Author: It’s Monday–but most importantly, it’s Rowdy Roddy Piper‘s birthday. The world still misses Hot Rod. In his honor, hit somebody with a coconut today. Any and all resulting lawsuits should be forwarded to someone besides me. Seriously, we’ve had a big week in the world of wrestling and here on the site as well, as we’re pushing more and more original content. So let’s dive in.
It’s Monday–but most importantly, it’s Rowdy Roddy Piper‘s birthday. The world still misses Hot Rod. In his honor, hit somebody with a coconut today. Any and all resulting lawsuits should be forwarded to someone besides me. Seriously, we’ve had a big week in the world of wrestling and here on the site as well, as we’re pushing more and more original content. So let’s dive in.
Last Week:
Larry Weil, better known to wrestling fans as “Pretty Boy” Larry Sharpe, passed away Monday of complications from liver cancer. Although Sharpe spent 16 years as a full-time wrestler and an additional six working part-time in the ring, he’s probably best known for being one of the owners of The Monster Factory, training wrestlers like Bam Bam Bigelow, Chris Candido, Tatanka, D-Lo Brown, The Headbangers, and The Pitbulls.
Sharpe enjoyed most of his success as a tag-team specialist, working with “Dynamite” Jack Evans as the Hollywood Blondes. First appearing in WWWF, the pair had good success, though they never achieved championship gold. To do that, they had to go to Puerto Rico, where they headlined against Carlos Colon and an assortment of tag team partners, feuding over the WWC North American tag team titles. Family visitation and a celebration of Sharpe’s life are scheduled for April 29.
The bullying accusations against JBL don’t seem to be going away, with news outlets like Sports Illustrated and The New York Post getting in on the action, and Prowrestling.net recaps the highlights of the Pancakes and Powerslams podcast, where Ken Anderson and Shawn Daivari chat about JBL’s backstage antics. We offered our own take on why the bullying accusations are a bad look for corporate WWE in light of their B A Star program, as well.
What is it with Simon Gotch and catering? The famously incendiary Gotch was released by WWE last week following a rather dramatic scene at catering. Sin Cara was reportedly devastated, as there’s no one lower on the totem pole that he can chuck soda cans at now that Gotch has been future endeavored. The release means the Vaudevillains are no more, and Aiden English is on his own for now.
Also from last week, check out this piece on wrestling title belts. I visited the ‘Ace of Belts,’ Dave Millican and got to examine his collection of historical championship belts, as well as talk about his work. With WWE scheduled to debut new championship belts–from new belt makers–soon, it’s a good time to look at wrestling’s championship belts of the past. I had so much fun doing that story, and–if I can toot my own horn for a minute–it turned out really well.
Coming up this week:
We welcome aboard a new writer, Marc Madison, previously of The Richest, Sportskeeda, The Sportster, and more, who’s offering his take on Austin Aries. That story drops Tuesday, so come by and check it out. Also, on Saturday, we’ll cover Glenn Jacobs’s (bah Gawd, that’s Kane!) candidacy for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, and look at the success (or lack of it) that other wrestlers have had in the world of politics, as well.
If you’re looking for a great listen, Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson talk about the late, great Owen Hart for nearly three hours on the Something to Wrestle With podcast. It’s a tremendous remembrance of a unique talent whose tragic loss still resonates in the wrestling business today.
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