Ring Posts

Big wins for Shelton Benjamin, Vladimir Kozlov on ECW

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:02:34 -0500

ECW champion Tommy Dreamer and No. 1 contender Christian both suffered losses on Tuesday night’s episode of ECW. That’s doesn’t really make me excited to see the Dreamer-Christian title match at the Night of Champions pay-per-view on July 26. Then again, I wasn’t all that excited to see it in the first place. However, with Shelton Benjamin defeating Christian, and Vladimir Kozlov beating Dreamer, I wouldn’t be surprised if the ECW title match at NOC ends up being a fatal four-way. Now that I would be interested in seeing, mostly because of Benjamin being in the mix.

Video: Daffney vs. Roxie Cotton

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:27:54 -0500

Here are some highlights of the match between Daffney and Roxie Cotton at the Maryland Championship Wrestling Show last Saturday. By the way, I think the referee did an excellent job.

Daffney video interview

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:27:51 -0500

Here is an interview I conducted with TNA star Daffney last Saturday at the MCW show.

Seth Green livens up Raw

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:01:29 -0500

On Monday night, actor Seth Green became the first non-wrestling personality to host Raw since WWE initiated the guest general manager concept a couple weeks ago. You never know how a wrestling crowd is going to react to this kind of celebrity involvement, but the audience in Orlando, Fla., immediately got behind Green and popped for him whenever he appeared. I’m glad the fans gave Green a chance, because he definitely added something to the program. I think the guest GM deal has given Raw a needed shot in the arm. It has been a refreshing change from the typical GM/authority figure format.

Ron Simmons coming to Baltimore for MCW show

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:30:50 -0500

Former WCW world champion Ron Simmons is scheduled to appear at the Maryland Championship Wrestling show on Aug. 7 at The New Green Room in Dundalk. Simmons, who became the first African-American to win a world title when he defeated Vader at the Baltimore Arena in 1992, will team with MCW champion Ruckus to face MCW tag team champions Zachary Shane and Tyler Hilton. Both the tag team titles and Ruckus’ championship are on the line.

Jim Cornette video interview

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:37:44 -0500

Playing "word association" with Jim Cornette last Saturday at the Maryland Championship Wrestling show.

Notes on MCW show, upcoming video interviews

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:37:52 -0500

It was an eventful night at the Maryland Championship Wrestling show Saturday at The New Green Room in Dundalk. First and foremost, Ryan McBride won the ninth annual Shamrock Cup. The 24-year-old high flyer from Pasadena, Md., is deserving of the honor and has a bright future in the business (check out this very quick clip of McBride in action at a CZW show last year).

A big night for Dolph Ziggler on Smackdown

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:45:54 -0500

Anyone who watched Smackdown Friday night knows that the highlight of the show was yet another tremendous match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho. At this point, I’m convinced these two incredible talents could wear blindfolds, tie one arm behind their backs and still have a great match. The most noteworthy development on the show, however, was the elevation of Dolph Ziggler. It has been apparent as of late that WWE sees something in him (I do, too), and judging by this episode, it looks as if a significant push is coming sooner rather than later.

TNA stars in Baltimore tonight for MCW show

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:55:47 -0500

TNA talents Jim Cornette, Daffney and Stevie Richards are scheduled to appear on tonight’s Maryland Championship Wrestling show at The New Green Room in Dundalk. The centerpiece of the event is the ninth annual Shamrock Cup tournament. Among the participants are Kenny Dykstra (formerly of WWE) and local standouts Ryan McBride and Teddy Stigma.

Main Event Mafia sticks it to Mick Foley on TNA Impact

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:17:34 -0500

There were quite a few intense segments on Thursday’s entertaining episode of TNA Impact, including the Main Event Mafia’s attack on Mick Foley at the end of the show. Foley being wrapped up in barbed wire while being struck with a barbed wire baseball bat was an effective visual. The lengths that Foley is willing to go to entertain the fans at this stage of his career is either admirable or crazy, I’m not sure which. A weapons match between Foley and Abyss has to happen at some point. That could make the Necro Butcher-Randy “The Ram” Robinson match in The Wrestler look like one of those WWE divas pillow fights.

Quick hits on ECW, WWE Superstars

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:35:20 -0500

ECW • I like the Bella twins, but they sure have been annoying the past two weeks. For babyfaces, that’s not good. • Katie Birchill’s new look is pretty cool. I loved how aggressive she was against Nikki Bella. Birchill is an underrated talent.

Thoughts on Thursday’s TV shows forthcoming

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:47:25 -0500

My take on Thursday night's episodes of ECW, WWE Superstars and TNA Impact will be posted later tonight. It’s been a busy couple of days, and having four hours of wrestling to watch instead of three Thursday night didn’t help. On a side note, I rarely ever promote anything that I do on the blog, but I strongly recommend checking out the Van Hammer video interviews, especially Part III, which I put up earlier today. Hammer (Mark Hildreth) has a good story to tell, and he is brutally honest about his demons and his time in the wrestling business, including his interaction with guys such as Vince McMahon, Sting, Dusty Rhodes, Mick Foley, Diamond Dallas Page, Bill Watts and others.

Q&A with Jim Cornette

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:57:54 -0500

Legendary manager Jim Cornette will make an appearance at the Maryland Championship wrestling show Saturday at The New Green Room in Dundalk, where he will be signing copies of his book, The Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook. I conducted a phone interview with Cornette on Thursday. How many indy shows are you doing these days? This year I’ve done three – all with The Midnight Express. I toyed with the idea of retiring as a manager after our 25th anniversary, but as long as either me or Bobby Eaton or Dennis Condrey – Stan [Lane] has already decided that he’s not wrestling anymore – are all available on the same date and somebody wants us and we can all get to the ring and have fun, I’ve decided that I’m just going to do it a few times a year, because it’s great to see the boys. And why shouldn’t we? Maybe we’ll beat Bobo Brazil and The Sheik for the world’s longest program with The Rock and Roll Express. But other than the exception of managing The Midnight or something like this – because I’ve known [MCW owner Dan McDevitt] for ages and he’s always treated me good – I don’t really do them anymore because I’m not as agile, mobile and hostile as I used to be in my youth, as far as at ringside. I also did an NWA Charlotte show earlier this year, but really I just made an appearance to do some interviews there as sort of like the guest commissioner, which is more of my speed these days. I like to help some of these smaller independents that really put on good shows. But even then, with the TNA schedule I don’t have a lot of time for them, and I’d rather do less and enjoy it more.

Van Hammer video interview: Part III

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:30:16 -0500

Here is the final video from of an interview I conducted with former WCW star Van Hammer last week. In this installment, he talks about his substance abuse problems, hitting bottom and living to tell about it. Click here for Part I and here for Part II.

Van Hammer video interview: Part II

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:47:23 -0500

Here is the second of three videos from of an interview I conducted with former WCW star and Maryland native Van Hammer last week. In this installment, he talks about his ups and downs in WCW. Click here for Part I.