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NUTS & BOLTS: FAMOUS BELTMAKER PROFILED, ALBANO AUTOBIOGRAPHY, DISCOVERY CHANNEL SERIES DOING WRESTLING SEGMENT, NWA CHANNELS OLD SCHOOL KAYFABE, PWU, TITO SANTANA AND MORE

As Dave Scherer mentioned earlier on the site, we've officially launched a pop culture website at www.pwipop.com.  My first two pieces, looking at The Dark Knight and the long-awaited American DVD release of phenomenal British series Spaced, are available there. 

For those of you who are fans of classic wrestling championship belts or have collected the various replica title belts that have been licensed in recent years, chances are you are a fan of Reggie Parks and weren't even aware of it.  Parks has been creating championship belts for professional wrestling, boxing, UFC and specialized belts for celebrities (including the one Madonna wore on the cover of her most recent album) for 45 years.  The Arizona Daily Star features a long article on Parks career as a professional wrestler and his work on different belts over the years.  If you have ever been interested in the process behind what goes into the design and creation of the belts you see across the wrestling universe, the piece features a nice window into the process at this link.

Coming out of the Sandman arrest story was the news that Lou Albano has a new autobiography titled,"Often Imitated Never Duplicated."  It's the first I've heard of the book, so if anyone knows further details, please let me know

Blood, Sweat and Ears will be holding a free show on 8/9 in Mississauga, Ontario as part of a taping of The Discovery Channel's new series "Guinea Pig", featuring the show's host, Ryan Stock (who pushes himself hard physically on the series, hence the name) training to become a professional wrestler.

The National Wrestling Alliance has added an audio news update on their website at www.nwawrestling.com.  The audio is hosted by Dave Marquez, channeling every sportscaster you can think of, complete with music taken right out of 1980s Evening News broadcasts.  It keeps kayfabe, but it's a unique idea.  If you liked the way Pro Wrestling Illustrated used to present wrestling news, this is for you.  I enjoyed it and think it's a cool idea. 

Pro Wrestling Unplugged returns to Philadelphia this Saturday 7/26 with Sandman advertised against Jake Roberts in one of the marquee matches.  The promotion's Johnny Kashmere sent out a statement that Sandman still intends to honor his booking as well as hold a planned seminar that afternoon prior to the show.  Obviously, that all depends on whether he finally makes bail. 

The Age of the Fall and Chris Hero have been added to the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla "All Star Extravaganza" weekend on 8/30-8/31.

Mike Kehner will be taking over the booking duties for Pennsylvania's 3KWrestling as Steve Corino will be focusing on Puerto Rico in the future.  The promotion is running Kirkwood, NY (near Binghamton) this Saturday 7/26 with King Kong Bundy, Corino, King Kahlua, Ricky Landell, Axl Rotten and Ricky Reyes scheduled.

The Roxbury Register features an interview with WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana discussing his autobiography "Tales from the Ring".  Santana, who splits time today between working as a school teacher, doing local indies and owning a hair salon with his wife, noted that the initial print run of 5,000 books has already sold out.  Santana discusses a number of topics, including Andre the Giant, getting involved in the business, his first bout, working the first Survivor Series PPV and more.  You can read it at this link.

TheStreet.com features an article on the contest Terri Runnels is holding where she's promised to give away her home to the winner at this link.

Former WCW stars Disco Inferno, Scotty Riggs, Scott "Sick Boy" Vick and Lodi were among the stars appearing on a CWA fundraising event for The Bluffton High School wrestling team in Hilton Head, South Carolina last weekend.  Vick graduated from the school in 1992. 

Lacey Von Erich will miss scheduled appearances with New Jersey's National Wrestling Superstars this weekend as she's working on the new "High School Musical" film.

The Charleston Post-Courier features an interview with NWA Legends Fanfest Greg Price about next month's scheduled convention in Charlotte at this link.

Devin Cutting sent the following....Jonny Fairplay will be appearing at the IWA East Coast event on August 6th, 2008 in South Charleston, West Virginia. Go to http://www.iwaeastcoast.com for info about IWA East Coast and http://www.prowrestlingevents.tk for info about upcoming wrestling shows

British promotion 4 Front Wrestling are promoting what is advertised as the first-ever steel cage match in Swindon, UK on 7/26.

Dennis Condrey, Nikita Koloff, former WCW star Maestro and former TNA star David Young will be appearing for ACPW in Roseboro, NC on 8/2.

Al Snow will be headlining the 8/9 International Wrestling Entertainment event in Hamilton, Ontario, facing Rik Matrix.

British star Mark Sloan issued the following statement to promoters earlier in the week: