July 2020 – Page 28

ROH TV taping results: The Elite vs. Rocky Romero & Best Friends

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

Images: JJ Williams. For more pictures from the tapings, check out JJ’s Flickr album.

Ring of Honor was in Lakeland, Florida last night for their final television tapings before next month’s Final Battle pay-per-view. In addition to the final build to that PPV, Kenny Omega teamed with The Young Bucks against Rocky Romero, Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor in the main event.

– Marty Scurll defeated Beer City Bruiser

Scurll used an umbrella shot while the referee was down to get the win.

– Flip Gordon defeated Hangman Page

The Young Bucks attacked Gordon after the match.

– Mandy Leon defeated Stella Grey in a Women of Honor match

– Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian did a promo where they mentioned that Ray Rowe was “suspended” for 30 days after accidentally injuring a fan during their brawl at the last tapings. They demanded that ROH fire both members of War Machine, then Hanson came out and attacked.

Daniels and Kazarian beat him down and tried to cut off his beard, but the ring crew made the save before they could get more than a small piece of it.

– ROH World Television Champion Kenny King defeated Caprice Coleman to retain his title

Punishment Martinez, Shane Taylor, and Silas Young (who will be challenging for the TV title at Final Battle) attacked King after the match

– The Briscoes came out and were goading Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer. Security and Joe Koff then tried to hold Bully Ray and Dreamer back, with Koff making the Briscoes vs. Bully Ray & Dreamer in a hardcore match official for Final Battle. The teams then brawled as security tried to break it up. The crowd went crazy for that.

– Matt Taven defeated Jay Lethal

Scurll offered Lethal his umbrella to hit Taven with, but Lethal declined and got rolled up. After that, Taven set up a match against Will Ospreay for Final Battle.

– Dalton Castle, Silas Young, Hanson, Jonathan Gresham & Marty Scurll defeated ROH World Champion Cody Rhodes, Scorpio Sky, Josh Woods, Chris Sabin & Punishment Martinez

This was a Christmas-themed ten-man tag match with random partners. Cody teased that he was going to give away a gift before the match but stomped on it. At one point, he and Scurll hugged it out after everyone tried to instigate them into fighting each other.

– Sumie Sakai defeated Rain in a Women of Honor match

– The Addiction defeated Coast 2 Coast

Coast 2 Coast said they’d stop teaming together if they lost their next match.

– Shane Taylor won a squash match

– The Dawgs (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara) defeated Simon Grimm & Flip Gordon

– Cody and Brandi Rhodes came out for a contract signing for Cody vs. Dalton Castle at Final Battle. Cody was wearing a fur coat and they had assistants with them. Castle told Cody that he looks ridiculous and ended up putting him through the table to stand tall heading into Final Battle.

– The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) defeated Rocky Romero, Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor to retain the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship

Omega and the Bucks defended the titles (that are held by the Bucks & Hangman Page) under the “Bullet Club rule.” They retained in a wild match, then cut a promo to close the show.

Italy’s populist government brings in new laws to crack down on artefact trafficking amid nationalist swell

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

Italy’s populist government is to introduce tough new penalties for art and antiquities crime as it vows to crack down on cultural theft as part of its nationalist agenda.

The clampdown on cultural heritage trafficking comes on the heels of several high-profile repatriations of art and antiquities spirited away to London and New York and recovered only after being put up for sale, sometimes for millions.

A wine carafe, a decanter for precious oils, a soup tureen dating back to ancient Greece were among the latest of 16 precious art and archaeological artifacts recovered in the US over the last two years and returned to Italy last week.

Italian government officials say they will soon be ratifying the Nicosia convention, an international agreement establishing penalties for offences such as unlawful excavation, importation and exportation, illegal acquisition and sale of cultural artifacts.

The return of Italian cultural items has been a stated aim of the new populist government made up of the Five Star Movement (5SM) and the League party, who campaigned on an ‘Italians first’ platform.

“We want to introduce laws on specific crimes so there are stiffer penalties applied to crimes against cultural heritage, which is a fundamental part of our identity,” said the 5SM Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli in Washington DC at a celebration to return three ancient treasures.

Could the eurozone be about to lose Italy?

The carafe, tureen and vase had been illegally dug out of an archaeological site and exported to the US.

Detectives from the famed cultural heritage protection unit of Italy’s paramilitary police force, the Carabinieri, spotted the items listed for sale at a New York auction house while doing a routine daily scan of online auctions, and contacted the FBI.

“Today the commercialisation of online platforms for rapidly selling art and archaeological objects allows our investigators to see these objects abroad on a daily basis,” the head of the Carabinieri art crime unit General Fabrizio Parrulli told The Telegraph.

“Thanks to our collaborators at the Met Police and the FBI we are developing a diplomatic culture of restitution that involves actually bringing the works back to their place of origin.”

The precious objects formally returned to Italy this week are among 200 priceless works recovered since US and Italian law enforcement agencies began formally cooperating 15 years ago to stem the flow of looted, stolen and trafficked treasures.

Works recovered include the rare oil-on-copper painting Leda and the Swan from 16th century artist Lelio Orsi, a Roman bronze of the god Mars from 2nd century AD, a letter written by Christopher Columbus and frescoes from Pompeii.

This Etruscan terracotta vase in the shape of a winged sphinx was another such artefact recovered by the international effort Credit:
Stefano Montesi – Corbis/Getty Images

“These recovered works tell the story of our obligation to spare no effort in our collaboration to ensure our past survives for our kids and our grandchildren," said Italian ambassador to Washington Armando Varricchio.

Each piece has its own story – like the colourful piece of mosaic floor from one of the ornate ships built by Roman emperor Caligula 2000 years ago that ended up used as a coffee table in the Park Avenue apartment of an antiques dealer for decades until being seized last year.

In October, the Metropolitan police arts and antiquities unit handed two Etruscan artifacts, one of which had been stolen in 1988 from a Siena museum, back to Italy.

Several items recovered in Italy recently have also been returned to other countries, including the UK and Iraq, added General Parrulli, whose team works closely with a newly formed British army unit tasked with protecting cultural heritage in war zones.

The Nicosia convention, drafted by Cyprus and already signed by Armenia, Greece, Portugal and Mexico, could be ratified by Italy as early as this month since the initiative is jointly backed by the Culture, Foreign Affairs and Justice ministries, Minister Bonisoli said.

AEW scores second straight total viewership win over NXT, key demo numbers, cable ranking, and prior episode 3-day and 7-day total viewership updates

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

AEW outdrew NXT for the second straight week in total live and same-night-delayed viewers by a 693,000 to 637,000 margin. AEW viewership dropped 38,000, down from 731,000 last week. NXT viewership dropped 28,000, down from 665,000 last week.

In the 18-49 target demographic, AEW outdrew NXT by a 0.27 to 0.16 margin. In the male 18-49 demo, AEW outdrew NXT by a 0.33 to 0.20 margin. In the younger male 18-34 demo, AEW led by a 0.16 to 0.09 margin. In the target demo, AEW finished no. 16 overall, while NXT was tied for the no. 48 position with several shows also drawing 0.16. For example, “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central drew a 0.16 rating, tying NXT, and NXT outdrew it in total viewers; Daily Show drew 589,000 viewers, 49,000 fewer viewers.

It’s AEW’s second straight week beating NXT, after NXT edged AEW by two small margins the prior two weeks.

Jumping back to last week, in the +3 day viewership totals, AEW drew 896,000 compared to NXT’s 749,000 (although NXT’s delayed views on WWE Network is not included in that number, so NXT could have close the gap quite a bit with Network views added).

Jumping back two weeks, AEW ended with 929,000 viewers, it’s third week in a row landing below 1 million viewers after finishing above 1 million viewers all but one prior week in 2020. NXT topped off at 801,000 after seven days (but again, that doesn’t include WWE Network views).

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VIDEO: HBO releases first trailer for Andre The Giant documentary

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

Coming off the premiere of ESPN’s 30 for 30 on Ric Flair, HBO has released a brief first look at their Andre The Giant documentary.

The project was officially announced this past February, with HBO partnering with WWE and Ringer Films on it. Bill Simmons, who is an executive producer on the film, has frequently cited a documentary on Andre’s life and career as being at the top of his wish list since he was with ESPN and was involved in the creation of the 30 for 30 series.

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The documentary is officially titled “Andre The Giant.” The short 40-second trailer features footage of Andre, with The Ringer’s David Shoemaker calling him a god, the biggest celebrity in the world, and saying he was both a real human and a mythological figure.

Jason Hehir is the director of the film, which will debut on HBO in spring 2018. Patric Laprade also worked on the project and appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio this week to discuss Andre and the book he’s co-writing on him.

Click play below to watch the trailer for the documentary:

Ian David Long: The California shooting suspect who went from Marine to divorcee living with mother

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

Ian David Long began his adult life by enlisting in the Marines and getting married. Years after a divorce and a discharge and months after shouting brought a mental health expert to his door, Long killed 12 people at a country music bar outside Los Angeles.

A former military machine gunner, the 28-year-old apparently killed himself after the Wednesday night attack in Thousand Oaks, the quiet suburb where he lived with his mother.

Neighbours said on Thursday they would hear loud, aggressive fights between the two. Authorities said they visited that ranch-style house only once, in April, after a neighbour reported yelling and crashing sounds.

Deputies found Long "was somewhat irate, acting a little irrationally" and called in a mental health specialist, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said. That specialist assessed Long but concluded he couldn’t be involuntarily committed for psychiatric observation.

"The mental health experts out there cleared him that day," Mr Dean said on Thursday, though they were concerned he might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his military service.

A photographer takes pictures of the home of suspected nightclub shooter Ian David Long in Thousand OaksCredit:
AFP

"Obviously he had something going on in his head that would cause him to do something like this," Mr Dean said.

Describing the earlier incident when police were called, Richard Berge, who lived one block away from the home, said he was "raving hell in the house, you know, kicking holes in the walls and stuff".

"They couldn’t get him to come out, so it was like a standoff for four or five hours," he told Reuters.

Mr Berge, who took care of Long’s mother’s dogs, said she told him following that incident she worried her son might take his own life but did not fear he would hurt her.

A next-door neighbour said he called authorities about six months ago when he heard loud banging and shouting at Long’s home.

"I was concerned because I knew he had been in the military," neighbour Tom Hanson said on Thursday, as federal and local law enforcement officers searched Long’s house, where an American flag flew over the garage.

Mr Hanson described Long as an introvert and said he was "dumbfounded" by the massacre.

During his service, Long’s marriage fell apart. He and his wife separated in June 2011, while he was deployed on a seven-month tour in Afghanistan. The couple cited irreconcilable differences in divorce papers filed in May 2013, two months after Long left the Marines.

Later, he enrolled at nearby California State University, Northridge, last attending in 2016, the school said in a statement.

About | Post-traumatic stress disorder

More recently he was living in a home where neighbours said they could hear frequent, aggressive shouting between Long and his mother, especially over the last year.

About 18 months ago, Don and Effie MacLeod heard "an awful argument" and what he believes was a gunshot from the Longs’ property. Don MacLeod said he did not call police but avoided speaking with Ian Long.

"I told my wife, ‘Just be polite to him. If he talks, just acknowledge him, don’t go into conversation with him,’" Don MacLeod said on Thursday.

But social media showed happy pictures of the pair. Long’s mother, Colleen, posted Facebook photos of her son in his military uniform in 2010 and 2011.

"My Son is home, well sort of, back in Hawaii, soon to be in Cali come January, hooray!" she wrote on December 14, 2012.

Ventura County Sheriff's deputies stand outside the house of shooting suspect David Ian Long in Newbury ParkCredit:
AP

Another photo from 2014 shows Ian Long with his arm draped around his mother in front of Dodger Stadium. The two were wearing Dodgers T-shirts and smiles.

Authorities haven’t identified what motivated Long to open fire during college night at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, around 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The city of about 130,000 people is consistently near the top of lists ranking the safest places in California.

The dead included 11 people inside the bar and a veteran sheriff’s sergeant who was the first officer through the door.

The Marine Corps said Long earned several awards, including a Combat Action Ribbon and a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Hillbilly Jim joins 2018 WWE Hall of Fame class

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

With today’s addition of Hillbilly Jim, there are now five acts confirmed for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class.

Through an announcement on Bleacher Report, WWE revealed this morning that Jim will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during WrestleMania weekend in New Orleans. He joins Goldberg, The Dudley Boyz, Ivory, and Jeff Jarrett in this year’s Hall of Fame lineup. Jarrius “JJ” Robertson will also receive the 2018 Warrior Award.

“I didn’t have that on my mind whatsoever,” Jim told Bleacher Report about finding out the news. “For a moment or two, I was knocked back on my heels. Basically, I was speechless. It was a whole lot for me to digest quickly.”

Before coming to the WWF in 1984, Jim had a stint in Memphis wrestling as “Harley Davidson.” His in-ring career effectively ended in the early 1990s, though he’s often been involved with WWE in other capacities since then. He managed The Godwinns later in the decade and was most recently part of WWE’s “Legends’ House” reality series that aired on the Network in 2014.

Jim’s last match was in the gimmick battle royal at WrestleMania X-7 in 2001.

Jim wasn’t one of the names included on the early lists for the 2018 Hall of Fame class. The induction ceremony will take place at the Smoothie King Center on Friday, April 6th.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange charged in US, court document accidentally reveals

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, appears on the brink of being publicly charged after US prosecutors accidentally named him in court filings.

The US investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election is known to be looking into how Mr Assange’s outfit published thousands of hacked Democratic Party emails before the vote.

A filing made in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday discussed procedures ”to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged”.

Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Virginia, said: “The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing.”

It remains unknown whether Mr Assange has been secretly charged already, if he will be soon or if the filing was just a complete mistake. It is also unclear what the potential charges could entail.

SCOOP: US Department of Justice "accidentally" reveals existence of sealed charges (or a draft for them) against WikiLeaks' publisher Julian Assange in apparent cut-and-paste error in an unrelated case also at the Eastern District of Virginia. https://t.co/wrjlAbXk5Z pic.twitter.com/4UlB0c1SAX

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 16, 2018

The development sparked speculation that US prosecutors are moving against Mr Assange in what would be a dramatic escalation in their long-running battle.

Mr Assange, an Australian computer programmer, first came to international attention in 2010 when his platform Wikileaks published a slew of leaked US diplomatic cables.

Wikileaks has faced scrutiny for publishing hacked emails from the Democratic Party and the campaign chairman for Hillary Clinton before the 2016 election.

Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Kremlin election meddling, has charged Russian online trolls with attempting to undermine Mrs Clinton’s campaign.

Mr Assange has lived in Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012, having received political asylum from the South American country to avoid possible extradition to Sweden in a separate sexual assault case.

Profile | Julian Assange

Any charges brought against Mr Assange would have significant diplomatic consequences, with the UK government under pressure to extradite him to the US.

Barry Pollack, a US lawyer for Mr Assange, said in a statement: "The notion that federal criminal charges could be brought based on the publication of truthful information is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set.”

In a statement on Friday, Wikileaks said Mr Assange was willing to work with British officials as long he was not extradited to the United States. Ecuadorean officials had no immediate comment on Friday.

On social network Twitter, Wikileaks said the court filings were an "apparent cut-and-paste error."

You guys should read EDVA court filings more, cheaper than a Journal subscription pic.twitter.com/YULeeQphmd

— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) November 16, 2018

In an unrelated development, Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that he was formally responding to a string of questions sent by Mr Mueller – something which the special counsel has long sought.

Mr Trump said he was personally coming up with the responses and that the questions were "simple", adding that he believed the Russia probe would be soon coming to an end.

Dog that survived California wildfire guarded home for weeks

Posted on July 15, 2020 by bamdj

A dog that survived the catastrophic wildfire in Northern California apparently protected the ruins of his home for almost a month until his owner returned.

Madison was there waiting when Andrea Gaylord was allowed back to check on her burned property in Paradise this week.

Ms Gaylord fled when the November 8 fire broke out and destroyed the town of 27,000. An animal rescuer who responded to Ms Gaylord’s request to check on Madison first spotted the male Anatolian shepherd mix several days later.

Shayla Sullivan said the outdoor guard dog was apprehensive and kept his distance. Ms Sullivan left food and water for him regularly until his owner got back on Wednesday. She also helped locate Madison’s brother Miguel, another Anatolian shepherd mix that was taken to a shelter 85 miles away in the confusing aftermath of the wildfire.

"If (the evacuees) can’t be there I’m going to be and I’m not going to give up on their animal until they can get back in," Ms Sullivan said.

REUNITED: Madison's family couldn't find him when they had to evacuate from the Camp Fire flames. Weeks later, he was found patiently guarding the lot where the house once stood, waiting for his family to come home. ❤️ https://t.co/n9ihUwQAP1 pic.twitter.com/Pse69y1tFA

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) December 8, 2018

The dogs reunited Friday when Gaylord came back to the property with Miguel and brought Madison his favorite treat: a box of Wheat Thin crackers.

Gaylord told news station ABC10 she couldn’t ask for a better animal.

"Imagine the loyalty of hanging in in the worst of circumstances and being here waiting," she said.

"Their instinctual job is to watch the flocks and we’re part of them," she said about her dogs. "It’s a comforting feeling."

It’s a Family Affair/Harrison Brothers Top 500 Wins

Posted on July 14, 2020 by bamdj

By Rich Engstrom

Last Friday the Harrison brothers of Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus posted a combined 500 wins with Joe Harrison’s victory. The oldest, Nic (2009 grad), ended his career with 144 wins – three appearances at the state tournament, and placed third as a senior. His record as a senior was 37-2. Christian (2011 grad) went to state twice and had a 35-4 season record as a senior. He ended his career with 143 wins. Peter (2012 grad) had 126 career wins, went to state three times and had a 38-5 senior year. Joe, a senior, is currently rated #2 in the state and has 87 wins.

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Those who know high school wrestling appreciate the dedication and discipline a wrestler has to have to be successful. But he also needs a strong family backing. Jim and Marci Harrison are always in the stands and sister Annie Harrison is a volunteer assistant for the Road Crew.

When Christian was wrestling for Moorhead one parent would go to the college match with the other parent watching Joe with the Road Crew. At the next event, the parents would change places.

The Harrisons winning 500 matches put them with an elite group of wrestlers.

The Guillotine Recordbook

February begins with handful of changes in bottom half of USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll

Posted on July 14, 2020 by bamdj

Manheim, Pa. – The only movement coming in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll came at the bottom half of the poll. Stanford, Ohio University and Chattanooga entered the poll while the top 15 teams remained unchanged as the poll was released on Tuesday.

The nation’s lone unbeaten teams – Penn State, Iowa and N.C. State – remained No. 1-3, while Oklahoma State remained at No. 4, while once-beaten Missouri and Lehigh maintained their positions at No. 5 and No. 6.

Oregon State, Purdue and Appalachian State fell out of the Top 25 this week. Ohio returning to the poll gives the Mid-American Conference four teams in the Top 25. The Big Ten still leads with nine of its 14 members in the poll and the ACC has five of its six wrestling programs ranked.

Appalachian State’s run in the Top 25 ended abruptly last week after the Mountaineers were upended by Gardner-Webb 22-18. While the Mountaineers fell out of the Top 25, another SoCon team moved in as Chattanooga (10-3) entered at No. 25.

[eztable width=”600″]Rank,Team (First),Record,Points,Conference,Previous
1,Penn State (12),12-0,300,Big Ten,1
2,Iowa,14-0,287,Big Ten,2
3,N.C. State,20-0,277,ACC,3
4,Oklahoma State,8-2,264,Big 12,4
5,Missouri,11-1,251,MAC,5
6,Lehigh,11-1,239,EIWA,6
7,Oklahoma,9-3,219,Big 12,7
8,Michigan,10-2,210,Big Ten,8
9,Ohio State,9-2,207,Big Ten,9
10,Virginia Tech,11-2,203,ACC,10
11,Nebraska,8-4,175,Big Ten,11
12,Rutgers,13-3,172,Big Ten,12
13,Illinois,11-4,156,Big Ten,13
14,North Carolina,9-3,140,ACC,14
15,Cornell,3-4,119,EIWA,15
16,Iowa State,8-5,116,Big 12,17
17,Pittsburgh,9-3,115,ACC,16
18,Virginia,5-4,91,ACC,18
19,Kent State,11-3,79,MAC,19
20,Indiana,6-3,66,Big Ten,22
21,Minnesota,7-7,59,Big Ten,23
22,Stanford,9-2,41,Pac-12,NR
23,Central Michigan,6-4,29,MAC,21
24,Ohio,9-3,26,MAC,NR
25,Chattanooga,10-3,19,SoCon,NR[/eztable]

Dropped out: No. 20 Oregon State, No. 24 Purdue, No. 25 Appalachian State
Others Receiving Votes: Arizona State 18, Purdue 16, Oregon State 5, Navy 1

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