When you play the celebrity game, there is a risk. There’s the risk the media and the public won’t get interested and the deal becomes a money loser. And there’s the risk that even if they do, trying to get outsiders, even if they are great athletes, to do a cram course in pro wrestling won’t result in a good match. But there is the upside. While Hulk Hogan would have been one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling history without Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T, without question the rub off of them helped catapult Hogan to a higher level of mainstream consciousness. Antonio Inoki would have been one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling history without Muhammad Ali, but if he wasn’t a household name in Japan before their fight, he certainly has been for all of the past 22 years since their fight. And their fight, was the ultimate in the risk not paying off and what the repercussions of that are, short-term disaster and stuff that long-term legends are created from.
But as society has changed, so have the athletes. The biggest risk today isn’t so much of a bad buy rate, or lack of media attention to sell it to the general public, or even of a bad match. The risk is, will the celebrity show up, and if he does, will he feel he’s so high and mighty that what he’s doing is a joke.
Enter Dennis Rodman. Jake Roberts used to repeat the fable every time he turned heel. It went something like this. You see a wounded snake that’s about to die. You save its life, you nurse it back to health and you treat it as a friend. It becomes your best friend. And one day out of nowhere, the snake bites you. You ask the snake, after all I did for you, why did you bite me? The snake responded, the first time you picked me up, you knew I was a snake.
Rodman is Rodman. In another age, he’d be considered something entirely different. Sure, some of his actions are largely an exercise is self-promotion. And some, like blowing off practice in the middle of the playoffs are something different. But he can get away with it. Because he can play. Actually, that is probably not a lot different from what would have happened in a previous generation except the media would have covered it up as in covering for him in those days rather than making a huge issue of it and thus making him more of a celebrity for it these days. But in this generation, doing things like that also make one a hero. He’s cool. He does what he wants. So WCW invests a ton of money in him. And last year, at the height of his celebrityhood, instead of using a football player or a boxer, athletes who have the rep of being tough, they tried a basketball player. He helped the buy rates a little on two shows, although not nearly as much as revisionist history from people who know nothing about pro wrestling seem to think. He didn’t help TV ratings one bit last year, nor one bit this year, and this year they needed it. But he was a success, because by being associated with WCW, it strengthened the WCW name probably to a level very close to equal the name brand of the WWF when it comes to pro wrestling. The fact his first match was something of a miracle was well and good for wrestling fans but it wouldn’t have mattered that much either way. Overall in the giant scheme of things, it was a success and the fact the match quality was surprising had very little to do with it.
From the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA, taped for Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in the U.S.:
– WWE Smackdown opened with Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose wanting a last man standing match with Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble. Sheamus then came out. Owens accepted the match and he and Sheamus attacked Ambrose until Neville made the save to lead to the main event.
– Dudleys beat Luke Harper & Erick Rowan in a tables match. After the match, Braun Strowman destroyed both Dudleys.
– Heath Slater & Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas & Adam Rose beat Jack Swagger & Zack Ryder & Goldust & Damien Sandow when Dallas pinned Ryder.
– Alberto Del Rio beat Kalisto to regain the U.S. title due to distraction from King Barrett.
– Becky Lynch beat Brie Bella.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose & Neville went to a double countout with Kevin Owens & Sheamus.
From now through January 31st, get the first 11 hard copy issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter ever published, either as a collection or as individual issues.
What You’ll Get:
1982 Yearbook (12 pages) | The premier issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter!
– Flair/Piper cover – The champions of 1982 – Observer Top 75 Ratings – Wrestling Observer Awards-Ric Flair wins Wrestler of the Year – 1982 in review – Superstar Profiles – 1983
March (13 pages) | Farewell Judo Gene
– Ron Dobratz Reminisces – Freebirds Cover Wrestling Notebook ’83-A look at the news of each territory – All Japan signs Dynamite Kid – Rookie Billy Jack taking the Northwest by storm – Tully Blanchard wins Southwest title in tournament – Buddy Roberts arrives in Texas to join the Freebirds – Cable TV & Wrestling’s Future
April (16 pages) The Fine Line Between Stereotypes & Racism, Adrian Adonis cover
– Is Television a Threat to Local Promotions – Japan in depth-a quick profile on all of the superstars with ratings – New Japan draws $250,000 gate-thousands turned away – Bob Sweetan wins Southwest title – Larry Zybszko enters Georgia
May (16 pages) Where do Pro Wrestlers rate as Athletes?, Ric Flair cover
– The true effects of Cable Come Out – Texas in Depth-a quick profile on all of the superstars with ratings – All Japan Grand Champion series opens March 25 – Tiger Mask vacates NJPW jr title after match with Dynamite Kid – Lou Thesz and Terry Funk to appear in Southwest promotion – Larry Matysik resigns as St Louis booker – Frank Dusek wins Southern belt from Barry Windham
June (18 pages) Editorial: “How to Correctly use National TV”, Flair vs. Piper cover
– Analysis of AWA & Mid-South Talent – Onita suffers broken leg during match with Hector Guerrero – Masa Saito to tour US this summer – Adrian Adonis wins ‘World’ belt in Southwest – JYD wins North American title – Ken Patera wins International belt from Lawler – Jimmy Snuka’s girlfriend found dead – Eddie Gilbert in car accident
July (20 pages) Summer 1983 Top 100 Ratings, Harey Race cover, ’83 awards
– Hulk Hogan wins IWGP tournament by knocking out Antonio Inoki – Curt Henning wins Northwest title – Bret Hart wins North American title from Leo Burke – Jerry Lawler “Kaufman is a Dead Comic”
August (20 pages) Harley Race wins NWA title from Ric Flair in St. Louis, Crusher Blackwell cover:
– Analysis of Florida & Georgia talent – Should Pro wrestling be covered in the sports pages – Inoki supposed to have won IWPG title – Jumbo Tsuruta vacates United National belt in Texas – Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera win AWA titles from the High Flyers – Ric Flair wins Missouri state title
September (20 pages) Feedback about the 1983 ratings, Sgt Slaughter cover:
– New Japan likely to affiliate self with Calgary – Jimmy Garvin wins American title from Kevin Von Erich – Butch Reed wins North American title from JYD – Massive house cleaning in Florida – July 11 main event Jerry Lawler vs Andy Kaufman
October (20 pages) Terry Funk Retires, Terry Funk cover:
– Jumbo Tsuruta wins International belt from Brody – Tiger Mask retires – Southwest loses slot on USA network – Jim Duggan beats Ted DiBiase in loser leaves town match – WWF debuts on USA network
November (20 pages) The Two Faces of Japanese Wrestling, Tiger Mask cover
– Fall ’83 Top 50 ratings – Neverending feuds – Stan Hansen beats Giant Baba for PWF crown – Dynamite Kid wins Northwest title from Henning – Harley Race tours Texas – Jesse Ventura wins Southern title – Brett Wayne Sawyer wins National belt from Zybszko
December (22 pages) Article on Roy Shire/Dynamite Kid cover:
– Antonio Inoki may regain power in New Japan – The Cobra wins NWA jr belt vs Davey Boy Smith – Lots of newcomers to Mid South – Billy Jack wins Northwest belt from Dynamite Kid – Puerto Rico draws more than 32,000 for Race/Colon main event – The Grand Wizard passes away
*****
Rates for all 11 issues:
$109.95 USD for Canada destinations
$119.95 USD for USA destinations
$169.95 USD for International destinations
(For Paypal orders, please add $5 for Paypal fees)
Rates for individual issues:
$12 US | $11 Canada | $18 International
*****
Details & Contact Info:
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*Please contact Grant via email below before to verify amounts and additional details, especially for international orders.
The in-ring future of three of the top wrestling stars of this era looks to be in major question, with existing injuries seriously threatening the careers of Shawn Michaels and Masahiro Chono, and the business split, whether part of an angle or otherwise, between Hulk Hogan, WCW and Eric Bischoff.
As the “inside story” goes, which may or may not have a degree of validity, Hogan and Bischoff had a business falling out when Bischoff decided to go with Hogan’s enemy, Kevin Nash, as new booker, thus greatly diluting Hogan’s political power. It was also made clear to Hogan that due to WWF’s huge ratings victories over the past few weeks with the margin growing to record proportions on 11/16, that they were no longer going to build the entire company and nearly every major angle around him and that, as many have clamored for more than one year, Bischoff realizes the company needs to build new and younger stars for the future. The straw that may have broken the camel’s back is the current plan for Nash to beat Bill Goldberg for the WCW title at Starrcade, since Hogan agreed to put Goldberg over cleanly the right way for the title on 7/6 at the Georgia Dome as part of a deal where Goldberg’s first loss would be to him, most likely at Starrcade. While there were tentative plans on the table for Nash to win the Battle Royal and then the title at Starrcade before any of this happened, there was also serious talk that the end result of this would be for Nash to re-join the black & white at that point and possibly even hand the belt to Hogan, and this was the first time it was made clear that wasn’t happening. Rather than stay with his power diluted, Hogan chose to leave the company and is expected to announce his retirement from pro wrestling on Thanksgiving night on the Jay Leno show. The fact that his name was mentioned so prominently on both the PPV show and on both the 11/23 and 11/24 editions Nitro, which all heavily plugged the Leno appearance, makes clear this is largely an angle. Hogan wasn’t in either Auburn Hills or Grand Rapids, MI for the two shows. Generally, but not universally speaking, the morale of the wrestlers was much better without him as he was largely seen by most of the younger wrestlers as the political enemy holding them back.
Yoel Romero, who was a possible next contender for UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, is facing a possible drug test suspension.
The UFC announced that they were notified today by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of a potential violation stemming from a Romero sample collected out of competition. The UFC noted that USADA will, independent of UFC, handle the results and punishment stemming from the case.
No specific drug was named in the story, nor has there been punishment announced. It appears from previous cases that UFC is notified of a failed test, but the fighter is allowed to ask for a B sample to be tested before the offense will be publicly noted and any punishment would be dispensed.
Romero won a controversial decision over Rolando “Jacare” Souza at UFC 194 in Las Vegas in a fight that was to determine the next challenger for the title. But most felt either Souza deserved the win, or it should have been a draw, so Romero was never announced as getting the next title shot.
UFC officially announced UFC 197 for March 5th, headlined by featherweight champion Conor McGregor vs. lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos for RDA’s 155-pound title, and Holly Holm defending her women’s bantamweight crown for the first time against Miesha Tate. The event will be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Don’t forget: our own Tom Lawlor will also be on the show against Corey Anderson.
The NAC reduced Nick Diaz’s suspension from five years to 18 months (served retroactively), and also reduced his fine down from $165,000 to $100,000. He should be cleared to fight again August 1. This all stemmed from Diaz’s third marijuana failure at UFC 183, where he fought Anderson Silva. Those who watched the original hearing may recall that Diaz invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, which was followed by commissioner Pat Lundvall (a lawyer) arguing with Diaz’s lawyer about. Jeremy Botter, who has the settlement agreement, is reporting that Diaz stipulated that he wrongly invoked his fifth amendment rights even though that’s not actually the case.
Smackdown and Main Event tapings will be Tonight in Lafayette, LA.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last Friday night’s TNA PPV show, so leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re also looking for live reports from Raw tonight in New Orleans.
We’re also looking for reports from the Lucha Underground tapings this past weekend to Dave Meltzer
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! We have have clips of the post Summer Slam / Super China Buffet show featuring a lengthy Brent Kremen discussion, as well as clips from the X-Mas show. This is a soft launch but we will be releasing much more shortly.
In the biggest news week in a long time, we’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, covering John Cena’s injury, New Japan stars headed to WWE, a major feature looking at the year that past in pro wrestling and MMA and the year coming up, WWE direction for WrestleMania season, Tokyo Dome coverage, Rizin debut coverage, TNA changes and UFC 195.
Our lead story talks about John Cena’s injury and the injury issues in WWE with more notes on the training program being used. All the news regarding wrestlers leaving New Japan, who’s been contacted, different roles, the various schedules for different guys, other negotiations, what led to these moves, what New Japan needs to learn from this, affects on ROH, and other ideas for New Japan to break out of its standard mentality.
UFC in 2016, the success of the women’s division, UFC business review, big fights on the horizon, the state of WWE in 2015 and 2016, different fan bases, rise of NXT, where New Japan has failed on the international scene, plus AAA, CMLL, Bellator, TNA and ROH prospects in 2016.
Full coverage of New Japan’s Tokyo Dome show, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, the big angles, Okada’s prospects as the top star, the next big programs on the horizon, big show plans for 2016, the Fanstastica Mania tour lineup and thoughts, New Year’s Dash coverage.
The changes to this year’s Royal Rumble and scout the possibilities and big matches on the horizon for Mania, and the return of Chris Jericho.
WWE Network, John Cena on Peyton Manning and HGH, football coach trying to recruit WWE for Mania, portrayal of Joseph Maroon in the “Concussion”, lots of details on new Dwayne Johnson projects, Lesnar’s schedule, a look at 50/50 booking, Reaction to HHH circumventing his own angle, February NXT, WrestleMania plans, Jericho talks current interview style, WWE looking for new stars around the world, Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament, WWE injury updates, Austin TV show.
A complete look at the debut of the Rizin promotion, details on the ratings and how it compares to WWE & UFC, the Masato vs. Kid Yamamoto show in competition, boxing in competition, Spike TV numbers, Fedor’s return, the freak show fights and what did and didn’t work on the first two shows.
UFC 195, with match-by-match coverage, poll results and business regarding the show, a look at all the close decisions and why they went the way they did.
TNA’s debut on Pop TV, the ratings, the title tournament, who was watching, the PPV show this week, the Mike Bennett debut, the James Storm return, the departure of Taryn Terrell and the good and bad of the latest relaunch.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
A few columns to check out on our site in case you missed them:
Will Cooling’s suggestion that Brock Lesnar vs. Nakamura is the match to make for Wrestlemania and questioning if WWE can grow their own stars anymore
Kyle Johnson wants WWE to stop telling fans that their stars aren’t important
Speaking of EA Sports UFC 2, CM Punk has been given an overall fighter rating of 85. If you compare him to the fighters in the first game, he’s above Pat Parry (84), has the same rating as Martin Kampmann and Francis Carmont, and is just below Mark Hunt’s 86. Punk responded on Twitter to some of the negative comments about him getting such a high rating despite never having competed in the sport: “Not since Samus Aran was revealed to be a woman have dummies been this butt hurt about a video game.” Samus was the player character in Nintendo’s 1986 game Metroid.
Stipe Miocic is pissed that Alistair Overeem might get the next UFC heavyweight title shot and that his yelling at Dana White after his beatdown of Andrei Arlovski was personal.
Our site’s own “Filthy” Tom Lawlor announced his return date here. Spoiler alert: It’s for UFC 197, which should have a monster main event on top. Congrats to Mr. Lawlor.
Duane Ludwig thinks Dominick Cruz’s propensity for trash talk makes him something other than a martial artist.
WSOF announced today that Mike Ricci is out of WSOF 27, which airs a week from Saturday on NBC Sports Network. Luiz Furmino will be the replacement in the main event against Caros Fodor. This is the sixth fight that Ricci has been scheduled to fight in since August of 2014 that has been cancelled for one reason or another.
Ryan Couture will replace the injured Derek Anderson at Bellator 148 against Patricky “Pitbull” Friere. This is a big step up in competition for Couture who is 10-3 overall and 2-0 in Bellator.
ICYMI, Josh Nason and Paul Fontaine continued their look at the year that was 2015 in MMA, checking in with July-September on the newest Josh Nason’s Punch-Out. (sub only). The final installment goes up tonight.
MISC
On the latest edition of Between the Sheets, (Not That) Tom Green joins Kris Zellner and David Bixenspan to talk January 5-11, 1994. Topics include bar brawls, John Nord’s career trajectory, Antonio Pena’s Japanese business tour, ECW “crossing the line,” Jerry Lawler’s legal problems, Bret & Owen Hart vs. The Steiner Brothers, Tom breaking the show, and much more.
The latest episode of the Fire Pro Podcast reviews WrestleKingdom 10, the latest TNA relaunch, and the big news of last week here.
Friday Jan 15th, Future Stars of Wrestling presents New Years Resolution, 7pm at the FSW Arena, featuring FSW Heavyweight Champion Kevin Kross, former WWE Superstar Sinn Bodhi, and WWE Hall of Famer, the Legendary Jake The Snake Roberts. For more info, go to futurestarsofwrestling.com
FSW is also hosting a seminar the WWE Legend Jake The Snake Roberts this Thursday, Jan 14th. Cost is $30 for FSW Students and $35 for Non-FSW students. Learn from one of the greatest minds in professional wrestling.
The Monday, January 11th edition of WWE Raw did surprisingly well considering it went against the NCAA football national title game which drew far more viewers than any NFL game had done against Raw during the fall.
The show did 3.32 million viewers, roughly the fall season average. The Alabama vs. Clemson championship game did 25.68 million viewers head-to-head. Raw was sixth for the night on cable, but all five shows that beat Raw were ESPN shows that were related to coverage of the game itself.
The good news, in a sense, was the third hour was not their lowest rated hour, so the concept of WWE Champion Roman Reigns vs. everyone (spurred on by Vince McMahon) and the waiting for Brock Lesnar to appear led to a slight increase during a period that usually is a decrease.
It’s also the end of any kind of football hurting Raw ratings on Monday, so the hope is that numbers should increase on a regular basis starting next week.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with tons of news to talk about including three dudes getting fined for violating the Reebok policy, bafflement over why this policy exists, Raw from Monday night, Brock Lesnar and the Royal Rumble, and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Not wanting to be liars (again), the original alternate has actually kept its word, and recorded a show for the second consecutive week in a row. And while we’re slowly getting our groove back, the world of puroresu has been speeding along on another level. So, naturally, the main topic this week was the situation with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Who can they push? What they can do? Who would you like to see in the 2017 Dome show main? All that stuff, and a little bit of other stuff too. It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~! proudly here at F4WOnline.com.
During a Nevada Athletic Commission hearing Tuesday, the commission reduced Nick Diaz’s penalty for a marijuana drug test failure back at UFC 183 to 18 months down from five years, and a $100,000 fine, down from $165,000. He is eligible to return starting in August of this year.
At the hearing, the NAC quickly said they had reached a settlement, but didn’t reveal what the actual settlement was. It wasn’t until later that we learned what the terms were.
The original hearing came as a result of a drug test failure after Diaz’s bout with Anderson Silva. Prior to the fight, Diaz had failed twice for marijuana, and under the new drug penalties, Diaz was given a five year suspension and a fine of $165,000. The NAC believed Diaz lied on his pre-fight questionnaire, and wanted to make an example of him. However, there was a tremendous outcry of public support, as well as UFC support, including fighters refusing to fight in Nevada, and even a petition to President Obama.
Nevada deputy attorney general Christopher Eccles’ case was that Diaz’s two negative tests were diluted and that he lied on his pre-fight questionnaire. After the grassroots uprising and support from the UFC’s lawfirm, the NAC decided to re-evaluate the suspension. Diaz’ lead counsel argued that Diaz had actually passed two fight night tests and the one he failed came from a lab that was not accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
