WWE Raw in Columbus (correspondents needed), Raw dark main event, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious, Adrian Adonis, Shinya Hashimoto, Joey Marella, Mike DiBiase

By Jason Powell

-It’s Independence Day in the United States. It will be a slow morning and afternoon as we enjoy the holiday, but my plan is to be back in time for live coverage of Raw tonight.

-WWE Raw will be held tonight in Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena. WWE is advertising Rusev vs. Titus O’Neil for the U.S. Championship, Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz in a champion vs. champion match, and a Team USA vs. Team World in a 16-man elimination tag. The arena website also hypes that Stephanie and Shane McMahon will both be present. Join me for live coverage of Raw beginning with Raw Pre-Show notes as that show streams on WWE Network at 6:30 p.m. CT, and stick around for my actual live review as Raw airs on USA Network at 7:00 p.m. CT.

-We are looking for correspondents for tonight’s WWE Raw in Columbus and Tuesday’s WWE Smackdown taping in Toledo, Ohio. If you are going to Raw or Smackdown and want to help us out with reports or live updates, contact me at dotnetjason@gmail.com

-Join us on the ad-free version of Prowrestling.net and the members’ sections of our free iPhone and Android apps by signing up for membership today via the Dot Net Members’ Signup Page.

-The dark main event for tonight’s Raw is John Cena and Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins and AJ Styles.

Birthdays and Notables

-Sid Vicious (a/k/a Sid Eudy) is 56.

-Barry Windham is 56.

-Adrian Adonis (a/k/a Keith Franke) died at age 33 on July 4, 1988. He was traveling in a van with independent wrestlers when the driver swerved to avoid a moose and drove the van off a bridge. William Arko, who wrestled as Mike Kelly, was driving the van and was the soul survivor of an accident that also took the lives of Victor “Pat Kelly” Arko and Dave McKigney.

-Longtime WWE referee Joey Marella died at age 31 on July 4, 1994 when he fell asleep behind the wheel. “Downtown” Bruno Lauer, who worked in WWE as Harvey Whippleman, suffered major injuries in the crash. Marella is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon.

-The late Shinya Hashimoto was born on July 3, 1965. He died at age 40 on July 11, 2005 of a brain aneurysm.

-The late Mike DiBiase died in the ring on July 2, 1969. DiBiase was 45 when he suffered a heart attack during a match against Man Mountain Mike. He is the adoptive father of WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase.