• Former NXT Wrestler Celebrates His Birthday
Former NXT Wrestler Eli Cottonwood (Real name: Kipp Christianson) turns 44 today.
He started as a rookie in Season 2 of the original NXT concept, with his pro being John Morrison (now Johnny Impact in Impact Wrestling), but Eli never made it to the WWE main roster and retired from professional wrestling.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
• OLD SCHOOL VIDEO HISTORY (September 30, 1996) – WWF Monday Night RAW
On this day in 1996, the World Wrestling Federation aired another episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWF Monday Night RAW’.
It was broadcasted from the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania and featured pre-taped matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WWF In Your House 11: Buried Alive’ PPV.
Here’s the card:
1. Steve Austin vs. Jake Roberts
2. The Godwinns vs. The Grimm Twins
3. Savio Vega vs. Fake Razor Ramon
4. Vader & Jim Cornette vs. Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario
• Former WWE Wrestler Says He Originally Pitched The Idea Of 205 Live
During a recent appearance on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, former WWE wrestler Justin Gabriel said that he originally pitched the idea of 205 Live show, if he wants to return to WWE & more.
Below are the highlights:
On originally pitching the idea of 205 Live:
“I had like twenty or thirty different ideas for The Bunny alone, and then the Darewolf character after that and I had a bunch for the Angel character. Even when I had just about left the Network came out and they asked us to submit shows and I wrote up like ten shows which just got shot down the whole time and I thought that maybe ideas aren’t good.
I kind of felt worthless and that was one of the main reasons that I left. One of the shows I pitched over and over was the 205 Live show and I’m happy to see that they are actually going with it right now.
It was me, Dean Malenko and Jamie Noble. Obviously, two well-known Cruiserweights who are agents backstage, and we just talked about it and we kept pitching it to them and were like if we have a network and we need content and we have all this air time where we can put anything we want on but I think that was just a timing thing.
Maybe it would have happened sooner or maybe. I planted the seed and I don’t want any credit for it because I’m just happy to see they are doing it right now.”
On if he wants to return to WWE:
“It is funny you say that because it changes all the time. When I left it was been there and done that and I’m good. Now let me try some other stuff because I still want to go to Japan and a bunch of other companies that I still want to work for on my bucket list.
But every once in a while I am like ‘well maybe I should go back just one more run because I want closure and I don’t feel like as a singles competitor that I got a good run at all or like a good showing.’ I feel like when I left too that it was abrupt and I feel like as a performer and a person and a wrestler that I’ve grown and I feel like my weaknesses back then are now my strong points.
While in the WWE you kind of don’t evolve. You just do what you get told and you kind of just stay the same and that is why they sign a lot of the indie guys and you see it with Kevin Steen and Finn Balor and AJ. You saw them doing well on the Indies and now they are doing well on TV. So every once in a while I think [that] maybe I will go back and if they come to me with a good storyline, I don’t even care about money now.
If they just come with a good storyline and I get a good payoff for WrestleMania or maybe it is a Nexus storyline I’d consider it and I’m not going to turn anything down but if you spoke to me a year ago I would have said no and never. But one thing I learned from Vince was never say never.”
