Various: Mickie James Writing Book, MLW Hires Dave Prazak for Women’s Division Relaunch, Indies

Mickie James Writing Book About Her Career

AdFreeShows.com held a recent interview with Mickie James. One of the topics discussed included James revealing that she is currently in the process of writing a book about her wrestling career.

“I am working on a book. It’s taking a while to write and it’s one of those things where I thought…I’m 40 now and have only lived half my life. I got approached about a book when I first left WWE the first time. I felt like my career was not even close to being done so there would be so much left out of the story. For me, the story isn’t just about the wrestling, it’s about my life as a whole because I’ve been through some stuff. It’s more the power of the journey. We’ll get there. I have started. When I’ll finish, I don’t know. It’s a big commitment. With the time that it takes, I would probably commit to one. We’ll see how well it does and then we’ll talk about another.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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MLW Hires Shimmer Co-Founder Dave Prazak for Relaunch of MLW Women’s Division

Major League Wrestling announced that they have recently signed Shimmer’s co-founder Dave Prazak to an official contract with the company.

It was announced that Prazak will be working in a high level management role in the company and will be in charge of their plans to relaunch their women’s division this summer.

Office press release:

Prazak joins MLW; spearheads women’s division

Women’s division begins to take shape

Major League Wrestling today announced that Dave Prazak has joined the league’s office of wrestling operations.

Prazak, recognized as one of the foremost promoters of women’s wrestling, will focus on spearheading the launch of MLW’s women’s division, set to premiere this summer.

“During my twenty-five years working in the sport thus far, I’ve had the opportunity to serve in a number of different capacities, for many companies which have focused on different types of professional wrestling,” states Prazak. “It is that variety of styles, and the right mix of different elements which makes me most excited to join the team at Major League Wrestling. I’ve loved the way that MLW has provided its audience with a roster of amazing talent from around world, and I look forward to offering my own contributions to the company going forward. Having focused greatly on the promotion of women’s wrestling over the years, I value the chance to assist some very deserving SHIMMER athletes in receiving opportunities to grow by entering the MLW ranks. The addition of more women to MLW events in the future will only add to the wonderful variety already featured as part of the MLW product.”

Prazak, one of the most successful women’s wrestling promoters in American history, founded SHIMMER in November 2005.

Mainly based in the Chicago area, SHIMMER has presented live cards throughout the United States and has been the forerunner in giving women athletes a stage to compete before the world.

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Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Mixed Martial Arts news website MMAJunkie.com reported that CM Punk’s loss to Mike Jackson at UFC’s UFC 255 event on June 9, 2018 had been quietly changed to a no contest in late 2018 due to Jackson failing a drug test at the event. It was reported that Jackson had tested positive for marijuana and his win over Punk had been overturned by the State of Illinois Athletic Board in October 2018.

ESPN reported that the XFL is currently planning to relaunch in 2023 but their plans for a potential collaboration partnership with the Canadian Football League have been dropped. In an official statement released, the CFL stated that “our talks with the XFL, exploring the potential for collaboration and innovation, have been positive and constructive. While we remain open to finding new ways to work together in the future, we and our XFL counterparts have jointly decided to not pursue any formal arrangements at this time.”

Former wrestler Chris Youngblood, real name Chris Romero, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 55 due to liver and kidney failure. Youngblood’s career in wrestling spanned from 1985 to 2019 and included notable stints in World Class Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Council, Global Wrestling Federation, and United States Wrestling Association

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling talent Yuka Sakazaki was in attendance backstage during Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite tapings in Miami, Florida. While she did not make an appearance on the show, Sakazaki did work at the tapings for the July 12th episode of AEW Dark Elevation.

TJPW announced that Pom Harajuku recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has been pulled from their upcoming weekend’s set of events in Tokyo, Japan. The company also announced Miyu Yamashita and Yuki Aino have also been pulled from this weekend’s set of events due to both being in recent close contact with Harajuku.

All Japan Pro Wrestling announced (English translation via Post Wrestling) that Black Menso~re and Shuji Ishikawa have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and as a result, both have been pulled from their upcoming events in Japan. The company also announced that TAJIRI and a ring announcer have also been pulled from their upcoming events due to both being in recent close contact with Menso~re and Ishikawa.

AJPW also announced that they have pulled T-Hawk from the cards of their events on July 15th and July 22nd due to him recently suffering a broken right rib injury.