Jay Cal’s View #150

This has been a very rough week. First the passing of Nick Bockwinkle and then the passing of Rising Son. There has been some good with the bad. TNA and ROH have found new homes. UEW’s Cruiserweight Tournament may create a new star. And the stars will shine again in Hollywood. Also this weeks wrestling events including the Night before Thanksgiving…

 Rising Son Passes Away
James Itow passed away at the age of 33 on Wednesday night, November 18th. We’re currently working with friends and family of James to honor his memory on SoCalUNCENSORED. I didn’t know James the man. I knew Rising Son the wrestler. I spoke with him from time to time on his facebook page. I doubt he knew me from SoCalUNCENSORED, I was just a fan that he took time out of his day to say hello and answer some questions. I even once suggested he write for us here. The out pour of emotion on Facebook and Twitter has been pure. James will be missed and make no mistake about it today, SoCal lost a friend today.

RIP Nick Bockwinkle
Whether it was battling the likes of a pre-wrestlemania Hulk Hogan or Rick Martel, Nick Bockwinkle was the personification of class and elegance in the wrestling ring. Hated by the “simpletons” Bockwinkle would wax poetic about his opponents, pontificating on their weaknesses, while exploiting them in the ring. Honestly, I was to young to appreciate Nick Bockwinkle when he finally captured the AWA World Heavyweight Title, but with the advent of YouTube, I would watch for hours Bockwinkle cut promos and wrestle amazing matches for the AWA. There was a rumor from back in the day that Bockwinkle turned down an opportunity to be the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, because quite frankly he was comfortable enough with his stature in the AWA and didn’t want to work in the Winter. I don’t know if that is true, but I do believe that Bockwinkle is easily one of the most under-rated wrestlers of all time. His loyalty to the AWA prevented him from getting the spotlight that Jim Crocket Promotions or the WWF could have afforded him. After his career inside the ring, Bockwinkle served as President to the CAC. Do yourself a favor today… going to youtube and spend a few hours watching some good ole Bock.

Destination America is no longer a Destination for Wrestling
One year removed from the day TNA announced their move to Destination America, TNA has announced their new home in 2016 will be POP TV.  POP TV is the former TV Guide Network that plays hosts to a lot of soap opera type drama programming. POP until recently was home to the Las Vegas based Paragon Pro Wrestling, which featured some Southern California talent like Joey Ryan, Mikey O’Shea, and Tyshaun Prince.  With this announcement PPW is taking their television to Tuff TV.  Ring Of Honor’s story is a little different.  ROH announced earlier this week they would be heading to their parent company’s new cable channel Comet and will start airing on December 2nd.  Comet broadcasts locally in Los Angeles on KDOC 56.4 which can be received over the antenna.  TNA’s current deal with Destination America doesn’t expire until February 2016 and will apparently remain with Destination America until then.

What this means mostly is that now, more so than the past 20 years is that Wrestling is gaining a larger audience. The WWE will continue to grow via it’s Network with lots of original programming as well as USA/Sci Fi. TNA has solidified a new home, which actually has a higher viewership and more clearance than Destination America, theoretically more eye balls on their product. Lucha Underground will continue to kill it on El Rey starting in January and ROH will be on a network we can see in SoCal. Plus SoCal’s Own CWFH has gained more clearance nationally. It’s a good time to be a wrestling fan as it seems more and more product is getting television.

Come Together
“We are suppose to be SoCal. A movement that has begun years before things nowadays. I feel people forget that in SoCal… We represent not only our schools/dojos, but we represent; hard work, work ethic, determination. More importantly we represent this territory. It seriously sucks seeing on social media that people just can’t get along and we are all in this together to move SoCal into the forefront. There is a bigger picture then just a promotion, a wrestler, heat and trolling. Get ya shit together. Stand with us,or step aside. Stop amusing yourself with petty things and realize a bigger picture SoCal wrestling. Wanna know how to make SoCal better? Stop this shit.” From B-Boy’s Facebook Page. SoCal isn’t in a fight for it’s life, but it sure would be something to see the drama stripped away from such a prestigious territory and just enjoy what would happen next. B-Boy… Ray Rosas… they’re talking about making SoCal great. Even if you don’t agree with Andrew’s post, he’s talking about making SoCal great.

West Coast Crusier Cup
In the same vein as the Revolution J, UEW is presenting a two day tournament featuring Cruiserweights in the “West.” Now I don’t have anything negative to say about UEW, but I’m hardly a supporter. However this idea is intriguing. “Hardcore Kamikaze” Max X, Amazing JR, Ray Rosas, Ricky The Activist, Buddy Royal, Daniel Sanchise, Shiloh Greaves, Nate Coy, R.J. Cruz, Airon Skye, Daniel Torch, Suede Thompson, Markus Riot (I wonder if they mean Jacob The Riot Diez), Damien Smith, Darwin Finch, and Rocketboy Wilson. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know 70% of the roster of this tournament. And I don’t want to say anything negative, but I think the tournament is missing quite a few terrific crusierweights in the area. It does remind of some of the good ole days, WPW’s Best of the West, Rev Pro’s Spirit of the Revolution or Revolution J, or even the Best of the Indies. Perhaps a new star will be made this weekend. Or perhaps Ray Rosas can add another accolade to his list of accomplishments. You’ve got to give UEW credit for trying something that hasn’t been done in a while. I wish them success this weekend and with any luck this will be an annual tournament.

United Wrestling Network
Sunday’s Super Show has shaped up to be pretty damn good.  Romero vs. Avalon for the CWFH Heritage Title as the makings to be a MOTYC.  Also scheduled are the duo of Thatcher and Gulak defending the Heritage Tag Titles against Cold Cold War. Also the interesting match up pitting James “The Main Event” Morgan against former champion Ryan Taylor of Vermin. Interesting note, with Joey Ryan in Japan and Yuma still recovering from his injury, this might be the first clean fight Vermin has ever had to fight. Athough with Kevin Martenson in the building, who knows what could happen. Regrettably the CWFH Uploads have been on a brief hiatus but should be up soon. If you need to get caught up on Championship Wrestling From Hollywood visit Patreon the Streaming Service for the UWN.  New episodes air at 4PM on Saturdays or you can catch the YouToo America (from computers not mobile devices) 9PM, Pacific. Outside of SoCal you can see the show in Kansas City on Time Warner Sports Mondays at 8:00PM and starting Sunday October 25, CWFH can be seen on WFBD-TV Channel 48 Pensacola, FL at 1:00PM.

Upcoming SoCal Events
UEW’s “West Coast Cruiser Cup Tournament Night 1” in Los Angeles, Tonight November 20 @ 7:00 PM
Lucha Underground in Boyle Heights, Saturday November 21 @ 4:00 PM
AOW Live in 29 Palms, Saturday November 21 @ 4:00 PM
UEW’s “West Coast Cruiser Cup Tournament Night 2” in Los Angeles, Saturday November 21 @ 7:00 PM
MWF Lucha Libre in Los Angeles, Saturday November 21 @ 8:00 PM
CWFH SuperShow Tv Taping in Port Hueneme, Sunday November 22 @ 3:00 PM
Lucha Underground in Boyle Heights, Sunday November 22 @ 4:00 PM
WPW Lucha Libre in Huntington Beach, Sunday November 22 @ 5:00 PM
Next Week’s Early Shows…
Brian Kendrick’s WPW Presents “Turkey One Day, Feathers The Next” in Bell Gardens, November 25 @ 9:00 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 email Jay Cal with any questions, comments, or concern.