SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
-The long-awaited ESPN documentary “30 for 30” on Ric Flair premieres tonight at 10 ET / 9 CT. The director, Rory Karpf, travelled the country interviewing people about Ric Flair (including a stop at PWTorch headquarters in Minnesota) and put a lot of time, effort, and research into doing a top level thorough job on this. He previously directed “I hate Christian Laettner” and “The Book of Manning.” There was a private screening in Minnesota a couple years ago attended by some AWA alum, including Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell, who were around Flair during his time training under AWA World Champion and owner Verne Gagne. ESPN’s preview:
The film traces his epic career-from the creation of his blond Adonis character, through the glory days of the NWA and The Four Horsemen, to his poignant last years in the ring. Serving as witnesses are a Who’s Who of wrestling: Triple H, The Undertaker, Baby Doll, Shawn Michaels, Jim Ross, Ricky Steamboat, Sting and Hulk Hogan. As a pure wrestler, he was truly beloved. His “Woooo” showmanship was imitated by athletes from other sports, as well as the hip-hop community. But as interviews with family members and Flair himself reveal, his frenzied lifestyle masked the loneliness of a man who could never please his physician father and then ran away from his own wives and children-and toward an almost unbearable tragedy. It was Ric Flair who popularized the boast, “If you want to be The Man, you gotta beat The Man.” In this film, you’ll get to meet the man.
Read more at ESPN.com HERE.
-Bram announced on twitter that he has been granted his release from Impact Wrestling.
https://twitter.com/Thomas_Latimer_/status/927979660239081472
-Smyth Casting posted on Twitter yesterday that they are offering to pay people to fill the stands at Impact’s TV tapings in Ottawa, Ontario this week, but now have blocked access to their Twitter account. Read our initial report HERE. As Jason Powell pointed out at ProWrestling.net, Impact Wrestling has not done a good job promoting their five days of TV tapings in Ottawa this week. It’s not mentioned on their website and it’s not something they pushed during the Bound for Glory PPV. From an optics standpoint, this is embarrassing as it sends a message to pro wrestling fans that Impact is literally paying people to watch their live events. That said, giving away free tickets has been done for decades to help fill stands for TV tapings, and many TV events offered admission free for studio tapings. Still, paying people $12.50 per hour to watch a pro wrestling event and pretend to be fans (as also occurred at their India tapings earlier this year) is embarrassing from a p.r. standpoint compared to bragging about selling out a show because enough people in Ottawa want to watch the product. Five straight days of TV tapings, though, is difficult to handle, especially in a new market. WWE, for instance, tapped off the entire upper level of the Smackdown tapings today and it’s among the lowest attended WWE events in the U.K., according to early reports. Since yesterday, @smythcasting has locked their Twitter account and only allow approved Twitter followers to see their posts. The call for “cast members” was public as of yesterday.
-If you attend Impact’s TV tapings this week, we are definitely looking for correspondents to send us results: pwtorch@pwtorch.com.
-Impact Pro Wrestling is celebrating 20 years on Nov. 11 at The Locker Room Bar & Grill in Algona, Iowa. There will be many guest appearances from wrestlers who have wrestled for IPW over the last two decades. There will also be an afterparty. Doors open at 6:30, tickets are just $10 for adults, $5 for kids. More info HERE. Austin Aries appeared their show on Nov. 4, his first appearance since leaving WWE.
CHECK OUT THIS RECNT UPDATE: Nick Aldis (Magnus) challenging Tim Storm for NWA World Championship this Sunday, watch Billy Corgan & Dave Lagana produced video preview
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