Tag: jimmy rave

Daily Update: SmackDown, WWE at MSG, Jimmy Rave

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

JOB LISTING: Wikipedia guru

  • Do you have experience writing Wikipedia pages? Please contact Tony Leder at [email protected] for more information.

Latest Free YouTube Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHXzzh3eiQI

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!

WON NEWSLETTER: December 27, 2021 Observer Newsletter: COVID hits pro wrestling again, Corporal Kirchner passes away

In this week’s issue: 

The latest COVID spread through the Delta and Omicon variant leading to new cases that caused delays and changes to the NFL, NHL (which paused its season this past week until after Christmas) and NBA schedule this past week have also involved pro wrestling.

Current subscribers click here to read.

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.

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

Garrett Gonzalez and I will be back Sunday with another Wrestling Observer Radio. With the weekend being slow for wrestling, we’ll probably do a heavy Q&A show. You can send question ideas to Garrett’s twitter for the show.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

The traditional biggest house show of the year, the day after Christmas in Madison Square Garden, has Big E vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens in a cage match for the WWE title, Becky Lynch vs Bianca Belair in a cage match for the Raw women’s title plus the rest of the Raw crew. It’s being pushed as the first time in the history of pro wrestling in MSG that there are two cage matches on the same show. Tampa also has a show that night at the Amalie Arena with Drew McIntyre & New Day vs. Roman Reigns & Usos and Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks in a street fight for the Smackdown women’s title. MSG as of this morning had 5,839 tickets out so unless they get a substantial amount of sales, it would be among the lowest crowds in the modern history of the building for wrestling.

Trish Stratus will be appearing as the host of the Wednesday night show in Toronto.

Smackdown is taped tonight. Results are available in detail in the current issue. The show has a 12 person gauntlet for an IC title shot with Cesaro, Drew Gulak, Mansoor, Sheamus, Shanky, Jinder Mahal, Sami Zayn, Ricochet, Angel, Humberto, Erik and Ivar. Also Paul Heyman does a promo about being fired by Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre & New Day vs. Usos & Madcap Moss in a Christmas street fight which means they pour egg nog on each other and Charlotte Flair vs. Toni Storm for the women’s title. 205 Live tonight has Solo Sikoa vs Ru Feng, Ivy Nile vs. Fallon  Henley and Damon Kemp makes his debut against Andre Chase.  Kemp is former University of Minnesota heavyweight Bobby Steveson, the older brother of Gable Steveson.  People have praised him to me as a very hard worker.

While ONE has lost ridiculous money, they have new money. They just closed a new $150 million round of funding led by the Qatar Investment Authority, basically the government of the country, and Guggenheim Investments. The company did cut losses in 2020 to $47.6 million from $96.3 million in losses in 2019.

AEW has no show tonight. A four-match taped show from Greensboro will air Saturday night at 9 p.m. on TNT with Cody Rhodes vs  Sammy Guevara and the TNT title at stake, Leyla Hirsch vs. Kris Statlander, Hook vs Bear Bronson and Jungle Boy vs. Isaiah Kassidy.

There is also no CMLL show tonight at Arena Mexico, with the big weekly show being tomorrow night with Mistico vs. Averno. The NWA middleweight world title, which dates back to 1939, is now just being called the Historic middleweight title.  

There will be a memorial service for Jimmy Rave (real name James Guffey) on 2/6 at the Lakepoint Sports Champion Center at 261 Stars Way, Cartersville, GA 3011 from 1-5 p.m. The period from 2-5 p.m.will be open to the public.

As noted in the Observer but now officially announced by AAA, FTR will return to Mexico to defend the AAA tag titles against Fenix & Pentagon Jr on 1/30 in Merida. There will be three title bouts on the show as Villano III Jr. & Taurus & Rey Escorpion defend the AAA trios titles against both the New Generation Dinamitas and Los Poderes del Norte, plus Laredo Kid defends the cruiserweight title against Aramis, Dragon Lee and Willie Mack. I’m not sure what world Willie Mack is a cruiserweight in.   

WWE

AEW

  • As of this morning, the 1/5 show at the Prudential Center has sold 180 more tickets since Wednesday’s announcement of Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson for the AEW title. They are closing in on 8,000. For whatever reason, the New York market buys tickets early for the company and rarely do late announcements make a difference. The announcement of Danielson vs. Kenny Omega at Arthur Ashe Stadium did move some tickets, but it was not like the announcement led to huge amounts of new ticket sales. Almost nothing does, past WWE having huge success the past two weeks for Day 1 tickets in Atlanta after sales had been slow.

UFC

  • Jorge Masvidal said he’s off the injury list and is ready to fight. 

OTHER NOTES

  • Rashad Evans comes out of retirement to face Gabriel Checco at the 1/28 Eagle Fighting Championship event in Miami, FL. Evans, one of UFC’s early television stars, has his first fight in nearly four years after retiring in 2018. Eagle FC is Khabib Nurmagomedov’s promotion.
  • Kevin Eck’s weekly look at ROH news.
  • Robbie Eagles will be returning to Australia after the Tokyo Dome shows and wrestle for PWA on 1/14.
  • 559 Fights returns to Visalia,CA at the Convention Center on 2/11.
  • Travis Banks was announced for Tuesday’s CMLL show is Guadalajara in the main event teaming with Averno & Mephisto against Mistico & Soberano Jr; & Dulce Gardenia. Then hours later, he was replaced by Black Warrior. Banks continuing to wrestle after charges made by ex-girlfriend Millie McKenzie that led to WWE cutting ties with him has been a hot button issue. He has moved to Mexico. (thanks to Rene Ochoa)
  • NFC on 1/15 at  The District in Atlanta.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Homicide wins ROH World title at Final Battle 2006

CONTACT INFORMATION

Former ROH and TNA wrestler Jimmy Rave passes away at 39

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After battling severe health issues over the past year, former Ring of Honor and TNA/Impact Wrestling wrestler Jimmy Rave has died at 39 years old.

Agent Bill Behrens issued a statement on Monday announcing the passing of Rave (real name James Michael Guffey). The statement was written with the help of Rave’s daughter Kailah.

In November 2020, Rave announced that he would have to retire from pro wrestling due to having his left arm amputated. Doctors needed to amputate the limb after finding an infection in Rave’s arm.

Rave revealed in October of this year that both of his legs were amputated after he went to see a surgeon in June. Rave said that his surgeon determined he had MRSA in both of his legs and they needed to be amputated immediately.

The announcement of Rave’s passing stated that the amputations were the result of Rave struggling with drug addiction for many years.

A GoFundMe to help with Rave’s astronomical medical expenses raised more than $47,000. Mick Foley had been helping to raise money for Rave.

Rave was from the state of Georgia and began his in-ring career in 1999. He became a star while working for ROH in the 2000s, paired with manager Prince Nana as part of The Embassy. Rave later teamed with Lance Hoyt in TNA.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of James Guffey, otherwise known as Jimmy Rave,” Impact Wrestling tweeted. “We offer our sincere condolences to his family & friends during this difficult time. Rave made his IMPACT debut in 2002 during The Asylum Years & became a mainstay of the X-Division.”

Behrens wrote that a memorial service for Rave will be held in Georgia, with details to be revealed at a later time:

James Michael Guffey has died at the age of 39.

James was best known as Professional Wrestler, Jimmy Rave. His career, which started in 1999, continued for over 2 decades. He was a two-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He appeared in Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling, where he teamed with Lance (Hoyt) Rock as the ‘Rock and Rave Infection.’ In Ring of Honor, he feuded with AJ Styles and was the ‘Crown Jewel’ of the faction, The Embassy, and last appeared in 2013 as a Member of S.C.U.M. He toured Japan with both Dragon Gate Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling where in 2008 he competed in the ‘Best of The Super Junior’ Tournament. In 2005 he appeared on World Wrestling Entertainment’s Sunday Night Heat. Rave appeared in numerous Independent promotions including Rampage Pro Wrestling, Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment, and Combat Zone Wrestling, among many others. He also served as a booker for several years in Rampage Pro Wrestling and led a faction known as ‘Jimmy Rave Approved.’

Outside of wrestling he held the position of Director of the Bartow County, Georgia Peer Support, Wellness and Respite Center for several years.

James had been struggling with drug addiction for many years. His struggles resulted in the amputation of his arm and, later, both of his legs.

James is survived by his ex-wife Felicia, daughter Kailah, son James II, and parents Jim & Toni Guffey. At the time of his death, he was living in the Philadelphia, PA area with Gabby Gilbert.

RIP, James Michael Guffey, 12/8/82 – 12/12/21

Memorial services will be held in Georgia. Details will be released at a later time.

Daily Update: Charlotte Flair, Jimmy Rave, Impact notes

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

JOB LISTING: Web/UI Developer(s)

  • Experience with OnLamp (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
  • GITHUB and Linux command line experience while be helpful as well.
  • CMS – Drupal and WordPress. vBulletin
  • Possible experience with AWS (s3 specifically), Dreamhost, UI development
  • Cloud based hosting experience a plus
  • Javascript also a huge plus

While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.

This is not just for projects related to F4WOnline.

  • Send all inquiries to [email protected] with title WEB DEVELOPER. 
  • If you have inquired before, please send your information again. 

Latest Free YouTube Video:

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!

WON NEWSLETTER: October 25, 2021 Observer Newsletter: AEW vs. WWE head-to-head results, Crown Jewel review

In this week’s issue:

  • What Friday’s WWE vs. AEW head-to-head showed about pro wrestling with literally every detail covered
  • Head to head numbers including WWE on broadcast, with and without commercials, what YouTube numbers mean compared to TV, how every segment did
  • How WWE reacted and what they should have learned, a number of moves WWE should make next, and one idea that is clearly not a good one to make
  • Where WWE beats AEW on an even field, where AEW beats WWE on an even field
  • Markets where WWE & AEW have upcoming shows and comparing numbers
  • Most popular streaming numbers for AEW & WWE
  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • Update on ticket sales to all the key U.S. shows
  • Full rundown of WWE Crown Jewel, story of show, business interest, match-by-match
  • The cursed G1, what happens next for New Japan, how Ibushi’s injury both did and didn’t change things
  • Changes likely coming to New Japan
  • How Dynamite’s new time slot on cable in Pacific and Mountain time zones will affect total numbers and by approximately what percentage
  • Why NHL gets preference by TNT over AEW while delivering less than half the audience
  • Ratings and what live sports takes from wrestling numbers
  • International TV ratings for the week
  • Bad Boy Hido passes away
  • Story behind Omega match in Mexico
  • This past week’s UFC show coverage
  • Ngannou talking contract
  • Legal updates on star fighters

Current subscribers click here to read.

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.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

We have two shows over the weekend, a show with Garrett Gonzalez on Saturday and another show with Bryan Alvarez covering Smackdown, Dynamite and Bound for Glory. Our next show will be Monday night covering Raw and the latest news.

Jimmy Rave posted that in June he was having trouble walking and went to his surgeon. He had MRSA staph in both legs and they needed to be amputated

Very little stuff made any  significant public interest this week. Yesterday, with a UFC show and a Fedor Emelianenko fight, nothing cracked the top 20 of Google searches.  It’s notable that these weekly UFC shows on ESPN+ are having less and less interest. For the entire week, the only things that cracked the list were WWE Crown Jewel on Thursday at 200,000 searches, which is normal WWE B show PPV level, and Conor McGregor on Monday was No. 19 with 20,000 for his latest out of the cage fracas.

Regarding the Charlotte Flair situation, it was noted to us that “It’s a tricky situation, isn’t it? Does WWE just hand her over to AEW?”  They note if she is disciplined then they would seemingly also have to discipline others over their backstage behavior. “They have their hands full with this situation.”

At the Impact tapings tonight in Las Vegas, Minoru Suzuki confronted Josh Alexander so apparently build a match.

Smackdown next week will be airing on FS 1 against the World Series. It will run 8-10 p.m. Eastern, and then replay 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.  During the hour head-to-head with Rampage they will air a one-hour television edition of Talking Smack. The show this coming Friday is from Wilkes-Barre, PA, and has 3,492 tickets out and running a half off special locally.

We’re doing weekend polls on these shows, looking for your thoughts. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs  down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for both New Japan shows at Budokan Hall, WWE Crown Jewel and Impact Bound for Glory to [email protected]. We are also doing polls for the best match of the G-1 Climax tournament and G-1 Climax MVP.

We’re also looking for reports from the top indie shows, as well as any dark matches from Smackdown in Wichita, KS on Friday, the second night of GCW in Los Angeles and for Raw tomorrow night as well as tonight and tomorrow night’s Impact tapings in Las Vegas.

Impact will return to Las Vegas 11/20 to 11/22 with TV tapings at Sam’s Town, including the Turning Point show on 11/20.

WWE

AEW

  • Best wishes to Jim Ross who was diagnosed with skin cancer. He said that he will know what he’s dealing with as far as severity early next week. He worked last night’s Dynamite show in Orlando.
  • Based on only the top major markets, Rampage was down 18 percent in 18-49 and up 16 percent in households as compared to last week. Based on those same markets, Dynamite was down four percent from Rampage in 18-49 and up six percent in households.
  • AEW moved more than 4,000 tickets for its newly announced return to the Atlanta market on the first day. The WWE Day One PPV in the same market which has been on sale for a long time, in the A arena, Phillips Arena, is ahead but under 5,000 at this point.

OTHER NOTES

  • Ryan Pollard, who used the name Infallible Vinnie Valentine as a manger in Western Canada, passed away last night from COVID at the age of 55.  Greg Oliver has a story.
  • St. Louis Anarchy results from Friday night in St. Louis:  Billy Starkz b Jake Dirden-COR, SK Bishop & Campbell Meyers b BSTRO Cassidy & Gnaris Garvin, Thomas Shire b Kenny Alfonso, Warhorse b Kody Lane, Everett Connor b Alex Zayne, Moonshine Mantell b Christian Rose, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett b Gary Jay & Aaron Williams, Angelus Layne won three-way over Charli Evans and Brooke Valentine, Anthony Henry b Chip Day, Camaro Jackson b Jeremy Wyatt to win the Gateway Heritage title (thanks to Sophie King and Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • PCW drew a sellout 1,000 fans in Los Angeles on Friday night: Steve Madison b JTG, Juicy Finau b Manders, Jai Vidal & Matt Vandagriff b CLAS & Lucas Riley, Jai Vidal b Matt Vandagriff to win the PCW Ultra light heavyweight title, Viva Van b Ruby Raze to win the PCW Ultra women’s title, Blood Hunter (managed by Kevin Sullivan) b 2 Cold Scorpio, Hammerstone b Alex Kane to keep the PCW Ultra heavyweight title, Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael b Danny Limelight & Slice Boogie to keep the tag titles (thanks to Anthony Ambrose
  • Dave “Caveman” Rickels beat Julian Lane via decision in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship card last night in Wichita, KS.  Rickels was a popular area fighter with Bellator previously.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WCW Halloween Havoc 1993

CONTACT INFORMATION

Jimmy Rave announces retirement following left arm amputation

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Former ROH and Impact star Jimmy Rave announced this retirement this evening after losing his left arm due to an infection.

Rave posted a message on his Twitter account tonight saying that he had to retire from in-ring competition due to an infection in his left arm.

“This past Tuesday my world came crashing down when Doctors found an infection in my left arm,” Rave wrote. “I tried toughing it out but by the time I saw a doctor it was too late and they had to amputate my left arm above the elbow. Thus effectively ending my in ring career.”

Starting his career in 1999, Rave debuted for ROH in 2003. He was best known as being a part of Prince Nana’s The Embassy stable, with Rave being called the “crown jewel” of the stable and feuding with AJ Styles. 

He’s also known for his run in Impact Wrestling. He and Lance Archer (then known as Lance Rock) would form a team called the Rock and Rave Infection in 2007, with Christy Hemme serving as their manager. After the team left the company in 2009, Rave would later return and would make sporadic appearances through 2013.