Friday, February 10, 2012

(Retro) Tossing Salt - October 14, 2003

Tossing Salt - 10/14/03

What up and welcome once again to "Tossing Salt".. I've decided to just leave off the additional "Wrestling From the Land of The Rising Sun" part since even though I pretty much focus on Japan and all the great action in the land of sushi and Godzilla, I've been spending more and more time going totally international with little bits from Italy and the WWE as well. The second part of the title just kind of boxed me in on what I should and shouldn't talk about, and as you may have noticed by now, I like to ramble and any subject, so long as it pertains even slightly to wrestling, is fair game.

But anyhow, I'm your ever loving degenerate host for the evening, Doug M. I've got some news of potential fall-out from the New Japan Tokyo Dome show Monday night. Antonio Inoki is not a happy camper, to say the least. Also, a few items on Dory Funk Jr., Ole Anderson, Jimmy Hart, and Kimberly Page. I also want to take a look behind the scenes of the new WWE Survivor Series commercial, plus I've got some random news items and things I've picked up from here and there that I thought may be of interest. And match results - lots of them from all over Japan from such groups as Michinoku Pro, Toryu-Mon, A to Z, and Osaka Pro. It's a pretty full load with lots to cover so, let's crank this muthuh up and start off with:

NEWS:

The biggest story, obviously is the comments of New Japan founder and owner Antonio Inoki following the Monday night show at the Tokyo Dome. He trashed the quality of the show big time. Inoki spoke to reporters at the Narita Airport as he prepared to leave for a flight to the US and said the only match that he watched was Chono/Hogan. He complained about the bad attendance at the show (said by New Japan to be 50,000 but more like 30 - 35,000) and said the Elimination match main event lacked the spirit of similar matches in the 80's. And while some of the Hogan/Chono match caught the attention of the crowd, the whole nostalgia factor wasn't properly exploited.

Inoki went on to say that if the 11/03 Yokohama Arena show didn't meet his expectations, he would be considering immediate and swift changes within the ranks of New Japan. Inoki finished by saying ..."I wouldn't force the entire management team to resign, but...(something has to give)..

New Japan is reporting that the attendance for the 10/13 show was in the 50,000 fan range, but more honest estimates place it in the 30,000 - 35,000 fan range, which is an extreme dissapointment. In all fairness to New Japan, they were counting on a huge walk-in crowd to booster ticket sales, but on the night of the show, Tokyo was besieged by heavy rains and much of the subway system (which is how 95% of the people commute) was shut down. So, that obviously had a major effect on ticket sales. But to be honest, there was no way they were going to hit a sell-out even with walk-ins. Attendance has been down at most of the major events lately, much like here in the U.S., and there are going to have to be major changes made to bolster sales back up to even what it was a year ago.

On a related note, even though most people don't believe it, Hulk Hogan told the Japanese press this weekend that he wants to retire in Japan and is not at all interested in an appearance at Wrestlemania XX in March, 2004. To that, I can only say - yeah, right!!

Speaking of the WWE, they've announced they are expanding the scope of the ir international viewing with new deals announced that will help promote the WWE tv presence in Italy, Latin America, and Malaysia. They also announced a new three year deal signed with Sky Perfect TV which will begin showing the WWE PPV's in Japan and parts of Asia. This is a great move by the WWE to really help put the "World" in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Rikishi finally renewed his WWE contract. He has appeared to be stalling for time, possibly to check out other options, plus do some autograph sessions in Japan this past weekend, but finally after three weeks of delays, he finally resigned.

Remember Jonah from WWE Tough Enough III? He (finally) has been offered a developmental contract by the WWE. Jonah was extremely popular on the show, and showed great talent and spirit, but wsn't quite "tough enough" in the end. He's been working indy shows all around the country ever since the end of TE, and from all reports, has really come a long way. I predict it's just a matter of time before this big man is a part of the WWE main roster.

Speaking of developmental talent, Kane's doctor on RAW last night was played by WWE developmental wrestler Chad Collyer. Collyer wrestles mainly in OVW, but also does some indy shows around the Ohio area.
Some other indy talents who have recently done work for the WWE are several wrestlers from the IWF (Independent Wrestling Federation).

If you've seen the new Survivor Series commercial, you can get a laugh out of the various WWE superstars putting a whipping on a poor group of disgruntled football players. (If you haven't seen it yet, don't worry about it - you will!).

The WWE superstars who appear in the commercial are The Dudleys, The APA, Chris Benoit, John Cena, The Big Show, Hurricane, Rey Mysterio, and Kurt Angle. Appearing as the football players who get their butts handed to them are Kevin Knight, Roman, Bone Crusher Fred Sampson, Shawn Donavan, and Brandon Young. This commercial is 30 seconds of hilarity and if you get a chance to see it, do so. You'll laugh your ass off.

Dory Funk, who's an extremely young 61, announced that he would be retiring from his duties as trainer for the WWE sometime in November of 2003. He will be continuing his involvement with the federation, but may become more involved in production on the TV side of the business, rather than continuing the "Funkin Dojo". He is said to be speculating about maybe producing a cooking show using wrestlers, and maybe even considering a run for public office in his home state of Florida.

Word out is that the original Rock, Ole Anderson is hard at work on a book about his life in wrestling. Ole was a major player from the 60's up until the 80's - and was one of the original Four Horsemen, as well as an awesome tag team wrestler with his "brother" Gene, and Stan Hansen. If Ole does manage to get a book deal going, I'd be very interested in reading it, espically in regards to his thoughts on Dusty Rhodes, Vince McMahon, and the infamous "Black Saturday" where Georgia Championship Wrestling was "taken over" by the WWF.

Also said to be working on a book is "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart. From his days as a rock star as a member of the Gentry's to his dealings with Jerry Lawler, Andy Kaufman, and so many others, up to his current dealings with Hulk Hogan - a book by Jimmy Hart would also be a must-read for any true wrestling fan.

Kimberly Page, the original "Diamond Doll" is featured this month on the cover of "Muscle & Fitness".. (And looking very very hot!)

Quote of the Day: "I know all about cheating. I've had six very successful marriages."
-Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

MATCH RESULTS:

MICHINOKU PRO 10/12/03 Iwate, Japan Ichinoseki Bunka Gym
Tarzan Boy defeated Osamu Inoue in 3:48
MIKAMI over Tsubo Genjin in 8:49
Sabu defeated Nobutaka Moribe in 7:18
Kazuya Yuasa & Masashi Ikeda over Atlantis & Kesen Numa-jiro in 14:45
Jinsei Shinzaki, Hayate, & Komachi beat Dick Togo, Masao Orihara, & Macho Pump

TORYU-MON 10/12/03 Okayama, Japan Kurashiki San-yo Heights
Second Doi & Masaaki Mochizuki defeated the Karaoke Machines in 6:20
3 WAY DANCE
Genki Horiguchi stopped Stalker Ichikawa & YOSSINO in 4:20
Milano Collection AT beat Anthony W. Mori in 9:50
Magnum Tokyo defeated JUN in 7:25
YASSHI & Dotti Shuji beat K-ness & Susumu Yokosuka in 11:41
TARU, SUWA, & CIMA defeated Super Shisa, Kenichiro Arai, & Dragon Kid in 14:53

OSAKA PRO 10/12/03 Osaka, Japan Delfin Arena
GAMMA defeated Masato Matoba in 6:33
Daio QUALLT beat Pero in 9:48
Takehiro Murahama & Miracle Man defeated Billy Ken Kid & Yutaka Fukuda in 13:20
Big Boss MA-G-MA & Goa beat Tsubasa & Tigers Mask in 16:59
Black Buffalo & Ebessan beat Super Delfin & Kursinbo Kamen in 16:12

K-DOGO 10/12/03 Chiba City, Japan Blue Field
(This was a double-header with an afternoon and evening show!)

Afternoon Card:
Daigoro Kashiwa beat Shiori Asahi in 6:58
Mr. X # 3 stopped Hardcore Kid Kojiro in 4:50
Offune beat DJ Nira in 10:11
Teppei Ishizaka beat PSYCHO in 7:14
X to Z beat Quiet Storm in 7:22
Gentaro & Hi69 beat Ryota Chikuzen & YOSHIYA in 11:25
Sambo Oishi stopped Joe Aoyama in 6:50
Kengo Mashimo & Kunio Tashima stopped MIYAWAKI & Mike Lee Jr. in 12:25

Evening Card:
X to Z beat Teppei Ishizaka in 3:42
X to Z beat Daigoro Kashiwa in 10:41
Ryota Chikuzen & YOSHIYA & Joe Aoyama defeated Sambo Oishi, Shiori Asahi, & Quiet Storm in 11:14
MIYAWAKI & Kengo Mashimo & Kunio Tushima beat GENTARO, KAZMA, & Hi69 by DQ in 1:17
GENTARO, KAZMA, Hi69, & Daigoro Kashima beat MIYAWAKI, Kengo Mashimo, Kunio Tushima, & Mike Lee Jr. in 11:30

A to Z 10/12/03 Tokyo, Japan Battle Sphere
3 WAY DANCE
Yukari Kitao defeated Bullfight Sora & baby A in 9:39
Rie Tamada stopped Mirai in 10:35
Leo-na defeated Sachie Abe in 12:45
Yumiko Hotta & Momoe Nakanishi defeated GAMI & Sara Del Ray in 19:00
Ai Fujita & Mika Nishio stopped Mariko Yoshida & Akino in 16:58

OK, that's it for this edition of Tossing Salt. As always, I want to hear from all of you readers. Don't be shy. Any questions or coments - just drop me a line at Doug28352@yahoo.com or else here at the Informer at DougMaynard@wrestlinginformer.net. Any suggestions or ideas? I want to hear them. Just want to comment about the weather? That's OK too. But I'm Doug M. , and that's it for today. Until next time - you have been salted. (I really do need to come up with a good tag line! lol!) Take care.

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