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Via PWInsider:
In what will go down as one of the strangest stories I can ever remember writing about, Extreme Rising emailed current champion Stevie Richards today, demanding he return their title belt (which he has kept since winning and has taken overseas and to independent shows to defend as a way to raise the profile of the promotion) or else…because of Richards said he would defend the belt via a videogame.
Yes, really.
Over the course of the weekend, Richards and former ECW star Danny Doring, who are close friends, were writing each other back and forth via Twitter and Facebook.
Richards, a videogame and technology aficionado, posted a photo of the Rising belt and his copy of the latest Madden videogame on his Twitter account, jokingly offering to defend his belt via the game online since he lost his bookings over Wrestlemania weekend.
Doring then posted a photo of the old ECW World Tag Team belt (which has been in his possession since the company closed in 2001) on his Twitter account and responded that he would put up that belt as well, joking it would be “defunct promotion vs. defunct promotion.”
Shortly after, Richards received an email from the promotion, upset over the two friends “blowing off steam online”, as Richards termed it, demanding the return of the belt by the end of this week, noting they were “disappointed” over the description of the promotion as defunct.
Richards noted that what really upset him the most was that the promotion “doubted his ability as a Madden player.” He noted that Rising was upset over something that “20 people saw on Twitter” and said he’s tried to help the company by carrying their belt and was amazed they saw the comments as anything more than two people goofing off online.
He also noted that it was silly no one just called him, especially since he hasn’t had any communication with anyone at Rising beyond a text announcing the cancellation of the Wrestlemania weekend shows.
One Extreme Rising official noted they were upset over the promotion being described as “defunct”, which is something Doring, not Richards, wrote.
Despite the threat, Doring and Richards intend to play the game after all and Richards is looking for a way for the game to be streamed online for whoever cares to watch it. The two intend to build up their “new rivalry” online. Stay tuned to their Twitter accounts (linked above) for more.
Extreme Rising has released another statement regarding the cancellation of their three scheduled shows during WrestleMania weekend. In the statement, they say that a lack of ticket sales led to the cancellation, that refunds are guaranteed, and that the promotion is not done. Here is the entire statement from their Facebook:
“In addition to our official statement released Tuesday evening, we want to address a few topics in concerns to the cancellations for Wrestlemania Weekend.
First, we made a hard business decision to cancel three events due to poor ticket sales. Why did ER have low ticket sales? We don’t know exactly, but we had a late start in announcing the WM weekend events where other promotions already had ticket on sale and alot of people already made their commitments to do other things early on.
We were damned if we kept the dates on the books and damned if we cancel –either situation leaving us in a major hole to climb out of. Keep in mind that the 3 Extreme Rising events Wrestlemania weekend probably cost more money than all the events combined running at Wrestlecon the entire weekend. Extreme Rising events are not cheap to do, even small events like the Staten Island double shot.
Extreme Reunion and Extreme Rising has been climbing out of holes since the first show, and it has not been easy, but we press on –just like we will now. Extreme Rising is not “over” –nor “out of business”. We have to regroup, pick ourselves up, and we will continue on. We have gone through a lot to this point, and we are not stopping now. There is ALOT to handle with the cancellations. Everyone who is due a refund –will get their refund. Refunds can be made a point of purchase through Paypal or even your bank or credit card company.
The last thing we want to do is cancel events. It hurts the fans, wrestlers, and the company –but if we ran those events, it very well could’ve been much worse! NO Extreme Rising event has had great walk ups! ALL of our events had great pre-sales! These 3 events did not. Some say DVD sales will make up for the loss. Those who say that do not know what they speak of of and are one hundred percent wrong. The DVD market for pro wrestling is not what it used to be (thanks to piracy and illegal “tape traders”), and is soft for most –if not all wrestling companies outside WWE and TNA, as they both have national retail distribution. We did not cancel events because we did not sell out, we cancelled because ticket sales were much lower than they have ever been and the budget for WM weekend was very expensive and risky –too risky!
Again, we understand everyone’s frustrations, we too are also very frustrated –our plans never called for cancellations, but if we ran the events, and things stayed the course –it could’ve been disastrous. For now we are working on taking care of everything that must be handled to regroup, re-focus, and continue.”
He might be retiring soon, but ECW original New Jack is still the same ol’ outspoken New Jack.
New Jack wasn’t scheduled for any of the Extreme Rising shows that were canceled next weekend, but he’s letting the world know what he thinks of Shane Douglas on his Facebook page. Just a few months after he claimed that Shane Douglas offered him double the money to skip a rival companies show (a claim Douglas denies), New Jack is calling Douglas out for allowing the Extreme Rising shows to be canceled and drops a bombshell over a Hurricane Katrina benefit show that he says never actually donated any money to those affected.
He posted:
“A BIG R.I.P.TO SHANE DOUGLES AND THAT EXTREME FALLEN,PILLED UP,DRUNK,DREAM CHASING NON BOOKING,LESSER THAN BACKYARD BULLSHIT.I TOLD YOU YA COCKSUCKER THAT I FILLED THE KARMA TRAIN WITH ENOUGH FUEL TO CIRCLE AROUND YOUR BITCHASS TWICE.THIS IS MAINLY FOR THE KATRINA HURRICANE VICTIMS YOU FUCKED ON THAT SHOW YOU RAN IN PITTSBURGH YEARS AGO AND YOU COLLECTED MONEY FOR THEM AND YOU EVEN HAD PEOPLE TO DRESS UP LIKE RED CROSS EMPLOYEES AND YOU POCKETED THE MONEY.GOD IS NOT THRU WITH YOUMY FRIEND.HOLD UR BREATH UNTIL YOUR HEAD EXPLODES YOU FUCKING PAUL E.WANNA BE.LOVE ALWAYS NEWJACK YOU FUCKING WASTE OF SPACE!!!”
In a follow-up, he posted:
“Hey Shane Douglas,here is a new job for your momna,tell the bitch they have a position for her down at the carwash,she car gargle tireshine and lick tired.You should have never tried to pull that shit on me and I pray to God that you get pissed enough at me to run up on me to express yourself…Please,YOU FUCKING THIEF!!!”
He continued in a separate post:
“Shane Douglas,when you canceled those 3 shows, did u realize how many of the boys was counting on that money to pay rent,feed their babys, pay bills..etc?You’re a selfish,non talented,lying cocksucking thief.You slammed Dixie Carter because she wouldn’t hire your troublesome bitchass and you talked shit about Vince because he comepared you to a herpe lip sore.I told you ya fuck that your bullshit exreme fallen wouldn’t make it to the end of the year.I was the ONLY ETREME ORIGINAL who lived up to my name with or without my music.I’m in Hollywood you fucking clown.You will answer to a higher power for the dirt that you did and for the babys you let go hungry.May God Have Mercy On Your Soul!!!”
Extreme Rising World Champion Stevie Richards released a statement today regarding the announcement that all 3 shows next weekend were canceled. He posted on his Facebook:
Concerning Extreme Rising canceling next week’s shows:
I feel terrible for the fans who made special arrangements to attend any of the 3 shows. I realize the money and time you invested to see the talents who are blessed to have such loyal supporters.
Speaking of talents, I want to thank all the talent who made wrestling fun for me again and re-ignited passion that was dead for quite some time- especially the younger wrestlers.
If Extreme Rising runs shows in the future, great. If not, I reconnected with old friends and made some great new ones. The top of that list is Luke Hawx, who is a future main event star.
On a side note, the rumors that I spent all the promotion’s money on video games, ellipticals and yoga mats is completely false.
Credit PWInsider:
Extreme Rising officials have officially pulled the plug on all 3 WrestleMania 29 weekend events. The events were scheduled for Philadelphia and Staten Island. Talent expected to appear on the show have begun to be notified earlier tonight.
The reason for the cancellation is poor ticket sales. While there had been some concern for weeks now concerning ticket sales, Shane Douglas was insisting that the shows go on as planned due to the likely PR hit. Ticket sales have remained slow; thus, the decision to cancel the 3 shows was made.
PWInsider is reporting that this does not mean the end of the promotion, but will be a hard thing to rebound from.
The promotion has posted the following statement on their Facebook page:
“It is with great regret that Extreme Rising must unfortunately cancel all our Wrestlemania Weekend events that include Thursday, April 4th in Philadelphia, Friday April 5th and 6th in Staten Island.
Refunds can be made a point of purchase. For more details you can send an email through our website by emailing refund@extremereunion.net.
If you purchased tickets in person at the Beer Box (Philly) 3350 Grant Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19114 215-673-7837 or Staten Island Sportcards, you can obtain your at your designated location.
We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused anyone.”
Extreme Rising and Shane Douglas issued the following in response to the earlier post from Pro Wrestling Syndicate:
“We have been notified of a false statement being reported by your website concerning Shane Douglas and Extreme Rising attempting to pay wrestlers to no show another company’s event and would like to issue our statement direct from Shane Douglas himself.
“I have NOT spoken to, nor any of the other partners of 5 Guys Wrestling/Extreme Rising, Jerome Young aka New Jack since December 29, 2012 at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory. For the record no one has contacted –or offered anyone anything, working for PWS or any other company, and wish them all success. Extreme Rising has a loaded Wrestlemania weekend with three live events that we are focused and working on as we continue to put our energies into moving Extreme Rising forward.” -SHANE DOUGLAS”
Credit – Gerweck.net
Leading the forefront for today’s independent wrestling drama , New Jack whom is scheduled to compete for Pro Wrestling Syndicate on April 4th in a Scramble with Tommy Dreamer, The Sheik, Necro Butcher, Apollyon, Devon Moore, and Lucifer Darksyde, and again on April 5th in a First Time Ever Match with Necro Butcher was contacted late last night by Extreme Rising’s Shane Douglas.
The nature of this phone call was Shane offering New Jack “double his pay” to no show PWS and work for Extreme Rising instead.
New Jack responded by honoring his word to PWS and having some not so nice things to say to Shane.
New Jack has stated that he will exclusively be wrestling for PWS here and on out and is hinting that 2013 will be his last year as an active i ring competitor.
PWS co owner Eric has posted on social media that he wishes for a podcast or wrestling radio show to get him and Shane on the line together for a public conversation.
For all the latest: www.ProWrestlingSyndicate.com
via TNAInsider:
In a recent shoot video with RF Video, former TNA Wrestler Stevie Richards spoke about his time in the wrestling business. When it came time to speak on his tenure with TNA, Richards held nothing back on shooting on Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. He said:
“Basically Bischoff and Hogan and all of these other guys are just milking her [Dixie] for her money. She’s a money mark, That’s all she is and i say that with the outmost respect to Dixie Carter as a human being that she is being taken for a ride.”
You can watch a preview clip of the interview below
via PWInsider:
The first-ever meeting of Japanese legend Jushin Liger and former ECW World champion Sabu will headline the Extreme Rising one year anniversary show in Philadelphia, PA at the National Guard Armory Wrestlemania weekend Thursday 4/4.
While the two have faced off in New Japan, this will be the first time they wrestle Stateside and the first time they have met since the mid-1990s.
Also announced for the Anniversary event:
*Extreme Rising champion Stevie Richards vs. Raven.
*Damien 666 & Bestia 666 vs. Super Crazy & Pescadilla.
*Matt Hardy vs. Luke Hawx.
*Balls Mahoney vs. Matt Tremont.
For ticket information, visit www.ExtremeRising.com.
The big Extreme Reunion storyline between Matt Hardy and Luke Hawx looks to be taking an extremely personal turn. Matt Hardy was cutting a backstage promo when Hawx’s son interrupted. Hardy than said he was going to show the younger Hawx something his Dad never did; some respect. Watch the clip below:
Currently the plan for Extreme Rising’s TV series is to have it run on a Philadelphia-area station, as well as one in New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Delaware. The series would be made available online as well. The show would feature matches from the five existing Extreme Rising shows, with promos and other angles that have been filmed to build storylines over a thirteen-week cycle.
The hope from Extreme Rising is that, based on ticket and DVD sales, they can get fans to donate money for the start-up costs of the show. SteveO’Neill, who runs the day to day production, is behind the series idea.
You can learn more about the fundraising efforts here.
Extreme Rising today announced plans to run a 13 week TV series in the Philadelphia/New Jersey/Delaware market. They are looking to raise money through Indiegogo (similar to Kickstarter), and are looking to raise $16,500. Here is the blurb from their page…
“To make 13 weeks of TV includes time and money that we don’t currently have available, but the proper funding will allow us to quickly switch gears into television production mode. We have roughly 20 hours of footage from matches, to promos, already recorded. We will also have to grab a few promos to finish/continue some storylines. Our costs include editing and production, voiceovers (all footage being re-voiced for TV to give concise calls and to drive the character development and storyline home), hard drives, closed captioning, incidentals expenditures like travel, and other post-production expenses. We’ll also need to fund the production of our perks for backers including producing/shipping the DVDs and fulfilling all the other perks we offer. There are fees taken out by indiegogo.com/paypal.com, as well as business expenses/legal, paying taxes, and so on. We are sure you understand the idea. This is a large project, we live it and love it, but we need the fans help.”
You can check out their Indiegogo page here.
Full Extreme Rising: Card Subject to Change Results
Stevie Richards defeated Luke Hawx in title tournament quarterfinal; Matt Hardy attacked Hawk post-match
Rhino defeated Devon Storm in title tournament quarterfinal; plenty of awesome hardcore spots
Facade defeated Jay Bradley
Matt Tremont & BRIAN XL defeated Blue Balls (Balls Mahoney and Blue Meanie); Pitbull Gary Wolfe makes the post-match save
Greek Papadon defeats Little Guido
Jerry Lynn defeated Homicide; Lynn’s last match in Philadelphia; great match with an even better celebration of the ECW veteran’s career
Hijo De Rey Misterio defeated Bestia 666 in a two-out-of-three falls match
BLK OUT (Jeez & Ruckus) defeated The Gangstas, Briscoe Bros and The Dramaticos in a steel cage match
Matt Hardy defeated Sabu
Stevie Richards defeated Rhino; to become the first ever Extreme Rising World Heavyweight champion
Stevie Richards defeated Rhino at last night’s Extreme Rising event to become the first-ever Extreme Rising World Heavyweight Champion. The co-main event of the night saw Matt Hardy defeat Sabu.
