LAW Aug 24 Update - Serena Released by WWE
**The WWE has released Serena (Serena Deeb) with reports
that she was not the ideal candidate for the Straight Edge Society. Deeb signed
a developemental contract with the WWE in May 2009 and reported to Florida
Championship Wrestling where she worked until being called up to the
'Smackdown' roster in January of this year. On her first night on TV she
debuted as a fan out of the crowd and had her head shaved to join the S.E.S.
with CM Punk and Luke Gallows. The decision was made to release her rather than
have a blow off angle on television, which is funny considering she won a match
last week on TV where the stipulation was that if she lost she would be out of
the group.
**The August 24th edition of ‘Review a Raw' is online now featuring
Wai Ting and I reviewing Monday night's taped edition of ‘Raw' featuring Sheamus
on a throne.
**Serge Salinas,
the husband of Dixie Carter makes his on screen debut this Thursday night on
'Impact'. At least the company is slowly evolving from mid 80's WWF to mid 90's
ECW and now we're getting to 1999 WWF with the McMahon family minus the
business boom.
**The former Katie Lea Birchill received a tryout match at the TNA 'Impact' tapings
on Monday night in Orlando
and worked under the name Kat LeRoux (no relation to Lash).
**Tonight's edition of 'NXT' was taped last week in Fresno, California
and will feature the final three contestants - Alex Riley, Kaval and Michael
McGillicutty in a quiz segment as well as MVP Vs Cody Rhodes. The finale for
Season 2 takes place a week from tonight in Albany, New York.
**TNA is in Orlando, Florida tonight for the TV tapings, which
will be for the 'go home' edition of Impact on September 2nd.
**The main event was officially announced on the taped edition of 'Raw' Monday
night for the September 19th 'Night of Champions' event in Chicago, Illinois:
*Sheamus Vs John Cena Vs Randy Orton Vs Edge Vs Chris Jericho Vs Wade Barrett
for the WWE Title
**They did announce on 'Raw' that all the championships will be defended at the
'Night of Champions' pay per view so we're looking at seven matches unless they
do a Title Vs Title program involving the women.
**Here are the semi final matches for the TNA Title tournament, which will take
place at the September 5th 'No Surrender' pay per view in Orlando:
*Kurt Angle Vs Jeff Hardy
*The Pope Vs Mr. Anderson
**For those having problems with the Dave Teixeira interview on the site, you
can download the full interview at http://thefightnetwork.com/fightradio/LAW-Dave-Teixeira-Aug-2010.mp3.
**Al Ovadia has been hired by TNA as their new Chief
Marketing Officer.
**The back and forth words between the WWE and Chris Nowinski continues. This
began after an interview Nowinski conducted over the weekend stating that the
late Lance Cade (Lance McNaught) had confided in him that he used steroids and
needed them for his size. The WWE responded criticizing Nowinski and claiming
that Cade would not have confided to a 'stranger' that he was on steroids,
which was a ridiculous statement to make considering both worked together in
Ohio Valley Wrestling as a tag team and were on the 'Raw' roster together in
2003 and 2004. Nowinski responds to The Hill regarding those comments made by
the WWE.
**The funeral for Skandor Akbar (Jim Wehba) took place
earlier today. Jim Ross noted that he attended the service and a number of Dallas based wrestlers
attended as well.
**Michael Benoit will be appearing on ABC's 'Nightline' this Thursday night at
10pm EST.
**Rasche Brown announced on Twitter that he has quit Ring of Honor. He appeared
on the ‘Pro Wrestling Radio' report on Monday night and explained that he
missed his flight to the TV tapings this weekend and to rectify the situation
was going to drive to the Richmond and Charlotte shows this coming weekend on
his own dime to make up for the mistake. Ring of Honor wanted to punish Brown
by removing him from the September 10th and 11th shows
(with the September 11th event being the ‘Glory by Honor IX' iPPV)
and Brown was not amicable with that decision stating he was being made an
example of and gave the company an apology and a viable alternative for the
punishment and wasn't going to be removed from the September shows.
**The WWE's 'TLC' pay per view will take place December 19th this year in Houston, Texas.
**The Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation presented a cheque for $32,000 on Tuesday to
the Milton District Hospital Foundation from donations that were raised at this
past spring's inaugural Tiger's Wrestle Fest in downtown Milton, Ontario
as part of the annual Milton Street Festival.
**Vince McMahon turns 65-years old today.
**A reminder for LAW listeners that Trish Stratus and Lita will be in studio
this Sunday night for the show and if you have any questions for them, please
send them to law@liveaudiowrestling.com.
The LAW airs every Sunday night at 11pm EST on Sirius 98 Hardcore Sports Radio.
LAW MMA UPDATE
**Lance Pugmire of the L.A Times reports that the UFC has decided to go ahead
with an immediate rematch between Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and
Chael Sonnen with a target date of either December 31st or February 5th. The
UFC has never run a live pay per view event on New Year's Eve in the past (they
have run a taped 'Best of' show) and is an interesting experiment for the
company to see if a big fight can draw on what theoretically should be a tough
night to draw. I would definitely go through with it this year as a test to see
if they can draw on that night as pay per view has never been hotter for the company
and the demand will be high for the rematch because of how the fight ended at
UFC 117. It will definitely take a major marquee fight to draw on New Year's
Eve and that rematch fits the bill.
**In a radio interview to promote UFC 118, UFC President Dana White confirmed
that the winner of the Kenny Florian Vs Gray Maynard fight this Saturday night
will receive the next UFC Lightweight Title shot. Florian was defeated by then
champion B.J Penn in his last title opportunity at UFC 101 in August 2009 and
has since stopped Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi. Maynard is undefeated in his
MMA career and has yet to receive a title shot but does hold an April 2008
victory over current champion Frank Edgar.
**Tonight The Fight Network debuts a great feature called ‘The Shoot' profiling B.J Penn and his family as B.J prepares for his fight with Frank Edgar this Saturday night. Tune in at 7pm EST and will also replay late tonight at 2am EST and Wednesday at 7:30pm EST.
**The UFC has posted the newest video blog for Dana White where he hangs out with Mike Tyson and they discuss the Randy Couture Vs James Toney fight this Saturday night at UFC 118.
**MMA Junkie reports that Saturday night's Strikeforce ‘Houston' event averaged 367,000 viewers on Showtime with a
peak rating of 470,000 viewers for the main event between Muhammed ‘King Mo'
Lawal and Rafael ‘Feijao' Cavalcante.
**If you missed the 'Countdown to UFC 118' event on Monday night, Spike TV will
be replaying the show Wednesday night at 7pm EST, late Thursday at 12:08am EST
(immediately following TNA 'Reaction') and Saturday at 6pm EST.
**Former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Muhammed 'King Mo' Lawal will
be out of action until at least June of next year as he will be undergoing
surgery for ACL and PCL next Tuesday.
**James Toney turns 42-years old today.
**The full interview I conducted with UFC Canada Director of
Operations Tom Wright is online here discussing the announcement for Ontario to sanction and
regulate the sport, the Ontario Athletic Commission and more.
**MMA Weekly reports that the UFC has signed light heavyweight Vladimir
Matyushenko to a new four fight deal with the promotion. Matyushenko is coming off
a one sided loss to Jon Jones at the 'UFC on Versus 2' event earlier this month
in San Diego.
Since returning to the UFC, Matyushenko has gone 2-1 inside the octagon with
wins over Igor Pokrajac and Eliot Marshall. Matyushenko once headlined a pay
per view in 2001 at UFC 33 challenging Tito Ortiz
for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title after original challenger Vitor Belfort had
to pull out of the fight due to injury. It was one of the worst UFC shows in
company history with the five round main event being cut off before the fight
ended by some pay per view providers after going past their time limit on pay
per view.
**Strikeforce will return to Showtime on October 9th for their next big show
headlined by Nick Diaz Vs TBA (they are pushing for Jason 'Mayhem' Miller but
Diaz is adamant that he wants to fight at 170 pounds and Miller is hoping for a
catch weight bout as he fights at 185 pounds) plus Sarah Kaufman defends the
Women's Bantamweight Title against Marloes Coenen (Meisha Tate will fight the
winner of that fight, likely in early 2011).
**Chael Sonnen - real estate agent.
**The Maximum Fighting Championship promotion has announced their full lineup
for their September 10th event at the River Cree Resort and Casino outside of
Edmonton, Alberta and airing on HD Net, here are the main card bouts:
*Ryan Ford Vs Douglas Lima
*Antonio McKee Vs Luciano Azevedo for the MFC Lightweight Title (McKee has
stated he will retire if he cannot finish Azevedo)
*Jesse Taylor Vs Tom Watson
*David Heath Vs Solomon Hutcherson
*Mike Nickels Vs Dwayne Lewis
*Curtis Demarche Vs Tyson Steele
LAW FEEDBACK - ‘MY BIGGEST WRESTLING REGRET' CONTEST
Michael Howard Jr.
My name is Michael
Howard and I live in Nashville,
TN. I can't go to the event, so
please don't put me in the contest, but I have a great story about The Rock
that I wanted to share. I was in Richmond,
VA in 1998 seeing a WWF (at the
time) event. It was a live taping of Raw. I was with my cousin and his mom was
working concessions because she was raising money for his brother's baseball
team. We had been to a taping of WCW Thunder earlier in the year and got to
hang out afterward in the wrestler's parking lot because she was parking there
too. I had met DDP and Ed Leslie at that event, so we were hoping to meet some
wrestlers at Raw as well. Before the show, we met Kurt Angle--who wasn't even
on TV yet, and Debra McMichael. However, all we really wanted was to meet the
IC Champion--The
After the show, we
went into the lot and waited. A security guard gave us a hint that the Rock
hadn't left yet, but that he wouldn't be out until late because he wanted to
get out without signing autographs. I had no interest in autographs--I needed a
picture for proof at school. We kept waiting and finally, he came out. He had
on the bull shirt and the classic black pants with the white stripes. The only
other person waiting with us was a very fat woman who was decked out in Rock
merchandise. When he walked out into the parking lot, she fell on her hands and
knees at his feet crying, "I can't believe it's you. I love you!" She
said it over and over. It was very awkward for all of us, but The Rock made a
great move by not breaking kayfabe and treating the woman like a piece of crap.
He told her to get up and calm down. He signed an autograph and told her to go
home to her fat husband.
Once he came over to us, he couldn't break his character after
treating woman terribly. He asked us what we wanted and we said a picture. He
said, "Sure, but make it quick because I have better things to do than spend
time with you two jibronis." He took the picture, shook our hands, and
then got in the back of a Lincoln
and left. At the time I thought, "Wow, that guy is the biggest jerk I have
ever met." But in the days after I realized he was brilliant. He used his
character to get out of an awkward situation and move his life a long. It was a
great moment for a little mark.
Imran Khan:
Besides ordering
December to Dismember 2006 and watching Al Snow vs Big Bossman on kennel in a
cell match, Gail Kim worked in my gym before she got signed back in 99 and I
always remember trying to hit on her but it was more in my head. If I knew she
would end up somewhere in wrestling or that she was into wrestling I should've
made more of a connection with her and who knows maybe I would've been her
manager
Jonathan Hancock:
I was at ROH in Toronto I
was lining up to get Bret Hart's autograph. I had never met him and was hoping
to get a picture as well. I knew that ROH said there were to be no pictures and
no digital cameras in the building. I snuck one in in my cargo shorts and as I
walked up to Bret I pulled out the camera and asked if I could get a picture.
Before I could finish the ROH security grabbed the camera out of my hand and
physically escorted me out of the building. They took me on either side by the
arm and walked me out. My friends stayed to watch the show in the Ted
Reeve Arena though haha. I regret trying to get a picture with Bret Hart
not getting to see the ROH Death Before Dishonor Night 1 which featured Lance
Storm. I did return to see Night 2 and buy Night 1 on DVD though.
Stephen Wright:
My biggest wrestling
regret stems all the way back to Wrestlemania X8,
and I'm sure it's one many other Torontonians share. Me and my best
friend Jaemeel STILL to this day discuss the grave mistake we made.
Sitting there, basking in the glow of Wrestlemania, as Rock Hogan
started their staredown, we inexplicably began to yell Hogan's name.
Over and over again, like some sick ghost of years past had overtaken
us, we ressurected Hulkamania until we had no voices left. If only
we'd known what we were doing, the damage we were causing, THE MONTHS
UPON MONTHS OF MR. AMERICA
VIGNETTES WE'D HAVE TO ENDURE. Our
cheering of Hulk Hogan made him a superstar Babyface again, and Vince
made him the focal point for a long time after that. Hogan even talks
about it in his first book, and how he was supposed to RIDE OFF INTO
THE SUNSET after that match, but the Toronto
crowd changed his mind.
Who knows, if we hadn't cheered him, maybe we wouldn't be enduring the
shit he pulls every week in TNA. Me and my friend live with this
guilt everyday, and it's a burden I will carry for years to come. A
burden of guilt I'm sure many other fans there that night share.
Forgive us wrestling world, we knew not what we could do.
Stefan in Scarborough:
My biggest wrestling regret besides weekly watching TNA happened on July 25, 2008, the day of ROH's Canadian debut. I had won two tickets from you fine gentlemen and found out shortly after that I had nobody to go with. My buddies were busy and couldn't let me know until the day of, and the wifey was visiting family in California. I went to the arena, waited outside alone like some loser constantly checking my phone. I heard the show start up and still hadn't heard from my friends. I finally just said screw it and took one ticket and made it in time to see the danielson/castognoli match. My regret is worrying about looking like a loner and befriending jackasses, because i missed three matches and despite the heat at Ted Reeves, had a great time with other wrestling fans!
Roark Chrichlow:
When I was just a wee
bit lad
I hoped from Santas sack
That upon me christmas morn.
I have me Outback Jack
Tore I at the wrapping
yet tried to stay composed
which was needed at my shock
at his useless rubber pose
The Lariat, the body slam
were moves he could not do
though in a moment of inspiration
managed and elbow drop or two.
So alas I blew my whish
but at Santa I did not snipe
I learned quite young, right there and then
to not buy Vinces' hype
Daniel Skracic:
My biggest wrestling regret happened when I went to wrestling school in Calgary at the Storm Wrestling Academy. It was half way through the training when we were learning powerbombs.
What I really liked about the training was that Lance Storm, who is one of my favourite wrestlers ever, actually got in the ring with us to practice the moves and he had matches with us as well. It was also a negative for me because I'd get really nervous and make mistakes. I would compare it to a hockey player who idolized Wayne Gretzky actually playing against him, the last thing you'd want to do is injure your idol.
Anyways, Lance brought a blue mat into the ring so we could learn powerbombs. Instead of trying the move for the first time with one of the small lightweight students, Lance told me to do the move to him. I proceeded to drop him right on the back of his head.
It was most certainly the scariest moment of my life, and for a second I thought I had paralyzed him. Thank God he got up right away, but then I thought he was going to kill me. I apologized profusely, but Lance was really cool and just said "No big deal. That's why we've got this big blue mat." I'm glad I didn't hurt him, but I never heard the end of it from the other students who ribbed me about it for the rest of the training, I became the guy who almost killed Lance Storm.
Anthony Skatz:
When I was about 5
years old, I had started getting into wrestling heavy. I was watching the TV
shows and loving it, and I was told by my neighbor that they usually have their
best events are on what are called "Pay Per Views." As a favor, and
being a fan himself, my neighbor taped the first PPV I've ever seen: SummerSlam
1992 at Wembley Stadium in London.
I remember watching that tape pretty often over about a 2 year span, and loving
the Ultimate Warrior/Macho Man main event. I thought that was a great way to
end their show.
...Or at least that's where the tape ended, leaving out a match that I never
knew took place until I saw it about a decade later: Bret Hart vs. British
Bulldog, in what many consider one of the best matches in WWF history, and is
one of my favorite all-time matches. So for 10 years, my favorite wrestling
event ever was sans the best match on the show. Kinda sums up my wrestling
fandom in a nutshell. So my main wrestling regret: not caring enough about
wrestling's history for so long and what I missed out on.
I'm not in the area to win, but I thought you Mother Canuckers would enjoy my
apathy.
Aveet Vajawala:
I was asked tonight to share my biggest wrestling regret so I've decided to approach this question from a different perspective. I've been watching wrestling for the past 10 years. My first exposure to the WWF product was in late 1999 right around the Stephanie/Triple H marriage angle. But it was the stellar year the promotion had in 2000 that made me a hardcore fan. I was only 10 years old, and I got to see The Rock, Undertaker, Mick Foley, and Austin on a weekly basis and most importantly saw E&C, Jericho and Angle develop into superstars. This incredible period culminated in one of the best pay-per-views of all time in Wrestlemania X7. Now the true regret begins.... I was 11 years old when the Invasion angle began and was 13 years old when I started listening to Live Audio Wrestling. My biggest wrestling regret was not having the LAW during those 2 years! Oh the horrible memories and tragedy I would have to suffer by myself as I had to endure WWF's botched attempt of creating an invasion by WCW. The sleepless nights and mind-numbing pain would have been bearable if I had The LAW to vent out some frustration. The headaches from understanding the Invasion booking and their inability to make the Alliance a legitimate threat could have been avoided if I had Marek and Lovranski's 2 hours of support every Sunday night. I describe this time as being in alcoholics anonymous without having a sponsor. I had no one to teach me, no one to guide me, and no one to expose me to the true processes of the industry. DDP as a stalker, the 5-time champ Booker T as a complete idiot, and Austin turning sides for no apparent reason??? How do you expect anyone to go through this crap by themselves?? I waited for 2 full years until I became an true knowledgeable fan. I have to thank The LAW for teaching me appreciate the actual wrestlers and understand the smart ways to watch and analyze WWE. If it wasn't for The LAW, I probably would hate every heel out there just because they weren't a babyface. My biggest regret is not having you guys earlier in my life because I sure as hell would not be continuing to watch if I didn't have this show to keep me going. My advice...really market The LAW to every single child/teenager out there because we need to pour this kool-aid down the throats of this global audience to make them knowledgeable, well-informed, and engaging wrestling fans....And to take every poor soul out of the C-Nation Prison.
John Morris:
I can't get to Canada, so don't count this for the contest (assuming the box seat was the prize for this, I'm a little drunk and don't quite remember)
It's the year 2000, Diamond Dallas Page is a HOT product, and I'm 13 years old at a hobby shop, looking up at an autographed DDP plaque priced at $75 with that exact amount of money in my wallet since this was shortly after my birthday. The guy behind the counter, seeing the uncertainty in this child's eyes, says to me "Hey, ten years from now you'll be able to make ten times the amount of money back by selling that thing. Think about how popular that guy is." By all logic, he should have been right, so I happily handed the man the largest amount of money I've ever received for my birthday, and waddled home plaque in hand.
It's been ten years, guys, and all I have to show for it are the cracked plaque, a six pack of George Killian's Irish Red and a steady stream of tears.
Yorkis:
I'm from Philly. In December of 2000, I was on an 8-month work assignment in a town called Stockbridge, just south of Atlanta. I used to go to the same bar every Sunday during football season to watch the Eagles games. I was usually the only Eagles fan in the bar. During one of the games, another guy in an Eagles jersey comes in and sits next to me since I have the best view of the TV showing that game. I quickly recognize that this guy is Michael PS Hayes! I was a huge Freebirds fan knew he was with the WWF (under the Doc Hendrix name at the time) - but I was 21 yrs old, thought I was cool, and didn't want to mark out in front of this guy. He introduced himself as "Mike", and we chatted a bit about football, even talking about the XFL a bit, and I said I recognized him from TV. He was drinking heavily and by halftime could barely keep his eyes open, so we didn't have a lot of in-depth conversation... but his wife - who was drunk but still functional - was very chatty and she and I talked for a long time.
Before she left the bar (probably to take Mike to the hospital to get his stomach pumped), she told me that they were having a big barbecue at their house the next weekend with a bunch of Mike's wrestling buddies... and I was invited! Then she wrote her number on a napkin and told me to call her for directions. I said I would call - but my work assignment was over, my apartment was packed up, and I had already planned to drive home to Philly the day of the barbecue. Of course, since I am a fucking moron, I never called her and just headed back up north for good.
I've been a huge wrestling fan my entire life. I was at Starrcade in DC for Hogan vs Sting, at Wrestlemania in Philly, at Summer Slam when Owen broke Austin's neck, at the ECW Arena for the Funk/Sabu barbed wire match, in Daytona for the Bash at the Beach where Jarrett laid down for Hogan, saw Mabel win King of the Ring (I guess I could have left that one off the list) and even did some announcing for a local promotion on a cable access channel - so I have tons of great wrestling memories! But I'll always regret blowing the chance to go to Mike Hayes' barbecue and meet my a bunch of my favorite superstars, which would have been the greatest mark-out event in the history of wrestling fandom. I don't even want to try to guess who would have been there. It pains me even to this day.
Great show and keep up
the good work!
**
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You can contact John Pollock at john@thefightnetwork.com
