AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com
In one of the more hilarious moments from independent wrestling to get mainstream attention, G4's "Attack of the Show", along with ESPN, the Yahoo Sports Blog!, Fan House, Houston Press, and other media sources showed The Osirian Portal "hypnotizing" not only their opponents, The Runaways (Ryan Slater and Joe Gacy), but the CZW entire locker room. This video comes from the November CZW show, where The Osirian Portal wrestled The Runaways in the CZW Tag Team Title Tournament.
For those of you who have no idea who they are, The Osirian Portal have worked for CHIKARA Pro Wrestling since 2007, with both Amasis and Ophidian trained at CHIKARA's school. The gimmick comes from Egyptian culture, with Amasis a break dancing pharaoh and Ophidian a human Cobra snake. The video above is one of their standards spots, the "hypnosis" spot; wherein Amasis brings up Ophidian to a wheelbarrow position, and Opihidan putys his hands together like he's a snake, somehow hypnotizing their opponents, usually making them do something silly. In the last two year they've worked for various independents, including Ring of Honor, Absolute Intense Wrestling, Evolve, Force 1 Pro Wrestling, F1RST Wrestling, FIP, IWA: East Coast, JAPW to Combat Zone Wrestling, the source of the viral video.
Any promoters in the Northeast ought to know that they're great even for family-friendly promotions, because they'll do intermission autograph sessions or just meeting the crowd, complete with Ophidian slithering along the floor of a building like a snake, and coming up to kids who eat the gimmick up.
In other news, there's a very different side to the recent dispute between Ric Flair and TNA management which saw Flair sit out a show on the recent European tour. TNA let a very different version of the story be put out. However, longtime mainstream wrestling columnist Mike Mooneyham, whose column appears weekly in the Charleston Post and Courier (and is reprinted frequently in PWBTS.com, gave a very differrent version of the story, when he stated on the Ringside Rap radio show this past week that Ric Flair is owed a "considerable amount" of backpay by TNA. Mooneyham said that Flair asked for a draw... based on the company owing him money for future dates on the tour, as well as other monies; and referred to it as a "considerable amount". Flair's sitting out the tour date was to make a point that he felt he was being treated disrespectfully by TNA. Mooneyham states that the story that has been reported regarding Flair allegedly "hitting up guys for money" at bars are untrue, and was designed by unnamed persons to discredit Flair's request for a draw.
To hear the interview in question, go to this link.
It wouldn't be the first time that there have been questions about issues with pay by TNA talent. Several women within the company have been paid so little that they have had to take side jobs, with Taylor Wilde quitting wrestling in disgust.
To conclude, a reminder about three killer shows at the ECW Arena....first, the return of Germany's Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling's tenth annual Best of The Best tournament, and CHIKARA Pro Wrestling's King of Trios all in April; then concluding with the historic May debut of New Japan Pro Wrestling here in Philadelphia. Thing start off on April 9 with an ECW Arena doubleheader, where Germany's Westside Xtreme Wrestling makes its United States return in an afternoon show to start at 2:30 pm. Westside Xtreme Wrestling debuted in Philadelphia last March, with their "Vision" event featuring a brutal main event of wXw's Thumbtack Jack and Drake Younger and dream matches including Alex Shelley vs. Chris Hero and wXw Tag champions Switchblade Conspiracy defending against The American Wolves.
In the main event, Japan Deathmatch Icon Jun Kasai takes on the "Golden Boy" Drake Younger! This match is the most anticipated by all fans of Hardcore Wrestling....and they will collide in a No Ropes Barbed Wired Match! So many legendary Barbed Wire Matches have been seen by Arena fans, but "Kasai vs. Drake" will open a new chapter of violence. To balance things, technical wrestling fans will see Zack Sabre, Jr. and Emil Sitoci, who holds victories over Japanese top cruiserweights CIMA, Taiji Ishimori and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Last June, Sabre beat Steve Douglas to unify the wXw lightweight and heavyweight titles to win wXw's first "Unified World Championship", a title eventually lost to the massive Austrian Big van Walter. Elsewhere on the show, Big van Walter and Sami Callihan will also be in action. Visit Westside Xtreme Wrestling's United States site for the latest news and ticket information on wXw's U.S. return! Early purchases of fronyt row tickets are available via e-mail kohlenberg@wxw-wrestling.com with the topic "wXw Philadelphia First Row".
That evening, Combat Zone Wrestling presents the tenth annual "Best of The Best" tournament, with a scheduled 7:30 pm belltime. Early participants announced are wXw's Zack Sabre, Jr., Big Japan Wrestling's Deisuke Sekimoto, Dragon Gate USA's Chuck Taylor, CHIKARA's Johnny Gargano, CZW's (Gran) Akuma and Alex Colon. Along with the Best of the Best tournament, a Dream Death Match will take place with the CZW return of "Crazy Monkey' Jun Kasai. Tickets will be available through the CZW Pro Shop at this link.
The very next week, CHIKARA Pro Wrestling comes to the world's most famous Bingo Hall for King of Trios 2011 on April 15-17. Belltimes are 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday and 4:30 pm on Sunday for the finals. F.I.S.T, The Colony, The Osirian Portal, and Da Soul Tochaz, are the first four named trios taking part. Saturday afternoon will feature the fourth annual Fan Conclave at 2:30 pm priopr to showtime. Tickets for this year's Fan Conclave are $10 (free tob those buying tickets for all three nights) . Along with wrestler autographs and gimmick sales, Stan Bush (who has the official song of King of Trios 2011) will be performing a concert during the Fan Conclave. Tickets for all events are available NOW at the CHIKARA store.
Finally, on May 15, New Japan Pro Wrestling debuts at the ECW Arena with a full lineup including 2010 Super J Tag League winners Jado and Gedo, Japanese legend Jushin "Thunder" Liger, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, 2010 G1 Climax tournament winner Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask IV, Shinsuke Nakamura, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kazuchika Okada, Giant Bernard, Karl "Machine Guns" Anderson, Prince Devitt, Kenny Omega, Yujiro Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano. Fair warning: tickets are not cheap, plus there is a $4 convenience fee for tickets purchased through the website. Tickets are Gold (Row 2/3) $65, Blue (row 4/5) $45 Red (GA) $25 and can be ordered at this site. Fans that purchase a GOLD ticket will receive a special meet and greet with NJPW Superstars at 2:30pm before the doors open, as well as, a commemorative ticket and DVD gift (redeemable with ticket the night of the show).
Until next time...
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