• ECW/WWF Veteran Teases That His Pro Wrestling Career Could End Soon
During a recent press conference for the Fukuoka-based ‘Kyushu Pro Wrestling’ promotion, Old School ECW/WWF/WWE Veteran Yoshihiro Tajiri revealed that his professional wrestling career could be coming to an end in the not-so-distant future.
Here’s what the former WCW United States Champion (in the WWF) had to say:
“Thank you for coming today. I am TAJIRI, and I look forward to working with you.
I was born in Tamana, Kumamoto Prefecture. I am now 52 years old, and I don’t think I have much time left in my wrestling career, so I think that joining Kyushu Pro Wrestling is the beginning of the end, or the end of my career.
At my age, I want to be the champion and have hot matches, but more than that, I want to nurture the younger generation.
When I told this story to Chikuzen, he said that he would be very interested in having me work in Kyushu, and I thought that this would be an organization where I could demonstrate my abilities to the best of my ability.”
After several WWF TV appearances as a member of the Federation’s Light Heavyweight Division in 1997, Tajiri joined Paul Heyman’s Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1998 and wrestled there until the company closed its doors in early 2001.
The World Wrestling Federation hired him almost right away and he worked for them (later renamed WWE) until December 2005, but later returned to be a part of their new Cruiserweight Division in 2016 & 2017.
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• ON THIS DAY IN WWF HISTORY (January 19, 1985) – WWF Georgia Championship Wrestling on TBS
On this day in 1985, the World Wrestling Federation aired another episode of their TV show ‘World Championship Wrestling’ on Ted Turner’s channel TBS.
‘World Championship Wrestling’ originally belonged to the Georgia Championship Wrestling territory, which Vince McMahon bought in July 1984 (leading to the infamous “Black Saturday”).
After the first ever WrestleMania event in 1985, McMahon sold the TV-show and the timeslot on TBS that came with it, to the Atlanta based Jim Crockett Promotions, who kept the ‘World Championship Wrestling’ name and continued the show as a weekly saturday night Wrestling show.
Ted Turner eventually bought Jim Crockett Promotions in late 1988 and renamed it ‘World Championship Wrestling’, which ironically was also the name of its weekly A-show, until they changed the show’s name to ‘WCW Saturday Night’ in 1992.
The World Wrestling Federation product ran on this show from July 14, 1984 until March 30, 1985.
This episode featured pre-taped matches & interviews on the road to the first ever WrestleMania event.
You can find the card below:
Jack & Jerry Brisco vs. Dave Barbie & Gino Carabello
Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo vs. Scrubs
Ken Patera & Big John Studd vs. Scrubs
Hulk Hogan vs. Johnny Rodz
Pipers Pit: Tito Santana
George Wells vs. Paul Kelly
The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. Scrubs
