Bret Hart UK/Ireland Book Signings

So what will we do when the eagerly anticipated wrestling spectacular Wrestlemania 25 is all said and done? Luckily we have the pleasure of seeing many of our favourite WWE stars as they embark on the Raw Wrestlemania Revenge UK/Ireland tour a mere couple of weeks later.

Well as a bonus for us all, during that same period former WWE Champion and Hall Of Famer Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart will be making a short tour of the UK to sign copies of his hugely successful biography.

The critically acclaimed book has taken Bret many years to finish and finally gets a UK release after topping the Canadian and American best-seller lists last year.

Told from Bret’s own perspective Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World Of Wrestling is a superb first hand look at life on the road for a wrestler, covering everything from his upbringing as a member of the legendary Hart family, working for his dad’s Stampede Promotion, joining the WWE, the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Bret’s shock jump to WCW and his ultimate injury induced retirement from in-ring action.

Bret will be signing copies of his book at the following places:

Tuesday April 14th, Waterstones, Metro Centre, Newcastle, 12.30pm-2.30pm
Tuesday April 14th, Waterstones, Trafford Centre, Manchester, 6.30pm0-8.30pm
Wednesday April 15th, Waterstones, Liverpool Central, Liverpool, 12.30pm-2.30pm
Wednesday April 15th. Waterstones, High Street, Birmingham, 6pm-8pm
Thursday April 16th, Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Street, London, 6pm-7pm
Friday April 17th, Easons, Donegall Place, Belfast, 12noon-2pm

DVD Review You Shoot With Kevin Sullivan

This is the latest release from Kayfabe Commentaries and is a real treat to watch. Kevin Sullivan is a very charismatic man and his impact on wrestling is one that is still felt today. Sullivan may not be known by too many of today's smart wrestling fans, but for many of us that know him and his work this sit-down chat will be an essential purchase. The format is simple, fans submit their questions via email, video links etc and the man himself sits down and answers them.
Sullivan is open and honest about everything thrown at him and seems to answer truthfully, of course as he has no ties with any promotion right now that's understandable.
I'd thoroughly recommend this dvd to anyone, old school fans or modern days ones.
This man was a booker, grappler, on-air and behind the scenes talent and lived and worked during the Monday Night Wars, WCW-demise and battled his way around the Indy circuit too. he has some great stories to tell and does not pull any punches at all.

9 out of 10

Impact! Review

TNA get cagey!

By Phil Allely

As Dixie Carter and Vince McMahon have a war of words and the WWE prepare for their biggest show of the year, it was down to TNA’s writers and bookers to come up with an episode of Impact! That could hold the attention of the all too fickle wrestling fans, who are easily distracted by other programs.

Thankfully perhaps Dixie’s response to Vince and her faith in her brand has helped the company turn a corner. This week TNA continued to make good TV and further repay their loyal fans for the time and dedication they give to the company each and every week.

The two hour broadcast was headlined by a first for TV, a 20 man captains gauntlet match in the six sides of steel. The idea being the last two men left standing at the end would be the captains of the Lethal Lockdown weapons match at the all cage match Lockdown PPV.

Of course the match was a mess at times, with too many participants vying for limited space to work, the pins came infrequently, but the in-ring action when needed was stiff, tough and suitably invoking. The Main Event Mafia duo of Scott Steiner and Kurt Angle dominated, with Angle eliminating many contenders and even ambushing Jeff Jarrett with a steel chair for good measure.

The end came when Jarrett (strapped shoulder and all) returned to the fray and bested Steiner, before a fresh Samoa Joe stormed the ring and pulverised a weary Angle. So there we have it the team captains for Lethal Lockdown will be Joe and Kurt, leading to a nice brutal Main Event Mafia v Frontline scrap for dominance I’d say.

In a superb segment the ever popular World Heavyweight Champion Sting confronted an uber cocky Mick Foley about their upcoming match. Foley made some great comments about this being the only event in April fans were talking about and that he’d a few big bumps left in his tired body still. Sting looked every bit the champ and carried things off in style. If their ring work can match their mic work it may be a match of the year candidate for the pair.

The more serious than ever Beer Money had a sit down chat with Mike Tenay and equally straight-faced Team 3D. It was articulate, well researched and wrote the interfering Jacqueline out of the picture too. Expect fireworks when the teams battle it out for the IWGP and TNA tag team titles in Team 3D’s old stomping ECW stomping ground of Philadelphia.

Match-wise we also saw The Beautiful People take on and beat Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed in a fair Knockouts brawl, Love and Sky pulled off the upset and looked every bit the well oiled team in doing so.
Suicide defended his newly won X Division title against Kiyoshi and easily put away the Great Muta inspired Japanese star.

Impact! Did exactly what a weekly show could, gave some good progressive matches, helped the next PPV along and built up some new feuds along the way. Yes there are still some flaws and top heavy booking, but overall TNA should be patting themselves on the back for yet another good show.

DX Vs The Outsiders 2009 style

This past week an indy show had a great idea of pitting a DX team and The Outsiders against each other, of course Vince Mcmahon wasn't happy, but the show went ahead anyway. So as you'll see from my pics the match-up featured the reformed New Age Outlaws team of Billy Gunn and Road Dogg (best known these days as TNA's Kute Kip and BG James) and the original NWO team of Kevin Nash (making a return from his serious staph infection) and his good mate Scott Hall.

The four had varied success in the match, but to be honest it must have been a cool sight to see.

also on the card was the always lovely and back in shape Sunny (Tammy Sytch), expect her to be in the WWE Wrestlemania Diva battle royal.

Suicide's TNA Future

The on-screen character of Suicide will be repackaged soon as original choice for the costumed mystery man returns from injury. Yes Frankie Kazarian will don the mask soon and the man whose been keeping the suit warm Christopher Daniels will return to his Fallen Angel persona (most likely as a member of the TNA Frontline).
Daniels has been quite a success as Suicide and his previous character of Curry man was value for money too.

Wrestelmania Thoughts

I've been thinking about Wrestlemania (well are we all not in some way) and how it has affected my wrestling fandom over the years. Although I admit I watched the old British wrestling shows on ITV in the 80s and WCW when it was shown on late night TV a bit later. My first real wrestling experience that made me a fan was getting the video (yes a video) of Wrestlemania IV, it was a big double VHS set and of course featured The Macho Man Randy Savage highly. Of course looking back now the matches were nothing spectacular and the so-called athletes were more masses of muscle than masters of the air and ring-manship that we expect today. They were simply larger than life real-life characters and that's why they appealed. Imagine you'd the choice of watching Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks waddling around the ring or watching Sky and seeing the tanned and ultra-over Hulk Hogan etc strut their stuff, it's no wonder the powers that be canned those UK shows not long later. So has our dedication to the US wrestling industry and wrestlemania been worth it? Yeah of course, it's the annual spectacle we all watch and it's the day when Vince McMahon and co pull out all of the stops, but what happens when stars such as Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Batista and Edge retire or run out of steam, who will fill that void?
Anyway enough of that, I for one am looking forward to seeing what this years event has to offer and to see where the feuds take us.

News and rumours

in the WWE it seems we may have some backstage fun at this years Hall Of Fame ceremony. The Honky Tonk Man, who is inducting Koko B Ware has said he can't wait to catch up with Ric Flair, it seems Flair bad-mouthed Honky in his book a few years back and Honky has held the grudge since then. Could be fun to See how that plays out.

The last announced inductee for the HOF is Howard Finkel, the former ring announcer and currently Vince McMahon's longest serving member of staff. It's looking like Mean Gene Okerland may be his inductee.

TNA-wise Traci Brooks is nursing a badly burnt implant, she suffered burns during a trip to the Middle East visiting troops, she fired a gun and the shell bounced back and burnt her.
You may have noticed that UK star Brutus Magnus is getting some big wins and PPV time, he is of course very green in the ring and not deserving of that spot at all.
The reason is that TNA president Dixie Carter is a big supporter of the guy and that means he will be pushed until she thinks otherwise. I was privy to a conversation last June during TNA's first UK tour and Dixie personally asked me about Nick (Brutus Magnus) Aldis and his work, he'd recently sent TNA a tape and was attempting to get a chance to perform for them and show his worth. I dug out out some info on him and a few fellow UK graplers, but Aldis must have impressed enough as he signed not long after that. On that tour also was Doug Williams, he has had very little Impact (pardon the pun) on TNA programming since his X Cup matches and UK/Ireland tour.

XPW After The Fall DVD Review

XPW was a short-lived promotion run by porn entrepreneur Rob Black, featuring his other half Lizzie Borden and a host of the US's garbage wrestlers and ECW/WCW/WWE stars.
This DVd is one of the many that appeared after the promotion folded.
The 2 and half hours of action on offer has its good points. There are some nice appearance sby the likes of Public Enemy, Chris Candido, Shane Douglas, Terry Funk, Sabu, Tammy Sytch and Abdullah the Butcher, alongside such indie stalwarts as Tracy Smothers and XPW's homegrown wrestlers.
XPW matches were usually blood baths, the action often spilling onto the arena floor and the fans loved it.
This disc features a host of such matches, the production values are not up to much, but the energetic in-ring action and lively commentary more than make up for that.
If you were a fan of ECW in its original format and ethos, then you will savour the brutal and in your face style of approach the XPW company had.

on sale now and reasonably priced too.

7 out of 10

Phil Allely

New TNA DVD Jeff Jarrett: King Of The Mountain

There is a real treat for fans of TNA founder Jeff Jarrett coming to the shop shelves mid-April. TNA have put together a four disc tribute to the man who created the company and continues to be one of it's figureheads some six years later.
Expect footage form Jeff's early career and a selection of matches from his TNA tenure.

to be released on April 13th 2009

New Hardy Boys DVD

Look out next week for the release of Omega: Uncommon Passion Volume II, its the second set featuring rare footage of Matt & Jeff Hardy before they hit the big time in the WWE.
You will also see matches with Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, Christian York, Cham Pain, Joey Matthews as well as Jeff Hardy's Willo The Wisp incarantion.

Runtime 120mins
price £4.99
released April 6th.

Finlay @ Mania

I'm glad to see my fellow countryman Finlay will get a match on the Wrestlemania card, he will be part of the money in the bank ladder match. I'd hoped he'd have been in an ECW title match as it would really cap off his in-ring career to net a world title of some capacity in the WWE.
Finlay has won gold around the globe and has nothing more to prove, but the ECW title around his waist could elevate the belt to a level where it's cared about.

WWE RAW Confirms Mania Legends Match

This past weeks RAW confirmed the match-up between Chris Jericho and the legends team of Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka, after a brutal beat down of Ric Flair it's been stated that he will be at ringside, plus The Wrestler star Mickey Rourke will watch from the front row too. Expect the legends to all get involved in some way. PLus of course Rourke in some capacity.

TNA Impact! Review

after a few poor PPV's I thought I'd give TNA a break and mention that their weekly Impact! show on Bravo is in my opinion one of the best wrestling's shows on TV at the moment. The booking is always enjoyable, the ideas, story lines and presentation impeccable and the in-ring action a joy to watch. I am at a loss as to why they have so much trouble bringing this type of quality to the monthly super shows, after all each episode of Imapct! should build up to them and ensure we all watchc them intently. This week saw some great match-ups, the set-up of some good looking Lockdown matches and The Governor get her hair cut.

Jericho's Possible Mania Opponents

Some websites and news boards are saying jericho will be facing the legends trio of Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat in a handicap match at Wrestlemania, with Ric Flair and Mickey Rourke as outside assistance.
Not sure about this, but does seem possible.

Michaels Thinks About His HOF Inductee

Shawn Michaels has been talking about who he'd like to have induct him in the WWE Hall Of Fame when he is nominated to be added to its illustrious roster of wrestling legends. Michaels has mentioned Triple H, Ric Flair, Vince McMahon and the one that will surprise many, Bret Hart. That would be unbelievable since the pair still have some unfinished business since the whole Montreal Incident.

TNA News Bonaduce Opponent Named

Hulk Hogan's celebrity championship wrestling star Danny Bonaduce has an opponent for the six sides of steel match at next months Lockdown ppv.

It will be Eric Young taking on the former Partrdge Family star and radio DJ.

Should be a fun match as the talented Young should help keep the match entertaining.

WWE Back In November

Yes even before the much anticipated Wrestlemania Revenge tour in April the WWE are plugging a return to our shores. I've the press release for the upcoming Survivor Series Tour and the Irish date will be November 2nd, at The O2 in Dublin.

Of course the named wrestlers may change between now and then, as the credit crunch and injuries can always affect the line-up.

TNA stars benig phased out!

You may have noticed that TNA teams, Beer Money and The Beautiful People were minus their managers/associates this week. It seems Cute Kip and Jacqueline may be going the way of BG James and head backstage to act as a road agent or trainer for the company. Both have long wrestling careers and made a decent living from it. I'd like to think they can assist in making future stars, something TNA need to do.

TNA Destination X My Comments

I sat up last night my notebook in hand hoping that the latest TNA Pay Per View (Destination X)would wipe away the memories of the poor Against All Odds offering from last month.
Unfortunately I was not in luck, as I was met again by some poor booking and dodgy match decisions. You can read my full review on The Sun's website.
My comments are: Brutus Magnus needs a personality overhaul, Sojo Bolt needs some in-ring training before she's let loose on a solo match, beer Money need some fresh opponents, Team 3D needs to head back into hardcore match territory, AJ needs to head back into the title picture and Joe needs to ditch the new image and return to his roots. The MEM group has some mileage left in it if the bookers create worthy foes for them.
Match of the night was the Ultimate X battle and was it just me or were there Fallen Angel chants when Suicide (aka Chris Daniels) made any big moves?
Sting angle served its purpose, but overall the show moved story lines on very little indeed.

Former ECW/WWE Stars To Tour UK In April

One Pro Wrestling are plugging their Doncaster Dome shows on April 18th & 19th. the shows will feature such international talent as The Sandman, Kid Kash, Nunzio, Scorpio, Nigel McGuinness, Nova, Raven, Jerry Lynn, Stevie Richards (assuming he is not signed to TNA) and Balls Mahony. 1PW champ SJK will also be in action.

check out www.oneprowrestling.com for details

Phil Allely

WWE latest talent release

Tyson Tomko has been released by the WWE, the former star of WWE and TNA had not even made a proper in-ring appearance for the company since he signed last year. It's said he worked one match, seemed out of shape and was also nursing an injury. Tomko left TNA to return to the WWE after his work in Japan dried up. Expect him to crop up on indy tours soon.

Former WWE/TNA Star Passes

It's always sad to report the death of a wrestler, but when it's someone in their thirties its even more saddening. Andrew Martin better known to many of us as Test was found dead in his home this past weekend. Details are sketchy at present, but it's probably safe to assume its been his lifestyle and career path that have led to his early demise.
Test was a very popular grappler during the late 90s in the WWE, pairing up with Albert and having some big runs with the company's top talent.
His career did freefall though and recently he was said to have been taking a diferent path.
This is yet another name to add to the long lst of wrestlers who have died young and probably will not be the last either.
I wish his family the best in their time of need.

Wrestling

With Raw coming from Texas this week we can surely expect the Von Erich's to be announced for the Hall Of Fame.

Highspots.com are lining up a special Ric Flair and Roddy Piper chat and plan to make it a dvd for release later the year.

It seems Christian is not in the god books with Vince McMahon at all, you have to wonder why the chairman brought in the former TNA star when he is so down on his character and in-ring persona?

Christian is reported to have been annoyed at the TNA creative dept and thats a reason for his departure from the company.

TNA News: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Star to Wrestle At Lockdown

TNA Wrestling announced today that Philadelphia-based disc jockey Danny Bonaduce will have his first pro wrestling match on Sunday, April 19, at Lockdown, inside the lethal six-sides of steel.

Bonaduce, the former wise-cracking son on the 1970s television series The Partridge Family, is the morning drive DJ on WYSP (94.1 FM) in Philadelphia.

TNA Wrestling executives would not comment on who Bonaduce's opponent will be, but confirmed that the TNA Wrestling Superstar will be in Philadelphia next Friday, March 20, for the official Contract Signing, to be held on-air during Bonaduce's radio show.

Phil Allely

Some News and Rumours

Former TNA star Sonjay Dutt has stated that he had thought he'd renegotiated his TNA contract and was about to re-sign with the company a few days before he was informed of his dismissal. He also says whilst no WWE staff have contacted him he hoped they would once his no-compete clause ended.

Booker T is upste that the WWE are stealing personalities form his fanfest, it seems the company has approached many of Booker's guests and asked them to participate in wrestlemania weekend instead.

Another entrant in this years WWE hall Of fame will be the colourful Koko B Ware, he will be inducted by The Honky Tonk Man.

WWE news

The Boogeyman is the latest WWE superstar to receive the boot from the comapny. Yes our favourite worm eating nutjob has made his last appearance for the company. I get the feeling many of the undercard and dark match guys on the roster must be having sleepless nights these days.

I also hear that Michael Hayes is under pressure to boost Samckdown's ratings, could he be next for the axe?

Also gone is Manu's dad Afa, the wild samoan was on the payroll in some capacity and has been let go too. Could his involvement with Mickey Rourke on the Wrestler be anything to do with it?

TNA 50 Memorable Moments DVD Review

TNA 50 Most Memorable Moments

Best of compilations are usually a superb idea for a wrestling promotion to produce. These often feature standout matches and angles from recent or classic pay-per-views live events, gimmick matches or specific genres. We may have these matches on separate discs or tapes, but the chance to possess them en mass in one set, can sometimes be too much to resist.
TNA have decided to buck that trend and churn out a DVD that looks so good on paper you know it’s never going to match it upon viewing. The concept is good, come up with a list of the top fifty most memorable moment in the company’s history and put them together for a definitive look back at the company’s formative years.
This is where the idea fails, the moments are quite often too brief a glimpse of the proceedings and don’t give the full effect you’d expect them too. The other major problem is that TNA can’t seem to decide if it’s the matches, feuds and niche they’ve carved for themselves they are celebrating, or the fact that they have attracted countless US sports/music and move stars to make personal appearances to boost ratings, or help liven up the fans.
Saying that some of the events listed here are worth noting, the signing of big name stars such as Nash, Hall, Sting, Scott Steiner, Christian Cage and Team 3D are well shown and detailed. We get to see such highlights as Raven get scalped (literally), Elix Skipper attempt suicide off the six sides of steel and Jeff Hardy try to pick up air miles as he took and insane bump against Abyss. The stomach turning scenes of Sabu and Abyss in their barbed wire massacre match are thankfully cut, it’s a pity the rest of the matches you want to see in their entirety are cut also. Of course TNA founder Jeff Jarrett is at the centre of many of the moments here, which is fine, but new fans will become confused as he jumps from face to heel and back again, out of context as he appears in various storylines.
The vicious attack on Hulk Hogan by Jarrett in Japan is a nice piece and looks as if it did its job of shocking the Japanese press. Pity Hogan never made that jump to TNA, it could have been a feud for the ages that one, considering the egos involved.
This is one of those releases current TNA fans will enjoy as its in essence a snapshot of the history of company from its early days in Nashville to it’s first pay-per-view and original Spike TV deal.

Out now
Runtime 3hours

By Phil Allely

Hulk's Celebrity Wrestling Week Three

So three weeks in and Hulk's celebs are battling harder than ever. The remaining talent(and Dennis Rodman)have really had to up their game as the moves and in-ring action are moved up a gear. OK it's only moves like a hip toss and elbow, but when you are not trained or in some cases physically able to perform them it's a tough thing to do.
Rodman still sells and bumps awfully, but old pal Hulk seems to favour him anyway. Danny and Dustin def show promise and for all of his showboating Todd Bridges is proving to be a pleasure to watch i the ring. The girls are dwindling quick though. Maybe the in-ring activity is juts too physically demanding or more of a guy thing, but the only one remaining 'The Red Hot Red Neck' at least shows some skills and natural ability too.
As i said earlier it's car crash tv at its best and you really do have to give it a try.