Guest Blog: Slammed Is a Hit

Mike Lortz, aka Jordi Scrubbings, is back again with another guest piece, this time on Slammed: Inside Indie Wrestling. The show aired last night, so think of this as somewhat of instant feedback. Also, visit his site, because he's a cool dude.

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Danny Inferno, one of the stars of Slammed

National Geographic aired Slammed: Inside Indie Wrestling last night. Being that it was Wednesday and no other wrestling action was on, I felt it was my solemn duty to watch. I was curious how Nat Geo would handle the subject of indie wrestling. Would the fans be depicted as ignorant rednecks and the wrestlers shown as Neanderthals? Would it even show the promoters’ perspective – a view not seen in many shows or even in the movie The Wrestler?

I have never wrestled, nor have I ever put together a show, nor have I promoted one. Despite that, I know quite a bit about indie wrestling, especially the Florida scene. I have been backstage throughout events at several different promotions and even tried to put together a documentary on former ECW manager Bill Alfonso (long story, maybe one day I’ll write about it).

That said, within the first five minutes, I loved Slammed.

The show starts with an indie fed having trouble with talent showing up on time. Promoter Dapper Johnny Falco of National Wrestling Superstars is on the phone with wrestler Danny Gimondo (aka Danny Inferno). Inferno claims to be lost and that he “found the directions on the website”. Falco then asks another behind-the-scenes guy if the directions were on the website. I did social media for All-Stars Wrestling of Florida, a small indy fed in the Tampa area, for six months, so of course I was curious about the NWS website and their web presence. Like most indie feds, it is poor, very, very poor.

Here is their website (which still wishes people a “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”) and here is their Facebook, which doesn’t have any videos of their matches, announcements of new shows or any pictures from their profile. In this day and age, that’s pathetic. The fact that the promoter doesn’t know what’s on the site said everything I need to know right from the start. Why promoters don’t hire local college kids to do their site or run their social media is beyond me. Newsflash: it would look great on a resume. It’s an unpaid internship where you get to be as creative as you want.

But I digress…

After introducing Danny Inferno at NWS, Slammed weaves the story of the wrestler, his quest to re-join the high ranks of wrestling celebrity, the continued story of NWS and their continued attempt to break even – which I now I know is an almost impossible quest for indies nationwide. All this time, I thought not drawing was just a Florida thing.

Along with Danny Inferno – who we learn was once in the WWE developmental – we are also given the story of Michael Paris (aka Shiima Xion/Zema Ion). Both of these wrestlers, one young and exciting, the other the old grizzled stocky veteran, are trying to make the Ring of Honor roster in an attempt to make living wrestling. Slammed shows both men at their home, in training, and then at the RoH tryout, where they are watched by none other than Jim Cornette and wrestling internet community superstar David Lagana.

Meanwhile at NWS, Nat Geo captures an often heard but rarely seen battle of egos between wrestler and promoter as a 150-lb. grappler named JD Smooth is forced to take on two Kamala-looking monsters. Of course, the diminutive hero doesn’t want to be squashed, but the promoter gives him no choice, leaving him with the eternal command of promoters everywhere: “Entertain me.”

After the NWS show, we hear the promoter again lamenting the poor turnouts of his fed. Unfortunately, that’s the catch-22 most indy promotions find themselves in – they don’t draw without a big name and big names cost money, meaning more fans need to show up. Fail to get the required attendance once and you’ll spend months climbing a mountain, wishing the next show will help you finally break even.

Slammed ends with the ROH try outs of Danny Inferno and Michael Paris. Both go well, as we hear Jim Cornette talk highly about both wrestlers. Unfortunately, however, Slammed does not give us a epilogue and tell us that Paris is now Zema Ion of Impact fame and Inferno is still wrestling for NWS (although he is on Twitter and his following is growing).

Overall, I thought Slammed did a great job of showing the independent wrestling scene. Although it was only an hour, it showed that there is much more to pro wrestling than the WWE/Impact and that wrestlers don’t fall out of the sky blessed with the ability to bodyslam. If you are reading this blog, odds are you know pro wrestling is hard work and making it in the business takes determination, luck, and a little bit of crazy. Kudos to National Geographic for shining a light on this seldom seen sliver of sports entertainment.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Fool Me Once: Davey Richards and Japanese Commitments

The Champion... will he be an absentee?

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Davey Richards has to miss a big event for a company he's World Champion of because he has commitments in Japan. If you think I'm flashing back to late last year when he had to drop the PWG strap because he kept having to be overseas during dates when the SoCal indie wanted to have shows, well, you're being a bit on the generous side here. Ring of Honor will hold Death Before Dishonor IX on September 17th, and Richards will not be there to defend his ROH World Championship. Why? According to ROH World's Twitter, he'll be touring Japan.

It's very hard for me to come down on Richards as long as he was up front with his intentions to wrestle in Japan with ROH management. Japanese dates are more lucrative, both in money and exposure, for him. American wrestlers are treated very well in Japan, and he wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling (of CM Punk promo fame) over there, which might just be the biggest puroresu promotion in the world.

That being said, he has a history of controversy with telling people about dealings. I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the falling out he had with Gabe Sapolsky over signing a contract with ROH, but then again, I really have no idea who was completely in the right there. Still, where there's smoke, there's fire.

So that's why I have to question why ROH put the title on him in the first place if stuff like this was going to happen. Again, this isn't a situation that never happened before. Richards has shown that his puroresu dates have more priority to him over his American dates, so much so that it bit PWG in the ass. What would they do then, have to plan around Richards' dates overseas if they want to run shows with their top guy? I mean, they got TV back, and judging from what I've read on the spoilers for the first tapings, they're actually going to use TV to further angles and be an important thing where storylines happen and more importantly, that sell iPPVs. Granted, the show doesn't go on the air until a week after DBD, and they probably taped the World Championship match that happened during those tapings as a make-good for people expecting a title match at the big event. Still, how can they be sure that their top guy isn't going to miss later, more important events?

Then again, I'm not sure the whole story can be gleaned from the circumstances we have here. I mean, this could be a one time thing. Richards may have already had this tour booked, and it's the last time we see him miss a big ROH event because he's wrestling for NJPW (which, coincidentally enough, has had a working relationship with a company that ROH is trying to catch in Impact in the past). Maybe this was something unavoidable and in the future, he'll be there and accountable. When the time comes, he'll be able to drop the title to the guy they want to hold the belt next instead of doing what he needed to do in PWG.

But then again, this is now a pattern. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of PWG, because quite frankly, I'm not a fan of the guy's ring work. That being said, I don't know how you can trust fans to trust that they're going to get their Champion when you put the strap on a guy whose commitments overseas seem to supersede the ones at home. For that, I'd squarely put the blame here on ROH. Right now, it's forgivable because it's a first time for them, but at the same time, they had to have been paying attention to PWG and what happened there.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. That's the cliché, but it doesn't become cliché unless there's a kernel of truth there. I don't want to come down on them too hard because yes, Richards is a guy that fans want to see and want to hold the title. That being said, as a promotion, you can't really go on with an absentee Champion all the time. If this is the last time Richards goes to NJPW at a time when he could be at home doing an important iPPV for ROH, then yeah, it's more understandable. But given the track record, can you blame anyone for not believing that'll be the case in the future?

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Weekend Wrap-Up: Mad at Oz

I'm sure he's not too happy with Vinnie Vegas either.

- SummerSlam was last night, and yes, a longer review is forthcoming. Really shorthand results though are these. CM Punk defeated John Cena and was then cashed in upon by Alberto del Rio after Kevin Nash ran in and blindsided Punk afterwards, causing what you see in the picture. Randy Orton defeated Christian to regain the World Heavyweight Championship. Wade Barrett, Mark Henry and Kelly Kelly all won their matches. SURPRISE! six-man to start the show saw Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and John Morrison defeat del Rio, R-Truth and The Miz. There were also commercials... YES COMMERCIALS ON A PPV FFFFFUUUUUUUU...

- ROH TV tapings were Saturday, and Nigel McGuinness made his return to the company as the color commentator, alongside Kevin Kelly. He teased a return to the ring, saving Eddie Edwards from The House of Truth. Also on the taping slate, El Generico dropped the Television Championship to Jay Lethal.

- NWA Hollywood taped yesterday, and again, I really don't have taping results to post. So why post a bit about it? Err, well... HEY LOOK OVER THERE, IT'S EVE TORRES UNRHYTHMICLY SHAKING HER ASS!

Strike While the Iron Is Hot, Dammit: Why Punk Coming Back Last Night Was Good

Pictured: The Right Call
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The end to last night's RAW was pretty epic from where I stood. CM Punk, coming out to ruin John Cena's party after winning the WWE Championship from Rey Mysterio in a hastily-announced match (one that quite frankly Mysterio in character should have bitched about like Christian did, although his circumstance was worse), "Cult of Personality" blaring, fans chanting for him once they knew who it was coming out from the Gorilla position. To me, it signaled that the WWE has a burgeoning megastar on their hands, one who could at the very worst help Cena, Mysterio and Randy Orton populate the top of the card as heroes and at best could be their biggest star since The Rock or Steve Austin. The segment itself took a lot of criticism though, but not for execution.

It seems there are a lot of people out there who didn't like the timing of it, that Punk should have been stowed away from view for much longer than the one week he was away. Some of them no doubt were the ones who said RAW sucked last week because there was no Punk, but I do take comfort in seeing that most people criticizing this were different from that crowd. It gives credence to my view that Internet wrestling fans don't share a hive mind and actually have their own individual thoughts and feelings. Still though, I can't help but disagree with that crowd. Why?

Surely, you all know about Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black. Before he was scooped up by WWE, he was probably the most popular guy in ROH for three years running. His big moment, winning the ROH World Championship, though felt flat, almost anti-climactic. Why? Because he'd spent three years futilely chasing the title, losing at every turn he could have. The iron was hot for him to win in 2008 and 2009. So why wait to strap him until the 2010 Anniversary Show, after he'd already gone to a crowd-deflating time limit draw with Austin Aries at Final Battle 2009 three months prior?

Conversely, look at Kevin Steen. A little over a month ago, he made giant waves getting himself "kicked out" of a ROH show in New York as part of an ongoing angle. This has made him the hottest property in the indies ongoing, and if it weren't for Punk, he'd be the hottest thing in wrestling I'd imagine, at least in my scope, which admittedly is a bit skewed. Regardless, Steen has worked indie crowds into a fever pitch, becoming one of the most in-demand wrestlers for any fed to bring in. So what does PWG do? They put the World Championship on him. They struck when the iron was hot, and now, people are talking about them. Well, they'd be talking about them even more if Punk hadn't shown up in AAW on the same night.

But that's the thing. Punk gets people talking, like Black did in ROH and like Steen is doing now in every promotion but ROH (although under the guise of a ROH angle, if that makes sense). Why wouldn't you want the spotlight to be on him in front of fans that want to see him and want to cheer for him? You could argue that he "hasn't been away" enough, but I argue that every second between his disastrous feud with the Undertaker in late 2009 and his epic promo on 6/27 this year was him being "away" from the limelight. He's been building up this furor among his most ardent supporters, all while just haphazardly being there for the rest of the fans, being a dickish heel (enhancing guys like Big Show, Mysterio and Orton along the way), but also showing flashes of awesomeness like his role as an announcer or his Slammy acceptance speech. When he "returned" so to speak, that was the first catharsis. The second one was winning the title. The third was his return and his promise to continue being the voice of the voiceless that essentially made him a good guy.

This isn't the case of someone who has been overexposed needing to go away to freshen up like Cena at the end of last year (although before they haphazardly sprinted to the finish between his first night "gone" and TLC, I really didn't have a problem with him not missing any time then either in terms of how the story could have been told). This is a guy who just, as many people are saying now, had his "Austin 3:16" moment. He doesn't need to be kept away to be built up more. He needs to be paying off on that buzz before he gets too cold.

Black is the ultimate cautionary tale here. Hell, ROH itself is the cautionary fed. Everyone seems to love ROH, but there's a reason why they don't have widespread TV or big mainstream appeal, and it's not because of the style of wrestling. I seriously do think that more wrestling can get over if presented right. However, in the last few years, it hasn't been presented right. The only feud that they've really hit on all cylinders for was El Generico vs. Kevin Steen. Why? Because it was tense all the way through, and it ended at the right time with Generico giving Steen his comeuppance. Otherwise, they waited too long to put the title on Black. They waited six months too long to put the title on Davey Richards. The fact that they put the title on Jerry Lynn at all (instead of Black or even Roderick Strong, another guy that could be argued was kept too long from the title depending on how you view their fanbase) should tell you that ROH's booking model isn't exactly the best one to emulate.

And believe me, Punk does not deserve the same fate as Black. He needs to have the crowd feeding off him, wanting him to be there and anticipating his matches at SummerSlam rather than at Hell in a Cell, whatever they're replacing Bragging Rights with or at Wrestling Match: The PPV Event. As it stood last night, a SummerSlam main event of Cena and Alberto del Rio or even Mysterio would have been nice, but not something that would be must-see for a lot of fans out there. Now that Punk's involved to continue the story with Cena he began in the build to Money in the Bank? Yeah, you get a lot more people excited.

That's why Punk is back, and more importantly, why he needs to be back. Then again, maybe I'm not the best example since I wanted him to sign his contract extension on top of the Spinner Belt. And yeah, I loved the viral stuff they were starting to do and may even continue to do. Again, we don't exactly know what the circumstances of Punk being there last night were, and for all we know, he might have been "crashing the party" (that video on WWE.com where he says "I'm baaaack!" notwithstanding… then again, if it doesn't happen on camera, does it happen?). But yeah, this is certainly the right call. Again, following up on that is key, but I have a strange feeling that everything's gonna be alright.

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: RD Evans/Archibald Peck

*NOTE: No DVR Report this week. Sorry folks :(

The Drumline Daddy

Who: Robert D. Evans (most feds)/Archibald Peck (Chikara)
Also Known As: The Barrister of the Embassy, The Essence of Excellence, The Winnipeg Wonder, Drumline Daddy
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Promotions: ROH, ACW, Chikara, PCW

Affiliations: In Chikara as Archibald Peck, he pals around with the lovely Veronica as his flag girl. In ROH, he's the Barrister of the Embassy, around to make sure that folks like Homicide don't do bad things to his charges Mia Yim, Ernesto Osiris, Rhino, Tomasso Ciampa or Prince Nana. In ACW, he used to be affiliated with Portia Perez, albeit in disguise as a Robot, but that seemed to have been a ruse to get back at her.

Twitter: @Oh_Robert_Evans

Signature Moves:
Standing Blockbuster (on a wooden stage, no less)


Flying Headbutt


Accolades:

ACW U-30 Young Guns Championship (3x)
NWA Southwest Jr. Heavyweight Championship
PCW Cruiserweight Championship (3x)
PCW Uncut Championship
PCW Tag Team Championship (2x, unknown)

Promos:
Reintroducing The Embassy


Insomnia


All About RD Evans:

His Matches - I can't speak about his matches as Robert Evans in the Texas indies, mainly because they're so hard to come by and because no one gives them the play that they deserve nationally outside of Brandon Stroud, who's in the thick of things down there. That being said, good Lord, he's awesome in Chikara from a comedic heel standpoint. His matches are just a spectacle. It doesn't matter if they're technically proficient or not. They're preeminently engaging. He might be so likable that it's impossible to boo him.

His Character - For lack of a better term, he has a silver tongue. Every time he opens his mouth, he holds the audience in the palm of his hand. He's so engaging to the "smart" fan, and to the more "mark" fan, he can incite a riot. Honestly, he's one of the most dynamic personalities in wrestling. It's clear in that in two East Coast feds he's in, he plays two completely different characters. That's clutch.

Why You Should Know Him - I know that people like to think of "The Internet" as this hive-minded group of people that like all the same things and all the same people. Yet, just ask about John Cena. Hell, even ask about Chris Jericho. You get a bunch of different opinions. Of those who know about RD Evans, it's an almost unanimous consensus that this guy is special and is a star and should be in WWE at least as a manager. He's that good.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Eddie Kingston

The Last of a Dying Breed

Who: Eddie Kingston
Also Known As: The War King, the King of Diamonds, Last of a Dying Breed, God's Middle Child
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 228 lbs.
Hometown: Yonkers, NY

Promotions: Chikara, CZW, JAPW, AIW, ROH (alumnus), PWG (alumnus), IWA-MS (alumnus)

Affiliations: He's a lone wolf, and I think that's the way he likes it.

Signature Moves:
Backfist to the Future


Backdrop Driver


Sliding D


LARIATO~!


Accolades:

CZW World Champion
CZW World Tag Team Champion (2x, 1 with Joker, 1 with Drake Younger)
IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion
IWA-MS Tag Team Champion (with Blackjack Marciano)
2010 Chikara Cibernetico Champion
JAPW Jersey State Champion

Promos:

Promo from Grit and Glory


Before his match against El Generico


Promoing on Lince Dorado


Pre-match vs. Drake Younger


Promo with Tommy Dreamer


All About Eddie Kingston:

His Matches - Eddie Kingston is the definition of an American strong-style brawler. His matches are very hard-hitting, full of big strikes, suplexes. They're sights to behold. He's a roughneck, and his matches are very much blue collar in feeling.

That being said, even if he is very much a workman's worker, he's still a big match player. He knows how to enhance the atmosphere and turn even an unannounced match in the midcard into one of the best matches on the show. He doesn't need to be in the main event to have his working shoes on, and to me, that's the sign of an elite wrestler.

His Character - Kingston is streetwise, tough as nails and a man whose pride carries his character. It's a very versatile character, one that plays well as a good guy or a bad guy, although really, it's been playing well in Chikara as the top hero there. Despite the fact that he can project a very menacing demeanor, he plays well as an underdog, as proven time and time again during the BDK angle.

I think a big reason why his character resonates is because he's a great promo. Seriously, he hits it out of the park anytime he's got a microphone in hand. Again, it's because he's such a genuine character. He feels real.

Why You Should Know Him - Kingston is arguably Chikara's biggest star. I'd say if you could bet on indie wrestling, you'd get even money odds on the War King taking the 12 Large Summit. While he's not in ROH, PWG or other big name feds, he's a known name on the East Coast, and although Southern California is catching up, this coast, especially in the feds where Kingston is prominent, is still the most important area for indie wrestling.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Follow Friday: 'Rasslin' Rousers of Rabble

You could call this week's Follow Friday a guide to the best 'rasslin'-themed trolls out there. These guys know how to push buttons, but they're hilarious doing it.

First up, it's probably the best and one of the originals, Typical ROH Fan, found @typicalROHfan (duh). He's the stereotype of every bad Internet wrestling fan out there, trashing WWE (except CM Punk and Daniel Bryan), pumping up ROH and mocking certain people for their Twitter misappropriations. He has his moments of lucidity, during which he is unusually prescient and knowledgeable.

Via the FakeSirCole Twitter

Second is the Fake Sir Michael Cole, found @FakeSirCole. The Fake Cole is definitely playing up the Cole character all the way to eleven. He does it well too. He's also on Tumblr and Facebook.

Finally, the newest Twitter sensation is Dearest Vince, found @DearestVince, obviously. This was created in response to the #DearVince hashtag created as a way to tell Vince McMahon what we as wrestling fans want (itself a reply to Vince's in character rant of not caring what the fans want on Monday with CM Punk). Well, a clever troll definitely took advantage of that and started replying to people who used the hashtag, including me (who used the hashtag as a troll myself). One of the best new accounts to come down the pike in a long time. Very sharp.

Davey Richards Is Not Under Contract

Richards, choked up after winning
the strap

Via WrestleChat.Net

Davey Richards is currently ROH's World Champion. He's also not under contract to the company, as he revealed on the Wheelhouse Radio program. He's still with the company, presumably on a per-deal basis, because he "believes in the product". In an odd way, I can believe him. Regardless of how trustworthy Richards is to the ROH brass (although you can ask now-rival promoter Gabe Sapolsky of that trustworthiness after the two had a falling out over signing a ROH contract and bailing on DGUSA and EVOLVE dates in early 2010), it's still a very risky proposition in this day and age to have a guy on top of the fed without a contract. Granted, if he's to be believed, he turned down an offer from WWE in the past, so his dedication to the indies and to ROH might not be that much in question. Still, very surprising that ROH is going along with this.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Weekend Wrap-Up: Destination Success

I wonder if A Double demanded So Cal Val as part of his terms before signing his contract
Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com

- For once, Impact Wrestling was the buzz of the grappling world for a GOOD reason. Destination X was a critical success, a harkening back to the days when TNA was fun and before it was ruined by Vince Russo's vision for what sports entertainment should be. For the first time, an Impact PPV was talked about for the action rather than how bad it was or how fucked up one of its main eventers was coming out for a match. Brian Kendrick ended our long national nightmare of Abyss as X-Division Champion by upending him last night. Austin Aries won the Impact contract, and hopefully, third time's the charm for A Double. He really deserves a chance to make serious coin and be a national star. Shark Boy appeared and apparently won a match, which is a cool throwback. Alex Shelley won the Ultimate X match. In the main event, AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels. Lots of positive feedback for this one. Here's hoping that everyone who watched bought it and that a lot of people bought so as to send a message to Dixie and her cronies.

- NWA Hollywood tapings were yesterday, and as with other tapings, well, it's hard to find results online. However, two notes. One, Tom Ford attended and will most likely have a recap later on today or tomorrow. Two, the Tribe upended Natural Selection for the NWA Heritage Tag Team Championships.

- ROH toured the Mid-Atlantic Friday and Saturday. The Richmond show had somewhat of a skeleton crew working for it, as several talents (the Bravados, Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly, Mike Bennett) working two matches. Apparently, Chris Hero got stranded via weather, but it still seems like a light show for the country's top indie. On the Richmond card, Cole and O'Reilly defeated the Bravados (who scored a surprise, TWGTT-assisted win over the Briscoes earlier in the night) for a shot at Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas at a later date. Speaking of the Champs, they retained their titles against El Generico and Colt Cabana. In the main event, the American Wolves defeated Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong. They're really pushing the House of Truth as a major faction. Saturday in Charlotte saw the weather cooperate with Hero enough for him to be able to make the trip. He took out Cabana in his match. There were two non-title matches to headline the card, as Haas and Benjamin defeated the Bravados, and in the main event, Generico bested Strong in a steel cage.

- Site announcement! This week will be Punk Week on the blog. Why? Because this might be the last week CM Punk is in professional wrestling for a good long time. We must celebrate him! Expect some blogs to be dropped with him as the subject and for Punk to be the subject of a few of the features this week. All will culminate in a review of Money in the Bank, the show which may very well be known mostly for the Straight Edge Savior. Enjoy!

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Claudio Castagnoli

Very European

Who: Claudio Castagnoli
Also Known As: Very European, the Swiss Stalwart
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 222 lbs.
Hometown: The United Banks of Switzerland

Promotions: ROH, PWG, Chikara, NWA Hollywood (alumnus), EVOLVE (alumnus), CZW (alumnus), Pro Wrestling NOAH, IWA-MS (alumnus), JCW

Affiliations: His most famous and classic affiliation is with Chris Hero. As the Kings of Wrestling, they've made the indie tag team scene their bitches on two separate occasions. They're often seconded by Sara del Rey, and in ROH, regrettably by Shane Hagadorn. In Chikara, Claudio is one of the most prominent figures in the BDK.

Twitter: @ccastagnoli
Youtube: Claudio's Cafe Found Here

Signature Moves:
Ricola Bomb


Giant Swing


Swiss Death


Bicycle Kick


Les Artess Driver


KRS-ONE (with Chris Hero)


Ragnarok (with Ares and Tursas)


Accolades:
PWG World Heavyweight Championship (current)
Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas (2x, Chris Hero 1x and Ares 1x)
2010 Chikara King of Trios Champions (with Ares and Tursas)
Chikara Tag World Gran Prix Champions (2x, 2005 with Arik Cannon, 2006 with Chris Hero)
2007 Chikara Torneo Cibernetico winner
ROH World Tag Team Championships (2x, with Chris Hero)
CZW World Tag Team Championships (2x, with Chris Hero)
JCW World Tag Team Championships (with Chris Hero)
2010 Wrestling Observer Tag Team of the Year (with Chris Hero)

Promos:

CZW Promo


Promo on Chuck Taylor
rt

Responding to Chris Hero's challenge


Clutch of Doom promo on The Colony


Dead Men Don't Laugh promo on Team Frightning


All About Claudio Castagnoli:

His Matches - In the indies, Claudio is a giant among men. Yes, there are other guys, including Hero, who have the height, but Claudio actually looks like he shouldn't be there. This isn't a bad thing, as it totally creates some unique style contrasts the smaller guys around the independent scene. Wrestling Claudio is almost like a litmus test. See, many of the smaller guys in the indies do good flips or have an impressive workrate or they look good against each other. But when they wrestle Claudio, if they can't bump huge for his offense, then they're not worthy of your praise.

But Claudio is not to be a man defined by other people. No, the reason why he's more than just a canvas for guys to bump off is because he looks so natural in the ring. He can do the big power stuff and look really aggressive, but he has a sense of fun, almost whimsical nature to his offense at times. I love his "no hands" approach to his UFO, and the giant spin, especially done on guys like Grizzly Redwood, is an amazing, crowd-involving move. He makes everything look easy and fun.

His Character - It's funny, he's such a mild-mannered-seeming guy from his Tweets or when he's a face, but he can turn the menace on and it works. He's extremely versatile, and honestly, despite his size, you don't expect that from him because he's so charismatic and personable that it can be hard to picture him terrorizing small children and being evil. That's why he needs to be seen to be believed.

And for a guy whose third language might be English, let alone first or second, his promos are surprisingly smooth. He's definitely the immigrant wrestler success story, and over the last decade, he's become one of the most well-rounded character wrestlers in the indies right now.

Why You Should Know Him - It's not a secret. Claudio is one of my favorite wrestlers on any level right now. A lot of people agree with me here. HE always gets a reaction, no matter what side of the alignment chart he's on. He's also made people in higher places notice. Once before, he had a WWE contract. If you believe the scuttlebutt, he and Hero have one on the table now. Again, it's a rumor. Believe me, the only people who know whether there is one there or not are the Kings and the HR people in WWE. I'm fine with that. But, if those rumors are true, I can say that there aren't two guys in the indies right now who aren't signed to a major company (especially since Austin Aries just won an Impact contract as we speak) who deserve to get paid more.

But if they don't have a contract offer or if they choose ROH over WWE? Well, it might be selfish of us, but at the same time, we'll get to see more of Claudio in the indies. That's a good thing for us indie devotees. No matter where he's at though, he's definitely a guy to seek out. He's very much one of the most well-rounded, best wrestlers going today.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Kevin Steen Is Out for Blood

I don't think you'll like him when he's angry...

Via ROH World and his own website

Looks like WWE isn't the only fed right now looking to blur the lines. Kevin Steen, who was infamously tossed out of Best in the World after turning on his former mentor Steve Corino, has posted an open letter to ROH fans and management concerning his actions. I think it's really well-done and wrought with emotion and passion. Much in the same way as his promo and wrestling style was soaked in blood, this letter seems to have the vitriolic hatred behind it that made Mr. Wrestling a must-watch wrestler in 2010.

Steen focuses his rage on Jim Cornette for forcing him out of the company because he wanted to impress Sinclair and for dumping guys like Adam Pearce, Austin Aries, Necro Butcher, Jimmy Rave and Gabe Sapolsky (which elicited a couple of groan-inducing Tweets asking Steen not to use his name and then pandering for an EVOLVE booking... I like Gabe, but he should have DMed Steen and not used the opportunity to be so cheap). Obviously, he also raged against Corino for "castrating himself" after Steen left the company. He promised to take the whole company down as well, which should make for some entertaining television. Granted, I doubt he'll be able to spew blood, either his own or other guys', if this angle is made a focal point of television once it starts back up, but I don't think Steen needs blood to show his sadistic side.

Either way, this is an interesting turn in the story, and it's something that really has my attention, which I can't say for a lot of other angles in ROH right now.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Your Midweek Links: I'M IN TERRIBLE PAIN RIGHT NOW

Sexiest mask ever... well after Mankind, of course
Photo Credit: Padje Mescall

It's hump day, so here are some links to get you through the rest of the week.

Self-Shilling

- The Wrestling Podcast! Last week's show featured Josh "PUNTE" Zerkle, who was an awesome guest and has a podcast of his own (which I pimp in the non-wrestling links). Check this one out though, because there's some great talk about Bret Hart, the "good ol' days" and of course, his work on blogs like With Leather and Kissing Suzy Kolber. [Episode 8: Yankem Hotel Foxtrot]

- My Fair to Flair piece on botching and why it ain't that bad. [Why Botching Isn't the End of the World]

- In case you were wondering, yes, that was a donkey punch by Alberto del Rio on Rey Mysterio last week. [Your Match of the Week, 6/19-6/25, Fair to Flair]

- A piece that I could have run on Fair to Flair but chose to submit to the Camel Clutch Blog for my own reasons. It's about whether to call pro wrestling a sport or theater. [The Case for the Classification of Pro Wrestling]

Wrestling Links

- Kick-Out!! Radio with Jeff Katz. I'm pimping this for three days straight because, despite what some commenters are saying, I really feel like this is an awesome idea. [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- A1-Wrestling poster "Handsome" Padje Mescall went to a lucha show in England featuring Skayde and Cassandro and posted tons of pics. [A1-Wrestling]

- A comprehensive look at ROH's Best in the World [The Harrison Analysis]

- Good ol' JR is prescient about CM Punk's comments and talks about filming the sitdown interview between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for their upcoming DVD. [JR's BBQ Sauce Blog]

- Another take on Queen of Queens from friend of TWB John Hyperion. [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- The Wheelhouse looks at Kevin Steen. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Looking at the worked shoot via the CM Punk promo at the end of RAW [Grapple Kingdom]

- A look at Stan Hansen, aka THE MAN [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- I'm not the only one who refuses to pay tribute to Chris Benoit. [Wrestling Theory]

- The best satire is the kind that you have to do a spit take after reading because you think it's real. This is the best satire, Fake Vince going off on Punk for his promo on RAW. [Fair to Flair]

- Speaking of Fair to Flair, the podcast's sixth episode discusses more about why Kevin Kelly sucks. [Fair to Flair]

- Of course Jay Briscoe makes homophobic comments on Twitter AFTER I tell you to follow him. WAY TO MAKE ME LOOK LIKE AN ASS, REDNECK WRESTLER GAWD. [Cageside Seats]

- The Masked Man on Punk. [Grantland]

- More Punk, as he's straight up trollin' on Twitter. [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- Nicole Matthews to do the reverse-SHIMMER migration. [Diva Dirt]

- KSP FJMs MM... err, I mean Mark Madden [Aggressive Art]

- And if that wasn't enough calling out bad journalism, Jason Mann gets in on the action too, only on a much bigger fish. [Wrestlespective]

- Obligatory Best and Worst of RAW column, because seriously, you need to read this every week. [With Leather]

Jamie Dobson Interviews

- Tim Arson

Non-Wrestling Links

- Lindy West fills in for Drew Magary on the Funbag this week. Holy shit, it's awesome. [Deadspin]

- Episode 80 of the House of PUNTE podcast, where I'm more than likely going to hell for losing my shit at Brian Stow jokes. Also, more talk about feces than you might be able to handle. And Brad Jackson talks Longhorn football. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- I'm pretty sure that there's no jury in the entire province of Quebec (or is it Ontario?) that would convict Muscles Glasses for snapping haters' necks after they stole burgers from fine-ass ladies. [Epic Meal Time]

- This year's Hockey Hall of Fame class has a distinct Maple flavor. [Puck Daddy]

- Warning: BEAR [Cracked]

- Quentin Tarantino is a foot fetishist? Color me not surprised. [Uproxx]

- Why the Royals may be the next AL team to make the leap from laughingstock to contender. [Grantland]

- How Ian Lapierre won the Masterson Trophy. [Flyers Goal Scored By]

- Mission: Impossible 4 - The Ghost Protocol teaser trailer... featuring Sawyer from LOST. [Buzz Feed]

- Commissioner of the Bush League gets called to Congress [Sports Pickle]

- Captain Kirk vs. Captain Kirk... although I thought they were in Star Trek, not Over the Top... [Unreality Mag]

- Review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Marty Day is a brave soul. [Blast-o-Rama]

- Yes, this is for a series that's been over since Sunday. No, I don't particularly care. [The Fightins]

- Self diagnosis becomes self-aware [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- The summer doldrums are here for sports. Unless you're B-Stroud and are a huge baseball nerd. Then this is the point where you tell Shanoff to shove it. [Dan Shanoff]

- Adam Savage of Mythbusters sings "I Will Survive" as Gollum. Your argument is invalid. [Topless Robot]

- Commentary on the state of the Wisconsin Badgers by a real live badger. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Danger Guerrero FJMs the shit out of someone who got butthurt over Go the Fuck to Sleep. [Danger Guerrero Tumblr]

- Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are good pitchers. Baaaaht... chu already knew that. [Crashburn Alley]

- Poor Eeyore. [Skull Swap]

- John Ratzenberger is the best actor in America, and other fun uses of the Rotten Tomatoes graph feature. [Film Drunk]

- Maybe the greatest ceremonial first pitch ever? [Bro Bible]

- T-Mobile girl to play Retro Girl in the Powers series. Spoiler alert: she's dead before the series even starts. [Gamma Squad]

- Funniest epic headline ever. [With Leather]

- Sports hipster clothing alert! 1990-91 Golden State Warriors tee available. Given that I was always a huge Tim Hardaway fan, I am intrigued by this. [The Smoking Section]

- The Tasmanian devil's genome has been mapped. What about Taz the Tazmanian Devil? Or Taz, the shitty Impact announcer? Not sure about those yet. [Wired UK]

- RIP Lorenzo Charles. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- No more "interim" tag for Luke Fickell at Ohio State. Does that put those Urban Meyer rumors to rest? Fuck no! [Dr. Saturday]

- Tennessee's legislature debates serious business [The Onion]

- How's this for funny? Michael Jackson voiced the crazy white guy claiming to be him on The Simpsons, but he didn't sing the "Happy Birthday Lisa" song. [Warming Glow]

- Rant about that awful-looking new Terra Nova show. [Comic Books and Whatever]

- Some hockey nuggets from TWB superfan Dave Cunning [The SDC Blogs]

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Davey Richards as ROH Champion: An Exercise in Open-Mindedness

Everyone else seems to love Davey... I'll try too.

I have not been enamored with three of the last four wrestlers who have held the ROH World Championship. Not since Austin Aries held the belt has ROH had a Champ that I could really get behind. Of course, @TypicalROHFan will argue that to the death with me; in one of his moments of lucidity, he had tried to tell me Aries' second reign was a dud. Maybe it's just that Aries was Champ when I started following the fed, so maybe it's the same principle by which I'll never fully hate Hulk Hogan, no matter how delusional, or how I can never be fully mad at Lenny Dykstra₁ regardless of indiscretion. I don't know, but what I do know is that Tyler Black, Roderick Strong and now Davey Richards really leave me flat.

Black and Strong have track records. You know my disdain for the currently-christened Seth Rollins. I don't have the Brandon Stroud-levels of disdain for Roddy. I like him all fine and good, but as the top guy in ostensibly the number three promotion in America, I'm not sure I buy him. He'd be a good points leader for EVOLVE, but for a ROH World Champion? I don't get it.

So that brings us to Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards. Edwards to me felt fresh at least, and I've seen him in good singles matches. I also think he's got more of a handle on how to be a viable out-of-ring character. Richards, however... well, he's a good tag wrestler. I've seen exactly one singles match featuring him that I really liked, a tilt against Kevin Steen at PWG's first Kurt RussellMania. Out of the ring, he's just so dry. I mean, his Twitter going up to the title match was him training. Not my cup of tea. I know that I'm one person, but this sort of testimony isn't exactly the best for a guy holding the biggest title in the company.

However, I will admit that DR as Champion is something that is a little over 24 hours old. I really can't judge his reign so much as I'm judging the idea of it. It's the kind of thing that people might find to be obnoxiously close-minded. Now, I like to think of myself as open-minded. So I'm going to give DR a chance.

I'll start with the match against Edwards. Maybe that'll surprise me. And maybe as Champion, he'll bring a new dynamic to the main event. The vibe I got from the title-change program was that it wasn't face vs. heel, but more like rival vs. rival, two guys cultivating fan followings. Maybe if we get a fresh vibe out of this, I can forgive the excessive matches if they happen.

But that's the rub, I've gotta give it a shot. I will, and hopefully, I'll be pleasantly surprised. With ROH coming back to television in a few months, I'll get plenty of opportunities.

1 - Dykstra was my favorite player on the team that tipped the scales for me as a sports fan, the 1993 Phillies.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Holy Balls, What a Busy Weekend

FUCK YEAH GREEN ANT

- Chikara's tripleshot over the weekend was greeted with great critical acclaim, as always, and some big things went down. For one, the Colony got the win over the BDK in the main event Saturday in Taylor. It was supposed to be a battle of the last two King of Trios-winning teams, but Ares had to drop out because of a family emergency. In his place was Sara del Rey. That's not the biggest news. For me, it was the Colony won via Green Ant tapping Claudio Castagnoli with the cloverleaf. I don't know about you, but I think that's awesome. So happy for Green Ant getting the big moment in the sun. Hell, it wasn't a very good weekend for the BDK at all, as they were getting their comeuppance like whoa. Friday night's main event saw Da Soul Touchaz finally get a measure of revenge on the devious Germans with a massive splash on Jakob Hammermeir by BlackDust himself, Willie Richardson. The Throwbacks got a win Saturday against Tim Donst and Hammermeir, and the Spectral Envoy of UltraMantis Black and Hallowicked took out the Donst/Hammermeir teaming on Sunday.

In other matches of interest, Eddie Kingston defeated Colt Cabana on Friday, but as the weekend progressed, he started getting harassed by one Vin Gerard. Gerard attacked Kingston after his 12 Large Summit match on Saturday against Mantis, and then again interfered on Sunday in his match against Hieracon. That could be interesting going forward. In Sunday's main event, the team of the Colony and Mike Quackenbush defeated FIST and Gerard in an atomicos match, via an Ant Hill splash on Johnny Gargano. Also, Frightmare retained his Young Lions Cup against Kodama.

As for the 12 Large Summit, here's a recap of those matches:

FRIDAY - Sara del Rey d. Icarus, Claudio d. Hallowicked, Mantis d. Fire Ant
SATURDAY - Quackenbush d. Ophidian, Kingston d. Mantis

Those results have a logjam at the top of Group A, with Quack, SDR, Claudio and Hallowicked all with two points. Group B has a similar jam, although with one fewer wrestler in the mix. Gerard, Kingston and Mantis all having two points. I have a feeling this one's going to be interesting to the wire, folks.

- Chikara's Sunday afternoon festivities weren't the only thing going on in Cleveland. Yes, AIW's Absolution 6 took place, and my my, it wasn't a very good day for Gargano at all. After eating the pinfall in the Chikara main event, he went and lost his Absolute Championship as well. Now, was it to Tim Donst, the guy he was scheduled to defend against, or was it against someone different who happened to work for Flexor Industries? At this point, I'm not sure as I can't find ANY results for the main event anywhere on the Internet. I wonder if this is intentional. I'll report as soon as I find out, but if Donst is the new Absolute Champion? Get ready to buy earplugs, because we won't hear the end of it. Also on the card, Kingston and a newly rejuvenated BJ Whitmer had one of the best matches of the weekend by observers. Whitmer got the duke. Also, Chest Flexor of the aforementioned Flexor industries got squishified by Tursas, in what I can only describe is perhaps the faciest thing Tursas has ever done.

EDIT: Good news, Donst isn't the new Absolute Champion. It's Shiima Xion, who cashed in his shot at the title via winning the Todd Pettingil Invitational Tournament. So, big month for Xion, who made his Impact debut last week, and is now the top guy in his home fed.

- Arguably the biggest event of the weekend was ROH's Best in the World, which saw two new Champions crowned. In the main event, Davey Richards defeated Eddie Edwards in a reportedly epic match that TWB superfan Billy Dunlevy claimed that "you'd have no soul" if you didn't enjoy. I'd say that was high praise. Also on the card, Christopher Daniels dropped the Television Championship to El Generico. Side note, if you bitch because they defended the title on something that wasn't on TV, then please reconsider your priorities and perhaps why you're a wrestling fan. Same deal goes if you bitched that Kevin Steen didn't honor his stipulation to leave town for good. I for one am thrilled as fuck to see Steen back in ROH, and even more thrilled that he turned on Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs, partially because he's one of the few guys that the smark maxim of "everyone's better heel" works for, but mostly because Steen vs. Corino most likely be the greatest brawl in the history of professional wrestling. I am not exaggerating. Okay, maybe I am, but it'll be damn close and damn cool. Also on the card, the World's Greatest Tag Team kept their titles, which makes sense, because the All-Nite Express isn't ready, the Briscoes are old hat and the Kings of Wrestling? Well, the scuttlebutt is that they have contracts on the table to go to WWE. VERY EXCITING SCUTTLEBUTT.

- Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin had their Queen of the Joshis Tournament yesterday, and I have results courtesy of With Leather managing editor and ACW superfan Brandon Stroud. Anyway, Rachel Summerlyn won the tourney, defeating Athena in the finals. Also participating were Portia Perez, Mia Yim, Christina von Eerie, Angel Blue, Serena Deeb and Amanda Fox. Outside of Summerlyn taking the tournament, the biggest thing to happen on the card was Perez's manager, Super Electro, unmasking to reveal himself as Robert Evans. He ended up costing Perez her semifinal match against the aforementioned Summerlyn. That's a feud that I'd move to Austin to see. Yes, I am dead serious. Here's a complete rundown of the tournament, because B-Stroud was kind enough to send it over to me:

ROUND 1:
Perez d. Yim, Summerlyn d. von Eerie, Athena d. Blue, Fox d. Deeb

SEMIFINALS:
Summerlyn d. Perez, Athena d. Fox

FINAL:
Summerlyn d. Athena

Also on the card, Davey Vega defended his ACW Championship against Darin Childs.

- Women's Superstars Uncensored held their Uncensored Rumble Saturday, which was won by Lexus over 22 other women. She'll get a crack at Mercedes Martinez, whose reign as Champion has now stretched over 44 defenses and 30 months, making her maybe the longest reigning Champion, male or female, around right now? I don't know, maybe some arcane NWA title that gets defended once every solar eclipse is longer held, but holy shit, for a fed that operates as regularly as WSU seems to, that's impressive. And remember, she defended the title like three or four times on EVOLVE cards too. Also on the card, Jillian Hall made her wrestling return, putting over Kristin Astara in her first match since leaving WWE. Cindy Rogers retired by defeating Allison Danger and both Sassy Stephie and the Boston Shore retained their respective Spirit and Tag Team Championships.

- And just in case you couldn't get enough indie wrestling news, CZW held its annual Tournament of Death Saturday, won by MASADA (who hopped on a plane and landed in Austin the next day to appear in ACW). He defeated Dysfunction, Matt Tremont and then Masashei Takeda for the win. He'll get a shot at Danny Havoc's Ultraviolent Underground Title, and the winner of that will go onto a garbage match Champion vs. Champion affair against Ryuji Ito, Big Japan's Deathmatch Champion. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but it's certainly a big deal. Also on the card, Sami Callihan, whose star is ascending exponentially in the indies, earned a chance at DJ Hyde's CZW World Championship by defeating Greg Excellent.

- And in one bit of Impact Wrestling news, Hulk Hogan dropped on his Twitter that the former TNA would be going on the road every other week to tape Impact starting in August. Good move for the company. Now if they can only stop booking shit shows...

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Sara del Rey

Death Rey

Who: Sara del Rey
Also Known As: Death Rey, Queen of Wrestling
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hometown: Martinez, CA

Promotions: SHIMMER, Chikara, ROH, WSU, JAPW (alumna), ACW

Affiliations: In Chikara, she's a member of the devious and deadly BDK. Otherwise, she's found palling around with the Kings of Wrestling as their queen.

Twitter: @TheSaraDelRey

Signature Moves:

Piledriver


Top 10 Moves, including bridging fallaway slam and Royal Butterfly


Accolades:
SHIMMER World Championship
JAPW Women's Champion (current, perhaps final)
ROH Undisputed Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (w/ Chris Hero)

Promos:

Sara and Daizee are furious over the lack of competition


Promo on Kong and Raesha


A candid talk about women in wrestling


Promo on Daffney


All About Sara del Rey:

Her Matches - She's not the biggest competitor, even among her peers in the women's divisions or in SHIMMER. However, regardless of how much mass or height she has or doesn't have, she's always projecting a fearsome aura. She's definitely the prototype of the female bully, only one that isn't a larger woman. I think that makes her unique, whether she wrestles men or women. She's got some of the best strikes of any gender, especially her koppo kick which is strangely not clipped anywhere on Youtube (or maybe it is, and I'm lazy). I also absolutely love that she uses the piledriver as a finisher. Not a tombstone or a fire thunder or any other variant, but a regular, Memphis-style piledriver. She's definitely the best female wrestler in America right now, at least in my estimation.

Her Character - In nearly every promotion I've seen her, she seems to play down her femininity and work as a bully like she does in the ring. From the facepaint to the menacing scowl, she's the most unladylike of the current crop of women wrestlers. With her ROH/KoW-second character as the Queen of Wrestling, it works brilliantly. She's the new prototype of woman wrestler, one who, despite her obvious inherent good looks and somewhat petite size, doesn't rely on her looks at all and instead on her ability in the ring. It's a brilliantly simple character.

Why You Should Know Her - Honestly, I may be biased, because she's my favorite female in any wrestling promotion, but I think that Sara del Rey is must see whenever she's in the ring or even out of it. It's a good thing, because she's in very high demand. Whether it's in Chikara, SHIMMER, WSU, start-up women's feds or in any women's division, you can count on her being there and turning in great performances. She's clearly making her case to join her former peer Awesome Kong in WWE as part of a new movement of anti-Divas who can actually wrestle and do more than shake their tits and ass.

The thing is that she dowdies herself down and is actually very, very attractive when she accentuates her femininity. However, I think that it makes a very poignant point. She could very well make it to WWE by glitzing up, putting on a shit-ton of makeup and a push-up bra and trying to fit the mold. She doesn't, and I think she's a credit to women's wrestling for doing it. She's talented and it seems like she wants to make it on her merits as a wrestler. That's awesome to me, maybe the biggest reason why I think I have such a crush on her. She definitely has enough talent as well, maybe the most in my estimation.

SO yeah, you need to know her, because if she's not the best in the world, she's at least one of them. She's just about the biggest star remaining on the indie scene, maybe tied with Serena and Cheerleader Melissa, and if she's on a card in your town, I think you need to be there just to see what she does. I think that goes double for if she's in town with Chikara, because she's most likely wrestling intergender, and those are the best examples of her talent.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Kevin Steen

Mr. Wrestling

Who: Kevin Steen
Also Known As: Mr. Wrestling IV
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 238 lbs.
Hometown: Marieville, QC

Promotions: PWG, ROH (alumnus), C*4, IWS, CZW (alumnus)

Affiliations: His most current affiliation is in the Nightmare Violence Connection in PWG with Akira Tozawa. Even though Tozawa will be leaving America for the time being, I assume the bond will remain strong. In ROH, he was last seen palling around with Steve Corino, and the rumor is he'll be returning a changed man with Corino and Jimmy Jacobs to combat the House of Truth. His most classic pairing was with El Generico, but that was shattered at Final Battle 2009 with a chairshot to the head.

Twitter: @SteenIsChange

Signature Moves:
Package Piledriver


Steenalizer


Apron Powerbomb


CAAAAAANONBALLLLLLLL


The most impressive 450 splash I've ever seen


Moonsault


Accolades:
PWG World Heavyweight Championship
PWG World Tag Team Championship (2x, w/ El Generico)
ROH World Tag Team Championship (w/ El Generico)
IWS World Heavyweight Championship (3x)
IWS Canadian Championship
C*4 Championship
C*4 Tag Team Championship (w/ Mike Bailey)
CZW Iron Man Championship
2010 Wrestling Observer Best Brawler
2010 Wrestling Observer Feud of the Year (vs. El Generico)

Promos:

Promo to Sylvian Grenier en Francaise


Pre-Survival of the Fittest 2010


2005 Promo for PWG as Champion


Interrupting AJ Styles


C*4 Promo


Steen vs. Southwest


Post-match promo with Akira Tozawa


All About Kevin Steen:

His Matches - If you've never seen a Kevin Steen match, then I feel like you're missing out. Seriously, he's one of the best all-around grapplers in the game today, indies, mainstream, American or foreign. You have this guy, and he's not a bodybuilder or a beanpole, and yet he flies around more gracefully than most spot machines anywhere. I mean, did you see the moonsault and the 450 I posted above? They're among the best in the business. He also is among the best brawlers in the industry. Dave Meltzer and his readers weren't full of shit here when they voted him Best Brawler last year. I've seen him in person tearing it up with Colt Cabana and El Generico.

The best part about him isn't the flying or the brawling. No, he's a bona fide head dropper. That package piledriver, taken by the one and only Bryce Remsburg TWICE, is one of the best moves going today. And if that weren't all, the guy's so expressive and emotive in the ring. His facial expressions are top notch. As a heel, his taunting is excellent and adds so much to his matches. Hell, he even COMMENTATED his own match a couple of time last year in ROH. Seriously, you want to talk about the "Best in the World" moniker now that Danielson's left the indies, don't look at Davey Richards. Don't look at Eddie Edwards, or Low Ki or even Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero or Akira Tozawa. It's Kevin Steen. It's always been Kevin Steen.

His Character - The meme among Internet fans is guys are always better heel than face. While I think that's bullshit in most cases, in this one, it's true. While Steen's an alright face character, his best work comes as a heel, a sadistic almost psychopathic heel with silly undertones that only serve to bolster his sickness in-character. Just go back to the feud with Generico last year; Steen played his character perfectly.

As a face, he can be a little dry, but then again, there have been some great moments of him as a babyface in promos where he'd just deadpan lines or look at the guy in the segment with him like he was nuts, totally making the scene work. Still, while his face work isn't bad, as a younger Hannibal Lecter, he shines brightest.

Why You Should Know Him - Steen is one of the most versatile wrestlers out there in the indies today. Why he's not on WWE's radar is beyond me, but if I were in Johnny Ace's or Jim Ross' spot, I'd be throwing a developmental deal at him faster than you can say l'etats, c'est moi. Be that as it may though, he's definitely one of the best guys on the indie scene, which makes it that much more baffling why ROH let him go at the end of last year, just to replace him with guys like Homicide (who's good, but a retread) and Rhino (who blows).

Regardless, we're lucky for having Steen on the indies. He's a treat to watch, and I'm not alone in this. Steen is among the most fan-favorite wrestlers among the indies, garnering huge positive reactions despite his alignment. The fact that he's so over means that feds want to book him. If he comes to a promotion in your town, buy tickets as soon as he's announced. Seriously, he's that good.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Young Bucks to Return to ROH

Via Matt Jackson's Twitter

Matt Jackson/Max Buck let word leak on Twitter that he and his brother Nick (Jeremy Buck) will be wrestling Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Cole at Best in the World on June 26th on iPPV. I think this will be a somewhat exciting spotfest, good for opening-card fare. I'm just excited to see the Bucks back in ROH. Maybe if/when ROH runs an arena show in Philly, they'll be on that card too and I can see them live again.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Chris Hero

That Young Knockout Kid

Who: Chris Hero
Also Known As: That Young Knockout Kid, Your Hero
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 240 lbs.
Hometown: Metropolis

Promotions: ROH, PWG, Chikara (alumnus), CZW (alumnus), JCW, EVOLVE (alumnus), various foreign promotions

Affiliations: He forms one-half of the Kings of Wrestling with Claudio Castagnoli in ROH and in other promotions. He can also be found managed by Shane Hagadorn and seconded by Sara del Rey. He also is known from time-to-time to enter the broadcast booth with Excalibur in PWG.

Twitter: @TheChrisHero

Signature Moves:
Death Blow


Hero's Welcome


Elbow montage


Death Is Welcome


Hangman's Clutch


Accolades:
PWG World Heavyweight Champion
ROH World Tag Team Champion (2x, with Claudio Castagnoli)
ROH Survival of the Fittest, 2007
ROH Tag Wars Champion, 2010 (with Claudio Castagnoli)
ROH Undisputed World Intergender Tag Team Champion (with Sara del Rey)
Chikara Campeon de Parejas (with Claudio Castagnoli)
Chikara World Tag Grand Prix Winner, 2006 (with Claudio Castagnoli)
JCW World Tag Team Champion (with Claudio Castagnoli)
IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion (4x)
CZW World Heavyweight Champion
CZW World Tag Team Champion (2x, with Claudio Castagnoli)
CZW Iron Man Championship
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Tag Team of the Year, 2010 (with Claudio Castagnoli)

Promos:













All About Chris Hero:

His Matches - Hero has gone through a few phases in his career. First, he was all about the cravate. Then, he morphed into "That Young Knockout Kid", using his elbows at every chance he could. He still loves him some elbows, but he's rounded out his style. What you get with a Hero match depends on the setting. He loves his strikes no matter what setting, but the level of storytelling differs with where he's at. In Japan, he blends in with the style. In PWG, he's arguably their ace performer and will go balls-out to have the best matches on the card. In ROH, his style is mixed more with the classic, North American main event style with emphasis on selling and pacing. He's become also one of the preeminent tag team wrestlers in the land, as he and Claudio Castagnoli have established themselves as an elite team twice during the last decade.

His Character - Hero has the cocksure, supremely talented heel character down to a tee. It's evolved a lot over the years with different levels of refinement. Right now, it's about as polished as you'll find it. He speaks with a certain confidence, a bravado that an elder indie statesman should be expected to promo with. The best is his chemistry with Castagnoli. They really are the perfect tag team, even though both of them are also stellar on their own as singles wrestlers.

Why You Should Know Him - He's too good for TNA and shockingly and disappointingly ignored and rebuffed by WWE. You need to get to know Hero because as long as he'll be wrestling in America, he'll belong to the indie scene. That's not necessarily a bad thing for us the fans. Hero is a hard worker, a talented character and someone who wrestles in as many feds as he can while Stateside, honing his craft and becoming one of the best in the world at what he does. He can wrestle in any style, against any kind of opponent, and still be excellent. He's also one of the best pure heel wrestlers in the land, and is able to make whomever he feuds against, be it an underdog, a fan-favorite elite level worker or even a gruff, rough-around-the-edges warrior like Eddie Kingston, feel like someone you can get behind.

Hopefully, the WWE does see the light on him, because he deserves to get to the next level without having to fly across the Pacific every couple of months. Until then though, he remains one of the biggest reasons to follow ROH and PWG and one of the only reasons why you'd want to associate with the Insane Clown Posse (who, for all their flaws, do get big names for their wrestling promotion). Chris Hero is one of the best wrestlers in the world today, and he's a big reason why you should dig deeper than what you find on cable TV.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 6: Mitch (PizzaBodySlam) f/ K. Sawyer Paul

Christian was one of the topics for this episode
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Episode 6: Darkness on the Edge and Christian of Town

Episode 6! And this is a landmark episode in that not only did I finally corner the wily Mitch of PizzaBodySlam, my blogging Bro-berto Luong-bro, but I also had a special run-in guest… K. Sawyer Paul, who came in at about the 55 minute mark. We pretty much talk about everything, including Fair to Flair, the quarterly, bad wrestling journalism, ROH, live wrestling, Christian, R-Truth and of course, the Stanley Cup Finals. As an aside, this was recorded Thursday, before the Canucks took a 3-2 series lead. Anyway, give it a listen, it’s a rollicking, fun podcast, even though it’s the longest one.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Quick Hits: On Stranger Quick Hits

- After RAW went off the air last night, the RAW GM announced that R-Truth, by virtue of his count out victory over John Cena, deserves another match with Cena for the title at Capitol Punishment under one condition - he has to apologize on the air next week for his "abhorrent behavior" (and given they show two replays of him throwing soda in the "fan's" face after, that's what they're referring to). That should be amusing to say the least.

- ROH has announced when that Eddie Edwards/Davey Richards World Championship match will take place June 26th at their iPPV event The Best in the World, to be held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. This will be the same event Jay Lethal makes his ROH return at, as well as promised title defenses from both the World's Greatest Tag Team as well as Christopher Daniels. My early feeling is that Edwards wins here to set up Davey chasing a "final" opportunity for the belt to cash in at Final Battle. But that's just me.

- WWE announced today that they're changing the name of their video game franchise from Smackdown vs. RAW to just WWE '(year), starting with WWE '12. You can see the trailer here.

- There was a big deal made of TNA cracking down on cell phone usage in the Impact Zone and spoiler reports, to the point where a correspondent from PW Insider (LOL) was thrown out of the building. In what can only be surmised as a big FUCK YOU to Universal Studios (since they're more the ones who are pushing this rather than TNA itself), F4W Online has spoilers for the next episode of Impact. I've been hard on Alvarez and Co. lately, but this is pretty awesome. Also, I don't usually like posting spoilers without extensive care to hide them, but at the same time? This just goes to show that no matter how hard you try, you're not going to totally prevent the leakage of pre-taped shows. Not at all.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!