Category: Wrestling News

Koji Kitao Passes Away At 55

It was announced today in Japan that Sumo star turned pro wrestler, Koji Kitao, passed away back in February at the age of 55.

Kitao gained the rank of Yokozuna while still involved with Sumo wrestling but he ultimately turned to the world of professional wrestling in 1989 under the tutelage of Masa Saito. He wore a mask while competing in AWA and called himself “Monster Machine” so that Japanese media wouldn’t catch wind that he was competing in the States. When he returned to the New Japan Dojo, he competed in the promotion’s first Tokyo Dome event in February 1990. Kitao unfortunately had a falling out with Riki Choshu and it would result in his firing from the company.

Kitao worked with the SWS wrestling promotion after that, and their working partnership with WWE at the time allowed Kitao to be a part of WrestleMania 7. Even still, after lasting about a year with SWS, Kitao was fired when he began no-selling and shooting on his opponent at the time, John “Earthquake” Tenta. When the referee intervened in the match, Kitao kicked him and proceeded to tell the audience that wrestling was fake.

Kitao would be involved with various promotions after that, including one stint with UWFi. Ironically, Kitao was welcomed back in to the world of wrestling after he suffered a knockout kick to the head from one of his UWFi opponents, Takada. He would later transition to the world of MMA but officially retired in 1998 .

You can see a few matches from Kitao’s career below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Buff Bagwell Says He Doesn’t ‘Get’ AEW, Plus Bagwell talks About His Time In WCW & WWE

In an interview with Wrestling Inc,’s WINCLY podcast Buff Bagwell gave his thoughts on the upstart promotion All Elite Wrestling, saying he doesn’t know Cody or the Young Bucks. Here are highlights:

On AEW: “At my age, [WWE is the only option], because these other boys are for the young kids and unfortunately, they don’t get it. Nobody knows them. I’m in the industry and don’t know them,” Bagwell said of Cody and The Young Bucks. “So, if I don’t know them, y’all don’t know them. So I don’t get it.”

On his brief tenure in WWE: “It wasn’t my fault that I was 30 and when I joined the WWF and I was going to take somebody’s job. Every single star, when I signed, was 12 years older than me…. It wasn’t my fault, but I sure as heck paid for it.”

On his backstage reputation: “Backstage gossip… hard to get along with, complains. My mom, when she started coming on the road with me…they thought he was acting up, obviously. She realized one day that her son was doing everything right and still, it was just rules in WCW.”

On WCW White Box Rule: One of those WCW rules was a white box that all talent had to enter a code into to document their arrival at each show.”If you didn’t check the box before 12:00, you got fined $500. The second time was a grand and the third time was I think fired. Do y’all really think us being late is our problem,” asked Bagwell. Bagwell said the white box became a headache for all of the WCW talent and affected the morale of everyone. “White box half a shoe box,” Bagwell said about the box. “At any time there was a line of $10 million worth of talent waiting to put the code in so you didn’t get fined off your check. “That’s a true story and Lex Luger and Goldberg and everybody would go to that little box and everybody checked in.”

On his health: “I’m about 80 percent almost back. Not body-wise, muscle-wise, but I’m gonna be 100 percent back in 3-4 months.”

On getting respect he deserves: Bagwell feels he doesn’t always get the respect he deserves for his contributions to pro wrestling. However, he contends that he’s done something that no one else has ever done in the tag team division.

“Most importantly, I think everyone, except you, has always announced me as a five-time world tag team champion and I’m truthfully a six-time world tag team champion with five different partners,” Bagwell told Nick Hausman. “How many guys have had six tag team titles with five different partners? Please let me know. It’s never been done brother.”

On his stand up comedy routine: Bagwell is now telling his wrestling stories via Tall Tales at Doc Holliday’s Saloon in Georgia. He teased one of those stories about a late night encounter with Brian Pillman in which Pillman knocked on his hotel door at 3 am “asking for a razor.”

“It’s three in the morning, so y’all do the math,” said Bagwell before adding “God rest his soul, but he was done before he was 40. I’ve wrestled 70 dead guys now.”

Bagwell uses that backdrop to set up his on stage routine and to detail everything he’s been through in the wrestling world. He says his comedy routine is unique and not something that even the best comics in the world could replicate.

“If Kevin Hart had my material, he couldn’t make it up. It’s too deep. It’s too crazy. That’s what makes this such a great idea and hopefully guys and girls will turn out to raise awareness of this thing. It’s a big deal as people are hungry out there. So I’m really, really excited about it.”

Lucha Underground Reportedly Settles With Talent, Given Immediate Releases

Back in February it was reported King Cuerno (aka El Hijo del Fantasma) had filed documents in Los Angeles against the El Rey Network and Lucha Underground’s production Baba-G Productions, claiming his contract “illegally restricts” wrestlers from finding work in wrestling.

Along with that individual lawsuit, a class action lawsuit was possibly in the works including other stars, Ivelisse, Joey Ryan, and Thunder Rosa (aka Kobra Moon), who were looking to get out of their contracts with the stalled out promotion. Despite being between production of season four and five, wrestlers were still locked down to the promotion.

In a new report from Lucha Central, the El Rey Network and Baba-G Productions were sent three lawsuits. Two were from El Hijo del Fantasma and Texano Jr., both seeking financial damages. The third was indeed a class action lawsuit from Fantasma, Ivelisse, Ryan, and Rosa.

The report stated Texano Jr. withdrew his lawsuit and a settlement was agreed on for the class action lawsuit, as part of that Fantasma agreed to withdraw his personal lawsuit against the companies. Exact terms are not known, but those involved in the class action lawsuit are now released from their Lucha Underground contracts and are allowed to sign with other promotions.

Still no word yet on a season five taking place, Lucha Underground Co-Executive Producer, Chris DeJoseph, commented last month that he thought the show was “dead.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode Four – Wrestling Landscape Outside of the WWE, Austin Idol And More

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode Four

It’s a great time to be a fan of pro wrestling. While WWE remains the industry leader there are wrestling promotions out there who keep on going and much like in the past we are witnessing partnerships between companies that are good for the industry. Join Ed as he discusses all of this and much more on this week’s Wrestling News Blog Podcast!

Segment One – Wrestling Landscape Outside of the WWE

Segment Two – This Week in Wrestling News

Segment Three – Wrestling Throwback: Austin Idol

Wrestling News Blog Podcast is available on all major podcast apps such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.

Ivelisse Comments On Not Getting To Wrestle On Impact Events, Possible Reason Why

Lucha Underground and indie wrestling star, Ivelisse, has been using Twitter as of late to express her frustration with her contracted employer. The former two-time Trios Champion previously said that she has asked for her release from the company but continues to be denied, even claiming that she’s being “held hostage” by LU.

In Ivelisse’s most recent tweet of the situation, she questions why she is unable to work for Impact Wrestling if the two companies have been producing joint projects together. Casey Michael, owner of Squared Circle Sirens responded to Ivelisse’s tweet, calling her out for a previous statement she made about Tessa Blanchard.

Blanchard would actually add herself to the mix of messages, explaining to readers that Ivelisse once implied that a part of Blanchard’s success is her father’s doing.

Ivelisse began by writing, “Since the collaboration between brands, not once included in any of these joint projects, and when they did contact me out of the blue for a program, they canceled the night before I flew out for no reason whatsoever. Soooo uummmm, again, let me GO.”

Casey would then respond with: “Maybe it’s cause you s–t talked Tessa big time on an IG comment. I fail to see how everyone else on LU can work anywhere but they are “holding” Ivelisse.”

Lastly, Tessa would add: “Her exact words to me were “I never had a family name, I had to work for everything I have from the streets.”

I have dealt with people like that since I started and I am much stronger than those people.”

You can read the full tweets below:

https://twitter.com/Tess_Blanchard/status/1109871514948636672

Another Lucha Underground star, King Cuerno (aka El Hijo del Fantasma), previously took the time to file documents in Los Angeles against the El Rey Network and Lucha Underground’s production Baba-G Productions. In it, Cuerno’s lawyers claimed that LU’s contracts “illegally restricting” wrestlers from finding work in wrestling is in violation of California law.

Documents sent to Pro Wrestling Sheet detailed how wrestlers under contract make money based on the shows they appear on, and it doesn’t add up to much. You can see that statement below:

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.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

PAC No Longer Appearing At Upcoming WrestleCon Due To Visa Issues

WrestleCon has announced PAC will no longer be appearing at their WrestleMania weekend event due to visa issues.

The company released a statement saying:

We regret to inform you that PAC will not be at WrestleCon. We worked diligently over the past several months with our attorneys to ensure that he successfully received a Visa to travel into the United States. Our Visa application was filed in a timely manner, all fees were paid to attorneys, and all required information was disclosed to government officials. Our attorneys were confident there would be no issue and based on their experience and expectation, we advertised PAC on the assumption there would be no problem obtaining a Visa. However, after exhausting all efforts, we were unable to provide PAC the appropriate Visa to travel and work in the United States. We understand and share your disappointment of this unanticipated outcome, as does PAC.

Further, we would like to clarify that in no way will this unfortunate incident have any impact on his future with AEW. This issue is isolated to WrestleCon only.

According to WrestleCon, refunds will be issued to everyone who purchased photo ops and autographs with PAC. They’ll also be changing all the advertisements so he’s no longer shown.

Jeff Jarrett Asks For Extension In Lawsuit Against Anthem

PWInsider reports that Jeff Jarrett and his legal team have filed a motion asking for an extension that will give them until April 12 to submit an update on where things stand with the lawsuit Jarrett and Global Wrestling Entertainment have filed against Impact Wrestling’s parent company Anthem. Anthem’s attorneys have agreed to the request, which is due to Jarrett’s travel schedule, responsibilities his legal team has unrelated to the suit and international travel required from Anthem’s attorneys. All of the issues prevent all of the parties from meeting for a conference. They are currently figuring out a time to meet.

Jarrett and GWE are suing Anthem and Impact for Anthem allegedly violating state and federal trademark infringements in relation to GWE and violating Jarrett’s exclusive property rights to his own name, photograph, and other likeness. Jarrett says that Anthem prevented him from filing copyrights for the Amped footage, so he had to provide footage in order to do so and Impact/Anthem deleted all of the master recordings. Anthem admitted that they had had the footage in their possession and deleted all of it in the “normal course of business” so that they could “free up storage space.”

Source: 411Mania

The Four Horsemen To Reunite On WrestleMania Weekend At WrestleCon

A rare reunion of The Four Horsemen has been announced for WrestleCon during WrestleMania35 weekend in New York City. There will be photo-ops with two combinations of the Horsemen: the 1987 version with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard, JJ Dillon, or the 1988 version with Flair, Anderson, Blanchard, Dillon, Barry Windham. The 1988 version is the group that was inducted into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame class.

Tickets for the photo-ops are going for $150 on the WrestleCon ticket website. Details on the reunion are in the tweet below:

https://twitter.com/L13Promotions/status/1108342489184899072

 

Legendary Pro Wrestler Willis “Roger” Kirby Passes Away At 79

Cauliflower Alley Club took to Facebook to announce that Willis Kirby, better known as “Roger Kirby” in the ring, passed away at the age of 79. Kirby recently suffered a bad fall that left him with a broken hip and lead doctors to discover that he had stage four pancreatic cancer. He then developed a case of pneumonia that ultimately brought on his passing.

Kirby leaves behind a wife, Lila, their seven children, and several grandchildren. At 79, Willis spent nearly thirty of those years performing in professional wresting after his debut in 1960.

Although he had stints in the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, Kirby spent most of his career wrestling throughout the various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance. In the entirety of his career, Kirby held championship gold over 35 times in NWA, including the coveted NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Kirby wrestled in the Memphis Wrestling territory – CWA Memphis Wrestling

Kirby did have a brief experience working with WWE in 1986 but decided to give it up and retire from pro wrestling with the legacy he had created prior to that. He once told SLAM! Sports, “[I] want to be remembered as a top wrestler. I’d done everything that I wanted to do…I didn’t want to go back down the ladder.”

You can read the full Facebook post about Kirby’s passing below:

wRESTle in Peace, Roger (Willis) KirbyI don’t have the words to say just how broken-hearted I am at this moment. I just got a call from Roger Kirby’s wife, Lila. Roger passed away this afternoon at age 79. He fell three weeks ago and broke his hip. In the hospital, they discovered that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He contracted pneumonia and died today.

Roger and I traveled together whenever he came to Tennessee. At our reunion here in 2009, he stood up in front of everyone and told them that I had always been his best friend; and that I was the only person who stayed in touch regularly in the years after we got out of the business. We talked regularly, and every time, before he hung up, he always thanked me for being his friend.

Many people come in and out of out lives during our lifetimes, but there are only a select few we can truly say we loved. For me, Roger is one those special few.

I will never forget Roger or the great times we had together on the road. God bless you, Roger. I will never forget you. Thank you for your friendship. wRESTle in Peace.

Photo taken by Scott Teal at the Trevecca Nazarene College yearbook office/studio in 1977.

The full Facebook post and some matches from Kirby’s legendary career are featured below:

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode Three – Orton & Styles SmackDown Promo, Career of Jerry Jarrett And More

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode Three

Segment One – Shooting tragedy in New Zealand

Segment Two – Randy Orton and AJ Styles SmackDown Live Promo

Segment Three – All Elite Wrestling

Segment Four – This past week in wrestling news

Segment Five – Look at the career of wrestling legend Jerry Jarrett

Wrestling News Blog Podcast is available on all major podcast apps such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.