WWW BELLE OF THE BRAWL Notes & More

World Women's Wrestling had another successful event yesterday with BELLE OF THE BRAWL at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA. The full event report is up at http://www.worldwomenswrestling.com/.

This was one of those events that was a challenge going in. Several talents cancelled out after confirming the date with us. We had two others that we had to worry about whether they would make the show for transportation reasons. Both did and everything came off fine.

My hat is off to all the girls of WWW who worked hard yesterday in front of a very appreciative crowd.

My MVP pick for yesterday's event is a two way tie. First is Della Morte for a successful singles match, a victory in the BELLE OF THE BRAWL match, and very nearly toppling "The Portuguese Princess" for the WWW Championship. Tied is Roxie Cotton for making the WWW event after working in Georgia the previous night and driving from there to make an afternoon card in Somerville, MA. If I ever decide to take up bank robbery, Roxie Cotton is my first choice to drive the get away car.

An honorable mention goes to the WWW Champion. I may not be approving of the in-ring attitude change of "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel, but boy, is she ever the consummate pro. There was an incident yesterday where a fan who perhaps enjoyed a little too much liquid happiness, got a little too close to the champion and got shoved back down on his backside for his trouble. The crowd roared its approval, but I developed an even deeper respect for the even-more-capable-than-I thought "Portuguese Princess."

There are quite a few rising stars on this WWW roster, who are going to get better and better the more chances they have to work. Sammi Lane, Elektra Arion and Taeler are all great additions who not only work hard on the ring, but are quite easy on the eyes.

The next WWW event will be the joint NECW-WWW card at Eddie Andelman's 19th annual HOT DOG SAFARI, Sunday, June 1 at Suffolk Downs. I expect a return to Good Time Emporium for WWW in August, but that won't be official for another few weeks.

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The new World Women's Wrestling DVD: 2nd Anniversary Spectacular was a big seller yesterday. We went through everything we brought along, and my thanks to everyone who bought a copy. You can order it online by clicking here.

Speaking of DVD's, the next two titles that NECW Home Video will be releasing are: Best of NECW 2007 and Best of WWW 2007. Both will be double disc sets and both will be just loaded with great action that took place over the past year.

I continue to get great feedback on the BIRTHDAY BASH 7 and IRON 8 DVD's that we've recently released. We have been slowly ramping up the pace of DVD releases and have been gratified by all the positive response.

More later in the week!

NECW Gets Bauer Power, New DVD's, WWW This Sunday, IRON 8 Coming & More

Finally getting some blog time here, as my 2 cents on many subjects is adding up to about enough change for a cup of coffee!

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"The Mowhawked Enforcer" Max Bauer captured the NECW Triple Crown Championship last Saturday night, April 26 in Quincy, MA going over former champ Big Rick Fuller and Antonio "The Promise" Thomas in a triple threat match for the championship. The crowds have really embraced Max as a fan favorite, since he parted ways with "The Talent" T.J. Richter and his DNA faction.

Last Saturday's SPRING BREAKDOWN was quite a memorable event for many reasons. Apart from the title change, there is the developing feud between NECW Tag Team Champions, Fred Curry and Chase Del Monte and PRIDE. PRIDE took out Curry in a pre-match, leaving Del Monte to face both Freitas & Nunes alone. Del Monte managed to garner a count out win, saving the titles, but you can bet this rivalry is just warming up. While I may not condone their tactics, it is good to see PRIDE back in the NECW fold and in the thick of things. PRIDE are one of the great teams in New England wrestling history and they have a lot of gas left in the tank. I would not rule out another run at the top for the boys from Fall River.

In the upset of the night - maybe even the year - Team Cairo's Scott Osbourne got a pinfall victory over former NECW Television Champion, Brandon Locke in a great match for both men, but a breakthrough match for Osbourne. Ever since Osbourne came onto the scene in NECW over a year ago, he has quietly made this company take notice. Osbourne is one of those guys who has taken advantage of the NECW atmosphere - a mix of top young talents and veteran hands who can really help you grow, if you open yourself up to the opportunity to do so. Osbourne's performance this past Saturday night earned him a spot in the 5th annual IRON 8 Championship. More on that later.

"The Exotic" Kristian Frost was back in NECW this past Saturday night, picking up a win over young Brandon Webb with the beautiful Taeler in his corner. While Frost may have been the victor in the match, Webb and Taeler got some revenge after Frost tried to get rough with Taeler.

Of course, even though I suspended him last month, D.C. Dillinger just couldn't stay away last Saturday night. Dillinger, who was about as welcome as a ham sandwich at a bar mitzvah, was sent packing in his skivvies by "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion. We saw a lot more of D.C. than any of us cared to, and it doesn't look like this situation is going away any time soon.

The Oriental masked man, Makoto, made an impressive debut in Quincy going over Rayan Matthews, who had his moments in the match. By the way, Makoto is a word in Japanese that means sincerity, honesty, fairness, straightforward, something that is very true and pure. You can tell by the masked man's style that he embodies these qualitites in what he brings to the ring.

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Two new DVD's from NECW Home Video are out now and I think you'll enjoy them.

BIRTHDAY BASH 7: CAGED FURY is NECW's 7th anniversary show topped by a great Triple Crown Title Match pitting D.C. Dillinger against "Straight Edge" Brian Fury in a steel cage. Lots of great matches. Lots of never-before-seen footage and extras. This may be the best "storytelling" DVD we've put out to date.

WORLD WOMEN'S WRESTLING: 2nd ANNIVERSARY SPECTACULAR is a special 2 disc set from the great event we had on March 9th. Lexxus vs. Ariel in a Title vs. Career bout and much more, including bonus Q & A footage from the luncheon held before the show that day.

Both DVD's on sale now at www.NECW.tv

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This Sunday, World Women's Wrestling returns to Good Time Emporium for BELLE OF THE BRAWL. 3 PM is the bell time. All details are up on www.WorldWomensWrestling.com.

"The Portuguese Princess" Ariel defends the WWW Championship against the winner of the BELLE OF THE BRAWL Rumble match earlier in the day.

This is an opportunity for one of the WWW roster to step up and elevate herself. We have a number of new faces in WWW and I expect big things from many of them - Sammi Lane, Elektra Arion and Roxie Cotton come to mind immediately.

Something I have not brought up in previous blogs, but Good Time Emporium is scheduled to lose its lease, as the area is being redeveloped for more upscale usage. Exactly when the place will close is not known at this writing. Attempts are being made to find another location, but Good Times, which is a 150,000 square foot facility and the largest indoor entertainment complex in New England, is not an easy kind of place to move due to licensing issues, zoning issues and other concerns that vary from town to town.

NECW would not have taken off if it were not for Good Time Emporium. World Women's Wrestling could not have been launched anywhere else. In recent years, NECW has grown to where it's outgrown Good Times as a venue, thought WWW works fine there and has done well. The management has allowed multiple other "promotions" to run there, and that really doesn't do any of them any favors. WWW isn't affected because it's such a unique product, but the special nature of the venue has been lost somewhat in recent years. It will be a sad day when Good Times finally closes its doors. We hope to have at least one more event there after this Sunday.

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Saturday night, May 31, NECW will present the 5th Annual IRON 8 Championship Tournament in Quincy, MA.

The IRON 8 is a unique event that has become a calling card of sorts in NECW. It's one of the more original concepts in a business where very little is original. It's an 8 man tournament that starts as your typical single elimination tournament, but after a first round of four singles matches, the four winners face each other in a 4 way, 45 minute iron man match - most pins or submissions in 45 minutes wins, and the winner is that year's IRON 8 Champion. It's a grueling test and a real exciting night of professional wrestling at its best.

"Die Hard" Eddie Edwards has won the last two. He is joined by Brandon Locke, Scott Osbourne, Gran Akuma from Chikara and "The Japanese Nightmare" Kahagas. 3 spots remain to be announced.

What can I say? This is a huge night for NECW and, so far, a tremendous field of competitors. If you really want to get a feel for the IRON 8, get the great DVD we put out on last year's tournament at www.NECW.tv. This is as good as anything you will see on the independent circuit.

I hope to see you there! More blog stuff soon.

Paul Heyman Doing The Hustle

Paul Heyman is indisputably one of the best booking minds and wrestling personalities of his generation. After the fall of the original ECW, Heyman took his considerable talents to the WWE where he went through a volatile few years butting heads with the McMahons and playing a key part in the revival of ECW. Heyman never seemed to be able to get the kind of creative control to have the kind of impact he might have wished for, and that relationship came to an unsurprising end.

Since then, Heyman has moved on to a project called "The Heyman Hustle" - a series of web based mini-shows produced under the auspices of the London-based Sun newspaper that feature Heyman hanging around New York interviewing all sorts of major and minor celebrities all examining whatever their particular "hustle" is. It's Paul Heyman's creative mind turned loose beyond a ring and set of ropes, and with that much personality power behind it, it's enormously engaging stuff.

Heyman is now a father of two and trying to move on to other dreams and aspirations outside of wrestling. Pro wrestling is touched on here and there in the series, but this is Paul Heyman proving that wrestling needs Heyman more than Heyman needs wrestling. I tip my hat to Paul, because his kind of ability deserves an outlet that is suitably rewarding.

There are all sorts of opinions about Paul Heyman. Most of them are something like "creative genius, but a lousy businessman."

I had some personal experience with Paul while he was running ECW. Through a chain of events that is well covered in Scott E. Williams' book, Hardcore History, in 1997 I ended up being the middle man between ECW and Michinoku Pro Wrestling, facilitating their appearance on the first ECW pay-per-view, Barely Legal. Even while being "hustled" by Heyman, I still liked the man immensely and liked and respected Tazz and Tommy Dreamer, along with the rest of the ECW crew. I was put in a position of being able to do something positive for people who were earnestly trying to overcome long odds and was glad I did.

The experience gave me a bit of an insight into Heyman. I disagree with anyone who says that Paul Heyman was a lousy businessman. Anyone who could have done what Paul did is one hell of a businessman. Paul's problem, ironically, was similar to the problems that plagued many of old time promoters he criticized.

For example, Paul would talk about Verne Gagne not being able to adapt to the times. In the world of territorial wrestling, Verne Gagne thrived. But when that world was altered by the expansion of the World Wrestling Federation and Vincent K. McMahon, Gagne couldn't adjust in order to compete. Ironically, the same thing happened to Paul Heyman.

When ECW was a touring East Coast promotion with syndicated TV, Paul Heyman could control his universe. But after Barely Legal, when pay per view entered the picture and suddenly this little fly-by-the-seat-of-its pants company had to deal with things big corporations and due diligence and a level of scrutiny and responsibility to something other than itself, then ECW's universe changed and Paul Heyman did not adapt to those changes and become a real corporation with a staff and management team that could efficiently handle its business.

A hustler can only hustle you if he controls the environment at hand. In my opinion, all Paul was guilty of was losing that control. Yes, a lot of people got hurt in that process, but most of them achieved something they could never have achieved without him.

So watch "The Heyman Hustle" and enjoy Paul Heyman - free to create and in control of his universe.

Best wishes Paul!

NECW Home Video Update: BIRTHDAY BASH 7 Ready Next Week

We have been making a real effort at getting more DVD releases into the marketplace. It's hard to do with limited staff and difficult schedules. But demand has been encouraging and they are a great calling card for our company.

I mentioned in my last blog that the BIRTHDAY BASH 7 DVD is almost ready to ship. BIRTHDAY BASH is our annual anniversary show and the biggest night of our year. I really enjoyed putting this one together, because it showcases more of the "storytelling" strengths of NECW. Every match on the show was part of a feud that was many months, and in some cases, over a year, in the making.

The DVD contains never-before-seen footage shot specifically for the DVD, as well as promos and a few great extras. Check out this preview:

The recently released DVD called The IRON 8 Championship is a 2 disc effort, also well worth your time. The annual IRON 8 tournament is an NECW creation and one of the few truly original events in our business. It's an 8 man tournament with a unique twist. Instead of the standard single elimination format all the way through, the event has a first round where the 8 men pair off into singles bouts and a final round where the 4 winners compete in a 4 way, 45 minute iron man match - most pinfalls or submissions wins.

The result is an athletic showcase like no other. All the action is covered, along with over an hour of bonus features and interviews.

Check out this preview:

We have more great releases planned for the next few months. They include:

NECW Best of 2007, WWW Best of 2007, WWW 2nd Annniversary, Genesis 7: Battle of the Giants and The Toxic Waltz.

So Much to Blog About, So Little Time: An Attempt to Catch Up

Life has a funny way of keeping you from the things you really want to do - one of them, in my case, is updating this blog. So much has been happening in the world of pro wrestling, both in and out of NECW, and I have a ton of comments to share with you:

WrestleMania 24:

While I enjoyed the show and marveled at the spectacle that only WWE can deliver, apart from Flair-Michaels, Show-Mayweather and Edge-Undertaker, I found the rest of the card lacking from an emotion standpoint. Of course, absolutely nothing could compare to the three matches I just mentioned. I look forward to the DVD to see the Hall of Fame, which I missed.

Ric Flair's in ring swan song was done beautifully. A match and a finish for the ages. I was crying right along with Flair when Michaels hit the sweet chin music. More on Flair below.

Show-Mayweather had one of the most creative finishes I think I've ever seen. I'd bet money Pat Patterson had something to do with it. A fantastic piece of business.

Edge-Undertaker was a phenomenal match. Edge is at his athletic prime and one of the greatest workers on the major league level of this business. Undertaker truly deserves the moniker "phenom." Taker has had one of the most amazing careers in modern wrestling history.

C.M. Punk winning "Money In The Bank" was nice to see. Punk is a good guy and a great worker who is a franchise player waiting to happen.

Gordon Solie Inducted Into the WWE Hall of Fame:

Gordon Solie was the greatest wrestling announcer of all time and you can ask Jim Ross if you don't believe me. (J.R. comes in second in my book. One of these days I'll do a whole blog on wrestling announcers.) Hats off to the WWE for acknowledging "The Dean."

I was extremely fortunate to have met Gordon through the Cauliflower Alley Club and, later through my work with the late Hiro Matsuda and Howard Brody on "Ring Warriors."

While our encounters were brief, they are nonetheless memorable. I first met Gordon at a Cauliflower Alley Club banquet in Springfield, MA. If you know Gordon, appropriately enough, we first met in the Marriott hotel bar. I will never forget this as long as I live, because about four words into our conversation, Gordon uttered an expletive. When asked about different people he encountered over his career, the expletives continued to fly. Not everything was negative mind you, but it struck me so funny that this articulate gentleman that I had watched on TV for so many years and so respected was using language that would make a sailor blush. Imagine, if you will, Walter Cronkite bidding his audience farewell by saying, "And that's the $#@!%-ing news, and if you don't like it, &*$#@! @#$!&!!!!! I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

Gordon is a person I wish I had gotten closer to when I had the chance, but the encounters we had were warm and friendly. Gordon was a truly good man and a person I feel fortunate to have encountered on a professional level.

In my role as a wrestling announcer for the NECW TV shows and DVD's, I study old tapes of Gordon religiously, as I do Jim Ross and Lance Russell.

Sadly, there will never be another Gordon Solie - a truly deserving Hall of Famer.

Ric Flair's Retirement:

Like Gordon Solie, there will never be another Ric Flair. Flair said himself on Raw the day after WrestleMania that he had the greatest career in the history of pro wrestling. Boy, he sure did.

Flair is the last of the great touring NWA World Champions and a real bridge between the territory era and the national era. He and Sting are the last two major stars of any long standing that Vince McMahon did not create. In many ways, Flair's true greatness can be measured in the fact that Vince McMahon and the WWE allowed his to be himself and allowed his considerable legacy to be acknowledged and celebrated.

An interesting fact: The WWE Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD grossed more than it cost WWE to buy the intellectual property and trademarks of WCW.

People talk about Hulk Hogan as being the greatest star in the history of wrestling, and on some levels he is. But the greatest wrestler, the greatest worker, the most emotionally enduring figure in pro wrestling in my lifetime has been Ric Flair.

The farewell celebration on Raw has been called one of the greatest televised moments in wrestling history. It was as sweet and as perfect as a farewell could be.

In thinking back on this, it's too bad that Flair couldn't have been sent off by a younger guy - not that there was anything wrong with Michaels in that role. But it would have been nice to have seen Flair "pass the torch" to an Orton or a Cena, someone with more years ahead of them in the business than behind them. Then again, the business that Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels came to prominence in is at an end too. For those of us who grew up on Ric Flair, there has to be that tinge of sadness that we are all growing older and our heroes fade with time.

While new history will be written and new stars will be born, the brightest of them all was Ric Flair and the memories of his exploits have been largely preserved on video. Thus the old adage is really true: Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair.

NECW Notes:

We had a terrific event in Quincy a couple of weeks ago with MARCH BADNESS. The title situation in NECW is really heating up with Big Rick Fuller being hotly pursued by Antonio Thomas and Max Bauer.

It has yet to be determined how the ankle injury to Handsome Johnny will affect his reign as NECW Television Champion, but the Handsome One is blue chip material and will come into his own in NECW.

We have a very unique event talking place on Friday night, April 18. It's a benefit show for the South Middle School in Brockton, MA. The event is only open to students, faculty and staff at the school and their families, but a large crowd is expected and we look forward to a great night in Brockton on the 18th.

We have a great DVD our right now called The IRON 8 Championship. It's last June's tournament along with over an hour's worth of bonus features. If you like hard hitting athletic wrestling at it's finest, you will love the IRON 8 DVD. The 2008 IRON 8 Tournament is scheduled for Saturday night, May 31 in Quincy, MA, so circle that date on your calendars.

Speaking of DVD's, next week we will be releasing last summer's BIRTHDAY BASH 7: CAGED FURY on DVD, complete with never-before-seen segments and bonus features. This and the IRON 8 DVD are the best DVD's we've done to date. I am really proud of the way they came out and the way they represent NECW.

I often think that our company is a well kept secret among the major wrestling web sites. They will announce our shows and publish our results, but unless you watch the TV's and get the DVD's, you don't know how really good this company is.

I will have more soon!

Thoughts on WWW's 2nd Anniversary Show

If you missed yesterday's World Women's Wrestling event at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA, you missed a truly special day.

I want to thank everyone who participated yesterday - from the athletes to the staff to the fans to the management of Good Time Emporium. It was one of those days that can only be described as a triumph.

We started with a luncheon at 12:30 where the fans had a chance to interact with the stars and management. This is one of my favorite events of the year, because the WWW fans are so loyal and it's great to be able to have a one-on-one experience with the people who are most supportive of the promotion. It's like a reward for them and a statement by us that we appreciate them enough to give them the opportunity to be up close and personal and to be heard by the promotion.

We had fans of all ages in attendance and from as far away as England. There were a lot of interesting suggestions and it was nice to see the talent in an informal situation. Fan favorites or otherwise, the WWW roster is an extraordinary group and it was nice to see them so honored by their most loyal fans.

The event itself was a terrific afternoon of professional wrestling. All the girls worked hard and, of course, Sean Gorman ended up on the short end of things again - first with Elektra Arion and then with "The Human Nightmare" Evan Siks.

Luscious Latasha, who was scheduled to appear, was in a car accident the night before. We understand she is okay, but her car was totalled. We wish her the best and look forward to seeing her soon.

The debuting Barbie, Sammi Lane and Roxie Cotton all impressed, as did The Daughters of Darkness, Jana and the returning Amber, who looked great.

A tremendous main event with Lexxus and "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel was the topper, and it was classic stuff.

I've said this before, and it bears repeating. World Women's Wrestling is some of the most creative stuff we do. NECW is blessed with a loaded roster of great talent. There is not as deep a pool of female talent locally, but every girl who worked for us yesterday delivered and you won't find a harder working group anywhere. This was a day where everyone got a lot more then their money's worth.

A complete report with all the results is up now on http://www.worldwomenswrestling.com/.

WWW 2nd Anniversary This Sunday & Notes On The News

Lots going on in Goldberg-land these days, so I haven't had much time for blogging. There are a lot of things I do want to comment on so I will try and touch on some things now with a longer post next week.

This Sunday is the 2nd Anniversary of our World Women's Wrestling promotion taking place at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA.

The WWW shows have been some of the most creative stuff our company has done, and you can look forward to a terrific event this coming Sunday. We have a luncheon with the stars at 12:30 PM, which is a great event in and of itself. It's a chance for us to break bread with our most loyal fans and get to spend some quality one-on-one time with them. We have an informal Q & A and just a fun time with the folks who appreciate us most. This is not the typical indy wrestling Q & A. It's a real sincere personal experience and if you are close enough to get here, you really want to be a part of this.

The show itself starts at 3:00 PM and is topped by an interesting main event with Lexxus defending her title against "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel, who is putting up her career. We have The Daughters of Darkness, The Soul Sistahs, Amber, who is back after a long absence, the debuts of Sammi Lane, Roxie Cotton, Barbie and more. I promise you a great afternoon and sincerely hope you join us.

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One of the biggest pro wrestling stories recently is the move of WWE's Smackdown from the CW Network to MyNetwork TV.

I was actually glad to hear that news, because the MyNetwork stations need the ratings boost Smackdown will provide. WWE's programming will be a more valued player on that network and not an afterthought, which is important.

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Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show at WrestleMania: Boxer vs. wrestler gimmicks have been around for decades. While Mayweather isn't the kind of mainstream celeb like a Mike Tyson, it will still be a headline grabber. It just goes to show you that the old time gimmicks can be recycled for current times.

And about that alleged $20 million payday... If Floyd got it, bless his heart. I feel bad for some of the talent in WWE who are undervalued and underpaid, but it is often a business where value is anything but objective.