Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA! Bellator Friday, BJ Penn, why there have been no real star-making matches in WWE in over 15 years, Dave Meltzer talks the top WON stories, Sunny DVD contest and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The UFC announced Thursday that they have postponed plans to use Hall of Famer B.J. Penn on an upcoming show after a sexual assault claim was made against him.
“UFC is aware of the recent allegations made against B.J. Penn. The organization requires all athletes who compete in the UFC to act in an ethical and responsible manner, as detailed in the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy. UFC will not tolerate violations of the policy. Every athlete is deserving of proper review and this situation, as with any serious investigations, will be investigated by an independent party and thoroughly reviewed by the UFC. The UFC organization will also cooperate with any law enforcement investigations. In light of the serious allegations, UFC has postponed plans to book Penn for an upcoming bout until more details are determined.
“UFC holds athletes who compete in the organization to the highest standard and will continue to take appropriate action, if and when warranted. It is important to note that Penn is considered innocent until proven guilty and UFC is not prejudging this matter.”
Earlier in the week, Pedro Carrasco, a former reporter with BJPenn.com that had left the site in October, had gone on Twitter with allegations that Penn had sexually assaulted his girlfriend.
Even though this alleged attack took place in Hilo, Hawaii, the alleged victim, a 29-year-old woman, filed a police report on Tuesday in Delaware County, Ohio, claiming the incident took place in August. The report has been sent to the Hilo, Hawaii, police department.
Penn, 37, who had retired after a loss to Frankie Edgar on July 6, 2014, was expected to return on UFC’s April 23 show, although that had not been officially announced by the company. He has been training at Greg Jackson’s gym in New Mexico.
1941
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada:
– World Champion Jim Londos beat Nanjo Singh
– Don Evans drew with Wild Bill Longson
– Billy Hanson beat Tom Maloney
1973
St. Paul, Minnesota:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Don Muraco in 2 out of 3 falls
– The Crusher beat Dusty Rhodes
– Larry Hennig beat George Scott
– Jim Brunzell beat Big K by dq
– Khosrow Vaziri beat Johnny Heidman
1975
Omaha, Nebraska:
– Baron Von Raschke beat Ivan Putski
– Billy Robinson beat Boris Breznikoff dq
– Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig
– Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann & Buddy Wolff
– Horst Hoffman beat Geoff Portz
1976
St. Joseph, Missouri:
– Bob Geigel and Akio Sato defeated Ken Mantel and Ron Bass for the Central States NWA World Tag Team Titles
1978
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino in a steel cage match
1984
Atlanta, Georgia:
– Brad Armstrong defeated Ted DiBiase to win the Georgia National Title (Armstrong was wrestling under a mask as “Mr.
R”. DiBiase thought it was Tommy Rich under the mask as Rich had been wrestling as Mr. R in previous weeks. DiBiase was rolled up and pinned by Armstrong after DiBiase pulled off the mask and realized it wasn’t Rich)
1985
The War To Settle The Score: Madison Square Garden:
– WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper wrestled to a no contest
– Lelani Kai defeated Wendi Richter to win the WWF Women’s Title
– Jimmy Snuka defeated Cowboy Bob Orton
– Paul Orndorff defeated Tony Atlas
– WWF World Tag Team Champions Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo defeated The Spoiler & The Assassin
1986
St. Louis, Missouri:
– Non Title Steel Cage match: Harley Race beat NWA Champion Ric Flair
– Tully Blanchard beat Jimmy Valiant
– Rock & Roll Express beat Midnight Express by dq
– Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko by dq
– Crusher Blackwell beat Kareem Muhammad
– Rocky Johnson beat Timothy Flowers
1996
Norfolk, Virginia:
– Johnny B. Badd defeated Lex Luger to win the WCW World Television Title
WWF In Your House: Louisville, Kentucky:
– WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Diesel in a steel cage match
– Razor Ramon defeated The 1-2-3 Kid in a “Crybaby” match
– Shawn Michaels defeated Owen Hart
2007
Los Angeles, California: WWF No Way Out PPV:
– Chavo Guerrero won the Cruiserweight Open and the Cruiserweight Title
– Chris Benoit, Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy defeated MNM (Joey Mercury & Johnny Nitro, with Melina) & MVP
– John Cena and Shawn Michaels defeated The Undertaker and Batista
The major topic of conversation today is the upcoming Global Cruiserweight Tournament; the potential opportunity it represents for talent, what it means (if anything) in terms of WWE’s feelings about cruiserweights in general, and what you need to be prepared if you’re a cruiserweight who sees this as your big opportunity to get on the WWE radar screen. Les and Vic segue into discussing being a junior heavyweight in the territory era (25:02) and one of the greats regardless of weight class; the one and only Danny Hodge. From there, we’ll talk the latest regarding Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponent (43:23) and what could be the end of Wade Barrett (and many missed opportunities) in WWE (51:44).
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of thoughts on Bellator with Kimbo vs. Dada 5000 and Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock, all the WWE news including a Fast Lane card, thoughts on who Undertaker could face at WrestleMania, Bret Hart’s cancer update, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
– Air Date: February 18, 2016 (Feb 17 in Canada)
– Location: Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA
– The Big News:
Brock Lesnar stood tall over both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, who may not be on the same page anymore.
– Show Recap:
Kevin Owens joined Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler on commentary for the opening match. Cole explained that Mauro Ranallo was attacked with a crowbar ill but would return next week. Owens accused Cole of firing Ranallo because he realized Ranallo was better. After Cole repeated that Ranallo was sick, Owens said he’s sick because he heard Cole’s commentary on Raw.
Cole confirmed that Kalisto would be defending the U.S. Title on the Fastlane kickoff show in a 2 out of 3 falls match against Alberto Del Rio. Kalisto and Sin Cara did suicide dives to Del Rio and Sheamus. Ziggler followed by doing Dean Ambrose’s flying elbow to Rusev. LON worked over Sin Cara and his shoulder after a break.
Ziggler made the hot tag, ran wild, and did the air guitar thing. Owens accused him of stealing that from Eva Marie, which is amazing. Del Rio and Rusev laid out the Dragons outside the ring, while Ziggler got a near fall on Sheamus after a fameasser. Owens jumped off commentary to distract Ziggler. It worked, and Sheamus killed Ziggler with a Brogue kick for the win. Dumb finish. Owens was great on commentary.
They plugged Brock Lesnar for tonight as well as the main event.
Tamina came out to the Team BAD theme, unlike on Raw last week. After 2 minutes, Naomi jumped on the apron but Banks knocked her off and hit Tamina with a wheelbarrow bulldog into a crossface for the tapout win. Naomi and Tamina attacked Banks afterwards, but Becky Lynch made the save. As Lynch helped Banks to her feet, she pushed Lynch away and left.
Backstage, Lynch confronted Banks. She said they need to get along at Fastlane, otherwise they’ll lose to Team BAD who will carry that momentum into WrestleMania. Lynch has dreamed about getting her WrestleMania moment, but has had enough of Banks’ ego. Lynch was about to leave, but Banks pulled her back and said they’d never be friends, but she hates to lose. They shook hands. This was not great and it felt overwritten.
Chris Jericho came out and got some “Y2J” chants. He called out AJ Styles to give him an answer, but got The Miz instead. Miz said everyone was tired of Jericho and Styles playing footsie and said he had an announcement. Jericho hoped the announcement was that Miz would take two weeks off and quit.
He asked the crowd if Miz should quit and they chanted “Yes!” Miz said he wasn’t quitting and mentioned something about being at a Grammy party at the Playboy Mansion. His announcement was that Jericho had to face him right now. Jericho punched him with the mic and Miz bailed, leading to a commercial break. Good thing Jericho was in his gear.
Jericho won with a Walls of Jericho after a good 12-13 minute match. Afterwards, Jericho grabbed a mic, gave Miz a hand and called him a great performer, but said Y2J came out on top again. He called out Styles again and this time he came out.
Jericho said Styles wants a rematch because he wants to make a name for himself, but it’ll have to come at the expense of someone else. Jericho respects Styles more than anyone in the locker room, calling him one of the best in the business, but Jericho doesn’t like him, so the answer was no.
Styles wasn’t happy and attacked Jericho with strikes, knocking him out of the ring. Jericho jumped back on the apron and Styles tossed the mic back at him, asking if he changed his mind. Jericho said Styles made a stupid mistake. He accepted the match but said Styles would regret it.
Backstage, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose stood in a hallway (waiting for the camera to start rolling, I guess). Reigns chose this exact moment to ask Ambrose if he was alright after losing on Raw. Ambrose said he was fine, it was just a rough week. They bumped fists and Reigns was about to leave to get ready for their match, but stopped to tell Ambrose not to try Dirty Deeds again. Ambrose said it was a joke and thought it was funny.
They parted, and the camera followed Ambrose who immediately ran into Paul Heyman, conveniently standing around the corner. Ambrose was being his usual self, which made Heyman uncomfortable. Heyman told Ambrose that Lesnar was here looking for him. Ambrose feigned concern and asked for advice. Heyman didn’t have any, so Ambrose smiled and said he’d have to figure it out on his own. He told Heyman to make sure Lesnar doesn’t keep him waiting. This might sound fine on paper, but like the Banks-Lynch segment earlier, it felt phony and overwritten.
Elsewhere, Jo-Jo asked New Day about Edge and Christian. In a promo where New Day mocked Edge and Christian for being out of date, Xavier Woods mimicked Allen Iverson’s famous “practice” speech, and Kofi Kingston made a Chappelle’s Show reference. They said it wasn’t the ‘90s, it’s 2016 – the year of the GIF, and they debated the proper pronunciation of “GIF” (both are correct). They sent Jo-Jo away and so they could play the trombone and dance. I didn’t like this.
Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. Afterwards, Charlotte did the Yes chant so Brie Bella ran out. She hit Yes kicks and went for a running knee, but Flair pulled Charlotte out of the ring. Brie held up the title and did more Yes chants and Charlotte yelled “No! No! No!” This was fine.
Another Goldust and R-Truth segment backstage. Truth did a rap informing Goldust he didn’t want to be partners.
The Wyatt Family vs. Big Show, Kane and Ryback was made official for Fastlane. Bray will be in his clan’s corner, not in the actual match.
Reigns came out last. The Dudleys worked over Ambrose forever until he made the hot tag to Reigns. Reigns sized up D-Von for the superman or spear or whatever when Brock Lesnar’s music hit. Lesnar and Heyman came out, so Ambrose and Reigns faced the stage. The distraction allowed the Dudleys to attack them from behind, but Reigns hit D-Von with a superman punch and Ambrose caught Bubba with a flying elbow. Ambrose hit a suicide dive on D-Von but was attacked by Lesnar for a DQ (I guess).
Reigns and Ambrose ganged up on Lesnar, but Lesnar hit both men with suplexes. Reigns punched Lesnar and went for a spear, but Lesnar moved and Reigns collided with Ambrose. Reigns was about to go back after Lesnar but Ambrose attempted a Dirty Deeds, so Reigns countered with a Samoan drop. Lesnar then picked up Reigns and nailed an F5.
Triple H came out with the title to pose on the stage and Lesnar stood tall at the bottom of the aisle.
Final Thoughts:
Having Brock Lesnar on Smackdown is nice and it appears they really are taking a greater interest in the show. The final angle was fine, but the show overall was just ok.
Last week, Kobra Moon debuted and beat Bengala. Drago also lost to Jack Evans, who calls himself the Dragon Slayer now. Fenix beat King Cuerno in a last man standing match – but the title wasn’t on the line. Also, Cortez Castro was revealed to be an undercover cop on the case of Dario Cueto, and we were introduced to Detective Joey Ryan. A recap of the season’s biggest in-ring events so far airs, showcasing Pentagon Jr’s arm snapping of Mil, and Ivelisse facing Muertes.
Ivie comes into Catraina’s office and wants the Disciples of Death tonight. Catrina says there are no instant rematches here, and Catrina makes a match with Ivie’s team against a new trios team – while brandishing a letter opener, licking it, and then stabbing her desk with it. Catrina wins the Slammy for most seductive use of a letter opener in wrestling history. Vamp says that tonight, Pentagon Jr. will beat Prince Puma, and Ivie’s team is ready for action.
Striker says that Castro will cut you with a box cutter while Vamp says that the Guerreros are dirty. Cisco kicks and slaps Angelico to start. Quick armdrag by Angelico takes him down. Ivie comes in and Cortez wrestles her into the corner. Ivie kicks Cortez hard resulting in a silent swear, before some big knees to the face. Chavo eats some big kicks from Ivie, but he tags in Cisco – who can’t do much until Havoc comes in. Havoc sweeps the leg and gets 2 off a standing moonsault. Muta-style handspring elbow in the corner. He goes for a dropkick off the top, but Chavo trips him up. Cisco gets 2 off a suplex. Angelico tags in and gets a run-up shining wizard using Cortez’s back to leap onto Cisco. Face team does a triple dive before Angelico does a flying dive into the ring and a big double stomp to win. Chavo argues with The Crew before Texano comes down and attacks The Crew while Chavo escapes.
Johnny Mundo tells us that he has facts to share – he is the top star in Lucha Underground, but hasn’t been treated like the star that he is. He’s a main event guy and was only in the opener at Ultima Lucha. Mundo mocks Cage for only saying he’s a machine – but he’ll make the machine obsolete. Johnny Mundo attacks some kickpads, and shockingly, no ninjas come out to attack him in this vignette. Joey Ryan tells “Reyes” that he took a beating – so their non-LU names are their actual names in this universe, which is amusing. Cortez and Ryan are partners who just don’t get along – so they should be tag champions any week now. Joey Ryan comes down to the most ’70s porno music in the history of ’70s porno. Vamp talks about Ryan remembering him of some tapes he saw in his uncle closet from the ’70s. Striker says that Cage defies convention and how he isn’t a guy who takes part in fads. Vamp says that Cage is just like a normal guy – all 320 pounds and 2% body fat of him.
Joey gets backed into a corner, but fights back with his lollipop. Cage hiptosses him into a backbreaker, but misses a corner shoulder charge. Joey traps the arm for a Northern Lights suplex. Cage throws awful punches to the gut, while Joey responds with boots to the face. Joey Ryan eats a dropkick and a snap powerslam before he flips up and misses a moonsault. Cage hits a pumphandle suplex facebuster for 2. Striker, the genius, determines that MAYBE trying to get Cage winded is the key to beating him. Ryan goes for a kneeling superkick, but gets countered into a powerbomb on the knee and then a Steiner Screwdriver hits for the win. Mundo attacks with a spear and punches to Cage. Mundo goes for the End of the World, but gets tripped up. Cage hits Weapon X, which makes the pumphandle suplex facebuster seem simplistic by comparison. Cage says he isn’t a man, he is a machine. Please get him a second catchphrase.
Rey spars with Dragon Azteca Jr. before saying that they’re preparing for war. Rey tells us that 25 years ago, Dario’s father met Dragon Azteca and they wanted to have the seven Aztec tribes unite in battle. Dario Sr. got obsessed with the dark side and made sacrifices – including sacrificing his son Matanza to a god. Rey says that their goal is to unite the seven tribes once again. Striker says that Cage faces Mundo in next week’s main event. Tonight’s is Prince Puma vs. Pentagon Jr, which is up now. Puma’s out first, followed by Pentagon in a Perros Del Mal-style Cero Miedo shirt.
A huge “Cero Miedo” chant breaks out, followed by a “Pen-ta-gon!” chant. Puma goes for a flipping headscissors, but Pentagon carthweels out. A tumbling exchange leads to a flying headscissors by Puma. Pentagon pulls him to the floor to chop him do death. Pentagon puts him against the rope for THE LOUDEST chop to the chest ever. Pentagon lands a powerbomb onto the knee ala Cage for 2. Fakeout cutter hits for Puma. Puma lands a gorgeous springboard lariat before hitting a spinning dive onto the floor. Puma goes for the Regalplex, but Pentagon blocks it with elbows to the neck.
Pentagon is followed into the corner, but lands a pop-up backstabber for 2. Pumphandle neckbreaker is blocked by Puma, who armdrags him and hits a European uppercut. Quebrada from Puma is countered by a dropkick to the gut for 2. Puma avoids a package piledriver and lands a spinkick. Springboard 450 is countered by knees to the gut and a cradle for 2. Pentagon lands a superkick and the package piledriver before going for a Romero special. Puma turns it into a pinfall for a seeming dual pin, but Puma got his shoulders up – so Pentagon pinned himself. Pentagon attacks the ref, but gets his face kicked off by Puma. Puma teases an arm snap, but talks to Pentagon and stops. Muertes stands tall on his throne.
After the credits, Sexy Star escapes Marty’s lair and meets a guy. She tells him that it’s “moth” – but not Marty, it’s HER and we don’t so see her as we fade to black. This was a pretty solid episode of the show. It built up to Pentagon Jr. losing his mind more, and we saw more with Sexy Star and learned about Marty’s sister to some degree. Mundo looked great in his skit, while the Rey and Dragon Azteca Jr. story moved forward.
To see every screenshot taken for the show, just click here.
By Josh Nason
The long legal ordeal of former UFC and PRIDE star Wanderlei Silva came to somewhat of a resolution Wednesday as the Nevada Athletic Commission reduced his lifetime suspension issued nearly a year and a half ago down to three years.
The catch is that the suspension is retroactive to the date of what caused his incident —- dodging a drug test before his never-did-happen fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 175 — which was on May 24, 2014. Silva can apply to fight again on May 25, 2017, and must provide a clean drug test when he does so.
The 39-year-old’s lawyer Ross Goodman is expected to file an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court as he feels it wasn’t legal for the NAC to test Silva while he was unlicensed.
Earlier Wednesday, Silva shared a poster of himself and Fedor Emelianenko for August 2016. While he’s ineligible to fight anywhere that recognizes licenses, that doesn’t completely put him out of the running to fight in Japan or another DGAF country if he wants to.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new 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
Figure Four Weekly 2/1/2016: Weekly Hogan/Gawker update
A look at the past weeks developments in the Hulk Hogan and Gawker lawsuit.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: February 15, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Daniel Bryan retires
The newest issue of the Wrestling Observer is one of the best of the year. A very detailed look at the end of Bryan Danielson’s career and retirement. Looking back at sports, pro wrestling and the ramifications that are and are not being talked about. Danielson’s retirement is a big story, both his short and long term impact on pro wrestling. How his story will act as a catalyst for change not only within pro wrestling but all contact sports. If you are a wrestling fan, a sports fan or a science fan, this may be the most important issue of the year.
Bryan Danielson’s retirement speech, career highlights, home town, character both in and out of the ring, booking, the crazy way he ended up as champion for the first time, the birth of the “Yes” chant, the build to WrestleMania 30 & 31, the various exams, why he wanted to continue wrestling and WWE didn’t, his goals outside of WWE and why he changed his mind in the last few weeks.
The quandary he was in about continuing his career, how his career began, the formation of ROH and the changing landscape of independent wrestling, the changing ideas of what a pro wrestling headliner can look like, the first time I ever saw him wrestle while sitting with Red Bastien and Nick Bockwinkel
The suspension of Titus O’Neil, a longtime WWE star talking about going into another sport, another star looking at retiring soon, lots of WrestleMania plans including an early summer major match, Steve Austin’s WrestleMania status, update on promotion of Stephanie McMahon, star who may be interested in returning, Fast Lane, A.J. Styles talks his beginnings in WWE and how hard he tried to hide the Royal Rumble story, how DDP figured in Styles’ return, Linda McMahon forms a new company, Roman Reigns in Raw main events, WWE cuts five in developmental, new WWE books. New announcer hired, Update on many Tough Enough competitors from the past season, plans for a WWE show taped this summer, international star WWE has interest in, as well as a look at all the weekend house shows from WWE & NXT with business notes.
PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
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Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: Jan 11, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Finger Poke of Doom, Awards results, Sam Muchnick passes away
Details on World Title changes in 3 promotions including the Finger Poke of Doom, full results of the Observer Awards, plus tons more.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE
The reason Mauro Ranallo missed Smackdown wasn’t because of some nefarious issue. Simply, he proved he is human and was sick.
WWE / Pro Wrestling
UFC / MMA
ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: Bret Hart wins the WWF World Title
Raw on Monday night going against the Grammy Awards did not set a record seasonal low, as it did 3.46 million viewers, up from the 3.37 million record low of two weeks ago.
It was still the second lowest number of the last 18 years that wasn’t a holiday or going against football.
It was down six percent from last week, but that has to be considered a good sign overall, since last week didn’t nearly the competition, and featured the Daniel Bryan retirement. The Grammys on CBS did 24,951,000 viewers on average head-to-head.
Raw was the top rated show on cable for the night.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.66 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.54 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.23 million viewers