Local legend fighting cancer
Ken Jugan, known on the East Coast pro wrestling scene for over 40 years as Lord Zoltan, is facing his toughest opponent for a second time.
Jugan, who is truly a legend in Pittsburgh wrestling circles, was diagnosed recently with colorectal cancer.
Anyone who knows Jugan, who we all simply refer to as Zoltan with adulation, began his career in the 1970s, and even wrestled Andre the Giant.
Some of Jugan蘑菇视频 matches can be seen on the WWE Network, but his toughest match is the one he is currently trying to pin.
Jugan, who is a prostate cancer survivor, is going through daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments and will have surgery shortly.
A coworker and friend of Jugan蘑菇视频, Darlene Massey Cork, started a fund raiser on www.gofundme.com to help Jugan offset expenses that are accruing because of his battle.
Knowing that Zoltan is once again fighting cancer hits close to home for me as he performed on a show to help raise money for my niece, Abbey Zuraw, when she was fighting Hodgkin蘑菇视频 Lymphoma as an eight-year old in 2015.
To this day she talked about the show, and Zoltan made sure to talk to Abbey and make her know that he was pulling for her.
Now Abbey, and so many of us that have been fortunate enough to have Zoltan touch our lives, are in his corner and pulling for him.
If you are interested in donating to help Zoltan蘑菇视频 cause, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/ken-juganfans-of-lord-zoltan to learn more about Zoltan蘑菇视频 career, to learn more about Ken the person, or to donate.
Lesnar, Dunne make WWE history
For the first time in 30 years, two WWE title holders have amassed 400-day reigns at the same time.
Brock Lesnar has been the Universal champion since WrestleMania 33 when he defeated Goldberg, and Pete Dunne has gone past the 400-day barrier as the United Kingdom champion.
In 1988, Honkytonk Man was in the midst of his record-setting Intercontinental title run and Sensational Sherri was the women蘑菇视频 champion.
Lesnar off SummerSlam?
Word has been spiraling throughout WWE that Lesnar may not be defending the Universal title at SummerSlam.
There have been rumblings that Lesnar and WWE are in a contract spat before he heads back to UFC, but is this legit?
Or could WWE be tying to get sympathy and support once again for Roman Reigns once he finally dethrones Lesnar?
Another reason Lesnar may be held off of SummerSlam is because Vince McMahon knows that the Brooklyn crowd would boo Reigns out of the building if he defeated Lesnar for the title.
Ticket special for Extreme Rules
There are still ticket specials for Extreme Rules, WWE蘑菇视频 July PPV, which will take place in Pittsburgh.
Ticketmaster has been emailing WWE fans about a 鈥淢e-Plus Three鈥� bundle where if you buy three tickets to the event, you get a fourth for free.
Go to www.ticketmaster.com for more details.
WWE TV deal finalized
Although the new WWE TV deal, which keeps Raw on the USA Network and moves Smackdown Live to Fox, has been confirmed for over a month, WWE formally announced the agreements Thursday during a press conference.
The anticipation for the deal sent WWE蘑菇视频 stock rising Tuesday, as it closed the business day at a record $66.62 per share.
However, the stock continued to be traded after hours and it went soaring to $77 a share.
Former WWE wrestler passes away
Matt Cappotelli, a wrestler who was on his way to WWE stardom when he was diagnosed with Astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer while in WWE蘑菇视频 minor league system, in February, 2006.
He fought the disease hard and WWE announced in May 2007, that he was in remission.
In June 2017, it was announced that Cappotelli蘑菇视频 brain cancer returned and had been diagnosed with a Grade 4 glioblastoma tumor, which is the most deadly form of the disease.
Friday morning, Cappotelli passed away.
Judging by the countless tributes on social media from those that knew Cappotelli, he was a genuinely good person and complete class act.
New GLOW episodes on Netflix
The second season of GLOW was uploaded on Netflix Friday.
I will try to get through the season this week and provide a spoiler-free review next week.
Remembering Vader
Due to there being several news items this week, we will delve into the career of Vader, who passed away last week, in next week蘑菇视频 column.
On this date:
There were two major signings in pro wrestling history on this date
In 1991, WCW and NWA champion Ric Flair signed a deal with WWE.
WCW tried to put a spin on things by firing Flair on the spot and stripping him of the WCW title.
Flair would then appear on WWE television with the NWA title so the company stripped Flair of the belt.
NWA sued Flair, who would not return the belt, and threatened legal action against WWE as well.
Flair, however, had proof that he actually owned the belt and could do whatever he wanted with it.
In 1999, Chris Jericho signed with WWE much to the surprise of WCW.
This would lead to the famous 鈥淐ounting Down to the New Millennium鈥� clock that would ultimately lead to Jericho debuting on Raw when he interrupted The Rock in the ring when the countdown hit 0:00 on the clock.
If you have never seen the segment, it is a must-see piece of wrestling history.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.