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  • Memphis’ Buddy Wayne passes away at 81

    Dwayne Peale, best known as Buddy Wayne and Buddy Wayne Peale, a fixture on the Memphis wrestling scene for three decades, passed away today after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis, is son Ken reported this morning.

    Peale was 81.  Ken Wayne (Ken Peale) said that his father had spent the week in the hospital and asked to leave to go into hospice care on Tuesday night as he knew he wasn’t going to last long.  He passed away at 1:30 a.m

    “He passed with dignity and loved ones,” Ken wrote on the Wrestling Classics message board. “He is at peace now.”

    Peale started in the territory in the late 50s until his real name, but was best known as Buddy Wayne.  His most memorable program would have been a father-and-son tag team feud with Buddy & Ken Wayne against Tommy & Eddie Gilbert.

    Buddy Wayne, not to be confused with the Northwest wrestler of the same name, used to promote shows in the Memphis area for Nick Gulas and later Jerry Jarrett.

  • RIZIN results from Saitama Super Arena: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jadeep Singh

    Results from today’s Rizin show from the Saitama Super Arena:

    Rena beat Jleana Valentino in a women’s 112 pound fight with a second round flying armbar.

    King Mo Lawal beat Teodoras Aukstuolis in the heavyweight tournament semifinal, dominating him everywhere and winning via decision

    Jiri Prochazka beat Vadim Nemkov in the other heavyweight semifinal.  Very good fight going back-and-forth.  Nemkov had the advantage on the ground.  Both very tired by the end of the 10 minute first round and when it was over, Nemkov just couldn’t get up and didn’t answer the bell for the second round.

    Brennan Ward of Bellator beat Ken Hasegawa with a belly-to-belly suplex and choke.

    Soo Chul Kim beat Maike Linhares in a boring fight via unanimous decision.

    Takeru beat Yang Ming under K-1 rules.  The ref stopped it after a barrage of punches in the second round.

    Gabi Garcia beat Lei’d Tapa via knockout with a backfist that looked most like a reflex action than a planned punch.  Garcia looked tons bigger than Tapa, stunningly so.  Tapa was a lot lighter than her wrestling size and Garcia had the most ridiculous shoulders on a fighter, man or woman, that you’ll see.  Tapa knocked her down first and then both swung wildly with no technique.  The crowd was very into this as a freak show fight.

    Bob Sapp beat Akebono.  This fight was so bad Spike couldn’t air it.

    Baruto beat Peter Aerts via decision.  The 403-pound Baruto threw Aerts around pretty easily.

    Andy Souwer, a kickboxing legend, beat Yuichiro Nagashima with a flurry of hard punches to the head and particularly the body and Nagashima went down.

    Kron Gracie beat Asen Yamamoto via triangle.  He got the triangle, Yamamoto was able to power bomb Gracie but Gracie held on tight for the submission.  Yamamoto was too young and too small.  Gracie’s technique looked great.

    Fedor Emelianenko beat Jadeep Singh via first round ground and pound as Singh tapped from strikes.  Fedor took him down and pretty much beat him up.  Hiroshi Hase made a cameo in the ring with Fedor.

    King Mo beat Jiri Prochazka too win the heavyweight tournament. Prochazka landed a lot of kicks early, but Mo took him down.  Prochazka rushed in after getting up and Mo knocked him out cold with a right hand.

  • Daily pro wrestling history (12/31): Bruiser Brody wins NWA Florida Title

    1959 

    Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
    – Ilio DiPaolo and Whipper Billy Watson defeated Don Leo Jonathan and Gene Kiniski to win the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Titles

    1974

    Macon, Georgia:
    – The Mighty Yankees defeated Danny Little Bear and Rocky Johnson for the NWA Macon Tag Team Title

    1975 

    Tampa, Florida:
    – Frank Goodish (Bruiser Brody) defeated Rocky Johnson for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title 

    1977

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
    – Tuxedo match: The Crusher beat Lord Alfred Hayes
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne
    – Billy Robinson & Larry Hennig beat Super Destroyer & Angelo Mosca dq to earn a tag title shot on the next card
    – Rufus R Jones beat Bobby Duncum
    – Evan Johnson beat Buck Zumhofe

    1978

    Portland, Oregon:
    – Killer Tim Brooks and Roddy Piper defeated Jonathan Boyd and Dutch Savage to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles

    1984 

    Fort Worth, Texas:
    – Kevin, Kerry and Mike Von Erich won the World Class Six-Man Tag Team Title, by defeating Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts 

    1994

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Brian Christopher defeated Tommy Rich to win the USWA Heavyweight Title

    1989

    Moscow, Soviet Union:
    – Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated Takayuki Iizuka
    – Jushin Liger defeated Black Tiger
    – Masahiro Chono defeated Chimur Zarasov 
    – Wahka Eveloev and IWGP Tag Team Champion Shinya Hashimoto fought to a draw
    – Riki Choshu defeated Victor Zangiev
    – Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Vladimir Berkovich
    – Habieli Victachev defeated Hiroshi Hase 
    – Salman Hashimikov defeated Manny Fernandez

    YESTERDAY IN FLORIDA WRESTLING HISTORY (thanks to Barry Rose)

    1956 – Don Eagle beat Ray Stevens (Tampa)

    1963 – Don Curtis & Mark Lewin beat Great Malenko & Bob Orton via DQ in a world tag team title match(Tampa)

    1964 – Dick Steinborn beat Tarzan Tyler via DQ (Jacksonville)

    1975 – Frank the Hammer Goodish (Bruiser Brody) beat Rocky Johnson to win the Florida title (Tampa)

  • Wrestling Weekly: Sam Muchnick, Death of the Territories, more~! 12/31

    The last show of the year is old school heavy!  Lots of talk about the best president in the history of the NWA as well as the demise of the territories, but Les and Vic start this week with high praise for Alberto Del Rio and even a booking idea regarding a new team and new alliance for 2016.  From there, we’ll discuss the legendary Sam Muchnick (13:25) who was one of the main figures in building and running the NWA for many years and segue into talking about a thread on the board regarding the demise of the territories (32:26).  Les lived through it, so he gives his take as someone who was in the business and not in WWF at the time.  Thanks so much for listening; we hope you have a great weekend and a Happy New Year~!

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  • The Week In British Wrestling: Joey Ryan does it again; possible big announcements coming

    By Alan Boon fof F4WOnline.com

    A lot of promotions enjoyed a Christmas break this week, but while things don’t really wake up until the middle of January, there were still things going on in the UK. Here are five things you need to know about British wrestling this week:

    1) The time for talk is over.

    For the last few years, British wrestling fans – although not necessarily fans of British wrestling – have had their own TV show on Challenge TV every Sunday night. WrestleTalk TV, which follows TNA on the mostly-retro quiz channel, is a discussion show, mostly concerned with the mainstream promotions, and TNA. Most of the interviews, given WWE’s embargo on all but the most valuable (to them) outlets, are with former-WWE stars or current TNA wrestlers, and for fans of that kind of thing it’s been a weekly staple of varying interest. This week, however, Challenge TV announced that the show was cancelled, although producer Alex Shane was quick to claim it would appear on another channel soon. In it’s place – although the exact time slot is yet to be determined – will be another Shane-produced wrestling show, but this time a quiz show more in fitting with the rest of the channel’s output.

    As well as the main show, there was a monthly British Wrestling Round-Up show, which followed late into the evening, but mostly featured footage from just the one promotion, New Generation Wrestling from Hull. Nothing has been announced as to the future of this show. While it wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, the show did at least maintain a visibility for something other than WWE & TNA on British TV, and for that alone it’s loss should be noted with some disappointment.

    2) Even on a quiet Christmas Day, you can still watch British wrestling.

    For many years TV was seen as the be all and end all for British wrestling companies, and more than one promotion killed itself trying to make that happen. The last few years, however, have seen an explosion in online on-demand channels, made possible by advancements in broadband speeds and editing software available to even the tiniest promotion. The upshot of all this is that there is plenty of quality British wrestling to watch, whenever you want to watch it. The main leaders in the field are Insane Championship Wrestling and PROGRESS, who have mobilised their hefty fanbases into subscribing to on-demand channels. As well as recordings of live shows, both promotions offer exclusive footage only available to subscribers, such as ICW’s Friday Night Fight Club and the excellent Jimmy Havoc Q&A on Demand PROGRESS. Both channels utilise Pivotshare software, and are available through all the usual platforms.

    Many other promotions – and I’ll try to list them later – offer a different model, whereby you pay for access to one or more of their shows to stream or download. Some host their own shows, while others are available through third party sites like Your Fight Site and Wrestling Store, and use a variety of different platforms, although Vimeo is popular. Among the major promotions to use this model are Revolution Pro-Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling, Southside Wrestling Entertainment, and IPW:UK, but there are also shows from Grand-Pro, Pro-Wrestling Chaos, LDN, NGW, FutureShock, and many more out there. In addition, RevPro offer a weekly show on their YouTube channel, the first 2016 taping for which is this coming Sunday and it is a stacked card.

    All this means that, if it happens in the UK, you can pretty much see it within days on one platform or another, and makes it very easy – and enjoyable – to be a fan of British wrestling . Nothing comes close to the live show experience (and there are still a couple of promotions who offer nothing but that experience) but having it beamed live to your living room is the next best thing.

    3) Joey Ryan’s penis is stronger than we thought.

    So how was your Christmas? Yeah, mine too. Oh, did you get to see Joey Ryan replicate his famous spot with Danshoku Dino, only in a sleepy Cambridgeshire market town instead of Tokyo, and with five other men instead of a Japanese sex pest? You didn’t? Oh, man. So, yeah, Joey Ryan came to the UK last week, and of course he played up on that spot. At Southside last Sunday, at the sold out Season’s Beatings in St Neots, he competed in a six-man Giant Lollipop On A Pole match, which also featured Rockstar Spud and Martin Kirby, and a ton of brilliant comedy spots that had me crying with laughter. Spud won the match – does it matter? – but all six men (and referee Joel Allen, who played his part, too) deserved a standing ovation.

    Southside are one of the UK’s second-tier promotions, never grabbing the big headlines but putting on solid shows with a good roster and a sprinkling of the more interesting imports. Already for 2016, they’ve announced Sami Callihan, Angelico, Timothy Thatcher, and Leva Bates, but the main focus is placed on their British stars, which include Will Ospreay, Jimmy Havoc, and el Ligero. Ligero main-evented Sunday’s show, in a Loser Leaves Southside match against Kay Lee Ray, and even though the result was slightly spoiled by Ligero appearing on the poster for February’s show, the match was well-worked, hard-fought, and painful-looking (if a little overbooked).

    Also on the show, Stixx continued his battle against Joseph Conners’s Righteous Army, and Nixon Newell defended her Queen Of Southside title. While the likes of ICW, PROGRESS, PCW, and RevPro get the major headlines – and rightly so for the most part – Southside (and promotions like them) are really worth checking out if you get the chance. They’re not “my” brand but I’m never disappointed by their shows.

    4) PROGRESS are HUGE teases.

    With all their shows for 2016 seemingly announced and a stunning amount of season tickets already sold for the London shows, you might be forgiven for thinking that PROGRESS can sit back and just roll out whatever they’ve got planned for the year as it comes. On Tuesday, however, they tweeted that they would be announcing HUGE news on New Year’s Day, and their fanbase exploded into speculation. The big guess was some kind of TV deal, what with a test being filmed at their last London show, but that was quickly shot down by management with promoter Jim Smallman repeating his opinion that TV wasn’t necessary for a promotion to be a success in 2016. Other guesses have included a tour (ICW run two successful tours a year in the UK), a live webcast of a show, and a big show at a bigger venue than the 700-seaters they traditionally run. Like a lot of “announcements” in this most carny of industries, it could turn out to be a damp squib but I’d lay money on it being something really, really interesting. Check your Twitter feed on Friday at midday to find out.

    5) Shows still happened.

    Although live action was thin on the ground over Christmas week, it wasn’t entirely absent. As well as the Southside show reported above, and a few shows at holiday camps open to seasonal vacationers, New Generation Wrestling ran Hull, and WrestleForce promoted Witham Town Hall. At NGW’s Eternal Glory At Christmas show, NGW champion Nathan Cruz defeated Matt Myers to keep hold of the title he’s worn since July, although Zack Gibson – who added Zack Sabre Jr on this show to his list of recent conquests – will be gunning for him in the new year. Also on the show were Mark Andrews, Bubblegum, Rampage Brown, and el Ligero, as well as a host of other NGW regulars.

    The promotion have already announced their big show for next year, May’s Ultimate Showdown, and will be hoping to capitalise on a nationwide tour in the spring. WrestleForce’s Festive Fury, held in the Essex town of Witham, featured all their usual characters, some of whom may or may not also be regulars in the RetroFutureVerse of Lucha Britannia. Former WWE developmental prospect The Zulu Warrior retained his International Championship, seeing off the challenge of Joey Ozbourne, while the team of Peace & Brad O’Brien sent the fans home happy with a victory in the main event over the evil Voodoo & Damien. Also on the show were Richard Parliament, “Blackbelt” Tom Dawkins, and a good shout for rookie of the year 2016, the Punjabi Prince (Malik Waseem), and – as always at WrestleForce’s slightly surreal outings – a fun time was had by all.

    Next weekend sees us rocket into 2016 with shows from three of the big names of British wrestling.

  • WWE Providence, RI, house show results: John Cena vs. Alberto del Rio

    By Greg Watson

    – Neville beat The Miz

    – Hype Bros beat The Ascension

    – Kane beat Bray Wyatt

    – Ryback beat Rusev

    – Big Show beat Mark Henry

    – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte retained the belt in a triple threat against Paige and Becky Lynch

    – John Cena defeated U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio by DQ after Del Rio low blowed him. There was a spot where the ref got taken out. This caused Rusev to interfere in this match, but Cena took him out. 

  • WOR 12/30: RIZIN, Smackdown notes, Raw ratings, questions and more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back today with tons of pro-wrestling and MMA notes — RIZIN talk including results from Day 1, weigh-in notes, a bit of live Day 2 coverage and more. Plus, UFC this weekend, Smackdown spoilers, WWE running a special in Toronto, ratings from Monday, latest on the Rock, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • UFC 195 Preview: 5 storylines to watch, betting odds & predictions

    The UFC kicks off 2016 on Saturday night for their traditional New Year’s event from Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC 195, headlined by the UFC Welterweight Championship being defended when Robbie Lawler defends against Carlos Condit. The action kicks off with preliminary card bouts on UFC Fight Pass before moving over to FOX Sports 1 for more preliminary card fights leading into the main card on pay-per-view. The action will kick off on Saturday at 6:30 PM eastern time, and we will have coverage for you here on F4WOnline.com. Also on the card is a pivotal bout in the heavyweight division as Stipe Miocic takes on Andrei Arlovski. Let’s take a deeper look into the night’s card and present you five storylines to keep your eye on during UFC 195 on Saturday night.

    1. Welterweight gold on the line in the main event

    The first UFC event of 2016 is headlined by a title fight that could be an early contender for “Fight Of The Year” as the UFC Welterweight Championship is on the line. Robbie Lawler comes off his first title defense in 2015’s “Fight Of The Year” against Rory MacDonald and gets another big challenge in the form of Carlos Condit, a former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion. This fight is a much anticipated one for hardcore fans as Lawler and Condit are two of the most exciting 170-pound fighters on the planet, which is a big reason why the fight was put together. Condit is just 2-3 in his last five fights and missed 14 months of action due to a serious knee injury, but it looked like he hadn’t missed a step with a dominant win over Thiago Alves in May. It helped him leapfrog fellow contenders such as Tyron Woodley and Johny Hendricks, but the styles clash between Lawler and Condit is just too interesting to pass up. That could breed a war for the ages for the first main event of 2016.

    Lawler is coming off of that war with MacDonald in July and has been in quite a few wars over the last few years. His comeback story is one for the ages- written off coming back from Strikeforce, he has gone 7-1 since then to become champion and has been involved in the last two “Fight Of The Year” winners. He has had a lot of mileage put on him since the beginning of 2014, and it will be interesting to see if that has caught up to him. Condit will come in with a masterful gameplan with coaching from Greg Jackson. Both men, at times, start slow, but both have the conditioning to go a full 25 minutes. Condit may be more technical on the feet, but Lawler has more power in his hands. Both men can end a fight at any moment with their striking, and both men are equally as tough to finish. Condit has a better ground game.

    Needless to say, this has the makings of a war. On a card not big on star power, especially after the bonanza of fight cards in December, this is a fight fan’s dream battle in a month of more solid UFC action. It should be a battle for the ages, and the man who walks out of the Octagon with the gold around his waist at the end of Saturday night will have gone through hell to get it, but will be a deserving champion.

    2. A heavyweight title shot hangs in the balance

    The co-main event bout is a battle in the heavyweight division that could determine the next man in line to challenge for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Current champion Fabricio Werdum defends against former champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 196 next month, but first, Stipe Miocic and Andrei Arlovski will step inside the Octagon and do battle. Miocic is coming off of one of the most dominant performances in UFC heavyweight history in his fifth-round TKO win over Mark Hunt in May. He set the record for most strikes landed in a UFC bout, landing 361 total strikes over the course of nearly 23 minutes. Miocic has won four of his last five fights, with the lone loss being a close bout against Junior Dos Santos that was an all-out war. Miocic is ranked third in the division rankings, and a win has him primed to finally score that title shot.

    A title shot is something that many wouldn’t have expected Arlovski to ever receive again. But, here he is, on the verge of earning one following wins in six straight fights, including four straight since returning to the UFC. He may have earned one had his win over Frank Mir at UFC 191 in September been more impressive, but that performance set him back just a bit and put him in a title eliminator position. Arlovski has held UFC gold before, and his comeback story is proof you can never count a fighter out in this sport. Training under Greg Jackson has done wonders for him, and Jackson could be leading him towards gold. He has a tough opponent ahead of him in Miocic, and both men are heavy-handed strikers. Arlovski’s chin has held up after taking several beatings years ago, but Miocic lands with a lot of power and volume. This is going to be one tough test for both men, and the winner deserves a title shot.

    3. Young, exciting fighters highlight the main card

    Two potential barnburners highlight the main card on pay-per-view featuring some exciting prospects. In a welterweight bout, dynamic strikers Albert Tumenov and Lorenz Larkin will square off. Tumenov has won four straight bouts, and he looks like a big threat at 170 pounds after a dominant first-round knockout win over Alan Jouban at UFC 192 in October. Ten of Tumenov’s last eleven wins have come by knockout, and he boasts serious power. Larkin also boasts serious power, and his striking is more flashy and comes from every angle. He has won two straight since moving to welterweight, both by knockout, and both earning him post-fight bonus awards. The move down is what Larkin needed after three straight losses, and he seems comfortable at 170 pounds. This fight is one that could send the winner into the top 15 rankings at 170 pounds.

    In a featherweight bout, former TUF winner Diego Brandao will be looking for his third straight win as he looks to end the perfect record held by fast-rising prospect Brian Ortega. Ortega is undefeated in ten career bouts, though he has a blemish on his mark with a win overturned due to a drug test failure. He is coming off a third-round knockout win over Thiago Tavares in June in one of the best fights of 2015, and at 24-years-old, he has a bright future ahead of him. He hasn’t had an easy road in recent UFC bouts with his second straight tough veteran fighter, and Brandao is out to prove he is no stepping stone. He has two straight first-round wins, but he has seemed to always falter when he has the spotlight on him. He does again with a main card bout, and Ortega will be out to prove that he is ready to be solidified as a title contender.

    4. A big lightweight bout on Fight Pass

    2016 looks like there will be a lot of emphasis on UFC Fight Pass with some big fights already planned for the digital network. It won’t just be main events for exclusive events, but also big preliminary bouts being positioned on the network. That starts on Saturday with a lightweight title between Dustin Poirier and Joseph Duffy taking place on UFC Fight Pass. They were originally scheduled to headline the event in Dublin in October that aired on Fight Pass, but the fight was cancelled the week of the event as doctors wouldn’t allow Duffy to fight after he had suffered a concussion one week prior to the event. Several fighters campaigned to fight Poirier on short notice, but he was pulled from the October event so the fight with Duffy could be rescheduled. They get their chance to throw down on Saturday night.

    Poirier and Duffy are both exciting fighters with a lot of potential. Poirier has adjusted well in moving up to the lightweight division as he doesn’t have the drastic weight cut, and his power has seemingly gotten better with the move up. Duffy has proven capable of finishing opponents in his two UFC bouts, but this is a giant step up in competition. Known as the last man to defeat Conor McGregor, Duffy is looking to carve himself a name as a threat at 155 pounds. He is a big favorite over Poirier, and that is very surprising considering Poirier has fought much tougher competition in his career. Poirier is another fighter who has faltered in the spotlight, and he has to prove that is in the past from competing at 145 pounds. These men can make a statement about the card very early on in the evening, and fans tuning in on Fight Pass not just for UFC 195, but for future events, are in store for a treat.

    5. Mayday back in the bantamweight fold

    After being out of action for just over two years, former bantamweight title challenger Michael McDonald will be making his return to action in the featured preliminary bout on Saturday night. McDonald has been nursing hand injuries throughout his entire career, and hand and wrist surgeries cost him the last two years. He was last seen in December 2013 being submitted by Urijah Faber, one of only two losses in the UFC, the other coming to Renan Barao in a title fight in February 2013. McDonald is still just shy of his 25th birthday, and with him returning along with Dominick Cruz, the bantamweight division is getting a much needed input of exciting fighters.

    McDonald will be taking on Masanori Kanehara, who is 1-1 in UFC competition. Kanehara is coming off a tough split decision loss to Rani Yahya in July. This is a perfect bounce back fight for McDonald, who is an exciting knockout artist with good well-rounded skills. The long layoff has cost McDonald in the rankings as he has dropped to eighth following the rise of such prospects as Thomas Almeida and Aljamain Sterling. Even though he has already fought once for the title, McDonald is still very young and his name should be propped in with those two as young fighters to keep an eye on in the future. With his injury issues hopefully behind him, he is primed to make a run and remind fans why he is a much hyped fighter at 135 pounds.

    Full UFC 195 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions

    MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)

    UFC Welterweight Championship: (C) Robbie Lawler vs. (#4) Carlos Condit
    Betting Odds:     Lawler (-110), Condit (-110)
    Prediction: Condit by decision

    Heavyweights: (#3) Stipe Miocic vs. (#2) Andrei Arlovski
    Betting Odds:     Miocic (-230), Arlovski (+190)
    Prediction: Miocic by knockout in round 2

    Welterweights: Albert Tumenov vs. Lorenz Larkin
    Betting Odds:     Tumenov (-240), Larkin (+200)
    Prediction: Tumenov by decision

    Featherweights: Diego Brandao vs. Brian Ortega
    Betting Odds:     Brandao (+190), Ortega (-230)
    Prediction: Ortega by knockout in round 1

    Lightweights: Abel Trujillo vs. Tony Sims
    Betting Odds:     Trujillo (+105), Sims (-125)
    Prediction: Trujillo by knockout in round 3

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)

    Bantamweights: (#8) Michael McDonald vs. Masanori Kanehara
    Betting Odds:     McDonald (-550), Kanehara (+425)
    Prediction: McDonald by submission in round 1

    Welterweights: Kyle Noke vs. Alex Morono
    Betting Odds:     Noke (-300), Morono (+250)
    Prediction: Noke by knockout in round 1

    Women’s Strawweights: Justine Kish vs. Nina Ansaroff
    Betting Odds:     Kish (-265), Ansaroff (+225)
    Prediction: Kish by decision

    Lightweights: Drew Dober vs. Scott Holtzman
    Betting Odds:     Dober (+140), Holtzman (-160)
    Prediction: Holtzman by submission in round 2

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT)

    Lightweights: (#12) Dustin Poirier vs. Joseph Duffy
    Betting Odds:     Poirier (+165), Duffy (-190)
    Prediction: Poirier by knockout in round 2

    Bantamweights: Joe Soto vs. Michinori Tanaka
    Betting Odds:     Soto (-110), Tanaka (-110)
    Prediction: Soto by decision

    Welterweights: Sheldon Westcott vs. Edgar Garcia
    Betting Odds:     Westcott (-160), Garcia (+140)
    Prediction: Westcott by decision

  • Best of Bellator special airs tomorrow before Rizin

    Spike announced tonight that it will be airing a Best of Bellator special tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Eastern and Pacific time, as a prelude to the Rizing show.

    The show, hosted by Sean Grande and Jimmy Smith, called “Bellator MMA: Best of 2015,” will cover the biggest matches of the past year and feature fights like Kimbo Slice, Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Liam McGeary and Phil Davis, and start the build to a McGeary vs. Davis light heavyweight championship match.

    The Rizin show, built around Fedor Emelianenko, King Mo Lawal and the sad spectacle of the Shinya Aoki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba fight, starts at 10 a.m., on tape delay from the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, as promoter Nobuyuki Sakakibara attempts to rebuild the pageantry and circus like atmosphere that made Pride events so big a decade ago.

  • WWE Smackdown results: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens & Sheamus

    – Air Date: December 31, 2015

    – Location: Verizon Center in Washington, DC

    The Big News:

    Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae are no more.

    Show Recap:

    A Raw recap opened the show, which included Vince McMahon’s line about Roman Reigns’ ancestors. It also made the return of John Cena seem secondary. They announced Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens and Sheamus for tonight.

    The New Day came out and they showed a replay of Sin Cara separating his shoulder at the hands of Big E on Raw. Xavier Woods said they don’t have a New Year’s resolution because they’re perfect. They’re still upset about not being voted Tag-Team of the Year and Kofi Kingston said the fans don’t appreciate them. They had a list of resolutions for the fans, like the fans should wear glasses and hearing aids, and they’re required to keep a New Day journal so they don’t forget anything. This wasn’t good.

    Lucha Dragons interrupted. Sin Cara wore a sling. Kalisto called New Day a cute tag-team and Sin Cara challenged all three of them to a match. New Day laughed at him. Woods said Sin isn’t hurt, he’s injured. Kalisto said they had friends of their own and the Dudleys came out with a table that had “Happy New Year” spray painted on it.

    Throughout the night they aired pre-taped segments with guys giving their New Year’s resolutions. Ryback wished everyone a happy new year and his resolution was to help those less fortunate.

    6-Man Tag Match: Kalisto & The Dudley Boyz beat The New Day via pinfall

    Dueling chants for New Day. Bubba and D-Von held Kingston’s legs apart so Kalisto could hit a diving headbutt to the groin. Kalisto went after Kingston on the outside but Big E yanked him down onto the ring apron, trying to injure the shoulder. As they worked over Kalisto, Woods played the trombone to loud “New Day sucks” chants.

    Big E hit Kalisto with an impressive big splash, but Kalisto kicked out and hot tagged Bubba. Kalisto eventually tagged back in and hit a sitting senton off of Bubba’s shoulders followed by a tornado DDT. Dudleys gave Big E a 3D, and Kalisto used Salida Del Sol on Kingston for the win. After the match, Bubba put Woods through a table with a powerbomb. This was good and the crowd was into it. I like that Woods is the one New Day member always getting beat up.

    Tyler Breeze (w/Summer Rae) beat Goldust via pinfall

    Booker said Goldust debuted in 1988, the same year Breeze was born. Booker then reminisced about tagging with him. Goldust took most of the match and was begging the crowd to get into it, but they didn’t. Breeze won on a crap finish, sending Goldust face-first into the middle turnbuckle pad and getting the pinfall win with his feet on the rope.

    Afterwards, Summer said they had a huge announcement for 2016. Breeze announced that he and Summer are (amicably) going their separate ways. They gave the crowd one last selfie together. Well, that’s one way to break up a duo.

    The announcers talked about The Rock and WrestleMania and drooled over all the news coverage.

    Backstage, Bo Dallas found Curtis Axel somehow. Dallas said Axel had a bad year and should make a New Year’s re-bo-lution. Ugh. Axel told him he was never eliminated from the Royal Rumble and wouldn’t be eliminated this year either. Dallas told him to start using deodorant. Dallas continued walking and autographed some woman’s hand, which she rubbed off as soon as he walked away.

    He then ran into Dolph Ziggler, who told him to stop dressing like the New Year’s baby. Dallas had an amazing comeback, telling Ziggler: It always sounds like you’re telling a joke, but you never actually say anything funny. Ziggler said he should get ready for his match, because its against him. Ziggler psyched out Dallas with a fake superkick and told him to Bo-lieve.

    Luke Harper & Braun Strowman (w/Erick Rowan) beat The Usos via submission

    Bray Wyatt wasn’t there, so they came out to Harper’s music. Wyatts had the heat almost immediately, working over Jimmy Uso. Jey made a hot tag and ran wild on Harper and nailed him with a suicide dive. I assume Jimmy tagged himself in as Jey went out on the dive, but they didn’t really show it. Jimmy hit two superkicks on Strowman and superkicked Rowan off the apron. Jimmy tried a third superkick on Strowman, but Strowman caught him and choked him out for the win. Surprisingly quick loss for The Usos.

    They announced John Cena would return to Smackdown next week.

    Brie Bella & Alicia Fox beat Naomi & Tamina via pinfall

    Light “We want Sasha” chants. She wasn’t there. After Tamina hit a superkick, Booker said the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but never mentioned Snuka by name. Brie made this match’s version of a hot tag and hit Yes Kicks and an X-Factor on Naomi for the win. If they don’t forget about this match by Monday, they can tell the story that Team B.A.D. lost here without Sasha Banks.

    Backstage, they wanted Miz to make a New Year’s resolution but he laughed at them, called his manager and walked away.

    They’re plugging The Hateful Eight movie by essentially counting down the top eight heels in the company. They started with the first four tonight: 8. The Miz, 7. Paige, 6. Rusev & Lana, 5. Kevin Owens. Final four will be shown on Raw.

    Dolph Ziggler beat Bo Dallas via pinfall

    Dallas did a victory lap around the ring after getting the heat less than a minute into the match and Jerry Lawler said he really does look like the New Year’s baby. Rich Brennan reminded us that he’s the longest reigning NXT Champion, something they might want to ignore. In short: Bo Dallas dominated for five minutes and Ziggler won with a superkick. Ziggler looked like such a loser getting beat up by Bo Dallas.

    New Day does have a resolution after all: to get the patriarch Kofi Kingston the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. That seems unlikely.

    They aired the same Raw recap that opened the show and plugged Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus with McMahon as referee for Monday.

    WWE Champion Roman Reigns & I.C. Champion Dean Ambrose beat Kevin Owens & Sheamus via DQ

    They showed a replay of Owens powerbombing Ambrose through the announce table on Raw as Ambrose walked to the ring looking like he always does. Reigns hit some moves on Sheamus and tagged in Ambrose who nailed a suicide dive. Owens tagged in and Ambrose sent him to the outside to set up for a powerbomb through the announce table, but Owens drove him into the side of the ring.

    Heels beat up Ambrose for a while until he hit Owens with a rebound clothesline and tagged in Reigns. Reigns hit Sheamus with clotheslines in the corner, a Samoan drop and superman punch. He readied for the spear, but Owens tripped him from behind and pulled him groin-first into the ring post for a lame DQ.

    They attacked Reigns and sent him over the announce table. Ambrose dove on Sheamus but Owens cut him off with a superkick. Owens set up Ambrose for a powerbomb through the announce table but Reigns hit him with a superman punch. Ambrose tossed Sheamus into the ring post and Reigns finished him off with a spear. Reigns and Ambrose stood tall on the announce table holding their titles to end the show.

    Final Thoughts:

    The opening match was fun but the show dragged like crazy after that. A good main event on paper ending with an abrupt DQ is the perfect way to end the final Smackdown of 2015.