Former Pride Grand Prix Champion and 12 fight UFC vet Wanderlei Silva was released today from his UFC contract. Silva last fought in March 2013, knocking out Brian Stann in the 2nd round of a Fuel TV show from Japan. He was then scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen in a fight stemming off the two of them coaching on TUF Brazil. The fight was put off several times due to injuries and then drug testing issues with both fighters.
In Silva’s case, he was approached at his gym by drug testers and famously ran out the back door to avoid the test. He was eventually given a lifetime ban by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That ban has since been rescinded and both sides are currently in negotiations for a more appropriate punishment. In the meantime Silva has still been at odds with the organization he’s under contract to, including accusing the UFC of fixing fights.
This morning, word actually came out that Silva was taking back those claims, saying that he’d been misunderstood. A few hours later, word came out that Silva had been released.
For several years in the early 2000’s, “The Axe Murderer” was one of the most feared fighters in any weight class. After losing to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25 in April 2000, Silva had a stretch of 18 fights in a row where he didn’t suffer a loss before losing a split decision to the much larger Mark Hunt on the 2004 Pride year-end show. 14 of those fights ended with Silva KO’ing his opponent, most in the first round.
Silva returned to UFC in December 2007 after Zuffa bought Pride and absorbed the fighter contracts. He went 4-5 after his return with 3 knockouts. All but one of those fights was in the Main Event or co-Main event position. He leaves the UFC with an overall record of 35-12-1 and would almost certainly be highly sought after by either Rizin Fighting or Bellator MMA.
Steve Austin, WWE’s biggest peak drawing card in its history, has indicated that he will probably make an appearance at WrestleMania this year.
Austin, as a guest on Jim Ross’ 100th podcast this week, categorized it as 99 percent that he would be appearing on the show on 4/3 at AT&T Stadium. He will not be wrestling on the show. He said that he had an idea that he’s interested in but said he’s yet to talk to creative.
He indicated even if they don’t agree to do his idea, he would be at the show appearing in some form.
Austin appeared at the 2014 WrestleMania in a segment with Hulk Hogan and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Last year in Santa Clara, Austin didn’t appear.
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Lee Wyckoff defeated Ed “Strangler” Lewis for the Kansas City Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title
1946
Hollywood, California:
– Ernie Piluso defeated Red Berry to win the World Light Heavyweight Title
1958
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
– John DePaulo and Bobby Jones defeated Stan Mykietowich and Ted Stefanyk for the Madison Wrestling Club Tag Team Title
1959
Watsonville, California:
– The Red Hangman (Tom Rice) defeated Ramon Torres to win the San Francisco NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title
1960
Mobile, Alabama:
– Yvon Robert defeated Billy Wicks for the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1965
Denver, Colorado:
– AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Verne Gagne
– Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Mighty Igor Vodik & Ivan Kalmikoff
1966
Tulsa, Oklahoma:
– Lorenzo Parente defeated Danny Hodge to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
1967
Omaha, Nebraska:
– Dale Lewis defeated Tim Woods for the AWA Nebraska Heavyweight Title
1970
Honolulu, Hawaii:
– The Missing Link defeated Ripper Collins to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title
1976
Miami, Florida:
– Lights Out Match: Big Bad John defeated Bob Roop
– Southern Title: Billy Robinson defeated King Curtis
– Florida Title: Frank Goodish (Bruiser Brody) defeated Rocky Johnson
– US Jr. Title: Mike Graham defeated Bob Orton, Jr.
– Thunderbolt Patterson defeated Killer Kowalski
1977
Los Angeles, California:
– Dory Funk, Jr. defeated Chavo Guerrero for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title
Atlanta, Georgia:
– Mr. Wrestling and Mr. Wrestling II won the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title from Gene and Ole Anderson
1979
Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
– US Champion Ricky Steamboat (sub NWA Champion Harley Race) beat John Studd
– Dino Bravo beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
– Tiger Jeet Singh beat Ric Flair
– Mid Atlantic Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & John Studd beat Tony Atlas & Jay Youngblood
– Dewey Robertson beat Jacques Goulet
– Waldo Von Erich beat Nick DeCarlo
1982
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Eddie Gilbert and Ricky Romero defeated Jerry Brown and Ron McFarlane to win the NWA Central States Tag Team Titles
1982
Payson, Arizona:
– The All-American and Lumberjack #1 defeated Jody Arnold and Pedro el Grande to win the Western States Wrestling Alliance Western States Tag Team Titles
1983
Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
– Leo Burke defeated Bret Hart to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
Denver, Colorado:
– Cage match: AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
– Hulk Hogan beat Jesse Ventura dq
– Rick Martel beat Ken Patera
– Wahoo McDaniel beat Sgt. Goulet
– Bobby Heenan drew Buck Zumhofe
1989
Caguas, Puerto Rico:
– Ricky Santana defeated Profe for the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title
– The Ninja Express (Mr. Pogo and Kensuke Sasaki) defeated Huracaun Castillo, Jr. and Miguel Perez, Jr. to win the WWC Caribbean Tag Team Titles
Portland, Oregon:
– Abbuda Dein defeated Top Gun (David Sierra) to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Television Title
1991
Marietta, Georgia:
– Arn Anderson defeated Tom Zenk for the WCW World Television Title
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Jeff Jarrett won a tournament to win the vacant USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion defeating Brian Lee in the finals of the tournament
Fridley, Minnesota:
– Jerry Lynn defeated The Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) for the vacant Pro Wrestling America Light Heavyweight Title
Winnipeg, Manitoba:
– E.Z. Ryder defeated The Natural (Don Callis) to win the West Four Wrestling Alliance Canadian Heavyweight Title
1992
Columbus, Georgia:
– Ron Simmons and Big Josh (Matt Borne) defeated The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers) for the WCW United States Tag Team Titles
1995
Dallas, Texas:
– John Hawk defeated Kevin Von Erich for the NWA North American Heavyweight Title
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Tommy Rich and Doug Gilbert won the USWA Tag Team Title by defeating PG-13 (JC Ice and Wolfie D)
1998
Tokyo, Japan:
– Genichiro Tenryu defeated Nobutaka Araya in a tournament final to become the War J-1 Heavyweight Champion
1999
Louisville, Kentucky:
– The Suicide Kid defeated Ian Rotten for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title
2001
Indianapolis, Indiana:
– Chuck Palumbo & Shawn O’Hair defeated Kevin Nash and Dallas page to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship
– Shane Douglas defeated General Reaction to win the US Title
2006
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson defeated FIP Heavyweight Champion Homicide and Roderick Strong to win the FIP title
– Christopher Daniels defeated Jay Lethal
– Samoa Joe defeated B.J. Whitmer
– A.J. Styles defeated Matt Sydal
– ROH and FIP Champion Bryan Danielson defeated Chris Hero to retain the ROH title
2007
Orlando, Florida:
– Christian Cage defeated Sting and Abyss to win the TNA/NWA World Championship
– Chris Sabin won the TNA X Division title over Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn
Tokyo, Japan:
– Amazing Kong defeated Nanae Takahashi to win the AWA World Women’s Title
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Biography Series: Gene Kiniski. Gene “Big Thunder” Kiniski was one of the most important champions in pro wrestling history. He bridged the gap between two distinct eras of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and he was the face of the 1960’s in pro wrestling.
An AWA, WWA, NWA, and Montreal World heavyweight champion, Gene Kiniski was an amazingly respected wrestling champion whose career spanned North America and is closely associated with the Funks, Whipper Watson, Yukon Eric, and others. I had never studied Gene Kiniski’s career much before doing the research for today’s show and it really struck me just how important a figure Gene Kiniski was to separating two distinct eras of pro wrestling. Everywhere Gene Kiniski went, he seemingly became a star and very quickly too. Starting in the Southwest to Madison Square Garden but especially in Canada, Gene Kiniski was a huge star. Gene Kiniski spent over three years as NWA World heavyweight champion and his mentoring of Dory Funk, Jr. set in motion the era that came after him. I really enjoyed learning about this incredible Hall of Famer and I hope you will too.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back today with tons of news including thoughts on the Raw and Impact ratings this week, TNA and NXT TV, Smackdown tapings, CM Punk’s fight fight, Yoel Romero, Nick Diaz, Ronda Rousey and UFC 200, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia featured storylines with one partnership ending and the beginning of the end for another. In doing so, the House of Truth loses a member while elsewhere The Kingdom begins to crumble. Staying with the theme of partnerships, teams were a main focus of the show as reDRagon and the Young Bucks both issues challenges. Tag team champions War Machine hunt their prey. The main event also features tags but only in form of tagging out of a four corners survival match with Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal vs. Moose vs. Dalton Castle.
The show opened with tag teams focused on the nightlife.
All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) beat Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta)
King shined in the opening moments then he and Titus starting doing double teams moves. The action spilled to the outside where Romero jumped off the apron with a flying knee. ANX jumped Rocky at ringside and rammed him into the guardrail. Baretta made the save with a corkscrew moonsault off the guardrail.
Back in the ring, Baretta went to the top rope only for Titus to cut him off before a commercial. After the break, ANX got heat on Baretta until a hot tag to Romero. He cleaned house and they transitioned into the finish.
Roppongi Vice was double teaming Titus. King tagged in but Baretta & Romero were unaware a tag was made. They executed their Strong Zero finisher on Titus and Baretta covered him. The referee would not count as Titus was not the legal man. In the meantime, King slid in the ring and rolled up Baretta with a schoolboy to score the pinfall.
The mistake of one team cost them a match and the next segment delt with someone calling out a team for previous mistakes.
Enter The Kingdom with Adam Cole in the lead. Matt Taven was on crutches due to his injury. Seemingly ignoring the rest of the group, Cole sauntered down the aisle to the ring leaving them behind on the ramp. Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis stayed behind to help the injured Taven down the ramp and into the ring.
As security surrounded the ring, Cole said they were there to protect against Kyle O’Reilly, whom Cole labeled as a coward despite Cole himself being the one protected by bodyguards. Cole brought up his win over O’Reilly at Final Battle. The crowd chanted “on the ropes” at Cole since he cheated to win in that match on the PPV.
With his back to the group, Cole talked about some in The Kingdom like himself winning at Final Battle while others in the group were losers, referring to Bennett and Taven losing the tag team titles. Cole said they “dropped the ball” and he was about to explain to them on how to win back the titles when reDRagon interrupted his instructions. O’Reilly was seething and aggressively paced around rinsgide. Bobby Fish was calmer and spoke.
“Right now if this pitbull gets loose, man, you don’t live to see tomorrow,” Fish said when describing O’Reilly.
Fish challenged The Kingdom to a match. Matchmaker Nigel McGuiness, who was ringside doing commentary with Kevin Kelly, booked the match for next week. However, Young Bucks entered the scene to lobby for their own match against The Kingdom.
“If anybody is going to take out these Bullet Club marks,” Matt Jackson said, “it’s going to be us!”
He petitioned Nigel for a match. Nigel asked the audience their opinion and the crowd of course cheered for the Bucks. He wanted to do what the fans wanted yet noted he already booked a match. So, he added Young Bucks as a third team to the tag match airing next week and made it a Philly street fight.
Later in the show, a backstage promo from reDRagon hyped the three-way street fight. A fired up O’Reilly said he was from the mean streets of Delta, British Columbia. O’Reilly went on to say he came from a broken home (meaning literally). He said his mom and dad were alright but a tree crashed through their house. O’Reilly wanted revenge on that tree. He said Mike Bennett would be that tree and they would chop him down. Fish added The Kingdom had no idea what was coming next week.
Tag team champions War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) beat House of Truth (Donovan Dijak & Joey “Diesel” Daddiego with Truth Martini)
War Machine pummeled Daddiego at the start. Dijak got in some offense early on and did a corkscrew plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Martini slid Dijak the Book of Truth to use as a weapon but Dijak kicked it away.
As Martini bickered with Dijak about him desecrating the book, Daddiego tagged himself in to get pummeled some more. War Machine began to squash them and Dijak attempted a last ditch effort to no avail. War Machine executed their Fallout finisher and Hanson covered Dijak for the pin.
Following a commercial break, the House of Truth remained in the ring. Martini chastised Dijak for losing. He also brought up him not helping Jay Lethal in his main event title defense at Final Battle. He noted Lethal did not need the help but claimed Dijak should have been there to offer help.
Martini slapped Dijak in the face. The crowd chanted it was weak. As Martini kept cutting a promo on him, Dijak grabbed him by the lapels. Daddiego jumped in and attacked Dijak. He applied a head and arm choke only as Truth scremed to never touch him again. Dijak countered and lifted Daddiego up in the torture rack. Dijak delivered his All Seeing Eye finisher and left Daddiego laying.
Martini bailed out of the ring and told Dijak he was fired from the House of Truth. The crowd chanted for Dijak as he stood defiant in the ring. Prince Nana, who gave Dijak a mysterious envelope weeks ago on TV, appeared at ringside and looked on approvingly.
Dalton Castle (with The Boys) won a four corners survival match over Matt Sydal & Jay Briscoe & Moose (with Stokley Hathaway)
This was an eclectic mix of participants bringing a variety of styles to the four-way match. Anyone could tag in at any time. Likewise, lucha tag rules were in effect meaning if a participant left the ring then someone could get in the ring to replace that person without a tag.
Castle was quite over with the crowd. They teased Briscoe and Moose squaring off but held off on delivering that until later in the match. Dalton did some matrix moves and strutted around Jay. As he stopped to pose, Jay booted him in the face.
Eventually, Briscoe and Moose squared off and had a slugfest. Castle got two nearfalls on Moose. With three of them brawling at ringside, Sydal dived off the top turnbuckle with a moonsault to the floor. Stokely stole the fans from The Boys and began fanning Moose. The Boys snatched them away from him.
In the closing moments, Sydal got a nearfall on Moose with a hurricanrana. Briscoe got a nearfall on Sydal after a ratchet neckbreaker. Moose speared Briscoe. Castle hit Moose with a missile dropkick off the top. Sydal countered Castle’s attempt at the Bang-o-Rang and Dalton took a reverse hurricanrana from Sydal.
For the finish, Sydal climbed the turnbuckles and The Boys caused a distraction by fanning him when he went for a shooting star. Sydal landed on his feet. Castle then delivered the Bang-o-Rang and covered him for the pin.
– Air Date: January 14, 2016 (Jan 13 in Canada) – Location: Canjundome in Lafayette, LA
The Big News:
Alberto Del Rio regained the U.S. Championship after defeating Kalisto in a really good match. Also, Dean Ambrose will defend his Intercontinental Championship in a Last Man Standing Match at the Royal Rumble against Kevin Owens.
Show Recap:
The announcers plugged all three “main events” to start the show. Renee Young was standing outside the arena awaiting Dean Ambrose, who showed up in the passenger seat of a pickup truck. Ambrose had a statement for Kevin Owens but wanted to announce it to his face in the ring.
Ambrose came to the ring, asked for a drumroll and was surprised when he actually got one. Ambrose wanted Owens out there before making the announcement, but he didn’t show up. He asked for the drumroll again and said he was challenging Owens to a Last Man Standing match at the Rumble. (There was a funny flub when Ambrose talked into the IC Title on his shoulder instead of the mic and we couldn’t hear what he was saying for a moment.)
Sheamus came out and said Ambrose was acting like a child (he was) but the adults were tired of him. Sheamus said Roman Reigns stole the title from him and now he has to win it back in the Rumble match. He wanted to finish the brawl they didn’t finish on Raw and was pissed about the forehead scar Ambrose gave him. Ambrose was ready for a fight but Kevin Owens interrupted.
Owens accepted the challenge and said Ambrose wouldn’t be able to walk out of the Rumble. Sheamus and Owens attacked him but Neville ran out to make the save and the heels bailed. This was not a good segment and crowd was quiet. They made Ambrose do comedy to announce a Last Man Standing match and it died. Also, there was no explanation for why Ambrose didn’t come out to save Reigns on Raw.
Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz beat Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (w/Braun Strowman)
The lights went out after the Dudleys made their entrance and the Wyatts magically appeared to attack them from behind. I guess the referee thought this was fair so he started the match. The Dudleys set up a table but Harper hit D-Von with a superkick. There was a mixup between Bubba and Harper/Rowan where they just awkwardly stood around until Rowan kicked Bubba and they went to commercial.
Strowman got his team a kendo stick but Bubba grabbed it and used it to knock Rowan out of the ring. Strowman went after him but Bubba moved and Strowman went shoulder-first into the post. Eventually, Bubba and Harper had a struggle on the steps, ending with Bubba pushing Harper through a table on the floor for the surprising Dudleys win.
Afterwards, Strowman knocked down both Dudleys from behind. Strowman tossed D-Von into two different tables positioned in the corners. Then, standing on the announce table, Harper and Rowan gave Bubba a double chokeslam through two tables on the floor. Strowman was directing them a la Bray Wyatt, who was not there. The post-match was a good heat angle for the Wyatts, but I’m not sure why they didn’t just win.
Backstage, Kalisto told Jo-Jo he didn’t have much hope to get to WWE, but guys like Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio gave him hope. All he needed was one opportunity and now he’s U.S. Champion and plans for it to stay that way.
8-Man Tag: Social Outcasts beat Damien Sandow, Goldust, Jack Swagger & Zack Ryder via pinfall
Nobody got an introduction. Bo Dallas won with a Bo-dog on Ryder. As Dallas did the Bo-dog, he accidentally kicked Slater off the ring apron for comedy. The action here was totally fine, but this felt like a waste of time, and in particular, a waste of Goldust and Jack Swagger. Also, this was Sandow’s first match on Raw or Smackdown since May of 2015 when, funny enough, he teamed with Axel to beat Slater and Rose. Welcome back.
They aired a video package from Raw. Jerry Lawler again sided with the McMahons and said Reigns deserved what he got.
Backstage, Alberto Del Rio told Renee he doesn’t care what the fans think and would bring them back to reality when he regains the U.S. Championship.
U.S. Championship: Alberto Del Rio beat Kalisto via submission
Lawler started by saying there’s no way Del Rio could take Kalisto seriously. Mauro Ranallo mentioned that Del Rio main evented an MMA show he called 12 years ago. Del Rio hit a great-looking armbreaker off the ropes. Kalisto rolled to the outside trying to regroup, but Del Rio went after him, slamming his arm against the steel steps. The crowd started to get behind Kalisto after that.
After a break, Wade Barrett was at ringside. This felt like a video game where your ally just randomly shows up at ringside. Del Rio set up for the double foot stomp but Kalisto countered into a headscissors. He followed with a springboard seated senton but Del Rio sidestepped another springboard move and hit a side kick for a near fall. Kalisto made his comeback and got a couple of near falls.
Barrett distracted Kalisto allowing Del Rio to apply the armbar. Kalisto managed to make it to the ropes after a long struggle. Del Rio fell to the outside and Kalisto went for a dive, but Barrett pulled Del Rio out of the way and Kalisto crashed on to the mats. Del Rio reapplied the armbar back in the ring and Kalisto tapped out immediately.
This match was really good and Kalisto came off as well as he could here in the loss. Slight nitpick is that they moved on from this segment too quickly after Del Rio won. Also, Barrett’s involvement was pretty lame.
They played the Sting Hall of Fame video.
Backstage, Becky Lynch told Renee that Charlotte attacking her really got her down. Renee said Lynch doesn’t stay down, and they showed a replay of Lynch attacking Charlotte on Raw. Lynch said she would stay fired up until she beats Charlotte for the title and challenged her to a match at the Rumble. Lynch said Charlotte could bring the whole Flair clan and she would be ready.
Becky Lynch beat Brie Bella (w/Alicia Fox) via submission
Lynch won relatively quickly with the Disarmer. (I wrote that before the match started.)
Neville & IC Champion Dean Ambrose beat Sheamus & Kevin Owens via DQ
They went to commercial a minute into the match. After the break, they had the heat on Ambrose. Neville tagged in and ran wild but was attacked from behind by Owens and they got the heat on him. Owens called Ranallo “Four eyes” and told him to pay attention because he might learn something.
Owens went for a cannonball but Neville moved and hit a German suplex and made the hot tag to Ambrose. Ambrose ran wild on Sheamus, hitting a tornado DDT and flying elbow drop. Owens broke up the cover so Ambrose knocked him out of the ring. Ambrose went for the rebound clothesline on Sheamus, but Owens kicked him right in the head and Sheamus hit White Noise for a near fall.
Owens tagged in but Ambrose countered a powerbomb and hit a rebound clothesline followed by a suicide dive. Sheamus drove him repeatedly into the ring steps, returning the favour from Raw. Owens hit Ambrose with the light piece of cardboard that covers the announce table and that was a DQ.
The heels cleared the table but Neville took them out with a dive. Ambrose gave Owens Dirty Deeds and Neville finished him off with Red Arrow. The babyfaces posed and Sheamus seethed at them.
Final Thoughts:
This would’ve been every Smackdown show ever if not for the Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio title match, which I really liked. Maybe I wouldn’t have put the title back on Del Rio right away, but Kalisto looked strong so I’ll let this one play out.
They really need to stop booking “big” matches that they don’t know how to get out of. Tonight’s main event with Dean Ambrose ended in a DQ, after his match with Sheamus on Raw ended in a double count out. Last week’s Smackdown main event with Ambrose also ended in a double count out, and his tag match that main evented Smackdown the week before that ended in a DQ.
Also, this was their second week on a new network, and the second week with no Roman Reigns (among others). I know he was overseas or whatever, but it’s not like they inform the viewers of this.
In the final installment of our look back at 2015 in the world of MMA, Josh Nason and Paul Fontaine of WrestlingObserver.com and MMADraws.com look at one of the most eventful quarters in MMA history: October – December. Here’s part 1 and part 2 for subscribers.
Here’s just a bit of what Josh and Paul discussed:
Conor McGregor’s 13-second exclamation point on his year long feud with Jose Aldo
Daniel Cormier’s eventful first title defense at UFC 192 against Alexander Gustafsson that also included Johny Hendricks missing weight and the debut of Sage Northcutt
UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw leaving Team Alpha Male and heading to work with Urijah Faber rival Duane Ludwig
Holly Holm’s shocking knockout and dominance of Ronda Rousey in Australia
Bellator booking Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie III for early-2016
ONE’s answer to weight cutting issues
And tons more!
If you’re a subscriber, right click to save or just click to listen. Subscribers get early access & other UFC audio content by signing up for the RSS feed!
