Tag: Jim Valley

A medical update on Jim Valley

Posted on by F4W Staff

Some of you may have been wondering where Jim Valley, co-host of Wrestling Observer Live, the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast, and the Portland WrestleCast on this website, has been as of late.

His wife, Kari, gave us the following update.

“Jim has a rare autoimmune disease called GPA (formerly known as Wegener’s) and while it has been in remission for about 6+ years, he is having a flare-up. He got laryngitis in July but it manifested into pneumonia which we didn’t know until last week. He has a fantastic team working with him, one step at a time.”

Jim is currently in the ICU and we want to send him and Kari our best. You can send your get well wishes and tweets of encouragement to him on Twitter.

We look forward to hearing Jim back on our airwaves as soon as he recovers.

WOL: The championship curse in WWE

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Saturday edition of Wrestling Observer Live is back.

New WWE Women’s tag team champions were crowned on SmackDown Friday in Bayley and Sasha Banks. While Bayley is a dominant singles champion and there are many stories to tell with she and Banks as tag champions, she’s the exception when it comes to titleholders in WWE.

More often than not, WWE champions lose non-title matches and momentum to set up hotter challengers. Then, the challenger wins the title only to start losing matches and fan interest in an endless cycle. Instead of boosting a career, winning a title in WWE is often one of the worst things that can happen to a talent.

Plus, the John Hughes movies parallels continued Friday as Braun Strowman is Home Alone with Miz and Morrison. Plus, I talk about Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Cody and blood, and what to do about the WWE Network. 

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Left My Wallet: Jim Valley on Batman, TV shows & all-time wrestling greats

Posted on by Antonio Garza

‘Left My Wallet’ is back for a special Easter edition with our very own JIm Valley, host of the Portland Wrestlecast, co-host of the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast, and fill-in co-host on Wrestling Observer Radio.

However, we start with his love of Batman and growing up with reruns of the 1966 TV series, the movies, our thoughts on Michael Keaton playing the role, and what was his favorite version of the caped crusader.

We then flip to talking about classic TV shows, Mego toys, an underappreciated museum in L.A., and under the radar shows from the past.

Then, the talk turns to wrestling as we make our cases for who could be considered the all-time greatest professional wrestler. It’s a fascinating conversation that brings up a few surprising names that we make our cases for. Then, we talk about a few potential Observer hall of fame candidates from the modern era who should be looked at a little more closely in coming years. 

This was easily one of my favorite and most fun shows I have done and talking with Jim about all these different topics put a smile on my face during these trying times. Take a listen to a great show that hopefully makes you laugh and smile, too.

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WOL: A deep dive into pro wrestling video games

Posted on by Jim Valley

A pre-taped edition of SmackDown Friday didn’t update the Roman Reigns situation or that Braun Strowman is Goldberg’s new opponent at WrestleMania, so we’re talking wrestling video games on the Saturday edition of Wrestling Observer Live.

As both a longtime wrestling fan and gamer, I have been playing wrestling video games nearly since their beginning. We talk about everything from Tag Team Wrestling in the arcades, Pro Wrestling on the NES, WWF Royal Rumble on both the SNES and Sega Genesis, WWF No Mercy, WWF Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain, WWF Day of Reckoning, the WWE 2K series, and Fire Pro Wrestling World.

We take your calls and tweets on WWF WrestleMania 2000, WWF WrestleFest, WCW Superbrawl, WCW vs NWO World Tour. and some very obscure games like FMW and Antonio Inoki. I also tell you my all-time favorite game, a choice that isn’t very common. 

Joining me is Patrick Davis, a video game documentarian who put together this look at WWF WrestleFest.

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WOL: Lacey Evans loves the fans while Seth Rollins does not

Posted on by Jim Valley

On Wrestling Observer Live Saturday, we look at the results from the NWA Hard Times PPV, the title changes, use of veterans and the outstanding young talent.

From there, we look at Saturday’s WWE Worlds Collide event, why it’s not generating a lot fan interest, and the possible outcomes for for Sunday’s Royal Rumble.

Highlights from Smackdown on Fox include Miz and Morrison, the contract signing between The Fiend and Daniel Bryan, and the push of Lacey Evans continues with a one-on-one interview with Michael Cole. With criticism that Lacey isn’t a strong enough wrestler, I talk about why her ability level right now isn’t that important.

Finally, in a baffling interview in a San Antonio newspaper, Seth Rollins says the audience looks for things to pick apart and that’s why the hardest job is being a babyface. Looking at the successes of the Jericho Cruise, Wrestle Kingdom and AEW, is it really?

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Portland Wrestlecast: Don Owen and the WON HOF, Carl Styles part two

Posted on by Jim Valley

**Editor’s Note: This is a free show. Just click the red button below to listen.

On this week’s Portland Wrestlecast, I look at how longtime Portland booker Don Owen came within just two votes from being inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame. I’m still shocked, but we have to talk about the 2019 “campaign” that was anything but and what to do next year to get him inducted.

We then transition to part two of my interview with Carl Styles, the centerpiece of some very entertaining booking by Len Denton and Roddy Piper that wasn’t what Portland fans were used to back in 1989.

We talk about Piper, The Grappler, “Beetlegeuse” Art Barr, and Billy Jack Haynes who had returned to Owen and Portland Wrestling after his short-lived Oregon Wrestling Federation went out of business. The booking in Portland had changed and Styles was right in the middle of it. You can also help Styles pay for some medical bills via his GoFundMe page.

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Pacific Rim: New Japan vs. UWFI, 24 years later

Posted on by Jim Valley

October 9th is a very special anniversary in Japanese pro wrestling history: the date of the very famous 1995 NJPW vs UWFI card in the Tokyo Dome headlined by Keiji Muto vs. Nobuhiko Takada.

On this week’s Pacific Rim, wrestling journalist and historian Fumi Saito talks about the history behind one of the most famous cards ever.

Following the reaction by fans in the arena to the main event of WWE’s Hell in a Cell, we also look at the history of fan riots in Japan. (You might be surprised to hear that the first one dates back to 1962.)

Last week was big for wrestling in the U.S. so Fumi and I give our thoughts on Raw, AEW, SmackDown, and our difference of opinion on HIAC. We also talk about rumors surrounding NJPW’s Harold Meij and Minoru Suzuki and the reasons those rumors are extremely unlikely. 

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Portland Wrestlecast: Remembering The Royal Kangaroos

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Royal Kangaroos (the late Norman Frederick Charles III and Jonathan Boyd) were one of the most dominant tag teams in Portland Wrestling history, dominating the Pacific Northwest in the early 1970s.

In this week’s Portland Wrestlecast, we talk to photographer Lloyd N. Phillips, who was in high school when he picked up photography as a hobby. After taking pictures at the matches, he befriended the Kangaroos and took promo shots for them with some even making it into wrestling magazines.

We talk about Charles, Boyd, Tony Borne, Lonnie Mayne, Beauregard, Sandy Barr and other Portland Wrestling stars of the late 60s and early 70s. There’s even a funny story of what Barr did to protect his promo picture business from the teen photographer Barr thought was trying to cost him money.

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Portland Wrestlecast: Mike Rodgers on 30 years of Pacific Northwest history

Posted on by Jim Valley

Fresh off last week’s Cauliflower Alley Club reunion in Las Vegas, I talk with this year’s recipient of the James Melby Award, Mike Rodgers.

The Melby goes to the pre-eminent journalists in wrestling and our Dave Meltzer won it two years ago. For 30 years, Mike wrote “Ring Around the Northwest”, a wrestling newsletter focused on the Pacific Northwest. 

In this week’s episode of the Wrestlecast, Mike and I talk about his early fandom in the 60s and wrestlers like Lonnie Mayne and “Tough” Tony Borne, including their famous match at the the Portland Memorial Coliseum that drew 8,000 fans. We move onto the 1970s and talk about Beauregard, The Claw, Bull Ramos, Jesse Ventura, Gino Hernandez and the debut of “Playboy” Buddy Rose.

From there, we talk about Portland stars in the 1980s and 90s like Billy Jack, Rip Oliver, The Grappler and much more.

We cover lots of history and great memories in this episode. 

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WOR: New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 13 recap from Tokyo

Posted on by Jim Valley

On a special edition of Wrestling Observer Radio from Tokyo, Japan, Dave Meltzer, Fumi Saito, and Jim Valley recap Wrestle Kingdom 13, an epic show with incredible matches, and talk about the future for New Japan, AEW, ROH and key pro wrestlers. 

The show featured seven title changes and incredible performances up and down the card from Will Ospreay’s opening match win over Kota Ibushi to Sanada, Okada, Chris Jericho, and Naito. Plus, we saw an incredible main event as Tanahashi proved why he’s “The Ace” in beating Kenny Omega in one of the best main events in the history of the Tokyo Dome.

Fumi was backstage and has news on the everything that happened after the matches. 

We also look at New Japan’s plans for the G1 Climax, and talk about the biggest announcement: two Tokyo Dome Shows back to back on January 4th and 5th of 2020. 

Timestamps:
Start – 7:38: Wrestle Kingdom 13 thoughts. Post-show happenings
7:38 – 37:12: Wrestle Kingdom 13 rundown
37:12 – 43:42: More on AEW
43:42 – 46:00: Kenny Omega’s future
46:00 – 53:20: New Japan’s schedule for next year
53:20 – end: Dave’s week in Japan, New Year’s Dash, other thoughts on WK

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Portland Wrestlecast: Mike Masters/Rocky Jones on the Buddy Rose Army

Posted on by Jim Valley

On a new edition of the Portland WrestleCast, let’s go back to 1981 and one of the key players during that time: Mike Masters, aka Rocky Jones.

Trained by Johnny Rodz, Masters became a member of Buddy Rose’s Army, the top heel faction in the Portland territory at the time. In this interview, he talks about living at The Bomber, the differences between Don and Elton Owen, a riot in Salem, Oregon, his eyewitness account of Buddy Rose assaulting a young fan at a convenience store, and much more.

If you’re new, this is my weekly podcast on wrestling in the Portland, OR, territory. Check out last week’s debut and if you’re a subscriber to the site, you can subscribe via RSS here. 

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