Midget wrestling star Little Tokyo (Shigeri Akabane) died Tuesday of a heart attack in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was 71 years old.
He competed in numerous North American promotions during the Seventies and Eighties including Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation. His highest profile appearance was at WrestleMania III in a mixed tag team match with Lord Littlebrook and King Kong Bundy against Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid and Little Beaver.
Akabane was scheduled to be released from the hospital on Tuesday as the rashes he had developed while fighting a second round of leukemia had cleared up. Akabane suffered a heart attack while getting up to use the bathroom and never recovered.
The Independent Wrestling Federation has announced that Flex Freeman, who has been wrestling just over a year, has been signed by WWE to a developmental deal. Freeman is 6' 5" and 310 lbs, hailing from New Jersey.
Following World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle's Sunday arrest in Virginia for driving under the influence, TNA Wrestling removed promotional advertisements for the mixed martial arts film Warrior from their official website and Facebook page.
Angle is featured in the movie, which comes out this Friday, as a Russian mixed martial art champion named "Koba".
WWE ran a promo on tonight's Raw using a lot of footage from the Bruno Sammartino era to present to tout the planned debut of the WWE Network, billed as coming in 2012. While they have been publicly discussing the project in stockholder conference calls for some time, this was the first public disclosure of those plans to the viewing audience.
In a new article posted by SLAM! Wrestling, Lanny Poffo, brother of the late Macho Man Randy Savage, spoke out about the WWE Hall of Fame and had the following to say:
"Yes, we talked about it. As a matter of fact, what he was, remember when the Von Erichs got into the Hall of Fame? That was the first time he'd mentioned it, and my father was still alive. We celebrated his birthday, and at this point my father was coherent. He says, 'The Von Erichs are in the Hall of Fame? I'm not going in, ever, into the Hall of Fame unless it's the Poffos, Lanny, Randy and Angelo.' That's what he said. We didn't cremate him against his wishes and we're not going to go into the Hall of Fame against his wishes either."
Santino Marella suffered a separated left shoulder following a car accident Thursday night.
The official WWE website spoke to Marella this morning about the incident.
"I had just left home and was going to get my hair cut before I began packing for WWE's trip to Puerto Rico," explained Marella. "[My barber] wasn't around, so I just decided to go home."
He was then hit by another vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle remained at the scene of the collision until police arrived, and no foul play is suspected.
"My car flipped sideways and the trunk hit a light pole, it completely crushed in," Marella said. "The airbags deployed, and all I could smell was gunpowder."
Marella's car came to rest near a light pole, and sustained significant damage.
"There was broken glass everywhere, and I tried to open the passenger door, but it was stuck," Marella said. “Luckily, there was still power in the car. I opened the sunroof and crawled out."
Rey Mysterio posted an update on his health today after undergoing knee surgery three days ago. The procedure included a repair to two major ligaments in his knee and bone spurs removed.
He wrote on Twitter, "Had my first check-up; knee was drained & needs 2 B stable, won't start therapy until nxt week! Have to ice & rest..."
Mysterio blew out his knee while attempting a baseball slide during a match against Alberto Del Rio on the August 15 episode of Raw. There is talk that he may not be able to return to action until WrestleMania XXVIII.
On His Twitter account, Dwayne Johnson held a short Q&A with fans. In being asked about his goals for his WWE return, Johnson wrote, "A few years ago when Cena - inexplicably - started talking trash publicly, I knew then I could turn this into a massive main event. One that could elevate the WWE to unprecedented heights. The timing had to be right though. Wrestlemania 27: for me and the fans - the time was right. The build to Wrestlemania 28 will be like nothing the world has ever seen before. The match itself will be historic. I didn't come back to the WWE to become champion again. I came back for these reasons: entertain the fans like no-one else can. Elevate the WWE to new heights never seen before. Challenge and mentor some of the younger talent. Give the millions what they want which is to kick John Cena's f'n ass."
For those wondering, it was Hunico who wrestled as Sin Cara at this weekend’s WWE live events and all signs point to him continuing as Sin Cara unless something changes.
Word is that people within WWE are telling Vince McMahon that Hunico may be the death of the Sin Cara character and because of merchandise sales, among other things, officials are afraid of having to drop the character. Vince was upset at both Hunico and the former Mistico at last week’s tapings. Vince had received reports that the original Sin Cara still had the same cocky attitude and ego once he returned from suspension. According to a source, he didn’t behave the way they wanted him to upon returning. Vince got the negative reports and made the decision to send the original Cara home.
It still has not been confirmed that WWE and the original Sin Cara, Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde, have parted ways.
According to one person who contacted us, the stress level at the WWE show among the writing staff was almost at WrestleMania level because of how important tomorrow night's Smackdown is. The feeling is WWE wants the show off Friday because it's the second worst night of the week for a wrestling show.
Trish Stratus and Angelina Love teased a confrontation at this weekend's Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, Ontario as both former champions will be on hand for the annual pop culture event.
Stratus wrote on Twitter, "Can't wait for Fan Expo Canada Sun! I hear Angelina Love is gonna be there, I also hear she wants to fight me #torontothrowdown #canuckcuddle."
The TNA Knockout responded, "I'm there on Saturday so maybe we can throwdown then and cuddle on Sunday!" Love revealed last week on Twitter that her dream opponent is the seven-time WWE Women’s Champion.
A spokesperson for The Great Khali announced this week that the WWE Superstar is in support of Anna Hazare, an Indian activist who has been fasting for the past twelve days to protest corruption within the Indian Government. He noted that he was in support of the issue at hand, not a specific political party.
Rey Mysterio underwent surgery Friday after sustaining an injury to his knee. He posted an update regarding his health on Twitter.
Mysterio wrote, "Morning to all! 24hrs after surgery at home recouperating! Pain is insane! Going crazy.. Thx 4 the support! 619 luv!"
The masked star blew out his knee, believed to be his ACL, while attempting a baseball slide during a match against Alberto Del Rio on last week's episode of Raw. There is talk that he may not be able to return to action until WrestleMania XXVIII.
There was a major corporate restructuring of WWE’s official website last week as Brian Kalinowski, the Executive Vice President of Digital Media and Mark Keys, the Vice President of Digital and Interactive Content Production and Social Media, were both let go. WWE.com is now part of a new division called WWE Creative, led by Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. There will be other changes and restructuring as part of her vision and concept.
Kalinowski spearheaded the website’s recent overhaul, with the notable addition of more video content. He was also responsible for the restructuring of WWEShop.com. Many people were initially critical of Kalinowski since he was recruited from outside of the professional wrestling industry and didn’t understand its uniqueness. However, he grew to learn the business and was considered a strong leader by colleagues. Many people feel he was dismissed due to Stephanie taking control of the website, rather than his job performance.
According to a source, a bigger power struggle is ongoing between Stephanie and Kevin Dunn, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Television Production. Unlike her father, Vince McMahon, Stephanie is not fond of Dunn. Those close to the situation indicate that Dunn is aware that he will ultimately lose the power struggle, but he should be fine as long as Vince is around. Dunn is one of the few people Vince listens to and values the opinion of.
The digital media department was unhappy with Kalinowski’s departure from the organization, but morale had already sunk; they were previously informed that Stephanie would be in charge of department and everything going forward would be coordinated through her office.
Smith Hart, the eldest brother of the legendary Hart family, stated on his Facebook account that they will be out in "full force" for tonight's SmackDown taping in Calgary, Alberta.
He wrote, "Boarding a flight to Calgary shortly. Hart Family in full force tonight on Smackdown.”
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart is scheduled to appear at tonight's show at the Scotiabank Saddledome as he will be the special guest referee for a Street Fight between Randy Orton and Christian.
Steve Austin did an interview with The Daily Star in the UK and mentioned a possible match with CM Punk.
He said, "Look I've heard the same things and I’ve said that were I to do it CM Punk would be the man I would like to do it with. All the stars would have to align for that to happen – it would have to be good for me financially, good for me in terms of execution and storyline. Obviously it would have to be good for WWE and work out for CM Punk too. I'm not starting up anything here, but could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? I don’t know."
There has been discussion within WWE lately about the company looking to see what cruiserweight or light heavyweight talents are out there and signing them to developmental deals.
It hasn't been confirmed yet that WWE will be doing a full-fledged revival of the cruiserweight division but they are interested in bringing talents who fit that bill. The idea is that cruiserweights will give guys like Evan Bourne or Sin Cara someone to work with and would add a quality of wrestling to WWE's undercard.
This goes back to Triple H and changes he is making as he slowly takes over day-to-day control of the company.
The original Sin Cara returned to action at Saturday night's WWE SmackDown live event in Tacoma, Washington, as Daniel reported. He defeated Tyson Kidd with the Spanish Fly. For what it's worth, one fan in attendance noted that it looked as if Cara was rocking a blond mo-hawk under the mask.
WWE star The Miz was interviewed by the Edmonton Journal to promote Monday's episode of WWE RAW from the city's Rexall Palace arena. Miz spoke about a number of topics, including which wrestlers he loved to watch as a child, how much of "Mike Mizanin" there is in "The Miz" and more.
Miz also confirmed what we reported here a few weeks ago - that he suffered a broken nose at a house show in a match against Alex Riley.
Here are some highlights of what The Miz said about:
The Concussion He Suffered At WrestleMania:
"Now, watching back, I can remember it in little bits and pieces. It’s one of those things like, 'I was in the main event of WrestleMania and I really don’t remember too much of it.' I remember being in it, but I don’t remember everything. It was one of those scary moments, but now I’m back to 100 per cent." ...
What Makes Him So Popular:
"It’s amazing … I don’t know what it is about me that makes people want to watch what I am going to do. Normally people just want to watch a train wreck and I don’t consider myself a train wreck anymore. I guess I’m kind of that person that you never know what he’s going to do or say so you want to watch because you don’t know what the hell is going to happen. I don’t take days off. I’m one of those WWESuperstars that says give me everything and anything. I don’t want anyone else to have more publicity than me. I don’t want anyone else having more media than me."
All the younger WWE talents were backstage at RAW watching the segment with CM Punk and Kevin Nash on monitors. Punk is seen as a kind of hero to some of the younger guys because he puts them over and speaks for them since they can't say what he gets away with saying. Nash is in great shape but with his history of knee operations, he wasn't walking very well. The feeling is that a CM Punk vs. Kevin Nash match won't be too pretty.
A Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly rematch for the Divas Title is expected for September's Night of Champions pay-per-view from Buffalo, where Phoenix grew up.
Syfy and WWE announced today its first ever WWE Smackdown live special, “SuperSmackdown Live,” on Tuesday, August 30 at 8-10PM/ET on Syfy, originating from the INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
SyFy will be airing Smackdown live on Tuesday 8/30 as its usual airdate Friday 9/2 falls on Labor Day weekend. So, anticipating a poor rating for that weekend, they are airing the show live as it is taped.
Last week on SmackDown, we saw developmental wrestler Hunico make his WWE television debut, donning the mask of Sin Cara while the original Sin Cara (Luis Ignascio / Mistico) finishes up this 30-day suspension this week.
A WWE source has informed us that it was in fact Hunico working as Sin Cara once again at Tuesday's SmackDown tapings from Bakersfield, California - set to air on Syfy this Friday night.
Luis Ignascio, will be eligible to return to WWE this weekend - but many are questioning whether he'll be brought back at all. After a rocky start in WWE over the past several months due to blown spots, poor matches and an overall underwhelming rookie year, the original Sin Cara reportedly has "nuclear" backstage heat on him
According to Dave Meltzer, there are talks backstage in WWE about Mick Foley possibly having one final big match at next year's Wrestlemania. Meltzer reports that Foley might agree to do one more match so his youngest kids can see have the memory of seeing him wrestle in the WWE live.
Part of Foley's agreement for getting an early release from TNA is that he cannot appear on WWE television until the time his contract would have expired in September. Not only is it expected that he will be back with WWE in some capacity, but also he is strongly rumored to be part of the WWE '12 video game.
After this week, the plan is still to give Alberto Del Rio the WWE Title. The winner of John Cena vs. CM Punk at SummerSlam is supposed to lose to Del Rio before WWE goes to Mexico in mid-October.
WWE will tape the October 17th RAW on October 15th from Mexico City and they are hoping that it could be one of the hottest RAW crowds in history.
