Originally published at POLLOCK'S NEWS UPDATE: Hana Kimura tribute, more on Tom Cole
POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I are LIVE tonight at 11:15 pm ET for Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso members of the POST Wrestling Café for Rewind-A-Raw. We will be reviewing WWE Raw, and discussing the Tom Cole story among the news items from the weekend. The show will be out late tonight for everyone on all our platforms.
**On Tuesday, we will be releasing Rewind-A-Wai #80 covering the NXT TakeOver: R-Evolution show from December 2014. This show featured Sami Zayn putting his career on the line against NXT champion Adrian Neville a.k.a. PAC, the debut of Kevin Owens, and Charlotte Flair defending the NXT Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks. The show will be available for all members of the POST Wrestling Café. You can post feedback for the show on the POST Wrestling Forum.
**Andrew Thompson will have an interview posted Tuesday with Shane Taylor from Ring of Honor.
**Braden Herrington and Davie Portman have the upNXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day POST Show from Sunday night with a review of a terrific show.
**Our UFC 258 POST Show has a complete rundown of Saturday’s card including Kamaru Usman’s performance against Gilbert Burns for the welterweight championship, and a catch-up on the latest news with phone calls.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw (LIVE at 11:15 pm ET for Double Double+ Patrons)
Tuesday: Rewind-A-Wai #80 – NXT TakeOver – R-Evolution (Patreon)
Tuesday: DEEP IMPACT with Davie Portman & Andrew Thompson
Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite (LIVE at 10:15 pm ET for Double Double+ Patrons)
Wednesday: upNXT with Davie Portman & Braden Herrington
Thursday: The Wellness Policy with Wai Ting & Jordan Goodman (LIVE at 3 pm ET for Patrons)
WRESTLING NEWS
**Lee Cole, the older brother of the late Tom Cole did a lengthy interview on Sunday with Boston Wrestling detailing the entire early ‘90s sex scandal in the WWF. Lee has extremely detailed recollections of every aspect of the time period and noted the depression Tom suffered from until he took his life last Friday. Lee mentioned that there were certain details Tom didn’t want out in the public and once told Lee that he had not shared all the things that were done to him. Lee also made it known in the interview that it bothered Tom when Pat Patterson died last year and was celebrated. It was gut-wrenching to hear the stories of Tom’s pain and sadness, ending the way it did last Friday. Lee conveyed how devastated Tom’s family is and we send our deepest thoughts and sympathies to Tom’s wife and three daughters.
**Jamie Hemmings at SLAM Wrestling has written a piece on her interactions with Cole over the past year. Hemmings first contacted Cole after the Speaking Out movement began and spoke with him off the record. Hemmings noted that Cole was angry and raw with emotion during their hour-long call. Hemmings included the following text message she received from Cole shortly after Pat Patterson’s passing in December:
The major perpetrators are all gone now! I suppose I can use this time, to truly begin to heal. I hope Pat Patterson is at peace! But I have a real problem with people holding the man up, as if he was a saint! Pat knew all about Mel Phillips and even more so when it came to Terry Garvin! Terry Garvin told me as much! … after I rebuffed his (Garvin’s) advances! They all knew.
Historian and author Pat Laprade issued his own comments regarding Patterson, who he knew extremely well up until Patterson’s passing:
So sick to read so many people disrespecting Pat Patterson since the death of Tom Cole. I have all the sympathy in the world for Cole and his family. But Pat didn’t do anything. Or cover anything up. That’s not who Pat was. Those behind this have been fired and never came back.
Pat had a weird sense of humour, especially regarding his own sexuality, and it could be misinterpreted. That’s all. Cole felt Pat must have known, but based on what? Nothing. Just because he was gay like the other 2. Again, I feel for what happened to Cole, but Pat was clean.
**Kyoko Kimura, the mother of the late Hana Kimura, is organizing a tribute show for her daughter. The event is scheduled to take place on the one-year anniversary of her passing on May 23rd at Korakuen Hall. Kyoko included the following message, which was translated by Farrah Akase of The Japan Times:
We’ve had a lot of discussions with Stardom and Bushiroad.
They acknowledged that Hana had been working hard for their company, and promise that they will take better care of their athletes in the future after learning their lesson from Hana. They were not able to protect her from the cruel slander and apologized.
In the future, for the sake of Hana, and other athletes, and the fans, I will choose a path of reconciliation and cooperation.
But still, Hana and I both want to support the organization, the hard-working players, and staff has taken care of us.
To avoid any misunderstandings, I would like to declare that no money in exchanged.
You can help by sharing photos and videos of Hana, and by sending athletes to the memorial event that I’m organizing.
I am more grateful for your warm & kind support than I am of money.
**Tonight’s edition of WWE Raw is advertising the following for the go-home show prior to Elimination Chamber:
*Gauntlet Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton
**Tonight at 7 pm ET, AEW will be streaming the first round matches from the Japanese side of the bracket that was filmed at the Ice Ribbon Dojo:
*Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mei Suruga
*Veny vs. Emi Sakura
*Maki Itoh vs. Ryo Mizunami
*Aja Kong vs. Rin Kadokura
**Ring of Honor will hold its 19th Anniversary pay-per-view event on Friday, March 26th, and are promoting that all titles will be defended. The four-hour show will include a free hour from 8-9 pm ET on Honor Club and across their social channels.
**It was first reported by Bob Kapur of SLAM Wrestling that plans for Sammy Guevera to take part in the recent IMPACT tapings fell apart over an issue with the creative direction. Last week’s angle where Guevara quit The Inner Circle and said he had to leave for a while was designed to set-up an appearance on IMPACT. On Sunday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated there was no heat on Guevara from the AEW side. It isn’t known what the creative direction for Guevara was.
**The NBC sitcom “Young Rock” profiling Dwayne Johnson through four stages of his life, debuts Tuesday night at 8 pm ET. The pilot episode is called “Working the Gimmick”.
**Over the weekend, Fightful Select reported that Blake Christian has signed with WWE. PWinsider.com is reporting that Taya Valkyrie and Harlem Bravado have also signed with WWE.
**NJPW Young Lion Yuto Nakashima made his debut on Sunday against Yuya Uemura and suffered a left elbow injury right as the match began leading to a quick stoppage. Nakashima will be off the remainder of the Road to Castle Attack tour.
**A GoFundMe has been launched for the late trainer Rusty Brooks (real name Kurt Koski).
**After becoming the number one contender for the X Division title, Josh Alexander will challenge TJP for the title on Tuesday’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling.
**This Wednesday’s “Filthy Island” edition of MLW will feature Rocky Romero taking on Gringo Loco. The show also features Low Ki vs. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, an Azteca Jungle Fight between Mil Muertes and Savio Vega, and an appearance by Dan Lambert of the American Top Team.
**Aria Blake shared the news that she and TJP (TJ Perkins) are engaged.
**Being the Elite Ep. 243 “Dior”.
**Renee Paquette’s upcoming Messy in the Kitchen cookbook is part of Chapters Indigo’s most-anticipated book list and are offering 30 percent off on pre-sale orders. The release date is listed for May 18, 2021.
**The next edition of The Broken Skull Sessions will be released Sunday on the WWE Network with Steve Austin speaking with Sasha Banks.
**The WWE stock closed at $46.41 on Monday.
**Here is the card for Tuesday’s Road to Castle Attack card at 4 am ET on New Japan World:
*Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL & Guerrillas of Destiny
*Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
*Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO
*Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & BUSHI vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Yujiro
*Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji vs. Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & The Great O-Khan
MMA NEWS
**There was an ugly comment made by UFC president Dana White prior to Saturday’s pay-per-view when he was asked about the Gina Carano situation with Lucasfilm. White initially stated for everyone to “leave Gina alone” and then referred to a video message that ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani posted addressing Carano’s postings.
Helwani, who is Jewish, spoke of his experiences going to Auschwitz in 1999 and it was a life-changing experience. He did not bash Carano but stated that it was “asinine” and “insensitive” to compare the state of Republicans in the U.S. to Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
White responded in his answer calling Helwani “a douche” and making the story about himself. This garnered significant criticism and while ESPN did not initially address the issue, they did issue the following comment on Monday to USA Today:
Ariel is a valued colleague and an exceptional MMA reporter. His record speaks for itself.
**UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve has announced his retirement at the age of 32 (he turns 33 later this week). Struve said he was recently offered a fight by the UFC and has made the decision to step away citing health issues. Struve has been dealing with an inner ear issue since last year causing him vertigo brought on by a vestibular issue made worse after he took a punch in his last fight. Struve has been told the issues are likely permanent after being put through tests.
Struve began fighting in 2005 at the age of 17 in the Netherlands. He was 16-2 as a pro when he was signed by the UFC and debuted for the promotion in February 2009 where he was defeated by future heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. He would fight 24 times for the UFC over the next eleven years including a TKO victory over Stipe Miocic in September 2012. After a loss to Mark Hunt in 2013 where Struve broke his jaw, it was later revealed that Struve had a heart condition regarding his aortic valve known as the bicuspid aortic valve. He didn’t return to fight until December 2014. He was thinking about retiring in 2019 but returned with his final two fights stoppage losses to Ben Rothwell in December 2019 and to Tai Tuivasa last October at UFC 254.
**The UFC returns this Saturday with a Fight Night card headlined by a heavyweight fight between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis. Blaydes is 9-1 with 1 no-contest since October 2016 and has won his previous four fights. The negative is Blaydes has lost twice to Francis Ngannou, so it would be optimal for Blaydes’ chances of fighting for the title if Stipe Miocic wins next month. That said, most anticipate Jon Jones leapfrogging the other heavyweights to face the winner later this year meaning Saturday’s winner is likely 1-2 fights away before they can earn a title fight, although Blaydes would be the most-deserving if he won this Saturday. Lewis has won his last three fights over Blagoy Ivanov, Ilir Latifi, and Aleksei Oleinik and holds a win over Ngannou when they had that terrible fight in July 2018.
**The next UFC pay-per-view is on March 6th and as it stands now, features 15 fights including ten prelims. If the card stays together with that many fights, it has the potential to be an incredibly long show given it has three title fights on top with Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya for the light heavyweight title, Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson for the featherweight title, and Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title.
**After UFC president Dana White commented on the UFC’s bonus structure to the New York Post, Bloody Elbow’s John Nash has a feature discussing the locker room bonuses based on the information available. The UFC told the Post that they paid out $13 million in discretionary bonuses last year with a breakdown of $8.4 million in Performance of the Night bonuses (which are announced after each card) and $4.6 in other bonuses that are not reported publicly. Nash has done a lot of reporting on this by polling fighters over the years with insight into their experiences with discretionary bonuses and had some interesting findings.
ON THIS DATE
*****
NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day POST Show
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day from the Capitol Wrestling Center headlined by Finn Balor vs Pete Dunne for the NXT Championship.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/15/nxt-takeover-vengeance-day-post-show/
*****
UFC 258 POST Show: Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns
John Pollock and Phil Chertok are back with the UFC 258 POST Show to discuss the welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/14/ufc-258-post-show-kamaru-usman-vs-gilbert-burns/
*****
REWAND-A-VISION: Episode 6, “All New Halloween Spooktacular”
Wai Ting & WH Park review WandaVision Episode 6 as Uncle Pietro takes Wanda and the twins out trick-or-treating in a special Halloween-themed episode. Vision’s discovery of Westview’s outer limits leaves dire consequences for S.W.O.R.D.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/14/rewand-a-vision-episode-6-all-new-halloween-spooktacular/
*****
POST PURORESU: Mutoh wins title, New Beginning, AEW/NJPW
John Pollock & WH Park are back to review Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Destination 2021 featuring Keiji Mutoh defeating Go Shiozaki for the GHC Championship.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/13/post-puroresu-mutoh-wins-title-new-beginning-aew-njpw/
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN: Chamber qualifiers, Seth Rollins returns
Wai Ting is joined by Nate Milton to review WWE SmackDown as entrants are determined for the SD Elimination Chamber, whose winner will face Roman Reigns on the same night. Andrew Thompson joins us to deliver the day’s top stories.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/13/rewind-a-smackdown-2-12-21-chamber-qualifiers-rollins-returns/
*****
POST PURORESU: Matt Charlton talks J-Crowned Vol. 2
On a special edition of POST Puroresu, WH Park is joined by the author/illustrator, Matt Charlton (ShiningWizardDesigns) to talk about the recently released J-Crowned: An Illustrated Guide To The Champions Of Japanese Wrestling, Volume 2.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/12/post-puroresu-interview-matt-charlton-talks-j-crowned-vol-2/
*****
BWE: Meiko Satomura in NXT UK, Dunne vs. Balor, RevPro
Martin & Benno are joined by Will Cooling of Pro Wrestling Torch to talk about the past month in European wrestling including the latest signings for NXT UK and the debut of Meiko Satomura.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/11/bwe-meiko-satomura-in-nxt-uk-dunne-vs-balor-revpro-daniel-bryan-in-wxw/
*****
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