Rhino, Bob Ryder to be inducted into TNA Hall of Fame

Posted on October 17, 2024October 17, 2024 by Joseph Currier

Two new inductees will be enshrined into the TNA Wrestling Hall of Fame over Bound for Glory weekend.

In his hometown of Detroit, Rhino will be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory 2024. The late Bob Ryder — who was one of the co-founders of TNA — is also being inducted. Their inductions will take place during the Bound for Glory pre-show on Saturday, October 26.

The 49-year-old Rhino, a former star for ECW and WWE, has spent multiple stints in TNA/Impact and still competes for the promotion to this day. He held the NWA World Championship in 2005 while with the promotion and is a former Impact Tag Team Champion.

Ryder co-founded TNA with Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett and remained with the promotion working behind the scenes until his death in 2020. TNA wrestler Eric Young will accept Ryder’s induction on behalf of his late friend.

Before helping start TNA, Ryder was a wrestling journalist and worked for WCW. Director of Travel Operations was among the job titles he held in TNA.

Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit is hosting Bound for Glory on October 26. TNA is also holding a post-PPV television taping there the next day.

The TNA Hall of Fame was first introduced in 2012. Here’s the complete list of inductees:

2012: Sting
2013: Kurt Angle
2014: Team 3D (Bully Ray & D-Von)
2015: Jeff Jarrett, Earl Hebner
2016: Gail Kim
2018: Abyss
2020: Ken Shamrock
2021: Awesome Kong
2022: Raven
2023: Mike Tenay & Don West, Traci Brooks
2024: Rhino, Bob Ryder

November 30, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Undertaker retirement, Survivor Series, more

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Dave Meltzer

After months of videos and interviews insisting that he’s retired–probably–almost surely, Mark “The Undertaker” Calaway did what was billed as his final appearance at a wrestling show as the main event of Survivor Series, the same show where he debuted the character 30 years earlier.

The timing was fitting, the situation anything but. It made for a nice story to do so on the 30th anniversary, but there was no pressure to do it at any time and this could have been saved for another show–with fans. Plus, it can’t possibly be the farewell, since he’s likely going to main event the next class, or one thereafter, of the Hall of Fame. As symbolic as Survivor Series is to his story, it is nowhere close to WrestleMania, where the streak made him, even more than Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels, the enduring figure of the biggest shows in wrestling history.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Daily Update: Sasha Banks, Bob Ryder, WWE notes

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Bryan Rose

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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

This week’s guests on The Bump include JBL, Liv Morgan, Peyton Royce, and Dana Brooke.
The company has named Karen Mullane as Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. She will report directly to Chief Financial Officer Kristina Salen. She previously worked for Etsy.
PWInsider is reporting that Brian Kendrick has been working as a producer for NXT recently.
WWE Shop has new Shotzi Blackheart and Damian Priest t-shirts.
Today’s free matches added to YouTube include Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam from the November 25, 2002 episode of Raw and AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong from the 2019 Survivor Series.
Trish Stratus will appear on the holiday TV movie ‘Christmas in the Rockies’, which will air on Thanksgiving on FOX Nation. It will air on Citytv next month in Canada.
Pete Dunne talked to Sports Illustrated on being in the best shape of his life, as well as his return to NXT.
Dana Brooke has signed with the First Round Management agency.
Forbes has an article on Rajan Mehta, WWE’s chief product and technology officer.
Sasha Banks spoke to Comicbook on her appearance in ‘The Mandalorian’. She also held interviews with TV Guide, The Hollywood Reporter, and Inverse on her role.
The Bella Twins appeared on the Tamron Hall show to talk about their potential return to a WWE ring.
NXT North American champion Leon Ruff spoke to Stephanie Chase on winning the title, X-Pac’s influence on his career, and being a smaller wrestler.

Other Wrestling

Impact Wrestling executives Ed Nordholm and Scott D’Amore issued a statement on the passing of Bob Ryder. Ryder was found dead in his home this morning following a bad fall the day prior. He had been going through intense chemotherapy treating cancer.
Lance Storm is now offering SWA Virtual Wrestling Training/Coaching via Zoom. Information can be found at: http://academy.stormwrestling.com/index1.html or contact him at [email protected]
Chris Jericho has launched his new Painmaker clothing line.
VGC has an interview with Yukes senior vice president and producer Hiromi Furuta, who talked about the upcoming AEW video game.
Tony Khan talked to CBR, comparing AEW to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “One of the great things [Marvel does] is they really care about what their audience wants, and they go out of their way to hear their fans,” Khan told CBR. “And I think that’s what I try to do with AEW and we all have made our mission with AEW is to give a wrestling show that was giving the fans what they were missing in wrestling. I think we’ve carved out a great space for ourselves, similar to Marvel.”
The Rock posted a picture on the set of Young Rock, where Brett Azar will play the role of The Iron Sheik.
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett talk about Bennett’s return to Ring of Honor.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WWF Survivor Series 1992

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Impact Wrestling’s Bob Ryder passes away

Posted on November 25, 2020 by Dave Meltzer

Bob Ryder, who was one of the founders of TNA Wrestling and still worked for Impact Wrestling more than 18 years later, was found dead today by police at his home in Nashville.

Ryder, who has battled cancer for years, had not attended a live show in a long time due to intense chemotherapy.

Ryder suffered a fall yesterday and was unable to get up, but apparently texted people that he was okay. But after that, no phone calls or text messages to him were answered. The company sent someone who knew him to his home and knocked on the door and got no response. They then called police and found that he had passed away.

Ryder was a pioneer of websites with 1wrestling.com in the 90s, and did web radio and worked for WCW where he was close with Eric Bischoff. After the folding of the company in 2001, Ryder and Jeff Jarrett, who were not hired by WWF, convinced Jerry Jarrett to start TNA Wrestling with the idea of it being a PPV-exclusive promotion.

The initial idea didn’t work and both Jarretts were close to filing for bankruptcy when Dixie Carter, who they had hired as their publicity director, informed them she was from a wealthy family and got her father to buy the promotion. Eventually the company was sold to Anthem Entertainment.

Ryder worked handling the travel along with numerous other duties for the company.