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  • NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: Okada and Naito square off in 6-man tag action

    New Japan is back this morning in Korakuen Hall as the Road to Invasion Attack continues! On hand tonight is a six man tag featuring all of Los Ingobernables Japon taking on top members of Chaos. We’ll also see a big elimination match as the co-man, always a delight as these type of matches work pretty well in NJPW.

    Hirai Kawato vs. Teruaki Kanemitsu

    Solid opener. These two are pretty good considering how many matches they’ve had. That’s the entire point of the dojo though, to refine basic skills until you can graduate to having matches, and here they had a basic match with some fun back and forth between the two. Kanemitsu had the Boston Crab on Kawato but the ten minute time limit expired, thus turning it to a draw. He stomped on Kawato after the match and looked upset.

    David Finlay vs. Jay White

    Good match. These two have pretty good chemistry with one another. White looked really good. People buy into him and got behind him whenever he did a comeback or had a clever counter. Finlay is also very good. Both have a ton of potential down the line. Finlay had White on his shoulders, but White escaped and managed to counter into a boston crab, the required finish for all young lions. Finlay tried to escape, but ultimately couldn’t and tapped.

    Kushida, Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger vs. RPG Vice and Gedo

    Pretty solid stuff. It was very much your usual New Japan six man tag, but but the crowd was into it and maybe a bit more shorter than usual. Kushida stood apart from everyone else in terms of skill, he’s just fantastic at this point. Romero worked on trying to get the mask off of Tiger Mask during the match but couldn’t do it. Gedo & Kushida had a fun exchange towards the end with Kushida getting the submission with the hoverboard lock..

    Kushida cut a promo on Chaos after the match, then danced with his friends. That’s nice!

    Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata

    Not that interesting. It’s not the best four guys I’d put together to have a match. Wound up as a brawl on the outside fairly quickly with Yano using chairs and the like outside the ring. Nakanishi made a hot tag, or whatever you’d want to call it, and took down Yano. Nakanishi took out Yoshi-Hashi as he and Yano battled it out. Yano used the ref to his advantage, grabbing and lifting him high in the air. When Nakanishi went to check on him, Yano low blowed him and got the win with a roll up.

    Katsuyori Shibata & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tencozy

    Good match. Largely a backdrop for the future NEVER title match coming at Invasion Attack, but still good stuff. Shibata and Tenzan went right at it at the bell. Kojima and Taguchi worked together as well, though wasn’t as interesting. Shibata kicked Tenzan right on the face on the apron, sending him crashing to the floor. He managed to get up rather quickly to be tagged in for the comeback. Maaaaaybe sell that spot a bit more. Kojima and Taguchi went at it for a while. Taguchi blocked a lariat attempt but after hitting a boma ye and attempting his own finish, Kojima clocked him with a lariat and pinned him.

    Shibata and Tenzan continued to go at it after the match, with referees and young lions having to pull the two apart.

    Elimination match: Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tonga Roa

    Pretty fun match. Most elimination matches in New Japan are, as they’re pretty much full of action from start to finish. Everyone got a chance to shine early. Elgin came in and destroyed Yujiro, giving him a buckle bomb. Omega tried to stop it, but Elgin grabbed him off the top rope and powerbombed him into Yujiro, allowing Elgin to eliminate him with a powerbomb. Elgin and Omega fought to the outside of the apron where Elgin gave Omega a Death Valley Driver onto all of his opponents on the outside. Robinson made a comeback but Roa and Tonga hit their new finisher and pinned him, evening the odds.

    Honma fought back but got eliminated after a huge dropkick by Roa, sending him off the top rope to the floor. Roa was eliminated after two lariats to the outside, and soon after that both Tama Tonga and Makabe eliminated themselves going over the top rope. All that’s left is Tanahashi and Fale. They have some good back and forth until Tanahashi gets the win with a hurricanrana into a rollup. At least, that’s what they tried, but the execution wasn’t exactly there.

    Fale beat up on Tanahashi after the match. They’re still teasing something with these two as they’ve squared off on and on since New Beginning.

    Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto vs. Evil, Tetsuya Naito and Bushi

    Fun main event. Everyone worked with one another and everything built up pretty well. Okada and Naito worked against one another and looked really good. They’ve had great matches in the past, so Invasion Attack shouldn’t be any different. Goto cleaned house as Okada set his sights on Evil. Bushi tried to interfere but was immediately given a Rainmaker. Evil came in but got tombstoned, then pinned after another Rainmaker.

    Okada was about to do his promo, but Naito (after acting calm and tranquillo following the bell) ran in and took out Gedo. Okada chased him out as he cut a promo on Naito to close out the show.

    Fun show overall. Nothing blow away, but if you like elimination and multi man matches, along with a couple of rookie bouts, this show is right up your alley.

  • F4D: Morning report from Dallas, ROH, WrestleMania, NXT, more!

    Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez is back today with a morning update talking tons of news and notes from Dallas leading into Friday night’s ROH and NXT shows, WrestleMania and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

    Check out all of our WrestleMania 32 weekend coverage.

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  • WWE Smackdown results: Dean Ambrose turns water into wine against The Vintner

    AJ Styles def. Heath Slater w/ Social Outcasts by pinfall

    The Outcasts truly are the Caucasian New Day; pre-match promos are absolutely obligatory even when there is nothing funny or interesting to say. The Andre The Giant Battle Royale fodder babble about how there is only one of AJ and four of them. Curtis Axel creatively dubs his group the “Phenomenal Four” (Rose: “You must have really racked your brains for that one…”), before Bo Dallas one-ups him with the pun-derful (Mauro’s words) “Four-nomenal”.

    These two only got five minutes to do their thing, but the so-called Crimson Werewolf managed to get in plenty of offence in that time. AJ’s shine was quickly cut off by interference from Axel, who tripped him on the apron to allow Slater to assume control.

    Slater’s heat drills home why the company only sees him as enhancement talent and nothing more; all kicks, knees, chinlocks and stomps. Unfortunately this offensive offence takes up the majority of the match; AJ’s comeback is as brief as his shine and most notable for Jerry Lawler’s excitement prior to Mauro Ranallo’s inevitable call of the ushigoroshi.

    The finish saw AJ hit the Pele Kick to a meddling Adam Rose on the apron (which Lawler later refers to as the “miso soup dropkick” during the replays), followed by the unfortunately monikered Phenomenal Forearm for the three count.

    – We then cut live to Renee and Robo-Byron at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where they are primed to hit us with all the hype and video packages we can handle. Renee asks Byron if he ever thought that Shane McMahon would make his return to the WWE. Someone then presses the button to enact Byron’s pre-programmed response, thus leading us into the talking heads hype video for Shane/Taker on Sunday night.

    – A very brief mention of NXT’s Takeover show on Friday night prefaces another Renee/Byron discussion, where the latter bleeps and bloops about Ambrose’s lack of fear. Quoth the Robot: “Imagine you’re in a neighbourhood, right? And you know Brock Lesnar’s coming to town and you turn off the lights….you hide under the bed! Ambrose is the guy sitting under his porch saying ‘Hey, come to my house, Brock! Come over here!’”. Gremlins in the system, I guess.

    – Props to Motorhead (now sans head) are delivered for the use of their “Sympathy For The Devil” track for ‘Mania. Robo-Byron opines that listening to it is likely to get one’s “HEAD in the game”. Data trying to understand humour springs to mind.

    – A recap of the Reigns/Authority capers from RAW airs, followed by a video package seeking to explain Snoop Dogg’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. WWE is now truly a “doggy dogg world” apparently. Yes, that was the actual last line of the package.

    D-Von Dudley w/Bubba Ray def. Jey Uso w/Jimmy by pinfall

    Another five minute match here, with the aim of teeing up Sunday’s pre-show match for “tag team supremacy” (presumably). Jey starts us off by punching D-Von “like he’s full of candy” in the corner, according to Mauro.

    Quickly into the heat as Jey gets posted and cracked with a Bubba right hand while the ref is distracted. D-Von lays down his usual offence, before missing a top rope diving headbutt to allow Jey back into the contest.

    Said comeback culminates in a superplex attempt from the Uso. Jimmy dives off the steps to prevent Bubba from meddling again, but can’t stop D-Von from clumsily escaping, tripping Jey and hitting Ron “Damn” Simmons’ spinebuster for the pin. Mauro tells us that D-Von has dubbed the move the RDS in Simmons’ honour. Nice.

    – Renee and Byron stay hyped by previewing the Divas title match and bigging up the WWE 24 documentary on Daniel Bryan’s final day as a professional wrestler. They then throw to a recap video of Kofi Kingston’s victory over Alberto Del Rio on RAW, followed by Coach’s appearance to hype Sportscenter’s all day ‘Mania coverage.

    – Final video package of the night centres around the oh-so-cold WWE title program, culminating with a match graphic that does not yet reflect the rumoured no-DQ stipulation; a well-established crutch for the most insecure man in professional wrestling. Hey, at least he can say he main evented the biggest Wrestlemania of all time…

    Dean Ambrose def. Erick Rowan by pinfall

    The Vintner enters the arena with his pals Bray and Braun, who rather confusingly disappear to the back before the match starts. This is a good tune-up match for Dean on paper, given Rowan’s extensive no holds barred experience against the legendary Brody Hoofer back in the day.

    This, for my money, was unquestionably Rowan’s best singles match in the WWE; comfortably outstripping anything from his unfortunate babyface run two years ago. It went 15 minutes, if you include the action during the commercial break, and remained engaging throughout.

    Dean has the advantage leading into said break courtesy of a flying clothesline from the apron, but Rowan is in control when we get back; channeling Lucha Underground’s Matanza with a big spinning powerslam.

    Dean’s comeback starts off the back of Erick’s deadly signature double noogie, but he’s quickly cut off by a big boot and a spinning forearm from the second rope. Alas, Rowan is silly enough to go to the well a second time, which allows Dean to scurry over and hit a massive superplex!

    The workrate continues as Rowan bumps to the outside off a dropkick, before eating a tope suicida and a top rope elbow. There’s also a nice spot in the nearfalls segment where Dean escapes a pumphandle slam attempt and looks for his stupid seesaw clothesline, only to get creamed with a uranage sideslam for two.

    The finish sees Rowan get frustrated after his spinning heel kick fails to put the lunatic away. He slaps Dean repeatedly, ordering him to stay down, until Dean eventually hits the ropes, pops back with the seesaw clothesline and then finishes with the Dirty Deeds to send him on his way to Dallas.

    – The show closes with Stone Cold Steve Austin flapping his gums backstage with a member of WWE staff ahead of his impending live podcast with Mick Foley.

    Final Thoughts

    Pretty lame show if you watched it live, given that it only contained 20 minutes of actual wrestling and served to function mainly as a two-hour Wrestlemania hype vehicle. The main event was surprisingly good though; credit to Dean for pulling a good match out of such an opponent and to Rowan for playing his part.

  • Wrestlemania Week: Steve Austin & Mick Foley podcast recap

    This live special goes into Mick’s career, and explores his life on the road while also providing him an outlet to highlight younger talent and plug his family’s new WWE Network show: Foley, Foley.

    The podcast begins from Axxess with the podcast set in mid-ring for the first time ever. Stone Cold comes out and gets a ring introduction in Texas – including posing on the ropes and the screen going black when he flipped the bird. Austin cuts a what-filled promo on Mick Foley’s history with him. Mick comes in and gets a “holy shit” chant that is unmuted, while Austin’s utterance gets muted.

    Mick takes a while to get his cheap pop and he talks about seeing Steve train with Chris Adams in WCCW and feeling he had “it”. Steve compliments Mick on looking good now and he says that they used to go the gym – which makes Mick happy since it proved he’s been in one. Mick is down 50 pounds and credits it to a better diet and DDP Yoga. Mick was told that there was no hope for his spine, but the yoga helps alongside swimming and he’s at his lightest since 2004. Mick credits Bronco Lubich and Skandar Akbar lecturing him to save his money. Mick shares a story about making a bet with Owen on who could last the longest on $20 – and Owen tapped out at two weeks.

    Mick says he was more comfortable as a youth dressing like Dude Love, but it wouldn’t work in the ring first, so he made Cactus Jack as an homage to his dad. Mick talks about showing up in Memphis after paying for some photos and then coming in looking like he had a tiny bit of muscle under the flab. Steve says that when Mick was in Dallas, he met a girl, and Mick says his youngest son is in the front row. He wondered if he should tell her he was Mick Foley and not Cactus Jack – but he liked her, and decided to just be Cactus Jack with her and it helped him build his character. Whether in or out of character, he was cheap though and asked her kids to just have water when eating out.

    Mick talks about learning wrestling much like language – you start with letters, then words, paragraphs, chapters, and books. Eric Embry gave him creative freedom, while Akbar told him to just do whatever worked and was different. Mick talks about Dynamite Kid knocking his jaw out of alignment for a year with a stiff lariat and learning to be a softer worker from that. Mick says he didn’t like pain, but was driven by it and there was a time when there wasn’t a huge difference between himself and Cactus Jack.

    Mick wants to talk about Dean, but Steve derails things into talking about his poor pay in Japan. Mick says that he told his wife about that like the last time he had a good news/bad news talk it was good news – he was coming home early, but the bad news was he was now missing an ear. Steve asks Mick about a WWE Network project with his family, and he introduces Noelle. Noelle now has theme music and a pink version of Mick’s flannel graphic and Mankind mask. Steve says she’s beautiful and you’d never guess she was Mick’s daughter. Their show will be called Foley, Foley.

    Mick says that Vince loved the chemistry Mick had with Noelle, and the show will cover Noelle’s modeling and wrestling training. Mick was surprised that the way he walks would deter her, but it didn’t. Mick says she’ll be trained the right way and Noelle says she loved going on the road with Mick and her brothers. Noelle says she was fine with Mick missing events because they knew he did the best he could to get home. Foley Foley will start filming in two weeks. Noelle says that they’re a weird-normal family and Mick says they’re like the Munsters. Noelle says she’s about as frugal as her dad and will buy nice things – but get the best deals, and their show hits the Network in August.

    Mick talks about the origins of Mankind being Mason the Mutilator. Vince had the mask made for Taker, and wanted to use it for his opponent – but didn’t want Mick in the company. Jim Ross bugged Vince enough to give him a shot, but he’d only hire him if he could cover up his face. Mick says that on April 1, 19996 he debuted in the company against the Undertaker. Well, it would be pretty fitting to have them interact at WM.

    Mick talks about getting into the Mankind character by spending time in boiler rooms and under the ring, which Austin praises him for doing since it’s basically like being a method actor. Mick credits the multi-part Jim Ross interview with breaking him out of the pack in 1997. During the shoot, he heard Vince say “This it outstanding!” and it won him over. Mick talks about how Terry Funk helped create the map for the Cell with Taker.

    They talk about the fall off the Cell being bad, and it getting worse with the chokeslam. Mick says that he hugged Stephanie all bloodied up, and hugging Pat due to him experiencing a loss in his life. Mick then went out for the main event of that show to attack Steve with a chair in the first blood match. Mick looks at the footage and has no memory of any of this. 

    Mick finally talks about Dean and says that he doesn’t care about how often he’s back, that he wants to do something that has impact. Mick says that he was too concerned with making waves, and realized that his job was to portray Dean in the best light, he told the writer that the skit was too funny and not serious enough. He wasn’t sure how to structure a backstage promo, but he just let things roll when the cameras did and he loved the line about him being Mick Foley and Dean being Dean Ambrose. Mick says that he’ll never look at doing a backstage promo the same way again because he used to think it was a throw-away bit, but he realized that it could be an effective tool to use.

    Mick talks about the Freebirds and his history with the team – including him helping Buddy move in ’87. He loved Stan Hansen, and Mick almost named his son Mickey Stan. Mick says that the journey to a match isn’t as important as the destination and he was getting ready to work a tag with Stan, and he wanted to work spots only to have Stan tell him “I don’t work spots”. Mick says that the main eventers are expected to steal the show, but the divas could do it – and Charlotte will usher in a new era in front of 100,000 fans.

    Mick closes the show with a Vince impression about WrestleMania being bigger, better, and better while Austin gets in a dig about not being a fan of WrestleMania being free. This was a fun little show – but not a must-watch. To see all the screens for it, just click here.

    Check out all of our WrestleMania 32 weekend coverage.

  • WOR: WrestleMania weekend preview, match order, tons of news!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez returns with a solo show talking tons of news from Dallas here on WrestleMania weekend, notes on the big show, the match order, all the latest in wrestling and MMA and more! A fun show as always so check it out~! Check out all of our WrestleMania 32 weekend coverage.

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  • Dave Meltzer’s WWE WrestleMania Diary: WaleMania, highway ads, Balor Club, Jim Cornette

    Editor’s Note: Most of Dave’s diary excitement will start Friday when he starts attending shows including Ring of Honor and NXT.  We will have assorted shows up for members throughout the weekend, the first being a solo show with Bryan later tonight. Then, Dave and Bryan Alvarez will be back tomorrow to talk all of the news and fesitivites.  Mike Sempervive will also be helming Wrestling Observer Live every day through Wednesday when Bryan returns.

    *There is WWE information listing HHH vs. Roman Reigns now as a no DQ match, which it was never pushed as prior to today.

    *There are WrestleMania ads all over the major highways and downtown here, usually a photo of a WWE star, the ones I’ve seen the most are Undertaker, Shane McMahon, John Cena, HHH, Roman Reigns and Sasha Banks. Officials at AT&T Stadium have noted that there has been far more local promotion done for WrestleMania then for the Super Bowl when the stadium hosted it a few years ago.

    *Things already started with Jim Cornette doing a live talk show in Fort Worth. He did his usual bits, talking about how much he hated Vince Russo, but other names on his list included Dixie Carter, Shawn Michaels, and, to an extent, John Laurinaitis. 

    *WaleMania is tonight (Thursday) in Dallas which is now an annual event as tickets sold out immediately. Last year a ton of wrestlers came with the exception of WWE talent as I think they aren’t supposed to be at anyone else’s shows.

    *If Finn Balor loses the NXT title Friday night to Samoa Joe at TakeOver, that means the Balor Club is headed to the main roster. Either way, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows are debuting imminently and are in Dallas already.

    Here’s some non-WWE notes:

    *UFC 198 in Curibita, Brazil, is now sold out with approximately 45,000 tickets sold. Most likely, It would have sold out yesterday, but some systems crashed. It was noted to us that it would sell out today. The show features Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title, Anderson Silva vs. Uriah Hall, Vitor Belfort vs. Jacare Souza, Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith, and Shogun Rua vs. Corey Anderson.

    *TNA will be taping Impact from 4/21-4/24 at Universal in Orlando. The dates changed slightly from what the talent was told last week.

    *New Japan is doing a free show on New Japan World tonight/tomorrow from Korakuen Hall. It’s a free sample to try and get people to buy the service for Invasion Attack  on 4/10.  In theory, they should then be shooting some angles to build that show. The top matches are an elimination match with Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma & Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson vs. The Bullet Club of Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall, plus Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi.

    Historically, New Japan ten man elimination matches, where you can be eliminated either by pin, submission, or over the top rope, are usually very good. The show starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time early Friday morning and will be available on VOD shortly after its conclusion.

  • WWE Main Event results: Ryback battles a Wrestlemania legend

    First off, my deepest apologies to my tens of fans for my failure to file over the last fortnight. But, worry not; my difficulties in accessing the show in a timely manner (or, indeed, at all) have been resolved.

    Unfortunately, my return to casting a critical eye over Main Event is marked by a show that is over 80% Wrestlemania hype. Video packages were aired on the Reigns/Authority, Shane/Taker (two) and Dean/Brock storylines. One match was taped before RAW in Brooklyn on Monday night, featuring Sunday’s US title challenger The Ryback against the one-time conqueror of Chris Jericho, Fandango.

    Ryback def. Fandango by pinfall

    Jerry Lawler troubles me with his depth of knowledge on Ryback by insisting that “everything about The Big Guy is bigger”. Yeesh.

    Rich Brennan repeats Monday night’s faux-pas by reminding us all that the company once chose to put Fandango over Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania. I guess it’s less dumb when Jericho isn’t in the segment, but it’s still never a fantastic idea to remind your viewers exactly how amateurish you are at judging talent.

    Speaking of bad ideas, someone thought it would be pretty gravy to have their monster heel, who is challenging for a belt on Sunday, take over ten minutes to put away a guy who hasn’t won a televised match since mid-December. Solid logic there and no mistake.

    Fandango therefore got plenty of offence in this one, including a high knee from the apron to the outside to grab the advantage leading into an early commercial break. Ryback’s heat is that of a man who hasn’t worked heel in a while; painfully dull, including an excruciatingly long chinlock.

    Fandango dodges a corner charge and follows up with a baseball slide to initiate his comeback. He even sidesteps Ryback’s first attempt at the Meathook clothesline with a school boy roll-up for two-and-a-half. Ryback immediately pops up and connects with said Meathook however, followed by the Shellshock for the win. Only six minutes of this aired, but it felt longer as it was dull, disjointed and heatless throughout.

    Final Thoughts

    Not much to add really. Join me again tomorrow for a similarly attenuated edition of Smackdown and be sure to check out my – and the rest of the team’s – Wrestlemania predictions later in the week.

  • WON Preview WrestleMania 32, Hogan vs Gawker

    Subscribers click here to read:  April 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Wrestlemania 32 preview, Jon Jones arrested

    The latest on WrestleMania 32, the Daniel Bryan story updated, the entire weekend and a look at the history of St. Louis wrestling are all part of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

    The lead story goes into WrestleMania 32, including updated ticket sales, updated gate numbers, how tickets are selling, plus a look at ticket sales and secondary market prices for all the sold out events over the weekend.

    We look at the scheduled for the show, what matches will air at what time, what hasn’t been promoted, a look at the matches and the odds for the various matches.

    We also have an update on the aftermath of the Hulk Hogan/Gawker trial, including what is next, Nick Denton’s attempt to explain their decision, and more that has come out.

    We also have more on the Jon Jones arrest, the key points and what he’s facing. 

    We have a lot more regarding Daniel Bryan, the retirement of Brie Bella, the WWE special on Daniel Bryan, and a lot more details of his issues and a time line of thing. 

    We look at Friday night’s Madison Square Garden event.

    We also have a major feature on St. Louis wrestling and Joe Garagiola, the first host of Wrestling at the Chase.  We look at how powerful the show was in its heyday, when Vince McMahon promoted Wrestling at the Chase and why one of the most noteworthy moments in modern pro wrestling took place at the show.  We look at the beginnings of the show and the role Garagiola played in it.

    We look at St. Louis wrestling before Sam Muchnick and Lou Thesz, the arrival of Muchnick, the heyday of Bill Longson, the Muchnick vs. Thesz feud and reconciliation, the boom and bust of pro wrestling in the 50s, .  We look at stories from the early days of the show, the first episode, We look at why Garagiola left the show and the story of his last show.  We also look at the story of the only tape from the early era that has survived.

    We look at the change in locations of the show and why.  We also look at the Muchnick retirement, the ratings collapse, and St. Louis in modern pro wrestling.  We also look at the colorful life of Garagiola, including his interactions with The Beatles, Yogi Berra, President Gerald Ford along with a look at the baseball career.

    We also look at SummerSlam tickets, a crazy Hulk Hogan story from years back, Update on John Cena, more on ESPN’s coverage of WWE, WWE wrestler whose push is being rethought, Roman Reigns talks being booed, Newcomers to WWE, and more people getting looks.

    We also have notes on all the weekend WWE & NXT shows and details and business notes.

    We’ve got an update on the Global cruiserweight tournament that WWE is putting together.  We also have an update on the WWE Hall of Fame.

    We also look at the Hodge trophy and more on the NCAA tournament in Madison Square Garden.

    We’ve also got a look at the AAA Rey de Reyes show

    Subscribers click here to read: April 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Wrestlemania 32 preview, Jon Jones arrested

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    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

    Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: February 22, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: ECW having financial problems, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre review, more  Details on ECW’s financial issues including bounced checks, a full review of WWE’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre with Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon in a cage, plus more.

    The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

    Also in this issue:

    • The first Cibernetico vs. Ultimo Guerrero match
    • The 73rd anniversary of pro wrestling at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City
    • Next AAA TV taping
    • More on Joe Doering’s fight with cancer
    • History of Americans who have held the Triple Crown
    • Ticket sales for upcoming New Japan shows
    • A look at the AXS TV shows
    • Building the next New Japan major show
    • More on shows over WrestleMania weekend
    • Notes on Lucha Underground business with iTunes
    • Notes on the Lucha Underground talent situation in a few months
    • Lucha Underground’s big goals
    • One of the major stars who hasn’t been back for the third season
    • Lots of newcomers to Lucha Underground
    • Lucha Underground injury updates
    • Notes on Aztec Warfare
    • Updates on the 2017 Lucha Underground season and all the news from the tapings this past week
    • Updated news on TNA looking for an investor
    • A new TNA deal
    • More on people leaving
    • More on the issues with Preston City Wrestling
    • Ken Anderson says his remarks were taken out of context
    • TNA signs five new wrestlers
    • Ariel Helwani leaves FOX
    • Why his leaving is a black eye to FOX
    • Nate Diaz talks McGregor vs. GSP
    • More on Cris Cyborg’s UFC debut
    • More on the UFC’s big show in Curitiba, Brazil
    • Update on Yoel Romero
    • Update on Paige VanZant
    • UFC 200 update
    • C.M. Punk update
    • Update on Mayhem Miller   

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  • Daily pro wrestling history (03/31): Shawn Michaels wins WWF World Title in an Iron Man match

    1930

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – World Heavyweight Champion Gus Sonnenberg beat Dan Koloff in 2 out of 3 falls
    – Henri DeGlane and Ed “Strangler” Lewis drew (60:00 minutes)

    1964

    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
    – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Mitsu Arakawa 
    – AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher beat Moose Evans & Wilbur Snyder 
    – Hans Schmidt beat Rene Goulet
    – Doug Gilbert beat Jack Pesek 2

    1978

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – Tony Atlas beat Superstar Billy Graham COR
    – Dusty Rhodes beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
    – Tommy Rich & Thunderbolt Patterson beat Ole Anderson & Lars Anderson to win Georgia Tag Title
    – Adrian Adonis beat John Studd dq
    – Paul Ellering drew Jacques Goulet
    – Pez Whatley beat Frankie Laine

    1980

    Tokyo, Japan:
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dcor Kintaro Ohki in 3rd fall
    – IWA Champion Rusher Kimura beat Johnny Powers COR 
    – WWU World Junior Heavyweight Champion Ashura Hara beat Ryuma Go of New Japan dq 
    – IWA World Tag Team Champions Animal Hamaguchi & Mighty Inoue beat Kengo Kimura & Haruka Eigen of New Japan dq
    – Mach Hayato beat Devil Murasaki via pin 
    – Tenshin Yonemura beat Masahiko Takasugi via pin 
    – Goro Tsurumi & Katsuzo Oiyama beat Great Kusatsu & Isamu Teranishi dq 

    1983

    Sioux City, Iowa:
    – Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
    – Ken Patera beat Rick Martel
    – Wahoo McDaniel beat John Tolos
    – Brad Rheingans beat Bobby Heenan

    1985 

    Wrestlemania I: Madison Square Garden:
    – Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff defeated WWF World Tag Team Champions Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham to win the titles
    – Wendi Richter pinned Leilani Kai to win the WWF Ladies title
    – The Junkyard Dog defeated WWF Intercontinental champion Greg Valentine by countout
    – Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (with Jimmy Snuka) defeated Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (with Bob Orton) 

    Chicago, Illinois:

    – AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
    – AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
    – Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
    – The Crusher no contest King Tonga
    – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Kendo Nagasaki & Mr. Saito
    – Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko dq
    – AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
    – Billy Robinson beat Tom Zenk

    1989

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – Sting defeated Mike Rotunda for the NWA World TV Title 

    1994

    Sheffield, England:
    – The Quebecers defeated Men On A Mission for the WWF World Tag Team Titles

    1996 

    Wrestlemania XII: Anaheim, California:
    – Shawn Michaels pinned Bret Hart in overtime of a 60 minute Iron Man match to win the WWF World Title 
    – Vader & Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith managed by Jim Cornette defeated Yokozuna & Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson
    – Roddy Piper fought Goldust in a “Hollywood Backlot Brawl”
    – Steve Austin defeated Savio Vega 
    – Ultimate Warrior pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley
    – The Undertaker pinned Diesel 

    2003

    San Jose, California:
    – Kane & Rob Van Dam defeated champions Lance Storm & Sean Morley and The Dudley Boyz in a three way match for the World Tag Team Titles

  • Observer Feature: Patrick Scott Patterson talks NWA Parade of Champions

    Long before Xavier Woods had an UpUpDownDown channel on YouTube, Patrick Scott Patterson was bridging the gap between video game culture and professional wrestling.

    A self-described video game advocate, he also wound up in the confines of the squared circle, where he once ranked as high as #409 in the PWI Top 500 in 2004 under the in-ring name of Scott Phoenix. Some people will scoff at that ranking, but Ion the other hand will respect the fact he’s taken a thousand more bumps than I have in any ring other than the virtual ones of 2K Sports.

    Tonight (Thursday), Scott will return to the wrestling world he once inhabited as a competitor for the NWA Parade of Champions in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday night. He won’t be wrestling though — Scott will be calling some of the action from ringside as a guest commentator. Before we get to that I wanted Scott to tell people a little bit about his history in the gaming world. Incidentally he prefers to go by Scott in conversation, but is credited as Patrick Scott Patterson for all media appearances.

    So how did you first become a video game advocate?

    Long story short, video gaming was my first love as a young child. Over time I wanted to know everything there was about it — not just playing all the games from going all the way back then to every generation successively — but I wanted to know about who made these games, how’d they come about, how’d the industry come about, how did all of these evolve. Over time that passion ended up becoming a profession, and these days I produce online content where we talk about the past, present and future of gaming (and) I speak at live events and appear in documentary films about the subject.

    It feels like there’s an educational shortfall when it comes to preserving the history and informing today’s generation of gamers about where it all came from. There’s not a hundred plus years of history like there is for the squared circle, but sadly in 50 years much has been lost, forgotten, or just flat out inaccurately reported.

    This is true in all forms of entertainment. This is true in film, this is true in books and television and everything else. I think it’s important to know where you came from and how you got to this point, so you can fully understand and appreciate it — and love it for the art form that it is.

    How did you fall in love with wrestling?

    I was born and raised in the Dallas area. The younger generation of wrestling fans don’t even know it at this point, but at one point in time the city of Dallas was the hottest up-and-coming talent factory that there was. We had not just the Von Erichs and the Freebirds — as well as like the Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman feud as the first instances of ‘sports entertainment’ as well as Gorgeous George going way back.

    It’s a good coincidence that the Fabulous Freebirds are going into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend,.

    The Freebirds were so influential in what McMahon went on to do by the way. The Freebirds introduced the Rock’n’Wrestling thing even before Vince McMahon did. So they were based down here – but so many talents started in the Dallas area that went on to become bigger and bigger stars: ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Booker T, JBL, I could go on and on. A lot of guys didn’t get their start here but came down here and got their first break – people like Sean Waltman, Mick Foley, Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude. At one point in time almost every major talent you would see either started here or came through here on their way to the top.

    What made you to want to step into the squared circle?

    I just had a passion for it – it was something I grew up (with). I was in middle school and high school and I didn’t have a lot of friends. I was bullied, I was beat up a lot, made fun of a lot. I was a real skinny lanky uncoordinated kid. Professional wrestling was my escape during those times. I could live vicariously watching them onTV and imagine that I was going out there with some entrance music and the crowd going crazy and I was throwing these people around that were giving me a hard time at school — I was throwing them around the ring and putting the beatdown on them.

    And what happened when you decided to pursue that passion?

    Spur of the moment I called a local wrestling school and they were having tryouts that weekend. Common sense would have been like ‘Okay — maybe I can spend the next three months, go get in a gym, get in a little better shape, and give it a go.’ No – I decided ‘Alright I’ll see ya this weekend.’ There were four of us in the tryout and somehow I got in. I think it was the fact I was so out of place, and despite everything I was put through I wasn’t going to quit. That promoter at the time was like ‘Well this guy is willing to spend thousands of dollars so I’ll take his money for as long as he’s gonna stick around.

    Who were your trainers at that school that broke you in?

    That was headed up by a guy named Kit Carson – one half of a tag team down here called Team Extreme. Occasionally he’d bring in some of his other friends. He’d bring in his partner Khris Germany, sometimes he’d bring in the original Awesome Kong – obviously not Kia Stevens – one half of the Colossal Kongs. Once I was through that school the promoter really wasn’t – since he wasn’t getting any more money he wasn’t eager to keep me at it. I went and I found another school that was close to where I lived. There I was training with Awesome Kong – Dwayne McCullough was his real name. They were briefly in WCW. You’re never supposed to quit learning in the business – so other people along the way would teach me things. I can’t just point at one person.

    What frustrated you about working on the indies?

    Towards the end of my time in the ring there was a discussion among several indie promoters in the state of Texas about having a Texas Heavyweight Champion who could go outside the state to (represent). Everyone agreed it was a good idea but no one could agree on who held the belt. Self-serving egos got in the way.

    So for a large part of the 1990s a lot of people forgot that NWA even existed. How did we get from there to the revival and the Tournament of Champions?

    I think one of the things that helps the modern version of it is that it’s not trying to be what it was. It’s trying to appeal to those fans who aren’t interested in backstage vignettes and stock prices. They want to see some hot action in the ring. They want to see a good show. I think catering to that is what’s brought some stability to NWA (today).

    What brought you back after retirement?

    I always kind of kept one foot in (wrestling). David Fuller stuck around and stuck around and stuck around. We all said ‘He’s going to be the guy that inherits the whole territory’ and that’s what happened. We reconnected on social media a few years ago and talked about some things, it was late 2014. I hadn’t been to any event for a long time. He was doing an anti-bullying rally and I thought that would be a nice thing to speak in so I agreed to do that. Then he’s came up like ‘Yeah you want to do some commentary?’ I did some color commentary for a match or two. He worked me – turns out he already had me penned in.

    What will you be doing at the NWA Parade of Champions in Fort Worth tonight?

    I’ll do color commentary for Rob Moore’s play-by-play. Yeah – let’s do that – I’m excited to be here! I’m kind of a smart aleck by nature anyway so I always like color commentary in any type of competitive or entertaining thing. It needs to be entertaining but still have some insight. I’m not going to go up there and be playing a gimmick. It’s 2016, plus I’m not a wrestler any more. I’m up there as me. But occasionally I’ll fire off a quick one liner that’s fun or entertaining. But I used to be in the ring – so I can speak to the pressure of being up there in front of a crowd – or if I see a move I never liked being performed on me I can say that as well. ‘Chops? Boy I don’t miss those at all!’ I think having a little direct insight with that experience, you can tow that line, what it’s like in the ring.

    Final thoughts on calling the card on Thursday?

    Whether it’s eSport video game competition or it’s professional wrestling, I think a color commentator needs to help paint the picture. The play-by-play is telling you what’s going on and the color guys needs to be telling you why it matters and why you should care.