Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show is back today with tons to talk about including a look back at Raw and Nitro from 1997 — Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels about to explode for real, Ric Flair actually gets a big win on PPV, a really, really great squash match and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
In the WWE concussion lawsuits, the two sides are battling over discovery issues, namely with regards to depositions. Plaintiff Evan Singleton was deposed last week, and co-plaintiff Vito LoGrasso will be this week, but WWE took issue with:
When it was announced that Chris Weidman was going to rematch UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at June’s UFC 199, there were many among the MMA fanbase who groaned due to a) the way the first fight ended and b) rematch fatigue.
Haters of the Weidman/Rockhold rematch got their wish Tuesday as the former UFC middleweight champion had to withdraw from the event due to an undisclosed injury — widely speculated on Twitter today and confirmed by both Jeremy Botter and Ariel Helwani a short time ago.
The Los Angeles, CA, show still has plenty of interesting fights (bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz vs. Uriah Faber, Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard, BJ Penn vs. Cole Miller, and more, but you know UFC would love to keep the other California kid on that show.
Two possible replacements: Jacare Souza who ran through Vitor Belfort this past Saturday at UFC 198 in less than a round, and Michael Bisping who already tweeted that he wants the opportunity. Bisping faced Rockhold in November 2014, a fight Rockhold won via second round submission. Bisping is coming off a unanimous decision over Anderson Silva earlier this year.
For a name that casual MMA fans know and for the story of him getting his first-ever UFC title shot, Bisping would be the call but from the sporting aspect, Souza has done more than enough to earn the shot. However, the short turnaround to June 4th might not be in the cards. However, given the ease of his fight last Saturday, he may just be up for it.
*****
Additionally, UFC confirmed that welterweight champion Robbie Lawler’s next title defense will indeed be against Tyron Woodley (he of the long, long layoff) on July 30th in Atlanta.
Outside the next big NXT match being booked, some ratings news, and awaiting RAW ratings, news is kinda slow today which is why I wanted to drop a few lines about the continued portrayal of Stephanie McMahon on WWE TV as opposed to her role off TV amplified by the announcement of her biography to be released this fall yesterday.
The wrestling equivalent of church and state (on-screen personality vs. admitting that you play a character off screen) is such where we are continually hammered over the head that wrestling is just an act and these are all great, likable people with families and lives just like your favorite TV and movie actors. Those of us who have watched wrestling since our formative years hate that aspect while it’s assumed younger fans will just adapt over time, pushing us irrelevant old fogies off to the side.
But McMahon is a unique case because there’s the added rub that she’s a female in a male-dominated company who likely has to endure more lewd commentary than most would expect. (If you’ve seen the #MoreThanMean video, you’ll get an idea of what she likely receives via Twitter daily.) The domineering and talking down to talent, especially male wrestlers, feels too overt and too forced. As a result, we want to like her less even though, in real life, she’s probably pretty cool and someone we’d like over time as a character.
But with her role outside the company about to grow even more, what’s the point in continuing to position her in a way on TV that still draws vitriol and frustration? Make her a strong lead in a way that feels natural, not scripted. (The same could be said for Shane as well). And in the case of both McMahons, get them out of the way. The show should always be about the in-ring talent and not a continual McMahon family drama, but weekly, that’s what we get.
If the goal is to get Stephanie McMahon to a revered place like her father someday, it could happen…but not the way WWE is doing it now.
THE ROUND UP
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Figure Four Weekly 5/9/2016: Hogan and Gawker fight over verdict – Hulk Hogan is suing Gawker a second time, this time for leaking the contents of sealed documents to the tabloids. Now we have the verdict. Find out all the details in this weeks issue of Figure Four Weekly.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
READ IT HERE: May 16, 2016 Wrestling Observer newsletter: Potential UFC sale, WWE releases, plus tons of news
Our lead story updates the talks of a UFC sale, plus an updated look at how the WWE is doing as a business, a look at WWE cuts, the booking behind the ROH Global Wars PPV and how New Japan and ROH are working together even more closely than on the surface, Global Wars coverage, a look at the status of a lot of ROH talent, coverage of the UFC debut in Holland, the hidden story of just how much of the male audience has been lost by WWE, as well as what WWE can learn from the NBA, and historical bios on Billy Wicks and Kato Kung Lee.
There is also a look at the ESPN story on the potential sale of the UFC, what we know is legit, numbers being thrown around, who actually owns UFC, Dana White’s reaction to the story, moves UFC has made, Dana White’s long-term future if there is a sale, timing of the sale and sustaining the brand popularity. Plus there’s also a look at the various companies listed that are in talks of buying.
An update on WWE financials is in this issue, plus a look at the WWE Network numbers, what last year’s patterns tell us about the numbers, the company’s profits and losses, how well every division does for WWE and what is the most important for the bottom line, how well the company is doing financially compared to last year, what is projected by WWE this year for the WrestleMania quarter, update on injured wrestlers and their returns, Vince McMahon talks WWE injuries, and how much cash on hand the company has right now.
There is also a look at how WWE is going to be changing how it reports information and what information they are going to be keeping secret as compared to the past. Also, there is a look at the dichotomy between social media numbers and WWE network subscribers and what it says.
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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All the news from WrestleMania 15, the All Japan Tokyo Done show, and more will be in the latest back issue. Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 12, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Wrestlemania 15 business numbers, details on All Japan’s Tokyo Dome show, plus tons more. Both Davey Boy Smith and Japanese rookie woman wrestler Emiko Kado were both remaining in bad condition after an illness and in-ring injury respectively.
TUESDAY NEWS
As of this writing, there are rumors all over social media that middleweight contender Chris Weidman is injured. Additional information wasn’t available at this time, nor was it confirmed he is off UFC 199 where he is set to face middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in a rematch. We’ll have more as we find out detais.
NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a steel cage match will be the headliner for the June 8 NXT TakeOver show at Full Sail. They used the post-match brawl in Portland, OR, at a house show this weekend as the impetus for the move.
As discussed on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio, UFC strawweight Paige VanZant earned a spot in the Dancing with the Stars finale. She’ll be up against Ginger Zee and Nyle DiMarco, which kind of stretches the definition of “Stars” in the show’s title.
The UFC 198 prelims Saturday night on FS 1 did 786,000 viewers, down about 5% from the UFC 197 prelims even with a stronger prelim main event of Matt Brown vs Demian Maia. The number was obviously hurt by going head to head with the Bellator show on Spike TV, headlined by King Mo vs. Phil Davis.
Newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will be a VIP guest of the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight as they open up the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Miocic is from the area and it’s been touted that he’s finally brought a title to a city that has been without one for a long time.
WWE & Pro Wrestling
UFC & MMA
Miscellaneous & Events
Today in professional wrestling history:
A big third hour drop and a massive NBA playoff game resulted in WWE coming close to seasonal lows for the May 16th edition of Raw, but ending just above that mark.
The show did 3.17 million viewers — just above the 3.12 million viewers for the April 25th show — but lower than any other non-holiday Raw outside of football season since 1997.
The first hour, which didn’t oppose the Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game, was the highest rated show on cable. Raw was No. 3 on cable behind the game and the post game show, Inside The NBA
There was a huge drop in Raw’s third hour, which was predicted given everything that was going on. The basketball game was up 28% in viewers from a similar Warriors playoff game last season.
The key is that even though there are more viewers of Dancing With The Stars (11.64 million) than the NBA game (8.1 million), the latter seems to have impacted Raw more significantly.
DWTS draws double the women’s adult audience as men, while the NBA game was made up of 66% males or about double the women’s audience in the 18-49 demo. Raw does numbers similar to that of the NBA in that regard. Also of note in sports Monday, the San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues NHL playoff game did 1.71 million viewers.
Raw was only down two percent from last week with that tougher competition. The first two hours were similar to last week with hour one slightly up and hour two slightly down. But, the third hour was down four percent from last week.
The three hours were:
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with tons to talk about including thoughts on Raw last night, Emma’s injury, a new stipulation for the NXT Takeover main event, calls and emails and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
1963
Madison Square Garden:
– Bruno Sammartino defeated WWWF World Champion Buddy Rogers in 47 seconds to win the championship
1966
Moline, Illinois:
– The Crusher & Ernie Ladd & Verne Gagne beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race & The Alaskan
– Reggie Parks beat Angelo Poffo
– Ernie Ladd beat Larry Hennig
Kansas City, Missouri:
– Dick the Bruiser & Bob Ellis defeated Bob Geigel & Bob Brown
– World Heavyweight Champion Gene Kiniski defeated The Mongolian Stomper in three falls
1973
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Harley Race defeated Black Angus
– Bob Geigel & Bobo Brazil defeated Togo the Great & Tokyo Joe
– Jim Dalton & Frank Diamond defeated Argentina Zuma & L.D. Lewis
– Mike George defeated Bob Orton
– Omar Atlas defeated The Terror via DQ
– Danny Little Bear fought Bob Brown to a double-DQ
1974
Denver, Colorado:
– The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel beat Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens on a 3rd fall COR to win the AWA Tag Team titles
– Superstar Billy Graham beat Geoff Portz
– Chris Taylor beat Moose Morowski
– Larry Hennig beat Bull Bullinski
– Greg Gagne beat Odd Job Tosh Tojo dq
Atlanta, Georgia:
– In a Lights Out Match, Andre The Giant & Mr. Wrestling II beat Bill Watts & Big Bad John
– NWA World Champion Jack Brisco beat Dusty Rhodes via DQ
– Georgia Tag Team Champions Ronnie Garvin & Terry Garvin beat Bob Armstrong & Haystack Calhoun
– Southern States Champion Jerry Brisco beat Bobby Duncum
– Gene Anderson & Ole Anderson beat Steve Keirn & Dennis Stamp
– Art Nelson drew Jerry Oates
– Bob Sweetan beat Mike Stallings
– Ali Vaziri beat Zebra Kid
1978
Honolulu, Hawaii:
– AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel
– In a Loser Leaves Town Match; Tor Kamata beat Billy White Wolf
– Buddy Rose & John Studd beat Bill Francis & Russ Francis
– John Tolos beat Chris Markoff dq
– George Wells beat Rocky Tomayo
1981
Atlanta, Georgia:
– Tommy Rich won a tournament for the Georgia Heavyweight championship; beating Greg Valentine in the finals
– In a No Time Limit, No DQ Match: Ted Dibiase & Junkyard Dog beat The Freebirds’ Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
1982
Birmingham, Alabama:
– NWA World champion Ric Flair defeated Terry Gordy
– Roy Welch beat Tommy Wright
– Scott McGhee beat Ted Oates
– Jacques Rougeau beat Jos LeDuc by DQ
– Ron & Robert Fuller beat New Zealand Sheepherders
1984
Nagasaki, Japan:
– Tatsutoshi Gotoh defeated Pat Tanaka
– Shunji Kosugi defeated Naoki Sano
– Kuniaki Kobayashi & Black Cat defeated Norio Honaga & Fumihiro Niikura
– Big John Studd & Otto Wanz defeated Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi
– Adrian Adonis defeated Osamu Kido
– Riki Choshu & Yoshikai Yatsu fought Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura to a double countout
– Dick Murdoch defeated Ken Patera
– Andre The Giant defeated Mr. Saito via disqualification
– Antonio Inoki, Seigi Sakaguchi, & Tatsumi Fujinami defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan, the Masked Superstar, & John Quinn
1986
Hammond, Indiana:
– Playboy Buddy Rose & Doug Somers defeated Scott Hall & Curt Hennig to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship
– Colonel DeBeers beat Earthquake Ferris
Baltimore, Maryland:
– Dusty Rhodes & the Road Warriors defeated NWA Six Man Tag Team Champions Baron Von Raschke, Ivan & Nikita Koloff to win the titles
1987
The Lightning Express, (Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner), defeated Rick Steiner & Sting to win the UWF Tag Team Titles
1992
WCW WrestleWar: Jacksonville, Florida:
– The Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) defeated Terry Taylor & Greg Valentine to win the United States Tag Team Championship
– Brian Pillman defeated Tom Zenk to retain the WCW World Light Heavyweight Title
– WCW World Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka
– Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham defeated Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Rick Rude, Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko in a War Games match
– Diamond Dallas Page & Tommy Rich defeated Bob Cook & Firebreaker Chip
– Johnny B. Badd defeated Tracey Smothers
– Scotty Flamingo defeated Marcus Bagwell
– Ron Simmons defeated Mr. Hughes
– Super Invader defeated Todd Champion
– Big Josh defeated Richard Morton
Beckley, West Virginia:
– Thunder Tiger defeated the Master of Disaster
– Dixie Dynamite (Brian Armstrong) pinned Dutch Mantell
– Tim Horner pinned Buddy Landel
– Robert Gibson pinned Jimmy Golden
– Brian Lee pinned the Dirty White Boy
– Brad & Bart Batten defeated SMW Tag Team Champions The Heavenly Bodies, Stan Lane & Tom Prichard via disqualification
1993
New York City:
– Marty Jannetty defeated Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
1998
WCW Slamboree: Worchester, Massachusetts:
– WCW World TV Champion Fit Finlay pinned Chris Benoit
– Lex Luger defeated Brian Adams
– Ciclope won a cruiserweight battle royal
– Dean Malenko defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho to win the title
– Eddie Guerrero (with Chavo Guerrero Jr.) pinned Ultimo Dragon
– Diamond Dallas Page pinned Raven in a Bowery Death Match
– WCW U.S. Champion Bill Goldberg pinned Perry Saturn
– Bret Hart defeated Randy Savage
– Sting & the Giant defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Scott Hall & Kevin Nash (with Dusty Rhodes) to win the titles
2009
WWF Judgement Day | Chicago, Illinois
– Mickie James defeated Beth Phoenix (with Rosa Mendes)
– Umaga defeated CM Punk
– Christian defeated Jack Swagger to retain the ECW Championship
– John Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin (with Charlie Haas)
– Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Batista defeated Randy Orton by disqualification, Orton retained the WWE Championship
– John Cena defeated Big Show
– Edge defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
The Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor NXT title match on the next TakeOver special will be a cage match — a first in company history.
William Regal made the announcement today after a house show pull-apart brawl on Saturday night in Portland, OR, was shot where Regal announced it would lead to stipulations for the match being announced today.
With the June 8 match set to be their third consecutive TakeOver main event, Joe vs. Balor has become the first program to reach that milestone since NXT started doing WWE Network specials.
Balor retained the NXT title on a December 16 special from SSE Wembley in London, and did so a second time on April 1 as part of the WrestleMania weekend activities in Dallas.
However, Joe captured the title in a house show in Lowell, MA on April 21.
The cage match is likely to be the blow-off of the program since NXT is being booked similar to an old school promotion.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns tonight with tons of news! Raw from Monday, the go-home show for Extreme Rules, a look at the card, Stephanie McMahon’s new book, Vince sells a bunch of stock, Paige Van Zant update, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Filthy Four Daily is back today as Tom Lawlor returns from his vomit-induced medical suspension to talk all sorts of topics including Extreme Rules, UFC 198, Bellator, THE TOP 10 WORST MOVES IN WRESTLING and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!