AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

This weekend begins a stretch of three killer shows this April at the ECW Arena.

First, the return of Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling’s tenth annual Best of The Best tournament, and CHIKARA Pro Wrestling’s King of Trios all in April; then concluding with the historic May debut of New Japan Pro Wrestling here in Philadelphia.

Things start off on April 9 with an ECW Arena doubleheader, where Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling makes its United States return in an afternoon show to start at 2:30 pm.

No Ropes Barbed Wire Match
“Golden Boy” Drake Younger (Indianapolis, IN, USA) vs. “Crazy Monkey” Jun Kasai (Hokkaido, JAP)

wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship
Chris Hero (Metropolis, USA) vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (Osaka, JAP)

Heavyweight Tag Team Match
Big van Walter (Wien, A) & Brodie Lee (Nebraska, USA) vs. Johnny Moss (Egremont, UK) & Michael Elgin (Atlantic City, NJ, USA)

Singles Match
Bad Bones (Oberhausen, GER) vs. 16 Carat Gold 2011 Winner Sami Callihan (Last House on the Left, OH, USA)

Tag Team Rematch
Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly (USA) vs. LDRS of the New School [Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre jr.] (Isle of Sheppey, UK)

Four Way Dance
Brandon Gatson vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Emil Sitoci vs. Johnny Gargano

Singles Match
Karsten Beck vs. Necro Butcher

Visit Westside Xtreme Wrestling’s United States site for the latest news and ticket information on wXw’s U.S. return!

That evening, Combat Zone Wrestling presents the tenth annual “Best of The Best” tournament, with a scheduled 7:30 pm belltime.

Scheduled first round matches are:

By Rich Mancuso

For months this observer has been anticipating WrestleMania XXVII. Because the WWE event is the wrestling event of the year, the so-called Super Bowl of pro wrestling. Also the return of the “Rock” as host of the event, and as anticipated, having some type of impact in the final outcome of the championship match between John Cena and The Miz.

And with MTV “Jersey Shore” MTV star Snookie as a part of a mix tag match, well Vince McMahon, the innovator of this pay-per-view spectacle must have been desperate to give fans a show. Leading to the interest was lead WWE announcer Michael Cole in a highlight match against the WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King Lawler.

Months of anticipation and what we all got was garbage, perhaps one of the all-time worse of all the Mania’s because the people who write the script, for his highness, McMahon, have no clue. No hint as to what pro wrestling story lines are about. No title changes at Mania or something to look forward to in the year ahead before the next Mania in Miami April 1 2012.

Oh, there may be something to look forward to, the Rock against Cena in Miami next April 1. Because it is so predictable just by the outcomes of the Mania concluded. They can’t let this feud die. The WWE product is lost and McMahon needs The Rock to bring back some type of respectability, unless the inept writers of the script, as they are, make us all look stupid.

Though the elaborate set and entrances gave the show some type of interest to keep watching, they missed the mark by not putting the Undertaker-Triple H match on last. That would have been the plan when Vince had the proper people writing the scripts and planning of his shows.

Triple H, with more of a role in the company, and his wife Stephanie McMahon, better look again at the story lines. Plan and simple, they are not working and the buildup to WrestleMania became just another free Monday Night Raw production

In fact, from the looks if it, the RAW and Smackdown television products, which gets us to order Mania, were that much better. We get the Rock at the onset and he does some of his stupid little punch lines in between, and then becomes the impact player as the Cena-Miz championship match concludes. And if you watched like me, what was the significance of that Atlanta choir as a lead in before this much hyped championship match?

I wondered was “Brother Love” a one-time WWF religious gimmick in the script to confront Miz, Rock, or Cena? Because at the time Bruce Pritchard, who played the character used to preach brotherly love as choir music played in the background. Someone explain, what was the significance of the religious theme and praising the Lord before the show of the year?

Wow, maybe McMahon was hoping for some divine intervention to save a Mania production that slowly and surely lost interest.

WrestleMania used to end storylines and the feeling is now they continue with little or no value left in them. Lawler got some type of retribution over Cole, but no definite ending. Cole has developed into this strong heel announcer, hopefully never again to return in the ring. What made it more intense was Stone Cold Steve Austin as the referee, except Austin did not “Stone Cold” Cole.

And Cole was not humiliated to the point where he would be put off the show for a few weeks. That would be the appropriate thing to do because we can never get enough of Jim Ross who called the remainder of the show when Cole left.

No, that did not happen. But it was good to see Edge open the show and continue to prove why he is indeed a premiere part of WWE. He retained his championship as Cole continued to open his mouth and berate Lawler and other talent. Keep remembering this is all a part of the script.

That skit with Snoop Dog auditioning WWE talent was saved because one of my favorites appeared for five seconds, the Hall of Famer Rowdy Piper. You could not see an effective Randy Orton, leg injury, and what is ahead with CM Punk and the Nexus? Though banned from ringside, are they out of the script, and is Nexus, once a powerful gimmick dead? No answer there from the great writers of WWE television.

However, WrestleMania as of late has lacked proper theatre. The only highlight last year in Phoenix Arizona was Taker keeping his streak alive that retired Shawn Michaels. This time Taker was physically exhausted and reality set in as he was carted away after an almost real like battle with Triple H.

Wow, his Mania undefeated streak lives at 19-0. Another story line that develops to next year when Taker is scheduled to retire with the question, will the streak stay perfect and who will be a viable opponent to try and wrestle it away from him?

Oh no, it won’t be Cena. Because we all saw what developed, the return of The Rock and a buildup over the next year. Rock against Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, home of one Dwayne Johnson, but it appears the days of great matches at WrestleMania, the good storylines are over.

The only good thing worth watching, seeing the legends get their deserved credit. The latest inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame, though we never get to visit their Hall because the history is headquartered at WWE headquarters up in Stamford Connecticut, a building that is harder to gain entrance than the Pentagon building in Washington D.C.

Oh, I did wake up from this horrific wrestling event of the year when an old friend Abdullah the Butcher, much slower with his steps, appeared with the other new inductees of the Hall of Fame.

Wonder if he was thinking like me? Because this latest version of WrestleMania is not one that will not be remembered in the annals of pro wrestling history!

e-mail Rich Mancuso: ring786@aol.com

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

So it’s Wrestlemania weekend, lots of activities to push World Wrestling Entertainment’s annual wrestling extravaganza. Vince McMahon insures everyone is on their best behavior as they wade through the media frenzy that always seems to take place.

And what does the voice of his flagship TV show and participant in his hottest angle do? Cole goes on his Twitter (done 99% in character) and refers to Josh Matthews as a “fa##ot”.

This, only days after the WWE and gay/lesbian rights organization GLAAD teamed to work together to curb homophobic slurs in wrestling (this after some much milder comments in a Monday Night RAW promo by John Cena),

After TMZ.com went public, Cole yanked the tweet and apologized, posting: “I apologize to any and all who were offended by my tweet toward young Josh Matthews. It was obviously not meant the way it was taken. I was not ordered to apologize. I said I am sorry because I am. Now can I get back to being a character again please?”

WWE publicly apologized: “The WWE and GLAAD announced a partnership on March 17 to try and put an end to bullying based on sexual orientation after a series of homophobic taunts was made by wrestler John Cena….WWE takes this issue very seriously, and has already spoken with our talent about these incidents. We are taking steps and working with GLAAD to ensure that our fans know that WWE is against bullying or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation…. WWE has alerted GLAAD to the situation and spoken to Michael Cole about his post. He has removed it and apologized for using hateful language. Michael will be included in the training session being done by GLAAD. WWE takes this very seriously and is against discrimination of any kind based on sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or other.”

Um, so just HOW do you take a word like that?

Who thinks Michael Cole wasn’t made to apologize….quickly…by WWE? Further, who thinks that if Michael Cole wasn’t the hottest heel in the company and in one of the major angles in Wrestlemania, he might not have a job right now? It wouldn’t be the first time that Vince McMahon fired someone for doing something stupid out of the ring.

Either Michael Cole has to be totally lacking in judgement in saying this to try and get over his heel character, or this was some sort of weird way of Vince McMahon trying to take a quick swipe at GLAAD. In the days before WWE went public, Vince McMahon wouldn’t have publicly apologized for anything. It seemed just the way he did things. Now with the company a publicly held company, and with his wife perpetually running for the Republican nomination for US Senate from Connecticut…he has to do those sorts of things.

Meanwhile, in more news reported on TMZ…TNA’s Kurt Angle was arrested after the local highway patrol in Grand Forks found Kurt Angle sitting in his car in the median separating lanes. Angle is reported to have told police that he had hit an icy patch on the road. They smelled alcohol on his breath, and Angle failed a field sobriety test. Since the police didn’t actually see Angle driving, they couldn’t charge him with DUI, but did charge him with being in control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Angle responded on his Twitter: “I was not drunk. I was in ice storm and my car slid into three feet of snow median. I called police for help. They had other plans. I was stuck and wanted to go to my hotel. I was not passed out drunk. I was coherent. I’m sorry if I let you down. Don’t believe everything you read. My life is good and this is a speed bump in the road. The truth will come out. God bless. I take responsibility for this. My job is to stay clean and never put myself in jeopardy. TMZ blew it out of proportion. After my hearings, I will give you proper story.”

Um, so if you WEREN’T drunk, Kurt, just what were you taking responsibility for?

——————-

To conclude, a reminder about three killer shows this spring at the ECW Arena….first, the return of Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling’s tenth annual Best of The Best tournament, and CHIKARA Pro Wrestling’s King of Trios all in April; then concluding with the historic May debut of New Japan Pro Wrestling here in Philadelphia. Things start off on April 9 with an ECW Arena doubleheader, where Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling makes its United States return in an afternoon show to start at 2:30 pm featuring a No Ropes Barbed Wire Match between “Golden Boy” Drake Younger vs. “Crazy Monkey” Jun Kasai, Chris Hero vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, Big van Walter/Brodie Lee vs. Johnny Moss/Michael Elgin, Bad Bones vs. 16 Carat Gold 2011 Winner Sami Callihan, and Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly vs. LDRS of the New School [Marty Scurll/Zack Sabre Jr. Brandon Gatson and “Tremendous” Emil Sitoci are also in action. . Visit Westside Xtreme Wrestling’s United States site for the latest news and ticket information on wXw’s U.S. return! Early purchases of fronyt row tickets are available via e-mail kohlenberg@wxw-wrestling.com with the topic “wXw Philadelphia First Row”.

That evening, Combat Zone Wrestling presents the tenth annual “Best of The Best” tournament, with a scheduled 7:30 pm belltime.

Scheduled first round matches include: Akuma vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Zack Sabre, Jr., CHIKARA’s Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole, Sami Callihan vs. AR Fox vs. Jake Crist, and Big Japan Wrestling’s Deisuke Sekimoto vs. Dragon Gate USA’s Chuck Taylor vs. Brandon Graston.

Along with the Best of the Best tournament, a Dream Death Match will take place with the CZW return of “Crazy Monkey’ Jun Kasai vs. Danny Havoc, and a six-man “Ultimate Jeopardy” style match with CZW Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers and Devon Moore vs. Philly’s Most Wanted and CZW Champion Robert Anthony

Tickets will be available through the CZW Pro Shop at this link.

CHIKARA Pro Wrestling comes to the world’s most famous Bingo Hall for King of Trios 2011 on April 15-17. Belltimes are 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday and 4:30 pm on Sunday for the finals. All 16 trios will be in matches the first night of the tournament, which is Friday, April 23. The surviving eight teams advance into Night 2,and the 4 remaining teams will face off until just one remains on Sunday afternoon, As the participants are confirmed for the tournament, you’ll see them listed on this very page. There will also be non-tournament matches featuring wrestlers eliminated from King of Trios on the last two nights.

First round matches announced thus far:

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

Sad news to start as Chris Jericho has reported online that Japanese and former WWF star Jensei Shinzaki (aka Hakushi) is currently living out of his car, as both his home and restaurant were destroyed by the earthquake/tsunami’s effects.

For the most up-to-date information on the status of shows in Japan and news on the welfare of Japanese and other workers who were on tour in Japan, go to Puroresu Representin’. It’s likely they’ll also have word on the Japanese talent scheduled to come over for the CHIKARA King of Trios weekend and New Japan supershows in the Philadelphia/New York area.

Even with the situation in Japan, Combat Zone Wrestling’s crew has gone over to tour for Big Japan Pro Wrestling and is apparently safe. There’s a show tonight at Korkuen Hall pretty much happening as you read this…with four other shows in the Tokyo area on as scheduled.

Here are ways for readers to help the people of Japan.

The American Red Cross has already added “Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami” as one of the choices for online donations at this link. Gifts will support disaster relief efforts to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami throughout the Pacific. Alternatively, you can simply make a $10 donation by texting REDCROSS to 90999. The Japanese Red Cross has already mobilized eleven teams to heavily-damaged communities to provide assessments, first aid, and emotional support and relief.

Save the Children is accepting immediate donations to its Children’s Emergency Fund earmarked for the ravaged area.

AmeriCares is sending two three-person teams to the Iwate and Miyagi prefectures in Japan and is accepting donations.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)is sending two three-person teams to the Iwate and Miyagi prefectures in Japan.

International Medical Corps is responding to the health needs of the disaster’s victims.

MercyCorps is gathering donations for its overseas partner, Peace Winds Japan, which currently has personnel on the ground distributing emergency relief in Japan.

The Salvation Army is on the ground in Japan already. Their website can be found for donations at this link.

The Salvation Army is also accepting text donations. Text the word Japan to 80888 to make a $10 donation to support its relief efforts. The Salvation Army says it is sending a team to Sendai, the most heavily damaged city, tonight and tomorrow will start providing basic necessities.

Other ways you can help via text donations:

To donate to Convoy of Hope, a faith-based organization that does community outreach and disaster response, text TSUNAMI to 50555
To donate to GlobalGiving, which focuses on “grassroots projects in the developing world,” text JAPAN to 5055
To donate to Save the Children, an independent organization dedicated to helping children in need, text JAPAN to 20222
To donate to World Relief Corp., the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, text WAVE to 50555

Keep in mind that the FBI advises people not to respond to any unsolicited emails claiming to represent organizations. It’s much better to go directly to recognized charities and aid organization’s websites. You may also want to check out the legitimacy of the nonprofit organizations.

——————-

To conclude, a reminder about three killer shows this spring at the ECW Arena….first, the return of Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling’s tenth annual Best of The Best tournament, and CHIKARA Pro Wrestling’s King of Trios all in April; then concluding with the historic May debut of New Japan Pro Wrestling here in Philadelphia. Thing start off on April 9 with an ECW Arena doubleheader, where Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling makes its United States return in an afternoon show to start at 2:30 pm. Westside Xtreme Wrestling debuted in Philadelphia last March, with their “Vision” event featuring a brutal main event of wXw’s Thumbtack Jack and Drake Younger and dream matches including Alex Shelley vs. Chris Hero and wXw Tag champions Switchblade Conspiracy defending against The American Wolves.

In the main event, Japan Deathmatch Icon Jun Kasai takes on the “Golden Boy” Drake Younger! This match is the most anticipated by all fans of Hardcore Wrestling….and they will collide in a No Ropes Barbed Wired Match! So many legendary Barbed Wire Matches have been seen by Arena fans, but “Kasai vs. Drake” will open a new chapter of violence. To balance things, technical wrestling fans will see Zack Sabre, Jr. and Emil Sitoci, who holds victories over Japanese top cruiserweights CIMA, Taiji Ishimori and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Last June, Sabre beat Steve Douglas to unify the wXw lightweight and heavyweight titles to win wXw’s first “Unified World Championship”, a title eventually lost to the massive Austrian Big van Walter. Elsewhere on the show, Big van Walter and Sami Callihan will also be in action. Visit Westside Xtreme Wrestling’s United States site for the latest news and ticket information on wXw’s U.S. return! Early purchases of fronyt row tickets are available via e-mail kohlenberg@wxw-wrestling.com with the topic “wXw Philadelphia First Row”.

That evening, Combat Zone Wrestling presents the tenth annual “Best of The Best” tournament, with a scheduled 7:30 pm belltime. Early participants announced are wXw’s Zack Sabre, Jr., Big Japan Wrestling’s Deisuke Sekimoto, Dragon Gate USA’s Chuck Taylor, CHIKARA’s Johnny Gargano, CZW’s (Gran) Akuma and Sami Callihan. Along with the Best of the Best tournament, a Dream Death Match will take place with the CZW return of “Crazy Monkey’ Jun Kasai. Tickets will be available through the CZW Pro Shop at this link.

CHIKARA Pro Wrestling comes to the world’s most famous Bingo Hall for King of Trios 2011 on April 15-17. Belltimes are 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday and 4:30 pm on Sunday for the finals. All 16 trios will be in matches the first night of the tournament, which is Friday, April 23. The surviving eight teams advance into Night 2,and the 4 remaining teams will face off until just one remains on Sunday afternoon, As the participants are confirmed for the tournament, you’ll see them listed on this very page. There will also be non-tournament matches featuring wrestlers eliminated from King of Trios on the last two nights.

Teams announced:

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

From the trivial to the not-so-trivial…

So let me get this straight.

WWE owns the word “extreme”? Even EVOO….er, EV 2.0?

Everyone knows that they have the legal right to the letters ECW; but now WWE, not being content to annhiliate TNA in buyrates, PPVs revenue, weekly ratings, and pretty much everything else short of match quality from time to time, now has intellectual property/copyright lawyer Jerry McDevitt chomping at the bit… suggesting that even a reference to ECW may infringe on copyrights.

Late last week, WWE intellectual property/copyright attorney Jerry McDevitt said in an interview to Newsday’s Alfonso Castillo regarding TNA’s Hardcore Justice that: “WWE is the sole owner of the ECW marks, and as with all of WWE’s intellectual property it will be vigorously protected. TNA acts at its peril if it infringes upon WWE’s rights.”

(Note: this column is written and first posted on Sunday morning…) For God’s sakes…does McDevitt want to have a process server slap fans with a lawsuit if they chant “ECW”? Does Tommy Dreamer have to shush fans if they DO chant it?

WWE getting self-righteous about this reminds me of a little child breaking a toy when it’s about to be taken away by their parent, so no one else can play with the toy either. WWE couldn’t make money with their bastardized WWECW show, so any show that might give a few guys a payday (and trust me, TNA isn’t going to wind up making money off of this) should somehow be threatened. If it weren’t for the PPV industry probably telling WWE to back off, I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE would have tried to kill the show at the last minute to kill off TNA.

Hell, I use the phrase ECW Arena every time when referring to the building at Swanson and Ritnet in south Philadelphia. Becasuse that’s what it is. Mind you, I’m not trying to make money by doing it as McDevitt is alleging TNA is doing. But these guys DID work for ECW. That’s a fact. Is WWE going to say that Mike Tenay and Taz can’t acknowledge someone as a former ECW Heavyweight Champion? Pre-determined as a title reign may be, someone having the belt is a statement of historical fact.

Before I get the inevitable e-mails scolding me…yes, I understand the concept of intellectual property. And yes, I agree that this PPV won’t accomplish much, since it was no doubt done with the thought that Paul Heyman would be coming in alongside the former ECW talent…and without Heyman running the show , it’s little more than a payday for the former ECW talent. It won;t help TNA’s long-term problems with lack of coherent storylines and profitability

But isn’t this threat by McDevitt to sue if those those three little letters are somehow used WAY past overkill?

Now for the not-so-trivial…

I looked at the calendar earlier this weekend and thought…Lord, it’s been almost five years ago.

On August 18, 2005, that CZW wrestler Christopher “Chri$ Ca$h” Bauman Jr. was killed as the result of a motorcycle accident near his home. Bauman had been riding a motorcycle on Ellis Street in Glassboro, NJ when a Ford Taurus turned in front of it from Higgins Drive, striking the car on the driver’s side of a vehicle driven by Daisy Gwin of Glassboro, NJ.

Christopher J. Bauman Jr., 23, died at the scene, as did his cousin 27 year old Jeremy Bauman, 27, of Franklinville, NJ the driver of the motorcycle. Gwin, 68, of Glassboro, died en route to Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Washington Township, NJ.

Chris was always genuinely friendly in a way that a lot of wrestlers aren’t, but had the wild side we all had at age 23. He was a nice young man, in every sense that the phrase used to mean; and always felt obligated to call me “Mr. Magee” when I came to a show (even when I told him he didn’t have to), would
always say hello when I saw him at a CZW show and tell me he’d seen something or another on my PWBTS.com site.

Bauman worked for CZW from 2001 through 2005, with many non-CZW fans even taking notice of him at Cage of Death 5 in his absolutely psychotic ladder match with Blackout’s Joker (who left the promotion shortly afterwards to serve in the US military over in Iraq for one of his tours of duty). The oddest thing is that this match wasn’t even supposed to happen in the way that it did; as it was originally scheduled as a tag team bout, involving Deranged and Azriael, who were working the Jersey All Pro Wrestling show in Rahway, NJ, then come down to Philadelphia for CZW.

But in an almost unprecedented moment for those who know CZW… the show was actually running ahead of schedule. As a result, Deranged and Azriael were not yet at the building. Another version of the story had the two calling the building, telling CZW they were just leaving…and were told not to bother, because they’d never make it in time. In any event, this forced the promotion to go ahead with a singles ladder match, which turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, as it made two stars for CZW in one night with Cash and Joker nearly stealing the entire show. Psycho spots in this match included Cash bulldogging Joker while his head was inside a rung of a ladder off the ropes onto a chair, a top rope superplex onto a ladder stuck at a 45 degree angle into the rungs of another ladder; ending with one of the sickest spots I’ve ever seen in my years of shows at the ECW Arena, as Joker hit his Joker Driver (tiger driver from an electric chair position) off the top of a high ladder with Cash through a table for the pin.

Cash also main evented Cage of Death 6/War Games, as part of the babyface Team Ca$h (Nate Webb, Sexxy Eddy, Cash, JC Bailey) against heel team (turned babyface and heel again) Blackout (Ruckus, Sabian, Kingston, and Jack Evans. As usual, the match featured the daredevil spots for which Cash was known throughout his all-too-short career; including dumping Jack Evans via backdrop off the COD to the floor, and giving Sabian a Cashflow off of the scaffold through four tables, landing in the second row of the ECW Arena.

All I could think when I heard the news four years ago was: God…Chris was easily young enough to be my son. Sons aren’t supposed to die before the parents…or their contemporaries. At the same time, I can’t imagine Chris as a 40 or 50 year old. His spirit was too free and wild to have ever been anything but young.

Until next time…

If you have comments/questions/event announcements/results, if you’d like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you’d like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above. Advertising consists of banner ads, available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are also available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

In an emotional afternoon at the ECW Arena,”Acid-Fest” took place yesterday afternoon, before an estimated crowd of 750 honoring the late Michael “Trent Acid” Verdi. The Verdi family did attend, and were seated ringside with neighborhood friends up in one of the Arena boxes.

The afternoon started with a video of some of Acid’s best stuff; then in a surprise, Trent Acid was inducted into the ECW Arena Hardcore Hall of Fame by the ECW Arena during the opening ceremonies of the “Acid-Fest” Memorial show in Philadelphia, PA. His induction was done by CZW owner DJ Hyde, where Hyde talked about how much Acid loved wrestling and how much Acid appreciated his fans.

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

CZW returned to “Markland’s Little Acres” in rural Townsend, DE for Tournament of Death 9 before a loud, large and enthusiastic crowd who got a hot day full of ultraviolence yesterday afternoon.

The day opened with a ten bell salute for Trent Acid with Devon Moore and DJ Hyde (who was having a tough time getting through talking about Acid) in the ring.

In a truly eerie moment for those of us sitting on one side of the area set up for the show (the one side where there were large trees providing some shade)…. as the ten bell sounded, the one cool breeze of the entire day came through our side of the seating (near a grove of trees) and stopped as the ten-bell ended. When I looked at the others I was sitting with (a family associated with CZW), they looked at me and said “Did you feel that too?”. There wasn’t a one of us who had a thought that it was anything but Trent Acid sending us a shout-out.

First round

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

I was getting all ready to write about the NXT angle. Then, one of two things happened.

Either WWE is pulling off a really good work…or WWE has completely lost its mind, with the alleged claim on WWE.com that they fired Bryan Danielson due to the part of the NXT angle where he choked Juston Roberts with his own tie.

Various versions of the story claiming the firing is legit have everything from Justin Roberts threatening to sue WWE because he wasn’t in on the angle (doubtful since I can’t imagine Roberts wouldn’t have been fired on the spot if he’d tried it), advertiser Mattel was pissed off (possible, but hard to believe), all the way to… and I especially love this one, HHH raised hell because the two McMahon-Levesque daughters cried watching it.

If WWE has done something like this legitimately, they’ve given wrestling fans one more reason to find something else to do with their Monday nights.

The out-of-nowhere and God forbit DIFFERENT nature of the NXT angle is the one thing that gave wrestling fans with a IQ over 6 any degree of hope in recent weeks that WWE TV will be something other than Y7 programming. It’s gotten so bad that the write-out angle for Undertaker (out because of a broken orbital bone in his face in a match with Rey Misterio, Jr.) apparently can’t say Undertaker is “dead”. Instead, he’s said to be “in a vegetative state”, a dastardly deed done by who Creative thinks of (my bet here on Kane, since WWE wouldn’t actually do something that would elevate another wrestler).

Wonder if WWE is allowed to say that someone beat him up…or if WWE now makes them say that someone went “nyah” way too hard? Either that, or Undertaker tried to understand a Hornswoggle promo one time too many.

Guess I wasn’t too far off with my projected SummerSlam main event of Fuzzy Bunny against Sammy Squirrel in a “loser has to tell the other wrestler he’s nicer”.

Somewhere, L. Brent Bozell is laughing his ass off. Because WWE has done to itself whwt the Parents Television Council tried to do to them.

If we turn on our TVs Monday night and in coming weeks and this turns out to be legit, then people REALLY need to explore other options for their Monday night viewing. Hell, for the next month, you could DVR a World Cup match and watch it for the two hours RAW is on. Maybe, if the Mattel thing turnes out to be true, people could at least quit buying their toys. For Christ’s sakes, fans need to do SOMETHING to show they’re pissed if this is legit. The sad thing is that the people that are still wrestling fans and haven’t turned to MMA or sitcoms won’t do that. WWE could put on a test pattern or a best of Hornswoggle three-hour marathon and they’d still get a 3.0 from 9:00 11:08 pm.

People (usually with justification) make fun of TNA. About the only difference these days is that WWE makes money. Let WWE keep up crap like this, and THAT won’t last long….at least on the levels that the McMahons are used to making. PPV buyrates in North America are already going down. WWE makes money on PPV because of increased foreign marketing

Speaking of TNA, the 1,287,543th “big surprise” is scheduled for tonight. The two favorites online are TNA going to 3D broadcasting or Paul Heyman getting creative control. The last “surprise that would change wrestling forever” was Hogan coming back to TNA and supposedly running the show.

PLEASE let this be different. Please. Give us something to watch that won’t make us have to hide the fact we’re wrestling fans to our friends. Please.

Until next time…

If you have comments or questions, or if you’d like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at the address above.

If you’d like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), banner ads are available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

As many readers, especially in the United States and Canada, know…Philadelphia’s Flyers are tied 2-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals as of this writing on Sunday. This is one more improbable step in a Stanley Cup Playoff series that has seen:

By Jerome Wilen

Now that ECW is gone, what do I think the best wrestling night of the week is?  It continues to be Tuesday nights.  Even though WWE’s new so called reality based show NXT is scripted, the WWE has done an excellent job showcasing some younger talent and mixing them in with the veterans. 

My hope is that despite the low ratings for this show, the WWE will ‘tweak’ it for the second season and make that much more interesting to watch.   I still don’t think that the WWE belongs on the SyFy network.  I do understand that NBC is trying to go after the younger demographic, but NXT might be a better fit on USA.  I think they would be best to air on NBC itself, but that will never happen.

Yes, I miss ECW, but NXT will do just fine for me.