To say pro wrestling this week was interesting would be an understatement. Kind of like coming face-to-face with a tornado and thinking it’s a bit windy out.
The bizarre group of events started on Tuesday, July 30th, at a WWE house show in South Africa. After a singles match that saw Randy Orton defeating Big E. Langston, a fan — who has been identified as 20-year old independent wrestler Tshepo Sekhabi — managed to find himself in the ring. Sekhabi slowly walked up to Orton, who was celebrating his win on the turnbuckle, and low blowed him. Security immediately jumped into the ring and dragged the man out but not before Orton got a kick in on the guy. Sekhabi also managed to attack Langston before entering the ring, which is not seen in the footage.
Note: Apologies for the quality.
As the details rolled out, people started to question if this attack was staged or not. It is a bit suspicious to see a man spend that much time in the ring, avoiding security upon entrance and having enough time to slowly walk up to Orton and deliver the blow. It’s not like he ran into the ring, jumped on Orton’s back and got tackled by security. To make matters worse, reports started coming in from fans who were at the event, which fueled the belief that this was a work all along.
“I was at the Cape Town event last night. The incident with the fan and Randy Orton may be a work. The “fan” is a local wrestler called Blacksmith. He trains regularly (4- 5 days a week) at the gym where I am a manager. Adding fuel to the matter is that some people who were in attendance claim that the event security opened up a gap towards the finish of the Orton/Langston match where the “fan”/Blacksmith was able to enter the ring.”
“The guy who ‘attacked’ Randy Orton during last night’s event at the Gran West Arena was local South African wrestler The Blacksmith. Many fans in the arena found the whole incident strange and suspicious as he was posing for photos before the show with fans who recognized him. He was sitting 5 or 6 rows in front of my friends and I. He entered the ring when the event crew backed-off from the security spots giving him the window to proceed into the ring. Everyone on the bus home was suspicious about the whole thing, a few people reckon its a WWE publicity stunt to sell tickets or to take away attention from TNA’s August1 videos given the fact that people would be watching footage of Orton’s so-called attack.”
“I attended this infamous WWE event last night. People were posing for photos with the guy who attacked Randy Orton last night. The attacker is a domestic wrestler called The Black Smith. The general feeling in South Africa is that this whole thing is a PR stunt and not a legitimate incident as that of the Pieter van Zyl, the fan who attacked a referee in an international rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand back in 2002 which was a legitimate occurrence. Sorry to burst the bubble, but this thing was planned. The Black Smith was a plant. No Steve Bartman incident here.”
Despite these reports, it seems as though the attack is actually legit. Since the event, Sekhabi has been arrested by local authorities and sentenced to pay a fine of $500 and spend thirty days in jail for assault. Sekhabi pleaded guilty and will decide on his own punishment. He is also banned from the casino that holds WWE house shows for the next five years.
——————–
On Thursday, August 1, the #August1Warning mystery man was revealed. The days leading up to Impact, I was pretty excited. From the footage of the shadow figure and distorted voice, I had my assumptions on who it was. My first thought was Bob “Hardcore” Holly. Other bald or close-to-being-bald grapplers that came to mind were Justin Credible, Jeff Jarrett, Shelton Benjamin and Adam Pearce. The build-up was a tad bit short but it left a certain mystique to it that got fans including myself quite excited.
That is until the reveal was made… Tito Ortiz.
Then just like that, all the hype and excitement vanished like the Furby toy the year after it was released. I understand that bringing in a big name could draw numbers. It certainly helped ratings for WCW when they brought in David Arquette, right? I can understand that Tito and Rampage Jackson being inside a TNA ring together could be crazy for ratings. Then again, fans could see right through this and realize they are using TNA to hype up their match at Bellator, which was conveniently announced before Ortiz was revealed as the #August1Warning guy.
Chalk it up to the moment he walked out. The arena went black, the music blared, lights came back on and Ortiz casually walked out as if he was making a trip to the grocery store. No importance, no big deal, just Ortiz coming out to cross his arms and stare at everyone with a less than intimidating look on his face. The crowd in the arena? Dead. Deader than dead. So dead that The Undertaker showed up after the show went off the air and claimed it as his own.
I’ll file this under; what could have been. Sadly, it turned out to be nothing.
—
The next story just so happened to take place on the same day as the Impact taping and ironically enough, could be sarcastically attached to the Ortiz reveal. Kurt Angle was arrested for the fourth time under DWI charges. While he claims that he quit drinking, the alcohol test doesn’t lie and Angle was booked and brought in. Perhaps the Ortiz reveal was so bad, even Angle had to turn to the bottle. All joking aside (and drinking and driving is no joke) Angle is in some serious trouble once again.
In a released announcement made by TNA Owner and President Dixie Carter, Angle will be entered into rehab where he will begin treatment and help solve his drinking problems. Dixie has stated that she wishes nothing but the best for Angle and his recovery and hopes he can fight his demons and put said demons in an ankle lock.
The first time Angle was arrested for DUI was in 2007 in Pennsylvania. In 2011, Angle was arrested for DUI twice: once for being drunk behind the wheel of his parked car and once for DWI. Angle pleaded guilty to the incident of being drunk in his parked car but got off on the other charges.
If you’re interested, you can find his latest mugshot here: http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/headlines/photo-kurt-angles-new-mugshot-pic/
On behalf of myself and everyone at LastWordOnSports, I wish nothing but the best for Angle in his recovery.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment below, and follow me on twitter – @CrimsonSkorpion. Give the rest of the Wrestling deparment a follow also – @AaronWrotkowski and @TNAWWEGUY. Why not give the site a follow too – @lastwordonsport.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Find more info at our “Join Our Team” page.
