Sometimes, all a show needs to be great is to put two awesome wrestlers in the ring and get out of the way.
That’s what happened in Mid-South Wrestling in 1984 when Adrian Street defended his Television Championship Medal against Bill Dundee.
On a new Big Vinny V Show, Vince Verhei breaks down what made the match so special and what modern wrestlers can learn from it.
Elsewhere, Ernie Ladd celebrates his North American championship victory; the Italian Stallion battles Steve Williams and, more importantly, reveals his real name; Hercules Hernandez faces Thomas Ivy; Ted DiBiase squares off against Master G; and Magnum TA battles the Missing Link.
It’s a one-match show, but what a match that was. Come join the fun on the Big Vinny V Show!
The Bryan & Vinny & Craig & Granny Show is back with tons to talk about including our weekly chat with Granny, your precognitive dreams, her wrestling and soap opera reports, trivia contest, and more. Then the boys review Mid-South Wrestling S6:E35 with ADRIAN STREET and more. A fun show as always so chEGG it out.
On this week’s DragonKing Karl Classic Wrestling Show, I introduce my 1000 Hours series which looks at the pioneer era which describes wrestling prior to the Frank Gotch era around the year 1900. This series looks to uncover the lost origins and evolution of modern entertainment style of pro wrestling.
Famous names among the pioneer era include Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famers William Muldoon, Evan “Strangler” Lewis, and Col. James H. McLaughlin, as well as pioneers of the sport like John McMahon, Jack Carkeek, H.M. Dufur, and more.
On this week’s show, we focus on the life and career of the aforementioned John McMahon. Was he related to the later McMahons? How did he compare to contemporaries like Muldoon and McLaughlin?
Also, as an added segment, I talk about the recent death of Adrian Street.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the death of Adrian Street, All In on PPV, AEW and NXT previews for the week, ratings, the RAW report and the NXT Great American Bash PPV report, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Death of Adrian Street
23:39: All In to air on PPV, AEW Dynamite lineup
29:32: Rey Mysterio update, WWE heading to India in September
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
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Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering last night’s Great American Bash, tonight’s Raw, the AEW PPV, Adrian Street, this weekend’s crazy schedule and more.
Very sorry to hear about the death of Adrian Street today. He came to the U.S. later in his career after being a legendary figure on the British scene, but due to running opposition and promoting and being part of it, he was having a hard time getting booked in the U.K. He was very shocking for that era but in time people appreciated just how good he was with his gimmick that had many copiers but none who did it as well. The wrestlers who came from the U.K. considered him one of their real legendary characters and he was very well liked by most in the U.S. as well. He used to attend lots of wrestler reunions and even got married in conjunction with the Cauliflower Alley Club banquet in 2005, with his hero, Don Leo Jonathan, as his best man. We’ll have a story on him in this week’s issue as well as talk more about him tonight.
Brandon Thurston confirmed that DirecTV will be carrying the All In PPV. inDemand is as well so all the major cable companies will be carrying it like a normal show. They are listing a $50 price tag. None of this has been made official to the public but officials with DirecTV confirmed it to Thurston and those within companies have confirmed the inDemand carrying it to us. Nor have any of the companies advertised the show to the public. It is possible something else could pop up and that’s why even at this late date neither AEW nor the companies have released information. It will also be available at this point on Bleacher Report. We have had people internally check on the idea of a bundle where you get All In and All Out at a discounted price and there is nothing anyone can find that is offering that. That doesn’t mean necessarily something won’t be added, just that within major companies there is nothing on the docket internally right now.
Raw is tonight in Houston. It’s been basically sold out for a long time with more than 12,900 fans as of this morning. It’s the SummerSlam go-home show. As we noted yesterday, no Drew McIntyre, but both Brock Lesnar and Logan Paul will be on the show. The only matches are Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins and Valhalla vs. Maxxine Dupri.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s show, which would be Main Event matches and anything else not on the live show to [email protected]
We are also doing a weekend poll on the Great American Bash show, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, plus a best and worst match to [email protected]
The Cody Rhodes documentary on Peacock debuted today. We’re looking for your thoughts on that as well.
Muhammad Ali has been added to the WWE video game.
Survivor Series in Chicago on 11/25 is sold out and the Smackdown the night before is close to sold out and will be well ahead of time.
People have been raving about the Mascara Dorada 2.0 vs. Rocky Romero Leyenda de Plata finals that headlined Friday night’s show at Arena Mexico. CMLL also gave fans beach balls to bounce around between matches at the show which is so unlike CMLL, which is the most traditional old school promotion around.
Dark Side of the Ring tomorrow night has an episode about the 2000 Bash at the Beach PPV which will largely consist of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo telling totally opposite stories about the same thing. Myself and Jeff Jarrett are also featured on that episode.
Derrick Lewis, who is a free agent, said he’s looking to sign with UFC. A lot of people had pegged him as a potential PPV opponent for Francis Ngannou in PFL.
NXT will have Lyra Valkyria vs. Jacy Jayne, Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak and a Schism interrogation segment to try and find out who the masked followers are that screwed them (Creeds) on tomorrow’s show.
G-1 continues in Takamatsu at 6 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow:
Hikuleo (2-3) vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (2-1-2)
Yoshi-Hashi (2-3) vs. Great O’Khan (1-4)
Ren Narita (0-3-2) vs. Chase Owens (2-3)
Taichi (3-2) vs. El Phantasmo (2-3)
Sanada (5-0) vs. Gabe Kidd (2-1-2)
Will Ospreay (4-1) vs. Tanga Loa (2-3)
Shota Umino (2-1-2) vs. Yota Tsuji (1-3-1)
Kazuchika Okada (4-1) vs. KENTA (2-3)
The C&D block return on Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m. from Hiroshima
John Cena is part of the No. 1 movie in the country, with his role in Barbie, and the No. 1 streaming movie in Netflix, “Hidden Strike,” with Jackie Chan.
Women of Wrestling is taping 8/2 to 8/4 and again 8/16 to 8/18 for upcoming episodes at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles.
The wrestling world has lost a legend and a trailblazer.
Adrian Street has passed away. His family confirmed to the BBC that the 82-year-old died at Cwmbran’s Grange University Hospital in South Wales on Monday. He had been recovering from recent brain surgery.
Street’s wife Linda, also his longtime manager known as Miss Linda, spoke about her husband’s recent health issues.
“He’d had a heart problem a while ago which was resolved,” she said.
“But then he had a stroke earlier this month which resulted in a bleed on the brain.”
“He was recovering from that at home when he developed colitis – a chronic inflammatory bowel disease – which later turned into sepsis. That’s what killed him.”
“It all came about so quick. I’ve still not come to terms with it yet.”
A genre-bending pioneer whose larger-than-life presence and ruthlessness between the ropes changed the wrestling world forever. Honored to have called Adrian Street a friend.
My thoughts are with Miss Linda and the family, friends and fans of Adrian Street. pic.twitter.com/fQrbWPem8p
Linda continued to pay tribute to her husband, referring to him as “the kindest, most lovely and loving man I’ve ever known. The total opposite to how he behaved on stage.”
She plans to have Street cremated and will spread his ashes on the mountains near the couple’s home in Cwmbran.
“He loved the outdoors and we’d go on long walks in the countryside all the time. He’d really be at peace up there,” Linda said.
We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Adrian Street.
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) July 31, 2023
Street was born in Brynmawr, Wales, on December 5, 1940. He was the son of a pit worker, who Street would later say laughed at his plans to become a pro-wrestler. He ran away to London as a teenager and started his career as Kid Tarzan Jonathan. He’d later adopt the “Exotic” Adrian Street persona, completing the look with a feather boa, face paint, and pigtails. Street would rile up crowds by planting a big kiss on his opponent’s forehead, leaving behind a mark made from his lipstick.
So sad to hear about the passing of the great Adrian Street.
A true pioneer and a trailblazer. Was honoured for him to be front row when we became the First Welsh champs in WWE.
— Flash Morgan Webster (@Flash_Morgan) July 31, 2023
Street didn’t begin his North American career until he was already in his forties. He spent the 1980s wrestling for various territories including Mid-South and Continental Championship Wrestling. He later opened Skull Krushers Wrestling School in Florida until it was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. Street and Linda would move back to Wales shortly after.
WWE is saddened to learn that Adrian Street has passed away.
Street was voted “Best Gimmick” in the 1986 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards. He was honored with Cauliflower Alley Club’s Gulf Coast/GAC Honoree Award in 2005 as well.
The documentary “Adrian Street: Imagine What I Could Do To You” was released on the WWE Network in 2019.
This week, I am taking a break from our regular rotation of classic wrestling podcasts to take a look back at one of the worst pro wrestling movies ever: 1985’s Grunt: The Pro Wrestling Movie.
This abomination of a film is not only bad by movie standards,but is terrible by pro wrestling standards. The film features several pro wrestlers in roles as, well, wrestlers including Adrian Street, Dick Murdoch, the unmasked Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer, Chavo Guerrero (as a Georgia babyface), Danny Spivey, Steve DiSalvo, and others.
Join me on this week’s DragonKingKarl and bring your popcorn, because we’re going to the movies.
The most in-depth look at WWE business is the focal point of this week’s double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE set an all-time record for profits even while having no revenue from arena shows or live event merchandise. We go through the key places the cost savings came from and how reliant the company is now on television money. We also have notes on investors grilling Vince McMahon about the declining ratings and the firing of Paul Heyman and his responses.
The new issue also covers:
Huge growth in June of the WWE Network, the reasons it happened, and whether or not it’s sustainable. We give a realistic reason for the growth as well as a WWE-speak version. We look at the change in marketing strategy and the early returns from this change; We look at where analysts were wrong about profitability, how the stock price rose, and why the rising level wasn’t that much because of many analysts long-term concern and why.
The difference in tax rate, current market value of the company, why the big talent cuts played no part in these profits and how the profits should go once that talent that was let go is no longer being paid.
What the company is now talking about doing with all the extra cash on hand because the pandemic greatly helped short-term business.
Where the stock price really should be based on the sure-fire profits through 2024, and why it’s still much lower. We also look at the Raw and Smackdown numbers for quarter two, how they compare to last year, and break through just the numbers to look at the impact of wrestling on the USA Network both last year and this year.
More changes in the WWE Network strategy, updates on WrestleMania in Los Angeles, how soon Vince McMahon thinks before ratings turn around, building new stars, Vince’s reason why AEW numbers are holding up better than Raw or Smackdown, safety measures, and even the WWE Hall of Fame.
The health of Antonio Inoki and look at his disease.
The merger of several Japanese companies and what it really means.
We also look at long-term WWE stock analysis.
Update on Rey Mysterio and WWE, WWE hires a new major executive from NBC, Update on people furloughed, departure of Kairi Sane, constant booking plan changes, Randy Orton talks philosophy of wrestling, Lance Storm talks his own status, Xavier Woods wants non-wrestling gig, Kurt Angle talks his retirement, where wrestlnig stands in sports ratings, update on U.K. ratings, strange Bruce Prichard/Nick Aldis story, return of Kyle O’Reilly as well as the most watched shows on the WWE Network.
A feature on Regis Philbin and his long association with pro wrestling. We look at where it started, where it didn’t take place, how Philbin started using WWF talent and what segment nearly ended it.
New Japan’s Sengoku Lord show with match-by-match coverage, business notes, poll results and star ratigns. We also look at the history of pro wrestling at Jingu Stadium, why New Japan booked a stadium show with such little advance time, the creation of the new KOPW title, and the famous world champion vs world champion match at the stadium in 1994.
This past week’s UFC show, the final event of the Abu Dhabi Fight Island series.
The career of Zoltan Boscik, one of the great technical wrestlers of the 60s and 70s and a television regular. Despite being less than 150 pounds and having nothing of an impressive look, Boscik was a two-time British lightweight champion and a regular world title contender.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking all of the stuff from Raw, which will be a lot, as well as XFL, TNT moving Dynamite several weeks in August and September and the rest of the news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
Shane McMahon returns tonight for Raw and will announce some changes as well as there will be the announcement of a new faction. This may actually be multiple factions as we were told it was a return of the 90s mentality of factions. It will not be the return of the Nation of Domination as that was last week’s idea that was ditched. Ric Flair is there and the angle everyone could see coming involving him is likely to happen on tonight’s show, if not next week’s show, which is also being taped tonight.
Announced for tonight’s show besides Shane, the new faction, and Apollo Crews vs. MVP for the U.S. title (which is good news because it means Crews no longer has COVID-19), they’ve announced Asuka looking for revenge on Bayley and Sasha Banks and Drew McIntyre cuts a promo on Randy Orton. Obviously Flair and Orton also have an angle being set up.
The day was described as more chaotic than usual with constant changes for both shows being taped. The only thing that has been on the books as of a few days ago was the return of Shane, because without it, the fear was this would be the lowest rated episode on Raw history, and the Flair angle.
The next two weeks of Smackdown will be taped tomorrow in Orlando.
Regarding stories going around about SummerSlam in the Northeast, the plan right now being talked about was Atlantic City. They had been looking for a location outside of Florida for several weeks.
A movie on the life of Adrian Street will be released tomorrow on a number of video and On Demand platforms. “You May Be Pretty But I Am Beautiful: The Adrian Street Story” has been batted around for years. The documentary features interviews with Adrian Street, Miss Linda, Mick Foley and Stu Bennett. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
WWE
Stock had a big drop from the $48 range to $44.17 today. The drop was based on uncertainty with the ratings which has never been an issue before, but now is a big issue because analysts have brought it up.
My Bookie has XFL odds. Whether they will play in 2021, No is a -500 favorite. In 2022 No is a -220 favorite. 2023 No is a -500 favorite. So they are betting strong this doesn’t get off the ground. They also have -1200 bet where Dwayne Johnson will play in the game. I can’t imagine even the remotest possibility of this happening.
UFC
Pro wrestler Eric Spicely was cut today after he missed the weekend fight with Markus Perez. Spicely said he struggled with his weight cut due to taking antidepressants due to head trauma from the Deron Winn fight that he lost. There has been criticism of cutting the guy after admitting depression issues.
UFC Fight Pass this week has Dana White’s Contenders Series at 8 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Actually this is on ESPN+ in the U.S. but Fight Pass outside the U.S.:
Ty Flores vs. Dustin Jacoby
Damnte Robinson vs. Kenneth Cross
Uros Medic vs. Mikey Gonzalez
Luis Rodriguez vs. Jerome Rivera
Jordan Leavitt vs. Luke Flores
XFN airs Friday night on Fight Pass with an eight-man heavyweight kickboxing tournament from Tulsa starting at 9 p.m. Eastern.
AEW
This is the updated Wednesday lineup:
Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin for the AEW title, winner defends against MJF at All Out
Chris Jericho/Orange Cassidy debate with Eric Bischoff
FTR & Young Bucks & Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. Six members of the Dark Order (Brodie Lee & Colt Cabana & four others)
Cody & Matt Cardona vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver
Best Friends vs. Ortiz & Santana
Another MJF promo for All Out
The women’s tag team tournament debuts tonight with Taynara Conti & Anna Jay vs. Nyla Rose & Ariane Andrew at 7 p.m. Eastern on YouTube.
MISCELLANEOUS
Pro Wrestling NOAH has shows tomorrow and Wednesday at Korakuen Hall. The big matches are Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenou for the National title tomorrow and Go Shiozaki vs. Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC title on Wednesday.
New Japan starts its three-night tournament for the Never trios titles on Thursday.
The other of the two opening shows in New Zealand was Valiant Pro on Saturday night in Wellington, NZ. Both that show and IPW in Auckland on Saturday night were sold out as the first shows back since the pandemic started. Valiant Pro results: Cook Guy Sky b Pauly Spitfire, Prestige b Cuz & Axl Stirling, Danny Octane b Will Power, James Shaw b Lance Havoc, Wainui Express won three-way over Manalanche and Corey Cutter & Richard Ryder, Shane Sinclair b Nico Dandy, NIWA b Rufguts. Next show is 9/26 (thanks to Steve Ogilvie)
An update from yesterday. There was a UFC mention this past week in the top searches for the week, as Edmen Shahbazyn had 100,000 searches on Saturday. That was the only combat sports related Google search for the week that cracked the top 20. (thanks to Suju Abraham)
TK Cooper returned to New Zealand and did two weeks of quarantine. He will be on the SPW Southern Rumble show this weekend (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
The Roller Games episode on FS1 last night and FS2 on Saturday night was from the 1990 Alligator pit season as opposed to traditional Roller Games, although it did feature many of the T-Bird stars of the 70s and 80s on the show, such as Darlene Langlois, Debbie Garvey, Randi Whitman, Skinnie Minnie Miller and George Hase. (thanks to Burt Turelli)
The sister of MLW champion Jacob Fatu passed away unexpectedly this past week.
ECWA has been added to the IWTV service. The 1997 Super 8 tournament premiers on Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. Eastern. The Super 8 tournament for this year will air live on 9/19 with Arachdia, Ricky Reyes, Matt Tremont, KTV, Chris Rockwell, Dasher Hatfield, Eric Martin and Vnny Pacificio.
Today is the anniversary of the death of Dutch Savage and would have been the birthday of Apache Bull Ramos. So you can celebrate by watching this slice of life of 1976 Portland
Wrestling, as PBS documentary on that time period called “Savage ” which with all the kayfabe stuff, is still very charming, plus you can see how good Jimmy Snuka and Iron Sheik were when they were younger.
WWE.com notes that the Adrian Street documentary will air before NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff this Saturday instead of after the event. The documentary will be called “Adrian Street: Imagine What I Could Do to You.”
The documentary on Street will be a half-hour long and will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time. The half-hour UK TakeOver pre-show starts at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
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Original —
Adrian Street & Miss Linda will be the subject of the WWE Network’s next documentary.
WWE Network News reported today that “Exotic: The Story of Adrian Street and Miss Linda” will premiere on the WWE Network after NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff next Saturday (August 31).
The special will include footage of Street visiting WWE’s Performance Center in London, England.
The brief description of the documentary is: “British sports-entertainment legend Adrian Street reflects on his life and career in and out of the ring. Join him as he relives his journey to becoming one of the most outlandish and polarizing Superstars in history, and witness his emotional experience coaching at the WWE Performance Center in the United Kingdom.”
Street won “Best Gimmick” in the 1986 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards. He’s from Wales, and next Saturday’s UK TakeOver event is taking place at Motorpoint Arena Cardiff.
UK TakeOver: Cardiff is the second TakeOver special in NXT UK history. A documentary on Nigel McGuinness premiered after NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool in January.
