In just three sentences, the entire world of MMA may have changed.
UFC was planning its biggest set of shows in history, built around a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight, which was expected to be the biggest money event in company history.
Author:
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WWE house show results Belfast: Reigns vs. Sheamus
By James Stevenson
Good show overall. Nothing groundbreaking, but solid wrestling from start to finish. Quiet enough crowd, but it always is. Lots of young kids in the crowd.
Cesaro vs Stardust- good match. Cesaro won after a swing and made him submit to the Sharpshooter.
Ryder and Young vs Social Outcasts (Slater and Bo) Outcasts cut a promo calling the town garbage, the usual. Crowd was very into Ryder, who pinned Slater with the Rough Ryder.
Rusev vs Swagger. Okay, quite long. Rusev made Swagger tap to the Accolade.
New Day vs Dudleys vs Usos. Crowd was super into the Usos. No Kofi, heard Xavier say he had to go home. Very good match, Xavier pinned Bubba after blind tagging an Uso who had hit him with the Superfly splash.
Sin Cara vs Tyler Breeze. My second favourite match on the card. The Lucha chant was over, and the crowd got into the match, which i enjoyed. Sin Cara won with the Senton.
Charlotte vs Becky vs Sasha. This was match of the night. Crowd loved Sasha and Becky. Ric was over and Charlotte was over as a heel, even though they woo’ed when she woo’ed. Woo will never be a heel thing to do. Anyway, Ric with shenanigans, pulled Sasha out of the ring while she was in the Disarm-her, Charlotte rolled up Becky with feet on the ropes.
Reigns vs Sheamus. Sheamus talked about Northern Ireland and Ireland being different countries and insulted us for being British. Reaction to Roman wasn’t as bad as i thought it’d be, but there were a lot of kids there. Back and forth match, decent action. Crowd popped huge when Roman won.
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Joanie “Chyna” Laurer passes away at 45
Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, a major part of the WWF/E in the late 90, was found dead in her home today at the age of 45. At this time, no further details are available as to the cause.
Laurer was a bodybuilder/fitness competitor who trained under Killer Kowalski, using the name Joanie Lee when she was introduced as HHH’s bodyguard after WCW had expressed interest in her but Kowalski pushed her to WWF/E.
She was instrumental in helping HHH, who had struggled getting over despite a major push, become a major star. The two became a couple which was both a blessing to her career and, eventually, a curse.
When HHH garnered power, Laurer was heavily protected and booked to go evenly with guys. There were very differing opinions on that as many of the male wrestlers didn’t like selling for her or that she was being pushed heavily. A day before she was to face Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental title at 1999’s No Mercy, Jarrett’s contract expired which enabled him to use leverage and hold WWF up for a significant amount of money (believed to be in the $200,000 range) to get him to do the job. He did and Chyna won the belt.
She was a popular star of the era at a time when the mainstream popularity of pro wrestling was at its high point, even posing in a best selling issue of Playboy.
After HHH and Chyna broke up, her political protection was gone which led to issues. She wanted to continue wrestling men, but those in power in WWF made the decision that they had made a mistake in allowing it in the first place and would only allow her to wrestle women.
In 2001, when her contract expired, she was let go. Those in WWE at the time claimed she was asking for money at the level of Steve Austin and Dwayne Johnson, and that she also wanted a lighter schedule to pursue acting. But it was probably a combination of being uncomfortable with her around. She claimed she met with Vince McMahon about Stephanie dating HHH, and from that point on, WWE stopped using her. There was a directive from the top not to sign her when the contract expired.
From there, her life and career largely went downhill. She had problems with drug addiction, which she vehemently denied. Her credibility in interviews was bad, even by wrestling standpoints, making claims that everyone in pro wrestling but herself was doing steroids, and made claims against former boyfriend Sean “X-Pac” Waltman which led to him to threaten legal action.
New Japan brought her in to do the role of beating men. Antonio Inoki pushed her hard as an attraction, and she even was given a win over a young Hiroshi Tanahashi, but she didn’t get over and the run ended.
She popped in and out of wrestling over the years, but never returned to WWE. She did a sex tape with Waltman and then started appearing in a number of porn films. She want to Japan for several years and taught English, and claimed that a multitude of people had asked to marry her. She returned to the U.S. and seemed to want to get back with WWE in some capacity, but the company steered clear of her.
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Lucha Underground results: Matanza defends title against Mil Muertes
We get a recap of the Trios tournament so far along with a recap of Matanza’s reign of terror. Short, sweet, and effective. In his office, Dario tells Fenix he’s lucky he survived his encounter with Matanza. Fenix is the man of endless lives, and Dario is the man of endless opportunities – and he wants to make Aerostar, Drago, and Fenix a team in this year’s Trios tournament as well. But they lost last year, so instead, he will team with PJ Black and Jack Evans. Drago and Aerostar will instead fight over a Gift of the Gods medallion in our opener. Striker and Vamp welcome us to the show, with Vamp in a vintage-style LU shirt and run down the card.
Aerostar vs. Drago
The match begins with a dueling chant, while Drago starts with a half crab and it gets turned into a wacky lucha submission by Aerostar. Quick cradle gets 2 for Aerostar, who goes for a handspring something or other, but eats a flying kick. Aerostar gets tossed into the buckle and hits a corkscrew dive. Drago misses a shoulder charge, while Aerostar missed a dive and smacks the steps. Drago tosses him into the ringside gate, while Vamp says that as a luchador, you need to accept that you could die.
Aerostar hits a flip dive, and Drago responds with a corkscrew dive to the floor. Aero sends Drago back a moment, but misses a springboard dive in the ring. Drago lifts him for a draping DDT and gets 2. Aerostar drops him in the corner and runs around and hops before hitting a corner dropkick. Aerostar goes for his corner-to-corner ropewalk rana, but gets tossed off the top and lands on his feet – only to eat a missile dropkick. A basement dropkick and senton attempt are missed, so they fight on their knees with forearm strikes. Aerostar hits a springboard codebreaker and a springboard saluting splash for the win. This was a blast!
Johnny and Taya are in their room, while Johnny works out and Taya asks if he looks better than he did yesterday. She says she has news from Dario – Mundo wants a medallion, but Dario just won’t give him one. Next week, he’ll have to work for a medallion in a match with Cage. No word on whether or not Cage is a machine, but it’s probably a safe bet. Mundo gets scared when he is told that it will be a cage match – Cage in a Cage. This was amusing. Striker says it’s 4/20 – so see how high we can get in this match.
Jack Evans, PJ Black, and Fenix vs. The Disciples of Death
PJ starts off with the silver-clad Trece. PJ cartwheels into an armdrag and goes for a tag to Jack – but Jack says no, you’re doing too well, keep going. PJ lands a superkick for 2. Fenix hits a rana to send another Disciple out of the ring. Fenix goes for a corkscrew dive off the second rope, and catches his leg in a scary moment – luckily, he was almost able to finish the move without falling too short. PJ has Trese in an abdominal stretch while Jack talks smack, and gets crotched by Sinestro.
The purple-clad Sinestro tags in and attacks in the corner. The gold-clad Barrio Negro tags in for a chop, and then tags Trece back in. PJ tags Fenix in and he lands some kicks and a standing moonsault to the back. C4 armdrag hits for 2. Sinestro charges in and eats a thrust kick before nailing a basement dropkick. Sinestro lands a spike DDT for 2. Jack tags in and avoids things with flips before busting out some kung fu fighting. Vamp says that he wants some of whatever Jack smokes. Fenix comes in and lands a pop-up double dropkick. Barrio Negro eats a rana for 2. Fenix hits a big pop-up rana before PJ’s springboard 450 gets 2. They toss one disciple onto the other on the floor while arguing and PJ hits a flip dive while Fenix tags himself in. Jack jumps in in and then hits a variety of flip dives, but Fenix wins with a dive off his own. Striker hypes up the win and says that Mil Muertes vs. Matanza is next.
Dario talks to Havoc, Ivelisse, and Angelico about how much they’ve grown in a year. Dario tells them that this tournament isn’t for a title shot – it’s for their titles. As champions, they have a bye to the finals and will have a match against three teams next week. They run through team names before Dario tells them to leave. In the locker room, the Disciples of Death materialize out of lightning and Catrina tells them they failed. Moreover, Fenix got the win and she is even more pissed at that. She wants a reason to not destroy them – so Sinestro pulls out the beating hearts of his partners as lightning went off around them. So yeah, Sinestro just ripped out the electrified hearts of his former partners. This was awesome!
Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes vs. Matanza Cueto
Vamp hypes this up as a monster vs. monster match and asks about the significance of the key. Dario yells words of encouragement to Matanza and Vamp translates them to mean that if he doesn’t win tonight, it’s over for them. Mil starts off strong by whooping him and beating him to his belly. Mil goes to toss him out, but it’s reversed and he is tossed into the ropes and eats a Clothesline from Hell. Mil hits a snap powerslam and lands some mounted punches.
Matanza grabs him in a double-arm choke and does some corner shoulder charges, but Mil lands a kick and some punches. Mil Biels him into the buckle and lands 10 straight lariats! Mil runs into the boot a few times – stop doing that, you moron. Wrath of the Gods gutwrenches land, but Mil avoids a rope lariat and sends Matanza over the top with a sick hiptoss. A suicide dive gives Mil a huge edge as he throttles Dario. Matanza saves his brother, who takes a big bump on the floor.
They fight on the announce table, and Catrina hits Matanza with the stone. Matanza throttles her, but Mil chairshots him on the back. They fight over a post shot, and Matanza wins that war. Steel can to the head and back of Matanza. Matanza grabs it and beats him with it. They fight to the office ceiling and Mil tries to toss him off. Dario looks like he’s in absolute shock, as do the fans. FLATLINER THROUGH THE OFFICE CEILING gets a holy shit chant. Dario needs to hire contractors that don’t cut perfectly-shaped holes into his ceiling.
Sleazy ’70s porno music plays and takes us to the precinct, where we don’t see Officer Meehan – but do see a deceased poster for Bael and a new character is introduced. A councilman comes in and tells Marie it’s a good idea to drop the case against Dario so they can focus on someone more powerful. It’s just friendly advice though, and not a threat in any way. This was a good start to a new chapter in the “cops are after Dario” story, so presumably, he has friends in high places, and unlike Dixie Carter’s character, probably won’t lose a case with a judge in his back pocket. Very fun episode of the show, and I’m looking forward to seeing where all this cop stuff goes.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
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WWE Smackdown results: Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
– Air Date: April 21, 2016 (Apr 20 in Canada)
– Location: The O2 Arena in London, England– The Big News:
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will face The Usos on Monday Night Raw.
– Show Recap:
They aired a Raw video package recapping the angle between Roman Reigns, AJ Styles and his two friends. They made sure to squeeze in Reigns’ catchphrase again.
Maryse and The Miz were in the ring for MizTV. Maryse introduced Miz as the biggest American movie star in the world. Miz wanted answers and introduced AJ Styles. Miz talked about Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson running roughshod in Japan in 2014.
Styles said yeah, they had five titles between the three of them. Styles also reminded Miz he knocked his teeth out the last time they were in the ring together. Miz flatout asked if he had Gallows and Anderson do his dirty work, but Styles reiterated that he had nothing to do with it.
Miz said Styles never *not* told them to attack Reigns, and his inaction spoke louder than words. Styles said he’s not in charge of them. He wished they hadn’t done it and doesn’t need anyone’s help to beat Reigns.
Miz said Styles can claim to be the better “‘rassler,” but Reigns was bigger and stronger. Miz called Reigns “the guy” (crowd booed) and Styles would need the help. Styles stood up but Miz kept talking and started doing movie lines again, this time Will Smith from Concussion saying “Tell the truth! Tell the truth!”
Maryse was turned on and they made out. Miz was about to start talking again but Styles attacked him and left him laying. After a break, they announced Miz vs. Styles. This wasn’t great, but it did set up what was to come later. Miz is pretty good in this role, but he was overwhelming Styles.
Non-title: Ryback beat US Champion Kalisto via pinfall
Ryback missed his cue during his entrance where he always says “more” in “feed me more” on the stage. The announcers explained that Ryback wanted a WrestleMania rematch to prove Kalisto’s win was a fluke. They also made sure to never mention whether or not this was a title match.
Ryback dominated from the beginning and they went to commercial less than 2 minutes into the match even though nothing else had happened since the last break. After the break, Ryback did a nice delayed vertical suplex off the middle rope. Kalisto came back with a leg drop, front dropkick and corkscrew elbow. He did the spike-rana, but it looked terrible and they didn’t bother editing it.
Ryback followed with a meat-hook clothesline, but Kalisto countered a Shellshock into a DDT for a near fall. Ryback then countered a Salida Del Sol into a Shellshock for the win. Ryback posed with the US Title afterwards. Basic match that went about 9 minutes. The finishing sequence was good.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
The match never happened. As Ziggler made his entrance, Corbin attacked him from behind and tossed him around ringside. Somebody yelled “You suck!” at him, but it was just a kid so Corbin did not yell back like he did on Raw. Corbin finished off Ziggler with End of Days. Rich Brennan appeared on the stage to ask Corbin why he did that and he responded, “Because I can.”
Non-title: AJ Styles beat IC Champion The Miz via pinfall
As Styles appeared to be gaining control, Miz ran away and used Maryse as a shield. Styles tried to go around but Miz punched him and launched him a couple of times into the barricade.
Miz had the heat for a while until Styles came back with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Miz caught Styles with an atomic drop and applied the Figure Four. Styles turned it over to escape and followed by applying the Calf Crusher, but Miz got to the rope.
Styles hit the Pele kick and got ready for the springboard forearm, but Miz left the ring. As Miz went up the aisle to escape, he stopped upon seeing Gallows and Anderson making their way down. Miz turned back toward the ring and Styles nailed him with a springboard flying forearm. He followed that immediately with the Phenomenal Forearm in the ring for the win.
Gallows and Anderson remained outside the ring as Styles looked on. Good match that went about 17 minutes. The finish fit perfectly with the story.
Rich Brennan interviewed Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn backstage about their upcoming tag match against Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. Ambrose said they would leave their opponents looking like “leftover spotted dick” and Zayn said it was time to put an end to this.
Zayn wanted a cool tag team name but Ambrose wouldn’t listen to him. Zayn suggested “Sambrose,” among others. They also mentioned “Beefeaters” but Zayn doesn’t like gin. Ambrose wanted “Roughriders” but Zayn thought that was too sexual and suggestive. After comedy time expired, Ambrose told Zayn to take off his hat so they could go beat up Jericho and Owens.
Later, Rich Brennan caught up to Gallows and Anderson. Gallows said Styles doesn’t need their help, they were just looking to make an impact. Anderson announced they would make an impact on Raw when they make their in-ring debut against the Usos. Gallows concluded, “We have arrived.”
Natalya & Paige beat Naomi & Tamina via submission
Unlike on Raw, Paige got to come out last here in England, and they didn’t play an ad through her entrance. Mauro Ranallo talked about Bret Hart and British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992. Jerry Lawler said he knows from experience that Bret Hart is a cheater, that he cheated to become WWE Champion and, “he even cheated when Bret screwed Bret.”
Paige made the hot tag and hit Ram-Paige on Naomi (and her Harley Quinn hair), but Tamina broke up the cover. Natalya put Tamina in the sharpshooter and Paige put Naomi in the PTO and they both tapped. One women’s match on a split-crew show and they got 5 minutes.
R-Truth beat Fandango via pinfall (special referee: Goldust)
Fandango didn’t get an entrance in the only place in the world that cares about his entrance. I don’t blame them. Goldust wore his full gear along with a gold and black referee shirt. This was all “comedy.” As Fandango and Truth were having a dance-off or whatever, Truth caught him with a flatliner for the win. Goldust and Truth danced briefly afterwards even though Goldust is always a dick to Truth.
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady came out to a huge reaction from an otherwise dead crowd. In fact, this might’ve been the biggest reaction on the show. Enzo did his usual promo, but they were interrupted by the Vaudevillains.
Aiden English said everyone was tired of Enzo and Cass, and said Enzo looks like a rodent with mange. Enzo didn’t know what he meant but said the Vaudevillains can keep reading books while he and Cass will be writing them, and the Vaudevillains couldn’t hit him if they were standing in the phone booth.
Simon Gotch said they were going to learn a harsh lesson. English called this a man’s world and they were real men. Gotch said when they win at Payback they’ll be the ones to ask, politely, “How are you doing?” Cass said they’d win at Payback and called the Vaudevillains soft. They really need to give Cass better material. Also, are the Vaudevillains time travellers?
As they were about to cut to commercial, Jericho and Owens walked backstage toward Gorilla. There were two random guys holding cups with popcorn. Jericho knocked the cup out of one guy’s hands. Owens grabbed the other guy’s cup and started eating. He offered some to Jericho, who declined.
Promo for Primo and Epico. They also plugged Raw in Hartford. Byron Saxton wondered aloud if Shane McMahon would be in charge again.
Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens beat Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose via pinfall
Owens and Zayn were in the ring to start, but Owens immediately tagged out. The crowd chanted “Ole” and Jericho told them to shut up. They went to commercial two minutes into the match. Ranallo referred to Owens as “truculent” and Lawler didn’t know what that meant.
As Zayn made a comeback on Jericho, Owens made a blind tag, pulled Zayn out of the ring, and tossed him into the barricade to regain control. Jericho slapped Zayn a couple times, so Zayn responded with a blue thunder bomb. Ambrose made the hot tag and ran wild on Owens, nailing a suicide dive.
Ambrose also clotheslined Jericho, but caught a superkick from Owens in the ring. Ambrose got Owens with Dirty Deeds but Jericho broke up the cover. Zayn booted Jericho out of the ring, but as Ambrose went to the top rope, Jericho crotched him and Owens covered him for a three count.
Terribly weak finish. Zayn had just kicked Jericho out of the ring, but then disappeared when Jericho quickly covered to interfere. The finish made Ambrose look like a complete loser, and it negated his win over Owens on Raw. I’m really not sure what the point of this was.
After the match, Owens jumped on Jericho for a hug (which somehow didn’t kill Jericho). Owens yelled toward the ring, “I beat you! Chris helped, but I beat you!” Jericho assured Owens that he did it on his own, so Owens bragged some more. These two belong together.
– Final Thoughts:
This wasn’t a terrible show, but it was the least noteworthy Smackdown show in a long while. They often do a good job of masking the fact that it’s a split-crew, but that wasn’t the case tonight. You can safely skip this show if you have literally anything else you’d rather be doing.
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WWE house show results, Newcastle, England: AMBROSE PINS HHH
Match 1- Ziggler vs Miz ( with Maryse) for the IC Title.
Both were over huge, with Ziggler getting a lot of chants. Miz is so good at heeling it up in front of a crowd and Maryse only help that fact. Miz won in 10 minutes after Maryse got involved, but Ziggler hit a ZigZag after to get his own back.
Match 2- Del Rio vs Sandow
A squash with Del Rio winning in 3 minutes with a Armbreaker. Poor Sandow
Afterwards, Del Rio got on the mic and said that ge hated Newcastle and challeneged anyone in the back to a match.
Match 3- Del Rio vs Fandango
A strange match. I don’t think anyone thought Fandango would come out to accept. Del Rio taunted the fans for liking Fandango. Fandango ending up winning with a roll up in about 1 minute.
Match 4- Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens Wwe Newcastle- Robert Coll
A great match with Sami getting alot of ” OLE” chants and Owens getting on the mic to say he is going to leave if they continue. A lot of great heel work from Owens, attacking Zayn before the bell and trying to walkout for the count out. Zayn won with the Helluva kick in about 10 min. A good match as expected
Match 5- Divas 8 man tag.
Me and my brother went to get a beer at this point but we came back to see Paige pin Tamina with a rampaige in about 12 minutes. Paige got a great reaction when she came out and i will say that Eva Marie is stunning in person. I can see why Vince may want to push her as the face of the divison, despite her flaws.
Match 6- Jericho vs Styles
Jericho came out to a good pop, before getting boos for slagging of the city and the Aj Styles chants. Aj came out to the biggest reaction of the evening untill the main event. I was surprised bby how many kids loved him. They kept doing his poses so he is over as babyface for sure.
Great match, Styles is smooth in his wrestling and Jericho is so good at the little things. Styles won with a Styles clash in 15 minutes.
Intermission
Match 7- Axel vs Goldust
We came back to see Axel and Viktor cutting a promo, with Axel saying that Viktor is now a member of the Social Outcast
A basic match with Goldust winning in 5 minutes. The outcasts attacked after, before R-Truth ran out for the save and a dance.
Match 8- Kalisto vs Ryback for the Us Title.
The Lucha chants were very over, and i saw a lot of kids with Kalisto mask so it seems Kalisto has some upper traction.
A basic match, not to different form their Mania match ( Although this properly has a bigger crowd) With Kalisto winning in 8 minutes.
Match 9- Big Show and Kane vs The Wyatts
This.was.boring. I was happy to see Kane and Big show live as they were two of my favourite from when i was a kid, but this match was so slow. The crowd kept themselves entertained with Enzo and New Day chants and i can’t blame them .It went 15 minutes which was too long. Big Show and Kane won with a double chokeslam on Rowan in 15 minutes.
Match 10- Triple H vs Dean Ambrose
Triple H came out to a great reaction but Ambrose was pop of the night. The kids near me were going crazy when he came out. A basic, safe match but good none the less. The best spot was Ambrose doing his dive on to Triple H and ending up going into the crowd, which didn’t look planned. Ambrose won in 15 minutes after hitting a low blow and dirty deeds.
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WWE NXT results: Samoa Joe vs Apollo Crews; American Alpha: No Way Jose
The Big News: I paid my F4WOnline bills, so this NXT report is not 51% owned by Ron & Don Harris.
The Medium News: Samoa Joe sent Apollo Crews packing to Raw with a submission loss
The Little Beaver Sized News: No Way Jose debuted!
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It is our second week at WrestleMania Axxess. I do think it’s funny that they acknowledge that they are at Axxess, but do commentary like it’s live.
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NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
We kick things off with the new NXT Tag Team Champions going 2 on 2 with the men who may be the next #1 Contender’s to the WWE Tag Team Championship. This match was set up last week when both teams noted they never faced off and this was their only chance to sports entertain with Enzo and Cass on Raw.
The fans were more excited for this than almost anything last week, chanting “This is awesome” before the bell even sounded. The champs schooled Enzo and had no problem tossing the little guy around, however they had a harder time when it came to Big Cass.
They didn’t show Colin in the ring at first. He tagged in, they went to commercial and then Enzo tagged back in within 5 seconds of coming back. Not sure if something got messed up or if it’s just one of those things. Enzo and Colin were the heels of the match, getting the heat on Gable. Gable, in case I haven’t said it in the last 3 weeks, is an excellent baby face in peril and Jordan makes a terrific comeback, which makes this team as great as they are.
Jordan got the hot tag and man oh man, Matty, can Jason Jordan throw Enzo Amore around. If you told me Enzo didn’t have to help out much, I would believe you. Anyhoo the champs won with Grand Amplitude.
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Apollo Crews doesn’t like bullies and will beat up Samoa Joe tonight.
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No Way Jose pinned Alexander Wolfe
This is the NXT tv debut of both No Way Jose and Alexander Wolfe. Wolfe was one of the people in the Dusty Rhodes Classic whose match never aired on tv. No Way Jose is already popular with the people, even if he has a really weird name.
This match was fun to watch. Jose used an Airplane Spin that just went on and on and on. The fans, despite not knowing the man, sang the Ole song, but sang Jose instead of Ole. Jose won with a punch to the face that he wound up like he was a pitcher throwing a fastball.
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Austin Aries said he doesn’t believe in luck, but Baron Corbin is entitled to his opinion about why he lost. Aries doesn’t need luck, he has skill. Aries challenged him and everyone in the NXT locker room.
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Elias Sampson was tuning his guitar when William Regal walked up and said he’s here to offer Elias an opportunity. Next week he’ll go one on one with Shinsuke Nakamura. He didn’t seem pleased.
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Nia Jax squashed Deonna Purrazzo
Please change Deonna Purrazzo’s name. It helps that seemingly every time she wrestles she gets killed, so I don’t have to spend too much time writing her name.
This was all Nia and she won very quickly with a leg drop. Seriously Deonna’s only attempted offense saw her be swatted away like a fly.
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Bayley was asked about the Eva Marie-Asuka match next week. I am shocked Eva was able to survive and make it to WrestleMania. Anyway she did analysis previewing the match and said she will be watching since she wants her belt back.
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Samoa Joe submitted Apollo Crews
Main event time! They keep mentioning Joe and Finn Balor, so I guess that feud is still going on. Finn is now the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time, surpassing Adrian Neville. Not putting anything past Apollo Crews, but it’s weird that he’s the one on the main roster and Samoa Joe is still in developmental.
This was a good match, nothing great, but good. Honestly this is a match you’d expect the two of them to have at a house show, which, by the way, is still better than a lot of people. Joe kicked out of the Standing Moonsault and Crews kicked out of a power slam. Honestly the only time I ever remember Joe winning with the power slam is Slammiversary 2006 against Scott Steiner.
Joe blocked the spinning power bomb and dropped Crews with the corner uranage before choking Crews out with the Coquina Clutch.
So it’s a quick show this week, ending at 8:49 (as opposed to 8:55), but what is next for the NXT superstars? Only one way to find out, until next week make sure to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
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Adam Rose responds to drug suspension from WWE
Ray Leppan, better known as WWE’s Adam Rose, released the first of what he said is a two part response to his 60 drug suspension announced by WWE this past week.
Leppan’s statement is that he believes his response is tantamount to career suicide, but made it anyway. He claimed he didn’t do anything knowingly wrong, and the substance he was using was prescribed medication. The statement below is word-for-word with no changes:
“I was not going to respond to my suspension but I feel I have to. I have two sons that will one day read that news about there daddy and a sister that died from complications related to a life long battle with heroin.
So I feel the absolute need and right to respond and let the truth be known.
I am pretty sure this response will meet nowhere near the publicity that my suspension did and that this response is tantamount to career suicide.
But I feel for my sons my sister and rest of my family… you the Wwe universe have the right to the know the truth over my suspension and what it was for.
I will also quote my Dr in my response as he was as shocked and appalled by this suspension.
I can say right now I did not do anything knowingly wrong and was taking prescribed medication that my Dr and I followed all the correct protocol on.
My actual response and Doctors response will be coming soon. So before you judge, know the facts.
My family and I are still collecting ourselves from this blow. I have zero anger or animosity against the WWE. But feel the administrators over the WWE Welnness policy were just simply not right in taking this action.
But I feel facts are the facts and my family and I will will be the ones putting our lives back together after this mess.
My response will be up soon along with my Doctors.”
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WOL: Conor McGregor retires, pulled from UFC 200
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with discussion on the latest in one of the biggest stories in MMA history, Conor McGregor’s alleged retirement and subsequent removal from UFC 200! Plus, Jim in Virginia makes sure to give us the Impact Wrestling women’s report and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
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Daily pro wrestling history (04/20): AWA Wrestlerock; Hollywood Hogan wins WCW World Title
1895
Chicago, Illinois:
– Martin “Farmer” Burns defeated Evan “Strangler” Lewis for the American Heavyweight Title1960
Mobile, Alabama:
– The Great Bolo and Joe McCarthy defeated Bobby and Don Fields for both the Gulf Coast and Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles1968
Nagoya, Japan:
– Rusher Kimura and Thunder Sugiyama defeated Tank Morgan and Stan Stasiak to win the TWWA World Tag Team Titles1970
Orlando, Florida:
– Argentina Apollo and José Lothario defeated Dale Lewis and The Missouri Mauler for the NWA Florida Tag Team TitlesSt. Joseph, Missouri:
– K.O. Kox and Killer defeated Bob Geigel and The Stomper to win the Central States NWA North American Tag Team Titles1971
Tampa, Florida:
– Jack Brisco defeated Terry Funk to win the NWA Florida Television Title1972
Kansas City, Kansas:
– The Stomper defeated Bob Orton
– Rufus R. Jones defeated Blackjack Black
– Danny Little Bear defeated Benny Ramirez
– Terry Martin fought Billy Howard to a draw
– Omar Atlas defeated Frank Diamond
– Elimination Match: The Stomper & Danny Little Bear & Rufus R. Jones & Omar Atlas defeated Blackjack Black & Bob Orton & Benny Ramirez & Frank Diamond
– North American Tag Team Champions Chati Yokouchi & Yasu Fuji defeated Harley Race & Black Angus (w/ Percival A. Friend) via DQ in three falls (referee: The Viking)1980
Dallas, Texas:
– Toru Tanaka defeated Kevin Von Erich for the NWA American Heavyweight Title1985
Cleveland, Ohio:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Brett Sawyer & Buzz Sawyer
– Loser Leaves town: Pez Whatley beat Rip Rogers
– Ronnie Garvin beat Bob Roop
– Lumberjack match: Thunderbolt Patterson beat Kareem Muhammad
– Italian Stallion beat Ron Starr
– Joel Deaton beat Paul Diamond
– Bill Irwin beat Ben Alexander1986
AWA WrestleRock: Minneapolis, Minnesota:
– Cage Match: Road Warriors beat Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin
– Cage Match: Verne Gagne beat Sheik Adnan
– Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka beat King Kong Brody & Nord the Barbarian
– Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq
– Scott LeDeoux beat Larry Zbyszko dq
– AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
– Sherri Martel won a 10 woman Battle Royal
– Rick Martel no contest Harley Race
– Shohei Baba beat Bulldog Bob Brown
– Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo beat Fabulous Ones
– Tiger Mask (Misawa) beat Buck Zumhofe
– Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers
– Colonel DeBeers beat Wahoo McDaniel dq
– Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov1987
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Chick Donovan defeated Soul Train Jones (Virgil/Vincent) for the CWA International Heavyweight Title
– Jerry Lawler defeated Austin Idol in a chain match to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title
– The Mercenaries were also awarded the CWA International Tag Team Title vacated by Jimmy Snuka and J.T. Southern1988
Jacksonville, Florida:
– Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard defeated Lex Luger and Barry Windham for the NWA World Tag Team Titles1989
Osaka, Japan:
– Mitsuo Momota defeated Shinichi Nakano to win the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title1991
Bayamón, Puerto Rico:
– King Kong defeated TNT (Savio Vega) for the WWC Television Championship
– Super Medic III won the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title from Scott Hall
– Ricky Santana won the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title by defeating Mr. Pogo1996
Tokyo, Japan:
– Akira Taue defeated Steve Williams to win the annual AJPW Champion’s Carnival tournamentMemphis, Tennessee:
– Jeff Jarrett defeated Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight TitleCaguas, Puerto Rico:
– Jim Steele defeated Ricky Santana for the WWC Television Title
– Carlos Colón won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title from El BroncoECW Hostile City Showdown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– The Dudley Boyz (Buh-Buh Ray and D-Von (with Big Dick and Sign Guy Dudley)) fought The Pitbulls (#1 and #2 (with Francine)) to a no-contest
– Taz (with Bill Alfonso) defeated Devon Storm by countout
– Axl Rotten pinned Little Guido (with J.T. Smith)
– The Sandman (with Missy Hyatt) and ECW World Television Champion 2 Cold Scorpio defeated The Bruise Brothers (Ron and Don)
– Brian Lee pinned Tommy Dreamer
– Sabu pinned Rob Van Dam
– ECW World Heavyweight Champion Raven (with The Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards) pinned Shane Douglas (with Kimona Wanalaya) to retain the title1997
WWF Revenge of the Taker: Rochester, New York:
– The Legion of Doom (Animal and Hawk) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The British Bulldog and Owen Hart by disqualification
– Savio Vega (with Crush) defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia by countout
– “Double J” Jesse James pinned Rockabilly (with The Honky Tonk Man)
– WWF Champion The Undertaker pinned Mankind (with Paul Bearer) to retain the title
– Steve Austin defeated Bret Hart by disqualification
– Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon defeated The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas)
– Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Goldust1998
WCW Monday Nitro: Colorado Springs, Colorado:
– Konnan (with Vincent) defeated Chris Adams
– The Barbarian (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Wayne Bloom
– WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated Juventud Guerrera to retain the title
– Goldberg defeated WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Raven to win the title
– La Parka defeated Ultimo Dragon
– Chris Benoit defeated Curt Hennig (with Rick Rude) by disqualification
– Hammer and Saturn fought to a double-countout
– Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner defeated Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock)
– WCW World Television Champion Booker T defeated Psychosis to retain the title
– Lex Luger defeated Brian Adams (with Vincent)
– Hollywood Hulk Hogan defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage to win the title2003
Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico:
– Shane the Glamour Boy won the IWA World Hardcore Title from Ricky Banderas
– Banderas won the title back later from Shane
– Anarchy defeats Super Crazy for the IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Title2004
Tokyo, Japan:
– Keiji Muto defeated Kensuke Sasaki to win the annual AJPW Champion’s Carnival tournamentBritish Columbia, Canada:
– Charlie Haas and Rico defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty to win the titles