"Mean" Gene Okerlund

I am so saddened to hear of the passing of "Mean" Gene Okerlund.  He was the consistent voice of wrestling for me from my childhood watching WWF on the weekends, and on into college until WCW closed its doors in 2001.  Announcers and wrestlers came and went, but Gene Okerlund was always there.

His interviews were legendary.  Watching him stand next to legends like Andre The Giant, "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan, just to name a few.  Mean Gene was the consummate professional and was able to get the best out of anyone he interviewed.

Kurt Angle said it best, "Very seldom does an interviewer become just as popular, and at times even more popular than the superstars he/she interviews. Gene Okerlund was that person."

My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.  He was 76 years old.

BJ Whitmer Reportedly Headed To All Elite Wrestling

BJ Whitmer recently left Ring of Honor, a company he had been with for the majority of his career. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Whitmer is expected to join All Elite Wrestling in 2019.

“Whitmer did a little bit of everything behind the scenes,” Dave Meltzer wrote. “Helping produce matches, was part of the booking team, trained wrestlers, did commentary at times, ran the Gorilla position and at some points was Bernard the Business Bear. He’s expected to be headed to AEW in a similar role.”

Tyson Smith previously reported that Whitmer left Ring of Honor this month amidst frustrations with the promotion. Whitmer was frustrated when ROH wouldn’t let him accept an invitation to be a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center. Instead, ROH asked him to sign a non-compete agreement after being informed of his invitation to WWE’s developmental facility.

Whitmer is reported to have sent an email to all ROH employees prior to leaving.

“In leaving ROH, I want to say thank you and it’s been a pleasure working with all of you,” Whitmer wrote. “I wish everyone nothing but the best and I’m certain I’ll cross paths with most of you again.”

All Elite Wrestling Files For New Trademark

The LLC “All Elite Wrestling” has filed for a new trademark. The trademarked term appears to be for a potential charity wrestling event. Both the term “Fight For The Fallen” and an accompanying logo were filed on Friday.

Previously filed trademarks for All Elite Wrestling also include:

All Elite Wrestling and AEW

Tuesday Night Dynamite

AEW Double Or Nothing

AEW All Out

One of the bigger questions surrounding the newly formed LLC is if wrestlers from the Elite will be permitted to perform for both NJPW and a new wrestling promotion based in the United States that isn’t Ring of Honor.

“Obviously, both AEW and ROH will want a business relationship with New Japan,” Dave Meltzer wrote recently in the Wrestling Observer.

“New Japan has blocked its talent from working for Impact, even though Don Callis is an announcer for New Japan, because of the ROH relationship,” he continued. “They have not blocked people from working for MLW.”

As it stands now, several members of the Elite have matches scheduled at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Kenny Omega will face Hiroshi Tanahashi, the Young Bucks will be in a 3-way for the heavyweight tag titles, and Cody will face Juice Robinson.

BJ Whitmer Departs ROH Amidst Frustrations With Company

BJ Whitmer is no longer with Ring of Honor. The 40-year-old tendered his resignation earlier this week. According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, Whitmer was unhappy with the company, leading to his departure.

“We’re told BJ had been unhappy with management for months and that was his reasoning for quitting,” wrote Ryan Satin.

According to PW Insider, Whitmer sent an email to ROH employees which was critical of the company. He said he had been treated with “utter disrespect” by ROH in the email. The report from PW Insider would continue to say an incident involving a WWE PC guest-coaching spot may have been the catalyst for these events. ROH evidently would not let Whitmer accept a guest-coaching spot with WWE. Such temporary positions are often offered to industry veterans for a few days at the Performance Center in Orlando.

“In leaving ROH, I want to say thank you and it’s been a pleasure working with all of you,” Whitmer wrote to ROH employees. “I wish everyone nothing but the best and I’m certain I’ll cross paths with most of you again.”

ROH has declined comment on the matter.

The Elite Bids Farewell To Ring Of Honor After Final Battle

Members of The Elite bid farewell to Ring of Honor after the conclusion of Friday night’s Final Battle pay-per-view from New York City.

The Young Bucks, Cody, Hangman Page and S.C.U. (Christopher Daniels, Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) were all in action on the card. All of them are rumored to be departing Ring of Honor and all of them lost their matches Friday night. You can check out our full breakdown of the Final Battle pay-per-view here. The main event saw the Briscoe Brothers defeat the Young Bucks and S.C.U. in a Ladder War to capture the ROH world tag team championships for the 10th time.

After the show went off the air, The Elite hit the ring to address the live crowd. Matt Jackson thanked everyone for their support and said the Manhattan Center is their favorite venue to wrestle in. Fans chanted, “January 1st” in reference to The Elite teasing a major announcement regarding their future after the new year.

Jackson said this was not going to be some emotional farewell speech or anything like that, which brought on more supportive chants. The Young Bucks started in Ring of Honor 10 years ago and this past 2-year run as best the best time of their lives. They thanked Ring of Honor executives and their families for joining them each step of their journey.

Matt Jackson then asked, “We’re all elite, right?” He said “the timer is ticking” and something big is about to go down. He encouraged everyone to stay tuned and keep watching their Youtube series, Being the Elite, for details on their next moves.

Fans chanted “Double or Nothing” as The Elite signed off and promised they will return to New York City again.

Update On The Evolving Landscape Headed Into 2019

As we head into 2019, there are plenty of unanswered questions surrounding what the pro-wrestling landscape will look like in the new year. One of the most burning questions is where will members of the Elite end up?

Cody, the Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and eventually Marty Scurll (he’s under contract to ROH until the spring) are expected to form the nucleus of the All Elite Wrestling. Still, many members of the Elite are hoping to continue working with New Japan Pro Wrestling next year.

What could possibly prevent the Elite from returning to NJPW, is the promotion’s approach to talent-sharing deals. This issue was addressed in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“Obviously, both AEW and ROH will want a business relationship with New Japan,” Meltzer wrote. He would continue to say every promotion in the United States would like to have such a relationship.

“New Japan has blocked its talent from working for Impact, even though Don Callis is an announcer for New Japan, because of the ROH relationship,” he continued. “They have not blocked people from working for MLW.”

The question then becomes whether NJPW will allow their talent to work for All Elite Wrestling as they do for MLW or if they will block them from doing so, as they have done with Impact Wrestling.

A possible sign the Young Bucks could be staying occurred this week, however. The popular tag-team announced they are finally being flown first-class to Japan for NJPW shows. This was something the brothers had complained about on their YouTube series in recent weeks.

“New Japan could work with both AEW and ROH,” Meltzer concluded. “The ball really is in their court.”

We expect to hear some big announcements out of the Elite camp after New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 13 event on January 4th.

Dynamite Kid

 

One of the legendary wrestlers from the 1980's passed away today, "The Dynamite Kid" Tom Billington.

Billington gained notority teaming with his cousin, Davey Boy Smith as the tag team The British Bulldogs in WWF.  They won the WWF Tag Team Championship once, defeating Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake at Wrestlemania II.

Before joining the WWF, Billington wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.  He was active in the Junior Heavyweight division and had legendary matches with Tatsumi Fujinami and the original Tiger Mask.  He won the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship in Febuary 1984 while NJPW had a working relationship with WWF.  He defeated The Cobra in a tournament.  He vacated the title on November 6, 1984 when he left NJPW to return to WWF full time.

The British Bulldogs were a prominant tag team when I first started watching wrestling in the mid 1980's.  I used to love watching them because they had the bulldog, Matlida, and thought it was cool that they would bring their dog to the ring.  I loved to watch Billington wrestle because of how technically solid he was in the ring and how he flew with off the top rope and delivered the swandive headbutt.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.  He was 60 years old.