RIP "Dr. Death" Steve Williams

I remember when I was a die-hard NWA/WCW fan, the tag-team of Steve Williams and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy was my shit, mainly because they were straight up - no nonsense, they wore their names and kicked your ass. Their style was heralded in the US and in Japan, and Steve was always one of my favorites. I remember hearing about his health deteriorating due to cancer, and he lost his battle with cancer today, at the age of 49. If "Dr Death" is before your time, do the knowledge, then say a prayer for one of the sport's toughest.

EDIT Wrestlers Rescue on Steve Williams.

Bret Hart: RAW Host On Jan. 4th?

I've refrained on posting about this because its too good to be true, but PWRumors has just posted the following:

It's been rumored for several weeks that WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has signed a new short-term contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and will be returning as an on-air character in early 2010. There has been a great deal of speculation that Bret Hart will make his WWE return on the January 4th edition of WWE RAW, the night TNA Wrestling goes head-to-head with RAW for the first time ever.

Cable provider DirecTV has released its preview for the January 4th RAW and confirms that the Hitman will in fact be hosting RAW that night. Their preview reads:

"Shocking Guest Host Bret The Hitman Hart returns to confront Mr. McMahon."

It's also worth noting that the January 4th RAW is listed as a 2-hour show, contrary to speculation that WWE will add a 3rd hour to compete with TNA's 1-hour lead-in.

Hitman might be the best book I read in 2009, and its definitely the best Pro Wrestling book, ever. Bret Hart is one of my favorite wrestlers, but I've been watching Wrestling With Shadows a lot lately, and I'm still not believing that he's back. But, it looks like it MAY be the case. I'd love to see him in a managerial role, striking out with The Hart Dynasty, and taking on all comers. Should be intense... if its legit.

TNA Final Resolution 2009

Here's the card for tonight's PPV, so help us God:

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
- AJ Styles (c) vs. Daniels.

Three Degrees of Pain
- Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe.

Last Man Standing
- Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner.

- Mick Foley & Abyss vs. Raven & Dr. Stevie.

TNA World Tag Team Championships
- The British Invasion (c's) vs. The Motor City Machineguns.

Feast or Fired
- Competitors involved: Samoa Joe, Beer Money, Kevin Nash, TNA Global Champion Eric Young, Sheik Abdul Bashir, Kiyoshi, Homicide, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed and Cody Deaner.

Eight Man Tag Team Elimination
- Team 3D, Rhino & Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan, Hernandez, "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero & Suicide.

TNA Knockouts Championship
- ODB (c) vs. Tara.

I'll mainly be watching this for the Angle/Wolfe match. I'll have some stream links up after 8PM.

EDIT Stream 1
\ Stream 2 \ Stream 3

Missing: Monty Brown aka Marcus Cor Von

What happen to this guy? His ECW-New Blood run was wack but I thought he was great on TNA. His promos remind me of The Rock and his finisher "The Poooooooooooouuuuuuuuunnnnnnce Period" lol is the truth..




Antonio Banks (M.V.P.) vs. Monty Brown (2004 Impact)

Before They Were Stars: Road Warriors

Wonderful clip of the "green" Road Warriors Hawk and Animal. This video is from their AWA days (pre NWA and WWE). Oooooooooooooh What a Ruuuuuuuuuuuush!!!

The Beautiful People Mud Wrestling Match

F what you heard, this was beautiful. Lacey Von Erich is fly but I missed my girl Angelina Love.. Her cakes are something serious...

Abyss Gets Burned By Raven & Stevie Richards

If wish I could do a hater like this lol. "Supposedly" this clip was deemed too graphic by Spike TV officials.

Juan Epstein: Season 3 Bonus Episode

MVP and Eve sat in with Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg to discuss wrestling, Chris Benoit and Bret Hart rumors. DOWNLOAD it now, via Rosenberg Radio.

EDIT Was this the midget wrestling show Rico was referring to?

WWE TLC 2009 PPV Results/Thoughts

No, I'm not mad. I thought I would be, seeing as I've not liked anything about Sheamus since he first set foot into the ECW, and for all of the talk about wasting younger talent, it makes sense for the WWE to keep the momentum of their younger talent and crown Sheamus the champ.

I thought I'd be mad.

Thing is, how could I? I myself have spoken on hating the idea of the same guys (HHH/HBK/Taker/Orton/Cena) being the champion, or always being the main event. So, what does WWE creative do? They put the WWE Championship match on four bouts in, and crown a new champion, a move that even shocked Jim Ross! I can speak on what I think - that come next year, this will all not even matter, that WWE will tell us "we gave you what you wanted" and move on, that I don't think Sheamus is going to serve as a great champion - but I won't. Hell, I had some reservations about CM Punk getting the World title thrust upon him, and he's made a name for himself. Where is he now? Selling merch on Smackdown with a sober Festus. But I digress - great move.

As I also thought, the Shelton/Christian ladder match to open was the best match of the night. Christian got bloody early, and while I'm not a fan of the WWE "No Blood" policy, I can't hate. They've got a rep to maintain. Shelton needs a bigger push, and if this talk of ECW being no more come 2010 is true, he should be a solid runner for any of the singles titles... yeah, I said it.

The rest of the PPV was a snooze. I'm not a fan of Drew McIntyre, and while I love seeing Mickie James (and the lovely Layla) do their thing, I wasn't too impressed. Aside from Sheamus winning, their match was really boring, as was the 'Taker/Batista match, although its always good to hear Teddy Long shout "PLAYA!". Orton/Kofi is dead in the water - the heat they built at MSG a few weeks ago has fizzled out, which makes sense - there's no real chemistry/beef, especially with no title in contention. Orton's a PHENOMENAL heel, but I think this would've worked more if they had something to strive for, outside of "oh he threw paint on my new car" type of nonsense. What is this, NWA circa '87? DX/JeriShow to close was probably the better move, but it devalues the main titles IMO. I am just glad that Jericho can move on to being a solo competitor, which I am hoping for - I'd really like to see Edge/Jericho at the next Wrestlemania. We'll see.

Also, you gotta love how 'Taker/HBK put on a clinic at WM25, and it was hard for the rest of the program to follow... so of course Taker/Batista follows Sheamus' shocker. LOL.

Anyways, if you want the complete rundown, Wrestleview has it for you.

WWE TLC 2009

Here's the final lineup, via Wrestling Inc.:

Chair Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
- The Undertaker (c) vs. Batista

Tables Match for the WWE Championship
- John Cena (c) vs. Sheamus

Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
- Chris Jericho & Big Show (c) vs. DeGeneration X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels)

Ladder Match for the ECW Championship
- Christian (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
- John Morrison (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

WWE Women's Championship Match
- Michelle McCool (c) vs. Mickie James

Singles Match
- Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston

Check back here on Sunday for links to streams of the PPV, if I can rustle up some.

EDIT stream 1 \ stream 2

Timbaland To Host RAW

Timbaland is set to host December 28th, 2009 RAW. Maybe he'll jump in the ring?

[video] Hulkamania Tour

Shouts to my boy Jonny Walker for passing me the link for this video:



Via Keith Loutit.

Monday Night Wars Redux

So both Bischoff and Hogan tried to bullshit us, but with the latest TNA press release, it looks like their return to the American Professional Wrestling circuit will involve... RAW and iMPACT going head to head. Oh, what was that? You heard something? That was the sound of millions of Monday Night Wars veterans collectively yawning. Check the release:

HULKAMANIA IS COMING BACK TO MONDAY NIGHT ON “TNA iMPACT!” LIVE JANUARY 4 ON SPIKE TV

Hulk Hogan’s First Live Appearance On Spike TV’s “TNA iMPACT” Will Be In A Special 3-Hour Live Episode Monday, January 4 At 8:00 PM ET/PT

The biggest name in professional wrestling history, Hulk Hogan, will make his first live appearance on Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling’s “TNA iMPACT!” in a live 3-hour special on Spike TV Monday, January 4, 2010 at 8:00PM ET/PT. Hogan and TNA President Dixie Carter attended “The Ultimate Fighter Heavyweights” Finale in Las Vegas where Hogan made the announcement in an interview with Joe Rogan.

“TNA iMPACT!” will be going against “WWE Monday Raw” on USA Network, the first time two wrestling companies have broadcast live head-to-head since the “Monday Night Wars” in the late 1990’s between WWE and WCW. This “iMPACT!” special will broadcast live from the TNA iMPACT! Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fl.

Hogan’s first appearance inside the six-sided ring of TNA Wrestling will follow weeks of speculation after Hogan and Carter announced their partnership on October 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hogan has hinted in various media interviews that he’ll have multiple surprises in store for TNA Wrestling fans.

“I knew when I signed with TNA, that it would be important to make a statement with the first episode. Going head-to-head on January 4th, makes the statement loud and clear: Game on!” Hogan said.

“TNA is kicking off 2010 in the biggest way possible with the biggest name in the history of our sport. Hulk Hogan is a pop culture icon, and his arrival will change not only TNA, but the entire professional wrestling landscape. We’re firing that first shot,” Carter said.

Joining Hogan for the three-hour live “iMPACT!” will be TNA World Heavyweight Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe, “The Boss” Bobby Lashley and “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan.

“TNA iMPACT!” will resume its normal timeslot on Thursday, January 7th at 9:00 PM ET/PT with an encore viewing of the live “iMPACT!” special.

Who knows how often they will do this, but I'd hope TNA has a better show than their PPVs, or this will be ridiculous. And now, with WWE having advance notice, they will surely pull out the stops. The 2010 Royal Rumble isn't far from 1/4/2010, so they can build a massive three-hour show, with damn near 3 weeks lead time! Smart move lol.

Maybe Nash and Hogan will come out to the NWO theme music. Or maybe they will just come out like they truly are - old souls in a federation that's boasting of their young talents.

What do you think - will this help or hurt TNA?

EDIT Is Dixie Carter implying that this is only the first?

RIP Umaga

After hearing of Umaga getting let go from the WWE over the summer for Wellness Policy violations, and him refusing treatment, I had a feeling this wouldn't end well. And now word came over today that he's passed away, another professional wrestler dying before their 40th birthday.

Jim Ross has confirmed reports that Eddie "Umaga" Fatu did indeed suffer a heart attack last night. F4WOnline.com has noted that last night, Fatu fell asleep watching television, and then his wife found him shortly thereafter not breathing with blood running from his nose. At that point she rushed him to the hospital where he was then placed on life support.

According to a source I just spoke with, Fatu apparently suffered another heart attack after the decision was made to take him off life support, and following that heart attack, he was gone.

(via WrestleZone)

It's a damn shame. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Eddie Fatu's family. Rest in peace.

And something needs to be done with this. Too many wrestlers are killing themselves, chasing some kind of dream... or trying to forget another.

And now, check out some video from Umaga's WWE career:

vs. Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship (9/3/2007)


vs. John Cena (at Royal Rumble)


vs. Santino Marella