Category: Industry News

Kimber Lee Talks Training At CZW, Accuses Owner DJ Hyde Of Misogynistic Behavior

After decades of shady practices, bad business, and various physical and emotional trauma, professional wrestling has finally started to change for the better. A lot of that has to do with many people adopting the “leaving it better than I found it” mindset. But unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case for female wrestlers, which former WWE and Impact Wrestling star Kimber Lee experienced first-hand during her days in CZW.

While she was known as “The Princess Who Saves Herself,” Lee was fortunate enough to have people to watch her back and save her when she needed it at the very beginning of her career. During an interview with Piers Austin, she recalled her experience as the first female graduate of the Combat Zone Wrestling Academy under the tutelage of Drew Gulak. 

The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion — who also trained a number of wrestlers over the years, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin ahead of his WrestleMania comeback – put the students through the wringer and Lee emerged with a solid foundation of in-ring ability and cherished memories from that period of time.

However, it was after her graduation from the academy that things began to go downhill. That’s when the alleged inappropriate behavior of CZW promoter DJ Hyde started to become more prominent. Lee confirmed that Hyde would frequently say, as chronicled during the Speaking Out movement, that he wouldn’t hire anyone he wouldn’t have sex with.

“It was something that was said to all of us and it’s terrible,” she said. “At the time, I was a 19-year-old girl that didn’t know how to react to that and I was the only girl. There was no one to stand up for me, so I got very protective of some of the girls that came afterwards.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jim Cornette Remembering “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton

This week on the Experience, Jim pays tribute to the life and career of his friend, legendary Midnight Express member, “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton.



Follow Jim and Brian on Twitter:

@TheJimCornette

@GreatBrianLast

Join Jim Cornette’s College Of Wrestling Knowledge on Patreon to access the archives & more! https://www.patreon.com/Cornette

Subscribe to the Official Jim Cornette channel on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/c/OfficialJimCornette

Visit Jim’s official site at www.JimCornette.com for merch, live dates, commentaries and more!

You can listen to Brian on the 6:05 Superpodcast at 605pod.com or wherever you find your favorite podcasts!

Jeff Jarrett Wants A Judge To Give Him Back The Rights To His Name

Jeff Jarrett, TNA, IMPACT, Anthem, GFW, Global Force Wrestling, WWE, WWE Hall of Fame

As part of an ongoing legal battle, Jeff Jarrett is trying to win back the rights to his own name and likeness from Anthem Sports & Entertainment — the parent company of IMPACT.

According to PWInsider, Jarrett and Global Force Entertainment filed an amended lawsuit on February 22 against Anthem. Jarrett and GFE had initially filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthem in August ’18 over the use of Global Force Wrestling’s Amped series, which was acquired by the company when they took ownership of Impact Wrestling from Dixie Carter.

Here’s a few interesting details from the amended lawsuit:

  • The lawsuit included a response from Anthem dated 11/30/18 in which they claim “the sixteen one-hour Episodes of Global Force Wrestling Amped content sought in this question no longer exist. It was deleted in the normal course of business, long prior to the onset of this litigation, in order to free up storage space on Anthem Wrestling’s systems.”
  • In a declaration, Anthem’s Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm explains “Anthem Wrestling was formed in order to acquire the assets of an entity called TNA Entertainment LLC, when Fight Media foreclosed on certain loans to that entity.”
  • Jarrett is now requesting a ruling that will cancel IMPACT’s trademark on his name and hand the rights back to him. Jarrett was recently hired to work as a backstage producer for WWE, so this ruling would make it easier for them to manufacture Jeff Jarrett action figures and include his likeness in video games/other media.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

AEW Announces Partnership With Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

All Elite Wrestling has confirmed it will be joining forces with one of Mexico’s biggest promotions — Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide!

AEW took to Twitter to announce the partnership: “We are an hour away from the Ticket Announcement Party but the news is breaking now!,” the tweet read. “[AEW]and [AAA] are teaming up to ”

The tweet included a video featuring AAA’s General Manager Dorian Roldán Peña talking about what the relationship between the two promotions will entail.

“Unfortunately we could not attend the present day. But we are very happy to be able to make this announcement with you,” Roldán says. “The announcement is that AAA Lucha Libre Worldwide and All Elite Wrestling come together in a new alliance that will present new surprises to the fans,” he continued, adding that the relationship would involve “exchange of talent,” and “surprise people.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Lucha Underground Star Files Dispute Against El Rey Network

Image result for Lucha Underground Star Files Dispute Against El Rey Network

Pro Wrestling Sheet has obtained documents showing a Lucha Underground star recently filed a dispute against El Rey Network over his contract and posted the following:

Lawyers for King Cuerno aka El Hijo del Fantasma (real name Jorge Luis Alcantar Bolly) filed the documents in Los Angeles against El Rey Network and Lucha Underground’s production Baba-G Productions asking for arbitration “in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s National Rules for the Resolutions of Employment Disputes.”

Pro Wrestling Sheet were sent a copy of the documents from a third party to the case who was asked if they wanted to be involved in potential legal proceedings.

The document states:

Plaintiff brings this action seeking to invalidate illegal provisions of a contract between himself and Defendants. Defendants is enforcing contracts with Plaintiff which are illusory, in that they require Plaintiffs to stop engaging in their lawful trade, while Defendants have no obligation to provide work to Plaintiffs, and only have an obligation to pay Plaintiffs if they are provided work on their show. This contract also violations California Business and Professions code 16600 and California public policy as they restrain Plaintiffs from working in their lawful profession.

Cuerno’s lawyer goes on to explain how Lucha Underground, LLC has the the authority to “illegally restrict” wrestlers from engaging in their profession in violation of California law:

Lucha Underground launched in 2014, a time when there was not a lot of options in the United States in the professional wrestling industry.

Though it is a violation of California law, all of the contracts offered by Defendants contained restrictions that prohibited the professional wrestlers from engaging in their lawful profession.

Since the creation of Lucha Underground, the professional wrestling has improved, and legitimate professional wrestling organizations started offering competitive contracts that did not exist when Lucha Underground was launching.

Specifically, Ring of Honor (ROH) wrestling is offering better contracts than where being offered in 2014. Ring of Honor is a highly respected legitimate wrestling company owed by Sinclair broadcasting. Contracts offered by ROH allow wrestlers to make a living wage.

A new wrestling company, All Elite Wrestling, is owned by a billionaire businessmen Shahid Khan and Tony Khan. They are offering top dollar contracts that allow wrestlers to make a good living working on a full time basis as professional wrestlers and attracting top talent – including talent from the WWE.

WWE is the king of the wrestling industry, and has been for decades. They have shown heightened interest in wrestlers currently working with Lucha Underground, partly due to the new competition posed by All Elite Wrestling and some of their biggest stars looking to jump from WWE to All Elite Wrestling. WWE wrestlers are well paid.

Finally, Impact Wrestling, often considered the #2 company over the last decade, recently was purchased by a Canadian company. The change in ownership has opened up opportunities that did not exist in 2014. Impact Wrestling wrestlers are well paid.

The docs go on to detail the drastic difference for wrestlers locked down to a contract with Lucha Underground:

By contrast, Lucha Underground broadcasts between 22 and 40 television episodes per year, with no live events like the other described wrestling promotions. If a wrestler appears on a show, it is usually just a couple. The payment per episode is usually less than $1,000.

The current contract that wrestlers signed with Lucha Underground require that wrestlers not perform services for other wrestling companies anywhere in the world without Defendants permission, but does not require Defendants to use Plaintiffs in their wrestling-theme television show.

While Plaintiffs are obligated to restrict their trade under the contract (which is illegal), Defendants are not required to use or pay Plaintiffs. Defendants have the option to use Plaintiffs, and IF Defendants use Plaintiffs, Defendants will pay Plaintiffs. IF Defendants chose not to use Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs are prohibited for working for years, are not paid, but still under the restrictive contract until it expires.

Most wrestlers under a Lucha Underground contract make less than $4,000 a year. Wrestlers working for other wrestling promotions make a living wage, usually starting around $50,000 a year and entering either 6 or 7 figures.

Cuerno claims he’s lost out on thousands of dollars because of this — as well as talks falling through with a company because of his contract — so he wants El Rey and Baba-G to pay up for putative and actual damages.

As you may recall, Ivelisse also recently spoke out against her contract with the company.

Cuerno’s attorney told LuchaCentral.com that there’s another lawsuit his office filed as “a class action to invalidate certain portions of their contracts that we believe are illegal.” The website claims Ivelisse, Joey Ryan and Kobra Moon (aka Thunder Rosa) are three of the wrestlers included in the class action lawsuit.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

As you may recall, Joey Ryan gave his support to Ivelisse, tweeting that he backs Ivelisse 100%.

AEW In Talks With “A Number Of Interested Parties” Over TV Deal

Image result for all elite wrestling

All Elite Wrestling’s inception will continue to dominate wrestling media headlines throughout the year, particularly with so many questions still be to be answered about the upstart promotion.

Television remains the biggest of these. AEW may live or die on their ability to score a deal, and with Impact Wrestling’s recent struggles in the TV market, they face a tough task to find a station offering the required levels of exposure.

AEW President Tony Khan spoke on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 12360 podcast earlier this week, though he was unable to go into any specifics on the matter. Here’s what he had to say:-

“There’s interested parties … a number of interested parties … it’s gonna be great for everybody. Like I said, I want it to be great for the fans. And I want every week, I want people to be excited about what this week is gonna bring in wrestling. Whether you’re a kid in school, or you’re at work and you want something to look forward to at night, I want it to be a big part of everyone’s week. I think for the talent, I just think this is a great opportunity for everybody to create something. “

This sounds promising. It was speculated last week that Khan would use his considerable media connections to score a favourable TV deal, and with networks like TBS/TNT mentioned, the early signs are encouraging. Securing a contract that’s even in the same ballpark as WWE’s upcoming Fox agreement seems like a pipe dream, though.

Big name signings will increase AEW’s bargaining power in these negotiations. Chris Jericho may not be enough on his own, though the acquisition of Kenny Omega may help convince networks that AEW is a viable commodity.

Source: WhatCulture

Pro Wrestling Illustrated Reveals “Wrestler Of The Year” And “Woman Of The Year” For 2018

Image result for Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Wrestler Of The Year" And "Woman Of The Year" For 2018

In a close vote, Becky Lynch topped Ronda Rousey for 2018’s “Woman of the Year”, as voted by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Lynch received 40 percent of the vote, four percent better than Rousey. Asuka and Tessa Blanchard were distant runners-up.

Rousey being selected number one in PWI’s “Woman’s 100” led to Lynch posting some disparaging tweets about PWI – and Publisher Stu Saks in particular. Even though Lynch appeared happy while posing for the PWI cover of the awards issue with the Woman of the Year plaque, she complained about her #11 placement in the “100” throughout much of the photo shoot.

Rousey achieved a near-record 87 percent of the vote in being named “Rookie of the Year”. The widest margin of victory in the 46-year history of the PWI awards was enjoyed by The Giant (Big Show), who garnered 88 percent of the vote for “Rookie of the Year” in 1996.

AJ Styles was named “Wrestler of the Year” for the third straight year. Styles now has earned a total of seven Achievement Awards. Styles earned 46 percent of the votes in the “Wrestler of the Year” category, followed by Kenny Omega (17 percent), Cody (8 percent), and Seth Rollins (7 percent). He also was voted “Most Popular” for the second straight year. The only other wrestler to receive WOTY honors for three straight years is Ric Flair (1984-1986).

Styles and Becky also topped Wrestling Inc.’s Best of 2018 for “Male Wrestler of the Year” and “Female Wrestler of the Year”, respectively.

PWI’s annual year-end issue can be purchased in print or digital formats at pwi-online.com.

Source: WrestlingINC

All Elite Wrestling Announce Team News

Image result for Watch history being made at the #AEW Double or Nothing Rally.

It looks like Alex Marvez will be one of the All Elite Wrestling announcers. The SiriusXM NFL Radio host now lists AEW in his Twitter bio, along with the “#ChangeTheUniverse” hashtag. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Marvez had been in line for an AEW announcing position and Marvez hosting Tuesday’s Double Or Nothing rally with Conrad Thompson is a good sign that he will get the position.

You can get a closer look at Marvez working the AEW rally in the video below, which was the lead-in to the actual rally. There’s no word yet on who might join Marvez at the AEW announce table but it does not look like Thompson will be calling the action.

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage News On Chris Jericho’s AEW Contract, AJ Styles Speculation

Image result for Backstage News On Chris Jericho's AEW Contract, AJ Styles Speculation

Chris Jericho’s new contract with All Elite Wrestling is reportedly for 3 years, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer said Jericho revealed that this is the best contract of his career.

As noted before, Jericho talked with WWE and AEW up until the last minute, signing his AEW contract just recently. It came down to AEW offering Jericho a better deal. Jericho will be allowed to work New Japan Pro Wrestling and his cruise, which are stipulated in the contract.

It’s no secret that AEW and WWE are getting aggressive when it comes to signing top talents to contracts. AEW is expected to pursue WWE talents when their contracts expire. Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks have friendly relationships with many of the WWE talents, which will help with potential negotiations. One top WWE Superstar who has a contract coming up that they are familiar with is AJ Styles. Meltzer speculated on WOR that Styles has a lot of leverage right now because he’s a top WWE talent and AEW would offer him a significant deal with an easier schedule. Styles is making a lot of money with WWE right now but AEW potentially could beat that. AJ turns 42 this year and if he really wants an easier schedule with good money, he could get that from AEW.

Meltzer noted that no one is in a better position between WWE and AEW right now other than Styles, except for maybe Kenny Omega. Omega’s future has not been confirmed but it’s still believed that he will end up with AEW after his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract expires on January 31.

It was also noted that AEW is offering good money to wrestlers right now. During the recent Double Or Nothing rally, Cody talked about how AEW wanted to change the wrestling economy and how they wanted to pay wrestlers good money because happy, paid wrestlers translates to happy fans. Some of the AEW contracts are totally exclusive but others are being allowed to work elsewhere. AEW officials are wanting to make everything beneficial for all talents. There’s no word yet on what talents like “Hangman” Adam Page are earning from AEW but WWE made a strong offer to Page and he turned them down.

Source: WrestlingINC

Wrestling Talent Wars Heating Up, Piper Niven Headed To WWE Soon?

Image result for AEW

The talent wars are heating up now that AEW has officially launched. All the top promotions are aware of the free agents, and they are making plays to sign them. Not only are WWE and AEW getting aggressive in signing talent, but you also have New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor trying to sign talents to contracts.

Meltzer noted that there are a lot of people in WWE who are interested in exploring their options with AEW, if not go ahead and sign with them. These talents obviously have to wait until their WWE contracts expire and there is also a “wait and see” feeling to see if AEW works out, and what it becomes.

Scottish women’s wrestler Piper Niven is reportedly signing with WWE soon, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Image result for Piper Niven WWE

Niven, also known to fans as Viper, participated in the 2017 Mae Young Classic and defeated Santana Garrett in the first round. She then defeated Serena Deeb in the second round but lost to Toni Storm in the third round.

Niven is currently signed to World of Sport Wrestling but it’s believed she is headed to WWE once her deal expires. Meltzer notes that All Elite Wrestling wanted to sign Niven but she decided not to sign with them.

Source: WrestlingINC