by: Bob Magee

Even with this, Price has responded to e-mails sent to a PWBTS reader that "...he was on the phone with Steve at that moment and unless something went haywire with his Japan gig, he'd be suiting up for NWA FL on the 10th."

Corino did offer his opinion on the situation regarding the MLW-ROH situation in the regular Commentary he does at his Stevecorino.com website:

"...Almost time to wrap up this edition of Dream The Impossible and I want to take a minute to talk about all the bickering about MLW "invading" ROH's buildings. As everyone knows I work for both ROH and MLW on a free lance basis and I have been the MLW World champion for almost six months now. I do understand why ROH might be upset because MLW is running in buildings that they are running but that would be their business. In my opinion it only helps both organizations. I hope fans come to both shows.

Competition only makes both shows even better. Everyone knows that right now ROH is the best independent company in the States. ROH and MLW are apples and oranges to each other just as ROH and 3PW, or CZW and MLW are to each other. Both will give you very good quality of shows for your money and both are very different. MLW's style of booking has always been a cross between the old NWA and ECW. ROH's style is totally innovative. And to be honest and fair to posts I have seen on the Internet, NO ONE from Ring of Honor has asked me not to work for MLW just like in the past when NO ONE from MLW asked me not to work for NWA Florida or IPW." Oddly enough...no mention was made as to what show Corino's working on January 10...one way or the other. Nor have there been any answers from e-mails sent to Corino regarding the situation.

Moving on... in what is hardly a coincidental move, Ring of Honor announced a joint show with Jersey All-Pro Wrestling on January 9th in Woodbridge, NJ at the Woodbridge Armory on the same night as MLW's return to Philadelphia...and the night prior to their show in Elizabeth, NJ, which is only miles from the Woodbridge, NJ venue.

Matches already signed for this JAPW/ROH event are Insane Dragon/Azrieal/Jay Lethal vs. Deranged/Dixie, ROH champion Samoa Joe defending against Balls Mahoney, a Four-Way Elimination bout with AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. CM Punk vs. TBA, Dan Maff vs. Slyk Wagner Brown, Bakskseat Boyz vs. Tony DeVito and HC Loc, the JAPW Heavyweight Title will be defended by the winner of the December 13th Rahway, NJ show (Dan Maff/Jerry Lawler/Shane Douglas).

Further, ROH has added Christopher Daniels/Dan Maff/Xavier vs. CM Punk/Colt Cabana/Ace Steel to their January 10 show in Wilmington, OH...running at the same time as the MLW Elizabeth, NJ show. Punk is still listed on the MLW roster (but is not listed on this show...and likely won't be on any show with Teddy Hart on the roster) for the moment.

In what seems a unfortunate, but probably inevitable step given the situation between the promotions, Da Hit Squad (Danny Maff and Monsta Mack), Christopher Daniels and Bryan Danielson have been removed from the MLW.com "roster" page...apparently meaning their departure from the MLW roster in favor of working for Ring of Honor.

I said in the first AS I SEE IT concerning this subject...that I hoped Court Bauer and Rob Feinstein would sit down...for the sake of fans and the workers who will get caught in the middle...if this situation continues on as it is right now. It doesn't look like that's going to happen.

I've gotten a few e-mails and seen discussions on 2 message boards that I'm "kissing ROH and CZW's ass" (I'm not sure how CZW got drawn into this) because I'm "going after MLW".

For the record, I received an higher number of e-mails by people that liked what I wrote, and/or felt that it was a fair outlining of the facts. If those criticizing me had read PWBTS's newsboard in months past, they saw that we ran far more shills for MLW than for Ring of Honor....probably because MLW's Andy Vineberg did such a thorough job in plugging their shows. When such shills are sent, I'll happily post them again.

What concerns me is that it's a month before the January MLW shows, and tickets are not on sale at Ticketmaster...as of this writing.

As for "kissing ROH's ass"...like I've said before, I pay to get into ROH shows like any fan, unlike some other promotions, including MLW. So much for being "kept" by any promotion.

Unfortunately, some people don't understand that being a fan means sometimes criticizing what your favorite promotion does, as well as applauding what they do that you do like. These fans, if they're actually that...aren't doing that at all, and seem happy to post flames on message boards about people who say something they don't like about how "biased" someone is.

There are also complaints in these e-mails and on these message boards about Eric Walker's and Marcus Dowling's columns on the situation. As with anything on PWBTS, I don't tell my columnists what they can write...although I tell them if I agree with them or disagree with them on occasion. If readers have disagreements with those columns, they can write Eric Walker at vlad316@msn.com or Marcus Dowling at marcnova21@verizon.net.

In somewhat more positive news, Pro Wrestling WORLD-1, in conjunction with Wrestling Spotlight, will run a show to benefit the Christopher James "WE CAN BEAT IT" Cancer Fund, on Sunday, February 8th, 2004 at the The Cultural Center, located at 205 South Main Street, Fall River, MA.

The story of Christopher James, the child this is benefiting comes from The November 27th Fall River (MA) Spirit:

"September started out as a very good month for Christopher Litchfield. He entered preschool at the William S. Greene School, celebrated his birthday with family and friends and began taking lessons in karate, all in the first two weeks.

Ten days after Christopher's birthday, the bad news came.

Two months earlier, Christopher's mother, Lisa Litchfield, found the lump. "They told us it was malignant," Lisa says. "It was a big one, the size of a grapefruit."

Christopher wasn't even allowed to leave the hospital the day he and his mother were told the news face-to-face by their doctor in Boston. An aggressive treatment regimen was devised to combat the aggressive form of Rhabdomyosarcoma -- a rare childhood cancer -- that afflicted him.

Lisa says that she an Christopher are thankful for all those who made possible a small benefit Saturday at Blondie's Country Lounge. The event drew some 60 people and raised about $500, which will help Lisa pay for medications not covered by insurance as well as transportation costs.

"It was a good turnout," Lisa says, "it made me feel good. "Christopher was not feeling well enough to attend the function, but on behalf of the family, Lisa extends a heartfelt thanks to all family and friends for their support and prayers throughout this difficult time."

So for those in the Fall River area, please spend some of your Sunday there...

The pre-show begins at 3:15 pm with a 4:00 pm belltime. All tickets are a $10.00 donation to benefit the Christopher James "WE CAN BEAT IT" Cancer Fund.

Matches scheduled: