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I received an issue of the Observer on Thursday which is really early for arrival. Then another issue arrived on Friday which makes for a big heap of news. Anyway... TNA Unbreakable Star Ratings 3 Live Kru vs. Diamond, Skipper and Young * Austin aries vs. Roderick Strong ***1/2 Kip James and Monty Brown vs. Apolo & Lance Hoyt *1/4 Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams *** Abyss vs. Sabu **3/4 Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy ** AMW vs. Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens vs. Team Canada vs. Alex Shelley & ??? *** Raven vs. Rhino (no rating) AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Daniels ***** (Meltz said this was the best match in company history) …

Summerslam Notes: -Backstage negotiations with Hogan and Michaels... --- Michaels did not want to do the job and requested to lose via DQ and he was the one who asked for the program. --- Hogan said there was only one ending for the match, since he ash creative control, and that was the legdrop. --- Michaels wanted the screwjob finish at Summerslam and would return the favor with Hogan winning a cage match at the next PPV. Hogan wanted to win this match clean and then have the cage match and win by photo finish where he goes through the door and Michaels goes over the cage with Hogan hitting the floor first. ---Michaels then refused ot do the cage match…

The last two issues were pretty small and I was busy anyway so you didn't get one of these. However, I have ssome free time on my lunch break right now to start this off. Bret Hart --- To the outside it appears that Vince and Bret shook hands, kissed and made-up. The reality is that the two put aside their differences simply to produce the DVD. --- The original DVD was going to be a burial job of Bret simialr to the Warrior DVD that is going to come out. --- Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Jerry Lawler, Bruce Pritchard, Shawn Michaels, and others all taped interviews portraying Bret in a negative light. --- Chris Benoit refused to say anything negative about…

All apologies for not posting the newsletter lately. I decided to take a few weeks off of on my subscription while I move as I don't have a reliable mailing address. Here's some bits and peices posted by the Torch as of late though: - Shawn Michaels wanted to have a private in-ring practice session with Hulk Hogan before Summerslam. Hogan turned it down because he said his body can only take so much physical wear and tear at this point in his life and he doesn't want to waste any bumps when it's not for money or in front of a crowd. As a compromise, Hogan worked a dark six-man tag match after Raw in Pittsburgh on Monday with Michaels on the opposing team. This week o…

Questions, comments, and additions are welcome. Obviously the 75 and 78 events are the same; not sure which is the right date. Pittsburgh, PA - July 30, 1963 WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino & Johnny DeFazio defeated the Fabulous Kangaroos Toronto, Ontario - Maple Leaf Gardens - July 30, 1964 Hans Schmidt fought Billy Red Lyons to a draw Arion Lambrakis defeated the Great Mephisto The Scufflin Hillbillies defeated Lee Henning & the Mighty Ursus Ray Villmer defeated Ike Eakins The Beast defeated WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino via count-out WWWF @ Alexandria, VA ? July 30, 1965 WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated…

TNA No Surrender Star Ratings: 1. Chris Harris and James Storm vs. Alex Shelley and Michael Shane **3/4 2. Sonjay Dutt vs. Shark Boy vs. Elix Skipper vs. Mikey Batts *** 3. Apolo & Sonny Siaki vs. Simon Diamond & David Young **1/4 4. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin ****1/4 5. Eric Young, Bobby Roode & A-1 vs. Andy Douglas, Chase Stevens & Lance Hoyt ***1/2 6. Kip James & Monty Brown vs. Konnan & Ron Killings ** 7. AJ Styles vs. Sean Waltman **** 8. Christopher Daniels vs. Petey Williams ***3/4 9. Raven vs. Abyss ***1/2 Mexico Notes: -Zumbido was fired by Anthony Pena this past week since he was arrested at one of the shows after…

First off, This week's Observer starts off with 4 pages dedicated to Shinya Hashimoto. You can expect this to be in the next Tributes book. If I can ever figure out how to scan these friggin things, I'll post the articles. WWE news: Different reasonsTrips left: --- The storyline reason HHH isn't around is that he is injured from HIAC and needs to take time off to heal. ---He did not like the plans for him (including a match against Flair at Summerslam), with the other stars around him taken care of, he felt it was better to take a break. It is likely Trips did not want to work the angle with Flair. It was designed because Trips needed a win after three s…

Hey, I'm new and like the intelligent wrestling discussion that goes on here, so I thought I would contribute this as long as people want it. Of course The Observer it's not, but what can you do. ___________________________________ Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter Matt Hardy returns to WWE, cashes in on personal controversy By Wade Keller, Torch editor Four months after breaking up with Amy Dumas (Lita) over her affair with Adam Copeland (Edge) and three months after getting fired by WWE, Matt Hardy is back. After months of generating publicity for himself that led to chants at arenas all over the world of "We Want Matt," the fans got what they asked for. H…

You know, I can't help but think that with better career guidance working around people who had a better head on their shoulders, Bagwell couldn't have been a superstar. He was coming along nicely in the ring early on before totally falling apart, and his career never came back after that neck injury. He also has the distinction of severely altering the course of the inVasion because his match was so bad. Too bad his life has taken the turns it has, but he's pretty much to blame for all of it.

And wouldn't you know it, today's razor-thin issue arrives right on time. WWE Number Crunching Notes: --- Despite the addition of four PPVs and increase in international business, WWE revenue and profit declined in the fiscal year ending 4/30 --- The company made a profit of $39,147,000. From a wrestling standpoint, it is the 2nd lowest profit since the boom but is actually the 5th most profitable year in company history since they are not involved in any money losing ventures like the XFl and the World. --- The reason PPV numbers have increased over the past year is not because of more popular shows but because of increased international exposure to PPV…

This is what we have so far... "Ladies and gentlemen, here they are, the team that has made more men run than milk of magnesia, Loverboy Dennis and Beautiful Bobby, the Midnight Express!" "I hear they call Dusty's sister 'Federal Express'. Because every time she goes on a date, she absolutely positively has to be there overnight." "Do you get up early on Saturday mornings and watch cartoons?" -- Dutch Mantel "No, I prefer Richard Simmons." -- Jim Cornette "The team that has crippled more people than arthritis and polio... Beautiful Bobby and Loverboy Dennis.... THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS!!!" Jim Cornette to Dusty Rhodes - "That's a nice h…

WO News and Notes: I usually receive these on Friday but it didn?t drop until Wednesday, two days before I am supposed to get my next issue. So, I?ll try to post as much today since I?ll probably do another one of later on today. Judgment Day Star Ratings: Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin **1/2 Victoria v. Christy Hemme *1/2 Kane v. Edge **3/4 Shawn Michaels v. Kurt Angle ****1/2 John Cena v. Chris Jericho v. Christian ***3/4 HHH v. Batista (Hell in a Cell) ****1/2 Meltz analysis of the draft results: --- John Cena for Batista ? Meltz feels RAW gets the advantage here. He thinks that Batista?s successful run so far was a result of his interact…

From the Torch: This should be very interesting. Nash interviews, delusional as they can be, always provide a few laughs. I'm considering renewing my Torch subscription long enough to catch all the installments of this one. If I do, I'll be posting them all here at NMB so we can pick his words apart.

Raven Torch Talk The following is a "Torch Talk" with Raven, one of the most intelligent, frank, well spoken, controversial, well_travelled main event wrestlers in the country. In this interview, conducted Aug. 17, Raven (real name Scotty Levy) talks about virtually every aspect of his career, from his start in the territories to his acclaimed ECW days to his falling out with Paul Heyman to his drug problems to his stints in WCW and the WWF to his current run in TNA. He also talks in depth about drug use in general in wrestling. Wade Keller: I want to begin by touching upon where you came from before wrestling. Where did you grow up and what kind of childhood di…

Lots of ECW stuff to cover. 8 of the 18 pages were committed to the PPV and the Hardcore Homecoming Show. PPV Star Ratings: Chris Jericho v. Lance Storm ***1/4 Super Crazy v. Tajiri v. Little Guido **1/2 Rey Mysterio v. Psychosis **1/2 Sabu v. Rhyno ***1/4 Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero ***1/4 Mike Awesome v. Masato Tanaka ****1/4 Dudleys v. Dreamer & Sandman ***1/2 ---The company went into the show expecting between 150,000-200,000 buys. They budget regular "B" shows at 321,000 buys. Meltz thinks it will blow away all predictions but did not quote the 800,000 that was floating on the internet. ---ECW ranged between 40,000-99,000 on its PPV show…

I thought I might try creating new topics to generate discussion by just picking a year and promotion at random and we can discuss our favorite memories of the year, the best matches we've seen from the year and that sort of thing. So, this is a place for wrestling, nostalgia and match recommendations, actually. The year started off with some changes being made in the hierarchy. Turner execs wanted the NWA to start drawing money, and they wanted immediate results, and the feeling was that they needed a new booker that wasn't Ric Flair, so Flair was axed in favor of Ole Anderson. 1989 was riddled in politics, but it didn't actually catch up to the product until 1990, …

More ECW PPV Notes: ---Dean Malenko won't be doing the show. He claims he has family commitments although he was never scheduled to wrestle. ---The major pushed storyline has little do with ECW (obviously) but all about politics. WWE wants the show to be a success cinse it is their idea and their business. The disappointment in the advance at the small Hammerstein Ballroom felt the show would not do well if left to its own devices. If it did well with no TV support and no WWE characters, what would that say about the current writing team? Now, the feeling is if it is a success, it is because of the angles on television and Vince gave it his stamp of approval. If …

Judgment Day star ratings: Mercury & Nitro v. Holly & Haas ***1/4 Carlito v. Big Show * Paul London v. Chavo Guerrero **3/4 Booker T v. Kirt Angle ***1/4 Orlando Jordan v. Heidenreich -* Rey Mysterio v. Eddie Guerrero ***3/4 John Cena v. JBL ****1/4 ECW PPV Notes: ---The PPV has turned into a political fight. Kevin Dunn and Vinnie Mac have the same mentality that they had for WCW and ECW during the botched Invasion angle. They feel it is more important that ECW is owned by Vince than as an independent show using WWE talent. ---There are feelings that nearly everoyone involved felt that using weapons matches on RAW and pr…

I picked up the new issue of PS today and they have a quite lengthy interview with Mr Angelic Diablo on the Lita/Edge situation, his release, his future, and a few other things. I was considering typing it up but given some are tired of the topic I just want to measure interest in the article. So, anyone interest post and say "aye" and if at least 6 of you have some interest I'll type it up tomorrow. If not, GH or Loss, delete this thread in a couple of days. Anyway, I'll wait to see who is interested.

The site I mentioned in the topic description no longer exists, but there were some really good historical articles posted on another board recently that were saved, so I wanted to cross post them here. The first one is on ECW.

I just wondered if you had it and if you would mind sharing it. I've heard it's an amazing read. Thanks!

--- 3 pages worth of Pride notes. I don't know much about Pride so I skipped it for now. Lots of TNA notes... ---Frank Dickerson, long time member of the Panda Energy Board will act as both Cheif Executive Officer and Cheif Financial Officer for TNA. He hasn't paid attention to wrestling for over 40 years. However, he has been reading books such as Sex, Lies and headlocks and The Death of WCW to get familiar with how the business ended up where it is today. ---The two key contracts coming up in the upcoming months are AJ Styles and Monty Brown. ---Sean Waltman has been talking with HHH in bringing him back to WWE. If he goes, he could bring Kevin Nash, R…

This past week's Observer had a bio on Billy Robinson. Well, contained inside is a story where Billy was ribbing Peter Maivia and Rock's Granddaddy didn't like it too much. Here is a word-for-word account of the story in the Observer...

ECW PPV notes... -Paul Heyman has a proposed script for the 6/12/ PPV and is the creative point man with Vince, Ross, Johnny Ace and Dreamer as overseers. -Heyman wants as many authentic names as possible, including TNA talent, but Ace is against using TNA-contracted guys. Vince hasn't made a decision on this yet. -Heyman wants to use old ECW referees, ring announcers, Atlas security, and the old ECW entrances and lighting. -There has been talk about Foley being apart of the PPV in a match as Cactus jack but Foley would prefer to do a promo and the Socko bit he is doing on indy shows. If he does a match, he wants significant money because he only has…