Former WWE employee and original ECW owner, [color:6917=blue! important][color:6917=blue! important]Paul [color:6917=blue! important]Heyman, has written his latest column for The Sun HERE. Heyman discusses the potential rivalry between Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA, the American touring company featuring stars from Japan. Former ROH booker, Gabe Sapolsky, was just named Vice President of Dragon Gate. Here are a few quotes from Heyman's column:
"There's obviously bad blood between ROH and its former head writer, and Sapolsky threw himself right into the battle by booking Dragon Gate USA's debut show not in New York, not in [color:6917=blue! important][color:6917=blue! important]Chicago, not in Miami, not in Los Angeles. Nope. Want to take a guess?
BINGO!
Sapolsky booked the 1st show, scheduled for July 25th, in [color:6917=blue! important][color:6917=blue! important]Philadelphia.
South Philadelphia, to be exact. Corner of Swanson and Ritner. Yup, Dragon Gate USA is going to debut at The Arena.
So now Philadelphia is about to become the battle ground for the niche promotions.
It's the seven-year old ROH promotion, trying to market itself as the "action alternative," offer itself as a "quality product," and establish itself as a legit player through its association not only with Mark Cuban and HDNet, but also by being endorsed by Ric Flair himself.
And it's the young, hot Dragon Gate promotion, looking to expand from its Japanese base, hoping to create a reputation as being the most exciting brand available to the pro wrestling consumer anywhere on the planet.
As Joey Styles may have enthusiastically declared ten years ago, "Oh My God!"
The Arena is about to get EXTREME!"
Paul Heyman also has a section in the article remembering how his mother - who passed away this past February - thought yesterday, April 15th, was the most important day of the year. It's a great read by Heyman, as always, and I recommend everyone checking it out HERE.
