Agree. I hate DQs in any PPV ...

Wrestling Photographs that I own - Part 2 of 2






Ric Flair got this at a WCW event in the late 90's.





Bruno Sammartino with Andre the Giant ... My prized autograph, he signed it for me at a WWF/WWE event in New York City of where my friends from work attended an event that honored him and he signed this photograph for me. I met him and talked to him for 10 minutes and enjoyed this short session with him. In the late 90's coming from an WCW event that I got the Ric Flair photograph and I tried to get Ric to sign it ... but the crowd was too big and had to go to the airport for a red eye flight to New York City to see Bruno.

NWA Powerrr, Week 7

Nick Aldis out to do a promo, then an "exhibition" match against Trevor Murdoch. Both have a history at Harley Race's wrestling school. Murdoch gets to show his stuff for most of the match, then (ironically) botches a botch spot, to fall into the Kingslyn Cloverleaf. Murdoch is announced as from Waxahachie, TX, which was Dick Murdoch's old stomping grounds. (Trevor is actually from Missouri). He looks like a more serious Dick Murdoch, with a bit of Stan Hanson in him. Good match.

Rock N Roll Express, in their ring gear, out to launch a challenge at Wild Card, to put the belts on the line. Wild Card comes out later to blow them off and then Tom Latimer is asked about Kamille and says they are just good friends.

Highspots ad. They are a "legit" outlet for wrestling dvds, merchandise and ring gear. However, they aren't entirely above board, as Jim Cornette will testify. Caveat Emptor

Colt Cabana joins the announce team for a match between Ricky Starks and The Question Mark. QM is the most over guy with the studio crowd. Match gets interrupted by Aron Stevens, who Pearl Harbors Starks, with QM helping. Colt breaks it up. Stevens gets booed and QM gets cheered. This leads to a later tag match between Cabana & Starks and QM & Stevens.

Eli Drake out to run off at the mouth. I'm cooling way off the guy. He tries to talk like the Rock; but, lacks the charisma and originality. He also isn't that big, size-wise. He's had a solo match and a tag and was average, at best. He needs to step it up and show something original if he is to be a star for the NWA. Rags on Mr Anderson, who comes out and then gets blindsided by Eli, after challenging him to a match. He then hits Anderson with a spare turnbuckle (which just happened to be stored in the interview podium). Cornette checks on Anderson and gets the refs out. Drake is restrained by Anthony Mayweather, aka Crimson (aka Tommy Mercer), who is one of the producers (along with Jocephus).

Replay of Thunder Rosa's attack on Alisyn Kay and Marti Bell's turn, followed by their promo, where Thunder talked about a phoenix coming. We get a tag match between Thunder & Marti and Alisyn & Ashley Vox. Back and forth match and Alisyn hits a superplex on Thunder, but Melina Perez, aka the WWE's Melina, comes out to distract. Marti tosses out Ashley and Thunder hits Alysin with stomps off the top and lays her out. melina comes into the ring and seems to be allied with Marti & Thunder Rosa. Melina was considered to be the best of the women, while she was in the WWE; we will see what she does here.

Repeat of the Austin Idol Kayfabe Cocktail commercial

Tag match between Colt & Ricky Starks and Question Mark & Aron Stevens. Crowd booed Stevens every time he did anything and cheered QM for everything he did. Weird dynamic but they were having fun with it. Again, QM is the most over guy with the studio crowd. The character is a nice throwback to masked wrestlers, like Masked Superstar (Bill "Demolition Axe" Eadie) and Super Destroyer (Scott "Hog" Irwin), as well as the Assassins and other masked heels. He mostly does pseudo karate chops and thrusts, with index finger and pinky always pointed forward. Way more over than he was as Jocephus, unmasked (yes, QM is Jocephus). Starks gets laid out by QM and Stevens makes the pin.

James Storm comes out to whine about not getting title shots on the show and Kamille comes out and whisper in his ear, then walks off. He then does some catch phrase and walks off. End of show.

Some good moments here. Opening match was great. Stuff with Stevens and Question Mark worked because of the studio crowd. Dave Lagana, in talking with the This Is the NWA Podcast mentioned the crowd reacting to something and they went with it, without specifying and I believe it was QM. Interesting to see where they go with this and if Jocephus will keep up the personna. I miss the days of badass masked men.

Eli Drake really needs to show something to be a star. He's being positioned as one but hasn't earned it. He does the Rock's routine, minus his catchphrases; but, it seems obvious to the crowd that his bag of tricks is borrowed from better performers. They made a big deal about him in the Ten Pounds of Gold and had him talking to press, before the tapings, so they are figuring big on him. I think they may have made a mistake, unless he shows us something soon. Ricky Starks was a gamble that is paying off. Colt Cabana and Mr Anderson are what they have always been; mid-card guys who are fine in their role; but, they aren't going to carry the promotion (nothing wrong with that). Aldis continues to carry himself like a champion and Thunder Rosa is a ball of fire. They need more women involved to keep that division from being the same matches.

Decent show; but not as strong as the previous one of some of the others. They've got about two shows left out of the tapings, then the PPV. Should be building for the PPV.

ps Cornette had great facials during the Drake and Ken Anderson back and forth. Don't see interviewers reacting to things much these days. They also made a crack about him being mistaken for a valet, after Thunder Rosa handed him her ring jacket and he joked about parking cars (he was wearing a maroon jacket, which was subdued, for him).

Jim Cornette is out of further NWA broadcast (beyond what is still in the can). The NWA released a statement, saying Cornette had resigned, after making what they considered an offensive joke during the Aldis vs Murdoch match. I cry shenanigans. They were at the taping and heard everything. This didn't just happen this week. This was taped back in October. If they had a problem with it, they would have just edited it out (which they have done since). I suspect this has more to do with comments made on Cornette's podcast, which have AEW fans wetting themselves and are pushing to have him silenced. The Drive-Thru episode already covered a 13 or 14 page letter, from someone claiming to be veteran law enforcement (yet didn't seem to know the difference between a civil and a criminal case) attacking him for supposedly calling an AEW interviewer a pedophile. He said no such thing; he cracked a joke which was grossly misstated by his detractors, who have been pushing to silence him for frequently criticizing Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, plus other performers in AEW. By the same token, he has praised the guys who are doing things right; but, there is a vocal group trying to silence him.

I'm all for an inclusive world; but, there is a big difference between hate speech and discrimination and a joke, taken out of context. Also, Cornette has a right to voice his opinions, regardless of whether they offend. If they offend you, don't listen or rebut; but, the First Amendment protects his and other people's right to say stupid and offensive things. As Voltaire is quoted as saying, "I may not agree with what you say; but, I will defend to the death your right to say it."

I think this has more to do with heat on Corgan and Lagana, not because of what was said in the broadcast; but what Cornette has said in his own forum and them being chicken-@#$% about it and overly-sensitive to a comment that they had been fine with when it was taped. Either you support your people or not. By the same token, it says Cornette has resigned, which suggests to me that he has had enough of them trying to make him sound all Corporate and PC. If you thought you were going to mold Jim Cornette into some ideal, non-offensive voice and still be Jim Cornette, you've been smoking bad stuff.

UPDATE:  So, finally found some context to what was said.  In commentary, Cornette made a joke about Murdoch's toughness, to the effect he could have food strapped to his back and cross Ethiopia, on a motorscooter and still have the food.  I think the intent was to suggest he could fight off a crowd of people, even if they were starving and he had food.  Problem is he said a bucket of chicken and Ethiopia is an African country.  So, you can see how it could be construed as a racial remark.  However, if Cornette had sai the same thing but left of the specific of Ethiopia, would people still found it offensive?  Possibly as people read all kinds of things into any communication.

I don't believe Cornette had a racial intent; but, you can see how offense could be taken.  Cornette should have probably prepped material for a wider audience; but, his brief was to do an old-school wrestling show and that's what he did, including ad-libbing on the fly.  Cornette has been in wrestling his entire life, and in an era where his job was to push people's buttons to seel tickets, so offended people could see him get his butt kicked all over the ring.  He pretty much lets you know up front that's who he is.  However, I still think there is a certain element looking for offense because it is Cornette and he has been critical of AEW and because of his political views and statements, in his podcast, regardless of what he has said on Powerrr.

Cornette has taken responsibility for what he said and resigned, to prevent the NWA from further grief because of him.  However, this didn't just happen.  This was recorded weeks ago.  The live audience heard it, Billy Corgan heard it, Dave Lagana heard it, Nick Aldis did, as did the producers, Jocephus and Crimson.  Lagana supervises the edit.  Everyone was fine with this right up through broadcast and only edited it after someone raised objections.  No one there is taking responsibility for not finding fault with it and having Cornette reloop the commentary or just edit it out, before broadcast.  To me, the people who are really at fault with the situation are the NWA execs, not Cornette.  Cornette was doing what he was hired to do, which is be Jim Cornette, while commenting on the matches.  Corgan and Lagana have worked with Corny and know who and what he is.  This is just CYA 101.  You don't want to have content that offends a wider audience, fine; however, own up to the fact that you weren't sensitive to the subject and were find in sending the content out until your eyes were opened to what you were missing.  Own up to your own mistakes and make a pledge to do better and offer a way forward and win people back.  This is still your problem, not Cornette's, since he has removed himself from the company.  Show some leadership.

I've mixed emotions about the latest on Jim Cornette and yet he had to resign for good reasons beyond the shadow of a doubt. I just don't know if I want to watch NWA Powerrr anymore or not.

Reading all of this, I can't help but think the WWF will always be the "King of the Jungle" (in the US) no matter what. I can't help but be cynical these days, although I wish the likes of AEW and NWA Powerrr! the best of luck.

What's happening with Impact Wrestling nowadays? I can't even get up any enthusiasm to so much as watch any highlights from that. I am surprised they are still going, to be honest. They are the "zombies" of the wrestling industry. That isn't a reflection on the talented people working for them, but the organisation itself.