World Tag League action is still going strong, as on December 1, NJPW landed in Fukuoka for more tag league action. We’re only covering two matches today as AJ Styles was once again pulled from this card. That gives the Kingdom two more points as that is an automatic forfeit. No word on AJ Styles’ status in this tournament but at this point it looks doubtful he’ll return.
Block A: Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata vs. Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga
It picked up towards the end, but rather boring and short for the most part. Fale and Nakanishi did big guy spots people were into. Nakanishi actually got Fale in the torture rack in a cool spot. Tonga cut him off which allowed Fale to go for the grenade but Nakanishi grabbed his throat. It soon became 2 on 1 with Tonga helping Fale. Nakanishi fell to Bad Luck Fale’s spear, giving them the win.
Block A: Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano vs. Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi
Not a great workrate match or anything, but I liked this for what it was. Really it was just every other tag league match you’ve seen, but with Yano’s tricks that have scored him big wins in the past. He avoided the rain maker at one point with a pin attempt. He shoved Okada into a referee, low blowed him, Sakuraba kicked him and tried for another pin but Okada kicked out. Eventually Okada managed to land the rainmaker on Yano and pinned him.
The show opened with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos out. Some fans started a “Hug It Out” chant so Reigns and Ambrose hugged for a pop. The League of Nations came out along with The New Day. This built to where Ambrose and The Usos were to wrestle The New Day, and if Ambrose & The Usos didn’t win, then Reigns would have to face the League of Nations in a handicap match by himself.
Tyler Breeze beat Neville due to distraction from Summer Rae. Dolph Ziggler was watching the match.
Becky Lynch did an interview. She doesn’t believe Charlotte is like Paige. Brie Bella then made fun of her for believing that. Charlotte showed up and said she would always be behind Lynch.
Brie Bella beat Becky Lynch via DQ. Brie knocked Charlotte off the apron so she ran in for the DQ, costing Lynch the match. They teased more tension between Charlotte and Lynch.
Miz did an interview for his new program with Neville. He made fun of Neville for having no charisma and funny looking ears. He then gave Neville a DVD of his new movie.
Rusev & Lana vowed to destroy Ryback.
New Day beat Dean Ambrose & Usos when Woods pinned Jey after a shining wizard.
Bray Wyatt beat Devon Dudleys with Sister Abigail. The Wyatts beat down the Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer and put them through a table after.
Roman Reigns beat Sheamus & Barrett & Rusev & Del Rio when Sheamus was counted out. Ambrose and The Usos came out and cleaned house.
UFC announced the first three matches for its 2/27 show in London, England, at the O2 Arena earlier today including Michael Bisping (27-7) vs. Gegard Mousasi (37-6-2).
Bisping, who is from Liverpool, was UFC’s first major British star after winning season three of The Ultimate Fighter. This would be a major fight for both men. Bisping had been rumored for a fight with Anderson Silva in Brazil in the spring, but UFC looks to be going with Vitor Belfort for that spot. Mousasi was knocked out by Uriah Hall in his last fight and it knocked him down to No. 11 in the contenders rankings.
It will be Bisping’s 25th fight in the UFC, tying him with Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck on the all-time list. The fight will be one of the top fights on the show, but it was not confirmed that it will be the main event.
Other matches announced today are featherweights Makwan Amirkhani (12-2) vs. Mike Wilkinson (9-1), and lightweights Rustam Khabilov (17-3) vs. Norman Parke (21-4-1).
New Orleans, Louisiana: – Fred Beel defeated Frank Gotch to win the American Heavyweight Title two falls to one (match was a work, not a shoot)
1938
Columbus, Ohio: – Mildred Burke won the World Women’s Title by defeating Betty Nichols
1941
Hollywood, California: – Billy Varga defeated Wild Red Berry to win the World Light Heavyweight Title
1949
Toledo, Ohio: – Tom Marshall defeated Dave Levin to win the Jack Pfieffer-promoted World Heavyweight Title
Kansas City, Kansas: – The Sharpe Brothers (Ben and Mike Sharpe) beat The Dusek Brothers (Ernie and Joe Dusek) 2 out of 3 falls – Enrique Torres beat Roy Graham 2 out of 3 falls – Ronnie Etchison defeated Danny Plechas
1952
Fort Worth, Texas: – Gory Guerrero & Cyclone Ayala won a tournament for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title
1958
Fort Worth, Texas: – Pepper Gomez & Rito Romero defeated The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan) for the Texas version of the NWA World Tag Team Titles
1961
Detroit, Michigan: – Fritz Von Erich defeated Dick the Bruiser to win the Chicago/Detroit version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
– Billy White Wolf defeated Nikoli Volkoff for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
Atlanta, Georgia: – The Assassins defeated Don McIntyre & Ray Gunkel for the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
Columbus, Ohio: – Magnificent Maurice defeated Leon Graham to win the Ohio Heavyweight Title
Houston, Texas: – Jack Dalton (Donnie Fargo) defeated Pepe Gonzales for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1965 Mobile, Alabama: – Ken Lucas won the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title from Danny McShain
1970
Tampa, Florida: – Dusty Rhodes defeated Jose Lothario to win the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Title
1971
Mobile, Alabama: – Donnie Fargo defeated The Wrestling Pro to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1972
Los Angeles, California: – Victor Rivera defeated Ernie Ladd to win the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title
Yokohama, Japan: – Bobo Brazil defeated Kintaro Oki for the vacant NWA International Heavyweight Title
1973
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Stan Stasiak defeated Pedro Morales to win the WWWF World Heavyweight Title
1976
Davenport, Iowa: – Saloon match: The Crusher beat Mad Dog Vachon – Billy Francis beat Baron Von Raschke – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Moose Morowski & Pierre Poisson – Pedro Morales beat Roger Kirby dq
1977
Kansas City, Kansas: – Mike George & Scott Casey defeated Crusher Blackwell & Buck Robley to win the Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Titles
1978
Huntsville, Alabama: – George Gulas, Bobby Eaton & Arvil Hutto win a tournament for the vacant NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Titles
Knoxville, Tennessee: – Ken Lucas & Kevin Sullivan defeated Dennis Condrey & Phil Hickerson to win the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Titles
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Big Daddy Ritter (Junkyard Dog) defeated Alo Leilani to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
1979
Knoxville, Tennessee: – Sterling Golden (Hulk Hogan) defeated Dick Slater to win the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Bobo Brazil – AWA Tag Team Champions Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Super Destroyer Mark II & Super Destroyer Mark III – Dick the Bruiser beat King Kong Brody – Ernie Ladd dcor Billy Robinson – Ox Baker dcor Wilbur Snyder – The Crusher beat Paul Christy dq – Spike Huber drew Bobby Heenan – Moose Cholak beat Tiny Hampton dq – Jerry Graham Jr beat Ron Ritchie
1983
Lexington, Kentucky: – Terry Taylor defeated Buddy Landel for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bobby Fulton defeated Roger Kirby to win the NWA Central States Television Title
1984
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – Sonny Myers defeated Al Tomko for the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title
1985
Chicago, Illinois: – Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal dq – AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Terry Gordy – Strap Match: Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes – Paul Ellering drew Buddy Roberts – Handicap match: Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff – Larry Zbyszko beat Kevin Kelly – Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin – Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq
1986
Fort Worth, Texas: – Al Madril & Brian Adidas defeated Lance Von Erich & The Dingo (Ultimate) Warrior for the World Class Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Titles – Tony Atlas defeated Crusher Yurkof (Bam Bam Bigelow) to win the World Class Television Title
1989
Dallas, Texas: – Robert Fuller & Brian Lee defeated Jeff Jarrett & Matt Borne in a tournament final to win the USWA World Tag Team Title
1992
Tokyo, Japan: – Dynamite Kansai defeated Cutie Suzuki in a tournament final to become the first JWP Project Openweight Champion
1995
Nigata, Japan: – El Samurai defeated Sabu to win the UWA World Junior Light-Heavyweight Title
Reading, Pennsylvania: – Akita Kaos defeated Crash the Terminator to win the PCW Heavyweight Title – Chris Candido defeated Ray Odyssey to win the PCW Americas Heavyweight Title – Reckless Youth defeated Ubas for the PCW Commonwealth Title
Mexico City, Mexico: – Negro Casas defeated El Hijo del Santo in a tournament final to win the vacant NWA World Welterweight Title
2000
Manila, Arkansas: – The American Dragon (Bryan Danielson) and Spanky (Brian Kendrick) defeated The Triad (Seven (Kevin Fertig) and Thrash) to win the Memphis Championship Wrestling Southern Tag Team Titles
North Richland Hills, Texas: – Hotstuff Hernandez defeated Al Jackson to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
– The Masked Maniac defeated Chris Michaels to win the United States Extreme Wrestling United States Heavyweight Title
2001
Caguas, Puerto Rico: – Carly Colon defeated Ray Gonzalez for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title
2005
McDonough, Georgia: – Mike Mizanin (The Miz) defeated Mike Knox in a tournament final to become the first Deep South Wrestling Heavyweight Champion
Former IWGP Champion A.J. Styles missed another New Japan World Tag League tournament match today in Fukuoka, Japan. His team with Yujiro Takahashi forfeited their second match, this time to Michael Bennett & Matt Taven.
Styles has been out of action since last working on Nov. 24 due to a bulging disc in his lower back.
According to those in Japan, his injury appears to be very serious with the description that he seems to be in great pain with any movement. Styles went into the tour injured, and missed ROH bookings to rest up for the tour. The 38-year-old has not returned home, but he has major matches over the next several weeks. After the tournament concludes on 12/9, he has an ROH title match with Jay Lethal at Final Battle in Philadelphia, as well as his IC title match with Shinsuke Nakamura that is second from the top at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo Dome show on 1/4.
According to what we’ve been told, Styles is resting and rehabbing as best he can at the present time, and New Japan is being patient and not pressuring him to come back early.
******
WWE has announced one of the main matches for the Smackdown tapings tonight will be Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Bray Wyatt in a singles match with both Devon and Tommy Dreamer in Bubba’s corner.
Smackdown will be taped tonight in Hershey, PA. All of the major names that were on Raw last night, including Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Dean Ambrose and The New Day are being advertised as appearing tonight.
Following Raw, the Wyatt family came back to the ring, and Bray said that he had a sour taste in his mouth, and wasn’t ready to leave town just yet. He called out the Dudleys and Tommy Dreamer. They entered, followed by Kane. Everyone brawled in the ring for a couple of minutes before Bray left the ring. Braun Strowman was kicked out of the ring. Harper ended up eating a DDT from Dreamer, and a 3D from the Dudleys, and Rowan took a chokeslam from Kane to send the handful of people left in the crowd happy. No actual match took place. (Thanks to Joe Kazmer)
More World Tag League time! Monday morning they were in Fukuoka with three more World Tag League tournament matches. Results are below, as well as the current standings.
Block A: Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata.
Not much of a match. Nagata looked fine, as did Sakuraba. Nakanishi is immobile and Yano is just there. Brawl into the crowd early. The more I see of the Tag League, the more I wish all of the teams spots were less predictable. Nagata and Nakanishi have done the same armbar/torture rack spot for the entire tour and they’ve never gotten a win with it once. Sakuraba went for a sleeper, but Nagata transitioned while they went down to the floor then rolled him up for a flash pin.
Block B: Tencozy vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto
Crowd was totally into Tencozy and they helped this match a ton, making it one of the more memorable matches outside of opening day thus far. The work itself was solid, nothing particularly interesting, but the crowd and atmosphere were great and added a lot to the match. Shibata and Kojima were having some great back and forth, with Shibata getting the better it with punches and hitting the ropes, allowing Kojima enough time to recover by laying out Shibata with a lariat and pinning him.
Block B: Tetsuya Naito and Evil vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Shinsuke Nakamura
This was boring for the first half, but things picked up big time towards the end with Ishii/Evil looking really good. Nakamura and Ishii nearly had it won as Nakamura was going for the boma ye on Evil but Naito pulled him out of the ring at the last minute. They isolated Ishii. Evil and Ishii exchanged some pretty good nearfalls. Bushi went to do the mist spot, but Ishii headbutted him as Nakamura cleared the ring. Ishii hit a lariat but Evil kicked out at one. Nakamura came in with a boma ye to the back of Evil’s head, allowing Ishii to follow that up with the brainbuster for the win.
TLC 5: December 15, 2013; Houston, Texas, Toyota Center
WWE Champion, Randy Orton, competes against the World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena, in a TLC match to crown a Champion of Champions.
The show starts with a cold open where HHH and Steph come out to make an announcement and they tell us how important this unification match is to history. Right. Hunter gives us a Lou Thesz vs. Buddy Rogers history lesson. This leads to a nice video package. WWE should just make video packages. Even when the product is terrible (read: now) they can produce the heck out of a package that will get you interested.
Cole, JBL, and King are on the pipes tonight as usual.
Pre Show Match: Fandango (with Summer Rae) defeated Dolph Ziggler in a singles match.
Remember last year when Dolph was in the main event?
CM Punk vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns in a 3-on-1 handicap match
I have no memory of how or why this was booked. It seems preposterous.
Punk is sporting the mutton chop look.
For a group that touted justice, The Shield sure seems willing to cheat.
Seth is wearing a vest he must have gotten from John Popper from Blues Traveler, as it appears to be able to hold a dozen harmonicas.
Reigns dove at Punk and tumbled over the announce desk. He apparently hurt his eye, which is how Punk was able to take advantage. The doctor checked on this, but it’s definitely an angle because every doctor knows that if it’s a matter of life, limb, or eyesight, you go to the ER right away.
Reigns, suffering from impaired vision, speared Ambrose, and Punk hits the GTS on Ambrose for the pin. The doctor must feel like a real jerk.
What if Punk wins his first UFC match via head and arm choke, i.e. the Anaconda Vice? That would be sweet. Luckily, I know the counter.
Ridiculous match concept, but it was good.
AJ Lee (with Tamina) is interviewed and AJ calls the Divas division, Natalya, the Slammy Awards, and the whole WWE a joke. Duh.
AJ Lee (c) (with Tamina) vs. Natalya for the WWE Divas Championship
This is mid AJ Lee super long title run, so I’m assuming she goes over. Spoiler alert.
So is the Tamina character out of the closet? I’m predicting that happens eventually.
Natalya hooks on the Sharpshooter, but AJ counters out.
AJ hooks up the Black Widow, but Natalya counters out.
AJ rolls up Natalya from another Sharpshooter attempt, and apparently grabbed the hair for the pin.
Good match, but nothing special.
We get another excellent video package showing some awesome champions. The problem is that both Cena and Orton have been champions, many times. Nobody is buying the validity of the unification.
Damien Sandow vs. Big E. Langston (c) for the Intercontinental Championship
Big E is doing the chalk hands gimmick. I’d like to see more stuff with him being really strong. It would be great if he were bench-pressing Xavier in a skit.
Sandow takes a nice Electric Chair drop by Big E. He should do that on Big Show.
Big E takes down the straps and hits the Big Ending for the pin.
A funny spot would be for a heel to take down his straps and then his trunks fall down.
Vince McMahon Jr. walks up to Orton backstage. The sound didn’t work. The only thing of note is that Orton was wearing basketball shorts. So it’s true; he does own leg coverings other than trunks.
Next we hear from the panel of Josh Matthews, Mick Foley, and Booker T, and they discuss what happened earlier in the night with Miz talking trash on Kofi.
Fatal Four Way for the Tag Team Championship: The Real Americans (Cesaro and Swagger with Zeb Colter) vs. Rey Mysterio and Big Show vs. Rybaxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Goldust and Cody Rhodes (c); elimination rules
Last team left wins the Jabroni cup.
Rey was gone for a year prior to this, and I guess “creative” didn’t have enough time to come up with something better for him.
Gold Dust rolls up Ryback for the first elimination.
Cesaro hit the Gant Swing.
Gold Dust hit the Code Red. What?
Cody hurt his knee, which put him out temporarily.
Big Show gives Cesaro the KO punch as Cesaro came off the second rope, then pinned him.
The action really picked up into quite a fun match. Then came a nice finishing sequence where Cody hit the Cross Rhodes on Rey for the pin.
Then Big Show and Rey display good sportsmanship. Boooooo!
The Jabroni posse gets some airtime as Titus O’Neal and Darren Young break out the Brawling Buddies for an embarrassing segment that ended with Kane walking in and scaring Vicki and Brad Maddox. It was even dumber than it sounds.
Brodus Clay (with the Funkadactyls and Tensai) vs. R Truth (with Xavier Woods) in a Time Fillers match
This was a nothing match.
Why don’t they trust Xavier to wrestle?
Tensai and Clay get into it for some reason. Then Tensai walks out. Then the Dactyls peace out too for no reason. I guess because they were about to be famous and didn’t want to be associated with such a bad idea.
R Truth hits the standard WWE school-boy distraction finish.
Miz vs. Kofi Kingston
Kofi kicked the steal post. What about your kick pads bro?
Have I ever mentioned I hate kickpads? Why would you want to make your kicks less effective? You only wear those when you’re practicing!
We are really seeing the lack of start power tonight. Nobody is over. The crowd long since gave up.
The Miz has a sweet butt-cut. This match is worth sitting through just for that. His head looks like a 1-up mushroom.
Boring chant.
Kofi wins with the Trouble in Paradise.
Then they showed an AWESOME video package for the Raw 20th anniversary DVD, and in doing so completely exposed how awful the current product is with tons of awesome clips.
Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper) in ANOTHER 3-on-1 handicapped match.
Only one of them is named Wyatt. Rowan and Harper should stand up for themselves.
Someone should tell Bray that he’s wearing a fedora. What a gimmick. I bet he thought of it too. “Hey creative team, I should do a gimmick wear I sit in a rocking chair instead of wrestling.”
JBL suggests that Bryan just join them. Would that just end the match? Just pull a total schoolyard job, “Nuh-uh I was on base!” “Don’t beat me up I’m on your team.”
Bray finally tags in to work on a worn out Bryan.
Harper’s log roll, or gator roll, move is so dumb. The purpose of that move is solely to pin the man, not make him dizzy. He’s faking a real wrestling hold. I know, but it bothers me.
Bray offers a handshake and says it will all go away, so I guess that answers my question.
D Bry had a great comeback, but Bray caught him with the Sister Abigail for the pin, to end a really entertaining match.
Supposedly this is the first time these two titles have been competed for in the same match, but I’m pretty sure I remember that occurring as recently as 2002 and probably more recent than that. Oh well. At least we didn’t have a Chairs match tonight. Then they show another excellent video package, begging you to care about the same guys who have been on top for nearly a decade.
John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton (c) for the Unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship (but still two belts)
This is the 15th TLC match and Randy Orton’s first.
“CUCK FENA” sign. Ha! I popped.
Early garbage leads to both guys on the floor.
Orton lays out Cena and goes to set up a ladder.
Orton body watch: Much improved from last time we saw him which was 2011.
RKO out of nowhere!
Cena goes nuts with the steal steps and Orton is busted open.
A missed punt was countered with an AA through the Spanish announce team. Now Cena climbs and then Orton dumps him but Cena hangs on to the belts!
Randy handcuffed Cena to the bottom rope, but Cena uncoupled the turnbuckle and made a valiant effort to win, but it was too late. Orton wins after yanking Cena off the ladder.
Pretty good match!
Then HHH, Steph, and Vince all come down to celebrate.
Thumbs in the Middle. So now my TLC PPV rankings go from best to worst: 4,5,3,1,2.
Key Takeaway: A really unfocused episode of Breaking Ground, checking in with a lot of NXT personalities just to remind you that they exist, finishes off with three individuals getting raises from WWE executive Canyon Ceman and another getting released in the last scene of the episode.
Show Recap: We quickly check in with a few loose ends from last episode. An absolutely gassed ZZ gets a stern lecture from Jason Albert about his conditioning and the need to push himself past his limits to improve. Meanwhile, Jason Jordan steps up and has a strong performance as he and Chad Gable (who is working with an ankle injury) beat the Hype Bros to move on in the Dusty Rhodes Classic and earn a spot on the upcoming Takeover special.
From there, the episode jumps around a lot.
Cal Bishop gets back into the ring following his third shoulder injury (and second surgery). They even show footage of his shoulder blowing out in the ring in December 2014 (in his first match back from his first surgery). He says been much more keen with his rehab work and paying attention. He’s about a week away from getting medically cleared. He has an in-ring workout. It goes well, but he’s limited by his arm, and Albert and the rehab trainer express concerns about his ability to lift opponents with confidence.
Next we check in with Nia Jax. She explains her character by declaring “I am the main bitch and nobody’s going to mess with me.” She does mention that her cousin is The Rock, and that seeing his match at WrestleMania 28 made her want to become a wrestler. She discusses some concerns she has about her size, but also notes that her unique look, size and background help her stand out in a really crowded NXT womens division. We transition to a segment with Nhooph via the revelation that she and Nia are road buddies, which is a web series that we need to see – the tiny young girl and The Rock’s cousin traveling around America wrestling at shows. Anyway, Nhooph gets a ring name – Aaliyah – and has a meeting with William Regal to share her ideas for her character. She wants to emphasize her Middle Eastern background to stand out and Regal encourages her, noting that unless she is thinking and feeling her character and bringing it out through her eyes, fans will see right through her. Tyler Breeze appears, sitting down with the new girls in the ring and going over psychology – what drives their characters, why do they walk the way they do, how do they move or orient themselves – and it seems to blow their minds. (Later on, the coaches praise Breeze’s ability to connect with the new talent and his great attitude given his lengthy developmental tenure.) After a video session where the females sit with Sara Amato and go over old WWE promos, Nia has an evaluation with Amato that goes pretty well.
The episode ends with Canyon Ceman arriving and everyone freaking out (since in every episode he’s appeared in somebody’s gotten cut), culminating with a montage with Apollo Crews, Jason Jordan, Nia Jax and Cal Bishop being summoned to meetings. Crews, Jordan and Jax each get raises, while Bishop is released to end the episode.
There’s also a storyline with Tino Sabbatelli getting his brother a try-out that doesn’t go anywhere, as his brother blows his knee out on an indie show five days before the try-out and they have to re-schedule.
Final Thoughts: The episode attempted to build towards a dramatic climax where they wanted the audience to wonder which talent would get released. Unfortunately, it felt really hollow, as the three wrestlers that aren’t Cal Bishop are all on NXT television right now, so there was absolutely no tension. It was a bit frustrating that they went so far out of their way to sell Bishop as a hard-working guy with terrible luck, while at the same time showing ZZ to be a waste of time and real estate in the Performance Center.
The “concussion lawsuits” between the clients of Konstantine Kyros and WWE kept rolling along the last few weeks.
Two weeks ago, Jerry McDevitt filed two lengthy motions on WWE’s behalf, Those are motion to dismiss in the Russ McCullough/Ryan Sakoda/Matt “Luther Reigns” Wiese lawsuit (McCullough v. WWE) and an opposition to Kyros’ motion to dismiss WWE’s preemptive lawsuit against Robert “Blackjack Mulligan” Wyndham, James “Koko” Ware, Oreal “Ivan Koloff” Perras, and Thomas “Dynamite Kid” Billington (WWE v. Windham). The Windham motion starts with an eight page introduction that, among other things, a reference to Billy Jack Haynes, the plaintiff in a related case, having “posted various illiterate rants on social media identifying those allegedly joining the lawsuit.” McDevitt adds that “in other illiterate posts, Haynes admits that he was a drug addict for the last 27 years and speaks of his lawsuit as his ’cause to have a union in the pro wrestling industry, vacation, time off injured, a 5 day/night work week, buy[ing] stock in company…” Both Haynes and Windham have routinely posted about the cases and solicited co-plaintiffs on Facebook, and an exhibit to the motion suggests he’s done even more in private.
