» HUSTLE ceases operations

[KingOfDiamonds]

Hustle president Nobuo Yamaguchi announced on 10/28 that the promotion was folding. He made the announcement that they were out of money, and could no longer pay the staff and the wrestlers. He said that the scheduled 10/29 show at Korakuen Hall was canceled, as are all the rest of the shows on the schedule.

Hustle, which called itself a wrestling opera, was a wacky promotion that had big money behind it at first from the same promotion that ran the Pride Fighting Championships. The promotion was at one time strong enough to sign Bill Goldberg for a $125,000 per match deal, and at another point was in negotiations for Steve Austin. Even a few months back, they were paying Bob Sapp $35,000 per week, but as money got tight, they jobbed him out.

They had a cult following, but never were drawing enough to justify the money they were spending. Since Nobuhiko Takada left the promotion as the top heel, interest had gone way down. Many of the shows were before small crowds, and most of those crowds were papered.

While nobody would say so publicly, they were behind on paying a lot of the wrestlers, and the demise of the promotion has been expected for the last couple of months. Yamaguchi said his goal was to eventually bring the promotion back.

[PsychoDriverIV]

crap...well that Taijri to All Japan or New Japan