Message-ID:  

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/

1/14/2004 3:27:00 PM

Wednesday news update: Spanky quits, TNA preview, Smackdown angle,
Rumble matches, Austin on Regis talks Mania, Awards issue out, Very
interesting newspaper article, Worst dressed and much more
 
by Dave Meltzer

hsmeltzer{at}juno.com

We're looking for your thoughts tonight on the NWA TNA PPV, so you can
leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a
best and worst match to dave{at}wrestlingobserver.com.

Tonight's line-up:

*A.J. Styles & Erik Watts vs. Jeff Jarrett & Abyss - Styles gets a
title shot if he wins; Watts loses power if Jarrett's team wins
*Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Michael Shane - winner gets a
title shot at Chris Sabin probably on 1/21
*AMW vs. Kevin Northcutt & Joe Legend in a rawhide whipping match
*Raven & Sandman vs. Julio Dinero & C.M. Punk in a canes on a pole
match
*Simon Diamond vs. David Young with Glenn Gilberti as ref
*Shane Douglas vs. Elix Skipper
Also scheduled is an announcement by Antonio Pena, and a tease that
they will reveal Jeff Jarrett's big news. Of course, they've been
teasing that for months now. Jim Mitchell is back as manager of Dinero
& Punk. On paper, this is one of their better shows in a while. Styles
is the workhorse of his team, and usually works well with Jarrett and
Abyss. The X contenders match looks strong on paper. AMW usually
deliver. Diamond vs. Young with Gilbertti is kind of a dead angle, but
you can't have everything.

--Brian "Spanky" Kendrick gave notice last night before the Smackdown
tapings. As noted, he'd been miserable, thinking he was about to be
fired, and when checking on what he could do, found out the future
wasn't so bad. He'll be working Zero-One and U.S. indies and the split
was said to be amicable on both sides.

--Steve Austin was on Regis & Kelly this morning. Regis threw a punch
at Austin, who not only didn't flinch, but his beer can didn't even
shake. When talking about WWE Originals, Austin said the sound
engineer was an idiot because his four songs sounded like crap,
despite him claiming to be musically inclined (this was all tongue in
cheek). Regis asked Austin which Wrestlemania was when Hogan fought
Piper. Austin said he was a kid then (well, 20) and he didn't know,
and Regis would remember better than him. Regis said he was in the
front row and it was the greatest show on Earth. Austin acted like he
was on the fence as far as wrestling at Mania, said he's been tasting
a lot of beer to come up with his own winning formula (there are plans
to market Steve Austin Stone Cold beer). It ended with Regis Hulking
up and posing like Hogan. (thanks to Jeff Rozner)

--Added to the Royal Rumble are Chavo vs. Eddy and Rey Mysterio vs.
Jamie Noble for the cruiserweight title

--Chavo Guerrero Sr. is scheduled to be back at Smackdown this coming
Tuesday in Minneapolis at the Target Center. At this point, that is
his final scheduled appearance.

--Randy Orton received six stitches and was shaken up during his match
with RVD at Raw on Monday.

--They had another speech before Smackdown, but told it was nothing
newsworthy.

--There is a very good cover story in the East Bay Express newspaper
(www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/current/feature.html/1/index.html) on
the death of Brian Ong, All Pro Wrestling and the wrestling scene in
general.

--On today's Tony Kornheiser radio show on ESPN radio, Brian Kenney,
who co-hosts Friday Night Fights, was talking about allegations of the
Mitch Rose vs. Butterbean match being fixed. Rose said he was offered
$5,000 to take a dive against Butterbean. Rose was something like 1-6
and Butterbean was unbeaten at the tie. He refused and knocked
Butterbean out, ending his streak and it was the beginning of the
Butterbean celebrity days being numbered. Kornheiser and Kenney both
said they didn't care if people fixed undercard or meaningless fights
(wow) as long as the championship matches were real. Kenney said
anyone in the top 25 would have killed Butterbean. Well, duh. (thanks
to Clancy Gilpatrick)

--Last night on Entertainment Tonight, Steven Cojocaru named Joanie
Laurer the worst dressed celebrity of the week. Luckily they haven't
seen Rosey of late. (thanks to Robert Fahrmeier)

--Ric Flair will be appearing tomorrow night in Peoria, IL when the
Riverman face the Dayton Bombers in a minor league hockey game at
Carver Arena for autographed 8x10s

--IWA on 1/16 in Oolitic, IN with Danny Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn for the
IWA title, Ian Rotten vs. J.C. Bailey in an I Quit match and Necro
Butcher vs. Corporal Robinson in a 100,000 thumb tacks match, as well
as the return of Mike Quackenbush and five others from the Chikara
Wrestling Factory. The next night in Highland, IN at the Lincoln
Center as Daniels vs. Chris Hero in a title match with loser leaves
stips inside a cage, plus Bailey vs. Matt Sydal for the light
heavyweight title and Chris Sabin, Quackenbush, Ace Steel and others
appear.

--Harley Race student Tim Warcloud will be headed to the U.K. to work
for Brian Dixon's All-Star Wrestling from 1/24 to 4/5.

--USA Pro Wrestling has added Sabu & Jimmy Snuka as a tag team (I
don't recall them ever teaming before) vs. Halloween & Damian for the
2/14 show in Bethpage, NY

--ACW Wrestling on 1/24 at the West Charlotte Rec Center 

--ESPN Canada will be showing Raw on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. with several
replays during the week (four showings in all) as a replacement for
the Classic Wrestling two hour block since the Classic Wrestling
contract is expiring. (thanks to Adam Lebow)

--TNA Xplosion is now on some special High Definition TV channels.
Those who have seen it say the picture quality is awesome. (thanks to
Derrick Hanna)

--A correction regarding Memphis wrestling. This coming Saturday's
show is at 10 a.m., as listed. I said the regular start time is 10:30
a.m. The regular start time is actually 11 a.m., but the show has been
starting at 10:30 a.m. pretty regularly in recent months because of
college football. (thanks to George Wren)

--New England Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in
Framingham, MA: Aaron Morrison b Evil Nick, Zaqary Springate III b
Mike Bennett, French Connection b Frankie A & Mike Osbourne, El
Boriqua b Johnny Idol, Bob Evans b Brandon Locke, Maverick Wild b
Mercedes Martinez, Sabotage b Adrenaline

--CWF Mid Atlantic returns to the Carolina Sports Arena in Burlington,
NC on Saturday night

--New York City comedian Mark Malkoff did a comedy bit with Tito
Santana at Santana's Hair Salon at www.fni-nyc.com.

--AWA/SCWA Winter Wars on Saturday night in Huntingdon, TN at the
Carroll County Civic Center


--- Internet Rex 2.29