A Mae Young Classic competitor and a former WWE developmental wrestler turned TNA star.
BIRTHDAYS
Meiko Satomura is 39 today. She became know to the WWE Universe after making it to the semifinals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic. However, she was known all over the world well before that. She debuted in Gaea Japan in 1995, and in 1996, she started appearing for WCW, which was attempting to establish a women’s division. Satomura participated in an eight-woman tournament for the inaugural WCW Women’s World Championship but was eliminated in the first round by eventual winner Akira Hokuto. When WCW introduced a second title for the women she entered into that tournament too, but was again knocked out in the first round by Toshie Uematsu who went on to win the tournament. Satomura continued to make appearances for WCW until the business relationship between the two promotions ended.
Following Gaea Japan’s closure, Satomura formed the promotion Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling with Jinsei Shinzaki, known to US audiences as Hakushi. She debuted with Chikara in 2012 and continues to wrestle for them. Happy birthday Meiko.
Call him Ryan Braddock or Jay Bradley, he turns 38 today. He started training in 1999 in Chicago with CM Punk and Colt Cabana. In 2005 he signed a developmental deal with WWE, and he spent 2005-08 wrestling for Deep South and OVW.
He wrestled on a few episodes of SmackDown and once on ECW, and was returned to developmental before his release in 2009. He found success in TNA and on the indie circuit since leaving WWE. Happy birthday Jay.
DEATHS
WCW’s Awesome Kong and his partner Scott “King Kong” Thompson were known as the Colossal Kongs. They were managed by Harley Race. Before wrestling for WCW, Awesome Kong was a USWA World Heavyweight Champion. Awesome Kong was inducted into the Texas Championship Wrestling Hall of Fame. He died on November 17, 2012 at age 53.
Mark Manson wrestled in the AWA and other territories in the 1970s. He stepped in the ring with the likes of Bobby Heenan, Angelo Mosca, Bruno Sammartino, Jimmy Valiant, Baron Von Raschke, Ernie Ladd, Carlos Colón, and Doug Gilbert. Manson was also a manager, and managed Angelo Poffo and Kenny Dillinger, who were known as The Graduates. Manson died on November 17, 2015, at age 65. Please enjoy one this infamous promo about his “voodoo cane”:
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