Pro Wrestling/Mixed Martial Arts news and notes 5/02/07

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- Pro Wrestling/Mixed Martial Arts news and notes 5/02/07

-- Stanley Shenker, whose company provided licensing for WWE, and James K. Bell, a senior VP of licensing and merchandising in WWE, were both sentenced to prison in Bridgeport federal court for taking part in a kickback scheme that cost WWE $1 million. The sentencing that took place on Tuesday resulted in Shenker receiving 33 months in prison, three years of probation and owing $2.8 million in restitution to WWE and Bell receiving an eight-month sentence, three years of probation and must pay a $6,000 fine and more than $950,000 in restitution. Both men defrauded WWE when Shenker paid Bell close to $1 million between 1998-2002 and concealing the payments, and Shenker used fake invoices to write off the expenses when filing taxes. The fake invoices had stated that Bell had earned the money for consultation.

-- From WWE.com: Matt Cappotelli, former Tough Enough winner and Ohio Valley Wrestling Champion, underwent brain surgery today to remove a growing brain tumor. Doctors called the surgery a success.

-- Following a Raw house show at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, TN this Friday, an after-party will be held at Gatsby's with metal bands Down From Up, Seventh Seal, and Shadows Of Light performing. Admission is $7 and the bands begin at 10:30PM.

-- The Las Vegas Sun has an article on Mike Tenay discusses how he became interested in wrestling and also reveals that Tenay hit a milestone in his broadcasting career by appearing on his 2,000th wrestling show on TV recently. "I have considered every day I have been on TV a bonus," Tenay says. "I consider myself fortunate to have fallen into this job. But I don't think of myself as having been lucky. I was opportunistic. And when my time comes to leave, I hope I can be the gentleman Gordon Solie was."

-- The opening match for CZW's Tournament Of Death VI this June will be Necro Butcher vs. "Simply Marvelous" Mitch Ryder in a no rope barb wire match. The finals will be 200-light tube lumberjack match where the participants will have to go through the lumberjacks, retrieve the TOD trophy and bring it back to the ring.

-- Mike Quackenbush will be wrestling at ROH's 6/9 show in Philadelphia.

-- J.R.'s latest blog

-- Aspiring professional wrestlers, and their fans, live their dreams in Lawrenceville

-- Wrestling Reality power slams Shiretown

-- Wrestle-mania in Decatur

-- Ex-doctor reaches deal in steroid case

-- Tito Ortiz will be a special guest at an Armed Forces Day program at the Banning Armory [99 E. Ramsey St.] in Banning, CA on 5/19 where he'll speak at a ceremony and do a meet and greet with soldiers. The event begins at 9AM PST. "It is a privilege for me to be invited to this event," said Mr. Ortiz. "I try to support our troops in any way I can and will continue to do so. Whatever I do, however, doesn't even come close to what our guard and other soldiers do for us every day. My heart is always with the families of those who serve our country and especially with those whose loved ones have made the ultimate sacrifice."

-- Tito makes an appearance on MadTV this Saturday (11PM EST) where he'll be in a mock deodorant commercial.

-- Five Ounces of Pain: Conversation with Tito Ortiz, Part I

-- Sean Sherk on fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an MMA match: I don't think that fight would last longer than a minute, to be honest with you. And I don't think he should be talking about something that he can't back up, because I'll fight him tomorrow. I literally would, if they called and asked me to fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr. tomorrow, it's done. He's not going to fight me though, and he's just running his mouth. I don't really respect that a whole lot."

-- Matt Lindland will be hosting the The Team Quest Northwest World Team Grappling Qualifying Trials on 5/19 at Olympia High School in Olympia, WA. 15 men and 12 women will qualify for the U.S. Grappling World Team Trials in Las Vegas on 6/8-6/10. From there wrestlers will advance to the World Wrestling Games in Antalya, Turkey on 9/7-9/9.

-- I.D. Systems, Inc chairman and CEO Jeffrey M. Jagid joined the IFL Board of Directors on Tuesday. Jagid, who joined I.D. Systems, Inc in 1995, became the company's CEO in 2000 and chairman in 2001.

-- An IGN interview with FL Battleground co-host and former Miss Georgia and 2005 Playboy Playmate of the Year Tiffany Fallon.

-- Mixed Martial Arts Coming to the Big Screen

-- Local promoter not keen to have King of the Cage come and 'invade his territory'

-- The Iceman looks to end UFC string of upsets when he meets Rampage Jackson
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Billboard.com: Rush Hour

Original article/Billboard.com

Thirty-three years into its recording career, Canadian hard-rock trio Rush is finding it easier to make music together. "You can argue that we don't have much to prove at this point," guitarist Alex Lifeson says. "We're in our 50s now. Geddy [Lee] and I have been doing it 40 years, as a band with Neil [Peart] for 33 years.

"But this was maybe the most fun record I think we've ever made. It just feels different somehow. It's very positive, very forward, all fresh and new to us for some reason." He's referring to "Snakes & Arrows," which comes out May 1 on Anthem/Atlantic and as an expanded set with a 43-minute video on June 5. It's Rush's first set of all-new material since 2002's "Vapor Trails." But unlike the six-year hiatus before that album, the trio has been busy in the intervening years. It has toured twice, released a covers EP, "Feedback," a live album and two concert DVDs.

Rush started work on "Snakes & Arrows" in early 2006, when Lee and Lifeson, who reside two blocks away from each other in Toronto, began working on new music at Lee's house, with lyrics supplied by Peart from California. The spirit of the project, Lee says, was inspired by "Feedback," which "put us in touch with being kids again. I think we came into ["Snakes & Arrows"] with a real nice mental attitude."


"There's a lot of playing on this record," Lifeson says. "To me it's got our whole history in it, somehow. It's got little bits of the way we wrote songs in the past, the kind of chords we might have used, but not in a nostalgic kind of way."
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Quick Saturday Pro Wrestling/Mixed Martial Arts news links

-- Click the link below to access today news links...

Pro Wrestling news links
-- Steve Austin sets his sights on Hollywood

-- Book Review: 'Mondo Lucha A Go-Go' a fun look at the sport and its characters in Mexico

-- AIM Editor: 'News' Violence More Dangerous Than WWE Smackdown

-- Mexican-style wrestling comes to Waukegan

-- Porn, Wrestling and Music - Need I Say More

-- Wrestling blows caused death

-- NASCAR prez says Stewart's wrestling comments damaging

-- Wrestlers to kids: Stay healthy

-- Wrestling bonanza

-- Wrestling Reality unmasks life outside the ring

-- 'Dr. Death' embracing life after cancer

-- ICON: Lawler to Defend Belt in June

MMA news links
-- New MMA TV comedy show in production

-- Massenzio secures first round win

-- Bodog vs. UFC and Pride: Ayre Happy to be Number Two for Now

-- Ultimate fighting: Bloody but popular

-- He knows when to pick his fights

-- No 'brawl' at Birch Run event

-- For many like Ventura's Willert, mixed martial arts has the right stuff

Mixed Martial Arts news and notes 4/28/07

-- By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- Just like Thursday's pro wrestling update we're catching up with all the latest news in MMA...

-- Last weekend in Manchester, fans watching UFC 70 on TV and at the MEN Arena saw quite the upset in the main event as Gabriel Gonzaga (who Casey, Euan and myself ignorantly gave no chance in hell of winning) defeated Mirko Cro Cop using Cro Cop's finishing move, a devastating high-kick which KILLED him and was sent into oblivion. At 4:51 of the first round Mirko landed in a very awkward position to the point that his leg buckled underneath and was bent in a way that a leg isn't supposed to.
If I remember correctly referee Herb Dean quickly dashed to put Cro Cop's leg in the proper position, I thought for sure that he fucked up his knee and ankle but reports stated that he was walking around fine after the match. So now Gonzaga advances to fight heavyweight champ Randy Couture, and if you think a Cro Cop/Couture encounter sounded scary for Couture's fate, one with Gonzaga will be even more insane, not only can he fight on his feet but if it goes to the ground Couture will be working overtime trying to keep up with Gonzaga.
The rest of the show was good, nothing spectacular but historic nonetheless. The David Heath/Lyoto Machida match, which was scheduled to air on the Spike TV broadcast in the States, was said to be so fucking boring that it didn't even make onto Spike.
Instead Spike showed the Matt Grice/Terry Etim dark match which made sense as Liverpool-based Etim got the victory and was the second Brit of the evening to score a victory for the crowd as Michael Bisping won his match against Elvis Sinosic.
The most BORING matches were the Andrei Arlovski/Fabricio Werdum and Assuerio Silva/Cheick Kongo fights, both of which went the distance. Kongo bored me again, not sure what the deal is because I could've sworn the first time I saw him in UFC I thought Kongo was a killer and could be a major deal in the heavyweight division but after seeing his recent fights I'm not sure what's going on. By the way Kongo won via majority (split) decision.
Remember when I said that the Heath/Machida fight was so bad that it didn't make the airwaves in the States? Well as Casey brought up on a recent podcast, one can wonder why the Arlovski/Werdum fight was aired when this had to be a fucking boring-ass fight. The crowd hated it booing like crazy and Joe Rogan was on Arlovski's back during commentary regarding his mundane performance. Arlovski won via unanimous decision but I have this feeling that he'll be going the route that Heath Herring did and work dark matches on Fight Night specials. Complete results can be read on UFC's site.

-- Attendance for the show was reported to be a sell-out at 14,921 with £1.3 million ($2,600,000 US) in ticket sales making UFC 70 MEN Arena's third highest-grossing event. The show did well on Spike TV which drew a 1.84 rating (2.8 million viewers) and peaked at 3.5 million viewers during the main event.

-- Gonzaga received a hero's welcome when the Ludlow, MA native arrived at the Marco Alvan Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Training Center earlier this week and was greeted and congratulated by proud students and Alvan. "I want to thank all my teammates," Gonzaga said through his manager and translator, Alvan. "No one can be in the best of shape without their partners." Gonzaga's fight with Couture has been reported to take place on 8/25 but Gonzaga couldn't confirm that date.

-- If only Melvin Guillard was booked on UFC 69 or UFC 70... The Houston Chronicle reports that fighters who participated in UFC 69 and 70 weren't drug tested as according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation stated that was the responsibility of "sanctioning body" of the event, that being the UFC who ran UFC 69 in Houston earlier this month. As far as what happened at UFC 70 regarding testing: "We were ordering tests, but found we had no legal means to do it," said [UFC rep Marc] Ratner. "They had no commission there. There was no drug testing there." I was under the impression that Zuffa was going to fly people out to England to take care of this, those fighters who may have dabbled in any type of questionable substance better count their lucky stars and not fuck around with fate next time.

-- Matt Serra and Matt Hughes have been announced as the coaches for season six of The Ultimate Fighter. That will be GREAT~!

-- UFC 71 on 5/26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena: (matches announced so far) Chuck Liddell Vs. Quinton Jackson; Josh Burkman Vs. Karo Parisyan; Thiago Silva Vs. James Irvin; Sean Salmon Vs. Eric Schafer; Jeremy Stevens Vs. Din Thomas

-- Chuck Liddell discusses his upcoming battle with Quinton Jackson on KCAL 9 in L.A. this morning, no NyQuil malfunction this time.

-- UFC 72 on 6/16 at the Odyssey in Belfast: (matches announced so far) Rich Franklin Vs. Martin Kampmann; Rory Singer Vs. Jason MacDonald; Scott Smith Vs. Ed Herman

-- Tickets are now on sale for The Ultimate Fighter 5 finale which takes place on 6/23 at the Palms Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas featuring TUF 5 coaches BJ Penn and Jens Pulver in the main event.

-- An interview with Tito Ortiz on MMANews.com.

-- Rashad Responds to Tito Ortiz

-- the Iowa Senate is looking to end state regulation of MMA claiming that the sport's so dangerous it cannot be regulated. Are these guys dipshits or what? “We’ve got a serious problem with shoot fighting. We’re either going to regulate it or we’re not,” said Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, the leading backer of the plan. The Senate had passed a deregulation bill last month but the House was indecisive on passing the bill so early this week the MMA proposal was lumped in with a larger budget bill to be voted on this week. The budget bill was passed but the MMA proposal was not discussed or settled. Throughout this tug of war on coming to a conclusion the state basically doesn't want to be liable for injuries and such resulting in fights. “I’ve got e-mails from Las Vegas and Canada telling me I’m a dummy,” [Sen. Bill Dotzler] said. “They don’t understand the bill. All it says is in Iowa, you can do all your events, just the state isn’t going to be liable for it because we can’t make the sport safe.”

-- Meanwhile in Nebraska, Legislative Bill 471 to regulate MMA events received first-round approval making the State Athletic Commission oversee the sport and events run in the state. State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who actually propsosed the bill, is not a fan of the sport and doesn't think the state should run events but states, "We should not want to drive it underground," he said. "Regulation is better than ignoring it or banning it."

-- Cage fight in legal gray area

-- MMA in Philly? After red tape

-- This coming Monday's IFL Battleground will feature DEAR DON~! as a regular segment, I so hope it's as great on TV as it has been on IFL's site. Here's a sample that may not make it to television.

-- IFL has moved its 6/16 show from Reno to the Las Vegas Hilton making it the first ever MMA event held there. “We were presented an opportunity for this breakthrough event in Las Vegas, and we felt it is an opportunity we could not pass up,” said IFL CEO and co-founder Gareb Shamus. The event, which will be the last of nine regular season IFL events, features the Nevada Lions against the Tucson Scorpions and the New York Pitbulls against the Toronto Dragons.

-- Seattle Tiger Sharks coach Maurice Smith will be fighting for the first time in almost seven years when he takes on SoCal Condors coach and rival Marco Ruas on 5/19 at the Sears Centre in Chicago.

-- WEC at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas on 5/12: Doug Marshall vs. Justin McElfresh; Lightweight Bout: Rich Crunkilton vs. Jamie Varner; Middleweight Bout: Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Hiromitsu Miura; Light Heavyweight Bout: Gary Padilla vs. Ariel Gandulla; Lightweight Bout: Marcus Hicks vs. Sergio Gomez; Welterweight Bout: Tom Speer vs. Sidney Silva; Bantamweight Bout: Brandon Foxworth vs. Manny Tapia; Lightweight Bout: Ed Ratcliff vs. Johnny Sampaio; Middleweight Bout: Eric Schambari vs. Art Santore

-- Frank Trigg has a new MMA radio show that airs daily from 9-10AM PST at www.taggradio.com.

-- Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion has the latest on the Ed Fishman/DSE lawsuit.

-- Total Fighting Alliance's War on the Shore event will be broadcast live online for free. The event takes place on Saturday between 6-9PM PST at the Santa Monica Civic Center an can be viewed at www.totalfighting.net.

-- Rumble in Round Up City II at the Pendleton Convention Center on Saturday , go to www.thefcff.com for more info.

-- Palace Fighting Championships hold its first title fight on 7/19 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, CA when David Espinosa fights Shawn Klarcyk for the bantamweight (135 pounds) title. Other fights include: Jason Von Flue vs. Chris Botelho, Ruben Villareal vs. Rafael Del Real, Kenny Ento vs. Palika Drummondo, Jeremy Freitag vs. Lamont Lister and Angelo Antuna vs. Seth Dikun. Tickets are priced at $20, $30 and $40, on-sale date is 5/18 at 10AM at tickets.com outlets, the Palace Gift Shop or by calling (800) 225-2277.
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Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you~!

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PRO WRESTLING: BIG ASS THURSDAY UPDATE~! 4/26/07

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- Tons of news and notes from the past week...

WWE
-- This weekend Steve Austin's upcoming action flick The Condemned will be in theaters, he appeared on Howard Stern and did a live text chat Monday night. Lots of reviews are in for The Condemned and it's a mixed bag of opinions although not many are in favor of the movie, here's a sample:
- Originality is loser in WWE’s death match
- Movie 'condemns' audience to torturous viewing
- Two middle fingers up for The Condemned
- WWE star has something new to prove in 'The Condemned'
- Stone Cold Heats Up
- Bottom Line: D-grade "Running Man" ripoff

-- Here's an Austin interview on Sports Illustrated's site.

-- Last week WWE dropped Deep South Wrestling as a developmental territory after reports that the operation was in complete disarray. Vince McMahon had a shit-fit about the situation and decided to drop all developmental territories including Ohio Valley Wrestling. Fortunately McMahon was talked out of dropping OVW and it looks like all DSW trainees will be shipped to Steve Keirn's school in Florida. Meanwhile, Jody Hamilton has decided to shut down the DSW promotion.

-- Randy Orton's acting like a rock star these days... or more like an asshole. Orton was sent home last week from the European tour after he trashed a hotel room, the estimated damages were said to be between $30,000-$50,000. Man, this guy must've been going through a (supposed) roid rage or something. Orton has not been suspended as of yet although he was fined and it looks like he'll certainly do the job this weekend at Backlash in a four-way for the WWE title which could be one of many jobs he'll be doing for some time. With Vince paranoid about firing talent and ending up on TNA it looks as if Orton is secure in WWE... for the time being. [source for info on last two items: Figure 4 Weekly newsletter www.f4wonline.com]

-- Speaking of Backlash, Casey, Euan and myself did a preview podcast for this mundance PPV. Casey and I also discuss current news in the MMA world.

-- An interview with Vince McMahon about pay-per-view business.

-- WWE will be releasing a 2-DVD "Ladder Match" set, you can see the match listing here.

-- Batista left quite the impression with fans at an autograph session in Wolverhampton, England. Batista was said to be jet-lagged and what would normally be a two-hour session was cut to an hour. One youngster had anticipated meeting the former world and tag champ but instead was disappointed afterwards, his father stated: “Kyle got a ticket and couldn’t sleep the night before, he was so excited at meeting Batista and he had the afternoon off school. All his mates were telling him how jealous they were. “But when he got there we were told Batista would only be signing WWE merchandise. We queued for nearly two hours and he signed a WWE book, didn’t even look at him or say a word and that was it. His mum was trying to take a picture of the two on the mobile phone but his bouncers kept standing in the way to stop it. “And he refused to sign a birthday card that Kyle had taken in because it is his birthday in three weeks. “I think it is absolutely disgraceful for a man who is loved by so many kids to behave like this. We go down to the Wolves training ground all the time and they can’t do enough for us. If they can make the effort I don’t see why a jumped-up bloke in tights can’t do the the same. Kyle couldn’t stop crying.”

-- On Tuesday Mickie James won the Women's title at a house show in Paris against Melina and Victoria when she pinned Victoria for the win. Apparently Victoria didn't kick out on the three-count as she was supposed to, and a few matches later Melina won the title back from Mickie. Surprisingly, WWE made note of the title switch.

-- Super Crazy was injured at a weekend show in Oberhausen, Germany during a tag match. "Super Crazy landed awkwardly and twisted his knee during a match," said Dr. Ferdinand Rios. "I agree with the trainer's original assessment that Super Crazy has a torn ligament in his left knee. We aren't sure if he tore his ACL or MCL so we have scheduled an MRI for later this week.

-- Cade and Murdoch shoot... or maybe work-shoot on internet fans... do these clowns even get internet access in their trailers?

-- Balls Mahoney will be appearing on Sci Fi Channel's Who Wants to Be a Superhero? this summer as he will help critique and inspire these costumed crusaders in their battles with the show’s villain, Dr. Dark.

-- Philadelphia police officer Shawn Goodstone has been suspended and will lose his job for stealing two WWE action figures from a Rite Aid in West Kensington last month.

-- WWE is suing Dale Gagne who runs shows under the AWA banner for copyright infringement. WWE purchased AWA trademarks from Verne Gagne in 2003, WWE also cites that Dale Gagne (real name: Gagner) dropped the "R" from his last name in order to allegedly make like he was related to former AWA promoter Verne Gagne. You can read Dale's response to the suit here.

-- WWE will be reporting its first quarter earnings in a conference call on 5/3 at 11AM EST, participants can call 800-894-5910 (conference ID: WWE).

-- J.R.’s Back With Plenty to Say!

-- Flair is taking fight with money manager to court

-- Divas shine in Jared Gold’s designs

-- Michelle McCool measures up her competition

TNA/ROH/CZW/INDIES
-- Sean Christopher Haire, who got punched out during a scuffle in front of a Hilton Head Island bar last month, was charged on Monday with felony high and aggravated assault and battery. Juan Hamilton Brantley, the guy who punched Haire in the eye, was also arrested for the same charges, both men remain in the Beaufort County Detention Center. Capt. Toby McSwain of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office stated, "It's a little surprising that the court has issued warrants to both of them, but I guess the judge listened to both sides of the story and couldn't determine who the primary aggressor was."

-- Alex Marvez's lastest column on "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.

-- A card for the Hogan/Wight Memphis show on Friday was finally released.

-- Two-time NASCAR champ Tony Stewart recently compared his sport to pro wrestling on his Sirius Satellite Radio Tuesday night when discussing how NASCAR officials use bogus caution flags to fix races: "It's like playing God," he said on his Sirius Satellite Radio program. "They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it. It's happened too many times this year." Stewart, who said he was fighting a fever and left the two-hour show early, went on to say fans are complaining about debris cautions and NASCAR isn't listening. "I guess NASCAR thinks, 'Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it's going to work in racing, too,'" he said. "I can't understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they're stupid before the fans finally turn on NASCAR. "I don't know that they've run a fair race all year." NASCAR's response: "NASCAR has been running races since 1948, and we place the safety of the drivers at the top of the list," spokesman Jim Hunter said. "We have more people and more resources than ever officiating our races. The safety of the drivers is our first priority. It has always been that way and will continue to be that way.

-- Footage of Christian Cage against Abyss from last year's TNA Lockdown PPV was shown on this week's episode of FOX's House.

-- Austin Starr has been suspended from TNA for 90 days after he questioned the reason for filming a vignette on his day off. After arguing and pressing the issue, Starr eventually cooperated and agreed to filmed the vignettes but TNA was so annoyed with his attitude that they laid down the law making an example out of Starr by sending him home. [source: Figure 4 Weekly newsletter www.f4wonline.com]

-- TNA holds its Slammiversary PPV on 6/17 at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Tickets go on sale 5/19.

-- ROH's 5/12 show at the Manhattan Center is close to a sell-out and a card hasn't been announced yet.

-- ROH world champ Takeshi Morishima recieved the future legends award at the Cauliflower Alley Club 42nd Annual Banquet & Awards last weekend.

-- ROH this Friday at the St. Paul Armory [600 Cedar Street] in St. Paul, MN: Takeshi Morishima vs. Austin Aries for the ROH title; Roderick Strong defends vs. Christopher Daniels for the FIP title; World Tag Team Title Ultimate Endurance: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Pelle Primeau & Mitch Franklin vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked & Gran Akuma; Jack Evans vs. Delirious vs. Rocky Romero vs. Erick Stevens; Colt Cabana & Homicide vs. Brent Albright & Adam Pearce with Shane Hagadorn; BJ Whitmer vs. Shingo; Rain & Lacey vs. Sara Del Rey & Allison Danger

-- Jay Briscoe got a deep gash in his head after taking a light tube/headbutt shot from Necro Butcher at FIP's show last Saturday.

-- CZW will holding its sixth annual Tournament Of Death in Delaware on 6/9, the first match announced is Nick Gage (winner of TOD V) vs CZW Jr. Heavyweight champ Scotty Vortekz.

-- CZW on 5/12 at the New Alhambra Arena, announced so far: CZW World Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Vortekz defends against Cloudy; Ruckus vs. "The Anomaly" Niles Young; Derek Frazier vs. "The BLK Jesus" Sabian; The Iron Saints (Sal & Vito Thomaselli) vs. Team AnDrew (Andy Sumner & Drew Gulak); "The New Jersey All-Star" JC Ryder vs. "Irish Lionheart" CJ O'Doyle; "The Son of a 1,000 Maniacs" Jon Dahmer vs. "Hotshot" Ryan McBride

-- IWA Mid-South/ACW results from 4-22 in San Antonio, TX: "One Man" Mike Dell def. xOMGx; Showtime Scott Summers def. Joey Ryan to retain the ACW heavyweight title; Mickie Knuckles defeated Daffney to retain IWA Women's title; Roderick Strong def. "Biohazard" Jakus Plisken; "Extreme Bulldog" Rexx Reed def. Massive; Low Ki def. Hotstuff Hernandez; Necro Butcher defeated Masada; 4 Team Elimination Hardcore battle for the ACW Tag Team Titles - Children Of Pain retain the titles by defeating Old & Younger, Naptown Dragons & Chuie Martinez/Hugh Rogue

-- IWA Mid-South presents "April Bloodshowers: The Final Chapter" on 4/28 at the Don Preston Recreational Center [14500 Kostner Avenue] in Midlothian, IL: Drake Younger vs CJ Otis; Brandon Thomaselli vs Josh Abercrombie for the IWA World Light-Heavyweight Title; North Star Express vs Iron Saints in a double-dog collar match; Chuck Taylor vs Joey "Magnum" Ryan for the IWA world championship; Ian Rotten vs "The Strong Style Psycho" Tank; Arrogance vs "Unreal" Michael Elgin and Ash

-- Metal and Wraslin’ Mayhewm on Friday 4/27 at The Mission in Augusta, GA featuring wrestlers from Flatline Championship Wrestling and music provided by Anger Management, Dear Enemy and Deleveled.

-- King of Europe Cup this weekend (4/28-4/29) at the Liverpool Olympia: First round: Rhino Vs Nigel McGuinness; Chris Hero Vs Claudio Castagnoli; Matt Sydal Vs El Generico; Davey Richards Vs The Zebra Kid; Ryo Saito Vs Jody Fleisch; Go Shiozaki Vs Martin Stone; Trent Acid Vs PAC; Doug Williams Vs Ares. Bell time is 6:30PM, tickets can be ordered at 0151-263-6633.

-- Pure Wrestling Association at Port Hope High School in Port Hope, Ontario on 5/4. For more information, contact Mike Kelso at 905-835-1186

-- UWF on 5/11 at Lake Norman High School in Mooresville (Charlotte), NC: James Storm and Jackie Moore vs Chris Harris and Gail Kim; Jerry Lynn vs Raven; Rikishi and D-Lo Brown vs Elix Skipper and David Young; Team Macktion vs Steve Corino and CW Anderson

-- National Wrestling Superstars on 5/11 at the South River VFW [31 Reid Street] in South River, NJ. Appearing on the card: Kip James, Kevin Sullivan, Danny Doring, and Slyck Wagner Brown. Call (732) 888-1704 for more info.

-- School's no-holds-barred good guy

-- Pile-driving, gut-busting, back-breaking theater

-- Local church uses wrestling as witnessing tool

-- Wrestling match, puppets, booths bring event's message home

-- Fan fests bring Demolition back together
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Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you~!

You can now receive up-to-the-minute updates from Strong Style Shimko in your email account through feedblitz.com by clicking this link.

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Rap lyrics, Brown funeral expenses, Van Halen, Notorious B.I.G. family sues L.A., Nuge robbery, RS turns 40, more

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- Music news and notes from the last few days...

-- As many people brought up in the wake of the Don Imus controversy, myself included, rap lyrics has its share of misogynistic and racist lyrics which are a detriment to the fans who purchase and consume such swill on a regular basis as well as impressionable youth and society. Well the subject was addressed recently as rap mogul Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network organized a meeting at [chairman and chief executive of U.S. music at Warner Music Group] Lyor Cohen's New York home to "discuss issues challenging the industry in the wake of controversy surrounding hip-hop and the First Amendment" which lasted hours without any conclusion. Those who attended included: Kevin Liles, executive vice president, Warner Music; L.A. Reid, chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group; Sylvia Rhone, president of Motown Records and executive vice president of Universal Music Group; Mitch Bainwol, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America; and Damon Dash, Jay-Z's former Roc-A-Fella Records partner and rapper T.I. Simmons was on The Oprah Winfrey Show admitting there was a problem with rap lyrics but rappers' free speech shouldn't be stifled: "We're talking about a lot of these artists who come from the most extreme cases of poverty and ignorance ... And when they write a song, and they write it from their heart, and they're not educated, and they don't believe there's opportunity, they have a right, they have a right to say what's on their mind," he said. "Whether it's our sexism, our racism, our homophobia or our violence, the hip-hop community sometimes can be a good mirror of our dirt and sometimes the dirt that we try to cover up," Simmons said. "Pointing at the conditions that create these words from the rappers ... should be our No. 1 concern." Al Sharpton too wants in on the action and plans on challenging the industry and rap lyrics by deciding to not honor Def Jam artist L.A. Reid at his National Action Network convention in New York this week. I'm really all for free speech and artists' freedom of expression, what's considered art is always a moot point and I'd never want to see anyone's right to express their feelings in song lyrics yanked away but at the same time this issue needs to be addressed, because chastising a white guy for saying something considered by some to be racist while giving black people and rappers carte blanche to say those same words is bullshit. If you want respect, you need to respect yourselves and learn to respect others, it's really a simple lesson when you think about it.

-- Things never seem to end of James Brown, while the legendary singer died late last year his estate now owes $70,000 for the funeral services from Brown's burial back in March. "I'm just waiting on them to get some of this mess straightened out," said Charles Reid, manager of the C.A. Reid Funeral Home in Augusta, Ga., which handled Brown's funeral. "I really haven't pushed the issue, even though I'd like to have my money." According to Brown's trusted advisor Buddy Dallas a portion of the funeral costs where paid for by trustees but that Brown's children ran the bill up to $150,000. Louis Levenson, an attorney for Brown's six adult children stated that it was the trust's responsibilty to pay the bill saying it was a "reasonable" amount, also the children filed a motion to disclose acccounting records of their father's trust and estate before and after his death claiming the trustees tried to sell off Brown's assets against court orders and filed a motion asking a judge to change his ruling putting two special administrators watching the estate so that the children would have more control over the estate. A hearing is scheduled later this month to settle this and other bullshit with Brown's estate.

-- Speaking of never-ending sagas... The family of Christopher Wallace AKA Notorious B.I.G. are filing a second wrongful-death suit against the city of Los Angeles accusing rogue police officers of shooting and killing the rapper ten years ago. The suit is seeking unspecified damages for Wallace's widow, mother and two children. Former L.A. cop Rafael Perez and his ex-partner, Nino Durden were named in the suit as the men responsible for Wallace's death and the suit also claims that Perez was in cahoots with Death Row Records and Marion "Suge" Knight who denied responsibility for Wallace's death. The L.A. police department wouldn't comment on the suit.

-- Ronald "Tenad" Washington was identified by federal prosecutors an armed accomplice of a second unidentified gunman involved in the 2002 shooting death of Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) inside his Queens recording studio. Washington is suspected of fatally shooting Tupac Shakur associate Randy Walker which he denies any involvement with as well as any connection with Jay's murder claiming that detectives forced him to fessing up about the murders and other crimes. A spokesperson for the Mizell family said, "We're relieved there's some information coming out, although we understand that it's not the full story."

-- Well it turns out that the bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap found in Germs drummer Don Bolles' car earlier this month did not in fact contain GHB as originally detected in a field drug test kit by the Newport Beach Police. A Orange County crime lab confirmed that no GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate) was detected. Bolles is scheduled to appear in court on 5/18. "Mr. Bolles charges of felony drug possession charges have been proven false," said David Bronner President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. "It's shocking that the DA's office is sitting on the lab results on the soap and hasn't dropped the charges already. Mr.Bolles has always been innocent in this case, but as long as these charges are pending he may not get a passport to travel out of the country to perform and is in major legal jeopardy," said Bronner who appeared in court last Friday to support Mr. Bolles. Bolles is scheduled to tour with The Germs this summer in Europe.

-- Eddie Van Halen makes his first post-rehab appearance on Friday during pre-race events at the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event in Phoenix introducing a limited-edition series of Fender Stratocaster guitars and will be on hand to greet the drivers as they are introduced prior to race on Saturday.

-- A Concord Township, MI teenager confessed and was jailed for robbing Ted Nugent's home last week, among the items retrieved by local police were two all-terrain vehicles and two hunting crossbows. Police are looking for another teen involved in the crime. I hate The Nuge but seriously, you don't want to fuck with that guy.

-- Rolling Stone magazine is marking its 40th anniversary this year with three upcoming special issues. The first due out this week contains interviews with Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg and others. The second issue, due out in June will focus on the Summer Of Love of 1967 and the third issue due out in November will focus on the future of music.

-- Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Stevie Nicks, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were among the many artists who gathered at Lincoln Center in New York on Tuesday night to honor the late Atlantic Records chairman Ahmet Ertegun who died last December.

-- Boy Sets Fire will hold its final gig ever at Philadelphia's Trocadeo on 6/9. Go to www.myspace.com/bsflastshow for more info.

-- Bob Dylan's XM Satellite Radio show Theme Time Radio Hour will return for a second season in September. XM will air a Memorial Day Weekend marathon beginning at 6PM EST on 5/26 on channel XM 15 (The Village).

-- Cowell Denies Disrespecting Virginia Tech

-- Ferry apologises for Nazi remarks

-- Belgrade horses may be drugged for Stones gig

-- Crash victim's condition upgraded; car hit by Godsmack lead singer

-- Despite Drop in CD Sales, Music Industry Is Upbeat

-- 'Fatal' blow to web broadcasters
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Quick late night pro wrestling/mixed martial arts news links

-- Hogan-Lawler showdown called off

-- Purchase Wrestlemania 23 double-banners here

-- Daizee Haze Is A Wanted Woman

-- From the ring to the stage, 'The Baron' still wins the crowd

-- Wrestler 'Thunder' Stern was considered larger than life

-- Crowd comes out in droves for cage fighting event

-- Miletich, Bates, Leach make up Q-C Hall of Fame Class of '07

-- How mixed martial arts made and changed a man

-- Gareth's fighting for the homeless

-- Once illegal, the sport is now a big money event

-- Putin hosts Van Damme, fighters at St Petersburg palace

Weekend Wrestling/MMA news & notes (4/13/07)

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

PRO WRESTLING NEWS
-- From WWE.com: For the first quarter of 2007, individual episodes of WWE Monday Night Raw accounted for six of the top ten highest rated cable telecasts among households, according to Nielsen Media Research. Among adults 18-49, individual episodes of WWE Raw accounted for eight of the top ten highest rated cable programs with Raw achieving the second, third and fourth highest individual ratings in that demographic finishing only behind the NBA All-Star game.

-- This Friday night edition of Smackdown is the 400th episode.

-- Steve Austin will be the Grand Marshall at Sunday's 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup at the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas/Fort Worth.

-- Edge has an NHL blog here.

-- Where Are They Now? Percy Pringle

-- Wrestler Foley's Lecture Packs a Punch

-- Cheats and codes for the WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007

-- The Times Herald out of Port Huron, MI has an article on D'Lo Brown and the Springfield Stallions, a Continental Indoor Football League team that he co-owns with Justin Gettys, who are currently 0-1. Brown, a defensive end at the University of Maine during early 90s, has been wrestling for All Japan Pro Wrestling but took some time off to help with the team. "Things are going very well," said Brown, 36, a former World Wrestling Entertainment grappler. "It was an easy mix to lend myself to the team and become part of the organization. They're still trying to get me on the field."

-- The Torch's James Caldwell has an article about the Don Imus controversy.

-- IGN has an interview with Christopher Daniels.

-- Myself, Casey Trowbridge and Euan Taylor (both from Old Country Times) recorded a podcast to attempt previewing this Sunday's TNA Lockdown pay-per-view. You listen to the podcast here but if you get easily offended then don't listen.

-- Christian Cage, Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle will be appearing at Wrestlefest on 4/22 at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, CT at 5PM. The show will feature 8 matches and a meet-and-greet with Joe, Christian and Angle at 3PM. Tickets can be purchased at: FYE Music and Video stores; Bristol Central High School' main office; Tropical Suntan Center [194 Main St]; the Webster Bank on Queen Street in Southington; S & S Sports Apparel [117 Broad St.]; Curves for Women on Farmington Avenue; Southington's Modern Formals and Fazo's Deli in Waterbury; through www.northwestwrestling.com or by calling (860) 874-1244.

-- IWA Mid-South Saturday night at Southwestern High School in Shelbyville, IN: Demolition Ax vs. Tank; Honky Tonk Man vs. "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder; Danny Basham vs. Ian Rotten; Josh Abercrombie vs. Brandon Thomaselli (Tables, Ladders & Chairs match for the IWA Light Heavyweight Title); Chuck Taylor vs. Drake Younger (IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title); "Spyder" Nate Webb vs. C.J. Otis; Mickie Knuckles vs. Kristy Summers (IWA Mid-South Women's Title); Puppet vs. T.O.; Iron Saints vs. Billy Roc & Tony Kozina; Vortekz vs. Diehard Dustin vs. xOMGx, Jack Thriller vs. Ricochet vs. ?

-- Mike Quakenbush will be special guest referee for Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero's match at Chikara's Rey de Voladores event on 4/22 at the New Alhambra Arena (Viking Hall) in Philadelphia.

-- Director Lovestruck on wrestling

-- A 64-year-old pro wrestler set to perform in Newbury

-- Power Team spreads message in Statesboro

-- MCRD Parris Island sailor lived professional wrestling dream

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS NEWS
-- A post-fight piss test revealed that Melvin Guillard tested positive for cocaine following his 4/5 Fight Night match with Joe Stevenson. This is just plain fucking stupid. So far we've seen two stoners compete in MMA, guys who don't make weight three months before a title fight and don't make weight for a TV show where 155-pounders are competing and guys doing blow before their matches... recreation is great and all, but god damn these guys know they have a fight coming up and that the commission tests for drugs or that they MUST make weight for a fight... like Ric James said, "that cocaine is a helluva drug!"

-- In a CBS Sportsline interview with Brock Lesnar, when asked how Kurt Angle would do in MMA, he replies: I think Kurt would do rather well in the 205 category, but I think father time has caught up to him rather quickly because of the demand of professional wrestling and what he gave to professional wrestling, and what he gave his body to. I think that he might have a couple of fights in him but ... poor guy, he's given his life and his heart, mind, and soul to be a professional wrestler and he's hurt himself.
Lesnar's spent the last 10 months training and between 265-270lbs., he's trained with Pat Miletich and currently trains at Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. As far as training with Royce Gracie Lesnar says their schedules are unable to accomodate time to train together but maybe after the K-1 6/2 event at the L.A Coliseum they'll get to train. Lesnar confirms that his K-1 contract is for one fight only and says that Vince McMahon attempted to arrange Lesnar and Kurt Angle to have individual fights with Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson but the boxers nixed that idea.

-- Dana White loves Canada~! "Canada's been a phenomenal breakthrough market for us, the sleeper market," White told The Canadian Press in an interview. "When we were looking at this thing, when we first purchased it, we had no idea that Canada would become so huge."

-- Matt Serra talks about his recent win against Georges St. Pierre and has some words about Matt Hughes in this video interview.

-- Serra on rise in UFC after stunning St. Pierre

-- Here's an article on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou; Prior to Sokoudjou's recent victories in Pride over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona he fought just three times for the Total Combat promotion in San Diego and Sportfight in Portland, OR. Sokoudjou arrived in the States six years ago to train for Olympic judo competition when he met Pride Middleweight and Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson as he was training to fight judo practitioner Kazuhiro Nakamura. From there Sokoudjou got into MMA but admits the transition wasn't so smooth: "I thought it would be easy, but it was really hard for me to kind of understand that judo and mixed martial arts are two different things," he said. "I thought, 'I know judo so I can go ahead and judo everybody." Sokoudjou has modest aspirations in this sport: "I would love to say I'm going to get a bunch of belts. Lots of people out there have a bunch of belts, but they suck," he added. "My goal is to put on a good show and make sure everyone who comes and watches me fight is always satisfied."

-- From the IFL: The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and USA Wrestling, the National Governing Body for wrestling in the United States, today announced a strategic partnership between the two organizations aimed at increasing the awareness level and creating unique grassroots programs and branding opportunities for both groups. “This is a great day for the IFL and for the sports of Mixed Martial Arts and wrestling,” said IFL Commissioner and Co-Founder Kurt Otto.“This partnership will give us the platform to reach a very passionate demo with one of the most respected National Governing Bodies. This cooperative program will help us further our mission to expose these great IFL athletes to a larger audience and show how they can use their wrestling skills as part of MMA.”

-- Dragons Cage at the Williamson County Pavilion in Marion, IL on Saturday 4/14. For more info long onto www.dragonscage.com or call (618) 699-4374.

-- There's an MMA show at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi on Saturday. Go to www.fightforce.org or www.bomberpromotions.com for more info.

-- Mixed martial arts notebook: Lindland ready for the fight of his life

-- Average Joes go head to head

-- Ex-Delawarean mixes hip-hop style with mean right cross

-- Local man using martial arts, religion to reach out to TYC youths

-- When in Rome...do as the Romans do
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I'm not an Imus fan at all, but c'mon now...

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- CBS Radio fired morning host Don Imus Thursday afternoon following the ongoing backlash the shock jock has received over a comment he made about the Rutgers University women's basketball team on his show last week referring to them as "nappy-headed hoes". Al Sharpton first called upon the comment saying Imus should be fired, from there the Rutgers team held a press conference about the comments and sponsor after sponsor (big ones like Procter & Gamble) pulled ads from Imus' show.

Orginally CBS had suspended Imus for two weeks to begin on Monday, earlier this week MSNBC stopped broadcasting Imus' show in its television network (why they broadcasted his show on TV is questionable unless MSNBC thought watching a skeleton with a wig in front of a microphone would bring ratings). CBS chief, Leslie Moonves stated, "From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent."

I won't spend an eternity on this one but here's the deal: Imus made a douchebag comment, I'm sure he's said stupid shit in the past about other minorties, women, children, old people, etc. One interesting note, he was talking to his producer about a Rutgers basketball game and his producer first called the team hardcore hoes yet Imus' comment was poked and prodded. So I assume that hoes is an acceptable term for women (after all those rappers use that word just as much as the word nigger) but the nappy-headed portion of Imus' comment causes the most heat?? And a note to Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the other cry-babies... why don't you go preach to these rappers and their sheep-like followers and young folks and yell at them for using the word nigger? Oh because it's okay for fellow black people to call each other that? That's fuckin' bullshit! If you want respect you need to learn to respect yourselves.

People are only making this issue worse by talking about it over and over and over, because in the end nothing really gets solved, someone else will say the same thing in six months and the country will be in an uproar... what's next, the First Amendment gets burned at the stake? Honestly, Michael Richards' outburst earlier this year was crazy, he's paid the price mentally and career-wise (whatever was left of it)... this comment by Imus is not a major deal. It really isn't, as I said he made a moronic comment that he certainly should've apologized for even if he wasn't really being vicious towards these or any other black women... but this type of backlash?? EVERY ETHNIC RACE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD HAS HAD TO PUT UP WITH BULLSHIT. If Imus had made comments about Spanish or Asian people for instance, sure there would've been people pissed but would Imus had been fired? I don't think so... a suspension, an apology, maybe a sponsor or two pulling out... but not a backlash of this magnitude.

But once Al Sharpton cries and whips his sheeple into a frenzy, LOOK OUT~! Sharpton's doing worse for his people, and the bottom line is if you want respect, you not only have to earn it but you have to respect others as well. Don't act like you're owed the world because you didn't get your 40 acres and a mule, do what you can to better yourselves. And before someone blows a gasket reading this, I AM NOT REFERRING TO ALL BLACK PEOPLE. You should be intelligent enough to distinguish which category you fall in, if you get pissed reading this just remember one thing... Political correctness has KILLED the United States of America.

Another thing, who wants to bet Imus will end up on XM or Sirius like Opie & Anthony and Bubba The Love Sponge did?
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Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you~!

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Kingston/CZW, Gilberti arrested, Foley at MIT, WWE injuries, Cena races, Naked women wrestling, ROH, PWG, Rogan interview, UFC press, Baroni arrest

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- Tons of Pro Wrestling/Mixed Martial Arts news from the last week...

PRO WRESTLING NEWS
-- Combat Zone Wrestling is involved in a feud, but it's not with another wrestling federation, it's with some of CZW's fanbase and some of its wrestlers. On Saturday night at CZW's Out With The Old, In With The New show following the Chris Hero/Eddie Kingston Loser Leaves Town match, owner John Zandig came out to get into it with Kingston following his win over Hero. Kingston left the ring and Zandig ended up "firing" Kingston from the company, later on Zandig came out "shooting" on the fans, particularly criticizing "5 to 10 people" on the CZWFans message board who he felt leave negative posts about the company bringing everyone down.
First off, it more than 5-10 people (as seen in this thread which is one of many) bitching about how shitty CZW's quality has been as far as booking run-in after run-in to finish matches, bringing in no-name no-talent wrestlers while pushing out wrestlers fans actually want to see and other dipshit ideas.
I haven't been to a CZW show since December 2006, and before that I was at maybe two or three shows throughout last year which is the least number of CZW events that I've attended. I have not decided to boycott the product entirely yet I'm not sure when I'll be at another show, this sentiment is shared by many fans on the board who feel cheated and shat upon by an owner who instead of listening to some feedback from fans just looks the other way thinking that such criticism is just negative internet ranting.
Eddie Kingston later left a two-part YouTube interview on all that went down Saturday night, it's since been taken down by Kingston's request but I did get to see it and some points included:
- Kingston arrived at the building early Saturday and was asked by wrestlers in the back if he was talking to Tod Gordon of PWU. Kingston said the last time he talked to Gordon was last summer when he and some members of BLK OUT (Sabian, and Joker) were to work for PWU.
- Kingston saw on the sheet that there were run-ins booked in his match with Hero which he shot down. He was then approached by Zandig and told that he would clothesline Kingston in the ring afterwards, Kingston said ok.
- After the match, Kingston told security that his hand was numb and to tell Zandig not to clothesline him, Zandig then suggested that he slap Kingston. Kingston saw this as an insult and later questioned why a supposedly "retired" wrestler who's not involved in this feud would come out and steal the heat from Kingston and Hero's moment. Kingston left the ring and later heard he was "fired" from a company that he wasn't even contracted with as he left the building.
- Kingston also confirmed the events that transpired resulting in Jigsaw also leaving the company that night as reported on Declaration Of Independents. Jigsaw wanted to drop the Jr. Heavyweight title to Vortekz clean, run-ins again were suggested and Jigsaw has to politic to drop the title without any screwjob finish. Jigsaw was told he would be needed for this year's Best Of The Best show, then it was announced in the ring that the loser of the match would not be in Best Of The Best which not only confused Jigsaw but made him feel as if he was forced out of the company, Kingston also noted that the Chikara-CZW relationship was rocky from the start and that the Chikara wrestlers felt like outsiders in the CZW locker room. Kingston was classy when he said no matter who much you hate the product and/or one person (being Zandig of course) not to take it out on the boys and boycotting the shows takes money out of the boys' pockets. The only thing with that is that ONE PERSON is approving of the goofball shit going on in that ring an as hard as the wrestlers work it's hard to have to sit through nonsensical booking and storylines and wrestlers who don't know how to get themselves over...
Well I'm not sure what's going on with this company, I may not be going until Cage Of Death this December unless I hear or read that the company's shows are getting better. The whole deal with Jig and Kingston really puts a sour taste in my mouth, Zandig and company need to take their heads out from their asses and figure something out. A new booker? Wrestlers (not necessarily big names) who can work the crowd as well as match? It's more than one thing that needs to be fixed, but first things first: Promoters should not ever insult their fanbase, you know, the folks who are willing to put money in your pocket for a decent product.

-- Glen Gilberti (aka WCW's Disco Inferno) was arrested in an illegal gambling operation in Roswell, GA Monday night. Along with Dan Tyre, a homeowner who was running high-stake poker games in his residence, Gilberti face commercial gambling charges which is a felony; in total 27 people were arrested. There's also a dispute about how much players had to pay in order to play, "All the more serious stuff they're talking about, that's circling around $10,000 buy-ins, it's a bunch of garbage," said Troy Gibson, one of those arrested. But the Roswell Police Department believe that indeed was the buy-in amount and they retrieved $45,000 at the scene.

-- Mick Foley spoke at M.I.T. today for the Comparative Media Studies: American Professional Wrestling course, he will be speaking again tomorrow in Building 54, Room 100 from 5-7PM.

-- SMACKDOWN AT MIT

-- Bob Holly has surgery on 4/16 to release a nerve entrapment in his elbow, he's expected to be out for 3-4 months.

-- Smackdown spoilers from Providence

-- J.R.'s latest blog

-- John Cena will be starring on ABC's Fast Cars & Superstars - Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race reality show beginning 6/7 at 8PM. Other celebrity racers include: singer Jewel, actor William Shatner, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, actress Krista Allen, 7-time World All-Around Rodeo Champion Ty Murray, former NBA Champion John Salley, former NFL Super Bowl Champion John Elway, World Wrestling Entertainment Champion John Cena, tennis star Serena Williams, volleyball great and model Gabrielle Reece, legendary surfer Laird Hamilton, and former NFL Super Bowl-winning Head Coach Bill Cowher. Gillette Young Guns are Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray.

-- Jim Cramer on WWE Stock: Cramer also likes World Wrestling (WWE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), calling it an "international growth story" with "great yield." Cramer said the dividend "keeps a bottom on the stock" and that he sees 2 or 3 points of upside from the recent $17.

-- The Chicago Sun-Times has an article on chiropractor Aaron Wolfe who helped WWE wrestlers get adjusted before their during Wrestlemania 23, "Before their matches, they get the alignment of their spines done. They get chiropractic adjustments, help them stretch out. Stuff like that," Wolfe said. However, Wolfe couldn't reveal exactly which wrestlers he worked with, "They put me in the VIP locker room, which was basically the 10 main guys. I got to hang out with them the whole time."

-- WWF Hall of Famer Walter "Killer" Kowalski is among three athletes (along with former major league pitcher Ray Sadecki and Olympic swimmer Chet Jastremski) to be inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame on 6/14 at the American Polish Cultural Center in Troy, MI. For more info call (248) 588-5333 or log onto www.polishsportshof.com.

-- The New York Times has an article on Diamond Dallas Page and his Yoga for Regular Guys DVDs.

-- The first 25 fans through the door at MCW's Aggravated Assault 2007 show on 4/21 will receive a pass to the advance screening of Steve Austin's new movie The Condemned on 4/24 at 7:30 pm @ the AMC Loews White Marsh Theatre in Baltimore.

-- Goldust will be taking Jake "The Snake" Roberts' place (who's "injured") AT CWA's second anniversary show when he takes on CWA champ Timber. "We had signed Jake to a multi-show contract," said CWA co-owner David Garrick. "Injuries are part of the game, but he should be ready to go by May 10." Jeez, is this guy are mark or what?? The show is at Southern Methodist College in Orangeburg, SC on Satuday at 6PM, there's a luncheon at 1PM. For more info contact Roger Gleaton at 803-707-4072.

-- Mayhem in Melbourne II on 5/12 in Clemente Center at Florida Tech will feature: Virgil, One Man Gang, Kamala, Marty Jennetty, Tito Santana, legends Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik and WWE Hall of Fame wrestler, Jerry "The King" Lawler. Go to www.FloridaExtremeWrestling.com for more info.

-- ROH this weekend:
Friday 4/13 @ the Sports Plus Entertainment Center in Lake Grove, NY:
- Takeshi Morishima & Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney & Tank Toland vs. Nigel McGuinness & Doug Williams
- Austin Aries, Matt Cross & ??? vs. Roderick Strong, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero
- Homicide vs. Brent Albright
- Jack Evans vs. SHINGO
- Jay Briscoe vs. Claudio Castagnoli
- Colt Cabana vs. Delirious
- Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey
- El Generico vs. Jason Blade vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Erick Stevens
- Kevin Steen vs. Pelle Primeau

Saturday 4/14 @ Inman Sports Club in Edison, NJ
- ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima defends vs. Nigel McGuinness
- Colt Cabana vs. Doug Williams
- Jack Evans & Delirious vs. Roderick Strong & Davey Richards
- Shingo vs. Matt Cross
- Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Erick Stevens & ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay Briscoe with Mark Briscoe
- Rocky Romero vs. Claudio Castagnoli
- Top of the Class Trophy: Shane Hagadorn vs. Pelle Primeau
- Chris Hero & Tank Toland vs. Jason Blade & Eddie Edwards

-- PWG All Star Weekend results:
Night One (4/7)
- El Generico (C) def. PAC to retain the PWG World Championship
- Low Ki def. Davey Richards
- Kaz Hayashi def. Alex Shelley
- Joey Ryan & Scott Lost & Chris Bosh & Karl Anderson def. Frankie Kazarian & TJ Perkins & Ronin & Top Gun Talwar
- Kevin Steen def. Jack Evans
- Kikutaro def. Matt Classic
- Human Tornado def. Claudio Castagnoli
- Rocky Romero def. Roderick Strong
- Disco Machine def. NOSAWA

Night Two (4/8)
- Kevin Steen def. Joey Ryan
- TJ Perkins, Rocky Romero and Ronin def Lil Cholo, Karl Anderson and Nosawa
- Davey Richards def. Chris Hero
- Colt Cabana and Top Gun Talwar def. Disco Machine and Kikutaro
- Claudio Castagnoli vs. Alex Shelley
- Kaz Hayashi def. Pac
- Roderick Strong and Jack Evans vs. Chris Bosh and Scott Lost went to a No Contest when Super Dragon and Davey Richards
- El Generico def. Human Tornado to retain the PWG title
- Samoa Joe def. Low Ki

-- Carmen Electra's Naked Women's Wrestling League has a pay-per-view on Events iNDemand that airs until June.

-- Electra-fying Naked Women Wrestling

-- Some jouralism advice from The Torch, take it for what it's worth...

-- Do you smell what Paco is cooking?

MIXED MARTIAL NEWS
-- The New York Post has an interview with Joe Rogan talking about his stand-up career and thoughts on UFC: It's already eclipsed boxing in terms of pay-per-view dollars. The real question is can it eclipse football!? Can it eclipse soccer? I think the answer to that is yes. It's a more exciting sport. The UFC has had problems in the past getting guys from overseas. There's not just the UFC, there's also Pride, a huge international organization that a lot of people believe has the best fighters in a couple of different weight classes. But now the UFC purchased Pride. We're going to get to see incredible match-ups now that weren't available just six months to a year ago.

-- Tim Sylvia will be signing autographs at the Country Rose [2221 E. 4th St.] in North Platte, NE beginning at 9PM.

-- Paris Hilton throwing a UFC 69 party??

-- More UFC press:
- UFC rising among nation's sports
- UFC packing a punch in '07
- Mixed Martial Arts: No more perfect career for Sanchez
- LIer Serra grabs title, stuns UFC
- Ultimate Regimen

-- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira signed with UFC last Saturday, he was in attendance at last week's Fight Night sitting with Dana White.

-- Phil Baroni was arrested Sunday night in Miami following a altercation in front of a restaurant. He was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled in court on 4/30 to be arraigned on a felony count of threatening a police officer and misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting officers without violence. "Phil was with only his girlfriend at that time and engaged in an altercation with multiple assailants," said Baroni's agent Ken Pavia. "When all the facts come out I think you will find that Phil was reasonably justified in his actions."

-- The Black Athlete Sports Network interviewed IFL Seattle Tiger Hawks coach Maurice Smith.

-- Steve Cory pissed off a lot of local fighters after running an MMA event in Oklahoma City and not paying them. Two brothers who fought on the show had thousand dollar checks from Cory that bounced, he also got money from sponsors for a bogus upcoming event, even UFC fighter Andrei Arlovski who signed autographs got stiffed for $7,500 but the lowest of the low was that Cory's check for the event's insurance premium bounced so any fighters seeking medical treatment will have to pay out of their pocket because of this dipshit. A background check on Cory showed that he's a convicted felon with a long rap sheet and crimes including possession of forged instruments, writing bogus checks, and jumping bail. Cory or his wife wouldn't comment to the media.

-- The Nevada State Athletic Commission changed the match result of Nick Diaz and Takanori Gomi's Pride fight from February to a "no-contest" after Diaz tested postive for Delta-9-THC (the shit in pot that gets you high as a kite). Diaz is suspended until 8/24 (six months from the date of his last fight) and was fined $3,000 (20% of his purse), it was also determined by NSAC Chair Dr. Tony Alamo that Diaz was high when he fought and that helped him win. Diaz replied, "I wasn't under the influence when I was fighting. I don't abuse drugs normally; it was a one-time thing. It was very embarrassing for me to test positive."

-- SUN Sports & Entertainment Inc. presents Art Of War II on 5/11 at the Austin Convention Center and is being sponsored by the US Army.

-- Scientific wrestling looks to capture piece of mixed martial arts market

-- Academy moves, expands schedule

-- CraveOnline Teams with Sherdog to Punch Up Sports Channel

-- PrimEdge, Inc. Negotiates Exclusive Licensing Rights for Broadcast and Media Distribution of the "Absolute Fighting Championships" -- the Fastest Growing Spectator Sport in the U.S. and Worldwide

-- Willmar man postpones Ultimate Fighting event

-- Mackay’s ECC win will stand

-- Local fighters itching to get in the cage

-- Boxing is fast becoming obsolete
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Richards Denies Snorting Dad, Metallica: Baby Name? Outlaw Billy Joe, Rap death, Kiss passing, Fall Out Delay, tons more

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

-- A day after telling music magazine NME that he snorted his father's ashes with some blow, Keith Richards denied the story saying it was just a joke. Years ago when asked about his rumored blood transfusion in 1973, Richards "admitted" it happened only later to confess, "I was just fooling around," he admitted, years later. "I was fucking sick of answering that question." Richards enjoys messing with the press but sometimes forgets how he's percieved by the public and press (you know, the partying and such).

-- Michael and Karolina Tomaro are in court with the Swedish National Tax Board who refuse to accept the couple's application to name their six-month-old daughter Metallica (no that's not a typo). "It suits her," Karolina Tomaro, 27, said Tuesday of the name. "She's decisive and she knows what she wants." Besides the name being associated with the rock group and the word metal, Swedish authorites ruled the name as being ugly. The County Administrative Court in Goteborg ruled in favor of the couple stating that there wasn't a reason to block the use of the name and noted that there was a woman living in Sweden with Metallica for a middle name. The tax board took the case to a higher court thus making travel plans for the family difficult as they can't get a passport for the baby without an approved name.

-- Billy B. Coker, who according to authorities was shot and wounded by country singer Billy Joe Shaver, says the attack was unprovoked and at least by one witness account Shaver followed Coker out of Papa Joe's Texas Saloon in Lorena, TX last Saturday night and asked Coker "Where do you want it?" before Shaver shot him in the face. Joseph A. Turner, Shaver's attorney, says it happened otherwise as Coker was being aggressive, had a knife and followed Shaver outside the Saloon although witness statements don't say so. Shaver surrendered last Tuesday and posted $50,000 bail, he was charged with charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully carrying a handgun on the premises of a business with a license to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption.

-- A member of the Mexican rap group Cartel de Santa was shot and killed last weekend by accident when lead singer Eduardo Davalos de Luna shot at the group's driver, Juan Miguel Chavez. Davalos de Luna shot at Chavez injuring his leg and another shot ricocheted off the floor killing band member Ulises Nayit Buenrostro.

-- Former Kiss guitarist Mark St. John (Mark Norton) died of a brain hemorrhage earlier this week at age 51. Mark St. John replaced guitarist Vinnie Vincent in 1984, shortly thereafter he developed a form of arthritis called Reiters Syndrome. Bruce Kulick came in to cover for St. John on the Animalize tour and as the condition worsened St. John left Kiss in December 1985. St. John later formed the band White Tiger and also recorded a solo album as well as a demo with former Kiss drummer Peter Criss.

-- Due to "personal issues" Fall Out Boy announced Friday that the first few weeks of the Honda Civic Tour will be delayed with the tour beginning on 5/11 at Denver's Coors Amphitheater. According to bassist Pete Wentz the band "just wanted to give everyone a heads up, we are planning on this being the biggest and best Fall Out Boy show that we could possibly have. Unfortunately, because of some personal issues we had to delay the tour a few weeks. We want to put on the best possible show we can and know that this extra couple of weeks will give us the time to put ourselves in the right place to put on the best show we can. The shows from the earlier part of the tour will be rescheduled to the end but all tickets will be honored for all moved shows. Again we apologize. Our fans really mean the world to us and I promise the wait will be well worth it." Only the Sacramento show was canceled, tickets for that show can either be refunded or exchanged for the 6/30 Concord show.

-- The second annual VH1 Rock Honors premieres on VH1 5/24 at 9PM. Hosted by Bam Margera, honorees include Genesis, Heart, Ozzy Osbourne and ZZ Top with Nickelback, Gretchen Wilson and Keane performing live alongside the honored artists.

-- Clear Channel has sold the following stations (52 total) to Dallas-based Gap Broadcasting: KEAN-FM, KEYJ-FM, KFGL-FM, KLSI-AM, KULL-FM and KYYW-AM/Abilene, Texas; KATP-FM, KIXZ-AM, KMML-FM, KMXJ-FM and KPRF-FM/Amarillo, Texas; KFMX-FM, KFYO-AM, KKAM-AM, KKCL-FM, KQBR-FM and KZII-FM/Lubbock, Texas; KAFX-FM, KSFA-AM, KTBQ-FM and KYKS-FM/Lufkin, Texas; KCHX-FM, KCRS-AM & FM, KFZX-FM and KMRK-FM/Midland, Texas; KKYR-FM, KMJI-FM, KOSY-AM, KPWW-FM and KYGL-FM/Texarkana, Texas; KBGE-AM, KISX-FM, KKTX-FM, KNUE-FM and KTYL-FM/Tyler, Texas; KIXS-FM, KLUB-FM and KQVT-FM/Victoria, Texas; KBZS-FM, KNIN-FM and KWFX-AM & FM/Wichita Falls, Texas; KLAW-FM, KVRW-FM and KZCD-FM/Lawton, Oklahoma; KEEL-AM, KRUF-FM, KTUX-FM, KVKI-FM, KWKH-AM and KXKS-FM/Shreveport, Louisiana.

-- "The Lost Tracks of Danzig" will be released on 5/29 with the following track list:
Disc one:
"Pain Is Like an Animal"
"When Death Had No Name"
"Angel of the Seventh Dawn"
"You Should be Dying"
"Cold, Cold Rain"
"Buick McKane"
"When Death Had No Name"
"Satan's Crucifiction"
"The Mandrake's Cry"
"White Devil Rise"
"Come to Silver (acoustic)"
"Deep"
"Warlok"

Disc two:
"Lick the Blood Off My Hands"
"Crawl Across Your Killing Floor"
"I Know Your Lie"
"Caught in My Eye"
"Cat People"
"Bound by Blood"
"Who Claims the Soulless"
"Malefical"
"Soul Eater"
"Dying Seraph"
"Lady Lucifera"
"Under Belly of the Beast"
"Unspeakable Shango Mix"


-- Partial line-up for Seattle's Bumbershoot festival on 9/1-9/3: The Shins, Wu-Tang Clan, Panic! At The Disco, Crowded House, Lupe Fiasco, Steve Earle, DeVotchKa, Devendra Banhart, Gogol Bordello, Kill Hannah, Norma Jean, Plain White T's, The Gourds, Lyrics Born, Roky Erickson & The Explosives, The Holmes Brothers, The Avett Brothers, Yungchen Lhamo, Allison Moorer, Magnolia Electric Company, The Aggrolites and many, many more to be announced! For ticket info click here.

-- A documentary titled One Nine Nine Four looks at the punk revival of the '90s and interviews bands like Green Day, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Rancid, NOFX, and Blink-182. The film, made by Australia's Robot Academy Films, is due out in film festivals next year.

-- The Foo Fighters have re-signed a new long-term recording deal with RCA Records.

-- Whitney Houston gets child custody

-- Anti-Gay Slurs Put Radio Hosts In Dog House

-- Jackson May Sue To Stop Memorabilia Sale

-- Lennon piano to be displayed in Memphis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!



You can now receive up-to-the-minute updates from Strong Style Shimko in your email account through feedblitz.com by clicking the banner above.

You can also subscribe by going to meanfilipine.blogspot.com, scroll down the page and on the right side of the page you will see this bar:

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-- Art