As reported by Brian Fritz Saturday, “Cowboy” James Storm is leaving TNA. We were told that Storm has been talking about this for some time, and his contract expires on Tuesday.
It also should be noted that within TNA there is skepticism of all releases because of the belief they are being kayfabed for a GFW invasion angle. However, the belief is that Low Ki’s departure is legit and that while the others may be as well, anything is possible.
Of note, Jeff Jarrett’s 7/24 GFW TV taping in Las Vegas is right in the middle of the eight scheduled days of TNA tapings in Orlando that same week.
Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com is reporting that James Storm has been granted his release by TNA. Storm had been with the company since 2002. Scherer notes that Storm and TNA management came to an agreement where he is able to work for other promotions, but agreed to appear at any future tapings. He also notes this may be a common occurance going forward.
With reports of pay being again late for production people, and the losses of Low-Ki, Sam Shaw, and Gunnner, it’s been quite the week for the promotion. The company is also rumored to potentially be losing Magnus, and Austin Aries in the very near future as well.
– WWE Network will be airing a 30 minute Finn Balor special, likely built around the clips from the last few weeks of NXT profiles on him, this Thursday at 10:30 p.m. EEST. The show will build this Saturday morning’s special from Sumo Hall, the same show with Balor battling NXT champion Kevin Owens.
– The latest lawsuit against WWE litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros was filed earlier Friday in federal court in Dallas by the family of the late Matt Osborne, best known as Maniac Matt Borne, and the original Doink the Clown. The lawsuit, similar to ones filed by Billy Jack Haynes, Vito LoGrasso, Ryan Sakoda and the wife of the late Nelson Frazier, alleged that Osborne suffered concussions in wrestling that led to depression and drug abuse which led to his 2013 death.
Jerry McDevitt spoke to the Dallas Morning News, noting the similarty to the other suits and saying they have no merit, claiming attorneys are finding destitute pro wrestlers and telling them there’s money to be made. The suit was filed by Michelle James, the mother of Osborne’s two children.
– WWE has announced the main event for Raw on Monday from Washington, DC, as Seth Rollins & Kane vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose.
– Kurt Angle b TNA Champion Ethan Carter III via DQ when Carter hit the ref to save the title
– Dixie Carter returned, but to EC 3’s surprise, she’s now a babyface, apologizing for all the things she’s done. Fans didn’t buy her as a face.
– Grado b DJ Zema Ion in a match taped for Xplosion
– Brooke b Marti Bell to retain the Knockouts title
– Carter announced the return of Bully Ray as the new General Manager. He’s a babyface and said he’s going to take TNA to the promise land, kind of like when Vince McMahon turned over the hosting duties of TNT to Gene Okerlund.
– Drew Galloway won a 20 man Battle Royal to earn a shot at EC 3’s title as ordered by Bully Ray
– Matt Hardy b Bobby Roode in a tables match
– Tag Team Champion sEddie Edwards & Davey Richards b Hernandez & Kenny King
– TNA Champion EC 3 b Drew Galloway to keep the title when Eli Drake turned heel on Galloway
– James Storm started bullying Khoya. Khoya attacked Storm, turned babyface and is now back to being Mahabili Shera. He started doing a pro-India character.
– Bully Ray suspended Drake for one week without pay for interfering in the EC 3 vs. Galloway match. He threatened to strip EC 3 of his title.
– Bram b Magnus in a street fight. Storm beat up Magnus after the match.
– Matt Hardy won a four-way ladder match over Hernandez, Bram and Eric Young to get the next shot at EC 3. Ken Anderson attacked Bram.
– The King of the Mountain match will be for the newly created King of the Mountain title. Since they taped weeks of TV and nobody showed up with the belt in front of the people, and everyone in that match but Jeff Jarrett has been on TV, that makes Jarrett the favorite.
MMA Fighting has an interview with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s head coach Andre Pederneiras in which he says that the Brazilian doctors that examined Aldo say he has fractured ribs.
He said the American doctors looked at the X-rays and said they were not fractured. Pedernairas said that he isn’t a doctor so he doesn’t know which is correct. Aldo is undergoing treatment, but right now is in great pain and is doing no training. Pederneiras said that UFC has not put pressure on Aldo to take the fight.
PWG has announced these names for Battle of Los Angeles 8/28 to 8/30 in Reseda, CA:
Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Chris Hero, Brian Cage, Pentagon Jr., Drew Galloway Fenix, Jack Evans, Drago, Aero Star, Biff Busick, Speedball Mike Baily, Marty Scurll, Timothy Thatcher, Zack Sabre Jr., Matt Sydal, Rich Swann, Andrew Everett, Trent ?, Mark Andrews, Angelico, Drew Gulak, Trevor Lee and Tommy End.
The latest lawsuit against WWE litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros was filed earlier today in federal court in Dallas by the family of the late Matt Osborne, best known as Maniac Matt Borne, and the original Doink the Clown.
The lawsuit, similar to ones filed by Billy Jack Haynes, Vito LoGrasso, Ryan Sakoda and the wife of the late Nelson Frazier, alleged that Osborne suffered concussions in wrestling that led to depression and drug abuse which led to his 2013 death.
Jerry McDevitt spoke to the Dallas Morning News, noting the similarty to the other suits and saying they have no merit, claiming attorneys are finding destitute pro wrestlers and telling them there’s money to be made.
The suit was filed by Michelle James, the mother of Matt Osborne’s two children.
– Tommaso Ciampa b Johnny Gargano: said to be excellent
– Joey Ryan & Candice LaRae b Josh Alexander & Ethan Page: Crowd loved Alexander, knowing he’s about to go under the knife. He was doing a retirement sendoff and Page attacked him and laid him out. Got good late.
– Biff Busick b Timothy Thatcher: excellent
– PWG Champion Roderick Strong b Speeball Mike Bailey: Said to be a blow away match.
– Brian Cage b John Silver: Comedy that Silver thought he was bigger and stronger than Cage
– Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara, her fiancee Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike movies) and Chris Bauer (True Blood) were in attendance at the show.
– Zack Sabre Jr. b Chris Hero via ref stoppage after a kick to the head. Hero’s finger was bleeding everywhere and Sabre worked on the hand.
– Young Bucks b Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett to win the PWG tag titles due to interference from Roderick Strong. The Bucks & Strong laid out a ton of people and the show ended with the lights out and Super Dragon making a heel turn forming Mount Rushmore 2.0 with Dragon, Strong and The Young Bucks with new T-shirts.
– Was told Busick vs. Thatcher, Strong vs. Bailey, Sabre vs. Hero and Bucks vs. Lee & Everett were all **** or better.
Tonight on New Japan on AXS, the first of eight shows covering the 2014 G1 Climax tournament begins. For me, it’s one of the best tournaments there has ever been in professional wrestling. The level of match quality in each match was outstanding, and by the end of the tournament I was giving away so many stars it should have been considered illegal! The problem with so many great matches, however, is that it’s easy to forget a lot of them, with some becoming lost in a sea of excellent match quality. Thanks to these next eight weeks, however, I get to rekindle my memory.
Take tonight’s main event, for example. I had to look at my notes for last year’s show. I had given Shibata vs. Nakamura ****¼. Looking back, I probably wouldn’t have given it that after having just finished watching it again. But star ratings are superficial, what matters most is the enjoyment factor. Four stars or three, I’m glad I was able to take a trip back down memory lane, reliving some of the best matches from last year’s tournament. It’s gonna be a blast!
Tonight’s show is from Day 1 of the G1 Climax tournament from last year, taking place on July 21, 2014 in Hokkaido.
We start off with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma. The funny thing about Honma’s run in this tournament is that he was never supposed to be in. This tournament was to show Kota Ibushi as a new threat in the heavyweight division. But a concussion suffered shortly before the tournament began put him out of the tourney and Honma stepped in. Honma is super over wherever he goes, despite constantly losing. But that’s his gimmick; he’s the underdog who takes his opponents to the limit, only to be caught and beaten at the very end.
This was how the match went; Honma kept coming back with offense until Tanahashi blindsided him with a dragon suplex. Honma immediately went up to his feet, but got taken out with a sling blade and was pinned with the high fly flow. This was cut short due to time restraints (all matches barring the main events will be going forward) but this was fun while it lasted.
That match is followed up with AJ Styles taking on Kazuchika Okada. Going into this match, Styles didn’t have a ton of buzz. He won the IWGP title, but it was due to interference, something hardly done in New Japan. Not to mention, his last few years in TNA were lackluster to say the least. But this was the match that changed everyone’s mind. Styles was in his element here, taking charge and having a fantastic match with Okada who was just as great. He picks up the win with a fierce rainmaker to the face, which doesn’t seem that cool to take, but fun to watch. Okada cuts a promo after the match saying he has three things to say. One, AJ, next time we meet we’re fighting for your belt. He also promised to win every single match in the G1. His third point…well, he has nothing, so he asks Gedo why no one’s been able to beat him. Gedo cuts a promo putting him over and saying he’ll win at the Seibu Dome.
Shibata is interviewed. He says nothing was special the day he fought Nakamura, but the matches this year was great. He felt a great significance being in that block. He thought about what fans would think, he was curious to see how they would see their fight as they had highy hopes. The Nakamura he met that night had a different aura about him than the one he faced ten years prior. For him, it felt the same as any other match.
The main event of the evening was Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. This wasn’t at the top of my list for top G1 matches, and looking back it wasn’t as memorable as other bouts – like I said earlier in this review, I’d pretty much forgotten about it until now. But with that said, it was a really good match. They started out slow, and I’m not sure if the crowd was ever really there to my liking, but this was good towards the end. Nakamura hit two boma yes but Shibata kicked out. He came back wit the the GTS then WAFFLED Nakamura with the penalty kick for the win. This was a good, stiff match.
Nakamura after the match says as long as the battle takes place in a New Japan ring, this never ends. Shibata in the post match interview says this isn’t over yet.
Back reflecting on the match, he wasn’t sure about the crowd reaction and was wondering if this was the match they wanted to see. Some say it was, others say he needed to improve. He saw Nakamura differently ten years ago; he guesses time has indeed passed.
A great show with a fun main event and highlights from two great matches. Next week, Katsuyori Shibata will be back as he faces Hiroshi Tanahashi as G1 coverage continues.
