For those F4W Empire members riding the bus, as of now, the plan is for the buses to pick up the group behind the Hyatt Regency hotel, located at Hyatt Regency Dallas – 300 Reunion Boulevard – Dallas, Texas 75207, in the parking lot.
It’s NOT the side parking lot, it’s behind the hotel. Look for someone holding a sign directing you to the bus.
The first bus is scheduled to depart at 2:00 pm central time, the second bus will leave between 2:30 and 3:00, but do NOT be late. Ed will be outside the bus checking people in, and seating is first come first serve. The first bus needs 56 people on it.
After the show, the bus is leaving promptly at 11:00 pm central time. Please do not be late as you may be left behind.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today live from Dallas, TX, with a morning update with more news from Friday night, an NXT update, Samoa Joe and the Balor Club, Daniel Bryan’s latest interview, La Parka, Daniel Cormier and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
I just would like to personally thank everyone I came in contact with the past few days here, particularly those at our banquet yesterday at the Texas de Brazil steakhouse. All the nice things said are really appreciated and to be able to meet people from all over the world. I want to mention that this website, the newsletters, and the audio aren’t just a product of us, but also of everyone. If you see shows or great matches from around the world, we’re always up for reports and links.
Again, it was just wonderful to see so many people who share a common passion and just how nice everyone was. I will be heading home today because for my job, WrestleMania really has to be viewed on TV. But for everyone I met at the banquet, thanks so much. e all work so hard and it’s days like the last two that really make it feel like it’s worth it.
To the news and notes:
– NXT was a great show last night. Bobby Roode and Kota Ibushi were surprise announcements and in both cases, they makes sense. When Ibushi announced he wasn’t staying with DDT and New Japan, WWE made sense as the next step, particularly with cruiserweight tournament. For Roode, once he left TNA, it made sense for both sides for him to be in WWE. It looks like NXT, and they can use a veteran in the ring.
– The big questions coming out of last night’s TakeOver show is what’s next for Nakamura, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe. We already know what’s next for Sami Zayn. It wouldn’t shock me at all to see him win the title tomorrow although WWE has a ton of different ways to go. But Zayn and Kevin Owens seem like the only logical picks. Zayn could use the big boost and the story of Owens complaining that he lost the title, how Zayn never beat him and how he hurt Zayn before makes sense. But there are really a lot of directions because A.J. Styles needs to be in a top program. I could see a big blow off with Chris Jericho in a month or so, at that point there are new things needed for both.
– I have to watch the NXT show when I get back to get the feel of it from a TV perspective. Live, it was a great show, well placed. I didn’t leave thinking it was the greatest show of the year or anything like that, but I know people who saw it did. Nakamura and Joe should be main roster main eventers. Joe should be in the mix with people like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. In watching the match last night, and the aura he had, it really felt like Lesnar vs. Joe should have been built for nine months for Mania this year more than the original plans for Bray Wyatt or Dean Ambrose.
– We only saw some of ROH with the big news at the show being Colt Cabana’s return to face Jay Lethal. All the key shows were packed.
– Evolve’s business was through the roof as compared to their normal standards or last year’s Mania. They were expecting close to 1,500 for the noon show today with Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet. I didn’t see Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. from yesterday but last night there were people who saw that and Zayn vs. Nakamura and said the former was better. But aside from NXT, that match as the talk of the weekend so far.
– The dark matches at NXT last night were Manny Andrade over Chris Girard which was said to be good but short, and Apollo Crews over Elias Sampson, which was originally scheduled for the special. They are taping TV at Fan Axxess from 1-5 p.m.
– Last night I was at the Kaiju Big Battel show. Not a lot of say about it. A show ending at 3 a.m. would be the second latest time I think I’ve ever been to a wrestling show at. Kota Ibushi wrestled a stuffed animal. It was actually pretty impressive how he did it. He made an entertaining spectacle, out of it and did some cool things without taking any actual risks.
– Regarding the UFC situation with Daniel Cormier pulling out of the title match with Jon Jones, the real question is how badly hurt is Cormier. If he’s hurt enough that he would need surgery, it’s one thing. If he can go by July, and be healthy at that point, they should take their lumps on 4/23 and it’ll just make UFC 200 even bigger with that fight added.
If he can’t, things get tricky.
Rumble Johnson would be the obvious replacement, and is also the most dangerous fighter as far as an opponent for Jones because he’s got the most power. Jones has been training for an entirely different type of fighter and if he were to pull out or just say he wants to wait until June or July for Rumble, I can understand it. At the same time, it may be the best thing for Jones to face Rumble in a short notice fight because he’ll be facing his most dangerous foe when not at his best. Really, if he were to lose to Jones on a short notice fight and Jones ends up as champion, he’s got far more at risk. Jones is going to be a superstar either way. For Rumble, the Jones match, when it happens, is a career and life changer for him if he wins, and a loss, even though he won’t be at his peak conditioning wise and people should know it, it will hurt him.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about live from Dallas, TX! WWE NXT Takeover, Shinsuka Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn, title changes, ROH of Honor news and notes, more plans for the weekend, a big stunt at WrestleMania, John Cena good to go, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Daniel Cormier has pulled out of his April 23rd rematch with Jon Jones due to an apparent knee injury. There have been reports of people seeing Cormier limping around earlier in the week.
Cormier lost the first bout against Jones by decision in January of 2015 at UFC 182. Cormier then won the UFC Light Heavyweight title over Anthony Johnson by submission in his next fight after Jon Jones was stripped of the title following a felony hit and run incident that ended in a plea agreement. Rumors are that Anthony Johnson has been training and is willing replace Cormier but there is no guarantee that Jones will accept the fight. Anthony Johnson since losing the title fight against Cormier has dispatched both Jimi Manuwa and Ryan Bader by knock-out.
The title fight was already in doubt when Jon Jones was arrested last week for violating his probation after being cited in Albuquerque, New Mexico for drag racing. Though that was resolved when Jones agreed to anger managment and driver improvement courses along with 60 more hours of community service.
There is already a title fight on the card between Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo.
It’s Wrestlemania weekend and there are so many options for wrestling fans this weekend that you almost can’t keep track of it all! Les and Vic start this edition of Wrestling Weekly talking about how great it is to have so many options, then move into discussing Daniel Bryan (8:16) being removed from all WWE related appearances and his request for time off. Perhaps the new documentary on Bryan airing on WWE Network has a clue or two as to why he made that request. Vic has a theory he’ll float about a combination of circumstances that might have been the cause. From there, we’ll discuss recent comments from both Drew Galloway and Mick Foley (23:34) regarding WWE creative and speaking up about what you’re given. They’re not talking about exactly the same things, but there might be an interesting parallel or two there. The New Day are inducting the Freebirds into the HOF, which got Les and a friend talking about why Kevin Von Erich wasn’t asked and that conversation left Les feeling like he needed to vent a bit (37:18). We’ll wrap the show with our Wrestlemania predictions (47:13). Hope you enjoy all the great wrestling this weekend and thanks for listening~!
Friday’s NXT TakeOver: Dallas show on the WWE Network is one of the biggest the brand has produced up to this point with three big main events that sound great on paper, and should be great in execution.
If given time, the top three matches have a chance of being some of the best matches this weekend will provide:
– Reigning champion Finn Balor will defend the NXT title against Samoa Joe, a rematch from TakeOver: London event.
– Women’s champion Bayley defends against Asuka, who has a ton of momentum since debuting.
– Sami Zayn, who is making what will most likely be his last appearance on the NXT brand, will square off against a debuting Shinsuke Nakamura, who stunned the world by signing a WWE contract a few months ago after having a great run in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
– Austin Aries will take on the man who attacked him in his debut, Baron Corbin
– Apollo Crews faces off against “The Drifter” Elias Sampson
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash and Dawson) defend against American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan).
Join us at 10 PM EST for our coverage!
Apparently, the Apollo Crews/Drifer match was bumped to dark match status. Apollo won in what was said to not be a very good match.
In case you were wondering, no, we didn’t have Triple H open this broadcast.
NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival (Dash and Dawson) (c) vs. American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable)
Crowd was really hot for this. Gable worked a lot of the match, and was the one being worked on as Jordan was waiting for a tag. They worked on him forever, though there were a few clever spots like Dash going through the ring and taking out Jordan just as Gable was going for a tag. They completely messed up a spot where the Revival were going for a powerbomb/clothesline off the top rope combo but didn’t get Gable up all the way and it looked really bad, and on top of that Dash went for a cover when he wasn’t the legal man and they just stood there for a few seconds, lost. “Botchamania” chants after that one. It picked right back up after that as Jordan was tagged and they went for a bunch of fun near falls that the crowd ate up. Gable had a bunch of clever nearfalls, he’s such a terrific athlete. They did a phantom tag as Gable had Dawson in the corner. Jordan surprised him with a spear, Gable tagged back in and hit their drop/suplex bridge finisher to win the titles. Good match despite the botch with some great heat.
Jim Ross, Michelle Beadle, Funaki and, most interestingly, Kota Ibushi were shown in the crowd. Announcers specifically mentioned the cruiserweight tournament when talking about Ibushi.
Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries
Corbin has a cool new jacket. I know Aries is on the small side anyway but Corbin absolutely dwarfed him in comparison. Aries started off hot but Corbin cut him off and got the heat on him. He’s really found himself in terms of agressiveness which I think he didn’t have even going back a few months ago, he continue to improve well. Aries made a comeback but Corbin laid him out with the deep six (spinning side slam) on the outside. He went for the End of Days but Aries countered with a roll up into a bridge and got the win. Right finish as it protected Corbin and Aries got the needed win in his debut. Pretty good match.
Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Crowd went ballistic the minute Nakamura came out. Song, entrance, everything fit him and was instantly over. Crowd is SUPER into this, far beyond anything else on this card so far. Good back and forth between both throughout. Nakamura was extremely comfortable doing his own thing and did all of his trademark spots. He’s one of the best in the world in terms of charisma and presence and it was completely represented here Zayn did the big running senton to the floor. Great back and forth sequence. Nakamura’s nose was busted open. “We want strong style” chant. More back and forth until Nakamura hit the spinning clothesline, like from the G1 final from a few years ago. He transisitoned into a triangle. Zayn tried to counter but Nakamura escaped. Zayn got in the koji clutch but Nakamura countered out of it. Zayn went for the helluva kick but Nakamura escaped and hit the reverse exploder and went for the boma ye but Zayn countered. Just great back and forth and the heat was incredible. Nakamura hit the knee strike to the back of the head then pinned Zayn with a high knee strike to the face for the win. Absolutely incredible match that is a surefire match of the year candidate. I think Nakamura’s going to be just fine in WWE.
Nakamura and Zayn shook hands after the match. Zayn stood in the ring as people were chanting “Ole” and “Thank You Sami”. He left to his own music to a big reaction.
NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Asuka
Both women worked really well with one another and everything looked right on the money. A lot of back and forth. Asuka went for a kick but Bayley immediately latched on a kneebar in a cool submission. She worked on both Asuka’s knees. Asuka came back with the flying armbar and went into the seated position but Bayley countered with a roll up. Asuka latched on the Asuka lock, taking her to the floor. Bayley fought and fought, but eventually passed out and Asuka got the win, becoming the new Women’s champion. Crowd was stunned by this but ultimately cheered Asuka. Tough to follow the previous match but this was really good.
Bayley looked dejected after the match. Asuka left the ring, stared at Bayley, then headed up the ramp, posing with the title.
They showed Bobby Roode in the audience, so at the very least he’s on the radar.
NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Balor came out with a chainsaw, I guess since it’s in Texas. Maybe he borrowed it from Dean Ambrose and will give it back after the match. Balor did a flying senton to the floor and Joe’s eye was immediately busted open big time, blood everywhere. It was actually from a headbutt sequence at the start of the match. Joe did a sick suicide dive to the outside. They had to stop the match several times as Joe’s eye was still bleeding, which the crowd didn’t like, chanting “Bulls***” and “F*** PG”. I don’t think it’s a PG issue but rather a a medical/commission issue. Some good back and forth once that was all cleared up. Balor went for the coupe de grace but Joe cut him off and hit the muscle buster for a nearfall. Balor got back up and hit the coupe de grace then tried to follow with the Bloody Sunday DDT but Joe came back with the kokina clutch. They did the Piper/Bret finish from Wrestlemania 8 where Balor used the turnbuckle as leverage and bridged himself over Joe on the floor, pinning him. Heat and intensity was there, and it wasn’t bad but the constant stoppages hurt it from being really great.
Joe looked both stunned and angry after the match, and simply left with Balor celebrating in the ring as the show ended. Another great NXT Takeover event, watch the Zayn/Nakamura match above everything else but each match was good to great in it’s own right.
Kansas City, Kansas: – World Heavyweight champion Frank Gotch beat George Lurich 2 falls to 0
1924
St. Louis, Missouri: – World Heavyweight Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis beat Jim Londos 2 falls to 1
1961
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Gene Kiniski beat Wilbur Snyder to win AWA US Title – Hard Boiled Haggerty beat Stan Kowalski – Jim Hady beat Tony Nero – Joe Scarpello beat Bill Green
1965
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Champion Lou Thesz beat Bob Geigel by dq in 2 out of 3 falls – Dick the Bruiser and Art Neilson beat Doug Gilbert and Ron Reed – Missouri Mauler beat Dutch Savage – Steve Bolus beat Great Hercules – Bob Brown beat Bobby Shane
1972
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Bill Watts & Dr X in 2 out of 3 falls – Billy Robinson beat Big K – Dusty Rhodes ddq Don Muraco – Larry Hennig beat Bull Bullinski – Ramon Torres drew Chris Markoff – Dennis Stamp beat Rick Ferrera
1984
Chicago, Illinois: – Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq – Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson dq – Dick The Bruiser & Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan – Fabulous Ones beat Larry Zbyszko & Roger Kirby – Road Warriors beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe – Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal – Brad Rheingans beat Kevin Kelly
1989
Memphis, Tennessee: – Master Of Pain defeated Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title
1990
Wrestlemania VI:Toronto, Canada: – Demolition defeated the Colossal Connection (Andre the Giant and Haku) to win the WWF Tag Team championship – WWF Intercontinental champion The Ultimate Warrior pinned WWF champion Hulk Hogan to win the WWF World Title – Brutus Beefcake pinned Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig – The Hart Foundation defeated The Bolsheviks – Rick Martel submitted Koko B. Ware – Roddy Piper fought Bad News Brown to a double countout – The Barbarian pinned Tito Santana – Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire defeated Randy Savage and Sherri Martel – The Orient Express, Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato defeated The Rockers by countout – The Earthquake pinned Hercules Hernandez – Hacksaw Duggan pinned Dino Bravo – Ted DiBiase defeated Jake Roberts to regain possession of his “Million Dollar Belt” – Big Bossman defeated Akeem – Rick Rude pinned Jimmy Snuka
1994
Pikeville, Kentucky: – The Rock N’ Roll Express defeated the Heavenly Bodies (Tom Pritchard & Jimmy Del Ray) for the SMW Tag Team Titles
1996
San Bernadino, California: – Goldust defeated Savio Vega to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
2001
Wrestlemania 17: Houston, Texas: – Kane beat Raven and Big Show to win the WWF Hardcore championship – Eddie Guerrero pinned Test to win the WWF European championship – Chyna pinned Ivory to win the WWF Women’s championship – Steve Austin pinned The Rock in a No DQ match to win the WWF World Title – The APA & Tazz defeated The RTC (Bull Buchanan & The Goodfather & Val Venis) – Kurt Angle pinned Chris Benoit – Shane McMahon pinned Vince McMahon in a Streetfight – Edge & Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz in a TLC match to win the WWF Tag Team championship. – The Undertaker pinned Triple H
2007
Wrestlemania 23: Detroit, Michigan: – The Undertaker defeated Batista to win the World Title – Ken Anderson won Money in the Bank Ladder match – US Champion Chris Benoit defeated MVP – The Great Kahli defeated Kane – ECW Originals (The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu & Rob Van Dam) defeated New Breed (Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von & Matt Striker) – ECW Champion Bobby Lashley, with Donald Trump, defeated Intercontinental Champion Umaga, with Armando Alejandro Estrada & Vince McMahon in a hair vs. hair match. Steve Austin will be the special referee – WWE Women’s Champion Melina defeated Ashley in a Lumber Jill Match – WWE Champion John Cena defeated Shawn Michaels
2011
ROH Honor Takes Center Stage Night: Atlanta, Georgia: – Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin defeated the Kings of Wrestling to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles – Michael Elgin beat El Generico – In a Four Corner Survival match, Homicide defeated Tommaso Ciampa, Colt Cabana and Caleb Konley – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole – Roderick Strong defeated Davey Richards – ROH World Title Match: Eddie Edwards defeated Christopher Daniels to retain the title
2012
Wrestlemania 28: Miami, Florida: – Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan to win the World Title – Big Show defeated Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Title – Kane defeated Randy Orton – Hell In A Cell: Undertaker defeated Triple H (Shawn Michaels was special referee) – WWE Title Match: CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho to retain the title – The Rock defeated John Cena
John Cena said he was already medically cleared in an interview done at the beginning of the week with Complex Sports.
In the interview, Cena said he felt he could have come back two weeks ago. He said he can do anything they ask of him to do and when they call, he’ll be there.
“If you ask me today, I should’ve been back two weeks ago. I’ve logged almost 400 hours of physical therapy. I got 111 visits in 12 weeks time. I go every single second I can. People say I have a Wolverine-like style of recovery. I was given a nine month quota to come back and after three months I can tell you that I am ready to do asked of me possible. It’s a matter of when they call me.”
What is notable about that is if Cena’s return was looked at to be a major surprise, he would have never answered the question that way since he’s basically saying he’ll be back imminently.
*As the story goes, there were practices for aspects of a big stunt on Sunday.
*On last night’s Steve Austin podcast with Mick Foley, where daughter Noelle did a cameo, they confirmed earlier reports of Foley doing a family reality show of the network, which will include Noelle training to be a WWE performer. She’s already on the network doing some segments.
*NXT will start live at 8:30 p.m. with a few dark matches. The TV broadcast starts at 9 p.m. The’s local time, add an hour later for Eastern time. Ticketholders, or at least some, were sent an e-mail this morning telling them about the new start time for the show at the Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
*Unlike last year where things were spread out all over town, NXT, Evolve and ROH are all within walking distance of each other. Going to be weird as a lot of people with ROH tickets are also going to NXT, so I’m guessing there will be an exodus about 50 minutes into the ROH show.
*It’s hilarious, because based on the vibe here, if Roman Reigns turns, it may get one of the biggest babyface pops. That’s all I hear of people saying how much they want him to turn.
*Mauro Ranallo will be announcing the first three matches of WrestleMania, and hosting the WWE Network first hour as well as the USA Network simulcast second hour.
*WaleMania was last night. First, I want to say think you to everyone I got to meet from the site last night. It was really cool meeting people from all over the country and all over the world. Tons of wrestlers were there and I’m probably leaving out a ton of names but among them were Jim Ross, Konnan, Kevin Sullivan, Big E, Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho, Zack Sabre Jr., Eddie Edwards, Will Ospreay, Mojo Rawley, Enzo Amoe, Liv Morgan, Amanda (Mandy Rose) from Tough Enough, MVP, Carlito, Primo, Mark Henry, Taya, Pentagon Jr., Drago, Melissa Anderson (Mariposa), Kobra Moon, Justin Roberts, Virgil, Teddy Haft, Chelsea Green (recovering from a broken collarbone while wrestling in India), Noelle Foley, several ex-WWE writers like Alex Greenfield and Ed Ferrara (who now is a teacher at Full Sail University and has never attended an NXT show). Wale is a huge fan and student of wrestling. This looks to be an annual part of the WrestleMania weekend on the Thursdayprior to the show.
*About the only actual news that came out of the event was MVP saying that he’s starting with Lucha Underground.
*There is a real buzz among this audience regarding Lucha Underground. I think it’s the combination of something entirely different and the hot live audience that gives the show a cool feel. They made a huge mistake not running a live event this weekend.
*Bryan and I will start our nightly audio shows tonight after the NXT show.
