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  • Cody Rhodes heading to Evolve, NXT debut, NBA star’s dad prefers RAW to watching son

    Here are a few early news notes today regarding WWE and an ex-WWE star:

    – Cody Rhodes has announced he will be working with Evolve on their 8/19 iPPV in Joppa, MD. Rhodes’ non-compete with WWE ends that day. Interestingly, Evolve has been also working with WWE in recent months in building up competitors for the global cruiserweight classic tournament. 

    – WWE announced this morning that Andrade Cien Almas (the former La Sombra and Manny Andrade) will face the “Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger at this Wednesday’s TakeOver event. After working NXT house shows for months, this likely means Almas will also debut to a national audience at the next television tapings. They are hoping he transitions into becoming a Hispanic star.

    The TV lineup for the show as it stands now:

    • NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match
    • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries — possible that the next title challenger is the winner
    • NXT Tag Champions American Alpha (Jason Jordan & Chad Gable) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)
    • NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax
    • Andrade Almas vs. Tye Dillinger

    – Robert Murillo tweeted us a link to an SI story about Klay Thompson’s father choosing to watch RAW this past Mondayinstead of his son in Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals.

  • WWE Brand Split: Organizing the World title picture

    With the wrestling world still speculating on how WWE will handle the July brand split/extension, much of the discussion has been about how the championships should be structured in this new era — most importantly, what should be the biggest prize in the game.

    The Brand Extension Shouldn’t Lead To A Championship Split

    As reported in a recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current plan is that the brand extension will lead to the world title being once again split in two. Of the many rumours that have flown around the Internet, it’s the prospect of once again losing a single world champion that has most upset hardcore fans.

    It’s not hard to see why. Since John Cena and Randy Orton unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles in December 2013 at TLC, the world title has been far stronger than it was previously. It has once again become the focal point of the promotion with Daniel Bryan’s chase of the WWE title proving far more of a money-drawing storyline than his previous World Heavyweight Title reigns. The flip side of this development is that tug of war between the hardcore fanbase and Vince McMahon about who should be world champion has intensified now that the promotion can’t split the difference.

    Despite this, one can understand why the WWE is tempted to revert back to having two world titles.

    As Brock Lesnar’s previous title reign proved, the WWE’s mantra of promoting sports entertainment and focusing on telling stories is remarkably hollow. The promotion is actually incredibly dependent on the world championship to provide meaning to its main event picture. When Brock Lesnar was away, the twenty-eight strong writing staff was bereft of ideas about how to justify Cena and Seth Rollins facing each other that they turned the Money In The Bank briefcase into an ersatz world title.

    Therefore, both promotions will clearly need their own singles title for their main event picture to be built around when the world champion isn’t there. Furthermore, considering that both shows will largely conform to the WWE house style, each champion will play a pivotal role in defining the brand to viewers. 

    However, there’s no reason why that role can’t be played by a secondary champion exclusive to each brand if these titles are properly protected. And there would be added value in having a WWE title above them. An undisputed world champion that can perform on both brands would stand out as a special attraction that would help highlight key television shows as must-watch and could drive extra business for the biggest shows of the year.

    The key would be not to expose them. If they were to appear weekly, let alone twice a week, they would quickly cease to be a special attraction. Worse they would undermine the ability of the two promotion-specific secondary champions to be taken seriously as headliners. This would naturally be a role for Lesnar, who could storm into either brand for a month-long residency before his latest title defence and then disappear again. It would also solve the problem that the WWE has of struggling to provide meaning to Lesnar’s matches.

    RAW and Smackdown Need Their Own Champions

    Back when the NWA World Champion would tour alliance members, the individual territories still retained their own national or promotional champions. This was because the promotion couldn’t grind to a halt when Ric Flair or Harley Race was elsewhere; they still needed something to build their everyday main event picture around. If WWE was to give Lesnar a floating WWE Championship, each brand would be in the same situation. They would need championships to build their weekly programming around.

    The temptation would be to suggest that the Intercontinental and U.S. titles could be repurposed for this role with each brand getting one of the secondary titles. This was exactly the approach originally planned for the first brand split with the I-C strap having been pegged to be the premiere title on RAW. Triple-H rightly vetoed this idea due to the belief that the title had been clearly defined as a secondary belt and wouldn’t be taken seriously as a prize worthy of main eventers. This is even truer today. While either belt can gain the illusion of respectability when placed around a headliner’s waist, they quickly slide back to their previous irrelevance.

    It’s not helped that the names of the championships are literally meaningless. This is not the 70s where it was perfectly logical to have a national champion underneath the world champion. The same problem existed when there was a WWE and a World Title. The names are such generic buzzwords that they do not indicate what the titlist is champion of. The championships being meaningless is yet another barrier to fans taking them seriously.

    It would be far better for the WWE to start again by crowning RAW and Smackdown champions, and actually calling them that. That way fans know that the person who holds the RAW title is recognised as the best wrestler on RAW, and the person challenging for the Smackdown title wants to be recognised as the best wrestler on Smackdown.

    As reported in the Observer, the current plans are for Reigns and Cena to be the champions of their respective brands. While both men have their problems with connecting with the fanbase, putting the new belts on them would be a clear statement of intent that both titles are of equal worth and will be properly protected.

    How Should The Championships Be Awarded?

    One of the things that most embittered fans about the last split in the championship was how Triple-H walked out with the big gold belt and proclaimed himself world champion. For all the talk of RAW having always been the ‘A-Show’, it took years the stench of that introduction to leave the title with his matches for the belt being of secondary importance to the WWE title matches as late as 2004. It’s therefore crucial that the new championships are properly introduced. Given that the aim of these moves is to create a big splash to help Smackdown’s ratings, it would make sense that everything builds to big matches for the shows on July 19-20.

    Making Brock Lesnar the undisputed world champion should be relatively straight forward. Just have The Beast appear in the next two weeks to destroy Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, insert himself into the WWE title match at Money In The Bank due to both men having screwed him out of the world title he never truly lost inside the ring. It’s a rematch of the unannounced main event of Wrestlemania 31, and provides a way for Lesnar to regain the title without pinning Reigns. It also allows the Reigns vs. Rollins programme to continue with neither man once again conclusively beating the other. This would then justify leaving Lesnar out of the draft.

    The new RAW and Smackdown champions should be crowned in big matches on the first shows after the draft. The easiest way to do this would be to have the type of multi-man matches that are usually reserved for pay per view. RAW could have a special Money in the Bank-style ladder match for their world title and Smackdown could have an Elimination Chamber match. Such multi-man matches would naturally feed into the draft, with the six men drafted for each brand being the ones entered into its championship match. Assuming the twelve men were picked on the 11th July Raw, the promotion would have a week to promote two huge title matches for the first week of the new era.

    Will Cooling is a freelance writer who writes on combat sports for Fighting Spirit Magazine, pop culture for Geeky Monkey and politics at It Could Be Said!FSM is available in all good British newsagents and internationally. In this month’s issue he writes about the rise of Ronda Rousey and argues that intergender matches destroyed Chyna’s career.

  • TUF 23 recap: Party bus, Boyz II Men reference & a fight

    This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha fight on the TUF 23 Finale with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. Last week, Gadelha’s team won again and now holds a commanding 5-0 lead. She picked Amanda Cooper to fight Jamie Moyle in her quest to run the TUF table!

    *****

    Dana White opens the show by reminding us that there’s never been a clean sweep in TUF history, and that Jedrzejczyk is now playing “the mental game” and trying to get in the head of Gadelha’s team by saying that Amanda Cooper is “an easy fight.”

    We go to Jedrzejczyk’s training session, and she’s brought in TJ Dillashaw to help her team train. He runs them through footwork and posture drills to start, and reminds everyone that “feints win fights” when you fake out your opponent. Moyle says she hasn’t seen any of Cooper’s fights and won’t plan like she did – she just wants to focus on improving overall and getting better at what she does best.

    Khalil Rountree talks about staying positive and motivated even though he’s been eliminated. Dana reminds us that there’s always opportunities for someone to come back who was eliminated. We see Rountree breaking down outside because today is his father’s birthday, and he talks about how he used to manage bands like Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men. His father was killed in an attempted robbery after a show.

    Amanda Cooper gives Moyle props at the Team Gadelha training session, saying she wanted to test herself against the toughest possible opponent, and that she plans on doing a lot of striking. “I just want to put on a show and make it interesting. On the feet is the best way to do it.” She says she fought three fights on a torn ACL so nobody’s seen just how good of a striker she can really be.

    Cooper reads letters written to her by her family and friends before she left for the show, which leads to a discussion about her dad getting her into boxing at a very young age. “I have a dream and that’s all I want right now is to accomplish it.” This transitions to a night on the town for everybody on the show courtesy of Dana White, complete with a party bus that has alcohol and a stripper pole. Partying ensues!

    Amanda Cooper gets dressed up for the weigh-ins. “I look like Jane but I fight like Tarzan.” Moyle gets on the scale and she’s 115.5. Cooper is 115 even. Fight’s on!

    * Amanda Cooper (Team Gadelha) vs. Jamie Moyle (Team Jedrzejczyk)

    Cooper is in all black and Moyle is in all red for this fight. Moyle is landing some good shots in the exchanges early. Gadelha has to remind Cooper to keep her hands up. Moyle pushes her into the fence looking for a takedown and eats a few knees. Cooper is keeping her balance well and breaks free at 1:33. Cooper is warned to watch her fingers.

    Moyle keeps her backpedaling the whole time but Cooper’s striking is getting better as the round draws on, using her natural height and reach advantages. Moyle shoots for a single leg and gets it at 3:27. Moyle stands to drop some bigger shots and nearly gets swept. Jedrzejczyk keeps yelling “STAY HEAVY” but the ref tells her to improve her position. 10-9 Moyle.

    Moyle gets another takedown a half minute into R2. Moyle is trying to pull her legs through to improve her position and eventually gets side control at 1:50, but she loses it and has to avoid upkicks. Cooper goes for a single leg but Moyle keeps her balance. Cooper gets a clinch and goes for some knees and elbows over the top. Moyle goes for a takedown and Cooper lands on top. She’s busted Moyle up with the elbows – there’s blood everywhere.

    Cooper gets side control and starts raining down big hammerfists and rights that have the ref threatening to stop the it. Moyle goes for a triangle but Cooper slips out. Cooper and Gadelha celebrate like they’ve won before the scores are even announced.

    Cooper wins by MAJORITY decision, but the scores aren’t read. Gadelha is 6-0!

    Next week’s fight is Abdel Medjedoub (Gadelha) vs. Joshua Stansbury (Jedrzejczyk). See you then!

  • June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: More details on WWE brand split, Jimmy Snuka found incompetent, more

    It is still largely secretive, if things have even been figured out past the top guys, regarding what will happen with WWE talent when they do the brand split in July.

    Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

  • Lucha Underground results: Monster vs. Machine as Matanza battles Cage

    The show starts with a recap of the Trios title history this season, showing the former champs losing them to Rey Mysterio Jr, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. before that team lost them to PJ, Mundo, and Jack Evans. It transitions to showing Chavo winning the Gift of the Gods Title, then losing it to Cage last week and cashing in the title for a match tonight. Striker runs down tonight’s card, where the former trios champs get a rematch tonight and Matanza battles Cage in the main event.

    Son of Havoc vs. Daga

    They start off with a fancy series of counters to arm wringers. Havoc is sent down off a tackle, but catches him with a rana. Superkick on the floor by Daga leads to him trying a snake eyes on the post, but that’s countered and Daga is sent in. Havoc trips him mid-ring and gets 2 off a standing moonsault. Daga gets a back suplex into a facebuster for 2. Daga traps him in the corner for mounted punches and a face wash. Daga slams him down and gets 2 off a Muta-style power drive elbow. Havoc lands some standing forearms, and eats punches. Armdrag into a Tequila Sunrise by Daga!

    Kobra Moon comes down as Daga hits a corner elbow. Havoc flips out of the corner and hits a series of lariats. Muta-style handspring elbow in the corner and a springboard crossbody gets 2. An apron high kick by Havoc leads to a suicide dive on the floor. Kobra comes up and grabs the ankle of Havoc, leading to Daga hitting a kick up top and then going for a superplex – but eating a gordbuster and a shooting star press. Kobra Moon comes into the ring and caresses Daga in a weird way. She caresses his leg and he kicks her off. 

    Winner – Son of Havoc

    Backstage, Rey works on his spinning backfists while Azteca talks about finding Matanza’s cell. He wants revenge, while Rey tells him that Dragon Azteca Sr.  wouldn’t have wanted that. They argue and Prince Puma comes up and says their match is next. They tell him to leave, Rey says that it doesn’t concern him, and he says that as their partnets, it does concern him. Dragon Azteca Jr. is a fairly bad actor, but everyone else was fine here.

    Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Trios Champions Jack Evans, PJ Black, and Johnny Mundo

    The heel team has red bandanas on now, and Rey is dominated for a bit by a PJ headlock. A shoulderblock gets 2 on Rey. Rey flips out of a schoolboy and hits a buzzsaw kick and a rana. Rey is up on his shoulders and Mundo distracts the ref so that PJ can toss him down and kick him in the nuts. A triple team neckbreaker by the heels gives them more of an edge. Jack comes in, stands on his chest and gets 2 off a standing moonsault.

    Jack tells Rey “I think I can, I THINK I CAN” to mock him for trying to make a tag before attacking him. Mundo comes in and eats some punches, but a tilt a whirl takes Rey down again. Rey gets a DDT out of nowhere and tags in Puma. Puma’s headscissors and dropkick take Jack down while the northern lights brainbuster hits Mundo. Corner crossbody leads to a double kick in the corner and then a triple dropkick to PJ from the floor. Flip dive over Puma by Azteca.

    Rey goes for a dive, but Jack stops it with a dropkick. Jack promises something big, and gets it as Puma hits him with a superplex off the top onto the pile on the floor. Puma goes for the 630, but Jack is pulled to the floor by his partners. Jack hits a 630 and gets 2.5. Puma hoists him up and lands a modifies GTS. Azteca and Mundo are in, and Mundo accidentally leaps into PJ in the corner. Azteca hits an around the world DDT on Mundo for 2. Azteca avoids the Moonlight Drive, and eats a kick to the nuts. Puma is pissed and kicks Mundo in the nuts – leading to a DQ so the heels retain and the faces have lost their rematch. Puma attacks Taya with a huge kick as well, while Rey tries to control Puma.

    Winners – PJ Black, Jack Evans, and Johnny Mundo

    After the match, we see Dragon Azteca Jr. meet Matanza. Black Lotus tells him that Dragon Azteca killed her parents, and that the truth hurts. They fight for a bit before he tells her that she knows it isn’t true. Well, they haven’t done much with that story thread for a while – so it’s good to further it slightly here. Cage comes out first carrying the title out like it’s a trash bag. As Matanza comes down, Striker runs down everything Matanza has done – including him beating nine foes in Aztec Warfare to win the title.

    Cage vs. Lucha Underground Champion Matanza Cueto

    We get a staredown and they immediately go into a Frye-Takayama exchange. Cage rams him, but Matanza doesn’t move. Matanza and Cage barge into each other, which doesn’t give anyone an edge until Cage hits an uppercut. Cage sends him to the floor and hits a flip dive. Cage goes up top and hits a moonsult while Vamp talks about Cage tearing the original LU title up last year. Thank God he did – that thing looked awful.

    They fight on the floor and Cage tosses his head into the barricade before pulling the covers off the concrete. Cage taking the time to do that gave Matanza time to heal, and he tosses Cage into the barricades. Matanza lands the multiple Karelin Lifts on the floor, but Cage escapes the third one and lands a forearm. Giant German suplex on the floor by Matanza. Matanza tosses him in the ring and chokes him before hammerfisting his head.

    Standing SSP leads to Cage getting his knees up and getting 2 off a neckbreaker. Cage traps him in the corner for a series of lariats. Cage showboats, giving Matanza time to get under him and land an exploder for 2. Matanza picks him up for a pumphandle bridging suplex for 2. Cage jacks his jaw and then lands a basement dropkick after a schoolboy. Matanza recovers and goes for the eyes. Vamp talks about how Matanza’s hands are always covered by blood. Cage lands an X Factor for 2. They each charge into each other with lariats and take one another down with pump kicks.

    Cage and Matanza exchange Germans and then no-sell them like Hawk. After three of them, Cage starts to sell and then Matanza sends him down like a basic wrestling takedown, but hoists him up high for a German that looked incredible and gets 2. Cage avoids the Wrath of the Gods, but hits a discus lariat for 2.

    Cage hits the power superplex from the middle rope. Flying elbow gets 2 for Cage. Matanza grabs him and lands the Kevin Steen sidewinder back suplex for 2. Cage counters a powerbomb with an Alabama slam and a standing moonsault for 2. Cage goes for Weapon X, but Matanza counters and lands an overhead belly to belly. A sitout powerbomb gets 2 for Matanza.

    Cage counters the Wrath of the Gods with a small package for 2. Cage hits a Canadian Destroyer for 2. Cage pulls down the straps and lands a series of kicks, including a superkick – but the Wrath of the Gods gives Matanza the win. This was a pretty exctiing match and definitely worth checking out – it will probably be the match from the show put on El Rey’s Youtube channel later this week.

    Winner – Matanza Cueto

    To see all of the screenshots taken for the show, just click here.

  • WWE NXT results: Contract signings highlight TakeOver go-home show

    • The Big News: One week before TakeOver, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe had a heated backstage interview.
    • The Medium News: In their first bit of physicality, Nia Jax laid out Asuka with a power bomb.
    • The Little Beaver Sized News: The Revival got punked out at the beginning of the show, lost the main event, and then got punked out by American Alpha.

    The show started with the former NXT tag champs The Revival coming out for a promo. Next Wednesday at NXT TakeOver: The End ,they will challenge the current champions American Alpha.

    Dash and Dawson say that they will be the first ever 2-time tag champions. Dawson called Gable & Jordan excellent amateur wrestlers, but they are great professionals. When The Revival win, Jordan & Gable can go wipe their tears away as the new champs celebrate.

    This brought out Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano. Ciampa said that the entire crowd knows AA is better than them, and they can’t even beat Gargano and Ciampa. Revival laughed at this and called the interrupting duo “undersized bearded guys” and “good hands”, which was pointed out that that is a criticism about The Revival.

    Dawson told them to go back to wrestling in bingo halls, while Ciampa brought up them losing in Dallas. Dash told Gargano & Ciampa to come bother them when they have actually accomplished anything. The Revival started walking away when Gargano mocked them. The #1 contenders got back in the ring…and immediately got dropkicked right out of it!

    As Revival retreated, they challenged Gargano & Ciampa for tonight.

    ******

    Shinsuke Nakamura did a promo for his match with Austin Aries at TakeOver. He said Aries will bow down to the King of Strong Style.

    ******

    Tye Dillinger pinned Buddy Murphy

    It is time for the Perfect 10, and it is also time for Murphy to get his first name back! He lost his manager and his tag team partner, but at least he is facing NXT’s most pushed jobber. Dillinger has won two tv matches as the Perfect 10 up to this point.

    The fans were not into Murphy at all and it seemed the only thing they cared about in regards to Dillinger was chanting 10. Tye finished Murphy off with a Fireman’s Carry, but slamming the back of Murphy’s head on his exposed knee which looked close enough to an AA.

    ******

    We had a sit down interview with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, moderated by Corey Graves.

    Balor said he worked for so long at becoming NXT Champion that he didn’t expect the walls to come crumbling down in Lowell, Massachusetts. Joe countered by saying he finally got what he deserved. Joe had to jump through ridiculous hoops (which to an extent he did). Balor said Joe came in with a sense of entitlement and there are 100 guys in the Performance Center who deserve a title shot ahead of him.

    Joe scoffed at that and brought up everything starting last August with Finn asking Joe to be his partner in the Dusty Classic and then not saying anything when William Regal wouldn’t give him a title shot afterwards. Balor tried bringing up that they knew each other for a decade, and Joe brought that up and continued to ask why he had to do all these things to get title shots.

    Balor noted this is his first ever cage match, but his first ever ladder match was TakeOver:Brooklyn when he beat Kevin Owens. Joe said he would have beaten Balor in Dallas, but they kept having doctors pull him off, giving Finn a chance to recover.

    Graves brought up Balor being the future and Balor said he is living in the now, living in the present, and he wants that championship belt. Joe said this is about showing people their place and he will show Balor his place. Graves tried to wrap it up which caused champion and challenger to stand up and go face to face one last time.

    This was an excellent segment.

    ******

    Austin Aries submitted Elias Sampson

    Aries is 7 days away from a match with Shinsuke Nakamura, a man who defeated The Drifter about a month ago. Sampson has been a lot more aggressive in the ring lately. It helps that he’s been doing so many house show matches with the likes of Nakamura and Balor.

    Aries looked good here as well (I know, what a shock) and won with the NXT debut of the Last Chancery. After the match, Aries cut a promo saying that after next week, he will show the spotlight should shine on him.

    ******

    The same video package as last week aired to build up the impending debut of Andrade Cien Almas, which will take place next week at TakeOver.

    Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa defeated The Revival

    This is the main event wrestling match. They note that The Revival is trying to become the first ever 2-time tag champs. However, Neville is a 2-time champion, teaming with Oliver Grey and then the aforementioned Graves. The announcers spent most of this match discussing the tag team title match at TakeOver.

    The heels cheated to get the heat on Ciampa. Ciampa and Gargano were running wild on the #1 contenders. However, Dawson attacked Ciampa behind the referee’s back when Dash was the legal man. Dash and Dawson do an excellent job of playing defense and giving their opponents so many hope spots on getting the hot tag, so the opponents always make the tag at the best possible time.

    Gargano got the hot tag and looked great until he got dropped with a DDT. The finish showed that somebody has been watching The Wrestling Classic recently. In a page right out of Randy Savage vs. Dynamite Kid, Scott Dawson gave Gargano a Superplex, but Gargano tied up Dawson for the pin!

    After the match, Revival took out their frustrations on the men that beat them, including giving Gargano the Shatter Machine. They went to break Gargano’s leg, but American Alpha ran in for the save.

    ******

    Next week is NXT TakeOver: The End, featuring…

    • Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor for the NXT Championship in a Steel Cage Match
    • Asuka vs Nia Jax for the NXT Women’s Championship
    • Austin Aries vs Shinsuke Nakamura
    • American Alpha vs The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship
    • Andrade Almas debuts

    That is a lot of A names, eh?

    ******

    The final segment of the show was the official contract signing for the Women’s Championship match next Wednesday.

    Nia Jax spoke first, mocking Asuka because all she has done is kick a few girls in the head and while Asuka beat Bayley, Nia broke Bayley. Unlike all the other girls, Nia is the future and is not scared of Asuka.

    Asuka said Nia talks too much and if she’s not afraid of Asuka, she should be. Nia pushed her away, so Asuka began throwing punches and kicks. However, Nia caught one of her kicks, lifted Asuka in the air, and planted her with a power bomb!

    That is it for this week. Thank you for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • John Cena’s return helps Raw ratings hold steady against strong NBA competition

    John Cena wasn’t quite the miracle worker, but his return was enough to keep the Memorial Day Raw viewership numbers above the all-time seasonal low — even with the show going against the single most-watched NBA game in the history of cable television.

    Raw did 3.22 million viewers, the second lowest non-football total other than a major holiday* where people don’t watch television since 1997, beating only the 4/25 show that did 3.16 million viewers.

    The surprise is that the third hour stayed above 3 million viewers.

    Without the advertising of Cena, it was very unlikely the show would have beaten the 4/25 record low. His return was promoted for weeks and he did media like NBC’s Today show that morning.

    The seventh game of the Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Western Conference semifinal did 15,996,000 viewers. The opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the San Jose Sharks losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins did 4,081,000 viewers.

    Raw was third for the night on cable. 

    The three hours were:

    • 8 p.m. 3.28 million viewers
    • 9 p.m. 3.32 million viewers
    • 10 p.m 3.08 million viewers

    *A note on the definition of Memorial Day not being considered a “major holiday”: Holidays that kill ratings are July 4th, Thanksgiving night, New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve. Memorial Day and Labor Day ratings are usually similar to usual levels. This past Monday, far more people were watching TV than usual, actually.

  • Daily Update: WCCW building honored, Ospreay vs. Richochet, Matt Hardy “Broken”

    The site of many major wrestling cards in Fort Worth recently received a historic designation. The Will Rogers Memorial Center was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The complex includes the coliseum which housed wrestling cards over the years including many for World Class Championship Wrestling. Built in 1936, the coliseum was the first performance hall in Fort Worth and is still in use today, mainly for equestrian events and the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. The recent designation allows for more available funding for the venue and a level of protection from it being torn down. A new arena facility is planned for construction near the old complex, though the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum will continue to remain in use.

    THE ROUND-UP

    If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

    Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter

    READ IT HERE: May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Return of Seth Rollins and the WWE brand split, plus tons of news

    With two of the biggest news stories of the year, the WWE brand split and the UFC sale both in play, we’ve got a new issue of the Observer packed with news.

    Our lead story looks at the brand split, with what we do know, what has and hasn’t been decided and the background of how it went down. There’s also more info on the UFC sale talks.  Plus there is coverage of the return of Seth Rollins, the build to Money in the Bank and have coverage of Extreme Rules, the negotiations for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight and look more at the Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor rumors. Take an in-depth look at the departure of Cody Runnels (Rhodes) from WWE and his future prospects, plus look at his complaints regarding people in the company. All this plus a look at the New Japan Super Juniors tournament, the funding of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, the World Cup trios tournament coming up and a feature on the last PWG show.

    The lead story looks at every aspect of the brand split.  It looks at the original goals and reasons for it and what did and didn’t work, plus how it’ll be different this time, how the touring will work, and an examination of what talent knows and tentative plans in place.  Vince McMahon’ reaction is a big part of this, and this issue explains how the deal went down, the story behind the story and other aspects to be considered. There’s also a look at Smackdown going live, the affect on the fan base, the affect on TNA and why it was important to get Smackdown away from Thursday.

    Another big story in this issues is Extreme Rules, the decision to make Seth Rollins a heel and current plans for Money in the Bank, and also match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

    Details about what’s going on with Conor McGregor, including Colin Cowherd’s claim that Mayweather vs. McGregor is happening, as well as a look at the Nate Diaz negotiations last week and what McGregor has said publicly.

    Finally, this issue looks at Cody Runnels leaving WWE, what he said was the reason why, and a look into those reasons, and a look at the realities of WWE business decisions and his background.

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    Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 26, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davy Boy Smith recovering in the hospital, UFC to be sanctioned by Nevada State Athletic Commission, more. This past week has seen Davey Boy Smith, going stir crazy in a Calgary Hospital, attempt to start battling back after the worst year in his life.

    WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

    In light of the Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay kerfluflle, Fighting Spirit Magazine posted an interview by our own David Bix titled, “Training Ground” an interview with Ricky Steamboat. It’s available for free on their site. It’s basically Steamboat giving amazingly detailed answers about pro wrestling psychology/storytelling in a very progressive, non-judgmental way, and while it’s fascinating reading anyway, it’s especially interesting to read with the Ricochet-Osprey stuff in mind.

    Speaking of, here’s a column our Kyle Johnson wrote today on the whole situation.

    For those Swerved fans, the show returns after RAW this Monday.Here’s a preview and an episode breakdown. This is the second season of the show, and will premiere all nine half hour long episodes on-demand on the WWE Network on June 6. This is the first time WWE Network will do a binge release for a show on-demand.

    UFC Sunday on FS 1 was way down from their prime time average with the main card doing 757,000 viewers and the prelims, also on FS 1, doing 469,000.

    University of Minnesota wrestling coach J Robinson has been placed on paid administrative leave,new athletic director Mark Coyle announced today, stemming from a controversy involving his athletes’ alleged abuse and selling of a prescription drug. 

    Pro Wrestling

    ​MMA & Combat Sports

    EVENTS

    • June 1 – PWP runs tonight, at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, NE
    • June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
    • June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
    • June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
    • June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
    • June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
    • June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
    • June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
    • June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
    • June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
    • June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
    • June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
    • June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
    • June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
    • June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
    • June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
    • June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
    • July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

    Today in Professional Wrestling History: Edge wins vacant World Title; Shield defeats Evolution in no holds barred Elimination match

  • Daily Pro Wrestling History (06/01): Edge wins vacant World Title; Shield defeats Evolution in no holds barred Elimination match

    1939 

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Prospector Pete beat Steve Brody 2 out of 3 falls
    – Walter Sirois beat Stanley Buresch
    – Ede Edner (Ebner) beat Don George 
    – Mike Chacoma beat Dale Wayne

    1945

    – Bobby Bonales defeated El Santo to win the Mexican National Middleweight Title

    Wichita, Kansas:
    – Lord Albert Mills defeated Ray Eckert in 2 out of 3 falls to earn a match next week with Orville Brow
    – Lee Wykoff beat Jim Parker
    – Jack Hader beat Bob Hayford 
    – Gene Blakely defeated Pat O’Dowdy

    1948

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:
    – Sandor Szabo wins the Minneapolis World Heavyweight Title defeating Bronko Nagurski 

    Nashville, Tennessee:
    – The Green Shadow defeated Herb Welch for the Tennessee World Junior Heavyweight Title 

    1950 

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz defeated Bill Longson 2 falls to 0
    – Sonny Myers beat Lee Henning 2 out of 3 falls
    – Dutch Hefner beat Pete Peterson

    1956 

    Houston, Texas:
    – Buddy Rogers defeated Pepper Gomez for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title 

    1957

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – for the Central States Title, Bobby Bruns went to a time limit draw with Richard Brown 
    – Mike Clancy beat Angelo Savoldi 
    – Wild Red Berry beat Joe Costello

    1960 

    Los Angeles, California:
    – Édouard Carpentier and Sandor Szabo defeated Art Michalik and Legs Wilson to win the NWA International TV Tag Team Titles

    1962

    Dothan, Alabama:
    – Jack Donovan and Jackie Fargo defeated The Mysterious Medics for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Titles

    1966

    Portland, Oregon:
    – René Goulet and Pepper Martin defeated Tony Borne and Prof. Hiro to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles

    1968 

    Chicago, Illinois:
    – AWA Tag Team Champions Mitsu Arakawa & Dr Moto beat Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher
    – Dr X beat Mighty Igor Vodik via dq
    – Bill Watts drew Larry Hennig 
    – Rene Goulet beat Harley Race

    1971

    Croydon, England:
    – Brian Maxine defeated Clayton Thomson to win the British Middleweight Title

    1972 

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Omar Atlas fought Roger Kirby to a draw
    – Black Angus (w/ Percival A. Friend) defeated The Viking 
    – Harley Race defeated Rufus R. Jones

    1973 

    St. Petersburg, Florida:
    – The Samoans (Tio Tio and Reno Tufuuli) defeated Mike Graham and Kevin Sullivan to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Titles

    Portland, Oregon:
    – Bull Ramos and Clay Spencer (Ken Mantell) defeated Steven Little Bear and Dutch Savage for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles

    – Black Gordman and Goliath defeated Rey Mendoza and Raul Reyes to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Titles

    1974

    Caguas, Puerto Rico:
    – Jim Dalton and Bruce Swayze defeated Carlos Colón and José Manuel Pérez for the WWC North American Tag Team Titles 

    1975

    Sydney, Australia:
    – Bobby Hart and Larry O’Day defeated The Missouri Mauler and Steve Rackman to win the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Titles 

    Mexico City, Mexico:
    – Tauro defeated Dardo Aguilar for the Mexican National Lightweight Title 

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
    – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Verne Gagne & Billy Robinson via dq
    – Dusty Rhodes beat Baron Von Raschke dq
    – Ivan Putski beat Boris Breznikoff 
    – Greg Gagne beat Rene Goulet

    1976

    Wolverhampton, England:
    – Jim Breaks defeated Bobby Ryan to win the British Lightweight Title 

    1978 

    Akita, Japan:
    – Tor Kamata defeated Giant Baba for the AJPW PWF Heavyweight Title 

    1979

    Knoxville, Tennessee:
    – Ron Garvin won the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title from Alex Smirnoff

    Houston, Texas:
    – El Halcón defeated José Lothario defeated Mark Lewin and The Spoiler to win the NWA American Tag Team Titles

    Omaha, Nebraska:
    – Greg Gagne (sub Verne Gagne) & Mad Dog Vachon beat Pat Patterson & Nick Bockwinkel
    – Bobby Duncum beat Doug Gilbert
    – in a Posedown, Paul Ellering beat Jesse Ventura 
    – Super Destroyer Mark II (Sgt. Slaughter) beat Joe Scarpello

    1981

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Bill Dundee defeated Stan Lane for the Mid-America NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Title 

    Birmingham, Alabama:
    – Jimmy Golden defeated Ken Lucas to win the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title 

    1983 

    Omiya, Japan:
    – Lioness Asuka won the AJW Singles Title from Kaoru Matsumoto 
    – Jaguar Yokota defeated La Galactica for the WWWA World Singles Title

    Sunrise, Florida:
    – Terry Allen (Magnum T.A.) defeated Tommy Wright
    – Brad Armstrong and The Professional (Doug Gilbert) fought to a draw
    – NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion Scott McGhee defeated The Purple Haze by disqualification to retain the title
    – NWA Global Tag Team Champions, NWA Bahamas Heavyweight CHampion Angelo Mosca and Bobby Duncum defeated Barry Windham and NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Champion Ron Bass to retain the title
    – Mike Graham defeated Kevin Sullivan
    – Dusty Rhodes defeated Adrian Street

    1984 

    St. Louis, Missouri:
    – NWA Champion Ric Flair went to a time limit draw with Kerry Von Erich
    – Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
    – Wahoo McDaniel beat Kamala via dq 
    – Jim Duggan beat Luke Graham

    1985

    Atlanta, Geogia:
    – Black Bart defeated Ron Garvin to win the NWA National Heavyweight Title 

    – Invader III defeated Denny Brown for the vacant WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title

    1986 

    Marshalltown, Iowa:
    – Marty Jannetty defeated The Shadow (Jaymie Knight) to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title 

    1987

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Jeff Jarrett won the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title from Moondog Spot 

    1990

    Dallas, Texas:
    – Kerry Von Erich defeated Matt Borne to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title

    1990

    Mexico City, Mexico:
    – El Dandy defeated Angel Azteca to win the NWA World Middleweight Title

    1991

    Bayamon, Puerto Rico:
    – TNT (Savio Vega) defeated King Kong to win the WWC Television Title 

    Wolfeboro, New Hampshire:
    – The Billion Dollar Babies (Mike Samson and G.Q. Stratus) defeated G.Q. and T.D. Madison (Tommy Dreamer) for the IWCCW Tag Team Titles

    1995

    Texcoco, Mexico:
    – Latin Lover and Panterita del Ring defeated Fuerza and Juventud Guerrera to win the Mexican National Tag Team Titles 

    1996 

    Philadelphia, Pennslyvania
    – Pitbull #2 defeated ECW World Television Champion Shane Douglas to win the title

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Brian Christopher defeated Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Heavyweight Title

    World Wrestling Peace Festival: Los Angeles, California:
    – Craig Pittman defeated KGB 
    – Jim Neidhart defeated Bobby Bradley, Jr
    – Lady Apache and Akira Hokuto defeated Bull Nakano and Neftali 
    – Chris Benoit defeated Alex Wright
    – NWA World Middleweight Champion Ultimo Dragon and Rey Misterio, Jr. defeated Heavy Metal and Mexican National Welterweight Champion Psicosis
    – Lex Luger defeated Masa Saito
    – NWA World Welterweight Champion Negro Casas defeated Mexican National Middleweight Champion El Hijo del Santo
    – CMLL World Tag Team Champion Atlantis, Dos Caras and Héctor Garza defeated Gran Markus, Jr., Silver King and CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion Dr. Wagner, Jr
    – Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Black Cat
    – Perro Aguayo and La Parka defeated Cibernético and Mexican National Heavyweight Champion Pierroth, Jr
    – AAA Americas, IWAS World and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Konnan defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Jericho  in a triangle match
    – Jushin Liger defeated The Great Sasuke 
    – WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant defeated WCW World Tag Team Champion Sting
    – Antonio Inoki and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Oleg Taktarov

    2007 

    OVW Summer Sizzler Series: Louisville, Kentucky:
    – ODB defeated OVW Women’s Champion Katie Lea to win the title
    – Jay Bradley defeated Paul Birchill and Idol Stevens in a three-way match to win the vacant OVW Heavyweight Title

    2008

    WWE One Night Stand: San Diego, California:
    – Matt Hardy defeated Shelton Benjamin    
    – Jeff Hardy defeated Umaga in a Falls Count Anywhere match
    – Big Show defeated CM Punk, John Morrison, Tommy Dreamer, and Chavo Guerrero
    – John Cena defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield in a First Blood match
    – Beth Phoenix defeated Melina in an I Quit match    
    – Batista defeated Shawn Michaels in a Stretcher match    
    – Triple H defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match to retain the WWE Championship    
    – Edge defeated the Undertaker in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship

    2014 

    WWE Payback: Chicago, Illinois
    – El Torito (with Diego and Fernando) defeated Hornswoggle (with Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) in a Mask vs. Hair match
    – Sheamus defeated Cesaro to retain the WWE United States Championship
    – RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) defeated Cody Rhodes and Goldust    
    – Rusev (with Lana) defeated Big E 
    – Kofi Kingston vs. Bo Dallas ended in a no contest    
    – Bad News Barrett defeated Rob Van Dam to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
    – John Cena (with Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) defeated Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) in a Last Man Standing match
    – Paige defeated Alicia Fox to retain the WWE Divas Championship
    – The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) defeated Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista) in a No Holds Barred Elimination match

  • NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

    We roll on to day nine of New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, as the morning of 5/31 brought us more action, this time from the A Block. Matches held on this day were in Hiroshima:

    Bushi vs. David Finlay

    Nothing wrong with this, but felt like every young lion match you’ve seen. Makes sense as Finlay is a young lion. This was solid, but patterned in other words. Finlay made a comeback, Bushi cut him off and pinned him with the codebreaker off the top rope.

    Rocky Romero vs. Matt Sydal

    Good match. Solid work here as well. Romero got the heat at one point by dousing Sydal with what looked like a water bottle and gave him a sliced bread on the floor. They went back to the ring exchange some strikes .Sydal took Romero out with a powerbomb and went for the shooting star press but Romero blocked it, throwing him off. Sydal came back with a rana to the floor and pinned Romero with a shooting star press.

    Gedo vs. Kushida

    Really good match, best out of all four here. Kushida worked on Gedo’s arm throughout the entire match and came back to it whenever he had the chance. Gedo had a lot of offense and looked tremendous. I think he’s secretly the MVP of this tournament even though there has been a lot great matches without him. Kushida went for the armbar but Gedo countered with a roll up and did some great near falls. Crowd was really into this too. Gedo went for the Gedo Clutch but Kushida kicked out. Kushida sinked in the hoverboard lock again and after rolling around to the middle of the ring Gedo submitted.

    Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

    Another good match! There were some pre match shenanigans as Taguchi wanted the ref to pat his crotch area. When he refused, Taguchi took out a banana, because he’s wacky, you see. It’s kind of funny as Taguchi can be a pretty great worker at times, but the comedy stuff is total prelim level. There was a cool spot early where O’Reilly went for the leg sweep but Taguchi jumped, then dropkicked O’Reilly in one swift motion. They exchange leg submissions and went back and forth on another another. Taguchi grabbed the leg again and dropped in elbow, and that caused O’Reilly to eventually submit.

    Current tallies:

    Block A:

    • Ryusuke Taguchi – 8
    • Matt Sydal – 8
    • Kyle O’Reilly – 6
    • Kushida – 6
    • Rocky Romero – 4
    • Bushi – 4
    • Gedo – 2
    • David Finlay – 2

    Block B:

    • Ricochet – 6
    • Jushin Thunder Liger – 4
    • Baretta – 4
    • Volador Jr. – 4
    • Tiger Mask – 4
    • Bobby Fish – 4
    • Will Ospreay – 2
    • Chase Owens – 2