My name is Brad Fortier I am 24 years old. I have been with WDFN since 2003. I started in January 2003 as an intern with Sean Baligian. (Some of you may know me better as Spicoli) In May 2003 I became a part-time producer which I still am today. I am the Network Coordinator for all Pistons games as well as the producer for "The Ottoman Sports Empire" with Rob Otto and Fantasy Sports Geekly with Sean Baligian. As much as I love my sports though, nothing compares to my love of professional wrestling. I have been a wrestling fan virtually my whole life. As a kid my dad got me hooked and I have been ever since. Besides all the Raw's, Nitro's and house shows I've been to here in the D., I have also attended all the Detroit Pay-Per-Views (SummerSlam, 2 Survivor Series', World War 3, etc.) I have also been extremely fortunate enough to attend Wrestlemania 6 in Toronto, WM 15 in Philly, WM 17 in Houston, WM 18 in Toronto, and of course WM 23 at Ford Field. As a kid Hulk Hogan was always my favorite and once he was pretty much gone I became a huge fan of The Rock. I don't really consider myself old school but as far as modern day goes, I am not really sold on the Cena's and Batista's of the world. I still like the older guys such as HBK and Undertaker. 1. Born? 4/24/83 2. Hometown? Lake Orion, MI. 3. Marital Status? Not married! 4. What High School did you attend? Rochester Adams. 5. College? Oakland University. 6. What else do you do at WDFN? Produce shows/Pistons. 7. All-time favorite wrestler? The Rock. 8. Favorite Current Wrestler? Edge. 9. Favorite up-and-coming wrestler? Don’t really have one. 10. Favorite tag team? New Age Outlaws. 11. Favorite Feud? Stone Cold/Vinny Mac. 12. Most hated wrestler? Booker T. 13. Favorite wrestler you've met in person? Rick Martel 14. Favorite wrestling theme music? How can it be anything but “Real American”? 15. Best wrestling show you've attended live? Wrestlemania 6 in Toronto. 16. Favorite moment in wrestling? Hulk Hogan turning heel. 17. What you'd change about wrestling if you could? For one I would make Raw/Smackdown/ECW all one thing. Right now they don’t have enough main eventers to divide them up like that. Also I don’t think a PPV every month is necessary. Perhaps every other month. Finally, for as much as the PPV’s cost, how about a little Diva nudity?
Jonel Jaksa
Jonel's bio:
When I was in college, I majored in journalism and wanted to write about music and popular culture. When I was much younger and still aspiring to be a writer, I wanted to work for a wrestling magazine. I found myself studying for a career in broadcasting with the intent to write for radio or television. I’ve been in radio for 8 years now. Half of them spent here at WDFN. I started watching wrestling in 1984. Roddy Piper attacked Jimmy Snuka on Piper’s Pit and I was hooked. Later that year I discovered the NWA Wrestling from Georgia on TBS and was an instant fan. I also remember watching AWA Wrestling on ESPN weekdays after school. I stopped watching wrestling right around 1991 when I graduated high school. I started watching wrestling again in 1997 when I was flipping channels and thought to myself, “What the hell is Hulk Hogan doing being a bad guy?” I was hooked again. I watched WCW exclusively until its demise in 2001 so I missed the heyday of the WWF Attitude Era. Thank goodness for DVDs. Today I’m a fan of WWE, I love TNA, I enjoy seeing Ring of Honor live and I think everyone should check out a local independent wrestling show and support all the wrestlers who bust their asses for the handful of fans in attendance. 1. Born? November 8, 1973. Detroit, Michigan.
2. Hometown? I currently reside in New Baltimore, Michigan.
3. Marital Status? Happily married to Therese. Not only is she my lovely wife but she’s a hell of a Real Estate Agent. If you’re looking to buy or sell, check out her site at www.theresejaksa.com. It will help put me one step closer to an early retirement.
4. What High School did you attend? Warren High School in Warren, Michigan. 5. College? Macomb Community College. Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts.
6. What else do you do at WDFN? I’m the Production Director. I produce advertiser commercials and I create all those whacky little WDFN commercials. Any commercial you hear talking about hot babes or how bad the Lions suck or some random celebrity in the news is usually my handy work.
7. All-time favorite wrestler? Tie between Sabu and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. 8. Favorite Current Wrestler? Rob Van Dam. I also really like “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels.
9. Favorite up-and-coming wrestler? Teddy Hart is going to be awesome.
10. Favorite tag team? The Outsiders. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
11. Favorite Feud? The Four Horsemen vs. Dusty and friends.
12. Most hated wrestler? If I never see Snitsky again it will be too soon. I never liked Lex Luger either.
13. Favorite wrestler you've met in person? Tie between RVD and Chris Benoit.
14. Favorite wrestling theme music? It’s hard to deny the Ultimate Warrior’s theme song or the theme for the Midnight Express, but I’ll go with “The Game” by Motorhead.
15. Best wrestling show you've attended live? Tie between Wrestlemania 23 at Ford Field and the first time I got to see NWA Wrestling live. September 25, 1987 at Joe Louis Arena. The main event saw “Hands of Stone” Ronnie Garvin beat Ric Flair for the NWA Championship in a cage.
16. Favorite moment in wrestling? Tie between Hogan, Hall and Nash returning to WWF as the nWo and Chris Benoit winning the title at Wrestlemania 20.
17. What you'd change about wrestling if you could? Remember: "The name on the marquee still says 'wrestling'".
Chauncey Williamson
Chauncey's bio:
N/A 1. Born? N/A 2. Hometown? Parts Unknown 3. Marital Status? N/A 4. What High School did you attend? N/A 5. College? N/A 6. What else do you do at WDFN? N/A 7. All-time favorite wrestler? N/A 8. Favorite Current Wrestler? N/A 9. Favorite up-and-coming wrestler? N/A 10. Favorite tag team? N/A 11. Favorite Feud? N/A 12. Most hated wrestler? N/A 13. Favorite wrestler you've met in person? N/A 14. Favorite wrestling theme music? N/A 15. Best wrestling show you've attended live? N/A 16. Favorite moment in wrestling? N/A 17. What you'd change about wrestling if you could? N/A
Personality Links
Gerweck.net. Steve Gerweck is a local Michigan guy and he's been compiling information and reporting wrestling news for over 10 years. His site is a great source for wrestling news and results and is updated daily.
Wrestling Gone Wrong. Waste hours watching videos of wrestling mishaps ranging from Sid Vicious breaking his leg to Booker T. calling Hulk Hogan "n*gga".
For the latest spin visit the official web site of Double Double E.
TNA Knockout, host of the aptly named Impact segment "Karen's Angle" and wife of Kurt, Mrs. Karen Angle. Those Olympic Gold Medalists get all the hot chicks.
ADAMLE TO GM, PRINZE TO CREATIVE, ROH TO DETROIT AND MORE!
Tuesday 07-29-2008 5:27am ET
Hello, out there in WrestlingEliteLand!
It’s been a while since I last shared my thoughts about what’s been going on in the squared (and hexagon-shaped) circle. Where to start, where to start?
How about with the big Monday night shocker? What a complete waste of air time this Mike Adamle is. And they just keep putting him out there, man. They just want to beat that horse until it turns to glue right there on the spot. Mike Adamle, General Manager of RAW. Perfect. Now he won’t need to know any of the wrestler’s names until just before they hand him a mic and he won’t have to be bothered by learning the names of any of those pesky wrestling moves either. That should make his job much easier. There are so many negative things I can say about this jerk-off that this entire entry could be an anti-Adamle diatribe. I’ll just leave it at this, Mike Adamle was a mistake who has looked and sounded uncomfortable on-air since his debut and the only reason I can think of that they're keeping him is that they're contractually obligated and don't want to pay him to sit at home. It could be that Vickie’s getting so much heat on Smackdown that they’re hoping it’ll somehow work to build Adamle's character as well. Me, I can’t wait until he’s just another footnote in wrestling history.
Speaking of the new GM, the first official PPV match he made was Batista vs. Cena at SummerSlam. So much for all the internet hype about saving that match for WrestleMania 25. It could still happen at 'Mania if one of them is holding the belt, but I must say I’m kind of glad they’re giving us a taste of it now. There’s just something about these two guys (however limited some people may think they are) that has all the makings of an entertaining feud.
And as far as SummerSlam goes, it’s building up to be a pretty good card. I’m looking forward to Undertaker vs. Edge inside Hell in a Cell. Or “Satan’s Playground” as Jim Ross is fond of calling it. It’ll be good to see Taker again but I can't help but think that since this'll be his first match back it might not live up to some of his other Cell matches. Here’s hoping Matt Hardy can win his first “major” title by going over on Mark Henry. And then there’s Triple H vs. The Great Collie. Sorry, but if I were the father of a newborn baby girl (congrats to him & Steph, by the way) I wouldn’t want to put my life in the hands of that bumbling oaf. On the other hand, if Collie f’s something up and puts HHH on the shelf, hopefully it’ll mean a one-way ticket back to Bollywood for him and we won’t have to suffer through any more of his matches.
I love CM Punk as champ. I haven’t written since he cashed in his MITB contract and that win really started a trend that has made RAW very entertaining over the past several weeks. I like the whole “anything can happen” vibe of the show (even when it looks completely staged). I also like how everyone from Batista to JBL to Cena to Jericho sees Punk as an easy target and they’re all trying to get that shot against him. Here’s hoping they find something for those bigger guys to do on TV for awhile and they keep the big gold belt on CM Punk for a nice title run.
Ring of Honor was in town Saturday night filming an upcoming pay-per-view event and for those who missed out, sucks for you! What a terrific night of wrestling. All the matches had a big-time feel to them and ROH’s outstanding roster put it all out there and produced a hell of a show. Nigel McGuinness’ ROH Title defense against Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black (which included a vicious Austin Aries/Jimmy Jacobs encounter afterwards) were stand out matches. If you’re a true Wrestling Elitist you won’t miss this show when it debuts on PPV. Until then, you can check out the next Ring of Honor PPV, Respect is Earned II which debuts on Friday, August 1st. Check your pay-per-view provider for exact times and take my word for it, it will be worth the $15. That’s less than half of a WWE PPV and exactly half the price of one of those sorry TNA PPVs. It’s a great deal and you’ll get to see some terrific wrestling. No sports entertainment included.
Did you happen to read what I read? If the rumors are true, it seems that actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. has joined the WWE Creative Team. Wow. The kid from I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scooby Doo writing wrestling. Supposedly he’s written some stuff for wwe.com and has blogged on WWE Fan Nation and is a huge wrestling fan. And he does have some TV writing experience although it was for a show he starred in that only lasted one season. But maybe Prinze has picked up some ideas from Hollywood that’ll make for better programming than these ex-soap opera hacks that WWE hired have been coming up with the last few years. Let’s just hope he doesn’t go all “Arquette” on our asses and puts a title on himself.
But what the hell do I know?
For wrestling news, rumors, results, innuendo, etc., I’d be obliged if you’d visit my good friend Steve Gerweck at http://www.gerweck.net/.
Until next time, this has been Jonel Jaksa from The Wrestling Elite. And when you’re Wrestling Elite, you’re Wrestling Elite 4 Life!
WRESTLING ELITE AT RADIOTHON AND GEORGE "THE ANIMAL" STEELE
Friday 07-25-2008 12:37pm ET
The Wrestling Elite wants to thank all of the Wrestling Elitists who tuned in and called up when we filled in for Stoney & Wojo during their 11th Annual Radiothon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society between the prime hours of 4 to 6 AM Friday morning! We had a blast and Stoney & Wojo do a spectacular job in helping to kick Leukemia & Lymphoma's ass! For more Radiothon info please click here http://www.wdfn.com/pages/radiothon.html.
During our Wrestling Elite portion of Radiothon we played an interview that Brad conducted with wrestling legend, WWE Hall of Famer and Michigan's own, Jim Myers, better known to wrestling fans as George "The Animal" Steele. If you didn't happen to be conscious during those wee hours of the morning, you can listen to and download the interview by clicking here http://www.wdfn.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=WDFNBitsPodcast.xml.
Among other topics, The Animal put over the new independent film he's starring in with none other than Greg "The Hammer" Valentine! How cool is that! Check out the trailer to the film "Somethin' Fishy" below.
Lance joined us to talk about his appearance at this Saturday's Ring of Honor pay-per-view taping at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. We also talked about his Storm Wrestling Academy, his time as a booker, Chris Jericho's book and more!
EXCLUSIVE WRESTLING ELITE INTERVIEW WITH AWA LEGEND "PRETTY BOY" DOUG SOMERS!
Wednesday 07-23-2008 2:17pm ET
The Wrestling Elite was thrilled to be joined recently by former AWA Tag Team Champion "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers! In this wdfn.com exclusive, Doug talks about working with tag teams like The Rockers and Curt Hennig & Scott Hall, working stiff in the ring, ribbing Sherri Martel, his return to in-ring action and much more! It's a very entertaining interview that you can download by clicking here http://www.wdfn.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=WDFNBitsPodcast.xml.
Blood Stained Honor - A Wrestling Elite DVD Review
Wednesday 07-16-2008 10:32am ET
When attempting to describe Ring of Honor to the uninitiated one tends to use words like “technically sound” and “competitive” and even “old school”. One typically doesn’t use words like “extreme” and “hardcore” and even “gruesome”. But ROH’s Blood Stained Honor DVD from Koch Vision proves that the promotion can offer as much violence as it can pure wrestling.
A funny thing happened around the mid 1990s thanks in no small part to the original ECW. Wrestling fans couldn’t get enough of seeing wrestlers crash through tables, get pummeled by steel chairs and scarred by barbed wire. Of course this sort of brutality wasn’t new to professional wrestling. Wrestlers like The Sheik, Dusty Rhodes and Abdullah The Butcher spilled countless pints of blood in the most hardcore of matches dating back to the 1970s. But these types of matches didn’t come along every night. They were saved for the culmination of long fought feuds or dastardly attacks by vicious heels. By the turn of the century we were seeing everything from light tubes to weed whackers to explosives used in first time encounters between wrestlers on independent shows that took place in front of 35 people.
Ring of Honor harkens back to the days when extreme violence was only doled out for extreme occasions. And in doing so the violence on Blood Stained Honor is that much more stunning. From the war between ROH and CZW (which is represented by a six man free-for-all that includes Samoa Joe, Chris Hero, B.J. Whitmer and Necro Butcher) to the sheer ferocity of Homicide vs. Colt Cabana where Homicide attempts to “commit murder in the ring”, Blood Stained Honor delivers some of the most savage moments in the promotions history. You may not be familiar with a few of the combatants but the intensity with which these bouts are contested will make you remember their names. And fear not, some of the bigger stars to pass through Ring of Honor are featured here as well including the aforementioned Samoa Joe, CM Punk, TNA’s monster Abyss and more.
You want stipulation matches? You got ‘em! Steel cage matches, a dog collar match and street fights with various names that all spell mayhem. You want weapons? You got ‘em! From chairs to tables to scissors to spikes to a high heeled women’s pump, a variety of foreign objects are used to inflict damage and pain. You want blood (to quote AC/DC)? You got it! Jay Briscoe probably could have used a transfusion after his cage match with Samoa Joe and no one in WWE has or likely will make CM Punk bleed the way Jimmy Rave did in their dog collar match.
This DVD certainly isn’t for everyone just as hardcore wrestling isn’t for everyone. But if you want to see just how hardcore Ring of Honor can get then this is a must see collection of matches. With the mockery that WWE has made bringing Extreme Championship Wrestling back to life, it’s hard to chant “ECW, ECW” anymore. But maybe after viewing Blood Stained Honor you’ll get the urger to chant a new set of letters when you see something extreme in and around a wrestling ring. “ROH, ROH, ROH!”
Blood Stained Honor is available from Koch Vision:
© 2008