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January 3, 2012
This Day in Wrestling History
Happy Birthday to Jim Ross
January 3, 1952
Bruiser Brody defeats Fritz Von Erich to win the World Class American Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending Von Erich's 13th reign, which lasted only four days.
January 3, 1977
The Monday Night War entered its final full year, with RAW is WAR defeating Monday Nitro solidly, 6.4 to 3.3.
January 3, 2000
WWF(E) RAW is WAR took place at the brand-new (it opened three days earlier) AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida. That night's RAW featured D-Generation X's "epic" Mankind-bashing film entitled "Have a Bad Day". The show also featured Triple H winning his second WWF(E) Title, defeating Big Show. That night's RAW also featured Stephanie McMahon declaring Chris Jericho and Chyna co-Intercontinental Champions, after their double-pin on the previous week's SmackDown!.
January 3, 2000
January 2, 2012
Shawn Michaels Reveals WWE Contract Status
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels revealed his current WWE status in a new Q&A YouTube post this week. "I have a contract with WWE. It's not a Legends contract, it's not a wrestling contract. It's just something special they gave me. That's one of the ways I make a living," Michaels said. "I will never end up going anywhere else. I won't be wrestling somewhere else and I won't be showing up on someone else's TV show."
"I'm always hoping to come back and maybe do a semi-regular role behind-the-scenes, but that's all stuff that's hard for me to say when that's going to happen."
January 1, 2012
TV Ratings Stats for Raw, Impact & SmackDown
WWE Raw Ratings Last Five Years
2007 - 3.63 rating
2008 - 3.28 rating
2009 - 3.59 rating
2010 - 3.28 rating
2011 - 3.21 rating
TNA Impact Ratings Last Five Years
2007 - 1.05 rating (expanded to two hours late 2007)
2008 - 1.06 rating
2009 - 1.15 rating
2010 - 1.06 rating / 1.11 rating Thursdays
2011 - 1.17 rating
WWE Smackdown on Syfy
2010 - 1.72 rating (Oct-Dec - 13 weeks)
2011 - 1.92 rating
source: pwtorch.com
This Day in Wrestling History
Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) defeats The Dynamite Kid in Tokyo, Japan for the vacant WWF(E) Junior Heavyweight Title. Tatsumi Fujinami had vacated the title in December when he moved up to the heavyweight division.
January 1, 1982
The St. Louis Wrestling Club held the "Sam Muchnick Retirement Show" before 19,821 at The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri.
January 1, 1982
Masahiro Chono defeats Mike George in Des Moines, Iowa to become the last NWA Central States Television Champion. The promotion closed later in the year.
January 1, 1988
Ted Turner's purchase of WCW comes into full effect as all NWA changes are complete and World Championship Wrestling drops the NWA name.
January 1, 1991
El Signo defeats Villano III to win the WWF(E) World Light Heavyweight Title in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, to end his sixth reign.
January 1, 1993
Billionaire Ted, The Huckster and the Nacho Man debut on Monday Night Raw.
January 1, 1996
December 31, 2011
Major Lawsuit WWE & UFC Need to Follow
The long debate over the National Football League’s handling of concussions is reaching the courts in a flurry of lawsuits, raising the possibility that dozens of former players will go before juries to outline the league’s medical practices and describe long-term cognitive problems they say were caused by the sport.
More than a dozen suits, filed since July on behalf of more than 120 retired players and their wives, say that the N.F.L. and in some cases helmet manufacturers deliberately concealed information about the neurological effects of repeated hits to the head. Several suits also say that even if the league did not know about the potential impact of brain trauma sustained on the field, it should have known.
Taken together, the suits filed in courts across the country amount to a multifront legal challenge to the league and to the game itself. While the retired players, including stars like Jim McMahon and Jamal Lewis, face a time-consuming and difficult battle, the N.F.L. will have to spend heavily on lawyers to fend off the chance that juries might award the retired players millions of dollars in damages.
The league must also grapple with unflattering publicity as former players claiming to be hobbled by injuries and, in some cases, suffering from financial problems sue their former employer, the steward of America’s most popular sport. The stakes will only get higher if any of the cases go to trial, where details may emerge about what the N.F.L. knew about concussions and when, how it handled that information, and whether it pushed manufacturers to make the safest helmets possible...More?
source: nytimes.com
Chris Benoit Film Biopic CROSSFACE Includes Triple H & Eddie Guerrero As Characters
The controversial ‘biographical thriller’ of former WWE World Champion Chris Benoit that covers the shocking 2007 double murder of his wife and son before he then committed suicide, will feature Kurt Angle, Triple H and the late Eddie Guerrero as characters, according to the film’s writer.
Former Weinstein Company staffer Sarah Coulter who has now completed the first draft of her script told Worst Previews;
“There are a lot of unknowns about that weekend [when the murders/suicide took place], which is probably why so many people have tried to fill in the blanks with conspiracy theories,” she explained. “Chris Benoit was behind the murders, but we still wanted to touch on several of those theories.”
“Eddie [Guerrero] is obviously very important to the story,” she said. “Triple H, Kurt Angle, they’re all there, but it’s early and things can still change.
Coulter has confirmed several actors are in talks for the lead role and an official casting announcement is due soon before filming begins late 2012. No director has been set yet.
A close and long time friend of Benoit, Eddie Guerrero’s sudden death in 2005 just 18 months before Benoit’s murder incident is of course often seen as a huge catalyst in the wrestler’s depression at the time of the murders. The use of Kurt Angle and Triple H is less clear, especially as Angle had left the WWE a year before the incident (though Benoit did have some of his very best matches in the company with him) and Triple H was nothing more than a work colleague but presumably because he worked for the WWE at the time he is included and more recognisable faces that Coulter hasn’t directly mentioned.
However things can change in scripts all the time and what she has written now may not end up on screen necessarily and there could be some legal issues if wrestlers like HHH and Angle are portrayed in a way they, or the WWE don’t enjoy...More?
source: whatculture.com
Stephanie McMahon to Appear on Heavy Muscle Radio
Stephanie McMahon Levesque will appear on Dave Palumbo’s Heavy Muscle Radio Show, this Monday night at 8:00 PM. To listen, go to http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-radio/heavy-muscle-radio.html.
This Day in Wrestling History
Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Taro Miyake for the "juijitsu championship of the world" in Chicago, Illinois.
December 31, 1923
Frank Goodish (Bruiser Brody) defeats Rocky Johnson for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.
December 31, 1975
Kevin, Kerry and Mike Von Erich win their third World Class Six-Man Tag Team Title, by defeating Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts in Fort Worth, Texas.
December 31, 1984
The 449th edition of "RAW is WAR", a Best of 2001 special edition, aired on USA. The show got a 2.4 rating, the lowest of the year. Although this rating is typical of a highlight show, it was the lowest for "RAW" since October 27, 1997.
December 31, 1997
December 30, 2011
This Day in Wrestling History
The Masked Marvel goes to a draw with Wladek Zbyszko in the International Tournament at the Manhattan Opera House.
December 30, 1915
1922 - Ed Strangler Lewis challenges boxing champion Jack Dempsey and puts up a reported $10,000 to do so.
December 30, 1922
Steve "Dr. Death" Williams died at the age of 49 after a long bttle with cancer. Williams held numerous wrestling titles in North America and Japan throughout his career. He achieved All-American status as a football player at the University of Oklahoma.
December 30, 2009
Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear
