According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, MMA fighter Jessamyn Duke started wrestling training last weekend. She was working out in a class run by Rocky Romero at the Santino Brothers pro wrestling school in Southern California. Duke is friends with Shayna Baszler, who is in the Mae Young Classic. Along with Ronda Rousey and Marina Shafir, the four were known as MMA’s four horsewomen.
Source: 411Mania
The legendary Terry Funk has not wrestled his last match.
Funk, now 73, is advertised to wrestle on Sept. 23 for Big Time Wrestling in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
For the first time ever, Funk will team with The Rock N’ Roll Express, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson. Their opponents in a six-man tag team match are Jerry “The King” Lawler, Doug Gilbert and Brian Christopher. Click here for details on the event.
According to PWInsider.com, Funk has not made any wrestling-related appearances since last September when health issues forced him to leave a wrestling show early.
Source: WrestlingINC
Al Snow has launched a new business. He posted the following on Facebook:
Al Snow Launches New Business: COLLARxELBOW Has Arrived
A new era has dawned for sports apparel with the launch of COLLARxELBOW (collarandelbowbrand.com).
The name COLLARxELBOW comes from the opening grapple of a wrestling match. Like its namesake,COLLARxELBOW is the beginning, coming from a place of limitless possibilities, built by a performance dependent on one another.
COLLARxELBOW is the brainchild of Al Snow, a career wrestler and training coach for over 30 years. Al’s enthusiasm developing talent is expressed in his brand, which is founded on that same spirit of camaraderie.
Al Snow’s enthusiasm for building win/win relationships is echoed in the mission of the company: “If you aren’t successful, we aren’t successful.” COLLARxELBOW promotes the interaction between the apparel company, their ambassadors, fans, and anyone who has a passion for wrestling. Success for the company is firmly entrenched in the development of the partnership between themselves, the athletes, and the fans. The brand speaks to the athlete and the fan—the fan in all of us.
“This isn’t my company—this is our company,” Al says of the company’s purpose. “This is our brand, for all of us who love wrestling. It belongs to us.”
Like a match unfolding, the summer line will launch and everyone, regardless the athlete, can enjoy the show.
——————————————————————————
Collar and Elbow was founded on the traditional values of professional wrestling: two entities working together to create a product intended to connect with people on an emotional level. It should be a symbiotic relationship where one cannot flourish without the other. We strive to create a product that embodies our passion for professional wrestling expressed through street fashion.
Rey Mysterio is currently negotiating with WWE and Global Force Wrestling, according to Sports Illustrated.
Mysterio is under contract with Lucha Underground through the end of season three, which will air in September. He’ll be a free agent after that but has a 90-day non-compete agreement attached to his deal.
WWE is still searching for a big Latino star after failing to replace Mysterio in the first place. GFW had been pushing Alberto El Patron, who has had a lot of negative press from his tumultuous relationship with Paige. The current GFW World Heavyweight Champion is suspended indefinitely following a domestic dispute with Paige at the Orlando airport last week.
Mysterio, 42, left WWE in February 2015 but has been open to the idea of returning for over a year. His son, Dominick, is looking to follow in his father’s footsteps so Mysterio could opt to return to WWE in hopes that it helps his son’s future.
Lucha Underground could look to retain Mysterio but will likely have a difficult time out-biding WWE should they decide they want to bring him back. They have also not announced plans for a fourth season.
Source: WrestlingINC
Impact Wrestling issued the following:
IMPACT Wrestling Acquires Global Force WrestlingNASHVILLE | TORONTO – Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions LLC, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. and parent company of IMPACT Wrestling, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Global Force Entertainment, LLC d/b/a Global Force Wrestling.
Jeff Jarrett, the founder of both IMPACT Wrestling and Global Force Entertainment, will join Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions as a member of its board of managers, equity owner and Chief Creative Officer.
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Anthem as a partner to build the business,” said Karen Jarrett. “This partnership will be complementary of our strengths and bolster our capabilities to grow the IMPACT Wrestling brand. Ed Nordholm as President and Jeff Jarrett as Chief Creative Officer make a great tag team”
“We are excited by the progress we have made with IMPACT Wrestling since acquiring the business in January,” said Ed Nordholm, president of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions. “Jeff and his team have been instrumental in this success and we are pleased that we have reached an agreement on the basis of which we can combine our businesses to continue to grow. Slammiversary XV will be a fitting occasion to bring the promotions together and merge the titles under the new IMPACT combined belts. By combining our resources and talent, we can produce the best product for our global audience.”
For more information, visit http://www.impactwrestling.com.
About IMPACT Wrestling
IMPACT Wrestling is one of the world’s largest wrestling entertainment properties, creating more than 200 hours of original content annually across television and other digital platforms. IMPACT Wrestling specializes in events, products, merchandise and music, as well as the management and promotion of professional wrestlers. The roster features such greats as Bobby Lashley, Alberto El Patron, EC3, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, James Storm, Low-Ki and the high-flying X-Division, plus the lovely and lethal Knockouts, including Gail Kim. Its highly successful flagship, IMPACT WRESTLING, broadcasts in more than 120 countries around the world, including Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Pop (a joint venture of CBS Corporation and Lionsgate) in the United States, Fight Network and GameTV in Canada, Sony Six in India, Spike UK in the United Kingdom and SuperSport in Africa.
About Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. is a global sports media company with offices and studios in New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles. Anthem’s portfolio includes Fight Network, the world’s premier combat sports channel now broadcasting in the U.S., Canada and over 30 other countries, GameTV, featuring game shows, reality series, movies and sports available in over 9 million homes, IMPACT Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion seen in 120 countries specializing in television programs, events, products, merchandise, music, as well as the management and promotion of professional wrestlers, and Edge Sport, an extreme and action sports network recently launched in Canada in partnership with IMG. Anthem also has a significant ownership interest in Pursuit Channel, one of the top outdoor channels in the U.S. available in 45 million homes.
Anthem also owns the Fantasy Sports Entertainment Group (FSEG), which includes Fantasy Sports Network(FNTSY), the world’s first and only channel dedicated to fantasy sports, FNTSY Sports Radio Network, a 24/7 audio channel, RotoExperts.com, a leader in season-long fantasy sports news and analysis,DailyRoto.com, the most comprehensive and far-reaching daily fantasy sports website, and SportsGrid.com, a leader in general sports entertainment commentary.
The new Netflix series GLOW was finally released yesterday … and the series included a few surprise cameos from across the world of wrestling!
While the involvement of Awesome Kong and Chavo Guerrero, Jr. was known about before airing, the series based around Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling also surprised viewers with unexpected cameos.
Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo appeared in the first episode as Salty “The Sack” Johnson, a pro-wrestler hired (and fired) to train the female wrestlers.
Ex-WWE star Carlito and Impact Wrestling‘s Tyrus have small reoccurring parts as Carmen’s older brothers Tom and Kurt Wade — aka The Lumberjacksons.
While Alex Riley was known to have a part in the show before airing, now we know what it was. He plays a wrestler named Steel Horse, who main events a show some of the girls attend in episode 5.
Joey Ryan plays Mr. Monopoly in the same episode and his wife Laura James is there as well.
Episode 5 also features the Legion Hall where PWG events occur and Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian in a match as nameless wrestlers with Lucha Underground referee Marty Elias — and Daniels hits the Best Moonsault Ever.
Finally, while Guerrero himself does not appear in the series, the gym where the cast trains is named after him … but blink and you’ll miss the easter egg. Plus, a later episode is dedicated to Chavo Guerrero Sr. — who passed away earlier this year — and Brooke Hogan makes an appearance.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Jim Cornette released a new YouTube video where he responded to Vince Russo filing an order of protection against him. In the video, Cornette detailed police officers serving him with the document, an EPO out of Posey County, Indiana, at his home.
Cornette joked that he didn’t know what an EPO was, nor did he know the location of Posey County, Indiana. He thought EPO had something to do with environmental protection or hazardous waste until one of the officers asked him if he knew a Vincent Russo. Cornette recalled laughing and joking, calling for his wife, who also thought it was hilarious. The officers informed him the order was filed due to threatening comments made on national podcasts.
“I guess I’m going to have to modify my behavior,” Cornette said in response to being served with the 9-page protective order. “I thought that we were just bros doing podcasts, he always said it was my shtick — I think that was a quote — to knock him, then I did it for downloads and attention and everything. You know, ’cause that’s what my people expected of me and etc. and you wouldn’t take out a protection order over that, you’d be foolish to do that. So I didn’t realize he was taking it so seriously.”
“And obviously the last thing that I would ever do is disobey a court order, I would not do that. And I certify that here right now in public,” Cornette said. “So I’m going to do the things this court order says because a lot of the boxes are checked off… Vince Russo says he’s been a victim of stalking by me. That I threatened to cause physical harm to him that I placed him in fear of physical harm and this would happen not only on national podcasts but that I’ve been doing this — in his own handwriting here — since October of 1999 in five different states.”
Russo and Cornette’s feud goes back decades, with things escalated recently when Cornette claimed on WWE Network‘s Table For 3 episode entitled ‘Creative Committee’ that Russo writes Vince McMahon every week about wanting to go back. A claim Russo emphatically denied on the Wrestling Inc. podcast. This resulted in Cornette challenging Russo to a shoot fight and Russo issuing an ‘apology’. It was learned on Thursday that Russo had filed an order of protection against Jim Cornette.
“So I’m going to stay away from Vince Russo’s house that I’ve never been to,” Cornette said in response. “And his place of employment if we can find it. And I’m going to stay away from his wife Amy, who I haven’t seen since 1997. And I won’t call him on his current phone number that I’ve never called and didn’t have before last week.”
“And most of all, I promise that I would never commit,” Cornette paused and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, hold on, I’m going to read from, I’m actually quoting here. I would never do any of these things I’m prohibited from doing. I would never commit acts of domestic or family violence, stalking or sex offenses against Vince Russo or his household members or any other kind of member that he might have hanging around. Never would I do such a thing. I swear to that.”
Cornette stated that he wants to apologize to Vince Russo for putting him in fear of physical harm. He stated the last thing he wants on his conscious is the thought of Vince Russo lying awake at night sacred of him. Cornette said he didn’t realize what he had done and feels horrible. Cornette thought after Russo’s “apology” that they were making progress. You can watch Cornette’s latest video embedded in the player above. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please provide with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: WrestlingINC
Former Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, W*ING, and Big Japan Pro Wrestling star, Mr. Pogo, has passed away at age 66. According to a Yahoo Japan article, Pogo died in the hospital from a cerebral infection after receiving back surgery in Gunma, Japan.
Initially starting in Japan in the early 70s, he worked his way to Canada and the United States before coming back to his home country. Along the way, Deathmatches became his specialty and most fans will remember him – with his scythe in hand – facing off against Atushia Onita in a feud that would lead them to encounters like an Electrified Exploding Barbed Wire Double Hell Death Match. He also faced off against some of the best in the world including Ric Flair, Harley Race, and Terry Funk. In 1996, Pogo broke his neck during a match against Terry Funk and while he attempted a comeback, he was semi-retired after the injury.
Source: WrestlingINC
The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are here, and they sure know how to put on a show.
Netflix’s newest nostalgia-tinged offering, GLOW (streaming June 23), is a half-hour comedy that follows the formation of a women’s wrestling league in the 1980s and is inspired by the real-life brawlers. Starring Alison Brie and created by Liz Flahive (Nurse Jackie) , Carly Mensch (Orange is the New Black) and former WWE/TNA star Awesome Kong (Kharma), the series is an especially watchable, bedazzled comedy that is, above all, a rollicking good time.
GLOW is anchored by Brie as Ruth, a struggling actress frustrated by the limited parts Hollywood offers women. She and a host of other “unconventional” women end up at an audition for the endearingly low-budget wrestling league, headed by a failed grindhouse movie director (Marc Maron) and an overenthusiastic, trust-fund-kid producer (Chris Lowell). The process is not entirely smooth, as the group of amateur women attempts, on a low budget, to make it look like they’re hurting each other without actually killing each other. But hey, their hair always looks amazing. And big.
Source: USAToday
Looks like the fight between Vince Russo and Jim Cornette won’t be happening … because Russo has responded in their bitter battle by slapping his arch-nemesis with a restraining order.
Cornette tweeted a photo of the court document, which was filed on Friday, and it shows that Vince claims Jim has been stalking him. His caption said, “Golly, VOLDERMORT just filed a Emergency Protective Order on me. I can’t hang out with him anymore!”
As we previously reported, Cornette recently challenged his former coworker to a brawl on his podcast … with such stipulations as no guns, no knives, no cameras and no publicity.
According to PWInsider, Russo is claiming JC has been stalking him across state lines since 1999. He listed the 6/15 episode of Cornette’s show as an incident of stalking and harassment, due to Jim promising that he had a “gift” for Russo.
PWI also reports Cornette was served at his home in Kentucky and is ordered to stay away from Russo and his wife, as well as their home and VR’s place of employment … wherever that may be.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Wrestling News Blog 