– WrestlingObserver.com reported that Grady “Crazy Luke Graham” Johnson passed away Friday from suspected heart failure. He was a headliner in the 1960s and 70s.
– PWInsider is reporting that, out of last night’s ECW house show at the former ECW Arena in South Philly, nearly all of the old ECW talent on the roster were touched by the audience reactions to the show. Stevie Richards was heard telling people that the reaction to his match with CM Punk made him feel reborn, and Dreamer, Van Dam and Francine were particularly happy, as was Heyman. Big Show was very happy, and there were mixed reports about Angle, with some saying he was happy and others that he kept to himself in the locker room after his match. Trinity hurt her knee, but there’s no word yet on how serious it is. The Sandman/Credible match ended earlier than planned, likely due to the crowd being so negative about Sandman’s entrance. Test was to debut at the show, but they’ve changed how they want to bring him into ECW. Blue Meanie was visiting, as were several indie personalities. The feeling was that Punk fit in just fine, but both he and Mike Knox spent a lot of time to themselves and watching the matches. Kelly, whose Web site just re-launched, seemed like a fish out of water. Dean Malenko spoke with the workers before the show, telling them not to do anything risky without speaking with the agents first, and the other agent Steve Keirn was sitting at ringside taking notes. Some fans got into a fight with other fans who were pro-John Cena until security broke it up.
– The plan for the July 4 ECW TV event at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, is for the set-up to be more intimate, with the expectation being about 3000 fans. Around 1000 have been sold so far, according to PWInsider. The idea is this will be the most important taping, and Paul Heyman pushed the show last night as a way to show that they shouldn’t be taped along with Smackdown (although word is the show was to be pushed harder, but they decided to change plans when hearing the crowd response last night).
– WWE.com and ECW.com have posted several stories over the past couple of days including an interview with RVD about being a fighting champ, the latest “Shooting with Tazz” feature, JR’s “Superstar of the Week,” interviews with Rey, Mark Henry, London & Kendrick, Lashley and Booker T prior to their Friday matches, updates on the Diva Search (including blogs from The Miz and Ashley), a story on The Rock’s injury, a piece on Big Show’s new entrance music, a profile on the Pepsi Arena, and a story on why Cade & Murdoch got back together. Also, ECW’s wrestlers are now called “extremists” on ECW.com in what has to be an inside joke, and to subscribe to the ECW newsletter, click here.
– PWInsider has reported that the June 17 AM RAW got a 1.1 cable rating (4.7 share).
– PWInsider says that Bob Holly was backstage at this week’s Deep South Wrestling TV taping, helping out. He’s been recovering for quite some time from a serious staph infection.
– Lance Storm’s latest Q&A is up here, and as always, is a good read.
– Summerslam is taking place in Boston this year, with tickets going on sale July 15.
– The July Saturday Night’s Main Event is expected to include ECW wrestlers, and their house show for that day has been cancelled.
– If you order tonight’s Vengeance PPV on WWE.com, you will also get these matches:
*Chris Jericho vs. Batista, WWE Vengeance 2004
*WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Rob Van Dam (champion) versus Brock Lesnar, WWE Vengeance 2002
*WWE World Heavyweight Championship Hell in a Cell Match: Batista (champion) versus Triple H, WWE Vengeance 2005
We’ll have full coverage of RAW’s Vengeance PPV tonight here on Inside Pulse, so stay tuned…
