Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/03/28/pollocks-news-update-3-28-louisiana-commission-confirms-wwe-and-roh-performers-exempt-from-in-ring-restrictions/
POST IT NOTES
**We have this week’s edition of Rewind-A-SmackDown posted on the site with Wai Ting and I reviewing SmackDown, 205 Live, and the Mixed Match Challenge. We discuss the Shane McMahon story and his announcement for WrestleMania, Charlotte held off Tuesday’s program, the return of “Roseanne”, and we take your feedback and questions. The show can be downloaded at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/03/28/rewind-a-smackdown-3-27-18-bryan-issues-wm-challenge-nakamuras-mind-games/.
**Late tonight, we have a new edition of Keep It 2000 coming to the site with Brian Mann and Nate Milton reviewing the July 3rd, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro heading into that year’s Bash at the Beach card. Keep It 2000 has its own RSS feed and all the subscription information for the show can be found at https://www.postwrestling.com/subscribe/.
**We have an interview on the main page that Dan Lovranski conducted with Liam O’Rourke, who is the author of “Crazy Like a Fox: The Definitive Collection of Brian Pillman 20 Years Later”. I highly recommend the book, which was awarded the Best Book of 2017 in the annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.
**Our monthly Ask-A-Wai bonus show will be coming out this Friday for members of the POST Wrestling Café. If you would like to submit a question, there is a thread on the POST Wrestling Forum.
SHOWS THIS WEEK:
*Tonight: Keep It 2000 with Brian Mann and Nate Milton (July 3, 2000, WCW Monday Nitro)
*Thursday: upNXT with Braden Herrington and Bartender Dave
*Friday: Ask-A-Wai (Patreon bonus show at POSTwrestlingCafe.com)
*Sunday: NJPW Sakura Genesis review (Patreon)
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WRESTLING NEWS
**A story we have been following is the commission oversight in Louisiana over WrestleMania week. The state is one that does have government oversight in the form of the Louisiana Boxing & Wrestling Commission. Back in February, I spoke with Russell Naquin of the commission to clarify the restrictions and rules that are in place within the state as it pertains to professional wrestling. The state does ban the use of the piledriver and blood, as well as require licensing of performers with the proper medical work done ahead of time.
David Bixenspan at Deadspin has uncovered new facts as we head into WrestleMania week in Louisiana. The origin of the piledriver ban stems from a 1996 incident where a wrestler named Aldus Gene Bergeron was paralyzed after taking a piledriver with miscommunication over the spot with Bergeron expecting to take a powerbomb. Bergeron won an enormous settlement and the commission was left liable. The decision led to a set of temporary rules being installed and this includes the banning of the piledriver, as well as “all variations of the powerbomb”, moonsaults, shooting star or 450 splashes “or any variation thereof which involves one wrestler, leaping or flipping off the ropes or turnbuckles to contact the head or neck of the opponent with any part of his body”.
What is noteworthy is that the commission official that is on site can allow wrestlers to perform the prohibited maneuvers if permission is obtained ahead of time.
Bixenspan spoke to John Green Jr., the commission secretary, who confirmed to Deadspin that the WWE and Ring of Honor are not subject to the moves being banned with the belief both are major league events and they have confidence in the level of training the performers on those shows have. Obviously, it is hard to rationalize exemptions for those groups while holding other shows to the rules, given that the vast majority of performers across the board would meet the same criteria as the WWE and ROH performers exhibit.
While no one believed that The Undertaker would be prohibited from using a tombstone (which he did at WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans against Brock Lesnar), this confirms that the WWE is exempt.
The commission members were scheduled for a meeting earlier this month to go over several maneuvers that were in question. POST Wrestling contacted both Russell Naquin and Buddy Embanato of the commission and they did not respond to our questions, which were sent after the meeting was scheduled to have taken place.
**Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown Live saw a drop of 10.8% from last week with an average of 2,576,000 viewers on the USA Network. It was bound to see a drop after last week’s number hit an 11-month high for the program with the news of Daniel Bryan’s return. This week’s show had the curiosity surrounding Shane McMahon’s status for WrestleMania and the follow up to the attack angle on Bryan. This week’s number was their lowest since February 13th, which was going up against the Winter Olympics coverage. Tuesday night also featured the return of the popular series, “Roseanne”, which did an enormous audience of 18,157,000 viewers on ABC from 8-9 pm Eastern against the first hour of SmackDown Live.
**Here are the matches scheduled for tonight’s episode of NXT at 8 pm Eastern on the WWE Network:
*The Street Profits vs. The Authors of Pain in the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
*Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne vs. Sanity in the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
*Lars Sullivan vs. TBA
**Brett Okamoto of ESPN sits down with Ronda Rousey for 30 minutes:
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**Monday’s episode of Raw averaged 3,360,000 viewers on the USA Network as the show continues to ride momentum leading up to WrestleMania. The number is up 1.5% from last week and is Raw’s highest average since the night after the Royal Rumble in January. The show opened with 3,403,000 viewers in the first hour and then increased 4.2% in the second hour to 3,547,000 viewers before the usual third-hour drop to 3,150,000 viewers or 11.1% from the second-to-third hour.
**One of the biggest articles focused on throughout the Fabulous Moolah controversy was a 2006 article by Murfee Faulk in The Free Times, who profiled the late Susie Mae McCoy a.k.a. Sweet Georgia Brown, who died in 1989 from breast cancer. McCoy began to train under Moolah in 1957 and wrestled until 1972 with Moolah Buddy Lee controlling her bookings.
In the 2006 article, Faulk spoke to two of McCoy’s children, Barbara and Michael. Barbara spoke in the article about being told by her mother how she had been treated on the road and subjected to abuse, such as receiving knocks on the door at strange hours of the night and if McCoy didn’t comply with sexual favors, she would be badly beaten.
Michael McCoy, who was interviewed in the 2006 piece and was in search of his biological father that McCoy had him with, has come out to defend Moolah this week. McCoy was born in 1967, ten years after his mother began wrestling and stated in the video below that the allegations against Moolah are not true, based on the interactions he had with Moolah and the woman he knew. Michael does clarify in the video, “I’m not saying Buddy Lee did anything wrong, I’m not saying Moolah did anything wrong, but being a wife, back in the 60s, even if Moolah knew anything that was going on, she wasn’t in a position to say anything. Wives just didn’t say nothing, they just went along with what their husbands told them.”
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**Charlotte missed the television tapings on Tuesday night after she had a minor dental operation performed last week. It is considered minor and she has already been announced for next week’s Mixed Match Challenge finals. Becky Lynch won a fan vote on Tuesday night to replace her with Bobby Roode and defeated Finn Balor and Sasha Banks to advance to the finals. Charlotte will resume her spot with Roode against The Miz and Asuka in next week’s final.
**Here are the updated participants for the two battle royals at WrestleMania:
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: The Revival, Matt Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Tye Dillinger, and Mojo Rawley.
WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal: Sasha Banks, Bayley, Becky Lynch, The Riott Squad, Naomi, Lana, and Natalya.
**The WWE stock closed at $36.12 on Wednesday.
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 3/27/18: Bryan issues WM challenge, Nakamura’s mind games
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/7mmvii/180327_RASD.mp3
REWIND-A-RAW 3/26/18: Cena mimics Undertaker, Ronda Rousey vs. Absolution
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/pdcfeg/180326_RAR.mp3
NJPW Strong Style Evolved Review w/ Dan Lovranski
John Pollock & Wai Ting review the Strong Style Evolved card and chat with Dan Lovranski, who attended the card in Long Beach as well as the PWG show on Friday night.
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/mjt2xf/180326_NJPW_SSE.mp3
REWIND-A-WAI – WWF Coliseum Video: Smack ‘Em, Whack ‘Em (Patreon-only)
John Pollock and Wai Ting review this 1993 Coliseum Home video release, featuring Bret Hart winning the WWF title from Ric Flair and the first WWF ladder match between Hart and Shawn Michaels. We also are joined by Espresso Executive Producer Jay Hunter from OSW Review.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/17713168
NEW JAPAN CUP FINAL REVIEW WITH JOHN POLLOCK & WH PARK
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/f6wgcx/POST-WRESTLING-WH-Park-March-2018.mp3
upNXT 3/22/18: A New Beginning, Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno, Roderick Strong finds a partner
https://upnxt.podbean.com/mf/download/9xwtcg/UPNXTMAR222018.mp3
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