Table of contents for August 2015 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

“THERE’S ONLY ONE world, so there can only be one world champion.” Though I can’t recall the origin of that quote, I was always impressed with its simple profundity. And I always agreed with its sentiment: Under ideal circumstances, there would be just one world champion in professional wrestling. For the half-century or so that this company has been publishing wrestling magazines, those ideal circumstances never existed. Until now. Effective immediately, PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED will recognize only one world title—the WWE World heavyweight championship. This is not necessarily an indictment of TNA, the only other company whose title had received world title status from PWI over the past eight years. This decision is all about WWE and its continued dominance of the industry. In all candor, it’s a decision that…

“I’m feeling like this is probably going to be my last one. We’ll see how everyone reacts. If I’m asked to do one more at Survivor Series or maybe even WrestleMania next year, at this point, I would consider it. But realistically, this is going to be my last one.” —Sting, from an interview with Associated Press “I’ve had a lot of fun matches, but I’m telling you, what inspires me is watching people put on amazing matches on the same show as me. That raises the bar and lets everyone know that there’s no such thing as treading water here. You have to be swimming, and you have to swim hard. If you’re just trying to get by, you’re going to be left behind.” —Matt Sydal, on his continued…

ON THE NIGHT of March 23, while most wrestling fans were talking about the stare-down between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns on the last Raw before WrestleMania 31, Tim Donst had more pressing concerns on his mind. The following morning, he would be undergoing surgery. He was losing a kidney to cancer. And he wouldn’t know if the cancer had spread until then, when the doctors could open him up and assess the situation. Donst started his wrestling career in 2007. He was trained by Mike Quackenbush and Claudio “Cesaro” Castagnoli. He distinguished himself as a scrappy underdog and won over fans with his tenacity and perseverance. In 2010, he won CHIKARA’s Young Lions Cup championship. Over the past few years, Donst has competed primarily in Ohio’s Absolute Intense Wrestling,…

WRESTLEMANIA 31 HAD it all—Soviet tanks, herky-jerky scarecrows, Terminators, Hallof-Famers, a beast incarnate, and three title changes that sent shockwaves through the wrestling world. An announced crowd of 76,976 fans filled Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on March 29. Millions more watched via the WWE Network and pay-per-view. On the most highly anticipated date on the wrestling calendar, WWE delivered one of the most critically acclaimed WrestleMania events in recent memory—a spectacle that included surprise cameos, unforgettable “WrestleMania moments,” and a WWE World title change that surprised everyone. Including the two bouts that aired on the pre-show, there were nine matches (and one memorable nonmatch) at WrestleMania 31. Each had a winner and a loser, but sometimes the real winners and losers aren’t the ones who had their arms…

RAW [USA] --VIEWERS IN MILLIONS February 2: 4.29 February 9: 3.66 February 16: 4.00 February 23: 4.12 March 2: 3.83 March 9: 3.86 March 16: 3.92 March 23: 4.19 March 30: 5.36 Analysis: The night after WrestleMania 31, Raw scored its highest rating since, you guessed it, the night after WrestleMania 30, earning a Nielsen rating of 3.68 (5.36 million viewers). WWE executives had to be surprised, considering WrestleMania rarely rose above a 3.0 during the entire lead-up to ’Mania. Raw took its biggest hit on February 9, slipping to a 2.72 (3.66 million viewers), thanks in part to the premiere of Better Call Saul, the prequel to AMC’s record-breaking Breaking Bad series. Most disturbing to WWE execs should be Raw’s precipitous drop in its third hour, a trend that’s…

IN Booker T: From Prison To Promise, the five-time WCW World champion chronicled his difficult childhood, including the early deaths of his parents and how he ended up serving time for committing several aggravated robberies. Through it all, Booker’s mother had instilled solid moral values in her children, and that inspired him to strive for a better life—long after she had passed away. His second volume, Booker T: My Rise To Wrestling Royalty, picks up where From Prison To Promise left off, with Booker and older brother Lash (known to wrestling fans as Stevie Ray), gaining a foothold as The Ebony Experience in Texas’ Global Wrestling Federation, barely scraping by financially, but hopeful for a shot in the major leagues. Booker and Stevie Ray get that call in Chapter 1,…

A fighter inside the ring and out, NWA SAW’s Ali Shabazz heard the siren song of the squared circle long before his debut four years ago. But it took some time, life experience, and the gentle nudge from fate to land him between the ropes. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Shabazz grew up watching and learning from the greats of the game. He loved Booker T and The Rock, and he enjoyed ECW in its heady infancy. “I’ve been watching wrestling ever since I can remember,” Shabazz said. “Ever since I saw Hulk Hogan beat the Iron Sheik, I’ve been a fan.” “In 2001, I showed up at WCW’s Power Plant and I talked to Sarge [Buddy Lee Parker],” Shabazz said. “He told me they weren’t really taking new…

ROLLINS ON TOP Anyone who witnessed Tyler Black’s incredible run as Ring of Honor champion in 2009-10 is not surprised by Rollins’ capture of the WWE World title at WrestleMania 31. Think of how much that must inspire all the younger wrestlers out there. In less than five years after competing in ROH, Rollins is the WWE World champion. Despite his cheap title win, he has the talent to be one of the all-time best. AXXESS TO BRUNO I hope fans attending Bruno Sammartino’s Q&A session at Wrestle-Mania Axxess realized they were in the presence of arguably the greatest wrestling star ever—really, the Babe Ruth of our business. Bruno’s repaired relationship with WWE has allowed a generation of fans to get to know not only a legend among legends, but…

DON’T EVEN THINK about feeling sorry for Kimber Lee. Thousands of wrestling fans reacted with shock after a video clip from her intergender match against Chris Dickinson went viral in March. The footage, captured at a Beyond Wrestling event, showed Kimber on the receiving end of a brutal chair shot and a rough-looking Pazuzu Bomb. Following its release on YouTube, the clip garnered over 100,000 hits in the first 24 hours and it was the subject of countless debates on social media. Although some fans took the cringe-worthy spectacle in stride, many heaped scorn on Dickinson and pity upon Lee. But neither wrestler is offering an apology for how it all went down. For her part, Lee actually dominated most of the match and administrated quite a beating to her…

LOOK VERY CLOSELY and you just might catch a fleeting glimpse of the quantum of humility that rattles around behind the stony countenance of Ethan Carter III. Sandwiched between healthy layers of self-confidence and determination is a sincere sense of appreciation to those who helped him rise to prominence in TNA, from his influential aunt to some hefty hired muscle. Predictably, though, Carter saves the biggest and best accolades for himself. And with one of the most noteworthy undefeated streaks in TNA history to his credit, EC3 has a lot to crow about. Indeed, life after Dixie Carter’s unceremonious retreat from active participation to the TNA front office last year presented some challenges for EC3, but the young star sees the grand scheme of things with unflinching clarity. It’s very…

60-DAY HIGH: 17.91 on March 3 60-DAY LOW: 9.82 on February 2 52-WEEK HIGH: 30.39 on April 1, 2014 52-WEEK LOW: 9.82 on January 20, 2015 As detailed in this issue’s “Business Page,” WrestleMania 31 did phenomenally well in terms of attendance and the live gate. And approximately 1.3 million households tuned in to WrestleMania via the WWE Network—and that figure doesn’t count the number of households watching on traditional pay-per-view or internationally. All that data was available on the morning after WrestleMania. Yet WWE stock tumbled 15 percent. What gives? What else could investors want from such a rousing success? Actually, it has been a tradition of sorts for WWE stock to fall immediately after WrestleMania. Even investors get caught up in the happy heat of WrestleMania hype that…

KOTA IBUSHI WON the 2015 New Japan Cup Tournament and has established himself as the top contender for AJ Styles’ IWGP heavyweight championship. Created in 2005, the annual single-elimination tournament ran from March 5 through March 15, culminating with a sold-out show in the Sun Plaza Arena in Hiroshima. Ibushi defeated Doc Gallows (March 5), Toru Yano (March 8), and Tetsuya Naito (March 15) to advance to the tournament final against Hirooki Goto. In that match, Ibushi recovered from a scary fall to the floor early on and came back with a Last Ride power bomb and Phoenix splash to score the pinfall at the 17:31 mark. Meanwhile, while Ibushi was winning the New Japan Cup in Hiroshima, the Suzukigun stable was in Tokyo completing its successful hostile takeover of…

FOR PERIOD ENDED APRIL 8, 2015 TOP 10 1 SETH ROLLINS 217, Davenport, IA (6) WWE World heavyweight champion 2 JOHN CENA 251, West Newbury, MA (2) WWE U.S. champion 3 RANDY ORTON 245, St. Louis, MO (-) No. 1 contender WWE World title 4 DANIEL BRYAN 210, Aberdeen, WA (3) WWE Intercontinental champion 5 AJ STYLES 215, Gainesville, GA (-) IWGP heavyweight champion 6 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (5) No. 2 contender WWE World title 7 JAY BRISCOE 234, Sandy Fork, DE (8) ROH heavyweight champion 8 KURT ANGLE 240, Pittsburgh, PA (9) TNA heavyweight champion 9 PRINCE PUMA 163, Boyle Heights, CA (-) Lucha Underground heavyweight champion 10 RUSEV 305, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (7) No. 3 contender WWE World title TAG TEAMS 1 CESARO & TYSON KIDD Combined…