WRESTLING VILLAINS SKANDOR AKBAR & LUNA VACHON DEAD!
Skandor Akbar
San Francisco, CA– The beloved bad guy that was Skandor Akbar, a professional wrestler who found fame playing an Arab or Iranian sheik, a fixture in the days of of territorial wrestling of the 60s, 70s, and part of the 80s, passed away last week at 74. Born Jimmy Wehba, Akbar died from advanced Prostate Cancer just days after attending a National Wrestling Alliance get together in Charlotte, NC. Independent wrestler JC Bailey (Joseph Carl Bailey) was found dead Monday morning at home in Kentucky. Ex-WWE starlet Luna Vachon, 48, the second generation of the great Vachon wrestling family of Canada, died last week. Like Kentucky’s Bailey, the cause of death is still undetermined. I wrote last week about 29-year old Lance Cade (McKnaught) dying from an apparent heart attack.
THE “TWO STARS” OF WEC CAGEFIGHTING
Judging from Internet trends and PPV buys, only two guys really matter in the World Extreme Cagefighting organization. They are Urijah Faber (23-4) of Sacramento, CA & Indiana’s Miguel Torres (37-3), the only real stars of the Triple AAA farm club of the Ultimate Fighting Championships that is featured on Versus TV. As is the case often in MMA, but rarely in boxing, both men are still mega-stars even though they lost their last fight.
BEFORE LOSING, MIGUEL WAS NUMERO UNO IN SOME MINDS
Torres will go September 30 on WEC 51 against Charlie Valencia, this after being choked out in March by Joseph Benavidez. After losing to 145 lb. (lightweight) champ Jose Aldo in April, Faber and Tekeya Mizugaki were supposed to meet this month. An injury to Urijah has pushed the match to probably December at (bantamweight) 135 lbs. According to the genius that is Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the WEC has been losing viewers, this even though the fights have been good, if not great!
COKER BRINGS STRIKEFORCE HOME TO SAN JOSE, CA
After the two biggest stars on the Strikeforce Houston card were beaten, “King Mo” and ex-TNA & WWE pro wrestling star Bobby Lashley, Strikeforce chief Scott Coker brings things back to San Jose, CA, the site of their greatest gates and Coker’s home base on October 9 with chicks on top as Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen on top. Back to Lashley, who was embarrassed by full time Tuscon, AZ firefighter Chad Griggs, he just isn’t cut out to “hurt people.” Good wrestler, no striking, no killer instinct, this best describes Lashley. Strikeforce light heavyweight (205) Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal lost in a bit of an upset to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. One of the better speakers in MMA, “King Mo” has a pro wrestling future.
UFC’S SHANE CARWIN’S HAUNTING PAST COMES BACK
The recent revelations in the Applied Pharmacy steroid-scandal involving professional wrestlers and MMA fighters reveal that the “S.C.” listed in court documents is actually Shane Carwin, who came within a whisker of taking the UFC heavyweight (over 205 lbs & under 265) crown from Brock Lesnar in July. Carwin was prescribed four steroids, HGH, and a a water retention drug to fight off the “bitch tits” that accompany the use of some PEDs. UFC President Dana White has sidestepped the issue by saying this all took place prior to Carwin joining the UFC.
TEXAS DROPS BALL ON DRUG TESTING…AGAIN!
The Texas Athletic Commission, brilliant minds that they aren’t, did not Drug test the Strikeforce card in Houston a fortnight ago. They didn’t do any testing on a UFC show a while back either.
HERE’S YOUR BOXING NOTE
Both pro wrestling and MMA have far more interesting characters than boxing. We got a muted Filipino named Manny Pacquiao being walked around the block on Massa’ Bob Arum’s leash, loudmouth Floyd Mayweather, a heavyweight division topped by the boring Klitschko’s. The old adage, “he (the Germans) who controls the heavyweight champion controls boxing.” The Klitschko bros. have made boxing meaningless to American fans, oh woe is boxing!
Pedro Fernandez