Jay Cal View #125

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Finally, the SoCalUNCENSORED Year End Awards, have come back… to the the World Wide Web.  So we make no bones about it, the awards are late, but the polls are open and your opinion counts.  Make your voice heard.  And if you haven’t heard the news, we have a full fledged, bonafide, Wednesday Night Wars.  Lucha Underground, NXT, TNA, ROH are all vying for your eyeballs.  Plus everybody’s favorite Basterds are making they’re International/Japanese Debut.  Also the UWN Weekly update and the schedule of shows this weekend for your viewing pleasure.

2014 Year End Awards
Unfortunately, we dropped the ball this year.  Our plan all along was to have our awards announced the first of the year, February at the latest.  No excuses, it just got away from us.  However, the time has arrived to honor the finest in SoCal and the accumulation of hard work they have put in, to vote for the SoCal UNCENSORED Year End Awards.  The awards that are being voted on now are; Promotion of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Wrestler of the Year, Match of the Year, Paul T Memorial Award for the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year, and Tag Team of the Year.  The poll will be open through Thursday, June 4th. Despite Gary Yap’s indifference to the year end awards, these awards are not a work.  The webpolls are worth 35% of the total votes, with the other 65% being awarded by committee voting.  All matches, promotions, and wrestlers were nominated for their award, with the exception of the Wrestler of the Year Award, Wrestlers of the Month are automatically nominated.  Next week, I’ll break down my personal year end award votes.  Stay tuned.

Wednesday Night Wars?
Cyclical, for anyone who has been involved in the world of wrestling the term cyclical is used almost interchangeably with the ebbs and flow of the popularity of our chosen form of entertainment.  Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the hottest brands in professional wrestling today would be none other than WWE’s NXT, which oddly enough isn’t available anywhere outside of the WWE Network, international distribution, and via Hulu Plus typically 12 hours or so after episodes air.  Wednesday nights, the NXT Faithful log in to the WWE Network via their mobile phones, Playstations, Xboxs, Computer, etc. However, Wednesdays aren’t just reserved for the WWE Network.  Destination America, the little obscure Network that could, revived TNA by placing Impact on their channel.  Amidst the rumors stating that IMPACT was to be cancelled in September, Destination America has double down on their pro wrestling offerings and has now added Sinclair Broadcasting’s Ring of Honor as the lead into TNA Impact.  The ROH (scheduled to start in June) program will still air originally on the Sinclair family of channels, and will be re-aired on Destination America.  So for those who are keeping score, NXT airs via the WWE Network, ROH followed by TNA airs on Destination America.  But let’s not forget about the little Lucha Libre Television show that’s taped right in our backyard.  Although it hasn’t been confirmed by the El Rey Network or Lucha Underground, the show has been rumored to have been given a second season.  It is said that the Spanish Speaking Version of the show will move from Unimas to Univision who has leaked that the second season will start in October of 2015 and will conclude in 2016.  Regardless of your preference, Wednesday Night has officially become the night of record for professional wrestling.

Very Arrogant…
SoCal’s Connection to Japan has been strong going back to the days of the Grand Olympic.  Santa Monica was home to the famed Inoki Dojo that helped launch the careers of Daniel Bryan, TJ Perkins, Rocky Romero, and Ricky Reyes.  Samoa Joe was one of the first modern day guys to get booked to ZERO1 with Brian Kendrick following not too far behind.  Some may remember Super Dragon’s debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling as being a pretty huge deal for the area.  What about Scorpio Sky and Scott Lost feuding in Osaka Pro? What about American Balloon?  How about the RockNES Monsters?  It is the dreams of many to wrestling in the Land of the Rising Son.  Most recently Hudson Envy returned from her tenure with STARDOM, where she spent months in the very well respected Joshi League.  And as the Arrogant Bastards have found themselves competing for; SoCal Pro, Santino Brothers, Finest City Wrestling, Apex Pro Wrestling, Insane Wrestling League, and Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, Ric Ellis and Devin Sparks, are set to debut in Japan on Sunday for DDT Pro.  The former SoCal Pro Tag Team Champions are taking their talents to Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall to for DDT Pro’s “AUDIENCE 2015.”   This show will mark the duos debut internationally.  It appears that the Arrogant Bastards are looking to become a part of the T2Hide Stable in DDT.  If you are interested in learning more about DDT, a great English site is https://dramaticddt.wordpress.com.  Ellis and Sparks are also schedule to take part of the “DNA” show in Kitazawa taking on Higuchi and Iwasaki.  The duo is also scheduled return to the US in time for their first AWS show, Bart’s Birthday Bash taking on Los Banditos. Congrats to Ellis and Sparks on this new journey, we wish them well.

United Wrestling Network
Rapidly approaching nearly 50 hours of weekly episodic wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood has made keeping up with their program even easier than before. The United Wrestling Network powered by Patreon has become the video on demand service for CWFH and the David Marquez Wrestling Vault, which has matches dating back to the late 80s. Currently some of the Classics are AJ Styles vs. Trent Barretta on June 14th of last year, X-Pac and Daniel Bryan in Australia from 2006 and Brain Cage and Eli Drake (Shaun Ricker) versus Vermin’s Yuma and Kevin Martenson and Los Luchas in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match. Also just updated last Saturday (it’s typically updated the Saturday prior to the next airing; Hobo and Sasha Darevko go one-on-one. Bateman & Jaker 1:20 of Cirque Du Monstres face Eli Quick & Mike Dalite. Cold Cold Word w/ Caesar Black take on Jared Vargas & Douglas James. The CWFH Television Title is on the line when Kevin Martenson defends against Jakob Austin Young. And in the Main Event the Hollywood Heritage Tag Team Champions Joey Ryan & Ryan Taylor of Vermin defend against Footloose. If you’re out of the markets of KDOC TV and YooToo America or just don’t have a DVR, this is the best way to stay up to date with CWFH. Episodes start as far back as July and are being updated all the time with the shows before they air on KDOC or YouToo

Upcoming Events in SoCal
AWS presents “Ladies Night” in South Gate, Saturday @ 8:00 PM
PSYCHOLOGY & ROAD STORIES  in East Los Angeles, Saturday @ 8:00 PM
OCCW “Midway City Meltdown” in Midway City, Sunday @ 1:00 PM
UIPW in Los Angeles, Sunday @ 4:00 PM

The views and opinions expressed in Jay Cal’s View are those solely of the author.  These views do not necessarily reflect the views of the website.  As always please Jay Cal with any questions, comments, or concern.