– Former WCW wrestler, Chicago Bears legend & NFL Hall of Famer Steve “Mongo” McMichael is being removed from a ventilator in hospital & being transferred to a hospice.
– Jeff Hardy was reportedly considered to be Randy Orton’s WrestleMania 41 opponent. The spot was given to Joe Hendry instead.
– Hisashi Shinma — a key figure from the early days of NJPW who was once recognized as the in-storyline president of the WWF — has passed away at 90 years old.
His death was reported on Monday by Tokyo Sports, who note that Shinma was not suffering from any specific illness but had been hospitalized three weeks ago due to poor health. He was discharged from the hospital two days ago before passing away today.
Shinma, the right-hand man of Antonio Inoki, was the booker of NJPW and helped run the promotion’s business in the 1970s-1980s. He later founded the original UWF promotion in Japan after departing NJPW due to an embezzlement scandal.
From 1978-1984, Shinma was the on-screen president of the WWF — which had a working relationship with NJPW at the time. Shinma served in that storyline role after Willie Gilzenberg and before Jack Tunney.
Shinma joined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a Legacy inductee. Dave Meltzer wrote the following about Shinma’s impact on NJPW, crediting him for helping create the famed Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali match and pushing NJPW’s junior heavyweight division:
In New Japan, Shinma’s booking led to tremendous television ratings and great live arena business in the early 80s. At its peak, New Japan sold out 70 percent of its live events and averaged 20 ratings in prime time. Shinma’s major roles were the creation of Inoki as a larger-than-life figure though fighting outsiders, the non-pro wrestlers who came from boxing (including Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner), karate, judo, kickboxing and other disciplines; the bringing in of stars from other promotions to create famous dream matches (which in many ways created a fan appetite in Japan for the later UWF-style promotions and MMA); focusing on Japanese vs. Japanese main event feuds like Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu and Inoki vs. Rusher Kimura, and the creation and push of a unique high-flying junior heavyweight division. The latter gave Fujinami his first stardom and got even bigger with Satoru Sayama as Tiger Mask and his bouts with Dynamite Kid, Black Tiger (Rollerball Rocco) and even a young Bret Hart.
– LuchaBlog reports that Bandido and CMLL has rectified their problems and the ROH World Champion will be allowed to work the AEW “Dynamite: Grand Slam Mexico” show on Wednesday, 6/18 at Arena Mexico.
Bandido recently did a voiceover for one of the promotional promos for the shows announcement.