Good opening scrap between 6-foot FWs. Leibrock had KOed Ronda’s roommate Marina Shafir, and was clearly the bigger puncher, but the Australian Anderson wore her down with clinch work and then took her apart with strikes, having her in big trouble in the 2nd and finishing her early in the 3rd.
Amanda Bell vs. Ediane Gomes was scrapped.
Mizuki Inoue vs. Lacey Schuckman
Another good performance from the 20 year old Inoue, dominating some high tech grappling exchanges and finishing in the 3rd with an arm bar after several attempts.
Angela Hill vs. Alida Gray
Recent UFC cut Hill blows away late sub Gray, staggering her with a counter right and not letting her off the hook.
Amber Brown vs. Shino VanHoose
Brown makes short work of the badly outsized late sub VanHoose, muscling an out of position Guillotine for the tap. Unfortunately for the apparently skilled but tiny VanHoose there’s no lower division than atomW.
Raquel Pa’aluhi vs. Colleen Schneider
In the most competitive fight of the night, which took place after a long delay with both fighters already in the ring waiting for the ambulance to return to the arena, Schneider takes a 29-28 SD over a battered Pa’aluhi that didn’t look that close. Pa’aluhi got the best of the grappling but couldn’t do much with it, while Schneider did damage with nearly every strike landed.
Livia Renata Souza defends SW title vs. DeAnna Bennett 5R
Chickens finally come home to roost for the strangely overpushed and overprotected Bennett, as the much smaller Souza finishes her quickly with a liver kick and retains.
Cris Cyborg Justino defends FW title vs. Daria Ibragimova 5R
Late sub Ibragimova at least comes in loose and with a plan, and has success penetrating to single leg pickups, but she can’t get Cris off her feet and takes a battering in the process, till Cris lands a clean right hand from long range late in the round for the KD and puts her out with followup hammerfists. I’m not sure how much you can blame Cris for her quality of opposition, with not too many girls that anxious to sign to fight her, and apparently not all of them willing to show up.
Sunday night brings our first free UFC card of the year and it’s a big one as a men’s title fight will air on FS 1 for the first time in company history as bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw looks to defend against former champion Dominick Cruz. Cruz will fight for just the second time in four years, but this may be the biggest fight in the division’s history.
The action doesn’t stop there as Anthony Pettis will try to begin his road back to the top of the lightweight division with former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez standing in his way. Also, Travis Browne will attempt to rebound from a stunning KO defeat at the hand of Andrei Arlovski when he faces soon-to-be free agent Matt Mitrione. There are familiar names up and down the card including four longtime UFC vets as Patrick Cote goes up against the resurgent Ben Saunders and Ed Herman takes on Tim Boetsch in a pairing of two struggling middleweights moving up a weight class.
Here’s our panel with the 2015 records in parenthesis. We’ve also added a running tally of the records of the favorites going into the fights and the panel consensus picks:
John Pollock (5-0 | 1.000) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
Favorites (4-1 | .800)
Consensus picks (4-1 | .800)
Mike Sempervive (4-1 | .800) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
Steve Juon (4-1; .800) – MMA Mania writer & Angry Marks founder
David Bixenspan (4-1 | .800) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
Mike Sawyer (4-1 | .800) – Tough Talk MMA
Josh Nason (4-1 | .800) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
Ryan Frederick (4-1 | .800) – WrestlingObserver.com UFC reporter, WON Twitter guy
Dave Meltzer (3-2 | .600) – Wrestling Observer founder
Paul Fontaine (3-2 | .600) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer
Front Row Brian (3-2 | .600) – MMA newsbreaker, beloved internet personality, podcast host
Dillashaw makes his 3rd title defence here after finishing former champion Renan Barao and upstart/last-minute challenger Joe Soto. Cruz last fought just over a year ago, dismantling veteran Takeya Mizugaki in quick fashion. Cruz never lost his title in the ring as he was stripped due to an extensive injury layoff. Dillashaw is with a new fight team but the heat between Cruz and Team Alpha Male runs deep and this has been a heated rivalry. Our panel is a little more confident than the betting line in this one.
Anthony Pettis (18-3) vs. Eddie Alvarez (26-4) Lightweights
Neither the oddsmakers or our panel are giving Alvarez much of a chance here. Pettis steamrolled through the division before running into Rafael Dos Anjos last year, losing his lightweight title in the process in a one-sided affair. Alvarez is 1-1 in UFC after a long and successful career in Bellator, while Pettis hopes to earn a title shot with a dominant win here. If Alvarez wins, he’d probably need at least one big win before getting a title shot but stranger things have happened.
Travis Browne (17-3-1) vs Matt Mitrione (9-4) Heavyweights
Browne has been dealing with a lot of turmoil outside the cage since losing to the aforementioned Arlovski in one of 2015’s most memorable fights. With domestic abuse allegations that he was cleared from and his highly publicized relationship with Ronda Rousey, Browne could be vulnerable here. Mitrione, though, has been very vocal about the fact he’s not happy in UFC and with his contract expiring after this fight, he could be on his way out. He’s a familiar name with a crowd-pleasing style and would likely get picked up by Bellator should he chose not to re-sign. Whatever happens, this fight should be quick.
Patrick Cote (22-9) vs Ben Saunders (19-6-2) Welterweights
Cote has been around since UFC 50 and is still looking good in the Octagon as evidenced by his third round stoppage win over Josh Burkman last August. He’s fought as high as 205 pounds, but is still in great shape at 170. While not a title contender by any stretch, he’s a very popular fighter and usually has good fights. Saunders is a perfect 3-0 since leaving Bellator MMA. The submission specialist is surprisingly a favorite here but our panel is split on this one.
Cote: Sawyer, Juon, Frederick, Nason, Sempervive
Saunders (slight favorite): Bix, Pollock, Front Row Brian, Fontaine, Meltzer
Ed Herman (21-11) vs Tim Boetsch (18-9) Light Heavyweights
Both guys are moving up from middleweight in an attempt to stop the downward momentum they’ve had in recent years. Both have lost four of their last six, and both are coming off of first round KO losses in their last fight. Herman is in his 10th year in UFC, but this could be his last if he doesn’t turn it around. Boetsch has “only” been in UFC since 2008, but has also seen better days. This really could be a loser leaves town fight. Again, our panel agrees with the oddsmakers.
Standing room only crowd. Super lively crowd, lots of chants all night.
– NXT Tag Champions Dawson and Wilder beat Ezno and Cass when Enzo got pinned via roll up. Good match, Dawson and Wilder are great heels. Enzo was super over. Cass is ok as a “house of fire” babyface but he missed a few spots.
– Carmella submitted Alexa Bliss with her leg choke thing. Bliss is great, crowd loved to hate her. Match was fine.
– Elias Sampson and his guitar beat Bull Dempsey. Sampson sang a song about how much Chicago sucks. Decent match: two standard mid card guys doing mid card things.
– NXT Divas Champion Bayley (so so over) beat Nia Jax with the Belly to Bayley. Pretty similar to the London match, but no chokehold.
> Intermission. They were selling autographed 11x14s and tons of shirts.
– Sami Zayn def. Tommaso Ciampa in an incredible match that felt like a typical ROH match. Highlights include Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb and Tommaso hitting a power bomb into a backstabber. Zayn won with the corner kick. After, he and Tommaso hugged and Zayn gave him the ring.
– Eva Marie over Peyton Royce. I know it is the gimmick and she’s kinda over (not as over as Zayn, Finn nor Bayley) but Eva just can’t wrestle. She’s not even passable. Poor Royce was dragging her around. Eva’s timing was off all match and it showed. Crowd stopped caring halfway through.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor over Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin. Before the match, Balor did the Bullet Club guns to Crews and Corbin. Loud Bullet Club and Too Sweet chants, which Finn encouraged. Finn even did the “gun gesture to a prone opponent” like Kenny Omega did to AJ Styles the night after WK 10. Standard triple threat where one guy sold on the outside while the other two went at it. Finish was pretty good – Corbin hit his spinning slam on Crews, made the cover only for Finn to hit the double foot stomp for the win. After, Finn celebrated with Bayley (who had a Balor Club shirt and was Too Sweeting everyone at ringside) and they brought some kids in the ring to take pictures.
– ROH Tag Champions War Machine defeated Kazarian/Sabin. Heels did the inevitable “let’s taunt St. Louis over losing the Rams” bit, then the match started with a few minutes of comedy spots. I believe this was a non-title match (but the champs won anyway).
– Michael Elgin defeated Adam Page. Elgin took about 80% of the match, and won with his sit-out powerbomb. Page came out for his match, but was almost immediately jumped from behind by BJ Whitmer. Michael Elgin came out, and Whitmer backed off. Page, despite having just taken a beating, still wanted his scheduled match with Elgin.
– TV Champion Roderick Strong submitted Cheeseburger to retain. Cheeseburger may have gotten the biggest pop of the night. Felt like a really long squash.
– The Briscoe Brothers defeated Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser. Plenty of outside-the-ring action, including some presumably-unplanned spots when one of the big metal ROH banners they put on the guard rails came off. Briscoes won with a Jay Driller.
> Intermission went a bit long because the ring crew had to replace a board in the ring floor. Light “ring crew” chants.
– Will Ferrara defeated Kevin Lee Davidson. Quick nothing match.
– Dalton Castle (with the boys) defeated Delirious. Lots of comedy spots.
– ReDRagon (Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly) defeated the All Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus) with Chasing the Dragon.
– Adam Cole defeated Moose, after Moose took most of the match.
– The Young Bucks defeated ACH and Alex Shelley. Pretty much every Young Bucks match ever.
– Enzo and Big Cass over NXT Tag Team Champion Dash and Dawson via DQ. Ref was pulled out of the ring after Air Enzo on a pin attempt. Solid match, great starter.
– Tomasso Ciampa def. Bull Dempsey by submission. Split crowd, Bull was hilarious.
– Elias Sampson def. Tye Dillinger by pin. Dillinger was over, Sampson was booed.
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. Alexa Bliss. Bayley hits the Bayley to Belly for the pin and win.
– Apollo Crews def Baron Corbin. Standing moonsault to standing shooting star press into the pinfall. This was the best spot and match of the night in my opinion.
– Nia Jaxx and Eva Marie def. Carmella and Peyton Royce. Leg drop from Jaxx onto Royce for the pin. Eve Marie didn’t do a bad job at all.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor def. Sami Zayn to retain. Balor pinned him after hitting the Coup De Grace. Multiple Bullet club references. Crowd was split. Awesome match.
The following are 5 Star Wrestling results from the January 15th Liverpool, England, show, submitted by Jay O’Leary.
5-Star Champion John Morrison vs. PJ Black
Morrison pins Black in about 10 minutes after Starship Pain to retain his 5* title. Decent opening match to get the crowd going.
Big Damo vs. Zack Gibson
Hometown boy and Liverpool’s number one Gibson is out next after challenging Nick Aldis for his GFW title in the local press. Few jeers from the blue half of Liverpool for Gibson who is in his usual Liverpool FC style t-shirt but otherwise a great reaction for Zack. Aldis comes out and talks down to the crowd before saying Gibson doesn’t deserve a shot at his GFW championship. He introduces Gibson’s opponent for the evening “The Beast of Belfast” Big Damo. Damo pinned Zack Gibson with a rollup after pulling the ref in the way of Gibsons attack. After the match, Gibson gets on the mic and challenges Damo to some sort of hardcore match to which Damo just walks off.
Colt Cabana vs. Timm Wylie
Fun match which saw Cabana pick up the win after hitting the GTS.
Will Osprey, Zack Sabre Jr and Rey Mysterio vs. Marty Scurll, Jimmy Havoc and GFW champion Nick Aldis
The kids (and adults to be fair) loved seeing Mysterio and when he hit the 619 and followed up with a frog splash on Jimmy Havoc for the pin the crowd went wild. After the match, Scurll attacked Mysterio but Rey countered. Marty ended up on the ropes primed for the 619 before Zack Sabre Jr stopped Rey from connecting. A confused crowd were stunned into silence when Osprey followed up with a superkick to Mysterio before the five british stars all attacked Mysterio together. They posed and left the ring.
Joe Coffey vs. Carlito
Cool ending when Carlito accidentally spat his apple into the face of referee Chris Roberts before Coffey rolled him up. Carlito’s shoulders came up at 2 but a partially sighted Roberts missed it, counted the 3 and called for the bell.
Zoe Lucus and Lou King Sharp beat Jamie Hayter and Kid Fyte in a mixed tag team match.
AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal
A decent main event match ended when Lethal scored the pin with a handful of tights. They went back and forth on the mic after the match putting over 5* before they were laid out by Aldis, Osprey, Scurll, Sabre Jr and Havoc. Jimmy Havoc gets on the mic and says how sick they are of putting in the work week after week over here when the American guys come over, get paid ten times as much and all these people lap it up.
The beatdown continued until Colt Cabana and Rey Mysterio run down for the save. The British guys scarper with the exception of Havoc who gets hit with a 619, GTS, Lethal Injection and a Styles Clash before the four babyfaces pose in the corners to send the crowd home happy.
Notes:
Really fun show. Credit to 5 Star Wrestling, their production team, and every single person on their roster for ending the tour on such a high. Great turnout in the Echo arena for the show with mainly families with young kids.
The Octagon makes its’ way back to Boston, Massachusetts for UFC Fight Night 81 on Sunday night, airing on FOX Sports 1. It is the second event of the month of January, and another opportunity for daily fantasy players to score some profit. Below are our studs, value plays, fighters to avoid and our advice for you in setting your line-ups.
STUDS
Charles Rosa ($10,800)
Charles Rosa might just be 1-2 in the UFC, but he has been impressive in all three bouts. His debut was a close loss to Dennis Siver in a short-notice bout. He came back to submit Sean Soriano before dropping a close split decision to Yair Rodriguez in June. Having been born in Massachusetts, Rosa is back fighting in front of a home crowd and looking to score an impressive win. He will fight Kyle Bochniak, who takes the fight on three days’ notice. That is a lot to ask of someone, much less a fighter who just fought last week. This is set up for Rosa to get a win, and props to Bochniak for stepping to keep Rosa on the card, but Rosa should be getting a finish here, and is our top play because of the circumstances surrounding the fight.
Rob Font ($10,600)
Rob Font is another local fighter on the card, having been born, living and training in Boston. He is a good prospect at 135 pounds with an 11-1 record and ten straight wins. He has been out of action for a long time, not having fought since scoring a first-round knockout of George Roop in his UFC debut in July 2014. That performance, though, showed what he is certainly capable of delivering inside the Octagon. He has well-rounded skills, and he fights an opponent making his UFC debut as an injury replacement in Joey Gomez. Gomez is 6-0 in his career but has yet to have the exposure of the big stage. Font’s striking should be enough to score a finish, and he is a good bet to score a lot of points on Sunday.
VALUE PLAYS
Matt Mitrione ($9,200)
Matt Mitrione looks to have something to prove as he heads into the last fight of his contract on Sunday night. That makes him a good contrarian pick for the event. He is fighting Travis Browne, who comes in as the favorite, but there are a lot of question marks surrounding Browne, especially how he comes back from his last loss and whether the distractions of dating Ronda Rousey get to him. Mitrione is good on his feet and quicker than Browne, but he does make mistakes that cost him fights. It is heavyweights and a finish is likely. Mitrione at his price makes him an interesting value.
Sean O’Connell ($8,500)
Sean O’Connell is a sneaky play at his $8,500 salary. He has won two straight fights by knockout, including a 56-second win in his last fight. He lost his first two UFC fights, but one was a short-notice bout and the other was a split decision. He scores a good amount of points in his fights, and 205-pound fighters have a lot of power. He faces a tough opponent in Ilir Latifi, who has won all three of his UFC fights by finish in the first round. He was also finished recently in the first round. If you are looking for a fighter with a low salary so you can play contrarian and spend up, O’Connell is of solid value.
AVOID
Francimar Barroso ($10,000)
Francimar Barroso is 2-1 in the UFC, but all three fights have gone the distance and he hasn’t been overly impressive. He is a grinder who doesn’t land a lot of strikes and leaves himself open for counters. He is fighting a short-notice opponent in Elvis Mutapcic, and Mutapcic is taking the fight in a higher weight class. Mutapcic is talented, though, and he has a very good chance of defeating Barroso. He also has a style that can beat Barroso. Short notice or not, I give Mutapcic a good chance of winning, therefore I am fading from Barroso.
Daron Cruickshank ($8,700)
Daron Cruickshank is an exciting lightweight fighter, but he has hit a real rough patch in recent UFC bouts. Eye pokes, rough weight cuts and tough competition has seen him win just once in his last five fights, and his back is against the wall. Also with his back against the wall is his opponent, Paul Felder. Felder is more talented of the two, and there will be a lot of strikes thrown. Felder has the better shot at finishing Cruickshank, and a distance fight favors Felder as well. I will be shying away from Cruickshank on my roster.
OUR LINEUPS:
RYAN FREDERICK: Charles Rosa ($10,800), Rob Font ($10,600), Travis Browne ($10,200), Dominick Cruz ($9,300), Francisco Trinaldo ($9,100)
I have Charles Rosa and Rob Font as my two big plays for this card. Both are local fighters who will be willed to win in front of the home fans, and both are fighting short-notice opponents. I like both winning by finish and getting maximum points. I have Travis Browne despite thinking Matt Mitrione is good value. Someone is getting finished in that bout, and Browne is too naturally talented to look as bad as he did against Andrei Arlovski. Dominick Cruz is my interesting play. I am picking T.J. Dillashaw to win, but I’m not confident on that. It is five rounds, which means ten more minutes to score points, and I think they are going the distance. Cruz is good value for his salary. My last pick is Francisco Trinaldo. He has won four straight, has good value, and fights a beatable Ross Pearson. He is a good contrarian pick.
PAUL FONTAINE: Ilir Latifi ($10,900), Rob Font ($10,600), Travis Browne ($10,200), Francisco Trinaldo ($9,100), Daron Cruickshank ($8,700)
Gotta be honest….I’m not really thrilled with my team this week. I went through and picked the probable winners and finishers and I just couldn’t work them all in under the cap so I had to make some tough choice. Browne is clearly a class above Matt Mitrione and as long as the out of the cage stuff he’s been dealing with aren’t too much of a distraction, he should finish Mitrione fairly quickly. Trinaldo is an often overlooked fighter who is a submission specialist and has won 4 in a row. Pearson is tough but he’s taken a lot of punishment and is due to start showing the effects of his age and the damage over the year. Cruickshank is the one I’m not terribly thrilled with having on my team but he’s got power and could score a KO at any point, although his opponent Paul Felder has never been finished. Latifi has first round finishes in each of his last 3 fights and I think he overpowers Sean O’Connell en route to another quick win. Font-Gomez could be a sleeper fight as both are finishers that usually get the job done quickly. Gomez is making his Octagon debut and could have some jitters so I look for that to be the difference here and Font should wipe that “0” from Gomez’ record.
PEACH MACHINE: Anthony Pettis ($11,000), Paul Felder ($10,700), Ben Saunders ($9,800), Dominick Cruz ($9,300), Ed Herman ($8,900)
I think Cruz is too smart and too good to get beat by Dillashaw. All Dominick Cruz does is alternate between getting better and breaking his knee, and his knee is healthy. I like Pettis to rebound and smash Alvarez. I like Alvarez, but I think Pettis is too fast. I’m taking Herman because Boetsch is coming off a bad KO. So is Herman, but I think Boetsch is closer to being done than making a run. Saunders has a lot of reach here. Cote’s fighting age is much greater than 35. I like Saunders to get this to the ground and get the submission. Felder is a killer and has a tough out in Cruickshank, but Felder is tougher and younger and is looking to get back into that win column. I like my picks again this week. I went 4-1 in my DK picks last week, and 11-1 in my tapology picks. Good enough for number 2 over all in tapology. Am I bragging? Yes. Will I ever get another chance to brag at this level? Unlikely. Holtzman blew my perfect pick night. It’s my fault for believing in someone.
St. Louis, Missouri: – Ed “Strangler” Lewis beat George Zaharias – Everette Marshall and Mehmet Yousoff drew – Bronko Nagurski beat Dick Raines
1947
Kansas City, Kansas: – MWA World Heavyweight Champion Orville Brown defeated Everette Marshall
1963
Lubbock, Texas: – Dory Funk defeated Gene Kiniski for the Amarillo NWA North American Heavyweight Title
Mobile, Alabama: – Al and Don Greene defeated Jack Curtis, Jr. and Jan Madrid to win the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title
1964
Chattanooga, Tennessee: – Karl and Skull Von Stroheim won the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title
1967
Fort Worth, Texas: – Fritz Von Erich defeated Joe Blanchard to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
Vancouver, British Columbia: – Chris and John Tolos defeated Don Leo Jonathan and Dominic DeNucci for both the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Title and Vancouver NWA World Tag Team Titles
1968
Tampa, Florida: – Paul DeMarco and Lorenzo Parente defeated Ron and Terry Garvin to win the Florida NWA World Tag Team Titles
1970
Los Angeles, California: – Fred Blassie and Don Carson defeated Pepe Lopez and El Medico to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Titles – Rocky Johnson defeated Great Kojika for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title
Dothan, Alabama: – Dick Dunn and Ken Lucas defeated Flash and Rocket Monroe for the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Title
1976
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Gilles Poisson defeated Frankie Laine to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
1978
West Palm Beach, Florida: – Ivan Putski & Rocky Johnson defeated Ivan Koloff & Mr. Saito – Killer Karl Kox defeated Jack Brisco – Steve Keirn & Mike Graham defeated Tank Patton & Randy Brewer – Jerry Brisco defeated Dan Burdick
1981
Atlanta, Georgia: – Steve O defeated Kevin Sullivan for the NWA National Television Title
Shreveport, Louisiana: – Ernie Ladd won the second Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Title, defeating Jake Roberts
Denver, Colorado: – Buck Zumhofe & Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon beat Nick Bockwinkel & Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens – Dino Bravo drew Jesse Ventura – Tito Santana beat Jerry Blackwell dq – Brad Rheingans beat Adrian Adonis – John Studd beat Steve Regal
1982
St. Petersburg, Florida: – Jack and Jerry Brisco won the Florida NWA North American Tag Team Title by defeating Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk – Ray Stevens defeated Eric Embry for the NWA Florida Television Title – NWA World Title: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair double count out Mr. Wrestling II – Southern Title: David Von Erich defeated Mike Graham to retain title – Texas Death Match- Killer Karl Kox defeated The Spoiler – Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Ron Ritchie – Jerry Lawler defeated Mr. Fuchi
Portland, Oregon: – Matt Borne and Rip Oliver defeated Rocky Johnson and Iceman King Parsons to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title
1983
San Antonio, Texas: – The Grapplers defeated Ken Lucas and Ricky Morton to win the Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Tag Team Title
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura beat Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel dq – Wahoo McDaniel beat Bobby Duncum – Sgt. Goulet beat Baron Von Raschke – Jerry Blackwell beat Steve O – Buck Zumhofe drew Bobby Heenan
1985
Tampa, Florida: – Rick Rude defeated Pez Whatley for the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
Shreveport, Louisiana: – Ted DiBiase defeated Brad Armstrong to win the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Title
1986
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Candi Devine defeated Sherri Martel to win the AWA World Women’s Title – Nick Bockwinkel no contest NWA Champion Ric Flair – Non Title: Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions Steve Regal & Jim Garvin – AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Rick Martel – Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov – Mongolian Stomper & Nord the Barbarian beat the Alaskans – Scott Hall beat Earthquake Ferris
1987
Daytona, Florida: – Kevin Sullivan won the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title from Lex Luger
1988
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico: – Kendo Nagasaki and Mr. Pogo defeated Invaders I and III for the WWC World Tag Team Title
1992
Jacksonville, Florida: – Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton defeated Dustin Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat in a two out of three falls match for the WCW World Tag Team Title
1995
Memphis, Tennessee: – Miss Texas (Jackie Moore) defeated Sweet Georgia Brown for the USWA Women’s Title
2000
Cincinnati, Ohio: – Chris Benoit defeated Sid Vicious to win the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Title
2004
Oolitic, Indiana: – Jerry Lynn defeated Danny Daniels for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Harry Smith defeated Karnage to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
2005
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – La Resistance (Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier) defeated William Regal and Jonathan Coachman (subbing for Eugene) to win the WWE World Tag Team Title
Orlando, Florida:
– America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode & Eric Young) to win the NWA Tag Team Championship
– AJ Styles defeated Petey Williams and Chris Sabin to win the TNA X Division Title
2014
– Ethan Carter III defeated Sting to retain the TNA Title – Madison Rayne defeated Gail Kim to win the Knockouts Title
(special thanks to Steven Ashe, Graeme Cawthorne, Barry Rose and others)
Enormous pop for both of them afteward despite the match being a little sloppy.
WWE Tag Team Champions New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) def. the Usos and Prime Time Players in a three-way to retain
Most entertaining bout of the night and cloud cheered and laughed alot. Usos did a suicide dive as well. Kofi interfered to help for the win. They all get beat down by the faces after the match. “New Day sucks” chants throughout, but the crowd loved their antics.
Love Preet def. Jason Jordan
Jason cut a heel promo about India not having talented wrestlers during the morning tryouts, but was defeated by the Indian wrestler eventually who got the crowd roaring with “Jai Hind” chants.
WWE Divas Champion Charlotte def. Summer Rae to retain
People loved Summer and crowd was completely supporting her, chanting her name since she was babyface. She used her old aggressive NXT moveset including diving cross bodies. Woos for Charlotte, though she got boo’ed for using a dirty moveset. She won with the figure 8. Physical match. Lots of “We Want Sasha” chants.
Dolph Ziggler def. Tyler Breeze
Tyler’s selfie video was not live and he didn’t get that much a reaction, but “you look stupid”: chants. Crowd erupted for Ziggler. Physical and long match with Ziggler dominating and making fun of Breeze’s narcissism throughout. Crowd loved it. “This is awesome” chants.
Rusev def. Ryback
Huge pops for both the wrestlers. Very physical match. Crowd not to Happy that Ryback lost but he got them cheering once more when he thanked them by saying, “Namaste“.
D. Raftar def Chad Gable
Gable was seeking redemption for Jordan but got squashed. Raftar was slightly stiff but was very over with the Indian crowd. Few local Haryanwi, Punjabi and Hindi sentences to end the segment.
WWE Champion Roman Reigns def Big Show to retain
Show teased the crowd by initially not getting in the ring. He ended up dominating the match. He also yelled at a kid to shut up at ringside. Reigns had the underdog comeback and tried to knock him down with superman punches and finally a spear for the win. He thanks the roaring crowd and says this was the best crowd he has ever faced.
*****
Biggest pops:
– Almost everyone: Roman Reigns, Dolph, Ryback, Big Show, both the divas, Kane, Bray wyatt and Usos. Even the others got good enough pops and people were just having a good time. Electrifying atmosphere to say the least.
Apparently the matches on the second day of the our were more physically intense, and people were surprisingly very impressed with the intensity, especially in the Divas match.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 81: Dillashaw vs. Cruz weigh-ins from the Wang Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. The fighters will hit the scale at 4 PM eastern time. The card airs on Sunday with the main card on FOX Sports 1 at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off at 6 PM eastern time on UFC Fight Pass before heading over to FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM eastern time with additional preliminary bouts. This will be the fourth trip for the Octagon to Boston.
The event is headlined by a UFC Bantamweight Championship bout that will determine the true undisputed champion at 135 pounds as current UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw makes his third title defense when he takes on the man who never lost the championship inside the Octagon, former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, who fights for just the second time in 51 months. In the co-main event, it will be former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis fighting for the first time since losing the 155-pound title when he takes on Eddie Alvarez. Also featured on the main card is a heavyweight battle between Travis Browne and Matt Mitrione.
MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT): T.J. Dillashaw (135) vs. Dominick Cruz (135) – UFC Bantamweight Championship Anthony Pettis (155.5) vs. Eddie Alvarez (155.5) Travis Browne (238) vs. Matt Mitrione (249) Ross Pearson (155) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (155.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT): Patrick Cote (171) vs. Ben Saunders (170) Tim Boetsch (206) vs. Ed Herman (204.5) Chris Wade (155.5) vs. Mehdi Baghdad (156) Maximo Blanco (146) vs. Luke Sanders (145.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 6 PM ET/3 PM PT): Paul Felder (155.5) vs. Daron Cruickshank (155) Ilir Latifi (205) vs. Sean O’Connell (205.5) Charles Rosa (145.5) vs. Kyle Bochniak (145) Rob Font (135) vs. Joey Gomez (135) Francimar Barroso (205) vs. Elvis Mutapcic (201)
NOTES: -Mehdi Baghdad initially missed weight, coming in one pound over at 157 pounds, but made weight after the towel was brought out. He did take his fight against Chris Wade on short notice.
