The Axeman Speaks 5-30-09

The photo above is my grandson, Isaak, who I am SO proud of!

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Hollywood Jimmy Blaylock, the Webmaster, or anyone else connected with this site. They are mine, and mine alone. If you agree with me, OK, and if you don’t agree, oh well....

Greetings, wrestling fans!

I read today about the passing of a wrestling legend, "The Golden Greek" John Tolos. I remember John Tolos from watching him as a child on TV in Dallas, in some memorable matches filmed in Dallas and Ft. Worth, as well as from his time in WWF. I remember one match in partiucular from his time in Texas, when he took on Angelo Mosca, in what turned into a brawl. Thanks for the memories, John Tolos.

I also read today about WWE releasing Ken Kennedy. To some, I am sure this comes as a surprise. I was not surprised, and, quite frankly, I don't feel it was a great loss, either. I think he was a major liability to WWE. Why, you may ask. The answer is simply because he was an injury waiting to happen and a screw up.

Think about this, which I read in a post at Mid-Southern Wrestling Message Board:

2006: Shortly after his arrival, Kennedy injured his shoulder and was out for a long time.

I think it was in 2007 Kennedy won Money In The Bank. He had arrived. He was in the spotlight. He had it all going his way. He was getting that big push. He was to be in a main event at Wrestlemania. So what does he do? He gets hurt and Edge gets the push instead.

Later on Kennedy plays the part of the illegitimate son of Vince McMahon, once again in the spotlight in WWE, but he screwed up and flunked a drug test.

Last year Kennedy got yet another opportunity. What did he do? He injured his shoulder again and was out for months.

That brings us to Monday Night on RAW. Kennedy had his return match after being out for about 10 months. He had yet another opportunity to get something going in WWE. Then Kennedy, in typical Kennedy style, injured his wrist after taking the RKO from Orton. What pissed WWE officials off even more, according to an article by Ryan Clark at WrestlingInc.com, is a botched spot by Kennedy during the match which almost injured Orton's shoulder again.

Now we read that Kennedy has been released by WWE. Frankly, I would have released him a lot sooner than that.

So, what does the future hold for Ken Kennedy? Well, in my opinion, he needs to stay out of wrestling. He does have some wrestling talent, no doubt about it. WWE would never have even looked at him in the first place, and would not have given him chance after chance, if he did not. But the fact is, either his body is not made for wrestling, or he is careless in the ring, because he is injured too easily and too often. He does have some very good mic skills, and frankly I think he could parlay that into a successful career somewhere running his mouth. However, he will probably end up on the indy circuit somewhere, maybe in ROH, or perhaps in TNA, where he will be the latest WWE reject to make money for TNA, IF he can stay healthy. I wish him luck.

The Axeman has spoken.

The Axeman Speaks 5-17-09

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Hollywood Jimmy Blaylock, the Webmaster, or anyone else connected with this site. They are mine, and mine alone. If you agree with me, OK, and if you don’t agree, oh well....

Greetings, friends. I am sure many of you read my short post on Wrestling News Center last week about the passing of lady wrestler Princess Jasmine (real name Cynthia Peretti). Jasmine passed away week before last after a long fight with cancer.

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Jasmine twice, once at a show in Alabama and again a couple of years later at a show in Biloxi. We became friends for a while, although we eventually lost touch with each other. She was one heck of a worker and a very nice lady.

Jasmine was trained by ‘Prince’ Calvin Pullins and Dick the Bruiser. She began her wrestling career in 1968, giving up a career in nursing to become a wrestler, and wrestled into the 1980s. For a while she was a trainer for the old G.L.O.W. organization. Her career took her around the world, including Canada, Japan, The Philippines, Africa, and a host of other places. She was honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club this year for her contribution to pro wrestling.

Slam! Wrestling published a very nice article about Princess Jasmine back in January, which is worth the read. You can read it at this URL: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/01/06/7937111.html

Thanks for the memories, encouragement, & friendship, PJ. Rest in Peace. You've earned it.

The Axeman Speaks 5-6-09

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Hollywood Jimmy Blaylock, the Webmaster, or anyone else connected with this site. They are mine, and mine alone. If you agree with me, OK, and if you don’t agree, oh well.... I am sure BT will not agree with this!

OK, boys & girls, this column will be short and to the point.

I just finished reading BT's comments about Mississippi wrestling, and in particular, the recent DARE benefit show in Thrasher, MS. I have this to say in response:

Several weeks ago BT asked me to help him arrange to come to an EPW show to sell his Yearbook 2008. I contacted the EPW Promoter, Edith Poole, and it was arranged for BT to come to EPW and sell the book at the D.A.R.E. benefit show in Thrasher, anmd at EPW the following night. I do not know how many books BT sold at the Thrasher show. He must not have sold many, however, because BT seems real pissed.

BT had this to say: "My last visit to Mississippi had me coming back posting about psychology and how wrestling in Mississippi is worse than wrestling in Tennessee. I will go on record right here and say, wrestling in Tennessee and Arkansas is 10 TIMES BETTER!!! “Hollywood” Jimmy on his radio appearance on “Shooting the Shiznit” stated he felt wrestling in Mississippi was just as good. I think maybe Jimmy was having to babyface, because after one show I have to say “Horseshit” and totally disagree with that point. I am not sure what it is – it really doesn’t matter what MS promotion it is – there are only small set of guys in the whole state that know how to work."

If BT does not like wrestling in Mississippi, he should stay in Missouri; or, if he likes wrestling in Tennessee or Arkansas better, then by all means he should go to those shows. Since BT hates wrestling in Mississippi so much, he should NOT COME BACK. Period.

Now, I will say that I was not at the Thrasher show. I did not see any of it. I have heard, however, many positive comments about the show. In fact, BT's comments were the only negative comments I have come across about the Thrasher show. The crowd was entertained and a lot of money was raised for D.A.R.E. What's wrong with that? BT seems to conveniently overlook those facts.

BT is entitled to his opinions. He has the right to post them. But I have the right to take exception to his remarks. There is some good wrestling in Mississippi. Is there room for improvement? You bet. Just like there is room for improvement in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, and for darn sure Missouri, where wrestling shows seem to be rare occurrances.

BT ends his comments by saying, "I was supposed to be at the EPW show on Saturday night, but with wrestling being so bad and the kids encouraging me to go to a mall, I opted out to head back to Missouri." By all means, he should go to a mall - ANY mall - or anywhere else for that matter - a rodeo, a movie, an all you can eat buffet, a massage parlor - to be entertained - since he thinks wrestling is so bad down here. Or better yet, maybe he should come down here, open up a promotion, and show us how it should be done. In other words, maybe BT should put up or shut up. At least there are people around here trying, week after week, to entertain the crowds and put on good shows in Mississippi. Do we always get it right? Nope. But neither does BT.

The Axeman has spoken.