- Click here for this day in Wrestling History, March 2nd.
- WWE and Fox Turkey today announced a new deal for Smackdown! which will
start airing in the country from today. The show will air on Mondays at
11PM. "WWE is excited to announce SmackDown's launch on Fox in Turkey. To
partner with one of the fastest growing youth TV stations in the country
will prove an excellent fit for WWE's energetic and athletic SmackDown
programming, " said Andrew Whitaker, President of International for WWE. "Fox
Turkey is delighted to launch WWE in Turkey, one of the biggest
entertainment shows in the world. We hope that it will receive the same
success with the Turkish audience as it has worldwide," added Emre
Mumcuoglu, Director of Programme Acquisitions at Fox Turkey.
- Turkey isn't the only new country which got a smackdown. TV4 in Sweden
started airing Smackdown! this past Saturday night under a new deal with
WWE. Smackdown! will air on TV4 Sport every Saturday at 5PM EST. "It is with
pleasure that TV4 Sport welcomes back WWE and SmackDown to Sweden. At TV4
Sport we understand that there are already thousands of WWE fans in Sweden.
The launch of SmackDown on our network will mean creating an even bigger fan
base," said Johan Kleberg, CEO of TV4 Sport.
- 3/1 Raw house show results from Poughkeepsie, NY: Melina over Beth Phoenix; Kane over Santino Marella; William Regal over Goldust; Finlay over Mark Henry; Jack Swagger over Christian; Chris Jericho over Kofi Kingston; and CM Punk & Shawn Michaels over Randy Orton & Edge.
- 3/1 Smackdown house show results from Glens Falls, NY: Carlito & Primo over Jesse & Festus and Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson; Kizarny over Eric Escobar; Matt Hardy over Kung-Fu-Naki; Jimmy Wang Yang over Chavo Guerrero; Maryse over Maria; The Great Khali over Shelton Benjamin; and Jeff Hardy over Vladimir Kozlov.
- "The Wrestler" earned a weekend gross of $1.3 million bringing its domestic total to $23.5 million. Overseas the movie did $2.2 million in 19 markets for a total of just over $8 million.
- Robert Bruce, who wrestled in the 60s and 70s, passed away after a short illness on Sunday. He was 65. Bruce was born in Scotland and got his start in London for Dale Martin Promotions. He toured all over Europe wrestling the likes of Billy Bobinson and Kendo Nagasaki. He also worked for promoters Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in Japan, and Jim Barnett in Australia. He eventually settled in New Zealand in 1972. After quitting wrestling when his body gave out he made a living as a celebrity bodyguard. He went on to start his own talent agency and worked as a stunt coordinator in film and television with over 1,000 credits to his name.
- Today in wrestling history:
* 1936 - Dick Shikat defeated Danno O'Mahony for the NWA Heavyweight
title
* 1939 - Marv Westenberg defeated Steve Casey for the AWA World title
* 1964 - Mike Von Erich was born
* 1980 - Lance Cade was born
* 1993 - Paul Orndorff defeated Eric Watts for the WCW Television title
* 1993 - Steve Austin & Brian Pillman defeated Shane Douglas & Rick
Steamboat for the WCW tag titles
