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2006 Year In Review
By Brett Schwan
Let me start off by saying that I want to wish all of you who are reading this a happy and healthy 2007.
2006 was a year that saw WrestlingClothesline.com reach new heights once again, while once again, professional wrestling hit new lows.
This seemed to work out fairly well when I debuted it last year, so why not stick with what works.
As I have stated in the past, nearly every wrestling site out there has it's own version of Year End Awards (hell, WC used to have them) and since so many of these meaningless awards are rigged, or voted on time and time again by guys who swear they don't post anonymously on message boards all over the place, and on and on I decided there was no need for us to do the same thing as everyone else.
Instead, I decided that I (and the other crew members who would like to) will discuss some of my thoughts/highlights from the year 2006.
I am extremely proud of the accomplishments and heights that this website achieved in 2006. Let's cover those first:
- We now gets more than 5 million unique hits per month. This is a feat
that not many sites can legitimately brag about, in or out of the wrestling
world.
- We have visitors from countries that include Canada, France, UK, Germany,
Japan, Mexico, Italy, Australia, Netherlands, Brazil, Malaysia, Belgium,
Sweden, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Argentina, New Zealand, Singapore,
Spain, Portugal, Austria, Turkey, Finland, India, Greece, Norway, Egypt,
Israel, Thailand, Denmark, Pakistan, Hungary, Peru, Chile, Ireland,
Indonesia, Slovak Republic, Yugoslavia, Romania, Taiwan, Estonia, Morocco,
Lebanon, Bosnia, Colombia, Moldova, Uruguay, Bulgaria, Oman, Viet Nam,
Aruba, Nicaragua, Philippines, Dominican Republic, New Caledonia, China,
Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Trinidad, Tobago, Monaco, Latvia, Niue, Costa
Rica, Lithuania, South Africa, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Iceland, Tuvalu,
Guatemala, Honduras, Guyana, Cayman Islands, Bhutan, Fiji, Ghana, Venezuela,
Korea (South), Tanzania, Ukraine, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, USSR
(former), Angola, French Polynesia, Seychelles, El Salvador, Cocos (Keeling)
Islands, Tonga, Brunei Darussalam, Belarus ,Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast),
Cyprus, and Micronesia.
- The legendary Les Thatcher continued his contributions to the site
with his "Ask
the Expert" forum on our message board.
- We inducted our third class into WC's Indy
Hall of Fame 2006
- We continued our yearly ranking of the Top
50 Independent Women Wrestlers with what I consider to be our most
comprehensive list ever.
- We continued to be the most comprehensive wrestling website dedicated strictly to the world of independent wrestling.
On the live show front, the oversaturation of wrestling in the area has made it way too easy for me to not attend shows.
I started of the year by attending DWOW “New Year’s Rezzho-lution”/WET "Ass Break Academy". When you attend a DWOD show, you have to go in realizing what you are in for. As long as you go in with mediocre expectations, you are bound to have a good time. This was the show where Angel Orsini shattered her heels in her match against Sumie Sakai. That certainly wasn't pretty (yet it wasn't Angel's fault).
The next event I attended was MWF Full Throttle on March 4th. If I hadn't already been in the area, I never would have gone to this show. After going to this show, I should have just stayed in my hotel room.
On April 8th, the Crew made it's return to Delaware for ECWA's Super 8. The show is the one that I think put Davey Richards on the map, while taking Charlie Haas off the map.
That was it until August 10-13 when Frank and I flew down to MD for the Capitol Legends FanFest Weekend ! What a great show! I had more fun at this convention that I had at a wrestling show in a long time. Getting the chance to meet legends such as Angelo Mosca, Ernie Ladd, The Midnight Express, Rockin Robin, Buddy Roberts, Col. Robert Parker, and so many others was a wrestling marks dream come true.
One week after the trek to MD, I made another trek to the once "mecca", in Philadelphia. This time it was for Women's Extreme Wrestling "Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal". I enjoy the WEW shows primarily because most of my friends that are in the wrestling business are at them (and believe me, I don't have many "friends" in the wrestling business, so I treasure the opportunities to actually see those that I do consider friends).
Since we were already in Philly, we made it a double header and went to Saturday's Pro Wrestling Unplugged show. The main reason for attending the show was the opportunity to meet Hayabusa. After attending the show, he was the only reason worth going. Overall, a huge disappointment.
October 21st was my next show and it was local!! Believe me when I tell you I would LOVE to attend more shows on Long Island. Unfortunately, there simply aren't many shows held in this area anymore. I decided to attend my Pro Wrestling Revolution card that wasn't one of the "Super Shows". Ron and I primarily went to see Johnny Thundar, whom we haven't seen in years. Unfortunately, Johnny was injured the night before and couldn't make it. However, what a pleasant surprise the whole show was. A decent mix of students and veterans with some decent and intriguing storylines. I will definitely return in the future, as long as they keep the mic away from Blast.
December saw one more weekend doubleheader when I attended WEW's "Naughty or Nice" PPV Taping on December 1, followed by NHPW "Welcome to New Jersey" on December 2nd. Once again, WEW is my one opportunity to see so many of my friends and faves. NHPW was the first time the entire crew (well, almost entire, as Ron was unable to attend) was together since the Super 8. It was also the evening that I saw the match of the year which saw Mercedes Martinez, Melissa Stripes, and Nikki Roxx battle in a TLC match that was simply beyond belief.
Not too bad. Only 9 actual wrestling shows this year, and one amazing convention.
On the downside, 2006 was another year in which the wrestling world suffered too many losses. The following all left us this year:
Brian The Bod Kenny - Died January 2, 2006, age 31
El Texano (Juan Aguilar) - Died January 15, age 47, Respiratory
Failure
Ricky Romero - Died January 15, age 70's, Complications from diabetes
"Lord Humongus" Emory Hale - Died January 30, kidney
failure
Mike "Johnny Grunge" Durham - Died February 16 , age
39, complications from sleep apnea
Victor Quinones - Died April 2, natural causes
Kay Noble - Died April 28, age 65, stomach cancer
Sam Steamboat Mokuahi Jr - Died May 2, age 71
Eric Michael - Died May 7, age 28
Cowboy Bob Yuma - Died May 23, age 54, lung disease
Jive Nyce - Died May 24, automobile accident
Bull Ramos - Died May 27, massive infection
Calvin "Prince" Pullins - Died June 1, age 74.
John "Earthquake" Tenta - Died June 7, age 42, bladder
cancer
Crazy Luke Graham (Grady Johnson) - Died June 23, age 66, heart
failure.
Tiger Khan (Marlon Kalkai) - Died June 25,
Harry Elliott - Died June 25, age 101
Pat Hutchison - Died June 27
Bob Orton Sr. - Died July 16, age 76, heart failure
Billy Firehawk - Died July 17, age 40, complications from diabetes.
Donald Lortie - Died August 5, congestive heart failure
"Dr. Love Adam Marks" Adam Steven - Died August 10,
age 21
"Karl Von Stroheim" Walter Nurnberg - Died August 13th,
age 77, heart attack
Ricky Gibson - Died September 15
"Crybaby" Edwards /George Hill - Died October 5, age
58
Antonio Pena - Died October 5, age 53, heart attack.
Joseph "Joey Maggs" Magliano - Died October 15, age 37
Kim Il - Died October 26, age 77, heart attack
Rocco "Sputnik Monroe" Monroe Brumbaugh - Died November
3 in his sleep
Tiger Conway Sr. - Died November 13, complications from stroke.
Jimmy Hustler - Died November 21, age 33, heart attack
"The Spoiler" Don Jardine - Died December 16, lukemia
"El Shereef" Jerry Carroll - Died December 19, age 60's,
cancer,
Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of all those who passed in 2006.
As far as wrestling on tv... it is still unwatchable. I can't tell you the last time I sat down to watch WWE programming. TNA has gone from a great alternative to a lackluster attempt at entertainment that is less than entertaining. I won't even go into the fact that Jarrett retained his title on so many occasions, via DQ, that you can't count them all. Sting gets DQ'd once and he loses the belt? Sorry, just my expectations of actual logic in booking taking over again.
In 2007 this site will continue, with your help, to reach new heights. We will continue to earn your respect for being brutally honest in our thoughts and opinions (while not simply flaming and making false accusations). We will continue to bring you interviews with some of the legends of wrestling, as well as some of those wrestlers you may not be all that familiar with. Les Thatcher will continue to grace us with his words of wisdom until he gets sick of us. Most importantly, we will all continue as wrestling fans who simply use this forum as our place to critique those who need it and sing the praises of those who deserve it, yet don't always get the credit they deserve without the anonymous posts, threatening emails, and other childish games that plague the wrestling industry.
Finally, I just want to thank all of the wrestling fans and people who visit this site. Without you and your support, the site wouldn't have been around as long as it has (10 years plus). Thank you to all the wrestlers and promoters who continue to send in their press releases, event info, and results. Thank you to all those who contribute to the site with ticket, book, and dvd giveaways. Thank you to all those sites that have exchanged links with us in the past and that continue to support this site. Thank you all and have a happy and healthy 2007!
