New Publishing Schedule

Recently, we have been developing a new publishing schedule. We will be announcing the new schedule on January 1, 2026. The new schedule will include pages for Brown Boy Gang Comics, SCREAM (Society Chasing Real Entities And Monsters), and links to my stories published by TrueCrimeStoryBlog. com. All of this brought to you by Elite Sports. Go check them out at Https://www.elitesports.com/collections/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-bjj-gis and then come check out what we have in store for you in the new year!

All Elite Wrestling Dynamite July 30, 2025

Welcome to Mark Out With Your Smark Out’s coverage of last night’s All Elite Wrestling’s “Dynamite” live from the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago! I am your host, Scott Brown. Let’s get down to it!

Our announcers are Tony Schiavone, Taz, and Excalibur.

The night started with the Tag Team Eliminator Tournament. Tonight’s match saw The Outrunners facing off with Matt & Nick Jackson. Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum were favorites with the Chicago crowd. Nick and Matt won this one with the TK Driver. After the match, Kazuchika Okada came out and teamed up with the Jacksons for a 3 on 2 beatdown, but The Outrunners were saved by Swerve Strickland. The Outrunners continue to have great matches with some of the best tag teams in the world. Matt and Nick continue to be one of the best in the world with high intensity double team wrestling. They will face the winner of tonight’s match where Bandido and Brody King face off against Gates of Agony on Collision. Matt and Nick’s new gimmick was highlighted during their introduction when they were listed as “Talent Name” on their intro graphic which got the Chicago crowd chanting “jobber”. This was a very good opening match.

Schiavone welcomed Christian Cage to the ring for the next segment. Cage admitted being an asshole. He told Adam Copeland that he hadn’t done anything worse than what Copeland had done to get to the top and he disowned Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian. Mother Wayne distracted Cage up on the stage leading to an attack by Nick Wayne and Sabian. This segment was not as good as Cage usually is on the mic despite some off colored comments about Mother Wayne and a few bleeps from inappropriate language. It seems pretty obvious that we are eventually going to end up with an Edge and Christian reunion. The Waynes and Sabian ended up looking good here.

Stokely Hathaway along with FTR announced Cope was banned from attending this week. Matt and Nick approached and the two teams shook hands but Stokely disrespected the former EVPs.

MJF knocked on the Hurt Syndicate’s door to clear things up with them. Shelton Benjamin told him MVP wasn’t available and that he knew the Rolex he was given was a fake. In the end he told Max he was out of the Hurt Syndicate.

“Hangman” Adam Page and Jon Moxley faced off in a match where everyone was banned from ringside and the AEW World Championship was on the line. This was an excellent match with couple pile drivers by Mox on the ringsteps and apron and a Dead Eye on the announce table by the champion. The Deathriders were stopped by security from coming through the crowd which gave Marina Shafir an opportunity to slide the championship belt into the ring for Mox to use to take out Page. As security lead them all away from ringside Darby Allin took everyone out with a dive from the balcony. Page hit a Buckshot Lariat, another Dead Eye and another Buckshot to retain the strap. This match had a big fight feel to it but was a more traditional fight than the one at All In Texas. Both men relied on heavy strikes throughout the match. Hangman looked like a champion and Mox wasn’t hurt by another lose, but it makes you wonder what’s next for him. In the end the Cowboy was the Shit. The Deathriders will most likely end up feuding with Allin and eventually Will Ospreay or maybe The Opps. It was a surprise that the match happened so early in the show but it guaranteed that it got the time necessary to send this feud off into the sunset.

The third match of the night featured the AEW Women’s Champion in tag team action against the Ring of Honor Women’s Champion who holds a guaranteed shot at the AEW title. Toni Storm and Alex Windsor versus Athena and Billie Starkz was a solid tag team battle. It made me think women’s tag straps need to be introduced preferrably an undisputed version featuring AEW, ROH, RevPro, NJPW, Stardom and CMLL. That would be a real forbidden door. Storm is the best women’s wrestler in the world, in my humble opinion, so it was a shock to see her laying on her back the loser at the end after Athena delivered the O Face. Athena looked great in this match, Windsor impressed me again and Starkz showed that she deserves the TV time she has been getting. That’s three good matches on the show.

The night’s main event was Mark Briscoe versus Ricochet. Earlier, Hangman told MJF he needed to earn a title shot by beating Briscoe, a former ROH world champion. This match could be a top contender match as Ricochet is another former world champion. Briscoe was a house afire in this one. Gates of Agony ended up getting involved but were countered by Brody King and Bandido leading to Briscoe winning with a Jay Driller. Briscoe challenged MJF to a match right there and then but Maxwell Jacob Friedman didn’t come to the ring when his music played. Instead he showed up on the Jumbotron challenging Briscoe for next week before attacking him from behind. Hangman came to the ring sending MJF running. Briscoe is now established as a top contender after a couple weeks of main eventing in good matches. Briscoe showed a lot of emotion from prematch being mocked by Ricochet and GOA to the match to fighting MJF and is now in a position where he could be in line for a shot at Page’s title.

Four good matches and storylines being advanced on this show made it worthwhile viewing. I am shocked that there isn’t more New Japan and CMLL talent being featured to promote the upcoming Forbidden Door event at the end of August.

That’s it for this edition of “Mark Out With Your Smark Out”. Before you go, please visit http://goo.gl/slrkvQ and donate $5 to the Ashley Trautwein Memorial Fund. All proceeds go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their suicide prevention programs and research. Keep coming back to http://MarkOutWithYourSmarkOut.com for all the latest news from AEW! Thanks for reading and we will see you next time!

AEW Dynamite Highlights in 8 Minutes: Chicago, IL | AEW Highlights 7/30/25

All Elite Wrestling Rampage 1/19/2024 Review

Welcome to Mark Out With Your Smark Out’s coverage of last night’s All Elite Wrestling’s “Rampage” recorded in the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina! I am your host Scott Brown. Let’s get down to it!

Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni, and Don Callis are our announcers.

Starting the show we have Chris Jericho, fresh off last week’s loss to Big Bill and Ricky Starks for the AEW tag team titles on Battle of the Belts 9 facing off with Matt Sydal. The match was a bit sloppy with Sydal being lucky to avoid major injury on a diving kick through the ring ropes that he either got hung up on or that Jericho avoided by being too far away. Sydal almost collided with referee, Aubrey Edwards when running the ropes when she appeared to fail to get out of the way. Jericho hasn’t seemed to have lost any of his popularity with the crowd despite the internet community piling on him a couple of weeks ago about alleged sexual harassment rumors as the crowd took part in the traditional singing of his entrance music, “Judas” by Jericho’s band, Fozzy. Jericho got the victory with an avalanche hurricanrana and a Judas Effect. The main takeaway from this match was Jericho’s continuing feud with the Calllis family. We had Callis running away from the announce table any time Jericho came near it and Konosuke Takeshita attacking Jericho as he headed back to the locker room, which resulted in Takeshita knocking the head of talent relations, Christopher Daniels to the ground with a punch.

Next, we had Penta El Zero Miedo facing off with Anthony Henry. Alex Abrahantes accompanied Penta. “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard joined the commentary team after Callis left after the last match. Penta deserves a singles push and Henry deserves better than being “WCW Saturday Night” 2024 enhancement talent. Penta won with a Fear Factor.

We go to the backstage area with Renee Paquette. Saraya and Ruby Soho walk up from behind her and are arguing. Harley Cameron arrives and is shoved up against the wall and choked by Soho who is asking, “Why!?” With some prompting behind Soho’s back Cameron tells Soho it was Ana Jay’s fault that Cameron had kissed Angelo Parker last week.

Our third match is Kris Statlander versus Queen Aminata. Stokely Hathaway accompanied Statlander to the ring. When Hathaway gets too involved in the match both ladies tell him to get away from the ring, but Aminata takes advantage of him having Statlander’s attention to get the upper hand. This was the best match so far and Aminata continues to impress. Statlander gets the victory with a scoop slam and a horrible cover, which was the only negative of the match but stood out to me.

Backstage Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Sarnam Singh are arguing about what to do after being stood up by Jeff and Karen Jarrett. Lethal is glad Jarrett didn’t show up. Dutt wants to kick Karen out of their stable and Singh wants to keep Karen in the group. Lethal doesn’t want any more stupid arguments like this one and just wants to get back to his pursuit of championship gold.

Back from break, we are backstage with Renee, again, this time with Statlander and Hathaway. Willow Nightingale approaches the group and gets into an argument with Hathaway accusing him of canceling her flight. Statlander, obviously frustrated, says, “We will figure this out,” and leaves Nightingale and Hathaway arguing.

The show’s main event features Darby Allin and Jeff Hardy in a match with “relaxed rules”. That means it was no DQ in reality. Hardy goes to give a double fist bump at the start of the match and when Darby goes to bump fists Hardy slaps him in the face. Is Brother Nero coming back…? The two men destroy each other outside the ring trying to outdo one another. Darby tries to hit a seated Hardy with a plancha and gets nothing but an empty chair in one of the better spots. Both men are hurting. Hardy hits a hanging neckbreaker on the ring apron. Darby is ran into the ring post and a table is set up outside the ring. Hardy lays Allin on the table and goes up top for a Swanton Bomb to the outside, but Darby moves and Hardy crashes through the table. Allin goes for a Coffin Drop but Hardy gets his knees up. In the end, Allin gets the win with some chain wrestling for the roll-up. Darby goes to give Hardy a double fist bump and just before their fists touch Hardy pulls away and leaves his opponent hanging. Are we going to see the Hardy Boys turn on their fans? Are we about to see the Hardys welcome Mark Briscoe to the Brokenverse?

WWE News and Rumors Roundup

Welcome to the WWE News and Rumors Roundup, where we bring you the latest buzz from the world of professional wrestling. I'm your host, Scott Brown, and today we have a lot of exciting stories to cover. Let's get right into it.

- WWE SmackDown saw the return of AOP, who aligned themselves with Karrion Kross in a brutal attack on Roman Reigns and The Usos. The former NXT Tag Team Champions had been out of action since March 2020, due to an injury suffered by Rezar. Kross, who also debuted on SmackDown last week, revealed that his new stable is called The End, and vowed to destroy anyone who stands in their way.- WWE has confirmed that Carmelo Hayes and Austin Theory are in stable condition, after a scary incident that occurred during their match on SmackDown. The two young stars took a nasty fall from the top rope, and the match was immediately stopped by the referee. WWE medical staff rushed to the scene, and both Hayes and Theory were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. WWE issued a statement, saying that they suffered minor concussions, but no other serious injuries.

- WWE Hall of Famer Afa the Wild Samoan is currently in the hospital, recovering from pneumonia and having experienced two heart attacks. The legendary wrestler, who is the uncle of Roman Reigns and The Usos, was admitted to the hospital last week, after feeling unwell. His son, Samu, posted an update on social media, saying that Afa is in good spirits, and thanked the fans for their prayers and support.

-On January 8, 2024, Cody Rhodes emerged victorious over his bitter adversary Shinsuke Nakamura in a highly-personal Street Fight en route to Royal Rumble -Drew McIntyre declared for the Royal Rumble and engaged in a war of words with CM Punk.-Tommaso Ciampa defeated Finn Bálor with the help of Johnny Gargano in a match that moved #DIY one step closer to an Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title opportunity.-A match between Kofi Kingston and Ludwig Kaiser ended in a double count-out. Ludwig Kaiser then unleashed a brutal assault on Kofi Kingston that included launching a chair at the former WWE Champion and kicking Kofi’s head into the steel ring steps.-Nia Jax vowed to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley.-Kayden Carter & Katana Chance successfully defended their WWE Women’s Tag Team Title against Chelsea Green & Piper Niven in a match that saw a crucial miscommunication between Niven and Green.-The Miz defeated JD McDonagh with the help of R-Truth.-Jinder Mahal claimed to be disrespected and picked a fight with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. As a result, a World Heavyweight Championship match was made official, which became controversial on the internet.-WWE added 27 live events to its 2024 touring schedule, including Raw in Portland, Oregon, SmackDown in Lincoln, Nebraska, and two house shows in New Mexico.- And finally, in some lighter news, WWE Superstar Jade Cargill showed off a surprise gift she received from her partner, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. Cargill, who is one of the rising stars of the women's division, posted a picture of a diamond necklace with the letters "J" and "S" on it, along with a heart emoji. Cargill and O'Neal have been dating since last year, and have been very supportive of each other's careers. That’s it for this edition of “WWE News and Rumors Roundup”. Before you go, please visit http://goo.gl/slrkvQ and donate $5 to the Ashley Trautwein Memorial Fund. All proceeds go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their suicide prevention programs and research. Keep coming back to MarkOutWithYourSmarkOut.com for all the latest news from the WWE! Thanks for reading and we will see you next time!

Flashback! Around the NWA from June 2015

Back in May of 2017 Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins bought the NWA. He eventually took down the website for the National Wrestling Alliance from the time period of the previous owner, Bruce Tharpe, some time a couple months later. I’m going to post the articles that I wrote for Ringside, the NWA website, here for historical and entertainment purposes. I think it’s interesting to look back at history that is easily forgotten or ignored. This one features Chase Owens, Rob Conway, Jason Kincaid, Ricky Morton, Sabu, AJ Styles, John Morrison, Shane Douglas, Brian Kendrick, Bateman, King Mo, Chavo Guerrero, Ricardo Rodriguez, Koko B. Ware, Santana Garrett, Sha Samuels, Marty Scurll, Doug Williams, Killer Elite Squad, Colt Cabana, Chris Hero, Tenzan, Tim Storm, Dan Hausen, Andy Dalton, Moonshine Mantel, Barrett Brown, Veda Scott, Leva Bates, El Mariachi Loco, Raymond Rowe, Teddy Hart, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tanahashi! That’s a hell of a roster so, I hope you enjoy it.

Around the NWA

By Scott Brown Updated: June 19, 2015

Welcome to “Around the NWA”! We will be taking a look at all the action from around the NWA this past week, as well as what the National Wrestling Alliance has coming up. You won’t find more NWA news anywhere else!

This week we are going to start in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. On Saturday, June 12, 2015, at NWA Smoky Mountain’s Summer Bash, held at the Civic Auditorium in Kingsport, Tennessee, 3-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Chase Owens and his Illuminati stablemate, Chris Richards won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship from the #1 contenders to the NWA World Tag Team Titles, The Heatseekers.

When asked about The Illuminati winning the US Tag Team Titles and his recent participation in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Mr. Owens responded, “Just being in the super juniors tournament was an honor. To be in competition with the best junior heavyweights in the world was a battle. Picking up my revenge on Jushin Liger was a huge highlight in my career and then, main eventing in the historic Korakuen Hall with a sold out crowd against Taguchi and picking up the win were my biggest moments in the tournament.

Yes, Chris Richards and myself are the U.S Tag Team Champs and I think that should put us as the number 1 contenders for the World Tag Titles. I’m, also, number 1 contender for the World Junior Title and my plan is to become the first person to ever hold the World Junior Title and World Tag Titles.”

In other news involving the US Tag Title match, Dylan Wayne Sizemore may have serious issues in his Agency, as he and Sigmon got into a heated exchange at ringside and in the locker room after the match.

In other action, Cody Blade & The Giant Arawn, whose name is based on a demon king and earlier this year had a $5000 challenge to anyone that could last 5 minutes with him, got the win over Rick Savage & ATM. James Judas Pope, of KAOS, called the performance of Blade and Arawn “dominating”.

Ali Shabazz got the victory over Jordan Kage, but Kage held onto the NWA Smoky Mountain TV Title due to a DQ when Kage’s manager, Dylan Wayne Sizemore, interfered.

Tanner Reynolds, a junior heavyweight out of Pittsburgh that talks the talk won his NWA debut against Stryder.

Wayne Adkins and Axton Ray beat KAOS’s Daniel Mulligan and Jeff Connelly. Connelly attacked Mulligan, after the match. And to add insult to injury Connelly fired Mulligan. Since KAOS controlled his contract, Mr. Mulligan is gone from Smoky Mountain Wrestling. NWA Smoky Mountain wished Daniel Mulligan the best in his future endeavors, but James Judas Pope had this to say: “We left that match with a loss and a quick pinfall to Mr. Adkins and Mr. Ray. Where, in our minds, Daniel Mulligan costed us the match with his unwillingness to adapt to ways of KAOS which had been a struggle ever since we got control of his and Cody Blades’ contracts, some time back. So Mr. Connelly took matters in his hands, on behalf of myself and KAOS, and beat that ungrateful redneck down, left him laying and done us and NWA Smoky Mountain a favor, whether they see it our way or agree with our tactics or not, and fired him on the spot! NWA Smoky Mountain wished him the best on his future endeavors, but considering the dissension he put us through, good riddance! He left with a hard lesson learned. Now, KAOS is a full blown, solid unit and a dominant force, once again!
So what’s next for KAOS? Stay tuned! You can bet it will be KAOTIC, pun intended, to say the least!”

Former tag team partners, Skylar Kruze and Gavin Daring faced off in a Smoky Mountain Street Fight with Kruse picking up the win.

Shawn Shultz, who recently tweeted that he would be winning the NWA National Heavyweight Title, defeated multi-time NWA champion, Ricky Morton.

The number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Title, Rob Conway defeated Nick Hammonds.

NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion, Jason “The Gift” Kincaid defeated former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Sabu and crowd favorite, Vince Brent in a 3 way dance when he pinned Brent. NWA Smoky Mountain returns to the Civic Auditorium on August 8!

Smoky Mountain Wrestling reported, “Collision Course 10 DVD is now in stock! Order yours today. Ships within 48 hours! Lineup includes the following matches:
–Jason Kincaid vs. John Morrison for the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title
–Chase Owens vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles in non-title action
–Vince Brent vs. Chris Richards
Plus much more!
STORE: http://buff.ly/1fhMXG1”. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of mine, along with The Smoky Mountain Cup, where Jax Dane earned a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Title. Go to nwasmokymountain.com for more info!

New to the NWA, Circle City Wrestling had 600 fans in attendance on June 14th, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana to see Johnathon “Lone Wolf” Owens defeat Joey Venom. Greg Glover got the win over Ron Mathis. Dru Skillz over Judo Master with Bob Noxious. Joey Owens and Corporal Robison versus Remi Wilkons and Appollo Starr went to a No Contest when 10 Minute Magic interfered, leading to the main event for the tag titles on their next show in a triple threat match. Anthony Toatele accompanied to the ring by Kenzi defeated Zodiak along with Jason Saint by DQ. Camron Star got the win over Paloma. “Ironman” Rob Conway beat “Franchise” Shane Douglas with Greg Carey. And in the main event, Rikishi and Cutter got the victory over “Diceman” Ronnie Vegas and Mike King.

Circle City Wrestling returns when they present “Summer Sizzler 2015” on Sunday, August 2nd, 2015 at German Park at the German American Klub located at 8602 South Meridian Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. Doors open at 4:45 PM. Show starts at 6:15 PM. Admission is $10 for adults $6 for kids 6 to 12 years old.
ADVANCE VIP (Ringside Seats) $8 for adults, $5 for children 6 to 12 years old. Tickets can be purchased at the South Side Flea Market located at 3825 S. East Street near Southern Plaza.
The card will feature an NWA Circle City Wrestling Tag Team Championship
Triple Threat Match between Pain Inc., Joey Owens and Corporal Robinson vs. Circle City Callabo, Appollo Starr and Remi Wilkins vs. 10 Minute Magic, Brian Klass and Matt Jones in the main event. In a No Disqualification Grudge Match, Anthony Toatele with Kenzi will face Zodiak accompanied by Jason Saint. In a women’s match
Camron Star takes on Paloma. Baron Von Kane faces Kevin Thorn in a special challenge match. In an NWA Circle City Wrestling Championship Qualifying Match, “Ironman” Rob Conway and Dru Skillz will go at it. Keep watching for more matches to be announced! Check out Circle City Wrestling on Facebook.

Over on the West Coast at Vendetta Pro Wrestling, last weekend, Sunami proved he is a contender for the Tri-Force championship defeating Vintage Dragon and “The Last Tempation” Ricky Ruffin. Tsunami is a former Vendetta Pro Heavyweight, Tag Team and Underground champion. He will be going for the grand slam when he fights for the Tri-Force Title at Vendettaversary. The Tri-Force Title is defended only in triple threat matches and currently is held by “The Freak” Jeckles the Jester. Jeckles and Sunami will face off with “The Mexican Werewolf” El Chupacabra for the belt at Vendettaversary in Lumpac, California. “The Game Changer” Greg Hernandez got the win over “The Shogun of Harlem” Jimi Mayhem accompanied by Big Bam. The Ballard Brothers, Shane and Shannon, are the New Western States Tag Team Champions, taking the titles from the number two contenders for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, Parental Discretion, Mike Menace and Mike Rayne. Parental Discretion split up at Summer Sizzle when Rayne attacked Menace during the match and the two will be facing each other at Vendettaversary. While Parental Discretion continues to implode, the champions, The Ballard Brothers will defend the Western States Tag Team Championship against the Von Dooms, one of three teams they beat to get a shot at the titles. Western States Heavyweight Champion, “Loverboy” Matt Riviera along with “The One-Man Entourage” Johnny Morton retained his title against Brian Kendrick, thanks to outside interference. “Apostle” Judah Mathew defeated Friar Juan Roman with his tag team partner Archimedes, while “The Rebel Rouser” Clay Tawzer defeated Archimedes who was accompanied by the Friar. The Excess Express, Perry Von Vicious and Alexander G. Bernard, issued an open challenge that was answered by El Ridiculoso and Cereal Man, with the Excess Express picking up the win. Vendetta Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, Lil Cholo defeated “Rock of Love” Billy Blade in a special challenge match. Cholo will face “The Butcher” Tyler Bateman at Vendettaversary. Meanwhile, as a result of the loss Rik Luxery got to pick the stipulation in his upcoming match with Blade at Vendettaversary on August 8th and he chose a hair vs. hair match. And, to keep law and order during the match, Commissioner Joseph Duncan announced a special enforcer will be at ringside. That man is Bellator MMA fighter Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. King Mo was the Strike Force Light Heavyweight Champion and knows how to take care of business. You can watch the Blade vs. Luxery Vendettaversary promo on YouTube at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FwOyqdmGySw&feature=youtu.be. And don’t forget on July 11th Vendetta Pro hosts their first ever Superstar Search. The winner will receive a free year of training at Vendetta Pro Kayfabe College! Just announced for Vendettaversary, Lucha Underground’s Chavo Guerrero Jr., a former Vendetta Pro Heavyweight Champion, faces Ricardo Rodriguez, the first ever Tri-Force Champion. Get your tickets at vendettaprowrestling.com.

We are taking a look at NWA Atlanta, next, where new Georgia Tag Team Champions were crowned last Saturday night, June 13th. Drew Adler and Georgia Junior Heavyweight Champion, Fry Daddy, won the titles, beating the Young Lions. Tyson Dean was victorious over Iceberg in a NWA North American Heavyweight Title tournament qualifying match. The tournament is July 17th in Sherman, Texas. The card also featured Simon Sermon vs Bill T Butcher and NWA Atlanta Heavyweight Champion, Tommy Too Much vs Pain. Meanwhile, NWA Atlanta star Andy Anderson is reported to have secured his spot in the North American Title tournament with a victory over El Loco Diablo in Puerto Rico. Both Dean and Anderson will also be in the NWA National Heavyweight title tournament in Tennessee on July 11th. You can watch the complete June 15th show on YouTube at https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=TJiHPcaZVJI. For more information on the NWA in Georgia visit nwaatlanta.org.

Our next stop in our tour of the Alliance is Indiana, where Supreme Championship Wrestling presented Melt Down. Former Supreme Tag Team Champion, Spazz pinned El Cardinal. Johnny T. Justice and Dino Stephanopolis are the new Supreme Tag Team Champions after beating Roger Blade and Red Dragoon. Chuck McRoberts with the win over Tristan Roe. Marksman Fudd and J.B. Kidd defeated Johnny Strattlin and Dave Hovak. Drew Dillinger beat The Texas Outlaw by count out. The Outlaw retained his Supreme Heavyweight Title and surpassed Hall of Famer, Koko B. Ware for the second longest Supreme Heavyweight Title reign, this week, holding the title for 224 days. The number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Title, Rob Conway won by a judges decision (28-27) over Eric Draven after wrestling to a 10 minute draw. Check out NWA Supreme on Facebook.

Down in Armarillo, Top of Texas awarded Jake Logan a spot in the North American Heavyweight Title Tournament, after winning a tournament there. Mr. Logan will now travel to NWA Texoma for his chance at NWA gold. You can get more info at http://nwaamarillo.com and http://nwatexoma.com.

NWA Women’s champion Santana Garrett continues to dominate women’s wrestling all over the place. She is currently featured in advertising for WWNLive where she holds the SHINE Championship. You can check her out on Facebook and Twitter for more.

In the UK, Fight Nation! Has “Black Belt” Tom Dawkins versus Sha Samuels being advertised for War on the Shore on July 3rd. NWA Fight Nation! TV on YouTube feature Andy Boy Simmonz vs Marty Scurll. Go watch it at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gHBRazl_Qb8. They also are featuring, Doug Williams vs Marty Scurll and it can be seen at http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ySmO7_zRI. And finally, one more match from the UK is featured this week on NWA Fight Nation TV, Paul Robinson vs. Crusher Curtis. You can watch it at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LW9kuaVJRH4. Visit the NWA in the UK at http://www.fightnationwrestling.co.uk.

In Marion, Ohio, on July 11th NWA Midwest will host Gauntlet for the Gold featuring 12 NWA stars. Woman’s Champion Samantha Heights also will be putting her title on the line. More information is available at TINYURL/NWA-MIDWEST-FB.

Down in Tennessee NWA SAW has a great weekly TV program and you can catch this week’s episode on YouTube at https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=WL&index=315&v=MenNLjEAYDw. For more on SAW visit them on Facebook.

The NWA World Tag Team Champions, Killer Elite Squad, collect championship gold everywhere they wrestle.
Today, Friday June 19, before most of you were even out of bed, they defended their GHC Tag Team Championship titles against former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Colt Cabana and his partner Chris Hero over in Japan and came out victorious. KES can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

NWA President, Bruce Tharpe, confirmed that NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Tenzan “will be in the US the end of August defending the NWA World Title against several different opponents. IF he is still the champion at that time.” It has been a number of weeks since the champ defended his title and there are a lot of competitors here in the States hungry for a shot at him. Mr. Tharpe is one of the most interesting things on Twitter. Check him out!

When I asked Xtian Blake about what’s going on in Elite Championship Wrestling, he responded, “Last month, the GM of NWA Elite, Sean Saxon, made the official announcement that on July 19th in Houma Louisiana, Xtian Blake vs Andy Dalton will settle their heated rivalry in a steel cage. Also, a stipulation was made that the two are banned from having any physical contact with each other or the match is off and suspensions will be slammed down. This past week, Houma was entertained with a special Pick Your Poison. Xtian Blake surprised the crowd and Andy Dalton with the pick of the returning Tim Storm to Elite after a year absence. But Dalton, keeping it dirty with his pick, brought out crowd favorite John Saxon, who Xtian Blake looks at as a mentor. And added the stipulation that if Xtian Blake loses, the cage match is off. Andy vs Tim Storm started the show and resulted with Andy grabbing a steel chair, Xtian Blake running in to take it away and spewing water in Dalton’s face which lead to “The Perfect Storm” and a win for the returning Tim Storm. Saxon vs Blake was a solid strong style clinic with the fans torn on sides. The result was after Xtian connected with the Running Knee, Andy made his way to the ring to cause a distraction and spit water in Xtians face, taunting Blake to strike him before their scheduled cage match. As it looked like Xtian was winding back to throw a punch, Saxon swung Xtian Blake around to the side and gave Dalton a lick of his own. Xtian then rolled up Saxon with a bridge pin for the win. After the two exchanged words and shook hands, Dalton crawled in the ring and tried to taunt Xtian Blake to hit him. Tim Storm runs in to calm Xtian Blake down. He grabs Dalton, but in a suprising act, Storm turns and sucker punches Xtian Blake. Dalton hands over an envelope with money to Tim Storm, hits the Perfect Storm to Xtian Blake and Andy laying next to a motionless Xtian Blake with a smile and tells him ” See you in the cage.” I guarantee Mr. Blake can’t wait to get his hands on Andy Dalton. Check out Elite Championship Wrestling on Facebook for more!

Speaking of Mr. Dalton, he is the Inspire Pro Heavyweight Champion and set to defend his title against the J Crown Title holder “Just” Steve’O Reno on June 21st in Austin, Texas at the Marchesa Hall & Theater when Inspire Pro presents the 2nd annual Clash at the Bash. Reno earned the chance to end Dalton’s ten month reign by winning the Fungressional Medal of Honor earlier this year at the Fun Fun Fun Fest. Also on the card, Dalton’s partner in crime, “Bleeding Heart” Davey Vega faces “Kid Gorgeous” Donovan Danhausen, who impressed everyone during the J Crown 4 way match at In Their Blood II. In 6 man tag action The Orphans, Sky De Lacrimosa along with Zac and DG Taylor, face their former friend, The Great Depression and his new partners, The Red Scare and The Hollywood Strangler. “Pro Wrestling’s Bride of Frankenstein” Angelis Layne injured Delilah Doom at In Their Blood setting up a women’s tag battle that will see Layne team with “The Mountain” Vanessa Kraven and Doom team with “The Buzzsaw of the XX Division” Jessica James. Alex Reigns turned on The World Class Syndicate and will team with “One Man” Mike Dell and Moonshine Mantell to try to put an end to the partnership between “The Texas Lion” Carson and “The Pride of Professional Wrestling” Barrett Brown, who are bringing in a mystery partner to try to plug the leaks in what appears to be a sinking ship. At Phenomenon, “The Bionic Beast” Franco D’Angelo played a part in ending Matthew Palmer’s career in Inspire Pro. “The Wrestling Goddess” Athena is looking for revenge in this intergender match up. Veda Scott has to come back to Texas to defend her XX Division Title against Leva Bates, who was declared number one contender when it was revealed Barbi Hayden had bribed officials to earn that spot. NWA World Tag Team Champion, “The American Psycho” Lance Hoyt is known for bullying announcer, Brandon Shroud, in Inspire Pro, but at Clash at the Bash he will have to answer to Raymond “Death” Rowe for costing Mr. Rowe the number one contender spot at Phenomenon. In a 4 way J Crown contenders match, JoJo Bravo, The New Movement’s Cherry Ramon, Calgary’s Teddy Hart and Lucha Underground’s El Mariachi Loco will face off.
Get your tickets at inspireprowrestling.com!

Finally, I would like to say a few words about Dusty Rhodes. I remember discovering World Championship Wrestling on WTBS on Saturday mornings as a small child. I enjoyed Jimmy Valiant, Pez Whatley, Manny Fernandez, and even the Mulkeys. But, it was Dusty that hooked me on rasslin. From bringing out Dick Slater in a gorilla costume to the epic battles with the 4 Horsemen in parking lots, TV studios and Wargames, Dusty set the hook when I took the bait. I cried when I heard of his passing, like I had lost a favorite uncle. It was amazing seeing everyone from Mick Foley to Hulk Hogan to Ric Flair remember Dusty this past week on social media and I saw more than one Dusty elbow in tribute to The American Dream in the ring this past week, too. Even ESPN remembered Dusty with a tribute video. You can check it out at http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13104511. Thank you for the memories. The man may be gone, but The Dream will always live on.

That’s it for this edition of “Around the NWA”. Before you go, please visit http://goo.gl/slrkvQ and donate $5 to the Ashley Trautwein Memorial Fund. All proceeds go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their suicide prevention programs and research. And since you like babes and brutes in spandex, go visit 411mania.com every Thursday and read my review of Marvel, DC and indy comics at the Comic Book Roundtable. Keep coming back to NWARingside.com for all the latest news from the National Wrestling Alliance and don’t forget NWA Classics 24/7 is set to debut the beginning of July. See all your favorites from the NWA’s past square off in the ring. I can’t wait! Thanks for reading and we will see you next time!

Addendum: Official rankings from June 2015

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS:

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion:	Hiroyoshi Tenzan
#1	Tim Storm
#2	Arrick Andrews
#3	Shinsuke Nakamura
#4	Rob Conway
#5	Tanahashi
#6	Jason Kincaid
#7	Matt Riviera
#8	John Saxon
#9	Badd Blood
#10	Houston Carson

Kevin Sullivan Interview Part 2

A long time ago I was writing for NWA Ringside, the official website of the National Wrestling Alliance back when it was owned by Bruce Tharpe. I had done a number of interviews with NWA stars between that website and http://www.alliance-wrestling.com. Jeff Jarrett, Dan Severn, Jax Dane, Santana Garrett, Chase Owens and a few others. I had done an interview with Kevin Sullivan and hadn’t published it, yet, when Billy Corgan bought the promotion and shut down the website. I decided to start a blog of my own and that I would publish the interview there. The first half of the interview was published and then…

I really did intend to start a blog that came out on a schedule. But, that’s not how things happened. I bought the domain name. I had the second half of the interview written out (Mr. Sullivan and I spoke on the phone) and had edited it. I just needed to type it up and publish it. But, life happened. I had suffered a pretty bad brain injury in a back alley fight a couple years before Mr. Corgan bought the National Wrestling Alliance. I was still doing physical rehab for that injury when I blew out a disk in my back, tore the muscles off the top of my foot, tore two tendons in three places in my ankle and needed two chunks of bone removed from my foot. I’d like to tell you the entire story about how, in cape and cowl, I had done battle with a gang of criminals before falling to their mutant leader. But, I can’t. I was sleep walking and woke up back in bed needing back surgery, ankle surgery and years of physical rehab. There may have been another stumble or two in there, too. I don’t recall. Brain damage. The interview never was completely published.

This past fall since I had nothing going on except teaching my two young sons through distance learning due to COVID I decided to go back to college to pursue a degree in media studies. I was on roughly my twentieth year of red shirting my sophomore year due to poor life choices throughout most of the 90s and 00s (hell, let’s throw in the first half of the 2000teens for good measure.) The injuries qualified me for a vocational rehab program that is paying most of my way through college. Spring semester of this year I needed to do an interview and convinced my professor to let me use my old Kevin Sullivan interview. So, after a couple/few years, here it is! Part 2 of the Kevin Sullivan interview!! In all it’s glory as a creative non-fiction college cource assignment for an audience that knew nothing of the world of professional wrestling. Let’s get to it!

PART 2 of THE KEVIN SULLIVAN INTERVIEW

Kevin Sullivan is a man in his 70s, but despite his age he is in very good shape. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and you can tell that his formative years were spent in and around Boston by his accent. He went on to book (booking wrestling means you are the one writing the story) for one of the two largest promotions in the United States and was featured heavily on cable TV for 10 to 15 years. He started wrestling professionally sometime back in the seventies when kayfabe was king. Kayfabe is an old circus word that means that you lived your gimmick. You didn’t want the public to know that you were an actor, acting a part. You wanted them to believe that you were the same man outside of the ring as you were inside the ring. Having said that, growing up I believed that Kevin Sullivan was the leader of a Satanic cult. I remember pictures of him in magazines where a pentagram was painted on his forehead and his eyes were rolled back in his head. He was holding a chalice of blood. I knew nothing about who he was outside of the ring or even where he got his start in the ring.

SCOTT BROWN: Can you tell me about your time in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling when you were known as Johnny West?

Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling was the “Granddaddy of all the Southern promotions.” Back in the 70s anyone that was anyone in Southern pro wrestling put in their time in this promotion.

KEVIN SULLIVAN: I was known as Johnny West because there was a wrestler there wrestling by the name of Eddie Sullivan. And, they didn’t want to confuse the issue with me, so they changed my name.

SCOTT BROWN: After that you went to Florida and were tagging with Mike Graham. The Graham family was pretty big in Florida, can you tell us about them?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Well they were huge, actually. They got Florida Championship Wrestling off the ground. Eddie had a business with Cowboy Latrell. Cowboy Latrell was a very well known wrestler. In the 40s he actually boxed Jack Dempsey and got knocked out. Mike was second generation, he had a great mind and he was probably the most prepared mind in the history of the business. Just ran a well organized company that most companies, like Bill Watts and other companies later on, tried to emulate.

Championship Wrestling From Florida was such an influence on the industry that one of the bigger independent companies in America today is called Championship Wrestling From Hollywood and has affiliates in other states that use the “Championship Wrestling From…” moniker in a show of respect for the old Florida company.

SCOTT BROWN: I don’t ever recall a face Kevin Sullivan, but, you were one back in Georgia, San Francisco and WWWF. What was that like?

“Face” is wrestling lingo for the good guy. It’s actually short for “babyface”. The bad guy is called a heel.

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Well, it was great. I was young and starting out. And, it was good because I was learning what a villain should do. So, no, it was good for me and I have a lot of fond memories, especially the San Fransisco area, but the way you said, the San Francisco area, the New York area and the Gulf Coast.

Back at that time the pro wrestling world consisted of an alliance of promotions each being assigned a territory that they did business in. If anyone else tried doing business in an assigned territory, they were branded an outlaw promotion and often were violently run out of town, gangster style. This is how business was done for decades. San Francisco, New York and the Gulf Coast were territories of the time.

SCOTT BROWN: Another place you wrestled in the 80s was Memphis, when you teamed with Wayne Ferris, the Honkytonk Man, and Jimmy Hart to battle Jerry Lawler. What was 80s Memphis wrestling like?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: It was great. We came in and ran roughshod over Lawler and Dundee and the territory went crazy. So, it was the right time at the right place.

This is where you can tell that Mr. Sullivan is very modest for a professional wrestler. Memphis wrestling was featured at the Mid-South Coliseum and weekly would sell out the 11,000+ seat arena. Lawler was a god to Memphis fans and was big enough nationally that despite not working for one of the big two companies at the time (World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, both of which were nationally televised on cable television) he was featured on Late Night with David Letterman where he started a famous feud with comedian Andy Kauffman, who was Latka Gravas on the hit TV show “Taxi”. Mr. Sullivan helped fill that arena many times.

SCOTT BROWN: Can you tell me how your Army of Darkness angle in Championship Wrestling from Florida came about?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: It evolved from the time of MTV and horror movies, you know, that period of Michael Jackson. It kind of evolved from what was going on in the world as we knew it.

SCOTT BROWN: Some of the big names in Florida at that time were Windham and Rhodes. Can you tell us about them?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Two of the greatest performers of all time, along with Blackjack Mulligan. They were just terrific. Great talkers. Great performers. Barry Windham was the premier babyface. We did nothing but draw money, along with Dusty. I had a great run, for three years I wrestled one of the three that we mentioned in a single or a tag team match or a six man tag. So, I had a wonderful time.

The Army of Darkness was the reason that I as a child thought that Mr. Sullivan ran a cult. ProWrestlingStories.com explained Mr. Sullivan at this time of his life as, “Kevin Sullivan attacked the psyche and would leave you uncomfortable and bewildered.” He was known as the “Prince of Darkness” and used society’s fear of the occult to terrorize arenas across the Bible Belt. For decades before this time the occult had brought fear to the masses from the pulp fiction of the 30s and 40s to the establishment of the Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the 60s to the heavy metal music and serial killers of the 70s and all of this influenced Mr. Sullivan’s character in the 80s.

SCOTT BROWN: There was a lot of talent with you, when you got to WCW, in the Varsity Club. Can you tell me about that group?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Yeah, the Varsity Club was a great group of guys. Mike Rotunda, Dr. Death and Rick Steiner. Legitimate tough guys. Legitimate athletes. National wrestling champions and I was proud to be part of that group.

Mr. Rotunda was a five time letterman at the University of Syracuse in football and wrestling. Mr. Williams (Dr. Death) played football for the University of Oklahoma where he achieved All Big Eight first team status, was a four time All American in amature wrestling and played professional football in the USFL. Mr. Steiner wrestled for the University of Michigan where he established the record for quickest pin in school history and qualified for the NCAA championship tournament. Both Mr. Rotunda and Mr. Steiner have sons under contract currently to the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, the biggest wrestling company in the world.)

SCOTT BROWN: One of the more interesting groups you were part of was Slaughterhouse. What was it like being on the road with Mick Foley and Buzz Sawyer?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Oh, it was crazy. They were diametrically opposed outside of the ring, so, it was great. I went from the sublime to the ridiculous. It was great. I enjoyed that run, too.

SCOTT BROWN: That’s what I thought was great. Inside the ring you all had similar characters, but outside the ring Foley and Sawyer seemed to be opposites in every possible way.

KEVIN SULLIVAN: It worked out well for me.

Sawyer was nicknamed “Mad Dog”. Foley wrestled as Cactus Jack Manson. Outside the ring Sawyer was known for his drug use and scams where he would offer to train young wrestlers, take their money, beat them down and skip town. Foley is known as a great family man, taking his kids to amusement parks every chance he got and ended up a best selling children’s book author.

SCOTT BROWN: Can you tell us about your time in Japan?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: I went for three years and really enjoyed it. I have a soft spot in my heart for Japanese wrestling. It’s more like the wrestling I grew up on. I think it’s the best in the world. If you make it in Japan you have really made it.

In Japan pro wrestling is often featured on the sports page of newspapers and is well known for its “strong” style where the blows often leave bruises or lacerations on the opponent receiving the move.

SCOTT BROWN: After Japan you went to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. What was it like working with Jim Cornette?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: He was great. I didn’t work there full-time. I would come in for the week-end. I’d come in, in between my trips to Japan for a week. Rarely did I go out for more than a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, maybe a Sunday. But, Jimmy was a real pleasure. Jimmy and I were good friends. Jimmy and I would take pictures at Memphis Coliseum. Jimmy and I were on different booking committees, together. I think Jimmy is one of the brightest guys in the wrestling business and I love Jimmy Cornette’s sense of humor.

“The only man I know that could strap a bucket of fried chicken to his back and ride across Ethiopia.” That’s the quote that got Mr. Cornette fired from his job as an announcer on NWA Powerrr. A lot of southern wrestling fans and talent didn’t understand why that was worthy of being fired for.

SCOTT BROWN: You also wrestled for ECW. What were Paul Heyman and Todd Gordon like?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Paul Heyman started with me. I actually started Paul in his first job. I gave him the phone he started with and Todd Gordon was a great visionary cuz he got Paul and Paul was a young guy and all Paul did was take Championship Wrestling From Florida and juiced it up a little bit and was very successful.

ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) was best known for it’s hardcore style. Being hit with bamboo canes, steel folding chairs and trash can lids or being put through a folding table or slammed onto a pile of thumbtacks were all normal occurrences in this promotion.

SCOTT BROWN: When you returned to WCW your two biggest feuds were with Ric Flair and the Horsemen and then with Hulk Hogan. That’s two of the biggest names in wrestling. What was working with them like?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: It was wonderful. At that time Hulk was one of the biggest names in the history of pro wrestling. Then I got entwined with Ric. I enjoyed working with the Horsemen, everyone, you know? I lucked out in a lot of different ways.

SCOTT BROWN: What was it like towards the end of WCW when you were working with Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff?

Vince Russo was the writer often given credit for the success of the Attitude Era in WWE when they often were the number one show on cable TV. He wrote the story for Beaver Cleavage, a wrestler based off of “Leave It To Beaver” but with sexual innuendo caked on it and another story where a Japanese wrestler chops off a porn star’s penis with a samurai sword. The new Peacock streaming service from NBC has acquired the rights to this time period of wrestling but is upsetting some fans with heavy amounts of editing. Mr. Bischoff was executive vice-president of WCW when it was beating WWE in the TV ratings war and owns a Hollywood production company.

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Going against completely everything I knew and was trained to do as a wrestler. Horrible.

SCOTT BROWN: You had pushed a lot of the smaller guys, Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, Malenko and you received a lot of grief from a lot of people for it. In hindsight, with all the time between then and now it looks like you were ahead of the curve. How do you feel about that?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Well, I was way ahead of the curve because I also brought the luchadores in. I knew that guys had been kept down because of their size, but if you can work and you are aggressive people don’t really know how big you are. I worked with Andre quite a bit in singles matches, so if you perform and you’re aggressive there isn’t any reason you should be kept back.

SCOTT BROWN: I see that you spent a little bit of time in TNA, too. Did you deal with Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: No. I only worked one time for the Jarretts. It was a one time deal.

SCOTT BROWN: Would you have changed anything at the end of your time with World Championship Wrestling?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Yeah, I could have had control. But it was headed toward disaster, because AOL, when the merger came, didn’t want professional wrestling, no matter how much it drew.

SCOTT BROWN: I saw that you did the “Ross Report” and you had said on it that the only two people that reached out to you during the incident with Chris Benoit were Jim Ross and Teddy Long. Can you tell us about those two?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Oh, Jim Ross is one of the greatest minds in the wrestling business and I had the pleasure of taking Teddy from a referee to a manager. Two wonderful human beings and I wish both of them well.

SCOTT BROWN: How do the conspiracy theories with the Benoit deaths affect you?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: I mean, I don’t like morons, I mean, that is so blatantly bullshit, you know?

SCOTT BROWN: One of the unnecessary horrible things that surrounded that situation that just blew my mind…

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Yeah, especially because her parents were actually both caught. You know, people don’t like to see their heroes screw up. And, they reached out for conspiracy theories, so I can understand some people. The horror they don’t want to believe, but that’s just life. It was ten years after we had been divorced.

Mr. Sullivan was married to a woman named Nancy Toffoloni who worked as a valet for him, accompanying him to ringside. She also was his wife. Mr. Sullivan, who was booking the stories at the time, had her turn on him and join forces with his rival, Chris Benoit. Art imitates life here and she left Mr. Sullivan, ended up marrying Chris Benoit and having a son with him. Benoit, who was extremely popular on TV, eventually murdered her and their 7-year-old son before committing suicide. Many fans to this day, 14 years later believe Mr. Sullivan actually had his Satanic followers murder all three for revenge. Mr. Sullivan had NOTHING to do with this sad situation and was hurt by the entire thing. We discussed the pain of losing a friend that your cared about sharing personal stories. Those stories will never be written about.

SCOTT BROWN: Let’s move on… Can you tell me about Ron Von Hess?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Yeah, he’s a guy that wrestles up here in the Northwest. He’s the hardest working man in show business… Hopefully, he’ll hit it big some day.

SCOTT BROWN: Another thing you’ve done recently, you were in the very beginning of “Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies”. What was that like?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: It was just a crew filming me wrestling. That’s all. It was amazing. A big thing. Yeah.

SCOTT BROWN: Are you a fan of wrestling, now?

KEVIN SULLIVAN:Uh… Yeah, I am. The guys get better. Stronger. Faster. I think the direction is not the right way, but the boat will eventually right itself back up.

SCOTT BROWN: Who do you like that is out there, right now? Who is Kevin Sullivan a fan of?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Bray Wyatt. I think he’s great. Dolph Ziggler. Strowman. Seth. I mean there’s some good… Undertaker, of course, before he retired. Brock. Paul. There’s some great, great talent that’s not being utilized.

SCOTT BROWN: How would you use talent differently?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Well, that would take a month to scrape it down and start anew.

SCOTT BROWN: Would you ever want to be in that position, again? You worked on a lot of booking committees. Would you ever jump back into that?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: If the money was right. I’m pretty content where I live. I have a pretty nice life.

SCOTT BROWN: Can you tell us about Kevin Sullivan, NOW? What are you doing now a days?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Well, I split my time between… I live in the San Juan Islands and I work, usually in Florida.

Mr. Sullivan was driving to his gym in the San Juan Islands when I first contacted him. I explained to him that my real life job (that’s a term in wrestling circles) was bill collecting at one time and I am very good at skip tracing. At first you could tell he was apprehensive about us talking but when I told him this he seemed impressed and less guarded about his privacy.

SCOTT BROWN: Are you doing anything with indies, conventions? I know you used to have a podcast. Are you doing that anymore?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Yeah. I’m doing podcasts with MLW. 2 podcasts with him. We do one every week on the radio network. Friday morning. So tune in and give it a listen.

Since the time that the interview took place Mr. Sullivan has taken a job with Southern Wrestling Entertainment that operates out of Texas and is one of their play by play announcers on their TV show that streams on FITE weekly.

SCOTT BROWN: Excellent! One last question. Just picking your mind a little bit here. If you had one piece of advice to give a brand new promoter to succeed, what would it be?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Turn off the wrestling channel and do it on your own.

SCOTT BROWN: Excellent. I appreciate your time Mr. Sullivan. If there is ever anything that I can push for you, you have my number and if you ever end up in Montana I’d happily buy you a beer.

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Alright. I’d love to come out there. Montana is one of my favorite places. A lot of fond memories.

SCOTT BROWN: I appreciate your time, sir.

KEVIN SULLIVAN: Thank you and I’ll talk to you soon.

SCOTT BROWN: Alright. Take care!

I originally did this interview for NWA Ringside, the official website of the National Wrestling Alliance which is the organization that used to regulate the wrestling territories that I mentioned in the interview. I usually averaged about 75,000 readers a week from about 27 countries when I wrote for the NWA and expected this interview to draw in a much higher number than that. This man is a superstar. Before I ever got a chance to publish it the NWA was sold to the frontman of the rock band Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan, who quickly fired the entire crew of the promotion, including me. The first half of the interview was published on a blog that I have been developing and I have been editing and tweaking the second half to publish as the second part of what was meant to be a two part interview. Instead, I decided to apply what I have learned in class and use it for this assignment. I hated that it was lying on my desk unpublished. Mr. Sullivan deserves better than that. And now, part two of the interview may actually see the light of day on the blog. As I used to say at the end of my NWA articles (in honor of NHL and pro wrestling all time great announcer, Ed Whalen), that’s it for now. I hope that we can do this again, real soon, but in the meantime and in between time, take care of yourself. Until next time!

Well, there you have it. Finally. I’m on summer break from college and have decided to take another shot at this blog. Check back next week for my next interview featuring the promoter of Texoma Pro Wrestling, Robert Langdon! That’s it for this edition of Mark Out With Your Smark Out. Before you go, please visit The Ashley Trautwein Memorial Fund at https://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=720221 and donate $5. 100% of your donation goes to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their suicide prevention programs and research. That’s it for now. I hope that we can do this again, real soon, but in the meantime and in between time, take care of yourself. Until next time!

Kevin Sullivan Interview on Jack Dempsey, Michael Jackson, Dusty, Mick Foley and more!

Welcome to Mark Out With Your Smark Out! My name is Scott Brown. I used to be a writer for the official website of the National Wrestling Alliance, NWA Ringside, under the ownership of the honorable, Bruce Tharpe. I regularly covered the news coming from NWA promotions from Oregon, California, Texas, Ohio, New York, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia and everything in between, as well as action from Japan, Australia, Mexico, and the UK. I interviewed NWA champions like the Bullet Club’s Chase Owens, former Worlds Heavyweight champion, Jax Dane, NXT superstar, Santana Garrett, and classic stars like Jeff Jarrett and Dan Severn. After the sale of the organization to the rockstar and wrestling aficionado, William Patrick Corgan, I found myself with a bit more free time on my hands and decided to develop this blog. You will get the best interviews and editorials about the world of pro wrestling that I can possibly provide you. This being the first article in the history of Mark Out With Your Smark Out, I wanted to start with something substantial, so I present to you part one of an interview I did back in the late summer of 2017 and never got the opportunity to publish featuring the “Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan. Let’s get to it. Enjoy!

SCOTT BROWN: Can you tell me about your time in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling when you were known as Johnny West?

KEVIN SULLIVAN: I was known as Johnny West because there was a wrestler there wrestling by the name of Eddie Sullivan. And, they didn’t want to confuse the issue with me, so, they changed my name.