For a number of years Pro Wrestling Ohio has been among the elite in independent pro wrestling promotions in Ohio. They have a successful show on Sports Time Ohio and run regular shows in the greater Cleveland area. PWO does have their detractors however with many saying the group is just a vehicle to launch the career of Johnny Gargano, the step-son of promoter/owner Walter Klasinski. Gargano has found success outside of PWO including becoming the Dragon Gate USA Championship in recent months.
All of the success that PWO has obtained over the years is soon to be overshadowed by recent legal troubles of Klasinski. In December of 2011 Klasinski was charged with three counts of attempted rape, two counts of attempted sexual battery, three counts of rape, three counts of sexual battery and aggravated assault. Klasinski entered into a plea agreement for aggravated assault against a woman, a fourth degree felony and was sentenced to jail. He is currently serving time in Lorain Correctional Institution with a scheduled release date of June 17, 2012. The particulars of the case continue to be held closely to the vest and there has been a considerable effort to keep the arrest and adjudication out of the public eye.
Klasinski has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1976 when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and entered a plea agreement for those charges. In 1979 Klasinski was arrested for grand theft and plead out to those charges as well. Aggravated robbery, possessing criminal tools and two counts of felonious assault would find Klasinski in trouble once again in 1981 and he was sentenced to jail. A charge of theft, to which Klasinski entered into a plea agreement and was placed on probation happened in 1995. To say Klasinski is no stranger to the law would be an understatement and a more thorough search is being conducted in other states as Klasinski is a truck driver by trade.
In addition to the criminal charges levied against Klasinski in 2011 he also suffered some financial setbacks including a judgment awarded to Advantage Assets for $1,659 as well as another to Ford Motor for $9,564 and in April of 2011 US Bank filed foreclosure proceedings on his home.
What this means for the viability of Pro Wrestling Ohio has yet to be determined and how it might impact the career of Gargano, who was said to be on the radar of the WWE, will also be interesting. Sports Time Ohio has a number of other local indie promotions clamoring for the spot being held by PWO and the legal troubles of Klasinski as well as his criminal background could allow that spot to become open.
The most recent show for PWO that was scheduled for January 22, 2012 was said to be a mess from the beginning with over an hour late start, audio problems and the boys not even bothering to get dressed. Joe Dombrowski is said to be running the promotion while Klasinski is incarcerated and did address the situation with the boys. Klasinski was the money behind the promotion and brokered many of the sponsorship deals as well as handled many other business side aspects of PWO.
--Longtime main-stay in the Bill Watts run Mid-South/UWF wrestling Savannah Jack passed away after a number of years being in bad health.
--Mike Miller, one of the three investors in the IWA Mid-South has reportedly pulled out of the promotion after three successive money losing shows that were generally considered a failure. Right now there are no plans to run another show, especially in the Bellevue, Illinois location due to poor attendance. The group will have a number of problems in trying to secure a venue in Kentucky, where for the most part they are banned, or in southern Indiana where a number of other promotions already have a stronghold.
--The IWA Mid-South lied to the boys and to their fans by telling them that Ian Rotten would no longer be part of the group but ended up being in the back at the King of the Death Match tournament that marked the re-launch of the company. A number of the boys no-showed while some canceled with one of the boys walking away when they learned that Rotten would be there. According to a number of promoters Rotten is toxic and they will not book him and as of right now he is working sporadically with XCW based in New Albany, Indiana.
--There are still allegation that Rotten is suffering from Hepatitis C though he denies those claims going so far as to say that his manager at Taco Bell in Jeffersonville, Indiana told concerned callers that she had indeed seen his medical reports and told people that he did not have the disease. If that were true it would be a major HIPPA violation so either Rotten is lying about having the disease or having been tested for it and either way it is a pox that continues to follow him.
--Jim Ross is said to be okay but very sore after being involved in an accident where he was hit virtually head-on while driving his Escalade.
--A lot of people are commenting about the apparent meltdown of Friend of the Show Chyna after she went on a rampage against Vince McMahon and to a smaller degree Triple H and Sean Waltman on Twitter not long ago. Chyna claims that McMahon and the crew are harassing her and she challenged McMahon to meet her one on one in a fight.
--Randy Orton is back from his injury…
--Ultimate Warrior said he turned down a request to be part of the WWE Hall of Fame.
--Lex Luger said he would be honored to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame but my guess is he can use the $10,000 that comes with the legends contract.
--The WWE has come out as supporters of the recently shelved SOPA legislation that would make it easier for the government to prosecute offshore providers of illegal content like video and audio but they have not received the backlash that the UFC has for showing their support. The UFC website was hacked over the weekend and some believe it was in response to their support of SOPA.
