Post by michaelporter on Aug 22, 2004 13:42:13 GMT -5
Michael Porter's WrestleBeat (8-22-04)
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HE'S BACK? NO...I'M BAAACK!
Hey Wrestling Fans,
Welcome to the FIRST WrestleBeat in a LONG, LONG time!
Well...well...well! What do you know? I never thought that this moment would ever come, but low and behold, here we go again!
First off, PLEASE allow me to thank the many, many of my readers who over the past year, have e-mailed me, wanting to know the latest on my health concerns, the concerns that forced me leave the business that I have loved and have been a part of for over 35 years...the wild, wacky, rollercoaster World of Professional Wrestling! In fact, I recently saw my physician, and my blood pressure, which at one point was as high as 200/168. This time, it was a very fit 110/68! And my weight had dropped from a high of 344 lbs to a ( to quote Playboy Buddy Rose) "slim, trim" 250 lbs, a loss of some 94 lbs, with more to come (or should I say "go")!
Since I last reported to you in WrestleBeat, I attended a UWA (United Wrestling Alliance) Event in Yuba City, CA., which featured appearances by TWO of my old buddies from the WWF/WWE ( I STILL can't get used to WWE), former WWF Tag Team Champion (with partner, Shawn Michaels), The Rocker, Marty Jannetty and The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time, The Honky Tonk Man! I was GREATLY surprised when UWA Promoters/Owners Rob Wilds and Chris Ward, showed up at my local watering hole, The Long Branch Saloon in Linda, CA. with none other than Marty and Honky! After I introduced the two former WWF/E Superstars to the welcoming and appreciative patrons of The Long Branch, together, we all drank beer and remininsed (sp) about the "good-old days", and they listened as I would belt out a few Karaoke tunes.
Eventually, Marty, who had just flown in from Florida, was tiring and was taken to his hotel room, leaving Honky, Rob, Chris, and myself to the beer and the Karaoke. I tried to get Honky to get up and sing a song or two, but unfortunately, he politely declined.
Next up, I decided to announce another UWA Event in Carmichael, CA., which featured another of my "old" WWF/E compadres, Big Sexy, Kevin Nash! The UWA needed a Ring Announcer for the event, so I said OK...mainly to see IF I still felt "IT". Well...I DID! So, like I said at the top of this column...I'M BACK! So, let's see just where we go from here.
At this time, I'm scheduled to announce the next UWA Event. The exact date is yet to be determined, but I'm told that it will be sometime in November, at The La Sierra Community Center in Carmichael, CA., with the Main Event featuring the MASSIVE Native American, Warpath, defending the UWA Heavyweight Championship against the challenge of The Rocker, Marty Jannetty!
Also scheduled to appear on this card, is another former WWF/E Superstar, the unpredictable Doink the Clown. Others hoping to appear in November are UWA Tag Team Champions Chris "Psycho" Ward and Marko Bliskin, UWA Cruiserweight Champion, Rediculous Mike Rayne, UWA Hardcore Champion, Big Ugly J.D. Bishop, and MANY others! Just as soon as I receive any more information on this Event, I will pass it on to you, in my next WrestleBeat.
ALRIGHT...speaking of the next UWA Event, there has been some Internet babble concerning the issues that have been ongoing, between myself and UWA Manager of Champions, Ric Micheals. It seems that, even though I just recently returned to the UWA, during my hiatis from the company, I was STILL under contract to the UWA. And now, MY contract AND the contract of Ric Micheals, are up, and according to those "in the know", only ONE of those two contracts are going to be renewed. And so, with that decision to be made...and it being a difficult decision to make, the "powers to be" have been wracking their brains, to come up with the correct answer to this dilema. There have even been suggestion on the Message Boards of www.unitedwrestlingalliance.com that there be some sort of a confrontation or "match-up" to determine "who goes and who stays"!
Now, it seems that Mr. (and I use that term VERY generously) Micheals has been running his mouth (or keyboard) all over, about retiring me from Pro Wrestling a little over a year ago. This couldn't be further from the truth, and Micheals knows it! Now, there's some talk on the Boards about which type of match should settle the score between the two of us. There have been suggestions for an actual match. First of all, NEITHER of us are trained workers. But, just to shut his mouth for good, I would be willing to agree to just about ANYTHING. There have been suggestions for a TLC Match (yeah...right!), a Hardcore Match (I could handle that), a C-4 Explosives, Thumbtack, Barbed-Wire,etc...etc...etc Match (HOLY S**T)! There has even been a suggestion from one Moron for an Evening Gown Match! Can you believe THAT Ga-Ga? Anyways, who knows just what the UWA Owners/Promoters/Bookers/Management will come up with? I certainly don't! But, whatever their decision turns out to be, I can't wait to get my hands around the throat of a certain Ric Micheals! I'll let you know more in the next edition of WrestleBeat.
And now, on to some news. First off, according to 1wrestling.com, my good friend, John "Earthquake" Tenta, from my WWF/E days, has updated fans on his health in a post on the Wrestlecrap message board. 'Quake is currently undergoing chemo therapy to deal with a tumor in his left lung as well as enlarged lymph nodes in his heart. Doctors have told John that the cancer is incurable and have given him 13-18 months to live. Earthquake has told fans in his message that he planned to fight the disease. "I'm not giving up, and hope to, of course, live longer." PLEASE join me, as I would definately like to wish John Tenta the very best of luck in the coming months as he deals with this deadly disease, and also, remember this GOOD and GENTLE giant, in your prayers. If you would like to leave John a message on the boards, please go to this link, to do so.
Houston-The CRAP has hit the fan - www.ezboard.com <http://p076.ezboard.com/fwrestlecrap42390frm13.showMessage?topicID=154.topic>
This, also from 1wrestling.com, former WWE Superstar, (Stone Cold) Steve Austin, has had another incident in his controversial, personal post-wrestling life, as he and his ex-girlfriend, Tess Broussard were reportedly involved in another brawl in a Beverly Hills restaurant recently, and depending on which side you believe, either Broussard freaked out at the last minute in what was to be a $1.5 million payout and tried to stab Austin...or Austin set Broussard up with a staged assault charge. The end result was Broussard being arrested and later filing a $10 million lawsuit against Austin. I'll have more on this story as I receive further information.
Now that Randy Orton has become WWE World Heavyweight Champion, by way of his victory over Chris Benoit at Summer Slam, and with the subsequent turn on Orton by Triple H and the rest of Evolution the following evening at the live RAW, look for some VERY interesting developements to occur between the new Champ and Evolution, including a probable Orton-HHH match at the upcoming RAW Pay-Per-View, next month on Sunday September 12th!
As announced on the Aug.19th edition of SMACKDOWN, The Big Show will be making his return to the WWE shortly. And from the reports that I've heard, Show has taken off an INCREDIBLE 100 lbs.! I hope that this is true, as Paul Wight could finally live up to his potential.
Also on the Aug. 19th SMACKDOWN, WWE reported the return of TOUGH ENOUGH! This time, TE will be a part of SMACKDOWN each week, and reportedly, there will be a SINGLE winner, with that winner receiving a WHOPPING $1,000,000 contract! TOUGH ENOUGH is scheduled to start sometime in September or October. More on this as it becomes available.
PWInsider.com reports that former WCW wrestler Norris "Hardbody" Harrison Jr. was arrested on August 18th. Harrison was apparently charged with forcing three women into prostitution as a way to force them to repay their debts to him. According to the article, Georgia investigators contend that Harrison, 38, would claim to help the women by paying their jail fines and assisting them with housing. Once he gained their confidence, however, he would allegedly force them to prostitute for him until they had paid off their debts to him. Harrison is being charged with three counts of false imprisonment and is currently free on $55,000 bond. Harrison worked for WCW in the late 1990’s, with the majority of his appearances being on WCW Saturday Night.
Well, that does it for my FIRST WrestleBeat in over a year! And YES...there WILL be MORE! I'm not sure how often that I'll write the column. Before, I would do a WEEKLY WrestleBeat. But, for now, I'll just play it by ear, and we'll see just how often I can do this. Hell, I might not even do it on a regular schedule. I might just do it every other week, once a month, every other month, or HELL...whenever I damn well please! That about covers the whole spectrum, doesn't it?
And so, until next time...PLEASE remember "Earthquake", John Tenta and his family and friends in your prayers. And remember, like I always say...KEEP BOTH FEET ON THE MAT AND YOUR PUNCHES ABOVE THE BELT. Later, Michael.
(contact Michael Porter by e-mail at kmichaelporter@yahoo.com or by snail-mail at P.O. Box 5282, Marysville, CA. 95901-8521)