Randall Barry Orton, the uncle of Randy Orton and son of Bob Orton Sr., passed away yesterday at the age of 62.
Orton, who wrestled under names like Barry Orton, Berry Orton, Barry O, Superstar Barry O and the masked Zodiak, was best known in wrestling in 1991 and 1992 for being in the media spotlight in talking about issues in pro wrestling and claiming Terry Garvin, who at the time worked in Talent Relations with Pat Patterson, tried to sexually harass him on a car ride while he was a teenager breaking in wrestling in the Amarillo territory in the late 70s
This led to appearances on shows like Phil Donahue, Larry King and Geraldo Rivera shows, including two confrontations with Vince McMahon, who tried to discredit him on the air noting he had served time in prison for being involved in an auto accident where somebody had died and was writing a book. Garvin and Mel Phillips had been let go by McMahon shortly before the show aired, and Patterson resigned.
He was one of the first wrestlers to befriend Tom Cole, who passed away recently and had claimed Phillips came on to him when he was a teenager working for the ring crew, which Phillips was the supervisor of.
Orton foiled McMahon’s attempt for a Perry Mason-like moment on the Donahue show as McMahon had planted Cole, who he had just secretly settled out of court in the days leading to the show, in the audience at the show with Linda McMahon and Liz “Elizabeth” Hulette if his name was mentioned by the panel before the show. Cole was to then say how the panel members who made claims about McMahon were lying and that he was Tom Cole. Orton, in the green room, noted that Cole had become incommunicado with him for a few days and had an intuition something funny was up and told others on the show not to mention Cole’s name on the air.
That largely ended Orton’s wrestling career at the age of 33. He was a good in-ring performer and strong talker who was a headliner in 1987 in Stampede Wrestling under a mask as The Zodiak, taking after his father who used the Zodiac name under a mask.
Zodiak & Jason the Terrible wrestled all the top babyfaces in the promotion, including Owen Hart, as well as the tag team of Bad Company (Bruce Hart & Brian Pillman) and future Hall of Famer, Senator and Cabinet member Hiroshi Hase, and future legend Jushin Liger as Fuji Yamada.
He worked two stints in the WWF, both as a prelim wrestler and television enhancement talent as Barry O. He worked 1985-86, and after spending time in prison, returned in 1990 and 1991 in a similar role.
As a wrestler, he held the Americas tag team championship at the age of 19 teaming with Hector Guerrero, and formed a tag team with brother Bob and held the Southeastern tag team championship with the Poffo family’s ICW promotion. He also had a run as Jody Hamilton’s partner in a remake of The Masked Assassins in Jim Crockett Promotions.
He had felt that making public revelations about the industry ended his career and transitioned into acting, where he appeared in a number of movies.
Ron Read, better known as Buddy Colt, one of the top heels of the early 70s, passed away today at the age of 85.
Colt was one of the major players in the building of the Omni at the top wrestling arena in the Southeast and was considered so valuable that when they created Georgia Championship Wrestling, he, Bill Watts and Jack Brisco were all given stock in the company. He was an even bigger star in Florida, during the hottest period in history in the mid-70s as a headliner.
His career basically ended when he was flying his private plane and crashed in the Tampa Bay. He was in the plane with Dennis McCord, who returned to wrestle as Austin Idol, Gary Hart, and Bobby Shane, who passed away.
He was a tough guy, with a strong judo background and also a bodybuilder. He was the level of wrestler that could have been considered for a world title run.
Danny Havoc, best remembered for his runs in both Combat Zone Wrestling and Game Changer Wrestling, has passed away.
GCW posted the following tonight on their Twitter page: “With a broken heart, the GCW family mourns the loss of Grant Berkland aka Danny Havoc. Danny was an incredibly talented, intelligent, caring & genuine person. He was also an elite performer that entertained a generation of fans & inspired a generation of aspiring performers.”
“Like those that passed before him,” they continued, “his legacy is secured by the memories that he bestowed upon us both as a wrestler and as a friend. He will not be forgotten. Rest in Peace, Grant.”
CZW on Twitter wrote the following: “This cuts too deep. Grant “Danny Havoc” Berkland. He was an inspiration to so many and a friend to all and our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We can take a small comfort in knowing the entire wrestling community are sharing the same grief right now.”
“I can’t put it into words right now…I’m just too heartbroken and devestated,” Drake Wuertz wrote on Twitter. “I love you Grant… I’m gonna miss you so much brother.”
Havoc wrestled for both CZW and GCW throughout his career, most recently taking part in GCW’s tour of Japan earlier this year. He also appeared in The Wrestlers, a documentary series that recently aired on Vice.
Hana Kimura, who was the most charismatic wrestler in the Stardom promotion and one of two women the company was planning to be built around, passed away today at the age of 22.
No details are available but she had posted what came across like a suicide message yesterday that had people concerned as well as photos of her arms being self mutilated.
The death appears to be the first result of a pro wrestler’s depression coming from social media cyber bullying.
She wrote, “Nearly 100 opinions every day. I couldn’t deny that I was hurt. I’m dead. Thank you for giving me a mother. It was a life I wanted to be loved. Thank you to everyone who supported me. I love it. I’m weak. I’m sorry. I don’t want to be alive anymore. It was a life I wanted to be loved. Thank you everyone. I love you. Bye.”
Kimura was the only child of Kyoko Kimura, a pro wrestling star who had retired in 2017. She grew up around the business and started at the age of 18, although she held the comedy DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight title at the age of seven in a DDT comedy sketch.
Kimura had started in September on Terrace House, a popular Japanese reality show that airs worldwide. She was becoming a celebrity off the show because of her unique look and because she was physically stronger than most Japanese women. Stardom, the leading women’s wrestling company in Japan, under new ownership, had planned to try and push women’s wrestling mainstream around Kimura and Giulia with the idea they were the two most marketable stars. Of the two, Kimura was by far the most charismatic and the better wrestler of the two.
The first step of the push was an appearance in the opening match on the New Japan January 4, 2020, show at the Tokyo Dome. It was the first women’s match at the Tokyo Dome since 2002. Before the pandemic, Stardom was planning a much bigger and higher profile show with her, as the leader of the Tokyo Cyber Squad, to feud with Giulia after a split in the tag team match on the Dome show.
In an incident on Terrace House filmed in early January, a male housemate named Kai washed his clothes while her outfit that she wore at the Tokyo Dome was in the washer and then threw it in the dryer and ruined the outfit. She lost her temper and knocked his hat off his head.
Since that incident aired, she had been getting hate messages from people all over the world and it sent her into depression. It was getting worse in recent weeks. Because she had big shoulders for a Japanese woman because of her athletic background, even before the incident she was getting some negative reactions.
She was flooded with support on social media over the past 12 hours.
A look at how the major companies are looking at either running or not running is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also have a major feature on the characters from ABC’s 20/20, from David Schultz, John Stossell, Jim Wilson and Eddy Mansfield, as well as a feature on Gerald Brisco and how Vince McMahon got control of the TBS time slot for one year.
The issue also covers:
The schedule for UFC, WWE and AEW.
The time frame Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida talked about for live events, the hypocrisy sanctioning these events, why UFC isn’t running Las Vegas, ESPN’s change of policy, another state open to bring in wrestling, boxing and MMA, UFC’s first show back, update on Fight Island, Bellator plans and Scott Coker talks his ideas.
Another feature on WWE financials with Vince McMahon’s quotes on all facets of business going forward and what is and isn’t honest about them. We also look at why you can’t compare live attendance, what category does look good and what doesn’t, empty arena shows, costs of taping now and why Vince says the WWE Network should grow.
The firings of Cain Velasquez and Curtis Axel and the departure, at least for now, of Gerald Brisco.
How close Brisco and Vince McMahon have been, the 1984 purchase of GCW by McMahon and how it went down, how McMahon lost the time slot after one year, the WWE signing and usage of Velasquez, and what major WWE decision-maker thought Axel would be one of the company’s signature stars.
The latest episode of Dark Side of the Ring on David Schultz. We look at the start of Schultz’s career, his feud with Hulk Hogan, slapping John Stossel, Eddy Mansfield, Jim Wilson, Jim Barnett, how Schultz got fired by WWE, Jim Cornette on the show, the Lou Thesz-Eddy Mansfield confrontation, the deregulation of wrestling, and how the story on Jimmy Snuka and the 20/20 story on wrestling intertwine.
New Monday night competition to Raw, 2K plans or 2020, How WWE stars get paid, wrestler who pulled out of tapings this past week, U.K. and Canada TV ratings, Taynara Conti and Mike Bennett talk being released, Jerry Lawler talks his remark bout Tozawa, Heath Slater talks his departure, David Starr talks current conditions and the most-watched bouts for the past week on WWE Network.
A harrowing story on Ilima lei-Macfarlane and her childhood going to the famed Punahou Schoolin Hawaii and the dirty secret the school covered up for decades that has just come to light.
Full coverage of the Impact Rebellion show with so many champions not there, as well as match-by-match coverage.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the 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.
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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
FS1’s Best of WWE specials on Ric Flair, Edge, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns averaged 157,000 viewers, 213,000 viewers, 255,000 viewers, and 198,000 viewers last night. The respective ratings in the 18-49 demo were 0.03, 0.05, 0,06, and 0.04.
Today’s The Bump featured AJ Styles, The Miz & Maryse, Tamina, and Dana Brooke.
A pre-Money in the Bank episode of The Bump is airing at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday. The Undertaker, Bayley, and Bray Wyatt have been announced as guests for the show. Undertaker appearing on The Bump comes in advance of “Undertaker: The Last Ride” premiering on the WWE Network after Money in the Bank.
Kevin Nash will be a guest on next Wednesday’s episode of The Bump.
Lester Perfors, best known as Supreme, passed away this morning according to nephew Joey Muñoz, who wrestled as Kaos in the California independent scene. Supreme was best known for his run in XPW, where he held their King of the Deathmatch title four times.
Tony Khan tweeted that all AEW wrestlers and staff for tonight’s live episode of Dynamite have tested negative for COVID-19: “#AEWDynamite is live tonight on TNT at 8pm ET/7CT! I’ve tested negative for COVID as have all wrestlers & staff here, we’re taking best precautions possible & it’ll be a great show with the debut of Matt Hardy teaming w/ Kenny Omega v. Jericho & Guevara, + @JonMoxley v. Kazarian!”
On Facebook yesterday, the IATSE 115 union wrote about setting up for tonight’s Dynamite and the health precautions that are in place: “We reopened with AEW-All Elite Wrestling SAFELY at Daily’s Place Amphitheatre today. A COVID-19 Rapid Test was given to every stagehand, road crew, venue staff and talent before entering the venue. Portable wash stations, hand sanitizer stations, mandatory masks covering, social distancing (especially at breaks) at all times. We didn’t ask to be the first but we are and we are working to keep it SAFE! #iatse115 #unionstrong #returntoworksafely”
Khan appeared on today’s episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast and discussed AEW continuing to run during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ariel Helwani tweeted that AEW’s wrestlers and personnel and the UFC’s fighters and personnel are both staying at the same hotel in Jacksonville: “Two major events are happening in Jacksonville this week: UFC 249 and AEW tapings. Coincidentally, all fighters/wrestlers and personnel for both orgs are staying at the same hotel in Jacksonville, I’m told. That could make for a fun time.”
Vice uploaded the trailer for next week’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on The Road Warriors.
Jon Moxley talked to Stephanie Chase on WWE releases, his work in AEW and NJPW, his role in Cagefighter: Worlds Collide and more.
MLW announced a multi-year agreement with Fight Globe that “will see Fight Globe represent the distribution of MLW programming in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa as well as Canada and Mexico.”
Former NWA Junior Heavyweight champion Les Thornton has passed away at the age of 84.
The news first broke on Facebook, where his wife Terry wrote the following (via Slam Sports): “It is with great sadness we share that Les Thornton peacefully took his leave on February 1, 2019 at 11:15 am, with his devoted wife, Terry at his side.”
Born in Manchester, England, Thornton entered professional wrestling in 1957 and at one point trained in Billy Robinson’s Snake Pit, where he learned technical wrestling and submissions. He traveled to the United States in 1970 and won the NWA Junior Heavyweight championship on six occasions between 1980 and 1983.
In 1984, he was one of only a handful of people that joined the WWE when they purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling. He was used primarily as a jobber, but was also a part of coordinating their house shows in the Middle East.
He retired in 1990 and had been living in Canada running a gym prior to his death.
The Facebook post further said: “In honour of Les’ wishes there will be no funeral service. Instead, those wishing to pay respects are invited to make a donation to the Calgary Humane Society.”
According to the NWA’s Twitter account, “Dirty” Dick Slater has passed away at age 67 due to heart complications.
Born Richard Van Slater, Slater was best known for his runs in WCW and Georgia Championship Wrestling with plenty of stops in between.
A former football player and amateur wrestler, Slater began his career in 1972 in Florida under Mike Graham, trained by Bill Wats, Hiro Matsuda, Bob Roop, and Jack Brisco. He eventually found his way to GCW for an 11-year run, winning several singles and tag team titles. In the mid-80s, he worked for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, where he was was a wrestler and a booker, and Mid-South Wrestling.
After an uneventful one year run in WWF, he went to All Japan Pro Wrestling as mainly a tag team act before coming to WCW in 1989 where he’d stay until 1996 when a back injury ended his career. Again, he worked mainly in tag teams, working with Dick Murdoch, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, The Great Muta, Greg Valentine, and Bunkhouse Buck, the latter of which earned him the Worst Tag Team award in the 1995 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.
He won a slew of NWA titles including the U.S. title, tag titles, and TV title among other regional belts.
In June 2004, Slater was convicted of attacking his former girlfriend with a butcher’s knife and was sentenced to a year of house arrest and two years of probation.
