Various: Chris Bey Neck Injury Reportedly was “One of the Worst In-Ring” Injuries, David Marquez Clarifies His Recent Release from MLW, Indies

Dec 7, 2024

Chris Bey Neck Injury Status Update – Bey’s Injury Reportedly was “One of the Worst In-ring Injuries in Some Time”

As noted before, TNA talent Chris Bey suffered a neck injury at TNA Wrestling’s Impact! tapings this past October in Detroit, Michigan.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that details regarding Bey’s neck injury situation have remained secretive based on those spoken to not willing to publicly give any details publicly about it.

Meltzer reported that those spoken to within the wrestling industry stated that they know Bey’s injury is a very serious situation and was described to be one of the worst in-ring injuries in some time.

David Marquez Comments on His Recent Release from MLW & Issues Surrounding His Departure

As noted before, former MLW Head of Production David Marquez was released from Major League Wrestling this past November due to issues related to serious production issues that delayed the airing of MLW’s Lucha Apocalypto event that month.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Marquez had contacted him to clarify what he had reported in a recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter regarding his release from MLW.

“As for 11/9 Chicago specifically (since this is what your source cited), everything from the production perspective was up and running 100 percent correctly. We tested and retested audio, video, video playback, headset communication, internet connection and last-minute stunts to be performed during the show (I have video of all of this as well). During the day we did have a pre-recorded segment that was delayed due to talent, not production and once we were set to shoot that we had an issue with wireless communication and after troubleshooting we found that the transmitter for those units had been somehow unplugged and then an uneducated crew member didn’t have their talk back toggle activated in the truck to speak to members on the crew not on the chat lines of the units that had been unplugged. Our in-show stunt that we rehearsed before the doors opened was also unplugged and once our lighting people notified us in the truck that they did not have a signal from the effects box that was ringside, I sprinted from the truck to troubleshoot, found the problem and plugged it back in. Unfortunately, it takes about 15 minutes for the effect to warm up and that wasn’t enough time to be useful for the finish of the match it was needed for. As far as the recorded `Slaughterhouse’ for BeIN Sports, it went off with no issues, but once we were ready to go live, we lost the internet connection from the venue. Our Engineers and I jumped to find the problem, ran a new line to the venue’s modem, it still didn’t work. We did have redundancy in place, but that takes a few minutes to get the YouTube keys reconfigured and reassigned to the new transmission device. In total, we were without internet for 10 minutes. When I relayed this info to the bosses, they decided not to go live and delayed the airing of the broadcast to the next day. Then during the Matt Riddle tag team match, there was a big brawl involving a lot of extras around the commentary desk. Our audio distribution unit was disturbed causing us to lose Joe and Tom for a few minutes while we sent Engineers ringside to fix and re-patch. They did fix the problem, and we continued the show. I guess, in the end, when it came down to all those `small things,’ they added up and since I was the person in charge of that department, Management felt I needed to be replaced. I have no ill will towards Court Bauer or anyone else on his staff and accept his decision. I also wish them nothing but the best because they have a very dedicated and passionate group of people working behind the scenes. I want to see every single one of them succeed!”

Marquez also gave his thoughts about the portion of Meltzer’s report about him never speaking to MLW owner Court Bauer over MLW finances or the WWE settlement.

“I also don’t know one thing about his WWE settlement. Over the years I have been employed by MLW to direct the broadcast, be on-air talent, produce pre-recorded material and be their Director of Production. When I was directing the show, we used standard, professional mobile production trucks. At that time, James Ontivero was in the role of Director of Production, and he staffed the crew and vendors. There was a period where I was not with MLW and Go Pro was brought in to do all the production. A while after, Ontivero contacted me to return to the company as a producer and on-air talent, I accepted. Go Pro was still handling all aspects of broadcasting. After a few months back, Bauer called to inform me that Ontivero was no longer with them and asked if I would take over the role as production head and continue my producing and on-air duties, I accepted. Go Pro did not quit, they were not rehired as a company, but several of their crew members were hired individually. Management then provided me with instructions to source television/video production, lighting vendors and a budget. Within 14 days I had everything in place, and we went into our first production together. No matter the production budget, from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars, there will be production mishaps. For example, the Netflix Paul/Tyson special event. They had their fair share of audio problems, talent’s IFB/communication failures, wrong graphics and pre-recorded packages airing out of order plus a few more small things.”

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

House of Glory recently announced that Ricky Starks will be making his official debut appearance for the company at their Final Warning event on January 25, 2025 in New York City, New York.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the word going around backstage at Major League Wrestling’s One Shot 2024 event this past Thursday in New York City, New York was that MLW officials are currently planning to return to the Mellrose Ballroom for an event in early 2025.

This past Thursday’s MLW One Shot 2024 event in New York City featured CozyMAX (Okumura & Satoshi Kojima) defeating CONTRA Unit (Ikuro Kwon & Minoru Suzuki) to become the new MLW World Tag Team Champions.

MLW reportedly generated a sold out attendance for their Dec. 5th One Shot 2024 event in New York City, according to PWInsider.

New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly has sold around 1,347 tickets for their Dec. 15th Strong Style Evolved 2024 event in Long Beach, California as of Friday, according to WrestleTix.

In a recent interview with the Shining Wizards Podcast, Josh Barnett gave his thoughts about him being in recently talks with Shelton Benjamin for Benjamin to make a potential appearance at a future Bloodsport event. Barnett stated “Would love to see it. I have been in communication with him. Don’t know if it’s gonna happen. But you never know. Again, another person I have a high opinion of. Plus, me and Shelton have a connection, not only through Bobby [Lashley] and MVP, but also through Minnesota wrestling because I’ve got some guys that are from the Minnesota Storm [who] wrestled for the University of Minnesota that have trained with me and gone and competed in catch wrestling over in England. I’ve brought it up to Shelton, and he’s like, ‘What? Really? You got these guys going out there? That’s cool, man.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that Rhino will be making an appearance for the company at their Thank Me Later event on January 11, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.

GCW also recently announced one new match for the card of their The People vs. GCW event on January 19, 2025 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York:

Joey Janela vs. Masato Tanaka

The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced two new matches for the card of their Looks That Kill event on December 14th in Dothan, Alabama:

NWA World Tag Team Championship – Daisy Kill & Talos vs. Knox & Murdoch (Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch) (c)
NWA World Women’s Championship – “Hollywood” Haley J vs. Kenzie Page (c)

Prestige Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their Roseland X event on January 11, 2025 in Portland, Oregon: