderson, two latter-day ECW alumni who have since been all over the country and in fact the world with Steve Corino forming an imposing faction. Though the Naturals may be bigger stars in 2007 due to their more recent national television exposure, the Horsemen are by far the more experienced unit of the two and will more than likely be able to pick up the victory here.

Bye #1 – Too Cool: Yes, Scotty II Hotty and Grandmasta Sexay are REUNITED courtesy of the UWF. Though he briefly returned to WWE in 2004, Brian Christopher was not there long enough to once again tag up with “Too Hot” Scott Taylor. This means that their last match as a unit took place in 2000, and South Carolina will now bear witness to the return of the former WWF Tag Team Champions. Their second round match will be against the winners of the Naturals/Extreme Horsemen contest, and either result would lead to a unique pairing that has not taken place before. Ultimately, I’m pulling for the Horsemen vs. Too Cool showdown, because, with more experience, Diamond and Anderson would have the tools to put together a better match with the WWE alumni.

First Round Match – The Diamonds in the Rough vs. The Rock n’ Roll Express: Much like the Naturals, The Diamonds in the Rough may be gone from TNA, but they’re still hanging around in the UWF. They’ve got a rather tough set of opponents in the first round. In fact, they’re wrestling the guys that the entire tournament was named after, the Rock n’ Roll Express. Though I’m a bit surprised that Morton and Gibson couldn’t get a first round bye in their own tournament, at least they got a relatively easy draw in the early going. Though they are talented, David Young and Elix Skipper have not been anything close to successful as a unit, going on one of the biggest losing streaks in the history of tag team wrestling. That means we’ll most likely be seeing the former NWA Tag Champs moving on to face . . .

Bye #2 – The Steiner Brothers: Well, at least the Steiner Brothers are billed as appearing. By all reports, Scott is still not fully recovered from his nearly fatal throat injury, so I’d be surprised if he actually makes it to the tournament. However, with Rick still honoring his bookings, he could be appearing with a replacement, just as he did at the last TNA pay per view. If both Steiners were in action, this would be a close match. However, I can’t imagine that Rick Steiner and a partner selected at the last minute would be able to overcome a polished, experienced tag team like the Rock n’ Rolls.

First Round Match – Christian York & Joey Matthews vs. The Old School Empire: Too Cool isn’t the only team reuniting for this tournament. York and Matthews, who were partners on the indy circuit, in ECW, and in the early days of the WWF’s developmental program, are back together after Matthews spent the bulk of the last three years as an employee of Vince McMahon. (For the few who don’t know, he was Joey Mercury of MNM.) Their opponents are probably the least well-known competitors in the tournament, the Old School Empire consisting of NWA Virginia wrestlers Damien Wayne and Mike Booth. Wayne has started to gain some notoriety on the independent circuit recently, getting a look from Ring of Honor in some of their pre-show matches and now having the opportunity to wrestle alongside the likes of former WWE star Matthews. Though this may be his greatest opportunity to date, York and Matthews have enough in their bag of tricks that I have a feeling the Empire will be getting a one way ticket in to the loser’s bracket.

First Round Match – LAX w/ Konnan vs. Team Macktion: Yes, even though he had a major falling out with TNA, Konnan is still standing side by side with Homicide and Hernandez in the UWF . . . or at least that’s what the UWF’s website is claiming. Their opponents are Kirby and TJ Mack, two wrestlers out of the Carolinas who have actually wrestled LAX before on TNA Impact. In that quick match, Kirby and TJ were absolutely destroyed and beaten in under a minute. Now, with more experience, Team Macktion is looking forward to having an opportunity to prove that they can hang with the big boys. We’ll see whether that actually happens.

And that does it for the first round matches and the two teams that will be receiving byes. The opening round bouts all look like they could be quite good if given time, and things will only get better from here. The double elimination format provides the opportunity for far larger volume of entertaining pairings than would happen in the typical single elimination contest. LAX versus York and Matthews could be an excellent contest, as close as wrestling fans could probably get to an “interpromotional” LAX vs. MNM bout. There’s also the opportunity for intergenerational pairings galore, with the Rock n’ Roll Express being able to teach lessons to younger units like Team Macktion and the Old School Empire. If you can’t make it to the shows live this week, I would highly recommend keeping an eye on HighSpots, who release all of the UWF’s shows on DVD-R within a month or two after they take place.

First Lady of Hardcore Returns to the Ring

Several months ago, independent wrestling star LuFisto was really starting to make waves on the American circuit. In addition to having made her debut with SHIMMER: Women Athletes where she wrestled two very memorable matches against Allison Danger and Mercedes Martinez, the Montreal native had also racked up a series of impressive wins against men in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), taking on the likes of the Necro Butcher and Kevin Steen en route to becoming the promotion’s Iron Man Champion. However, that all came to an end in January of this year, when nagging back injuries caused LuFisto to take an indefinite sabbatical from professional wrestling, forfeiting her CZW Championship in the process. After ten years in the business, it looked like the young woman’s career was ending before it had a chance to fully blossom.

LuFisto

However, this past Friday saw a return to the ring for the fearless female. With her back apparently feeling much better, LuFisto was able to compete in a match for Quebec’s Association de Lutte Feminine, which produces all-women’s wrestling cards in the French speaking areas of Canada. In her return, the self-proclaimed “Missionary of Violence” defended the honor of one of the promotion’s referees against Kacey Diamond, a dastardly competitor who had been giving the official a hard time. However, Diamond was unable to give LuFisto a hard time, as the veteran wrestler hit her Emerald Fusion to earn the three count. The match itself lasted twenty minutes and was, by all accounts, very good. LuFisto has yet to announce any plans for the future of her career, though her fans are hoping that this is just one of many matches back from her hiatus.

Well, that wraps up the third and thusfar the longest edition of the Custom Made News Report. As always, I’m open to any feedback that my fine readers may have, so feel free to submit it using the e-mail link below. I fully plan on answering e-mails in this very column in the near future, though the sheer volume of other material that I had to cover for this week’s column prohibited it.

I will see you all next week. If you’re looking for any reading material until then, I’d suggest the Impact Crater, Column of Honor, or the Victory Road Roundtable.

Tschüss!