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Friday, June 21 2002
Well,
at long last, and amidst much controversy and discussion,
the International Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament is
over, and Mark "Smelly" Bell and Brian
"Spanky" Kendrick are going to Japan!
The tournament was a great effort, and woul dnot have
possible without the participation of so many particularly Marty
Rubalcaba, Frankie Kazarian and Martine Marin. I'm
really happy with the way things turned out and especially
happy for the two "Juniors" (yes, Smelly really
was under 210 lbs.!) who are going. After it
was determined that Mikey Henderson would be unable to make
the upcoming trip to Japan, I exchanged some urgent e-mails
and phone calls with Zero-One's Yoshiyuki Nakamura.
Mr. Nakamura and I carefully discussed the alternatives
and it quickly came down to Spanky and Frankie Kazarian.
After consulting with Shinya Hashimoto, the call was
made to "save" Frankie for an upcoming tag team
push with Jerry Lynn...and.....Spanky was in.
The only problem -- I didn't get confirmation until 5am
California time on Thursday, the quarter-finals for our
tournament started on Friday evening at 8pm and Spanky
was 2200
miles away in Cincinnati. Problem? Not for
Spanky! I spoke with him at 8:30 a.m. Ohio time and
Spanky was in
his car and on the way 30 minutes later. Okay,
it gets a little exhausting listening to people complain
about who deserves this and doesn't deserve that.
Bottom line
is this.....a very exhausted Spanky made it to California
about 1 hour before bell-time and turned in three excellent
matches. Smelly, who has been with UPW for 4 years now
and hasn't gotten the breaks many others have, busted his
ass to actually get down to 210 lbs., which really isn't
necessary in the worked world of pro wrestling. These
guys did what they had to do and I couldn't be more pleased
that Spanky and Smelly are the two Juniors that will be
representing UPW on the upcoming Zero-One tour. Mark
and Brian (hey, that's kind of funny for us LA-based radio
fans) bring UPW to 15 wrestlers booked for Zero-One.
Speaking of deserving, my predictions for the next UPW-ites
to debut for Zero-One: Pitbulls Ricky Reyes &
Rocky Romero and Don "Hollywood" Yates. On
this tour, Spanky and Smelly will be joining Tom Howard,
Sylvester "Predator" Terkay and Nathan
Jones, all of whom are now firmly established
--and ever on the rise-- in the Land of the Rising Sun.
When I think about this group of five who will be
representing UPW on this tour, it makes me both proud and
cognizant of the idea that there may be some
"justice" in pro wrestling after all.
Where justice is concerned, you've got Tom and Spanky, two
guys that have hung in there through nearly all the ups
and downs that can be associated with this business.
Tom's making it and for Spanky, this is a big
opportunity. Given his talent and dedication, I
think he'll realize the potential in this
opportunity. Pride comes in with Sylvester, Nathan
and Smelly; all three guys stepped into a ring for the
first time ever at Ultimate University -- and they're all
making it too. All in all, a tremendous group of
five and I'm truly sorry that I'll be missing this tour. Zero-One
itself is doing great and I'm glad to be a part of
it. Hashimoto, Nakamura and their staff have worked
very, very hard to put the company on the map and one year
after its inception, Zero-One looks like it's here to
stay! As many of you know, we're now working with
Zero-One toward the possibility of teaming with them to
bring them to California later this year. "Dojo:"
Due to UPW's ever-increasing presence in Japan, later
this month we'll be starting a weekly by-invitation-only
class that's intended to replicate the experience of
training in a Japanese pro wrestling dojo. Much like
what Mike Modest and Donovan Morgan are
doing with Pro Wrestling Iron up North. More
on our Dojo class in the coming weeks. Matt
"Horshu" Weise, "German Powerhouse"
Stefan Gamlin and Tom Howard are all currently
participating in the production of "Daredevil,"
the newest major studio big budget comic book adaptation,
starring Ben Affleck. UPW booked the roles for Tom,
Stefan and Matt, which will see them in several scenes as
bodyguards for and henchmen of Michael Clarke-Duncan and
Alias' Jennifer Garner. Sonic
Fish will soon be releasing "Future Shock," a
2-video set that essentially is the "best of
UPW," featuring UPW standouts such as Samoa Joe,
Al Katrazz and Christopher Daniels, taking on
best of the "independents," like Tommy
Dreamer, RVD and Sean O'Haire (all
pre-WWE) as well as many others, like Roadkill,
Superfly Snuka and Brian Christopher.
Future Shock has been months in post-production and has
been a true labor of love for Sonic Fish's Ron
McIntyre, Roger Jarrett and Stacey Lee Herrin,
as well as UPW's Todd Keneley. Their
dedication shows in the special features, interview
segments and post-production effects. And the
matches are really good too! I know you'll like
Future Shock; it's just a damn good product. We'll soon be
letting you know how to get them. A
BIG "Congratulations(!)" to Mike Henderson
and family on the birth of Mikala a healthy baby
girl, earlier this week. I hope to see Mikey back
with UPW with our run of upcoming July-August shows. The
newest student to enroll in our school is Lamar Tannin.
who journeyed out from North Carolina to join up with
Ultimate. At 6'4" and a rock solid 265 lbs. and
a great look and a few months training in the South
already behind him, Lamar looks like a true natural.
His amateur wrestling and no hold barred fighting
experience only serve to strengthen what appears to be a
ton of natural potential. Look for Lamar later this
week in our updated "Student Roll Call" section
at upw.com, along with recently enrolled students Gus
Lopez, Van Ayasit, Shane Roberts, Marlene Lares and
Arizona Oum. Speaking
of updates to our site, check out our new Archives
section. This special part of upw.com is where
you'll find past Features from the UPW vault, such as the
detailed story of UPW's participation in The Discovery
Channel special and in FX's "Team Toughman,"
where we took on and defeated the NFL. I hope you
enjoy looking through it as much as we did putting it
together. That's
all for now. I'll check back in a couple of
weeks. Until then, stay safe and happy! Rick
Just because I like this picture!
(l-r: with ORIGINAL UPW girls
Carnidge, Savvy, Looney & Miss Delicious) Ultimate
Update Archives: May
25, 2002 -- Japan and more
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