FIGHTS: Hatton gave it all with loss to Senchenko

by Bowie V. Ibarra

Ricky Hatton (48-3) gave it his all against a primed Vyacheslav Senchenko (33-1), but it wasn't enough to provide a triumphant return for the British brawler.

Hatton had fought some personal demons over the past few years since his devastating losses to two of the best fighters in the world in Mayweather and Pacquiao.  Pulling himself together, he got back into training as well as coaching to get his mojo back.

But it seems he set his goals super high against the recently defeated Ukranian, who lost his title to Paul Malignaggi, which handed him his first loss as well.  With Hatton hand-picking his opponent, many thought it was ambitious, as he clearly would have benefited from a tune-up match-up before jumping into the quality competition at welterweight.

The Manchester fans loved him, and he looked pretty good in the early rounds with relentless aggression and solid punches.

'The Ukraine Master' stayed in the game, though, in spite of being dazed and tested several times during the match.  And when the water started getting deep for Hatton in the later rounds, it was evident that Senchenko was more preapared than Hatton.  'The Hitman' showed signs of frustration, openly grumbling after missing shots.

But it was the cruelest of blows that leveled Hatton in the 9th, just minutes away from winning a fight he was taking on the cards.  A left hook to the kidney put Hatton away for good, dropping him to his knees in front of his adoring Manchester fans and his wife.

It was a tough loss for him, and a result of the immense amount of pressure he put on himself, saying he wanted his son and newborn daughter to be proud of him.

I just think he needs to put things in perspective here.  He beat drug and alcohol abuse.  He's got some bones to spend to help take care of his family.  He's got a career as a coach and trainer.  And he's got to remember his two losses before this one came against two of the best boxers of this day and age.

What is there to be ashamed of?

He really needed a tune-up before jumping in.  This bar he set for himself was super high.  Was it a realistic goal?  Sure.  He got to the 9th, so he was almost there.

But 'The Ukraine Master' has not had the kind of layoff Hatton has, so was much fresher.  That makes him just that much better to take Hatton in the home stretch.

I honestly pray he's not as hard on himself in this 2nd retirement.  I don't think he's got anything to be ashamed of.  If he's a good dad to his kids, they're going to love him no matter how many wins or losses he had in his career.

I get it.  Pride.  Pride is a sonovabitch.  But, Jesus Christ, I hope he puts things in perspective and is not so hard on himself in retirement.

If he wants to come out of retirement again and fight, I don't have a problem with it.  It seems like, even in defeat, his fans (who were still singing their song for him), would have no problem watching 'The Manchester Mexican' mix it up again.  He was fit and ready in what I saw (for being off for several years).  He's a warrior.  Boxing is just what he does, and deserves to do if his team thinks he's healthy enough to do it.

But if he does, I just hope he considers some more reasonable matchups before jumping into title contention, if there is a next time.

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ZombieBloodFights.com would also like to offer condolences to the family and fans of Hector "Macho" Camacho.  A champion in the boxing ring, and a master of his sport, dead at 50.

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BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His combat sports themed book, Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire , features a boxer from Scotland who transitions to mixed martial arts competition.

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Agree?  Disagree?  Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

You can network with Bowie and explore his other titles at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: ZOMBIE MOVIE REVIEWS: Bowie Ibarra and friends on RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

ZombieBloodFights.com had the opportunity to guest blog for one of the worlds most talented Z-Day writers.  His name is Wayne Simmons, and he is a true great in the Euro Z-Day horror genre.  He's releasing 'Flu' and 'Fever', and its books you should check out.

In the meantime, read the guest blog and have some chuckles.

THE ZOMBIE MOVIE REVIEWS: Bowie Ibarra and friends on RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

ZOMBIES: "Walking Dead: Say the Word" Wild Speculation - Are Carol and Lori actually alive?

by Bowie Ibarra

A blood trail and a bloodless bullet?

So, this weeks ZombieBloodFights.com un-internet-researched, non-comic read or spoiler-seen 'Wild Speculation' centers around what an auto tech and Zday enthusiast Thomas at VW observed:

'Why was there a blood trail when Rick found where Lori gave birth?'

We're led to believe the zombie Rick stabbed multiple times after he put it down with a shot in the mouth ate Lori all up:  Skull, bones, clothes.  EVERYTHING!  That's why the zeds belly was so fat and it couldn't even walk anymore.

But think about this for a moment.  We're reminded Carol must be dead, with her scarf being found and Daryl placing a rose on her 'grave'.  Yet we haven't seen her body yet.  Last we saw, she had to bail on T-Dogg and ran out of the prison into a bright back light.

As for Lori, we heard a gunshot along with Maggie and the baby, and suddenly we are led to believe young Carl is this bad ass who just shoot his mother in the face when she turned.  But I remember a Carl that dropped his gun when a zed got un-stuck in the mud near Herschel's farm.

Carol was practicing the c-section on a zed, but never actually performed it on Lori, as planned.  But didn't she mention she also wanted to practice stitching the zed up?

So, here's this weeks 'Wild Speculation':  What if Carl DIDN'T shoot her mom in the face like we were led to believe.  What if, then, Carol found a dying Lori and stitched her up and their both still hiding out in the prison somewhere?

What do you think?  Am I on to something?  Or am I completely off-base?

Comment below with your thoughts, and share the blog with others.

And remember, when the Z-Day hits, be safe and have fun.

======================


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Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: RECAP - "S**t pops off early" in 'The Walking Dead: Say the Word, Ep. 5, Season 3

by Bowie Ibarra

Because I was going to let 'The Walking Dead:  Say the Word' start on DVR so I could fast-forward through commercials, here is the first text from one of the resident weapons experts for ZBF.com:

Weapons Expert - HOLY S**T!!!!!
ZombieBloodFights.com - Let me guess.  Walking Dead.  I'm about to watch.  No spoilers.
WE - s**t is popping off already!!!!
ZBF.com - Rock!  I'm going to finish watching 'Payback' and watch the DVR.
WE - Wooly's gone apeshit!!!!!  Hooah!!!

And that's how I was lead into the episode.

PARTY IN WOODBURY!  PARTY IN WOODBURY!

First off, was I the only one that thought the opening moments featuring the party in Woodbury featured the Ghost of Lori?  LOL!

Anyway, the scientist presents Andrea with a cup of cold water that the ghost of Lori handed to him.  She's impressed, but its using energy resources he could be using for his experiments.

Conspicuously absent from the morning activities is the Governor, who is combing the hair of a little girl who is sitting at his feet back in his house.  They are listening to an interpretation of Chopin's 'Etude No. 3 in E', known popularly as 'Tristesse'.  'Tristesse' is French for 'Sadness', similar to 'Triste' in Spanish, which means the same thing.  It's one of my most favorite classical pieces.

 The trouble is, the girl is a zombie.  Since Governor Philip said his daughter had survived the initial zpoc, he meant he kept his dead daughter around to keep him company.  When she gets out of hand, he places a bag over her head and preps to lock her away, telling her, 'Daddy still loves you'.  But did Michone just watch what was happening down on the street below?

Moments later, the governor gets on his porch for another inspirational speech to the people of Woodbury, claiming it all started with 'nine people in an apartment', to where they were today.  Everyone holds up their glasses of iced water in honor of all those that came before, looking a bit like they are, indeed, 'drinking the kool-aid' of the Governor.

While all the stump-speech hubbub is going on, Michone sneaks into the Governor's house to get her Hanzo sword.  While she's there, she snoops around, seeing the pic of Philip's family, a strange book with a list of names ending in 'Penny' before a series of pages with hash marks.

But before Michone can investigate movement behind a door, the Governor, scientist, and Merle return.  The scientist wants to stop the Woodbury City Faire to finish an experiment he started.  But since it will take him 6-10 days, the Gov. shoots down the idea.  Before they leave, Michone has already ninja'd her way out of the house.

She shows up in the back of a warehouse where she finds captive ghouls.  She promptly releases and dispatches them with her Hanzo sword.  Thought we get some CGI action, the visceral Nicotero effects are on display with a head-stomp by Michone.  That's when some dude shows up to feed the zeds and drops his grub when he sees her.

I need to emphasize that again:  A dude shows up to feed the zeds.

Feed the zeds?  Feed them what?

So Michone has to go to the principal's office.  She tries to get under the Governor's skin to get kicked out to no avail.  She even tries to bring up 'Penny', but the Governor keeps a poker face at the mention.  He won't let her leave for whatever reason, and tries to recruit her again to be a part of his Woodbury Death Squad.  But before he knows it, she uses her ninja skills to take the sword from his hands and almost kills him.  She spares him and walks out.

The Governor tries to get Andrea to talk Michone into staying to no avail.  She tells him she slaughterd some captured zeds, making Andrea wonder for a moment.  Andrea tries to make Michone stay, but its no use.  She is let out of Woodbury on her own, leaving Andrea behind.

Meanwhile, The Governor's death squad goes to a secret location that has a strange device that attracts zeds and makes them fall into a trap.  The squad, led by Merle, recover the zeds like lobsters in a trap, find worthy candidates, and start pulling their teeth.

Night falls over the secured town (similar, but different than the secured town in 'Down the Road: On the Last Day'), and the Woodbury Jamboree culminates in one of the most glorious moments in ZDay TV History:

ZOMBIE BLOOD FIGHTS!!!

That's right!  The Governor has been providing the proverbial Roman 'Bread and Circus' for the people of Woodbury.  He gave them a day of food, iced beverages, and now the circus.

ZOMBIE BLOOD FIGHTS, BABY!  WOOHOOO!!

Here's how it plays out:  About six zeds are chained up in a circle, creating a fight space for the two competitors, Merle, and another dude with some pretty good hands.  Merle salutes Greg Nicotero's teacher, Tom Savini, with some one-armed push-ups before the fight begins.

Apparently, Merle took some kind of Tae-Kwon-Do class, because he hits his opponent with a spin kick before he responds with some kind of Capoeira/Eddie Gordo kick, and the two mix it up while trying to stay away from the chained (but toothless) zombies.

The whole event doesn't sit well with Andrea, who says the whole thing is sick.  But the governor says Woodbury 'needs entertainment' to 'make the people feel better about themselves'.  Then, echoing the philosophy of Roman gladiator battles for the ancient public, the Governor says it helps the people to 'not be afraid', very much like witnessing gladiator combat was supposed to desensitize the public to the brutality of war.

Bread and Circus in Woodbury during the zpoc, folks.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE PRISON....

Rick is still a mess as the WD Crew learns the baby is fine, but needs formula.  Daryle puts on his 'Man with No Name' poncho and takes Maggie on his Hog to find formula.

As that's going down, Rick snaps like a rubber band and goes on a (my fantasy) rampage through the prison.

Glenn occupies his time by digging a grave.  He lets the prisoners dig two others before going in to look for Rick.

Big Mistake.

When Glenn tries to talk Rick down, Rick assaults him and roams deeper into the prison.

Rick snaps like a rubber band as baby needs formula.  Daryl, Maggie, and Glenn make a formula run.  Glenn ends up digging three graves and lets the prisoners help as he goes off to find Rick.  When he finds Rick, he's in the zone and assaults Glenn.  It's clear to Glenn Rick isn't ready to leave, and he goes deeper into the prison.

Daryl and Maggie infiltrate an old nursery school and find formula. Also, a possum.

Daryl and Maggie returns to feed the baby. And while Carl rattles off the worst names in the world for the baby (read: the names of everyone from their WD crew who has died gruesome deaths.  Good job making everyone remember the gruesome fates of so many friends, little kid), the WD Black Angel Daryl bottle feeds the baby, and every one of 'Dixon's Vixens' in the world ovulates.

The next morning, Daryl leaves a 'Cherokee flower' for Carol's grave, though we have yet to see her remains and did not see her buried.

While the awkward moment of Carl bringing up the dead females of the group and Daryl feeding the bebe, Rick has found Lori's death bed.  The floor is bloody, and he finds the knife that cut her open.  But there is no sign of her.  It seems zeds dragged off her remains (?), and he finds the bullet Carl shot (?).

He also sees a zed fattened up from eating a lot of Lori.  Rick moves to the zed with the knife to cut him open.  After blasting its brain out by sticking his gun in its mouth and pulling the trigger, he moves to cut the zed open, but ends up stabbing it multiple times in its full belly.

After their tender moment, Rick takes a seat and spends the night in the room.  That's when the phone rings.

The phone rings?  WTF.

Rick answers it....

And that's the end of the episode.  Until next time, thanks for dropping by.  Please comment, like, share, and follow, because zombies, blood, and fights rock!

===============

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

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Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: 'The Walking Dead' Wild Speculation - Who was 'That Lady'?

by Bowie Ibarra

Okay, so here's some wild speculation from 'The Walking Dead' episode 'Walk with Me'.

Who was this lady?  You remember?  The girl that led Andra and Michone through town the first time.

And was she the same lady that was all banged out in Phillip the Governor's bed before he went to see his pickled head collection?

Did I miss something here? 

Does it even matter?

If you know something (from the previous, already aired episodes, please.  No spoilers, River Song), let me know below.

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Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

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Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: Recap - The Walking Dead kicks its fans square in the crotch with 'Killer Within', Ep. 4, Season 3

by Bowie Ibarra

Thank you for taking a moment from icing your crotch from the severe Krav Maga-style kick to the nads delivered courtesy of 'The Walking Dead'.  This season has been pretty amazing so far, and this one takes it to the limit and then goes further than anyone expected.  Here's the ZombieBloodFights.com take on one of the most horrifying episodes yet.

Brought to you by the Hyundai Zombie Death Dealer, Dodge Ram, and classic Chevy Suburban

THE LATEST WOODBURY NEWS

Meanwhile, back at the secured town of Woodbury, very much like the secured town of Beeville in 'Down the Road: On the Last Day', Michone takes a closer look at the vehicles and resources brought into town the day before.  She notices the bullet holes and blood on the vehicle when The Governor appears, trying to keep her and Andrea from leaving.  But he also pitches her a position as a recruit into his fire team/death squad, appealing to her survival and fighting skills.  She's not buying in, and walks back to her room with Andrea.

Michone takes a map and tries to form a plan with Andrea to run to the coast.  But Andrea is not sold on leaving.

Andrea leaves Michone and finds Merle, sharing the location of the farm where his brother is at.  She asks him if the Governor is to be trusted.  Since the Governor saved his life, his answer is yes and he leaves.

But he goes to visit the Governor and asks permission to go out and find his brother with Andrea's info.  Merle wants to take a team or go alone, but the Governor says he is needed here.  In fact, he puts the whole safety of the town on his shoulders.  But he says if more concrete info is found, the Governor would go with him.

Andrea visits the Governor back at his place and talks about her plans for leaving.  They share some whiskey and talk about themselves.  Andrea talks about the family she had lost.  The Governor reveals his wife died in a car accident before the zpoc hit, and his daughter survived.  Sounds fishy to me.  In the end, the Governor makes goo-goo eyes at Andrea and tries to keep her there with his silky voice and subtextual language.  Andrea is lured in by his snake charm, but pulls away and bails on the meeting.  Andrea leaves, but not before the Governor reveals his name as Phillip.

Also, no kiss out the door.  Now why would he do something like that with that kind of golden ticket for some sugar?

That's when Andrea returns to Michone and recommends staying just a few days more.  Michone is not happy with that.

THE HUGE DEVELOPMENT AT THE PRISON

The show opens with a mysterious person breaking out of the prison, setting dead deer as some kind of bait to lure zombies into the prison.  It looks like one of the prisoners.

While that's going down, members of the WD Crew are fortifying the prison.  Well, apart from Glenn and Maggie, who have spent the night and early morning banging it out in the guard tower.  After joining their friends, they find the two prisoners, Axel and Oscar, who were given a cell block have moved from their cell, claiming they hate being there.  Rick says they'll give them some supplies for a week to give them a start in the zombie wasteland.  One of the prisoners tries to make friends with Daryl to no avail and to the ridicule of his fellow prisoner.

Good old Herschel has grown tired of laying in bed and wants to go for a breath of fresh air.  The girls take him for a walk outside as they see the men come back in from gathering supplies and resources outside the prison.  Both groups are separated from each other by the series of prison gates, but are still close enough to share a moment, including Rick and Lori.

But a peculiar camera pan of Herschel, Carl, and the ladies begins, starting with Lori and an empty background.  And as per that suspicion, by the end of the pan with Carl, the zeds have somehow returned to the interior of the prison, and the panic sets in.  Herschel and his daughter find a secure spot, Lori, Carl, and Maggie are cut off and find another spot.  Rick and his team have to negotiate the locked gates to get to them.

 

But even inside the prison, Lori and gang find the interior to be overrun.

That's when the alarm goes off.  Rick and the others think the prisoners did it, but they're just as stumped as well, even with a gun to their faces.

As Rick and the others make their way in, T-Dogg gets bit trying to resecure a section of the prison.  Carol follows for an assist.  But it doesn't take long for them to get cornered.  In a final gesture of courage, T-Dogg sacrifices himself to give Carol a chance to escape.  And we get a great shot of some of the work of Greg Nicotero.

Lori, Maggie, and Carl find a hiding spot in a boiler room.  It's a pretty urgent need as Lori is having contractions from the stress.  It's baby time.

Rick and his team reach the alarm room and are jumped by the little guy that Rick locked out two episodes back.  He survived and caused the mayhem.  After a struggle, Rick and the little guy are held at gunpoint by Oscar.  Just when Rick thinks he's going to be blasted, he takes out the little guy and passes the gun over.

Lori knows she's going to have to have the baby, and the only way she will be delivering the baby is by c-section.  Maggie is going to have to use Carl's dirty knife for the procedure, and after she says a heartfelt goodbye to her son, powering him up one last time for the future, Maggie digs in with a great shot of the cut featuring more great work from Nicotero.  Maggie takes the baby from Lori's stomach into her grimy hands as Carl chooses to stay behind to put her mom down.  There's a great piano and violin-laden flashback back at the barn where daddy Rick tells Carl the shits going to get real and he's got to be ready for it.

And with that, he puts down his own mother and follows Maggie back out.

Rick and his team find the remains of T-Dogg, and also Carol's scarf.  When they return outside, they discover the news of Lori's birth as Maggie and Carl arrive.  With no Lori in sight, Rick and the WD crew know the answer.  And in a powerful moment, Rick, the backbone of the WD Crew, breaks down.  Rick had been distant from Lori, and they hadn't got along as best as they could.  They never had a chance to work things out.

But the big news now is how are they going to feed the baby and keep it quiet?

If there was one episode that highlighted how much you should tell those you care about what they mean to you, this was it.

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Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

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Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

FIGHTS: NWA World Title Follow-up = Tokyo Monster jumps finalists

by Bowie Ibarra

I have to admit it was a shady start to such a prestigious world professional wrestling title tournament.  As mentioned before, I'm not sure why the tourney was rushed and how entrants such as Biggie Biggs were worthy to have their names engraved alongside such legends as Dusty Rhodes, 'Wildfire' Tommy Rich, and Ric Flair.

But as it turned out, the shady start to this tournament ended even shadier as the NWA National Heavyweight Champion, Tokyo Monster Kahagas, who was one of many worthy NWA competitors passed over as a participant, was entered as a ringer for the final.

It's another example of how great (and shady-as-f**k) management can make or break a wrestler and lead them to gold.  In this case, it was Dontay Brown who finagled his charge, Kahagas, into the main event.

As reported by Tony Brooklyn, NWA Vice-President and CFO:

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: On November 2 at NWA DAWG in Clayton New Jersey, Tokyo Monster Kahagas pinned Damien Wayne to become the new NWA™ World Heavyweight Champion.

Kahagas was a last minute entrant in to a scheduled eight man elimination match that advertised Chance Prophet, Justin "The Gift" Kincaid, Lance Erikson, Anthony Nese, "Greek God" Papadon, "Phat Daddy" Biggie Biggs, Lance Anoa'i and Wayne.

With only Wayne and Prophet remaining in the ring, Kahagas' manager Dontay Brown emerged with the reigning NWA™ National Heavyweight Champion. Brown was on the phone with NWA President R. Bruce Tharpe. Brown informed NWA™ Head Official Fred Richards that Tharpe had approved Kahagas' entry in to the match. Richards confirmed Brown's claim by speaking directly with Tharpe and allowed Kahagas' participation. Wayne then surprised Prophet with a quick pile driver and secured a three count. Shortly thereafter, Kahagas finished off Wayne with a "TMD" (Tokyo Monster Driver).

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To be honest, I'm not sure why NWA President R. Bruce Tharp made this move to tarnish his own tournament.  This only adds to his questionable reputation, and I imagine Dontay Brown found some sort of legal looophole in how the event was organized, and probably greased Tharps palm for good measure to allow this ultimate travesty (eat your heart out, Chris Trew).  Hell, the legal eagle Tharp might have been in league with Brown and Kahagas in the first place, for all I know. 

The way I see it, that's what the NWA gets for throwing this event together so fast.  Had they taken the time to organize as they should have, get their ducks in a row, and set things up correctly, Brown, Tharp, and ultimately, Kahagas, couldn't take advantage like they did.  

But its over now, and Kahagas now has a target on his back.  Specifically from the two warriors who earned their shot at the title in the sanctioned tourney, Chance Prophet and Damien Wayne, who had some words for Kahagas.  Here's hoping Brown (and Tharp) are providing enough dough for Kahagas, because he'll be taking the lumps.

This brings up another question brought up by a fan:  If the old NWA rules apply, does Kahagas have to drop the national title now?  And if so, will there be another (hopefully better organized and legally protected) tournament for that title?

Though it was a shady start to a new era for the NWA, its a charged beginnig to what I anticipate to be an interesting run for Kahagas, whose name is now along side such greats as Harley Race, Bobo Brazil, and Sting.

================

Bowie V. Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His combat sports themed book, Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire , features a lucha libre expert  who transitions to mixed martial arts competition.

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Agree?  Disagree?  Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

You can network with Bowie and explore his other titles at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

FIGHTS: NWA Wrestling- What's the Rush? PLEASE DO NOT crown a new champ Nov. 2nd in NJ

by Bowie Ibarra

Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, Tony Nese

The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title has a long and storied tradition, going back officially to the late '40s.  Names like Harley Race, Ric Flair, Buddy Rogers, Bobo Brazil, The Funks, Giant Baba, Tommy Rich among others have earned the title.

Its for this reason that fans of pro-wrestling who respect the history of the belt should question the decision to immediately fill the vacant title with a very rushed title tournament featuring some random wrestlers of note.  What is the rush, NWA?  Why does the title need to be carried so fast without some sort of qualifying event for all of the fledgling NWA territories across the US and the world?  If this title is such a big deal as you claim it is, where's the build up?  Where's the information about the wrestlers, and what did they do to deserve a shot so fast?  I mean, who are these guys?

Bobo Brazil, Gene Kiniski, Lance Erikson

ZombieBloodFights.com implores you:  Please, do not crown a champ Friday, November 2nd in New Jersey.  Let that event find a contender from that region, and allow your other territories to do the same.  This would be a big chance for the NWA to showcase the talent across the country and the world, and have them compete in a great big tournament for the title.  The UK and Australia should be included as well.  Let their best come here to compete against the best of the best in the NWA from around the world.

Rushing in to crown a new NWA Champion in such a short period of time is doing a huge disservice to the tradition of the title and the true pro-wrestling champions who held it.  It's also doing a disservice to the many regional promotions across the nation and the globe who have talent who deserve a shot at one of the most coveted titles in pro-wrestling history.

Rick Flair, Harley Race, Biggie Biggs

I've seen some of the talent of the Texas wrestlers who have competed for the NWA in the Lone Star State.  Texas wrestlers such as 'Showtime' Scot Summers, Mike Dell, Jax Dane, Ray Rowe, Ryan Genesis, among others, are worthy contenders.  I imagine true fans of wrestling across the country who support NWA shows can name the same for their region, and deserve to have their territorial/regional contenders compete for the title as well.

And considering the progressive nature of wrestling in Texas, there are also some females who have competed in NWA like Rachel Summerlyn who would give some of the talent a run for their money.  Don't think a girl could compete?  Follow that link and check out that match.

And if NWA really wanted to be progressive, then they could even consider the immense talent of the crowd favorite and ring technician Ann Dromeda for the title.  She is an amazing wrestler with a sparkling personality fit for the wrestling world.

The potential for female wrestlers might be the same elsewhere across the world.  If the NWA would like to 'get with the times' as some people demand, this would be a great step forward into the future Colt Cabana accused the organization of ignoring when he vacated the title.

Jack Brisco, Giant Baba, Chance Prophet

This would also prove a great opportunity for fans across the globe to see the other wrestlers in the collective NWA talent pool.  The region Biggie Biggs or Chance Prophet run in might know how great they are.  But what about other regions?  This kind of tournament could provide new fans for the wrestlers across the world, and opportunities for promoters to bring in wrestlers for a show (and a payday).

In the end, I implore the NWA to not crown a champion tomorrow night.  Don't rush finding a new champ.  Take your time and allow all of the talent around the world earn a shot at the title.  Honor the competitors Friday night by making the winner of the tournament qualify for a future TRUE world title tournament.

If you respect the tradition and history of that belt, please consider this desperate plea to show respect to its hallowed past.

Jack Briscoe, Dusty Rhodes, Jason Kincaid

Tommy Rich, Kerry von Erich, Papadon

Sting, Tatsumi Fujinami, Damien Wayne

What do you think?  Is this a reasonable plea? 

Also, who are some regional NWA talent in your area that you think are worthy of a shot at the NWA Heavyweight Title?  Leave your thoughts, video footage, and comments below.  This is the kind of conversation that needs to happen to keep the tradition of the NWA championship alive.

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Bowie V. Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His combat sports themed book,Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire , features a lucha libre expert  who transitions to mixed martial arts competition.

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