Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Aug 26, 2013 7:27:37 GMT -6
PRO WRESTLING NEWS:
---8/24 WWE RESULTS FROM SAN DIEGO, CA
Zack Ryder beat Jack Swagger (With Zeb Coulter).
Alicia Fox beat Tamina.
Dean Ambrose beat Rob Van Dam to retain the US Title.
Justin Roberts brought out Rey Mysterio. The Shield came down and Mark Henry and Big Show made the save. That led to tag title match, which the babyfaces won by DQ when Ambrose ran in. RVD made the save.
The Wyatt Family beat The Usos and Justin Gabriel.
The Miz beat Fandango with The Figure Four.
Daniel Bryan beat Randy Orton by DQ so he retained the WWE Title. The Shield ran in cause the DQ and RVD, Henry and Show made the save.
---A story on Mick Foley performing in Gainesville, FL at www.gainesville.com/article/20130824/ARTICLES/130829754
---A John Cena comic is at www.gocomics.com/biographic/2013/08/25
---Magnus was in the U.K. this weekend hosting a World's Strongest Man type TV show.
---SMASH All women's wrestling and a free viewing of WWE Night of Champions on 9/15 at The E-Zone in Toronto at 120 North Queen St. Live matches are 5 p.m. All tickets for the live show and WWE screening are $15.
---Extreme Wrestling League on 8/29 in Oshawa, ONT at the Octaviens Hall
---Jake Roberts has been pulled from the MWF show on 9/21 in Melrose, MA. Story is at www.BostonWrestling.com/mwfinsidethemwf.html
---A story on wrestling on the old Dumont Network in the early days of TV and Gorgeous George, the biggest TV wrestling star in the early years, at www.douglascountysentinel.com/sports/article_bfef0ec0-0cf0-11e3-834d-0019bb301f31a.html
---Squared Circle Live at 6 p.m. at the Class Act Dinner Theater in Whitby, ONT. They will screen a Michael Elgin vs. Colt Cabana DVD at 5:35 p.m. and then have a show at 6 p.m. with Matt Morgan, Tyson Dux and Jimmy Korderas.
---WWE will have a Smackdown TV taping on 10/29 in Tampa at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
---John Tovar is looking for help from historians for an August 25, 1984 show promoted by Southwest Championship Wrestling called ""The Event IV" with the Zambuie Express vs. Sheepherders and Rock & Roll Express vs. Fabulous Blonds, looking for results, attendance and gate at johntovar80@yahoo.com
---Lucha Xtreme TV from Saturday night in Fresno: Brian Tannen b Jessie Richards, Mike Rayne & Zero b Marcus Eriks & Crimson Plague, Wiseguy b Al Azar.
---In Your Face Wrestling on 11/9 in Ballston Spa, NY at the Community Center.
---Great Lakes Championshp Wrestling on 10/14 at Turners Hall in Milwaukee.
---Shawn Michaels will be appearing Saturday night in Waynesboro, VA for Top Rope Pro Wrestling. He'll be doing a Q&A taking questions from the audience. For more info go to topropeprowrestling.com/shawn-michaels-experience/
---Angelina Love will join Ted DiBiase (Sr.) and Tommy Dreamer on 11/1 to 11/3 in Winnipeg for the Central Canadian ComicCon at the CWE booth.
---SHINE on 9/27 in Ybor City, FL at the Orpheum for a 9 p.m. show
---AAW "Reign of Violence" Results
August 23, 2013
Berwyn, Ill.
Top News is AAW announced that Colt Cabana will return and Eddie Edwards will debut on September 27.
(1) Zero Gravity beat Monster Mafia only to get beaten down by MM after the match.
Knight Wagner and Tony Rican picked each other’s opponents...
(2) Keith Walker beat Tony Rican with a lariat.
(3) Michael Elgin beat Knight Wagner with the spinning powerbomb.
(4) Louis Lyndon & Marion Fontaine beat Dan Lawrence & Marcus Crane to retain the AAW Tag Titles.
(5) Shane Hollister beat Junthai Miller to retain the AAW Title via Shug’s Last Gift and two superkicks.
(6) A.C.H. beat Kyle O’Reilly to retain the AAW Heritage Title following a spirit bomb.
(7) Ryan Boz & Heidi Lovelace beat Jordan McEntyre & Heather Patera via Boz Driver.
(8) Michael Elgin beat Alex Colon and a returning Mat Fitchett when Elgin pinned Colon with the Elgin Bomb. The match was originally Colon vs. Fitchett until Elgin interrupted.
(9) Arik Cannon & Jimmy Jacobs beat Irish Airborne when Cannon beat Jake Crist in a brawl that went around the Eagle’s Club. Jacobs said he and Cannon can now go their separate ways.
(10) Eddie Kingston beat Silas Young after he kicked Young low and hit a Backfist to the Future. Afterward, Silas declared this not over and vowed revenge.
---WWE Live house show results
August 24, 2013
Las Cruces, New Mexico
WWE held a live event in Las Cruces on Saturday night - a stone’s throw down the road from El Paso. I caught WWE’s other jaunt into this area last year with a Smackdown live event in the El Paso County Coliseum. This time we were in the Pan American Center on-campus of the New Mexico State Aggies! I will say the Center looks more like a wrestling venue than the Coliseum with seats surrounding the arena floor. I would guess 6,000 or more wrestling-starved people attended the event. Onto the show...
(1) Prime Time Players beat 3MB. A solid wrestling match with heel tactics from 3MB most of the way. Darren Young took most of the damage, then hot-tagged Titus O’Neil to set up the finish. Solid ten-minute opener.
(2) Great Khali beat Hunico. Standard Khali match, with a punch to the head ending Hunico’s misery. Thankfully, only six minutes!
(3) Ryback beat Kofi Kingston. Pretty good match with Ryback hitting all his power moves, making Kofi look like a ragdoll! The crowd was seriously into Kofi, as he made a spirited comeback, only to be taken out by the meat-cleaver clothesline. My daughter, with a Kofi sign, started tearing up! A solid 12 minute match.
(4) Kaitlyn & Natalya beat Divas champion A.J. Lee & Layla. This match started as a Dance-Off with Layla busting some moves to “Can't Touch This," but it soon became a tag match when the heels jumped the faces! It’s surprising how over as a heel A.J. still is. After Kaitlyn took a beating for most of the match, Natalya applied the Sharpshooter to Layla, who tapped out after seven minutes.
(5) Dolph Ziggler beat Big E. Langston. Ziggler started the match off by holding up a fan’s sign that said: “Langston Needs Pants," and the chants ensued! Ryback has gotten his time in the spotlight, but Langston with a similar style and physic, is a much better wrestler. Langston hit all his power moves – with Ziggler making it look like he was totally destroyed - but Ziggler made a comeback, hitting the Zig-Zag for the win. Good 12 minute match. Ziggler is a Main-Eventer – the man is talented!
[Intermission]
(6) Cody Rhodes beat Damien Sandow. Sandow is great on the mic and he even brought the Money in the Bank case with him. Both men hit their moves with Cody hitting his finisher for the pin in about eight minutes.
(7) Christian beat World Hvt. champion Alberto Del Rio via DQ; Del Rio retained the World Title. Alberto is so over as both a heel and a face in this part of the country; many people didn’t know if they should cheer or boo! Christian did a small comedy bit with Alberto’s walk-out shirt – while also calling him an “a-hole” in Spanish, which started a chant. Both men got in their offense before Alberto pulled the ref into Christian, then delivered a kick to the head. Alberto thought he won when the bell sounded, but Christian won on the DQ. Solid 18 mins with both men telling a good story with their offense. My oldest daughter made a real nice Mexican Flag Alberto poster that she was proud to display!
Next was the main event of C.M. Punk vs. Curtis Axel. It was surprising to see Paul Heyman on the road. Heyman said on the mic that his lawyers stated this would be a No DQ match, and it would not be for the Intercontinental Title. C.M. Punk’s music then hit and the place exploded!
(8) C.M. Punk beat IC champion Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman) via submission in a No DQ non-title match. Punk makes other wrestlers look so much better. You could tell Axel is still learning his craft, but he had some solid offense on Punk, who eventually slapped on the Vice and made Axel tap. After the match, Heyman found himself in the ring with Punk – and then on the end of a GTS! Punk then paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero before the close of the show. A solid 25 minute main event.
All in all, a great house show with solid wrestling up and down the card – and only one non-finish! The show started at 7:30 p.m. and didn’t end until after 10:30. The crowd was hot throughout the night – even for the Khali match! I can’t wait for WWE to come back again...
---WWE Live show results
August 24, 2013
San Diego, Calif.
The show started at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night with a solid 2,000 in attendance. There was no one in the upper deck, which was odd, and the first time I've seen the arena this empty. There was high energy for every match except where I noted.
(1) Zack Ryder pinned Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) with a roll-up. I could easy call this the match of the night, as there was a lot of solid back and forth and the crowd was clearly behind Ryder. Before the match, Zeb started the match with a lot of bashing about Mexicans, which was not appreciated in San Diego.
Next was a video package on The Shield.
(2) Alicia Fox pinned Tamina Snuka after a jumping axe kick to Snuka's back. The crowd died during this match, as everyone just sat quietly and watched the bout. There was a lot of repetition early in the match - Fox repeated three dropkicks. Snuka then got the edge and repeated snapmares and headlocks. The match picked up towards the end.
(3) U.S. champion Dean Ambrose pinned Rob Van Dam to retain the U.S. Title. RVD is over and could do no wrong. RVD pandered to the crowd and Ambrose had a great counter to RVD's taunt by re-using the thumb point for U-S-Champ. Solid action. A lot of back in forth. The crowd loved it.
Next, Rey Mysterio came out. The ring announcer interviewed San Diego's hometown hero about his return, then Shield interrupted.
(4) Mark Henry & Big Show beat WWE tag champions The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) via DQ; Shield retained the Tag Titles. The finish came when Ambrose interfered and Rollins hit Big Show with a chair. The match began with comedy bits and failed tests of strength. Big Show slapped Reigns's bare chest and the sound was explosive. The Shield beat up Big Show for a while, then Henry got the hot tag and before the match could flip sides, Ambrose showed up.
[Intermission]
(5) The Wyatts beat The Usos & Justin Gabriel in a six-man tag match. Bray Wyatt pinned one of the Usos for the win. The Wyatts have a great live intro. The match started with the faces getting in offense. Soon, The Wyatts took over and slowed the match by beating up Gabriel. Basic tag match until it became a cluster towards the end.
(6) The Miz submitted Fandango via the figure-four leglock. This started as a dance-off, then turned into a match. There was some back-and-forth and a little interaction with Summer Rae, but the match was nothing special.
(7) Daniel Bryan beat WWE champion Randy Orton via DQ; Orton retained the WWE Title. The DQ occurred when Shield interfered. Then, RVD, Henry, and Big Show made the save. Overall, this was another great match. Daniel and Randy have great chemistry together; they clearly shined with fast-paced, back and forth action. All of the spots were glued together with finesse. Great main event.
The show ended at 10:10, providing almost three hours of action. None of the matches were bad, but some definitely shined better than others. No squash matches, no TV drama, just great wrestling. I had a great time and I don't think anyone at the show left grumpy.
Biggest Pops:
(1) RVD
(2) Rey Mysterio
(3) Daniel Bryan
(4) Show & Henry
(5) Zack Ryder
Biggest Heat:
(1) Zeb Colter
(2) Randy Orton
(3) Rollins & Reigns
(4) Dean Ambrose
(5) The Wyatts
---"Legends of Wrestling Night" Results
August 24, 2013
Miami, Fla. at Marlins Park
The matches began soon after the Marlins game ended. We (the media) were instructed to head down around the eigth inning to get a spot. Many fans stayed around for the wrestling. Throughout the matches, various Marlins made their way to VIP seats to watch, including pitchers Steve Cishek, Jose Fernandez, Dan Jennings, and Henderson Alvarez; and third baseman Ed Lucas.
Jimmy Hart and Craig Minnervini (formerly WWF's Craig DeGeorge) were on commentary. Minnervini covers the Marlins for the local Fox Sports affiliate. Minnervini also handled ring announcing duties.
Lanny Poffo came out and read a poem. Part of it was in Spanish for the Miami crowd, and it was an ode to his brother, Randy Savage. He took off his robe to reveal a Macho Man t-shirt.
(1) Koko B. Ware beat Chavo Guerrero with a DDT at about 4:00. Koko did some mic work before the match. A handler brought Frankie out, but he didn't stay out long. Chavo attacked Koko before the bell. Ware had a manager named Howard with him, apparently from the Tampa area. Ware brought a young fan into the ring to dance with him after the match.
(2) Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake beat Mike Knox at 8:05 with a DDT. Lots of stalling and Beefcake working the crowd, taunting Knox about possibly cutting his beard. Knox was billed by his WWE name here rather than his TNA name, Knux. Beefcake used his old WWE theme song (Jimmy Hart exasperatedly gave cues to the music people throughout the show). Not much to this one, as you'd expect.
(3) Harry Smith beat Wes Brisco with a powerslam at 7:03. Smith used his father, the British Bulldog's WWE music. Bret Hart came out to watch from the announce table. Smith hit his father's trademark standing suplex. There was a blatant low-blow by Brisco, but no disqualification was called for. The finish came soon after.
(4) The Nasty Boys beat Mr. Anderson & Garett Bischoff in a No DQ match at 6:42. Rough night for the Aces & Eights crew. Knobbs did some pre-match mic work as a babyface. Saggs set Anderson up on a table and splashed him from the apron early on. The other Aces & Eights members interfered, leading to Marlins pitchers Tom Koehler (the biggest wrestling fan on the team - he caught Goldberg's first pitch) and A.J. Ramos coming out. Koehler had a metal Pepsi sign and used it to bash over the heads of A&E members. Knobbs elbow-dropped Bischoff to pick up the win.
After the match, Bill Goldberg came out to celebrate with the Nastys and the Marlins, and did some brief mic work thanking the fans for coming out.
---Hulk Hogan making a deal with Take-Two Interactive to be part of the upcoming WWE 2K14 video game definitely turned some heads and started speculation about his future with TNA according to a report by Dave Meltzer. Hogan's deal with TNA allowed him to make outside deals like that although many took it as a very public "slap to the face" of TNA.He hasn't been featured on TNA television for the last four weeks and wasn't at the last two Impact Wrestling TV tapings. Hogan is scheduled to return at the tapings this Thursday (8/28) in Cleveland. Keeping Hogan off the show was described as a "significant cost savings" for TNA. Hogan's deal with TNA is believed to be expiring over the new few months.
---Elijah Burke talks life after TNA
Interview conducted: Thursday, August 22nd, 2013.
Email: garymehaffy@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @gmehaffy
Before we talk about your wrestling career, some fans won’t know that you have been involved in working with the Sheriff’s Office and getting your degree two years ago you got your degree, with honours in criminal justice. Were you always interested in the law and did you think that that might be your career long term when you were younger?
Being young – if you let everyone else tell the story, or at least those on the outside looking in – my career was probably going to be in law enforcement, except I was probably going to be on the other side of the bars, if you get my drift! (laughs) I was not a bad child, but I was a very adventurous child, and sometimes I was devious, and so I got in a lot of trouble as a kid. Going forward into High School I kind of honkered down and tightened up and started focussing on my lessons a little more. I was involved in a lot of sports but I could never stay on the team. I played baseball, I played soccer, I played football, but my grades weren’t good enough to keep me in those activities.
So at High School I honkered down, and my grandfather was a cop, my sister was a Sergeant, and so it was only in my last couple of years that I started trying to figure out my career, as to what I would do when I would graduate, because I needed money – I want money and I want it now! (laughs) But I wanted to be taken care of; I wanted to make sure that I had a career. So my sister, who was a Sergeant, informed me – she said “Go to the Police Academy.” As soon as I graduated, that same year I enrolled in the Police Academy and the rest in kind of history.
Was that my plan? Was that my dream? Nope, but it was a goal and I goal that I knew I would be able to accomplish and make a pretty good living straight out of High School. (I was) the youngest guy to come out of my class, the youngest Officer – I was a Corrections Officer at the time, working in the jails – so it was pretty cool.
Do you think that you’ll fall back into that once you’ve called time on your wrestling career?
(laughs) Well that’s to be determined! Obviously as you mentioned – and a lot of people know – I went back and finished my College degree. It was something I started when I was in the Sheriff’s Office. I decided to pursue my degree, because while I was dual certified – meaning certified as a Corrections and a Police Officer – I was not sworn in, because you can’t be a Police Officer or go to the streets, in Jacksonville at least, unless you have a four year degree. So I started College to get the degree so I could go and have my own (Police) car and get on the streets by myself but then, you know, my dream came along. I had the opportunity to pursue my dream, as the old story goes.
I was booking someone into jail and since the jail was overcrowded at the time – or the intake, where you process new criminals was crowded – I started surfing the internet, I think, and I don’t know how I came across this but I believe I was surfing the internet and somewhere I came across the first ever OVW tryout camp for the WWE development system. And it just took off from there – I had the chance to realise my dreams. Will I go back into law enforcement when my ticket is punched and my time is up? That remains to be seen. I can’t say that I would go back to being an Officer or go and work in a prison or a jail, but maybe something in the realm if I decided to – but the Pope got another ten years left in this business, daddy! (laughs) So I haven’t even thought about that yet (life after wrestling).
I assume, then, that you were a fan growing up, which was what led you to go to OVW?
Absolutely, it was always a dream. Here in Jacksonville, Florida, we saw everything that there was to watch – NWA, Florida Championship Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling and, of course, the WWE. So, I was a huge fan from I think it was the age of two or three years old, that I first saw wrestling sitting on my dad’s knee – or sometimes, most of the time, at his feet! (laughs) We would just sit down and watch wrestling with him because that’s what he would always watch. Watching the likes of, of course, Dusty Rhodes, RIc Flair, Pez Whatley, Iceman King Parsons, the Von Erichs, the Horsemen, the Great Kabuki……I could go on and on. Those guys are what made me go “Wow!”
I think the biggest impact – and I don’t know if I ever said this before, ever, in an interview, or to anyone – I think what made it…..what gave me the googly eyes and made me go “Wow, this could be me!” or “This is what I want to do.” was that entrance video to World Class Championship Wrestling. That “boom-bobada-boom-bobada-boom” and when you see that satellite come out of the sky and it starts showing all of that pandemonium in different clips – that was probably the most awe inspiring moment of the year for me. I could care less about the wrestling itself sometimes, as long as I could watch that video opening. Yea, man, that did it for me. Of course, when you had a guy like Dusty Rhodes who was talking directly to me as I sat in front of the television, that was the hook, line and sinker right there.
You said, or I read on your website, that when you were in OVW you were offered a spot in the Spirit Squad but turned it down. What led to you saying no to that?
Well, I was given a choice. Vince McMahon gave me a choice. Johnny Ace pulled me aside into Vince McMahon’s office and they said “This is an opportunity. It’s up to you if you want to do it or not.” Number 1: I don’t think that you do anything for Vince McMahon if you’re going to be uncomfortable or if you’re not going to commit fully to it. So, it was something that I didn’t think I could commit fully to; it was something that I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing.
One thing about Vince is that he knows if you’re uncomfortable doing something that he’s asked you to do. The worst thing for me at the time would have been to try to do it for the sake of doing it and not be able to deliver as well as those five guys that were part of the Spirit Squad did. If I had have done that and not been able to deliver and meet the expectations of Vince McMahon given that it was his genius that came up with that – not a writer, it was his personal idea – so I wasn’t going to go out there and jeopardise myself at that time. Vince said “If you don’t feel like it, and you don’t think it works for you, that’s fine. Go down (to OVW), we’ll put you back and we’ll find something else for you. We’ll bring you back up at a later date.” After I did a little soul searching and spoke to Paul Heyman and Danny Davis in OVW, and got their advice on it, I followed my heart. And I think I did the right thing and Vince respected me for that.
Your first big break on WWE came with Sylvester (Terkay) in ECW, but you’re probably more well known for heading up ‘The New Breed’ to feud against the ECW Originals. How did it come about that you were the leader of the group, so to speak?
Well, that was, again, a Vince McMahon call – with a little Dusty thrown in, I believe – moreso because it was different; it was ‘The New Breed’. If you think about it, you’ve got Elijah Burke out there being the leader and the mouthpiece of this group, which was something new in itself, so I just think he took on board that I had the gift of the gab – maybe could say, the charisma – and the on-screen presentation and how I carried myself. And, I would like to think that I had enough heat at the time to pull it off, so I think that’s why I was put in that position.
You have performed on a couple of WrestleManias, most notably WM 23. How different did you find it as a wrestler or performer from performing in the likes of ECW and OVW to then going in front of a reported 80,000?
That was pretty amazing. It was awe-inspiring; it was breath-taking; not moreso that fact of the difference of arenas – 80,000 versus 500 people! (laughs) – but the fact that as a kid I would have never imagined that I would have been on the second largest – crowd wise – attended WrestleMania to date I believe, right behind the Pontiac Silverdome. To be out there and to be a part of such an amazing card, to witness that Batista/Undertaker match, and the Shawn Michaels/John Cena match, and to be a part of that versus the ECW Originals, it was something that truly dreams are made of. I would have never thought in a million years that I would have had that opportunity to, when so many guys that have come before me and after me who live for that very moment and not a lot of them get the chance to. It was definitely breath-taking. I don’t know if you go back and watch that match – you can see me just looking away as I stand on the apron because I decided to just take it all in. I looked all the way around and said “Wow, I’m here!” it was awesome.
You had, I believe – almost taking this to the other extreme - you had Chris Benoit’s last TV match at the Smackdown tapings before Night of Champions in 2007. Just how big a shock was it to the locker room on the night of the PPV as everything was unfolding?
I don’t know about the shock to the locker room at the time, because I don’t think anyone knew at the time at Night Of Champions. We all found out at Raw in Texas about Benoit the night following Night Of Champions. I did not attend Night Of Champions because I was injured following the match with Benoit on ECW. I wanted to go to Night Of Champions, but I was informed to stay at home because it would be best for me to rest up. Shock-wise it shocked everyone, obviously, but I won’t speak for everyone, I’ll only speak for myself. I was pretty much shocked – tears fell – bewildered, if you will. It was just……following that Tuesday night matchup with me and Benoit I received a call from Benoit on the Wednesday. I received a call from Benoit on the Thursday checking on little, old me. Apparently from Friday to, whenever they say, this bizarre chain of events unfolded, so you know it was shocking to say the least.
After your release from WWE you were then signed by TNA, where you had The Black Pope, D’Angelo Dinero character. Where did that come from?
The Pope character came from me, obviously. It was something that I’d wanted to do up in WWE. I’m sitting back, and after a while (in WWE) things were going a bit differently as far as character progression and direction, so you sit back and may “Maybe it’s time for a character change.” I presented the idea to some of the writers, and gave it to Vince. I spoke to Vince about it and Vince liked it and it was something that we were working on, that I could give it a try, but I don’t think I had enough backing with the character at the time – it was just like a little side project.
I sat back and I thought to myself how could I be different and what could I do that hadn’t been done before. The first thing that came into my mind was because of the fans I did this ECW Elijah Express blog on the wwe.com website and a lot of people would email me at ecwhoh@yahoo.com, which I still have today, and they would tell me their problems. They would confide in me, because ‘The Paragon Of Virtue’ was the nickname, ‘The Guiding Light’ was the nickname for Elijah Burke, and so at one point I referred to the masses – because I had all these people that confided in me, literally – I referred to them as the congregation. Since I called them my congregation I though “Geez, I need to come up with something!” and I just thought of ‘The Black Pope’. I’ll be ‘The Pope’. There ain’t never been a black Pope before, and probably never will be! Besides the one that’s talking to you, daddy! (laughs) So therefore I came up with ‘The Black Pope’ gimmick and the rest is history.
You had several top level moments in TNA – whether it was challenging AJ for the title, being aligned with Nash/Sting and, most recently, teaming with Devon. What stood out for you the most?
What was my greatest moment? Oh, man…………(pause) I’ll give you my top three. I would say, honestly, the stuff with AJ at Lockdown is my top moment in TNA, as well as teaming with The Wolfpac at Bound For Glory. That was another highlight of my tenure of TNA. Equally, at some point, any dealings whether it was me running out to the ring with Hulk Hogan or being beat up and getting my hands on Ric Flair or having a verbal altercation with RIc Flair on the microphone – that was a dream come true, too. Those are definitely some highlights. Stealing Devon’s boys? That was alright. Stealing his wife was better!
Your contract expired on January 1st this year. Was it allowed to run out, by either TNA or did you run it out? Or was it one of the oversights that Bruce Pritchard apparently had in relation to contracts that he just didn’t get round to it?
I don’t know if it was an oversight or whatnot, but I will say when it was time for contract negotiations to go forward I personally hit up Dixie Carter and said thank you and that was it. I thanked her for her time and said I appreciate it and said “Thanks but no thanks.” Maybe six or seven days later I got a call from Nashville telling me what I basically already basically knew. I don’t know if I could say that it was amicable because I was the first person to say that I’m done with TNA, but at the same time if they wanted me they would have met Pope and fought a little harder to keep me. You can take that for what it is.
What do you think it would take for TNA to become a more viable alternative to WWE?
When everybody says “viable alternative” you have to understand that to be an alternative does not mean that you have to be number one. To be an alternative does not mean that you have to be number two! Hell, OVW is an alternative and they’re getting 3.5 million, at least, on the ION channel, which is a Christian station! It’s not about being number one, it’s not about worldwide viewers or a worldwide phenomenon; it’s about being an alternative.
I think we all know that at some point during TNA's ten, almost eleven year existence, they became an alternative. But when you are an alternative, your format, your storylines, offer an alternative view than what the other company does. And when things start to shift to where your company is looking like the number one company, or vice versa, than what’s the alternative? (laughs) It’s kind of like watching WWF Monday Night Raw and there’s Rick Rude and flip to Monday Nitro and there’s Rick Rude! Where’s the alternative?
Would you consider returning to WWE if the opportunity arose?
I don’t see why you shouldn’t see me there in the future. Absolutely.
I appreciate that the answer to the next question may very well be no, in which case that’s fine, but may I ask you about…….
(shouts) No! (laughs) Go ahead man.
May I ask you about the comments that went around from CM Punk about you last year?
Sure. I can go ahead and answer that for you. It’s real simple. When you are in the position that CM Punk is currently in, what can’t you say that is going to generate interest, generate anarchy? The word I’m looking for is create controversy. Whether he meant it? I don’t know, but when you go back – and all the fans that hit me up, and maybe yourself – when you go back and watch our matches we may have had one or two hiccups here and there, because we did all our stuff on the fly for the most part. But to say the comments that were said? I don’t know. It’s not any sweat off my back, because our matches spoke for themselves.
One match that stands out for me, besides the Unforgiven match, was the 2 out 3 falls match in ECW where at the last second we’re told “Hey, Marcus Cor Von isn’t showing up. You’re doing a 2 out of 3 match.” and we go out there and we call it on the fly. I wouldn’t read too much into it – I think it’s Punk being Punk. That’s what he does!
Obviously, as you say, you hope to have ten more years in the business. You’re still relatively young – what do you think is next for you?
Realistically, I would like to go back home where I started at – and that’s WWE. I would like to contribute to there and I would say then in five more years after that……I would just like go back home, basically, and finish there, yea. That’s the realistic view on that and like I say there’s no reason why you or anyone else shouldn’t expect to see Pope back in WWE.
What advice would you give anyone getting into the business nowadays?
The same things I tell anyone that hits me up on Facebook or at theelijahexpress.com to read my messages, or Twitter @dablackpope when they hit me up – I tell them to do some research. Everybody and their grandmother have their own little wrestling schools. (laughs) There was a guy here in Jacksonville that had a ring set up in his back yard of his single trailer that his mom owned and he lived with her – and by gosh she’s eighty something years old and he has the nerve to say she’s the commissioner! (laughs) There’s something! I’m saying, what the hell is going on around here? You’ve got people around here training in mom’s back yard; you can’t sit on mom’s table – mom comes out mad because you just sat on her table!
The point is – do some research! Anybody can say they’re a promoter, anybody can run a show. But if you want to make it into the big time, if you want to make it to where you’ve seen some of your heroes and idols – or anyone who has made it, basically – then you go through the necessary steps to ensure that the money that you pay – because you will have to pay them some money – is being used accordingly and that the people that you are going to be trained by have produced someone at some point from their school, and has more of them to come. (That they’ve had) some sort of success. That’s pretty much what I tell people all the time. If your school or your guy hasn’t trained anyone that’s went on to any sort of success then you might want to look somewhere else. I always tell them – OVW is still the premier training ground. Obviously FCW, down in WWE’s developmental territory. Those are places that you would want to go, but if you can’t afford the money or you can’t relocate then find a place in your neck of the woods that’s nearby and don’t give up. Go for it, but have a back-up plan. Again, as Pope finished, and got, his degree in criminal justice – have a back-up plan!
One final question, just off the wrestling tangent. I have seen on your website about your charity work and so on. Was it your background in what happened to you when you were growing up that led you to get involved in that and how do you hope that it will develop?
Well, with The Love-Alive Charity – which we referred to at the time as P.I.M.P. movement, Positively Influence Many People –that name came about with everybody chanting “Pope is pimpin’.” For me to get that off the ground, I always said to people that no-one ever asked The Pope what does “pimpin’” mean. Pope’s biggest fans besides middle-aged guys and teenagers were kids – and of course, the ladies as well! But kids were a big part of The Pope’s make up as far as his ‘congregation’ were concerned, so I wanted them to know that P.I.M.P when they say “Pope is pimpin’” for Pope, that it meant ‘Positively Influence Many People’.
What I decided to do was…….it wasn’t just about me giving back, but growing up in Jacksonville and travelling all around the world seeing so many people that were without – have no food, have no clothes on their back or, as I saw the other day, a gentleman walking down the street with a dress on because that’s all he has! Or this one dude that I saw with his toes hanging out of his shoes – so I took off my shoes and gave them to him. It’s just being able to do something good and it’s probably moreso to help the individuals, to help the people, who are trying to donate 50c or $1 to The Love-Alive Charity. Simply put, it’s not just about the homeless – it’s about those in need.
A young lady just hit me up on my Facebook account and her husband and her have been going through surgery and they’re trying to get help – they don’t have the money to cover the bills. It’d be really cool to be able to write $100 cheque. It won’t pay all of their bills, but a $100 cheque will say “Here. This is from The Love-Alive Charity. Hopefully this will help you out.”
It’s like we did in one of our first events where we fed over 300 homeless people not cold cuts, not grape juice and berries but Burger King. We were putting Burger King in these people’s mouths, and you can go to my YouTube channel – PopeTV4U – you can go there and you can witness that. It’s things like that that brought The Love-Alive Charity forward. We’re still in the process of getting the name legitimized. It’s such a long process. We’re going through the legal hoops to get that name certified and trademarked and once we get all that done we’ll continue on and start our second phase of The Love-Alive Charity and hopefully we’ll be doing a lot more and you’ll be hearing more about that soon.
Just before I go, if your fans are looking to keep in contact with you and see what you’re up to, what’s the best way?
Well, as a lot of them already know – and it’s probably a fault of mine that I kept it up on Facebook – is my phone number! 904-303-4994. Don’t be up for me answering all the time – don’t expect me to if I don’t know who you are! (laughs) But I do have the phone, I do answer it, and I do put a word of the day on there – just an inspirational message when they call that they are encouraged to listen to. Or they can go to PopeTV4U to follow some of Pope in his YouTube videos as well as facebook.com/elijahburke, facebook.com/dablackpope, as well as on Twitter @dablackpope. Also don’t forget theelijahexpress.com is always updated with Pope’s current schedule. I’ve got a couple of shows coming up overseas – I got a little overseas tour in the UK coming up (in October) which should be interesting, as well as a show in a week and a half in Owensboro, Kentucky. It’s called Uprising. I’ve got a lot of ways for the congregation to remain informed!
---Insane Championship Wrestling report from Glasgow
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) began running community centres in 2006, before moving into Glasgow city centre. Running nightclub shows with a unique brand of adult-orientated hardcore wrestling, ICW is almost universally episodic and storyline based. Using mostly Scottish and some British talent, ICW have used imported talent sparingly, usually sticking to indie favourites like Crazy Mary Dobson, The Sumarian Death Squad and Prince Devitt.
After announcing former ECW star Sabu for their second venture across Scotland to the capital city Edinburgh, the original 250 person venue sold out in a matter of hours. ICW then decided to shift the show to Edinburgh's Picture House, selling out over 1000 tickets over a month before the show. This made it one of the biggest shows in Britain since World of Sport went off the air in the late 80s! Taking place in the middle of the largest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe, ICW 'Dave's Not Here Man' was the culmination of six years of growth.
The opening contest saw Colt Cabana take on ICW's own Grado, in a top quality comedy match. Even those who have seen a lot of Cabana would have seen something new in this match, and Grado's character is just so perfect. If you haven't seen the Vice documentary about him, go watch it now! These two go back and forth for a decent amount of time, with the recurring theme of Grado impersonating CM Punk to provoke Cabana's ire. After Cabana attempted a GTS, Grado reversed it into a stunner for the win. *** Afterwards the anarchistic New Age Kliq of BT Gunn and Chris Renfrew attacked Grado, but Cabana made the save. The two shared Irn Bru Steve Austin-style, and started the show on a happy note.
Next up was Nikki Storm and Leah Owens in a bra and panties match. I'm not a huge fan of this stipulation and it wasn't particularly well executed. Storm had her top ripped off, but she was wearing another one underneath. Storm gets the win, but Leah Owens wasn't too upset, crowdsurfing and kicking Storm out of the ring. * Odd to have this follow up the comedy match that the crowd were really into, and they seemed to be more excited about the idea of this than the actual execution, and the match was very short.
James Scott (formerly known as Darkside) and Jimmy Havoc battled next, with a match with Rhino on the line. Havoc was previously booked against Rhino at Fear and Loathing VI in Glasgow in October, at the 1200 capacity ABC. Fear and Loathing was the name of the first ICW show, and it has become the company's showpiece event. Scott is a very technical wrestler with an MMA background, and Havoc was trained at the NWA Hammerlock school despite being primarily known as a hardcore wrestler. The two wrestled to a double finish, with Scott tapping to a triangle while Havoc's shoulders were counted for a three. ** Disappointingly these two didn't get a lot of time to live up to their potential. Owner Mark Dallas made an appearance after the finish, and declares that the two will now face Rhino in a three way dance!
The main event of the first half was the four way match with the tag team titles. The defending champions The Bucky Boys, accompanied by The Wee Man and Lambrini, took on The Coffeys, Fight Club and Team CK. However, the New Age Kliq reared their head again and took our Team CK and took their place in the match. After pre match promos from Wee Man, The NAK and Team CK's manager James R Kennedy you can see where the time went from the other matches. This match is apparently elimination though that wasn't announced, and the NAK eventually got the final fall over the Bucky Boys to win the tag team titles. **1/2 The NAK and their third member Dickie Divers continued attacking the Buckys until Fight Club returned to make the save. After chasing off the Kliq and posing in the ring, Fight Club turned on the Buckys and laid them out before leaving. After a few minutes the Buckys got back up and stood tall, for no real reason. There was a lot to this match, with lots of storyline stuff to get through. Maybe it could have benefited from being a straight tag match.
After the interval, Andy Wild took on the rookie Solar. Solar is an exciting high flying wrestler, and the crowd have really taken to him. After some exciting spots Solar gets the 3-count, but the referee waves it off after Wild had a foot under the roles. Straight away Wild got the submission win, but both looked decent in the short time they had. **
In the first of three marquee matches back to back, Kay Lee Ray defended her Fierce Females title against Carmel Jacob in a last women standing. This is the exact opposite from what we saw in the first half, and these two brawl all over the venue for over twenty minutes. They throw each other downstairs, vault off the bar, bodyslam each other onto to the hard floor and generally beat the hell out of each other. These two had a last women standing match in the past that is generally considered one of the best in ICW history, and this was certainly of a very high standard. Interference from Viper set up Kay Lee Ray's victory, coming via a swanton bomb from the announce table onto the stage. ***1/2
Next up was ICW Champion Mikey Whiplash taking on ICW Zero-G Champion Wolfgang in a title .vs. title match. Whiplash has recently transitioned from a very Goldust-inspired gothic character to a straight wrestling gimmick, and has endeared himself to the crowd in the past few months. This match honestly suffered from being in between two spectacles, but these two are solid workers who know each other very well. Mikey Whiplash got the victory to become a dual champion. ***
Finally, the main event pitted Scottish death match favourite Jack Jester against Sabu in a bloody brawl that lived up to the lofty expectations. This hardcore style is something ICW has become well known for in the last six years and this was a fitting main event. These two used all manner of weapons on each other and fought in the crowd, and this was a bloody brawl. Particularly gruesome was Sabu opening up Jester with something that the crowd could not agree whether it was a bit of broken table or a chopstick. Jester got the pin on Sabu to send the crowd home happy at seeing their hero conquer the hardcore legend. ***
Overall, this show was a big deal. Two large screens displayed entrance videos and a live edit of the various camera angles during the matches, but unfortunately the venue's screens were surprisingly poor. From ICW's side, this show delivered in almost every way possible, however the card was rather long at around four hours bell to bell. Despite only having two imported talents and the rest of the card made up from regular ICW roster members, some matches didn't get the time they could have done with and there was a lot going on. Maybe there was too much on this show, but it's hard to complain about too much quality on a British wrestling show these days.
Almost all of ICW's recent shows are edited into one hour YouTube episodes that are all available online, and I'd advise checking them out. It's a very different product from any other indy company in the world these days, and if you tire of the big American companies this may well be for you.
---8/25 WWE RESULTS FROM ONTARIO, CA:
Zack Ryder beat Jack Swagger, no, really that happened! Zeb was money on the mike before and after the match, lots of fun, went a long time for an opener.
Alicia Fox beat Tamina with the axe kick. This one started off, ahem, a bit clumsy to be kind but they found their groove and settled into a good match.
RVD vs. Dean Ambrose for the U.S. title. Will RVD ever age? The guy is amazing. Very good match with an inventive finish. RVD hit a flying cross body but his momentum carried him through to where he was pinned by Ambrose.
Next up was an interview with Rey Mysterio. Says he's at about 85 percent and can't wait to get back. Cue the music because here comes the Shield. Reigns and Rollins get ready to pounce but it's Mark Henry and the Big Show to the rescue and we have our four entrants in our next match for the tag titles.
Big Show and Mark Henry vs. The Shield. This was the comedy match of the night with the obvious size difference between the teams providing some levity. Mark Henry was your Ricky Morton for the evening and after the hot tag to Big Show Dean Ambrose interfered and cracked Big Show over the head with the U.S. title. RVD came back out to even the sides.
Intermission.
Justin Gabriel and The Usos vs. The Wyatt Clan, complete with cheesy lantern and rocking chair. Bray sat in the chair until Justin Gabriel had been beaten to a pulp and then sprung out of his chair to join in the fun. Something different, he was wearing a leather butcher's apron. Mayhem ensues, Bray is left alone in the ring with Gabriel and that was the end of that. The Wyatts are positively frightening.
Faaannn-dannnggg-oooooo vs. The Miz, with Summer Rae along of course. The interactive poll of the night was did the crowd want to see a match or a dance-off? They said dance-off won (cough-BS-cough) and Fandango went first. Miz followed but two seconds into his dance Fandango attacked and we're gonna get the match anyway. Very good match, Fandango worked on Miz's left arm and Miz concentrated his attack on Fandango's legs. Miz wins with the figure four. Really good work by both guys and Summer Rae is doing quite well in her role.
The video board replayed the Daniel Bryan-Randy Orton-McMahon saga from Raw leading into our main event of the evening.
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title. Another excellent match, Daniel Bryan seems to be in a lot of those, huh? Bryan took a beating, got in a few hope spots and rallied to put Orton in the yes lock but here comes the Shield to save Orton. Orton takes the first train out of Dodge and Henry and RVD come out to rescue Bryan. Reigns eats a world's strongest slam and RVD hits Ambrose with a frog splash.
An entertaining night, probably about 4,500 people there.
---8/25 WWE RESULTS FROM RIO RANCHO, NM:
Decent show. I was told the crowd was about 3,000.
Prime Time Players over The 3MB. Heath Slater wasn't there. Good match.
The Great Khali over Hunico. I didn't realize he was still there. Khali is horrible. He can barely walk.
Ryback over Kofi Kingston. Decent match.
Natalya and Kaitlin over AJ and Layla. Ehhhh.
Cody Rhodes over Damian Sandow. Good Match.
Dolph Ziggler over Big E. Langston. E moves good for a big man.
Alberto Del Rio over Christian. Good match.
CM Punk over Curtis Axel, with Paul Heyman. Very good.
---Our friends at Kayfabe Commentaries sent the following press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2013
REFLECTIVE BUT ANGRY, VINCE RUSSO RECOUNTS WCW 2000
It's likely no one will ever call Vince Russo a sympathetic individual. But in what Russo proclaims as "without a shadow of a doubt, the last wrestling interview I'll ever do," he comes the closest to perhaps being seen as a tragic figure. However, watch for a while and the anger of a man with no one to protect surfaces and he bites his tongue no longer, in the release of "Timeline: The History of WCW - 2000," on sale today at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
In this edition of the series, Russo recounts the year he's talked about many times before -- 2000. This time, Russo indicates he's not been totally honest in the past, which brought about private criticism from his grown children, and brought him personal frustration as he tried to protect certain people and avoid potential confrontation.
Not this time.
Russo paints a picture of creative war, with a target having been placed on his back the moment he entered WCW. His open criticism of JJ Dillon and Kevin Sullivan suggest their conspiring behind his back, and much less of 'suggestion' when discussing Eric Bischoff. Russo contends WCW VP Bill Busch placed Bischoff on the creative team as a consultant to Russo, essentially to get him to agree, given the proposed structure. But sitting in the company was the other half of Plan Bischoff, and that blond-haired legend had creative control. That kind of threw 'consultant' status out the window, as Russo recalls the arduous and tense negotiating with Hogan, which ultimately led to a defamation lawsuit. Brought about, Russo claims, by the failure to make a promised phone call.
Russo is clearly emotionally freed up to shoot. Names surface throughout that irk him. These are names beyond the 2000 WCW power players who, of course, get their fair share of stern talk. But rather names like Lance Storm, Bobby Heenan, and Hacksaw Duggan. Russo has clearly heard the podcast appearances of someone on whom Russo placed three belts, and heard the words of two legends that Russo feels are quite unappreciative.
Kayfabe Commentaries' president Sean Oliver hosts the series, and said it was a top priority that Russo's account of this high profile year in WCW have a fresh approach, but still cover all the relevant topics.
"Russo has talked about, and written about, this year and the big events within," Oliver began. "But my goal in sitting across from him was not the overdone, regurgitated coverage of Arquette and Russo winning titles. This had to be like time travel...with Russo honestly outlining who did what, who said what, and what was happening before, during, and after. That's what each edition of our "Timeline" series strives to be...time travel with the star, and not necessarily their opinions and coverage."
Reflective Russo and Angry Russo take turns throughout the show, with reflective Russo giving insight on the genesis of storylines and certain talent on the roster. Angry Russo surfaces when addressing names he once tried to stay silent on, and his concussion becoming a bit of a prized target for certain people. "That helmet was a shoot, bro." By the end of the show, it's not hard to make the case that Vince Russo was on the edge of a breakdown, wrapped in absolute misery and anger.
All in all, the two and a half hour show brings into focus the dysfunction of a sinking ship, its ill-fated captain, and the alleged backstabbing that ran rampant throughout the galleys of the S.S. WCW in 2000.
"Timeline: The History of WCW - 2000 - As told by Vince Russo" is available on both DVD and instant OnDemand streaming at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
---As noted yesterday, former boxing champion Riddick Bowe is interested in getting into pro wrestling. Tommy Dreamer tweeted Bowe and offered to train him for free at his House of Hardcore wrestling school.
PRO WRESTLING EVENTS FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 27,2013:
WWE SMACKDOWN TV @ University Of Nevada (Thomas & Mack Center) in Las Vegas, Nevada
HoPWF @ Superior Pro Wrestling Training Center in Hagerstown, Maryland
TMW @ Claiborne County Fairgrounds in Tazewell, Tennessee
CMLL @ Arena Coliseo in Guadalajara, Mexico
CMLL @ Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico
FILL @ Arena Naucalpan in Naucalpan, Mexico
IWL @ Arena Aficion in Pachuca, Mexico
BJW @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
ASW @ Butlins Resort in Bognor Regis, England
ASW @ Town Hall in Rhyl, Wales
---8/24 WWE RESULTS FROM SAN DIEGO, CA
Zack Ryder beat Jack Swagger (With Zeb Coulter).
Alicia Fox beat Tamina.
Dean Ambrose beat Rob Van Dam to retain the US Title.
Justin Roberts brought out Rey Mysterio. The Shield came down and Mark Henry and Big Show made the save. That led to tag title match, which the babyfaces won by DQ when Ambrose ran in. RVD made the save.
The Wyatt Family beat The Usos and Justin Gabriel.
The Miz beat Fandango with The Figure Four.
Daniel Bryan beat Randy Orton by DQ so he retained the WWE Title. The Shield ran in cause the DQ and RVD, Henry and Show made the save.
---A story on Mick Foley performing in Gainesville, FL at www.gainesville.com/article/20130824/ARTICLES/130829754
---A John Cena comic is at www.gocomics.com/biographic/2013/08/25
---Magnus was in the U.K. this weekend hosting a World's Strongest Man type TV show.
---SMASH All women's wrestling and a free viewing of WWE Night of Champions on 9/15 at The E-Zone in Toronto at 120 North Queen St. Live matches are 5 p.m. All tickets for the live show and WWE screening are $15.
---Extreme Wrestling League on 8/29 in Oshawa, ONT at the Octaviens Hall
---Jake Roberts has been pulled from the MWF show on 9/21 in Melrose, MA. Story is at www.BostonWrestling.com/mwfinsidethemwf.html
---A story on wrestling on the old Dumont Network in the early days of TV and Gorgeous George, the biggest TV wrestling star in the early years, at www.douglascountysentinel.com/sports/article_bfef0ec0-0cf0-11e3-834d-0019bb301f31a.html
---Squared Circle Live at 6 p.m. at the Class Act Dinner Theater in Whitby, ONT. They will screen a Michael Elgin vs. Colt Cabana DVD at 5:35 p.m. and then have a show at 6 p.m. with Matt Morgan, Tyson Dux and Jimmy Korderas.
---WWE will have a Smackdown TV taping on 10/29 in Tampa at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
---John Tovar is looking for help from historians for an August 25, 1984 show promoted by Southwest Championship Wrestling called ""The Event IV" with the Zambuie Express vs. Sheepherders and Rock & Roll Express vs. Fabulous Blonds, looking for results, attendance and gate at johntovar80@yahoo.com
---Lucha Xtreme TV from Saturday night in Fresno: Brian Tannen b Jessie Richards, Mike Rayne & Zero b Marcus Eriks & Crimson Plague, Wiseguy b Al Azar.
---In Your Face Wrestling on 11/9 in Ballston Spa, NY at the Community Center.
---Great Lakes Championshp Wrestling on 10/14 at Turners Hall in Milwaukee.
---Shawn Michaels will be appearing Saturday night in Waynesboro, VA for Top Rope Pro Wrestling. He'll be doing a Q&A taking questions from the audience. For more info go to topropeprowrestling.com/shawn-michaels-experience/
---Angelina Love will join Ted DiBiase (Sr.) and Tommy Dreamer on 11/1 to 11/3 in Winnipeg for the Central Canadian ComicCon at the CWE booth.
---SHINE on 9/27 in Ybor City, FL at the Orpheum for a 9 p.m. show
---AAW "Reign of Violence" Results
August 23, 2013
Berwyn, Ill.
Top News is AAW announced that Colt Cabana will return and Eddie Edwards will debut on September 27.
(1) Zero Gravity beat Monster Mafia only to get beaten down by MM after the match.
Knight Wagner and Tony Rican picked each other’s opponents...
(2) Keith Walker beat Tony Rican with a lariat.
(3) Michael Elgin beat Knight Wagner with the spinning powerbomb.
(4) Louis Lyndon & Marion Fontaine beat Dan Lawrence & Marcus Crane to retain the AAW Tag Titles.
(5) Shane Hollister beat Junthai Miller to retain the AAW Title via Shug’s Last Gift and two superkicks.
(6) A.C.H. beat Kyle O’Reilly to retain the AAW Heritage Title following a spirit bomb.
(7) Ryan Boz & Heidi Lovelace beat Jordan McEntyre & Heather Patera via Boz Driver.
(8) Michael Elgin beat Alex Colon and a returning Mat Fitchett when Elgin pinned Colon with the Elgin Bomb. The match was originally Colon vs. Fitchett until Elgin interrupted.
(9) Arik Cannon & Jimmy Jacobs beat Irish Airborne when Cannon beat Jake Crist in a brawl that went around the Eagle’s Club. Jacobs said he and Cannon can now go their separate ways.
(10) Eddie Kingston beat Silas Young after he kicked Young low and hit a Backfist to the Future. Afterward, Silas declared this not over and vowed revenge.
---WWE Live house show results
August 24, 2013
Las Cruces, New Mexico
WWE held a live event in Las Cruces on Saturday night - a stone’s throw down the road from El Paso. I caught WWE’s other jaunt into this area last year with a Smackdown live event in the El Paso County Coliseum. This time we were in the Pan American Center on-campus of the New Mexico State Aggies! I will say the Center looks more like a wrestling venue than the Coliseum with seats surrounding the arena floor. I would guess 6,000 or more wrestling-starved people attended the event. Onto the show...
(1) Prime Time Players beat 3MB. A solid wrestling match with heel tactics from 3MB most of the way. Darren Young took most of the damage, then hot-tagged Titus O’Neil to set up the finish. Solid ten-minute opener.
(2) Great Khali beat Hunico. Standard Khali match, with a punch to the head ending Hunico’s misery. Thankfully, only six minutes!
(3) Ryback beat Kofi Kingston. Pretty good match with Ryback hitting all his power moves, making Kofi look like a ragdoll! The crowd was seriously into Kofi, as he made a spirited comeback, only to be taken out by the meat-cleaver clothesline. My daughter, with a Kofi sign, started tearing up! A solid 12 minute match.
(4) Kaitlyn & Natalya beat Divas champion A.J. Lee & Layla. This match started as a Dance-Off with Layla busting some moves to “Can't Touch This," but it soon became a tag match when the heels jumped the faces! It’s surprising how over as a heel A.J. still is. After Kaitlyn took a beating for most of the match, Natalya applied the Sharpshooter to Layla, who tapped out after seven minutes.
(5) Dolph Ziggler beat Big E. Langston. Ziggler started the match off by holding up a fan’s sign that said: “Langston Needs Pants," and the chants ensued! Ryback has gotten his time in the spotlight, but Langston with a similar style and physic, is a much better wrestler. Langston hit all his power moves – with Ziggler making it look like he was totally destroyed - but Ziggler made a comeback, hitting the Zig-Zag for the win. Good 12 minute match. Ziggler is a Main-Eventer – the man is talented!
[Intermission]
(6) Cody Rhodes beat Damien Sandow. Sandow is great on the mic and he even brought the Money in the Bank case with him. Both men hit their moves with Cody hitting his finisher for the pin in about eight minutes.
(7) Christian beat World Hvt. champion Alberto Del Rio via DQ; Del Rio retained the World Title. Alberto is so over as both a heel and a face in this part of the country; many people didn’t know if they should cheer or boo! Christian did a small comedy bit with Alberto’s walk-out shirt – while also calling him an “a-hole” in Spanish, which started a chant. Both men got in their offense before Alberto pulled the ref into Christian, then delivered a kick to the head. Alberto thought he won when the bell sounded, but Christian won on the DQ. Solid 18 mins with both men telling a good story with their offense. My oldest daughter made a real nice Mexican Flag Alberto poster that she was proud to display!
Next was the main event of C.M. Punk vs. Curtis Axel. It was surprising to see Paul Heyman on the road. Heyman said on the mic that his lawyers stated this would be a No DQ match, and it would not be for the Intercontinental Title. C.M. Punk’s music then hit and the place exploded!
(8) C.M. Punk beat IC champion Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman) via submission in a No DQ non-title match. Punk makes other wrestlers look so much better. You could tell Axel is still learning his craft, but he had some solid offense on Punk, who eventually slapped on the Vice and made Axel tap. After the match, Heyman found himself in the ring with Punk – and then on the end of a GTS! Punk then paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero before the close of the show. A solid 25 minute main event.
All in all, a great house show with solid wrestling up and down the card – and only one non-finish! The show started at 7:30 p.m. and didn’t end until after 10:30. The crowd was hot throughout the night – even for the Khali match! I can’t wait for WWE to come back again...
---WWE Live show results
August 24, 2013
San Diego, Calif.
The show started at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night with a solid 2,000 in attendance. There was no one in the upper deck, which was odd, and the first time I've seen the arena this empty. There was high energy for every match except where I noted.
(1) Zack Ryder pinned Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) with a roll-up. I could easy call this the match of the night, as there was a lot of solid back and forth and the crowd was clearly behind Ryder. Before the match, Zeb started the match with a lot of bashing about Mexicans, which was not appreciated in San Diego.
Next was a video package on The Shield.
(2) Alicia Fox pinned Tamina Snuka after a jumping axe kick to Snuka's back. The crowd died during this match, as everyone just sat quietly and watched the bout. There was a lot of repetition early in the match - Fox repeated three dropkicks. Snuka then got the edge and repeated snapmares and headlocks. The match picked up towards the end.
(3) U.S. champion Dean Ambrose pinned Rob Van Dam to retain the U.S. Title. RVD is over and could do no wrong. RVD pandered to the crowd and Ambrose had a great counter to RVD's taunt by re-using the thumb point for U-S-Champ. Solid action. A lot of back in forth. The crowd loved it.
Next, Rey Mysterio came out. The ring announcer interviewed San Diego's hometown hero about his return, then Shield interrupted.
(4) Mark Henry & Big Show beat WWE tag champions The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) via DQ; Shield retained the Tag Titles. The finish came when Ambrose interfered and Rollins hit Big Show with a chair. The match began with comedy bits and failed tests of strength. Big Show slapped Reigns's bare chest and the sound was explosive. The Shield beat up Big Show for a while, then Henry got the hot tag and before the match could flip sides, Ambrose showed up.
[Intermission]
(5) The Wyatts beat The Usos & Justin Gabriel in a six-man tag match. Bray Wyatt pinned one of the Usos for the win. The Wyatts have a great live intro. The match started with the faces getting in offense. Soon, The Wyatts took over and slowed the match by beating up Gabriel. Basic tag match until it became a cluster towards the end.
(6) The Miz submitted Fandango via the figure-four leglock. This started as a dance-off, then turned into a match. There was some back-and-forth and a little interaction with Summer Rae, but the match was nothing special.
(7) Daniel Bryan beat WWE champion Randy Orton via DQ; Orton retained the WWE Title. The DQ occurred when Shield interfered. Then, RVD, Henry, and Big Show made the save. Overall, this was another great match. Daniel and Randy have great chemistry together; they clearly shined with fast-paced, back and forth action. All of the spots were glued together with finesse. Great main event.
The show ended at 10:10, providing almost three hours of action. None of the matches were bad, but some definitely shined better than others. No squash matches, no TV drama, just great wrestling. I had a great time and I don't think anyone at the show left grumpy.
Biggest Pops:
(1) RVD
(2) Rey Mysterio
(3) Daniel Bryan
(4) Show & Henry
(5) Zack Ryder
Biggest Heat:
(1) Zeb Colter
(2) Randy Orton
(3) Rollins & Reigns
(4) Dean Ambrose
(5) The Wyatts
---"Legends of Wrestling Night" Results
August 24, 2013
Miami, Fla. at Marlins Park
The matches began soon after the Marlins game ended. We (the media) were instructed to head down around the eigth inning to get a spot. Many fans stayed around for the wrestling. Throughout the matches, various Marlins made their way to VIP seats to watch, including pitchers Steve Cishek, Jose Fernandez, Dan Jennings, and Henderson Alvarez; and third baseman Ed Lucas.
Jimmy Hart and Craig Minnervini (formerly WWF's Craig DeGeorge) were on commentary. Minnervini covers the Marlins for the local Fox Sports affiliate. Minnervini also handled ring announcing duties.
Lanny Poffo came out and read a poem. Part of it was in Spanish for the Miami crowd, and it was an ode to his brother, Randy Savage. He took off his robe to reveal a Macho Man t-shirt.
(1) Koko B. Ware beat Chavo Guerrero with a DDT at about 4:00. Koko did some mic work before the match. A handler brought Frankie out, but he didn't stay out long. Chavo attacked Koko before the bell. Ware had a manager named Howard with him, apparently from the Tampa area. Ware brought a young fan into the ring to dance with him after the match.
(2) Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake beat Mike Knox at 8:05 with a DDT. Lots of stalling and Beefcake working the crowd, taunting Knox about possibly cutting his beard. Knox was billed by his WWE name here rather than his TNA name, Knux. Beefcake used his old WWE theme song (Jimmy Hart exasperatedly gave cues to the music people throughout the show). Not much to this one, as you'd expect.
(3) Harry Smith beat Wes Brisco with a powerslam at 7:03. Smith used his father, the British Bulldog's WWE music. Bret Hart came out to watch from the announce table. Smith hit his father's trademark standing suplex. There was a blatant low-blow by Brisco, but no disqualification was called for. The finish came soon after.
(4) The Nasty Boys beat Mr. Anderson & Garett Bischoff in a No DQ match at 6:42. Rough night for the Aces & Eights crew. Knobbs did some pre-match mic work as a babyface. Saggs set Anderson up on a table and splashed him from the apron early on. The other Aces & Eights members interfered, leading to Marlins pitchers Tom Koehler (the biggest wrestling fan on the team - he caught Goldberg's first pitch) and A.J. Ramos coming out. Koehler had a metal Pepsi sign and used it to bash over the heads of A&E members. Knobbs elbow-dropped Bischoff to pick up the win.
After the match, Bill Goldberg came out to celebrate with the Nastys and the Marlins, and did some brief mic work thanking the fans for coming out.
---Hulk Hogan making a deal with Take-Two Interactive to be part of the upcoming WWE 2K14 video game definitely turned some heads and started speculation about his future with TNA according to a report by Dave Meltzer. Hogan's deal with TNA allowed him to make outside deals like that although many took it as a very public "slap to the face" of TNA.He hasn't been featured on TNA television for the last four weeks and wasn't at the last two Impact Wrestling TV tapings. Hogan is scheduled to return at the tapings this Thursday (8/28) in Cleveland. Keeping Hogan off the show was described as a "significant cost savings" for TNA. Hogan's deal with TNA is believed to be expiring over the new few months.
---Elijah Burke talks life after TNA
Interview conducted: Thursday, August 22nd, 2013.
Email: garymehaffy@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @gmehaffy
Before we talk about your wrestling career, some fans won’t know that you have been involved in working with the Sheriff’s Office and getting your degree two years ago you got your degree, with honours in criminal justice. Were you always interested in the law and did you think that that might be your career long term when you were younger?
Being young – if you let everyone else tell the story, or at least those on the outside looking in – my career was probably going to be in law enforcement, except I was probably going to be on the other side of the bars, if you get my drift! (laughs) I was not a bad child, but I was a very adventurous child, and sometimes I was devious, and so I got in a lot of trouble as a kid. Going forward into High School I kind of honkered down and tightened up and started focussing on my lessons a little more. I was involved in a lot of sports but I could never stay on the team. I played baseball, I played soccer, I played football, but my grades weren’t good enough to keep me in those activities.
So at High School I honkered down, and my grandfather was a cop, my sister was a Sergeant, and so it was only in my last couple of years that I started trying to figure out my career, as to what I would do when I would graduate, because I needed money – I want money and I want it now! (laughs) But I wanted to be taken care of; I wanted to make sure that I had a career. So my sister, who was a Sergeant, informed me – she said “Go to the Police Academy.” As soon as I graduated, that same year I enrolled in the Police Academy and the rest in kind of history.
Was that my plan? Was that my dream? Nope, but it was a goal and I goal that I knew I would be able to accomplish and make a pretty good living straight out of High School. (I was) the youngest guy to come out of my class, the youngest Officer – I was a Corrections Officer at the time, working in the jails – so it was pretty cool.
Do you think that you’ll fall back into that once you’ve called time on your wrestling career?
(laughs) Well that’s to be determined! Obviously as you mentioned – and a lot of people know – I went back and finished my College degree. It was something I started when I was in the Sheriff’s Office. I decided to pursue my degree, because while I was dual certified – meaning certified as a Corrections and a Police Officer – I was not sworn in, because you can’t be a Police Officer or go to the streets, in Jacksonville at least, unless you have a four year degree. So I started College to get the degree so I could go and have my own (Police) car and get on the streets by myself but then, you know, my dream came along. I had the opportunity to pursue my dream, as the old story goes.
I was booking someone into jail and since the jail was overcrowded at the time – or the intake, where you process new criminals was crowded – I started surfing the internet, I think, and I don’t know how I came across this but I believe I was surfing the internet and somewhere I came across the first ever OVW tryout camp for the WWE development system. And it just took off from there – I had the chance to realise my dreams. Will I go back into law enforcement when my ticket is punched and my time is up? That remains to be seen. I can’t say that I would go back to being an Officer or go and work in a prison or a jail, but maybe something in the realm if I decided to – but the Pope got another ten years left in this business, daddy! (laughs) So I haven’t even thought about that yet (life after wrestling).
I assume, then, that you were a fan growing up, which was what led you to go to OVW?
Absolutely, it was always a dream. Here in Jacksonville, Florida, we saw everything that there was to watch – NWA, Florida Championship Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling and, of course, the WWE. So, I was a huge fan from I think it was the age of two or three years old, that I first saw wrestling sitting on my dad’s knee – or sometimes, most of the time, at his feet! (laughs) We would just sit down and watch wrestling with him because that’s what he would always watch. Watching the likes of, of course, Dusty Rhodes, RIc Flair, Pez Whatley, Iceman King Parsons, the Von Erichs, the Horsemen, the Great Kabuki……I could go on and on. Those guys are what made me go “Wow!”
I think the biggest impact – and I don’t know if I ever said this before, ever, in an interview, or to anyone – I think what made it…..what gave me the googly eyes and made me go “Wow, this could be me!” or “This is what I want to do.” was that entrance video to World Class Championship Wrestling. That “boom-bobada-boom-bobada-boom” and when you see that satellite come out of the sky and it starts showing all of that pandemonium in different clips – that was probably the most awe inspiring moment of the year for me. I could care less about the wrestling itself sometimes, as long as I could watch that video opening. Yea, man, that did it for me. Of course, when you had a guy like Dusty Rhodes who was talking directly to me as I sat in front of the television, that was the hook, line and sinker right there.
You said, or I read on your website, that when you were in OVW you were offered a spot in the Spirit Squad but turned it down. What led to you saying no to that?
Well, I was given a choice. Vince McMahon gave me a choice. Johnny Ace pulled me aside into Vince McMahon’s office and they said “This is an opportunity. It’s up to you if you want to do it or not.” Number 1: I don’t think that you do anything for Vince McMahon if you’re going to be uncomfortable or if you’re not going to commit fully to it. So, it was something that I didn’t think I could commit fully to; it was something that I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing.
One thing about Vince is that he knows if you’re uncomfortable doing something that he’s asked you to do. The worst thing for me at the time would have been to try to do it for the sake of doing it and not be able to deliver as well as those five guys that were part of the Spirit Squad did. If I had have done that and not been able to deliver and meet the expectations of Vince McMahon given that it was his genius that came up with that – not a writer, it was his personal idea – so I wasn’t going to go out there and jeopardise myself at that time. Vince said “If you don’t feel like it, and you don’t think it works for you, that’s fine. Go down (to OVW), we’ll put you back and we’ll find something else for you. We’ll bring you back up at a later date.” After I did a little soul searching and spoke to Paul Heyman and Danny Davis in OVW, and got their advice on it, I followed my heart. And I think I did the right thing and Vince respected me for that.
Your first big break on WWE came with Sylvester (Terkay) in ECW, but you’re probably more well known for heading up ‘The New Breed’ to feud against the ECW Originals. How did it come about that you were the leader of the group, so to speak?
Well, that was, again, a Vince McMahon call – with a little Dusty thrown in, I believe – moreso because it was different; it was ‘The New Breed’. If you think about it, you’ve got Elijah Burke out there being the leader and the mouthpiece of this group, which was something new in itself, so I just think he took on board that I had the gift of the gab – maybe could say, the charisma – and the on-screen presentation and how I carried myself. And, I would like to think that I had enough heat at the time to pull it off, so I think that’s why I was put in that position.
You have performed on a couple of WrestleManias, most notably WM 23. How different did you find it as a wrestler or performer from performing in the likes of ECW and OVW to then going in front of a reported 80,000?
That was pretty amazing. It was awe-inspiring; it was breath-taking; not moreso that fact of the difference of arenas – 80,000 versus 500 people! (laughs) – but the fact that as a kid I would have never imagined that I would have been on the second largest – crowd wise – attended WrestleMania to date I believe, right behind the Pontiac Silverdome. To be out there and to be a part of such an amazing card, to witness that Batista/Undertaker match, and the Shawn Michaels/John Cena match, and to be a part of that versus the ECW Originals, it was something that truly dreams are made of. I would have never thought in a million years that I would have had that opportunity to, when so many guys that have come before me and after me who live for that very moment and not a lot of them get the chance to. It was definitely breath-taking. I don’t know if you go back and watch that match – you can see me just looking away as I stand on the apron because I decided to just take it all in. I looked all the way around and said “Wow, I’m here!” it was awesome.
You had, I believe – almost taking this to the other extreme - you had Chris Benoit’s last TV match at the Smackdown tapings before Night of Champions in 2007. Just how big a shock was it to the locker room on the night of the PPV as everything was unfolding?
I don’t know about the shock to the locker room at the time, because I don’t think anyone knew at the time at Night Of Champions. We all found out at Raw in Texas about Benoit the night following Night Of Champions. I did not attend Night Of Champions because I was injured following the match with Benoit on ECW. I wanted to go to Night Of Champions, but I was informed to stay at home because it would be best for me to rest up. Shock-wise it shocked everyone, obviously, but I won’t speak for everyone, I’ll only speak for myself. I was pretty much shocked – tears fell – bewildered, if you will. It was just……following that Tuesday night matchup with me and Benoit I received a call from Benoit on the Wednesday. I received a call from Benoit on the Thursday checking on little, old me. Apparently from Friday to, whenever they say, this bizarre chain of events unfolded, so you know it was shocking to say the least.
After your release from WWE you were then signed by TNA, where you had The Black Pope, D’Angelo Dinero character. Where did that come from?
The Pope character came from me, obviously. It was something that I’d wanted to do up in WWE. I’m sitting back, and after a while (in WWE) things were going a bit differently as far as character progression and direction, so you sit back and may “Maybe it’s time for a character change.” I presented the idea to some of the writers, and gave it to Vince. I spoke to Vince about it and Vince liked it and it was something that we were working on, that I could give it a try, but I don’t think I had enough backing with the character at the time – it was just like a little side project.
I sat back and I thought to myself how could I be different and what could I do that hadn’t been done before. The first thing that came into my mind was because of the fans I did this ECW Elijah Express blog on the wwe.com website and a lot of people would email me at ecwhoh@yahoo.com, which I still have today, and they would tell me their problems. They would confide in me, because ‘The Paragon Of Virtue’ was the nickname, ‘The Guiding Light’ was the nickname for Elijah Burke, and so at one point I referred to the masses – because I had all these people that confided in me, literally – I referred to them as the congregation. Since I called them my congregation I though “Geez, I need to come up with something!” and I just thought of ‘The Black Pope’. I’ll be ‘The Pope’. There ain’t never been a black Pope before, and probably never will be! Besides the one that’s talking to you, daddy! (laughs) So therefore I came up with ‘The Black Pope’ gimmick and the rest is history.
You had several top level moments in TNA – whether it was challenging AJ for the title, being aligned with Nash/Sting and, most recently, teaming with Devon. What stood out for you the most?
What was my greatest moment? Oh, man…………(pause) I’ll give you my top three. I would say, honestly, the stuff with AJ at Lockdown is my top moment in TNA, as well as teaming with The Wolfpac at Bound For Glory. That was another highlight of my tenure of TNA. Equally, at some point, any dealings whether it was me running out to the ring with Hulk Hogan or being beat up and getting my hands on Ric Flair or having a verbal altercation with RIc Flair on the microphone – that was a dream come true, too. Those are definitely some highlights. Stealing Devon’s boys? That was alright. Stealing his wife was better!
Your contract expired on January 1st this year. Was it allowed to run out, by either TNA or did you run it out? Or was it one of the oversights that Bruce Pritchard apparently had in relation to contracts that he just didn’t get round to it?
I don’t know if it was an oversight or whatnot, but I will say when it was time for contract negotiations to go forward I personally hit up Dixie Carter and said thank you and that was it. I thanked her for her time and said I appreciate it and said “Thanks but no thanks.” Maybe six or seven days later I got a call from Nashville telling me what I basically already basically knew. I don’t know if I could say that it was amicable because I was the first person to say that I’m done with TNA, but at the same time if they wanted me they would have met Pope and fought a little harder to keep me. You can take that for what it is.
What do you think it would take for TNA to become a more viable alternative to WWE?
When everybody says “viable alternative” you have to understand that to be an alternative does not mean that you have to be number one. To be an alternative does not mean that you have to be number two! Hell, OVW is an alternative and they’re getting 3.5 million, at least, on the ION channel, which is a Christian station! It’s not about being number one, it’s not about worldwide viewers or a worldwide phenomenon; it’s about being an alternative.
I think we all know that at some point during TNA's ten, almost eleven year existence, they became an alternative. But when you are an alternative, your format, your storylines, offer an alternative view than what the other company does. And when things start to shift to where your company is looking like the number one company, or vice versa, than what’s the alternative? (laughs) It’s kind of like watching WWF Monday Night Raw and there’s Rick Rude and flip to Monday Nitro and there’s Rick Rude! Where’s the alternative?
Would you consider returning to WWE if the opportunity arose?
I don’t see why you shouldn’t see me there in the future. Absolutely.
I appreciate that the answer to the next question may very well be no, in which case that’s fine, but may I ask you about…….
(shouts) No! (laughs) Go ahead man.
May I ask you about the comments that went around from CM Punk about you last year?
Sure. I can go ahead and answer that for you. It’s real simple. When you are in the position that CM Punk is currently in, what can’t you say that is going to generate interest, generate anarchy? The word I’m looking for is create controversy. Whether he meant it? I don’t know, but when you go back – and all the fans that hit me up, and maybe yourself – when you go back and watch our matches we may have had one or two hiccups here and there, because we did all our stuff on the fly for the most part. But to say the comments that were said? I don’t know. It’s not any sweat off my back, because our matches spoke for themselves.
One match that stands out for me, besides the Unforgiven match, was the 2 out 3 falls match in ECW where at the last second we’re told “Hey, Marcus Cor Von isn’t showing up. You’re doing a 2 out of 3 match.” and we go out there and we call it on the fly. I wouldn’t read too much into it – I think it’s Punk being Punk. That’s what he does!
Obviously, as you say, you hope to have ten more years in the business. You’re still relatively young – what do you think is next for you?
Realistically, I would like to go back home where I started at – and that’s WWE. I would like to contribute to there and I would say then in five more years after that……I would just like go back home, basically, and finish there, yea. That’s the realistic view on that and like I say there’s no reason why you or anyone else shouldn’t expect to see Pope back in WWE.
What advice would you give anyone getting into the business nowadays?
The same things I tell anyone that hits me up on Facebook or at theelijahexpress.com to read my messages, or Twitter @dablackpope when they hit me up – I tell them to do some research. Everybody and their grandmother have their own little wrestling schools. (laughs) There was a guy here in Jacksonville that had a ring set up in his back yard of his single trailer that his mom owned and he lived with her – and by gosh she’s eighty something years old and he has the nerve to say she’s the commissioner! (laughs) There’s something! I’m saying, what the hell is going on around here? You’ve got people around here training in mom’s back yard; you can’t sit on mom’s table – mom comes out mad because you just sat on her table!
The point is – do some research! Anybody can say they’re a promoter, anybody can run a show. But if you want to make it into the big time, if you want to make it to where you’ve seen some of your heroes and idols – or anyone who has made it, basically – then you go through the necessary steps to ensure that the money that you pay – because you will have to pay them some money – is being used accordingly and that the people that you are going to be trained by have produced someone at some point from their school, and has more of them to come. (That they’ve had) some sort of success. That’s pretty much what I tell people all the time. If your school or your guy hasn’t trained anyone that’s went on to any sort of success then you might want to look somewhere else. I always tell them – OVW is still the premier training ground. Obviously FCW, down in WWE’s developmental territory. Those are places that you would want to go, but if you can’t afford the money or you can’t relocate then find a place in your neck of the woods that’s nearby and don’t give up. Go for it, but have a back-up plan. Again, as Pope finished, and got, his degree in criminal justice – have a back-up plan!
One final question, just off the wrestling tangent. I have seen on your website about your charity work and so on. Was it your background in what happened to you when you were growing up that led you to get involved in that and how do you hope that it will develop?
Well, with The Love-Alive Charity – which we referred to at the time as P.I.M.P. movement, Positively Influence Many People –that name came about with everybody chanting “Pope is pimpin’.” For me to get that off the ground, I always said to people that no-one ever asked The Pope what does “pimpin’” mean. Pope’s biggest fans besides middle-aged guys and teenagers were kids – and of course, the ladies as well! But kids were a big part of The Pope’s make up as far as his ‘congregation’ were concerned, so I wanted them to know that P.I.M.P when they say “Pope is pimpin’” for Pope, that it meant ‘Positively Influence Many People’.
What I decided to do was…….it wasn’t just about me giving back, but growing up in Jacksonville and travelling all around the world seeing so many people that were without – have no food, have no clothes on their back or, as I saw the other day, a gentleman walking down the street with a dress on because that’s all he has! Or this one dude that I saw with his toes hanging out of his shoes – so I took off my shoes and gave them to him. It’s just being able to do something good and it’s probably moreso to help the individuals, to help the people, who are trying to donate 50c or $1 to The Love-Alive Charity. Simply put, it’s not just about the homeless – it’s about those in need.
A young lady just hit me up on my Facebook account and her husband and her have been going through surgery and they’re trying to get help – they don’t have the money to cover the bills. It’d be really cool to be able to write $100 cheque. It won’t pay all of their bills, but a $100 cheque will say “Here. This is from The Love-Alive Charity. Hopefully this will help you out.”
It’s like we did in one of our first events where we fed over 300 homeless people not cold cuts, not grape juice and berries but Burger King. We were putting Burger King in these people’s mouths, and you can go to my YouTube channel – PopeTV4U – you can go there and you can witness that. It’s things like that that brought The Love-Alive Charity forward. We’re still in the process of getting the name legitimized. It’s such a long process. We’re going through the legal hoops to get that name certified and trademarked and once we get all that done we’ll continue on and start our second phase of The Love-Alive Charity and hopefully we’ll be doing a lot more and you’ll be hearing more about that soon.
Just before I go, if your fans are looking to keep in contact with you and see what you’re up to, what’s the best way?
Well, as a lot of them already know – and it’s probably a fault of mine that I kept it up on Facebook – is my phone number! 904-303-4994. Don’t be up for me answering all the time – don’t expect me to if I don’t know who you are! (laughs) But I do have the phone, I do answer it, and I do put a word of the day on there – just an inspirational message when they call that they are encouraged to listen to. Or they can go to PopeTV4U to follow some of Pope in his YouTube videos as well as facebook.com/elijahburke, facebook.com/dablackpope, as well as on Twitter @dablackpope. Also don’t forget theelijahexpress.com is always updated with Pope’s current schedule. I’ve got a couple of shows coming up overseas – I got a little overseas tour in the UK coming up (in October) which should be interesting, as well as a show in a week and a half in Owensboro, Kentucky. It’s called Uprising. I’ve got a lot of ways for the congregation to remain informed!
---Insane Championship Wrestling report from Glasgow
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) began running community centres in 2006, before moving into Glasgow city centre. Running nightclub shows with a unique brand of adult-orientated hardcore wrestling, ICW is almost universally episodic and storyline based. Using mostly Scottish and some British talent, ICW have used imported talent sparingly, usually sticking to indie favourites like Crazy Mary Dobson, The Sumarian Death Squad and Prince Devitt.
After announcing former ECW star Sabu for their second venture across Scotland to the capital city Edinburgh, the original 250 person venue sold out in a matter of hours. ICW then decided to shift the show to Edinburgh's Picture House, selling out over 1000 tickets over a month before the show. This made it one of the biggest shows in Britain since World of Sport went off the air in the late 80s! Taking place in the middle of the largest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe, ICW 'Dave's Not Here Man' was the culmination of six years of growth.
The opening contest saw Colt Cabana take on ICW's own Grado, in a top quality comedy match. Even those who have seen a lot of Cabana would have seen something new in this match, and Grado's character is just so perfect. If you haven't seen the Vice documentary about him, go watch it now! These two go back and forth for a decent amount of time, with the recurring theme of Grado impersonating CM Punk to provoke Cabana's ire. After Cabana attempted a GTS, Grado reversed it into a stunner for the win. *** Afterwards the anarchistic New Age Kliq of BT Gunn and Chris Renfrew attacked Grado, but Cabana made the save. The two shared Irn Bru Steve Austin-style, and started the show on a happy note.
Next up was Nikki Storm and Leah Owens in a bra and panties match. I'm not a huge fan of this stipulation and it wasn't particularly well executed. Storm had her top ripped off, but she was wearing another one underneath. Storm gets the win, but Leah Owens wasn't too upset, crowdsurfing and kicking Storm out of the ring. * Odd to have this follow up the comedy match that the crowd were really into, and they seemed to be more excited about the idea of this than the actual execution, and the match was very short.
James Scott (formerly known as Darkside) and Jimmy Havoc battled next, with a match with Rhino on the line. Havoc was previously booked against Rhino at Fear and Loathing VI in Glasgow in October, at the 1200 capacity ABC. Fear and Loathing was the name of the first ICW show, and it has become the company's showpiece event. Scott is a very technical wrestler with an MMA background, and Havoc was trained at the NWA Hammerlock school despite being primarily known as a hardcore wrestler. The two wrestled to a double finish, with Scott tapping to a triangle while Havoc's shoulders were counted for a three. ** Disappointingly these two didn't get a lot of time to live up to their potential. Owner Mark Dallas made an appearance after the finish, and declares that the two will now face Rhino in a three way dance!
The main event of the first half was the four way match with the tag team titles. The defending champions The Bucky Boys, accompanied by The Wee Man and Lambrini, took on The Coffeys, Fight Club and Team CK. However, the New Age Kliq reared their head again and took our Team CK and took their place in the match. After pre match promos from Wee Man, The NAK and Team CK's manager James R Kennedy you can see where the time went from the other matches. This match is apparently elimination though that wasn't announced, and the NAK eventually got the final fall over the Bucky Boys to win the tag team titles. **1/2 The NAK and their third member Dickie Divers continued attacking the Buckys until Fight Club returned to make the save. After chasing off the Kliq and posing in the ring, Fight Club turned on the Buckys and laid them out before leaving. After a few minutes the Buckys got back up and stood tall, for no real reason. There was a lot to this match, with lots of storyline stuff to get through. Maybe it could have benefited from being a straight tag match.
After the interval, Andy Wild took on the rookie Solar. Solar is an exciting high flying wrestler, and the crowd have really taken to him. After some exciting spots Solar gets the 3-count, but the referee waves it off after Wild had a foot under the roles. Straight away Wild got the submission win, but both looked decent in the short time they had. **
In the first of three marquee matches back to back, Kay Lee Ray defended her Fierce Females title against Carmel Jacob in a last women standing. This is the exact opposite from what we saw in the first half, and these two brawl all over the venue for over twenty minutes. They throw each other downstairs, vault off the bar, bodyslam each other onto to the hard floor and generally beat the hell out of each other. These two had a last women standing match in the past that is generally considered one of the best in ICW history, and this was certainly of a very high standard. Interference from Viper set up Kay Lee Ray's victory, coming via a swanton bomb from the announce table onto the stage. ***1/2
Next up was ICW Champion Mikey Whiplash taking on ICW Zero-G Champion Wolfgang in a title .vs. title match. Whiplash has recently transitioned from a very Goldust-inspired gothic character to a straight wrestling gimmick, and has endeared himself to the crowd in the past few months. This match honestly suffered from being in between two spectacles, but these two are solid workers who know each other very well. Mikey Whiplash got the victory to become a dual champion. ***
Finally, the main event pitted Scottish death match favourite Jack Jester against Sabu in a bloody brawl that lived up to the lofty expectations. This hardcore style is something ICW has become well known for in the last six years and this was a fitting main event. These two used all manner of weapons on each other and fought in the crowd, and this was a bloody brawl. Particularly gruesome was Sabu opening up Jester with something that the crowd could not agree whether it was a bit of broken table or a chopstick. Jester got the pin on Sabu to send the crowd home happy at seeing their hero conquer the hardcore legend. ***
Overall, this show was a big deal. Two large screens displayed entrance videos and a live edit of the various camera angles during the matches, but unfortunately the venue's screens were surprisingly poor. From ICW's side, this show delivered in almost every way possible, however the card was rather long at around four hours bell to bell. Despite only having two imported talents and the rest of the card made up from regular ICW roster members, some matches didn't get the time they could have done with and there was a lot going on. Maybe there was too much on this show, but it's hard to complain about too much quality on a British wrestling show these days.
Almost all of ICW's recent shows are edited into one hour YouTube episodes that are all available online, and I'd advise checking them out. It's a very different product from any other indy company in the world these days, and if you tire of the big American companies this may well be for you.
---8/25 WWE RESULTS FROM ONTARIO, CA:
Zack Ryder beat Jack Swagger, no, really that happened! Zeb was money on the mike before and after the match, lots of fun, went a long time for an opener.
Alicia Fox beat Tamina with the axe kick. This one started off, ahem, a bit clumsy to be kind but they found their groove and settled into a good match.
RVD vs. Dean Ambrose for the U.S. title. Will RVD ever age? The guy is amazing. Very good match with an inventive finish. RVD hit a flying cross body but his momentum carried him through to where he was pinned by Ambrose.
Next up was an interview with Rey Mysterio. Says he's at about 85 percent and can't wait to get back. Cue the music because here comes the Shield. Reigns and Rollins get ready to pounce but it's Mark Henry and the Big Show to the rescue and we have our four entrants in our next match for the tag titles.
Big Show and Mark Henry vs. The Shield. This was the comedy match of the night with the obvious size difference between the teams providing some levity. Mark Henry was your Ricky Morton for the evening and after the hot tag to Big Show Dean Ambrose interfered and cracked Big Show over the head with the U.S. title. RVD came back out to even the sides.
Intermission.
Justin Gabriel and The Usos vs. The Wyatt Clan, complete with cheesy lantern and rocking chair. Bray sat in the chair until Justin Gabriel had been beaten to a pulp and then sprung out of his chair to join in the fun. Something different, he was wearing a leather butcher's apron. Mayhem ensues, Bray is left alone in the ring with Gabriel and that was the end of that. The Wyatts are positively frightening.
Faaannn-dannnggg-oooooo vs. The Miz, with Summer Rae along of course. The interactive poll of the night was did the crowd want to see a match or a dance-off? They said dance-off won (cough-BS-cough) and Fandango went first. Miz followed but two seconds into his dance Fandango attacked and we're gonna get the match anyway. Very good match, Fandango worked on Miz's left arm and Miz concentrated his attack on Fandango's legs. Miz wins with the figure four. Really good work by both guys and Summer Rae is doing quite well in her role.
The video board replayed the Daniel Bryan-Randy Orton-McMahon saga from Raw leading into our main event of the evening.
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title. Another excellent match, Daniel Bryan seems to be in a lot of those, huh? Bryan took a beating, got in a few hope spots and rallied to put Orton in the yes lock but here comes the Shield to save Orton. Orton takes the first train out of Dodge and Henry and RVD come out to rescue Bryan. Reigns eats a world's strongest slam and RVD hits Ambrose with a frog splash.
An entertaining night, probably about 4,500 people there.
---8/25 WWE RESULTS FROM RIO RANCHO, NM:
Decent show. I was told the crowd was about 3,000.
Prime Time Players over The 3MB. Heath Slater wasn't there. Good match.
The Great Khali over Hunico. I didn't realize he was still there. Khali is horrible. He can barely walk.
Ryback over Kofi Kingston. Decent match.
Natalya and Kaitlin over AJ and Layla. Ehhhh.
Cody Rhodes over Damian Sandow. Good Match.
Dolph Ziggler over Big E. Langston. E moves good for a big man.
Alberto Del Rio over Christian. Good match.
CM Punk over Curtis Axel, with Paul Heyman. Very good.
---Our friends at Kayfabe Commentaries sent the following press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2013
REFLECTIVE BUT ANGRY, VINCE RUSSO RECOUNTS WCW 2000
It's likely no one will ever call Vince Russo a sympathetic individual. But in what Russo proclaims as "without a shadow of a doubt, the last wrestling interview I'll ever do," he comes the closest to perhaps being seen as a tragic figure. However, watch for a while and the anger of a man with no one to protect surfaces and he bites his tongue no longer, in the release of "Timeline: The History of WCW - 2000," on sale today at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
In this edition of the series, Russo recounts the year he's talked about many times before -- 2000. This time, Russo indicates he's not been totally honest in the past, which brought about private criticism from his grown children, and brought him personal frustration as he tried to protect certain people and avoid potential confrontation.
Not this time.
Russo paints a picture of creative war, with a target having been placed on his back the moment he entered WCW. His open criticism of JJ Dillon and Kevin Sullivan suggest their conspiring behind his back, and much less of 'suggestion' when discussing Eric Bischoff. Russo contends WCW VP Bill Busch placed Bischoff on the creative team as a consultant to Russo, essentially to get him to agree, given the proposed structure. But sitting in the company was the other half of Plan Bischoff, and that blond-haired legend had creative control. That kind of threw 'consultant' status out the window, as Russo recalls the arduous and tense negotiating with Hogan, which ultimately led to a defamation lawsuit. Brought about, Russo claims, by the failure to make a promised phone call.
Russo is clearly emotionally freed up to shoot. Names surface throughout that irk him. These are names beyond the 2000 WCW power players who, of course, get their fair share of stern talk. But rather names like Lance Storm, Bobby Heenan, and Hacksaw Duggan. Russo has clearly heard the podcast appearances of someone on whom Russo placed three belts, and heard the words of two legends that Russo feels are quite unappreciative.
Kayfabe Commentaries' president Sean Oliver hosts the series, and said it was a top priority that Russo's account of this high profile year in WCW have a fresh approach, but still cover all the relevant topics.
"Russo has talked about, and written about, this year and the big events within," Oliver began. "But my goal in sitting across from him was not the overdone, regurgitated coverage of Arquette and Russo winning titles. This had to be like time travel...with Russo honestly outlining who did what, who said what, and what was happening before, during, and after. That's what each edition of our "Timeline" series strives to be...time travel with the star, and not necessarily their opinions and coverage."
Reflective Russo and Angry Russo take turns throughout the show, with reflective Russo giving insight on the genesis of storylines and certain talent on the roster. Angry Russo surfaces when addressing names he once tried to stay silent on, and his concussion becoming a bit of a prized target for certain people. "That helmet was a shoot, bro." By the end of the show, it's not hard to make the case that Vince Russo was on the edge of a breakdown, wrapped in absolute misery and anger.
All in all, the two and a half hour show brings into focus the dysfunction of a sinking ship, its ill-fated captain, and the alleged backstabbing that ran rampant throughout the galleys of the S.S. WCW in 2000.
"Timeline: The History of WCW - 2000 - As told by Vince Russo" is available on both DVD and instant OnDemand streaming at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.
---As noted yesterday, former boxing champion Riddick Bowe is interested in getting into pro wrestling. Tommy Dreamer tweeted Bowe and offered to train him for free at his House of Hardcore wrestling school.
PRO WRESTLING EVENTS FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 27,2013:
WWE SMACKDOWN TV @ University Of Nevada (Thomas & Mack Center) in Las Vegas, Nevada
HoPWF @ Superior Pro Wrestling Training Center in Hagerstown, Maryland
TMW @ Claiborne County Fairgrounds in Tazewell, Tennessee
CMLL @ Arena Coliseo in Guadalajara, Mexico
CMLL @ Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico
FILL @ Arena Naucalpan in Naucalpan, Mexico
IWL @ Arena Aficion in Pachuca, Mexico
BJW @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
ASW @ Butlins Resort in Bognor Regis, England
ASW @ Town Hall in Rhyl, Wales