Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Extreme Championship Wrestling aka ECW was a wrestling promotion that went against the grain of everything a pro wrestling promotion fans thought it should be. It was revolutionary and very in your face. It took risks and and broke many of the standard rules of convention. ECW’s influence reached the likes of the much larger and more powerful promotions like WCW and the WWF. As influential and innovative ECW was…it came to a rather anticlimactic end. This is that story.
This is the 473rd installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.
It’s Saturday and today we have ’This Week in Wrestling’, the 4th of 2024. Today Brian examines how Triple H is slowly, but surely changing and erasing Vince McMahon’s fingerprints on WWE’s product and shares all the best wrestling content from this week.
The ‘If Factor’ are a series of articles that takes a look at real scenarios in pro wrestling that at one point or another were suggested, planned, considered…but did not get the green light to continue. What would the landscape of professional wrestling look like if these ideas came to fruition?
Jerry Lawler has been wrestling for over 50 years. In that time, he has made many friends. He also has made many enemies. And some of those friends have become enemies and some of those enemies have become friends. This list explores the top 5 Jerry Lawler opponents. Let the debate begin!
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Well regarded as a legitimately tough guy, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, was born Jonathan Wisniski on September 30, 1951, the son of the legendary wrestler Johnny Valentine. Not wanting to be seen as riding on his father’s reputation, Valentine made his debut in Canada in 1970, after being trained by Stu Hart. He also received further training by Ed Farhat, the original Sheik. Wrestling under various names such as Baby Face Nelson and Johnny Fargo, Valentine finally came into his own under his real name Greg Valentine and in 1976 he wrestled in the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. There he was the partner of Ric Flair, who ironically had been in the same plane crash that had crippled the hammer’s father, Johnny Valentine. The duo held the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championship (June 30 and August 22, 1977). They feuded with Gene and Ole Anderson but eventually defeated them on December 26, 1976, in Greensboro, NC where Gene did a stretcher job. They held the titles until May 8, 1977, when the Andersons defeated them in a steel cage match at the Charlotte Coliseum. Flair and Valentine managed to regain the belts from the Andersons on October 30, 1977; the team was forced to split up after NWA president Eddie Graham stripped them of the belts due to “unprofessional conduct.”
This is the 472nd installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.