Rocky Romero, who was among those who has been talked about as leaving New Japan for WWE, has signed a new deal with New Japan.
Romero had been in talks with WWE about a job as a “player/coach” in NXT, and told a number of people today he had decided to stay put for at least two more years.
Romero has been working for New Japan since 2002 as a regular in the junior heavyweight division.
After Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Shinsuke Nakamura and A.J. Styles all gave notice on Monday, there had been speculation that Romero, Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga could follow suit.
Romero is mainly part of a tag team, Roppongi Vice, with Trent Baretta, working for both New Japan and Ring of Honor.
– Chris Jericho def. US Champion Alberto del Rio in a non-title match
The night started out with the announcer informing the crowd that John Cena is injured and will not be at the show tonight. Alberto Del Rio then interrupted her and made his way to the ring. He talked for a while, the lights go out and Y2J’s music hits. He cuts a promo about Houston wrestling and their fans’ legacy. Jericho challeges Del Rio to a match. Del Rio talks his trash and tries to walk away by chest slapping Jericho. Match begins, back and forth, a little slow at times. Y2J comes out victorious after kicking out of repeated submissions. ADR missed his finisher, Y2J hits the Code Breaker and it’s over.
– Titus O’Neil beat Stardust
Before the match, crowd starts to chant ‘Cody Rhodes’. Stardust tries to out power Titus with chest chops but that didn’t work. Stardust attacks the leg of Titus. Stardust goes for top rope move, but Titus catches and tosses him. Titus hits a boot to the head, setting up the train to the corner. Stardust stumbles out of the corner into the finishing move and that’s a three count for Titus.
– Ryback def. Rusev (w/Lana)
Pre-match promo with Lana talking trash about Houston sports and says the Dallas Cowboys are better than all of Houston. Lana claims Rusev will be next Heavyweight Champion. Rusev snatches the mic and claims that he hates American football, but if he had a team, it would be the Dallas Cowboys. Ryback’s music hits to a large pop. Strength vs. strength early. Cheap shot by Rusev when tied in the ropes when Ryback tries to break cleanly. Rusev gains upper hand. Rusev antagonizing the crowd by waving flag. Rusev hands flag off to Lana and walks into a belly to belly suplex. Each trying to suplex the other back and forth with a show of strength. Finally Ryback tosses him up and over. Ryback sets up for Meat Hook and hits it. He attempts a shell shock but Lana jumps on apron. Distraction worked, and Rusev takes advantage by kicking him in the head. He locks the submission on Ryback, but fights through it. Rusev goes for the splash and misses. Ryback pops up, hits a power bomb and the big guy gets the pin.
– R-Truth def. Heath Slater
Dance off before the match until Slater cheapshots Truth. Action on the outside. Slater tries for the pin and grabs the middle rope for leverage, but ref breaks it up. That leads to Truth rolling him up for the pin.
– Los Matadores vs. Kalisto and El Torito
Crowd going nuts for Kalisto. Matadores want Torito in there, and he puts on a show for the crowd. Matadores get the upper hand and beat up Torito. Kalisto finally gets tagged in and runs wild. Kalisto hit his finisher for the pin and win.
– Sheamus vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman)
Both are in the ring for intros. Paul takes mic from the ring announcer and begins to introduce Lesnar. They tie up and Lesnar hits a belly to back as the crowd chants “Suplex City.” Sheamus retreats. A few uppercuts from Sheamus, he reverses to the corner, Lesnar stops and pounds him, hitting a suplex on Sheamus. Action spills outside and Lesnar is thrown into the stairs and then back in. Sheamus chops Lesnar, but Brock is no selling it and suplexes Sheamus. Sheamus regains the advantage for a few near falls. Lesnar then hits back to back suplexes. Sheamus retreats and heads to the top, but Lesnar catches him for another suplex. Sheamus hits a brogue kick and goes for the pin, but he kicks out. Sheamus gets suplexed several times and gets hit with the F5 for the pin.
Intermission
– Houston will host Smackdown on the Tuesday after Wrestlemania.
– Kevin Owens does a video promo challenging Dean Ambrose later on in the night. The ring announcer explains it will be a street fight.
– Brie Bella vs. Tamina (w/Alicia Fox) with Summer Rae as special ref
Very slow match. The end came when Tamina and Summer were getting into it and Brie hit a suplex to get the win. Usual “We want Sasha” chants.
– Video promo by Ambrose accepting Owens’ challenge.
– Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler
Tyler was using the selfie stick, but it freezes up a couple of times on the big screen, then we get an error for ‘poor connection’. The crowd laughed. Usual good match with plenty of offense from both guys. Several near falls back and forth near the end. Breeze was thrown into the ropes and Ziggler hit a superkick to end it.
– IC Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens street fight
Ambrose enters with kendo sticks in each hand. Fight starts off both men outside of the ring beating on another. Action spilled outside the ring and back into the ring and back outside several times. Lots of chair shows and a “we want tables” chant breaks out. Ambrose goes for the table, but Owens rolls him up for two to prevent it. Eventually, Ambrose set the table up, but got powerbombed through it. Owens goes for the pop-up powerbomb and Ambrose countered it by flipping Owens over. Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on the shattered table for the clean win.
– Hype Bros defeated Marcus Louis and Sawyer Fulton via pinfall with the Hype Ryder on Marcus. Good reaction for the Bros here. Fun action.
– Elias Samson beat Rich Swann with his new neckbreaker finish. Good match, Swann is beloved already and Elias had a lot of heat here. After the win, Elias hopped the barricade and drifted away.
– Eva Marie, Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan, Aliyah, and Adrien Reese. The negative reaction for Eva is amazing these days. Eva got the pin on Aliyah.
– Manny Andrade (the former La Sombra) made his NXT debut and defeated Riddick Moss with running knees to the face while Moss is laying with his head on the bottom turnbuckle. Manny wasn’t known yet, so he had to win over this crowd.
– Jason Jordan, Chad Gable and Apollo Crews defeated NXT Champion Dash & Dawson and Angelo Dawkins. American Alpha is very over, a lot of solid wrestling here. Gable hit a delayed roll through Chaos Theory. It was a thing of beauty. Jordan is the best hot tag in NXT, and cleared house before Gable scored the pin after the assisted German Suplex.
– Baron Corbin defeated Alex Riley with the EOD. Physical match. Baron was jawing with the crowd a lot.
– Asuka defeated Billie Kay (w Sylvester LeFort) via Asuka Lock submission. Good match here, all about Asuka.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor and Bull Dempsey defeated Tye Dillinger and Tino Sabatelli. A lot of comedy with Bull doing his jumping jacks routine and upsetting the heels with his antics. Finn was extra animated in this match as he Irish whipped Tino across the ring and chopped him 9 times before Dillinger got in his way to stop the tenth, Finn then chopped Tye for the large ten chant. Balor got the win with the stomp and sent everyone home happy.
Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia with more of the aftermath from Final Battle included the surprise return of Stevie Richards. In another ode to ECW, there was a match with wild brawling, chair swinging and a table breaking. Also, Cedric Alexander and Veda Scott get shocked after an upset. In the television main event, Big Mike provides a display of power.
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 (Steve Corino) provided commentary.
Enter TV champion Roderick Strong to some cheers then a chorus of “you tapped out” chants. Roddy looked annoyed and continued his change to a more heelish demeanor as the champion bro. He bragged that he was still the champion following the last PPV and then he smirked.
The backstory being he tapped out to a submission hold applied by Bobby Fish without the referee seeing the tap. Strong went on to eventually retain. In continuing the Roddy vs. the world theme, Strong issued a new open challenge.
Surprisingly, Stevie Richards returned to challenge for the TV title in the same arena in which he first rose to prominence in during his ECW run.
ROH TV champion Roderick Strong beat Stevie Richards to retain
Richards looked in great shape as he did more than just hang with a conditioned machine like Strong. Corino noted both represented different disciplines of training and suggested the idea of the match being DDP Yoga (Richards) vs. crossfit (Strong).
The match was nip-and-tuck throughout and wide open in the early moments. They slowed down for a knuckle lock when Strong took a cheap shot and dastardly kicked Richards in the stomach. However, Richards escaped his clutches. Roderick cut off Stevie, nailed him with a sweet dropkick then kept him grounded on the mat. Roddy dashed a hope spot before a commercial.
Dashing hope again after the break, Strong got a nearfall. A moment later with Roderick perched on the top turnbuckle, Stevie hit a superkick to send Roddy tumbling down. Off an implant DDT, Richards got a nearfall. Another nearfall by Strong when he delivered a flurry of offense and a backbreaker for a two count. The crowd started dueling chants for their respective favorites.
Landing a series of forearms and elbows, Strong had Richards reeling when he executed a gutbuster and went for his finishing kick. Stevie hit a superkick out of nowhere for a nearfall. The crowd chanted “that was three.” Richards promptly applied the Boston crab on Strong, which is a move Roddy normally uses. Mere seconds later and Strong applies the same hold, which he calls “the stronghold”, on to Richards. As they began slugging it out, Strong suddenly hits a bome ye of sorts with a jumping knee to the face for the pinfall.
Post-match, the theme song for reDRagon interrupted Roddy’s celebration. Bobby Fish sporting a dapper suit entered the scene flanked by three aids collectively carrying a table and two chairs. Fish informed the audience this was an impromptu edition of his Fish Tank segment and he planned to interview Roderick. Clutching his title belt, the champion looked unpleased with the sudden turn of events.
Before the Fish Tank came a commercial break. ACH plugged ROH merchandise including but not limited to a water battle, his new t-shirt, a backpack to put it all in and a coloring book to keep you entertained.
After the break, Fish was seated at a table in the ring. Though he was invited to sit, Strong threw a chair across the ring where it bounced into the turnbuckles.
“Looks like we’re standing,” Fish said.
With a slight dig toward the current champ, Bobby talked about the new heights Jay Lethal took the championship to in the past year. Bobby went on to say the year was a banner year for “Mr. ROH” as well. He put over Strong for a moment before showing a photo on the video screen that Bobby introduced as what the year meant to Roderick. It showed Strong tapping in their match at Final Battle. Roderick was already hollering about not tapping when Bobby asked him directly if he tapped. The champion defiantly shook his head and scoffed.
Strong grabbed a microphone. He fiddled with it in trying to get working, which helped convey his frustration though it was a mishap. Fish just kept ad-libbing. Roddy began to deny he tapped. Then he denied some more before cutting a promo on Fish.
“I did not tap out, you sore loser,” Strong said and angrily threw the mic at Fish then stormed off dragging his title behind him.
Before the next match, Caprice Coleman cut a promo on Will Ferrera. Coleman first bullied the ring attendant. He once again called Ferrera a “jive turkey” and said he would beat Ferrera while looking pretty from all angles. He claimed to “have the body of a god and the face of an angel.” With that, Ferrera jumped him before the bell.
Caprice Coleman beat Will Ferrera in a no disqualification match
After a getting into a brawl and dueling with chairs two weeks ago on TV, this match was no DQ. Upping the violence and the brutality with this match, Coleman and Ferrera took their feud to another level with Prince Nana mysteriously connected to the rivalry. That and they were in the ECW Arena so they took it to the extreme.
They brawled around ringside at the outset. Back in the ring, Coleman whipped Ferrera with a belt. Coleman got the better of a dueling chairs spot. On commentary, Mr. Wrestling #3 pondered about the involvement of Prince Nana and how that has somehow escalated the level of violence.
For the finish, Ferrera made a comeback and retrieved a table. Ironically, Coleman would jump off the top rope with a legdrop to put Ferrera through the table and cover him for the pin. From the aisle, Prince Nana looked on approvingly as he clapped and smiled.
Jonathan Gresham beat Cedric Alexander (with Veda Scott) in an upset
The beginning looked like any enhancement match. Cedric delivered a suplex series of three amigos. When he went for a fourth consecutive suplex, Gresham cradled him in a small package for a nearfall. The underdog fired up. Veda caused a distraction allowing Cedric to derail the comeback. He dropkicked Gresham in a corner a couple times before delivering a vicious falling backbreaker. Cedric and Veda smirked and showboated. When Cedric went for a lackadaisical cover, Gresham used a cruxifix to reverse it and score the pinfall. Veda couldn’t even *ugh*.
Michael Elgin beat Donovan Dijak (with Truth Martini) in the television main event
Airing before the Tokyo Dome show, the story was Dijak trying to soften up Elgin for Jay Lethal and the House of Truth ahead of the title match at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Likewise, Lethal was at ringside providing guest commentary. Before the match, Jerry Lynn interrupted the proceedings and confronted Lethal. At first it looked tense but Lynn admitted he was wrong about his Final Battle predictions. They shook hands. Lethal proclaimed it was the final proof he was the now the greatest wrestler in the world.
This was a mean guy match. They started by slamming into each other with shoulder tackles. Elgin eventually got the better of the early exchange. The fans counted along when Elgin hoisted Dijak up for a delayed vertical suplex. They quickened the pace and Dijak knocked Elgin off the apron. Truth Martini celebrated by break dancing in the ring before a commercial break.
Dijak got heat on Elgin then Big Mike made a comeback. He pummeled Dijak for a few moments until using a German suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. On commentary, Lethal kept mentioning that this was pro wrestling and not powerlifting. So, he would beat the mighty Elgin because he was the best wrestler in the world as ROH world champion.
Elgin blocked a chokeslam. Seconds later, Dijak picked him for a chokeslam into a backbreaker. Dijak leaped to the top rope and did a moonsault for a two count. Elgin fought back with forearm smashes. Dijak lifted him up in a fireman’s carry. Elgin turned it into a sunset flip followed by a deadlift powerbomb. Elgin finished him off with sit-out powerbomb for the pin. He then stared down Lethal.
Not wasting any time after their move to POP TV, TNA Wrestling returns to pay-per-view Friday night with One Night Only, an event available on most major cable outlets, the Flipps TV app, and more for as low as $14.95.
Your main card as of now:
– TNA Tag Team Champions The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Kurt Angle & Drew Galloway vs. Jessie Godderz & Eli Drake
– TNA X-Division Champion Tigre Uno vs. DJ Z vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Mandrews
– Knockouts Championship #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: Awesome Kong vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne vs. Rebel vs. Jade vs. Marti Bell
– Bobby Lashley vs. Tyrus
– Rockstar Spud vs. Aiden O’Shea
– Beer Money (James Storm & Bobby Roode) vs. Eric Young & Bram
– “The Miracle” Mike Bennett (w/Maria Kanellis) vs. Robbie E
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 PM EST.
We are looking for your thoughts on the event, so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.
TIGRE UNO VS. DJ ZEMA ION VS. MANDREWS VS. CRAZZY STEVE FOR THE X DIVISION TITLE
Total high spot match. Good for what it was, it was non-stop moves and while lacked selling, it was all crisp and lots of good stuff. One of the best spots was Mandrews riding his skateboard down the ramp and did a huracanrana on DJZ. DJZ then flew into Steve. Mandrews was the star of the match. This was under elimination rules. Mandrews used a shooting star on Uno, who was caught in a chicken wing by Steve, and then Mandrews instead pinned Steve. Steve was over as a cult deal and also looked good. The crowd booed Steve losing a lot. Steve then put Uno in the chicken wing after the match to further injure his bad shoulder. Mandrews pinned Ion with a schoolboy. Uno sold the shoulder, but came back to pin Mandrews with a Spanish fly.
Shane Helms came out after the match and a few people were chanting “Three Count at him.” Josh Matthews said that Helms was the greatest cruiserweight champion in the history of pro wrestling. They acknowledged each other. He pointed at his watch, giving the idea that ti’s only time before he wins the title.
AIDEN O’SHEA VS. ROCKSTAR SPUD
Spud is replacing Mahabili Shera, ruining our chance to see the worst PPV match of the year. They said somebody let the air out of Shera’s tires. That excuse for missing a match doesn’t work in the days of cell phones and taxis and such. O’Shea told him to walk away and take the count out. Spud refused to leave. They did a match which was O’Shea mostly just humiliating him and bullying him around. It went too long. Spud make a comeback and rock’d up, took off his bow tie like it was Lawler’s strap, and won with the underdog. It pretty much dragged.
EC III did a promo taped on Tuesday. He said Matt Hardy was the villain in his story but Hardy has to admit he beat him. Good promo.
ROBBIE E VS. MIKE BENNETT
Major league ring entrance. The match was a mistake. He should have gone 3-4 minutes of a dominant performance where he did things to stand out. Instead they did a long back and forth totally ordinary match. Bennett won with a falcon arrow, which they call “Divine Intervention.” After the match he did a promo saying he’s going to have a Kingdom of Miracles and told fans his catch phrase of “Yes we do.”
Gail Kim promo talking about the Gauntlet match that will determine the next contender for her title.
WOMEN’S GAUNTLET MATCH
All kinds of awful. This could easily win worst match of 2016. This is a TNA gauntlet which means Royal Rumble until the last two and then it’s like a singles match. In order, it started Madison Rayne vs. Jade which was so bad. Next was Rebel, and she can do a few athletic things but she’s so green. Next was Chelsea Green from Tough Enough, who didn’t look good. Marti Bell was next. Deonna Purrazzo was next, one day after being on NXT. She was the best worker in this match, except for maybe Kong. Kong and Velvet Sky were the last two. Then people started getting eliminated. The last three were Jade, Rayne and Kong. Rayne speared Jade to the floor. Kong then pinned Rayne with a missed spinning backfist that was supposed to hit and the Implant buster.
The Wolves did a promo talking about a future match with Beer Money. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz showed up in the middle of their interview.
TREVOR LEE VS. PEPPER PARKS
They had a hard time getting the crowd this late in the show. They finally did at the end. There was nothing wrong with it but not much reaction and it dragged. For the finish, Lee won with a dropkick into a double foot stomp and a fisherman buster.
Doll House promo. They put over Kong winning. Kong spoke about beating Gail Kim for the title.
Pope was in the ring. He called out Grado. Pope handed him a candy bar and he ate it. Pope called him a joke. Said when the bell rings these people see you as a joke. Fans chanted “No.” Grado then talked like he was from Texas. He pulled that off pretty well. This set up Abyss vs. Grado.
ABYSS VS. GRADO
Abyss pinned him with a choke slam on thumbtacks. The key spots were Abyss knocking Grado ff the top rope and he fell through a table on the floor. There was another spot where Abyss has a barbed wire board underneath him as well as on top of him and Grado did a splash off the top for a near fall. Abyss was supposed to get up to win but they had to stall because Abyss got his foot all tangled in the barbed wire. This was the kind of a match that makes wrestling look like such a joke. People did pop for the barbed wire spots but the whole thing just made wrestling look like a geek show.
Drew Galloway & Kurt Angle talked about their match Tuesday and the tag team title match tonight.
EDDIE EDWARDS & DAVEY RICHARDS VS. KURT ANGLE & DREW GALLOWAY VS. ELI DRAKE & JESSIE GODDERZ FOR THE TAG TEAM TITLES
This was really good. Edwards used the ankle lock on Drake to win while Edwards had the half crab on Jessie Godderz. Angle got in his face for stealing his move but then hugged in and Edwards, Galloway, Angle and Richards all hugged. Edwards may have gotten hurt because he was limping pretty badly at the end. It wasn’t like they worked on his leg seriously during the match. Angle was German suplexing everyone including a spot where he suplexed both Edwards and Richads at the same time.
BOBBY LASHLEY VS. TYRUS
Not much of a match. Tyrus ripped the padding off a turbuckle. Tyrus threw him in it but Lashley came back. There was a ref bump by Earl Hebner. Lashley rammed Tyrus’ head into the metal 11 times and then pinned him after a spear.
BOBBY ROODE & JAMES STORM VS. ERIC YOUNG & BRAM
Good match. Roode & Storm look like they’re together for the long haul with matching trunks. Beer Money won with the DWI on Bram and Roode pinned him after Roode had slingshotted Young into Storm’s DDT and Young rolled out of the ring. They pushed Roode & Storm challenging the Wolves for the tag titles coming.
TNA PPV tonight! That’s right, TNA is running a PPV show tonight, in Bethlehem, PA after four straight days of tapings. As noted by Dave, the ratings for the first real episode of Impact on POP TV did poorly, and I can’t imagine that this PPV will do anything but that.
Conor McGregor will move up in weight to challenge UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in an effort to become the UFC’s first dual belt holder and their third fighter to win belts in two weight classes. More on that here. The show in March will be headlined by McGregor vs. RDA and co-headlined by Holly Holm’s first women’s bantamweight championship defense against Miesha Tate. Yes, UFC is not going with the Ronda Rousey rematch immediately.
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Houston (Brock Lesnar vs. Sheamus, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title),tonight’s NXT show in Tampa and tonight’s TNA show in Bethlehem, PA if there’s anything not on the PPV to Dave Meltzer
We’ll also be doing our weekend poll on the TNA show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
TNA ONE NIGHT ONLY PPV TONIGHT FROM BETHLEHEM, PA AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Kurt Angle & Drew Galloway vs. Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards vs. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz
Bobby Roode & James Storm vs. Eric Young & Bram
Women’s gauntlet match for No. 1 contender for the title (possibly to be won by Awesome Kong since Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong in a title match was already taped for Impact)
Mahabili Shera vs. Aiden O’Shea
Bobby Lashley vs. Tyrus
Mike Bennett vs Robbie E
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M EASTERN (one hour earlier than usual)
A.J. Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for IWGP title
CMLL ON WWW.CLAROSPORTS.COM LIVE FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Marco Corleone & La Mascara & Maximo Sexy vs. Kamaitachi & Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla
Euforia & Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero vs. Dragon Rojo & Rey Escorpion & Thunder
Volador Jr. & Cibernetico vs. Rush & Caristico
CES MMA FROM LINCOLN, RION AXS TV AT 9 P.M. EASTERN
We’re looking for reports on Saturday from the ROH TV tapings in Concord, NC (Young Bucks vs. Matt Sydal & ACH, Roderick Strong vs. Masada, Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley, War Machine vs. All Night Express plus Top Prospect tournament matches), Lucha Underground TV tapings in Boyle Heights, CA, WWE house shows in Montgomery, AL (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for WWE title; New Day vs. Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer, Kane vs. Bray Wyatt) and Bossier City, LA (Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio, Ryback vs. Rusev), TNA PPV tapings in Bethlehem, PA and NXT in Citrus Springs, FL.
Sunday has Lucha Underground tapings in Boyle Heights, CA, as well as WWE house shows in Mobile, AL (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for WWE title; New Day vs. Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer; Kane vs. Bray Wyatt) and Monroe, LA (Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio, Ryback vs. Rusev).
Raw is live Monday from New Orleans. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman return on the show.
Smackdown and Main Event tapings will be Tuesday in Lafayette, LA.
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.
The debut of Smackdown on the USA Network did 2,757,000 viewers, up about 600,000 from what the show was doing on Syfy, so the boost of changing networks looks to be significant.
The WWE continues to have fun on its web site with the New Japan raid, showing a photo of most of the Bullet Club, wearing Balor Club T-shirts on their web site while Finn Balor wore a Bullet Club T-shirt in a photo released. Balor did an interview promoting them coming talking about how he was best friends in Japan with Karl Anderson, as well as good friends with Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale and Shinsuke Nakamura while he was in Japan.
Roddy Piper’s last movie, “The Masked Saint,” debuts tonight in 480 theaters around the country. The story is about the life of a pro wrestler who becomes a pastor, but when there are problems paying the bills, he goes back to wrestling to raise money. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY
There was a bomb threat this morning at Arena Mexico. The building was evacuated at 10:30 a.m. and roads around the arena were blocked off. The building was searched and no bomb was found.
ROH announced a battle of champions (Jay Lethal & War Machine & Roderick Strong) vs. Bullet Club (Young Bucks & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) for 1/22 in Asheville, NC. Anderson & Gallows are making their advertised ROH dates this month but will not be taking any new dates.
WWE
WWE stock closed down two cents a share today to $16.30.
To show the relationship with WWE & Evolve is still strong, WWE allowed Evolve to pass out flyers for their shows in January in Orlando at the NXT tapings last night at Full Sail University.
Tickets are on sale today for the complete out of Florida NXT shows. Since they are in smaller buildings, most are likely to sell out quickly. 2/4 in Memphis, 2/5 in Nashville, 2/6 in Indianapolis, 2/18 in Philadelphia (Tower Theater), 2/19 in Asbury Park, NJ, 2/20 in Albany, NY
Daniel Bryan will be appearing toady in Cincinnati at the Cavalcade of Customs at the Duke Energy Convention Center (thanks to Brian Henke)
A couple of stories on the Anoa’i family and wrestling related to Roman Reigns returning as WWE champion to the Gulf Coast this weekend, where he grew up. HERE and HERE
UFC officially announced shows on 5/8 in Rotterdam, Holland, which was reported in this week’s Observer, as well as 4/10 in Zagreb, Croatia. Both will be FS 1 shows.
A Frank Mir vs. Mark Hunt heavyweight main event was announced for 3/20 in Brisbane, Australia.
MISCELLANEOUS
AAA’s vacated heavyweight title, that Alberto Del Rio never lost and wasn’t allowed to return to drop, will be decided on 1/22 in the main event of Guerra de Titanes at Juan de la Barrera Gym in Mexico City. It will start as a tag match with Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown vs. Mesias & El Texano Jr. The winning team will then have a singles match for the championship.
Glory 27 takes place on 2/26 in Chicago at the Sears Centre Arena headlined by Artem Levin vs. Simon Marcus for the middleweight title. There is a pre-sale right now and tickets to on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Sunday.
During last night’s Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets game, in Dallas, they were playing the Shinsuke Nakamura entrance music between plays. (thanks to Paul Fontaine)
CMLL from Tuesday night at Arena Coliseo in Guadalajara: Chakal & Thunder Boy b Divino & Metatron, Disturbio & Malefico & Metalico b Omar Brunetti & Sensei & Starman, Okumura & Sangre Azteca & Virus b Esfinge & Pegasso & Stigma, Angel de Oro & Rey Cometa & Titan b Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora & Rey Hechicero, El Terrible & Rey Bucanero & Vangellys b Mistico & Valiente & Volador Jr.
The non-title win in the main event by Terrible & Bucanero & Vangellys sets up a CMLL trios title match on Tuesday night in Guadalajara.
Casino executive Bryan Lindsey was announced as having acquired a majority equity stake in Tuff N Uff, the 20-year old Las Vegas local promotion.
IWA Mid South tonight in Clarksville, IN at the Colgate Gym features Billy Gunn, Sami Callihan, Michael Elgin and Kongo Kong. They also run tomorrow night in the same building with Gunn vs. Reed Bentley and a women’s no rope barbed wire match.
Key Takeaway: The first season of Breaking Ground caps off with a really strong episode focusing on the NXT performers at TakeOver: Respect.
Show Recap: In terms of a single episode, this edition worked better than any other episode of this season, and arguably works entirely on its own as a backgrounder on the NXT performers. Last week left off with fans beginning to line up outside Full Sail University for TakeOver: Respect. From there, we branch off into several parallel paths:
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable: Gable and Jordan talk about the importance of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – we get a nice video package explaining Dusty’s death and legacy – and then shift to the excitement of them getting to wrestle on their first TakeOver event. They lose to Baron Corbin and Rhyno, but afterwards get a lot of praise backstage for their performance and view the experience as something to build on.
Baron Corbin: Before the show, Corbin and Tino Sabbatelli have a nice chat about their shared background as NFL players. Corbin notes how he came in and people didn’t like him because he didn’t come from the indies or pay his dues, but he worked hard and got to the top – basically saying that he hopes Sabbatelli can do that, too. Anyway, Corbin and Rhyno beat Jordan and Gable, then lose to Samoa Joe and Finn Balor in the finals. (There’s a really cool segment with Stephanie and Triple H looking at the trophy and talking about the presentation of the trophy with Cody and Dustin Rhodes before the show.) After the match, we get Cody’s speech and then see Corbin backstage, a bit gutted that a trophy was being presented and he wasn’t part of it. The guy is competitive.
Dana Brooke: Dana’s mom visits before the show and helps her prepare for the show. She and her mom visit with Tara, the NXT physical therapist, who explains the injury is a pectoral tear and she can work through it. Dana guts out the match with Asuka and does really well, getting praise backstage.
Apollo Crews: Before the show, Triple H and Apollo talk about a new finisher for him. He has a match with Tyler Breeze, who he repeatedly puts over in interviews, and beats him with his new finisher – which is basically a back suplex spun into a power-bomb. It looks cool.
Bayley: The show caps off with highlights from the Bayley/Sasha Iron Man Match, which is edited to look like the most epic match in history. Afterwards Bayley and Sasha get flowers and hug and it’s all very nice and emotional.
After the show, Triple H has a meeting with the agents and producers and praises the show, noting they basically made four acts into stars (Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, Asuka, and Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) in one show, one of which was somebody who lost. Then he heads to the all-talent meeting, where he praises the talent and says that Dusty would be proud of all of them. Then he calls Tyler Breeze down to the front of the meeting and announces that Breeze has been called up to the main roster, leading to a standing ovation from the assembled NXT talent.
The episode ends with a montage of updates on how everyone’s doing now: Dana had pectoral surgery and is rehabbing. Apollo and Corbin are still in NXT and working on their promo skills. Jordan and Gable are one of NXT’s most popular teams and might get called up soon. Sami Zayn returned to action on the European tour. Bayley is still NXT women’s champion and beat Nia Jax in London to retain the title in a match Jax dominated. Bayley hopes to get her call-up soon. Tino, ZZ and the others are still working hard at the Performance Center to pursue their WWE dreams. Tyler Breeze made his debut on the main roster, with the last image shown on Breaking Ground being Breeze coming through the curtain and facing the crowd as Michael Cole and JBL react to his entrance on commentary.
Final Thoughts: This episode was good enough to make me wonder why they spent nine episodes spinning their wheels to get here. It was really focused and somewhat resembled the superb WWE 24 series, which tended to focus on a single event and drill down into the events surrounding it. The emphasis on the importance of the TakeOver events as a means of getting to the main roster really helped make this episode seem really important. The focus on the handful of NXT stars that we’ve gotten to know and care about – rather than random people like Josh, Nhooph or ZZ – really made the episode feel important rather than something crammed with random segments to fill the time. It’d be great if every episode was this focused next season, because then the show could be something special.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of thoughts on Smackdown, WrestleMania, NXT, TNA’s PPV coming up live tonight, a bunch of calls and text message questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Taped on Thursday, January 7th for the January 19th show on POP TV and for future One Night Only PPVs:
– Jeff Hardy beat Tyrus via DQ. Jeff called out Matt Hardy and they did an interview talking about Matt’s career vs. title match with EC 3. This ends up with Tyrus challenging Jeff to a match.
– Knockouts Champion Gail Kim beat Awesome Kong to retain.
– Beer Money (Bobby Roode & James Storm) beat Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz. Roode & Storm challenged Bram & Eric Young to a rematch (from their match that actually takes place on Friday’s show). Instead, Drake & Godderz issued a challenge.
– Mike Bennett beat Pepper Parks in a squash match.
– Kurt Angle is out thanking everyone. Bobby Lashley comes out and said that he wants a rematch from their match last year where Angle beat him. Angle praised Lashley and accepted the match.
– Ken Anderson beat KOTM Champion Eric Young by DQ when Bram interfered. They beat down Anderson until Roode & Storm ran in. Segment started when Young came out and offered an open challenge for his King of the Mountain title against anyone except Roode or Storm, leading to Anderson coming out.
*****
Taped for PPV:
– Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne beat Jade & Marti Bell
– TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III went to a double countout with Matt Hardy
– Drew Galloway beat Eli Drake
– Bobby Lashley beat Mahabili Shera
– TNA Tag Champions Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards beat Abyss & Crazzy Steve
– Bram & KOTM Champ Eric Young beat DJ Zema Ion & Trevor Lee when Young pinned Lee after a piledriver
– Tigre Uno & Mandrews beat Jessie Godderz & Robbie E when the latter team couldn’t get along
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania: – Wladek Zbyszko defeated B.F. Roller for the American Heavyweight Title
1925
Kansas City, Missouri: – Wayne Munn defeated Ed “Strangler” Lewis to win the World Heavyweight Champion in 2 out of 3 falls
1946
San Francisco, California: – Jim Casey defeated Dean Detton to win the San Francisco NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title
1957
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff defeated Fritz Von Erich and Karl Von Schober in a tournament final to become the first Minneapolis NWA World Tag Team Champions (The title would go on to become the AWA World Tag Team Title in 1960)
1958
Mobile, Alabama: – Yvon Robert defeated Mario Galento to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1959
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dick Hutton and Bob Ellis drew 1 fall each (60 minutes) – Ernie Dusek, Lee Henning and Mighty Atlas beat Bobby Bruns, John Foti and Thor Hagen – Bob Orton beat Joe Scarpa
1960
Houston, Texas: – Pete Managoff defeated Nick Kozak for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1962
Memphis, Tennessee: – Len Rossi won the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title by defeating Don Greene
1965
Portland, Oregon: – Pepper Martin defeated Pat Patterson for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Moose Cholak – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Reggie Parks & Billy Red Cloud – Eddie Sharkey beat Johnny Kace – Bob Boyer beat Jack Allen
1966
Omaha, Nebraska: – Mr Wrestling Tim Woods beat AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon in 2 out of 3 falls to win AWA Title (recognized only in Omaha) – Reggie Parks drew Haru Sasaki – Mitsu Arakawa beat Jack Pesek – Billy Red Cloud beat Jim Wehba (Skandar Akbar)
Chicago, Illinois: – NWA Champion Gene Kiniski beat WWA Champion Dick the Bruiser (NWA title only on the line) – Johnny Valentine no contest Wilbur Snyder – Verne Gagne beat Chris Markoff – The Assassins beat Dennis Hall & Huey Long – The Crusher beat Prince Pullins
1970
Jacksonville, Florida: – Brass Knuckles Title: Jack Brisco defeat Missouri Mauler to win title – Mephisto & Dante defeated Sam Steamboat & Ciclon Negro – Bob Orton defeated Skull Von Stroheim – Dory Dixon defeated The Executioner
1971
Portland, Oregon: – Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeated Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title
1972
Hanley, England: – Albert Wall defeated George Gordienko to win the British Empire Heavyweight Title
1974
Tampa, Florida: – Danny Hodge defeated Ali (Iron Sheik) Vaziri – Kevin Sullivan defeated Skull Von Stroheim – Tom Jones defeated Mark Stone – Mad Dog & Stan Vachon defeated Paul LeDuc & Tex McKenzie – Mike Graham defeated Dick Slater by dq – Buddy Colt defeated Paul Jones by dq – Dusty Rhodes no contest Jos LeDuc
1975
Miami, Florida: – NWA Title: Jack Brisco defeat Dory Funk, Jr by dq to retain title – Florida Tag Team Title: Tony Parisi & Dominic DeNucci defeated Dick Slater & Prof. Toru Tanaka to retain titles – Florida Title: Bill Watts defeat The Great Malenko to retain title – Bob Roop & Mongolian Stomper beat Jos LeDuc & Bob Armstrong – Johnny Weaver beat Sonny Rogers – Pat Barrett drew Iron Mike McCord
1978
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: – Leo Burke defeated Don Gagne (Frenchy Martin) for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Stan Stasiak – Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum – Dusty Rhodes beat Waldo Von Erich – Jay Strongbow beat Chris Tolos dq – Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell – Angelo Mosca ddq Peter Maivia
1983
Cloverdale, British Columbia: – Moose Morowski and Al Tomko defeated Dean Ho and Moondog Moretti for the Vancouver NWA International Tag Team Title
Kumaya, Japan: – Kaoru Matsumoto defeated Lioness Asuka to win the AJW Singles Title
1984
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Don Kernodle and Bob Orton, Jr. defeated Dory Funk, Jr. and Jimmy Valiant for the vacant Mid-Atlantic NWA World Tag Team titles
Mexico City, Mexico: – Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. defeated Pirata Morgan to win the Mexican National Heavyweight Title
1985
Tampa, Florida: – Winner gets held up Florida Title and $15,000: Brian Blair defeated Jesse Barr (Blair regains title) – Texas Tornado Match: Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts defeated Khrusher Khruschchev & Jim Neidhart – PYT Express defeated Sweet Brown Sugar & Scott McGhee – Mike Graham defeated Jack Hart
1990
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler defeated King Cobra for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title
1994
Memphis, Tennessee: – Far 2 Wild (Chris Michaels and Todd Morton) defeated PG-13 (JC Ice and Wolfie D) for the held up USWA Tag Team Title
1995
Atlanta, Georgia: – Arn Anderson defeated Johnny B. Badd to win the WCW World Television Title
Nagano, Japan: – Tatsutoshi Goto, Shiro Koshinaka and Michiyoshi Ohara defeated Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado to win the Pro Wrestling WAR Six-Man Tag Team Titles
1998
Daytona Beach, Florida: – Juventud Guerrera defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Ultimo Dragon to win the title
2000
Fajardo, Puerto Rico: – Ray Gonzalez defeated Carlos Colon to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title
2003
Nashville, Tennessee: – America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) defeated The New Church (Brian Lee and Slash) to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles – Curt Hennig defeated David Flair in an axe-handle on a pole match
2006
Albany, New York: – John Cena defeated Shawn Michaels, Kane, Chris Masters, Carlito and Kurt Angle in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the WWE Championship – Edge defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship after cashing in his “Money in the Bank briefcase”
2012
Orlando, Florida: – TNA X-Division champion Austin Aries defeatd Zema Ion, Jesse Sorensen and Kid Kash to retain the title – TNA Knockouts champion Gail Kim (with Madison Rayne) defeated Mickie James to retain the title – TNA Tag Team champions Matt Morgan & Crimson beat Samoa Joe & Magnus to retain the titles – TNA champion Bobby Roode retained the title over Jeff Hardy by dq
