By dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>Dave Meltzer
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s UFC 189 show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
We’re also looking for reports on today’s WWE in Macon, GA (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Ryback, Big Show, Kevin Owens, Prime Time Players) and Knoxville (Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Kane, Cesaro, Dean Ambrose), as well as this weekend’s GFW shows in Appleton, WI and Erie, PA, and last night’s Evolve show in Orlando, to dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
UFC ON SUNDAY FROM THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA ON FS 1 AT 7 P.M.
George Sullivan vs. Dominic Waters
Mike De La Torre vs. Maximo Blanco
Dan Miller vs. Trevor Smith
Caio Magalhaes vs. Josh Samman
Willie Gates vs. Darrell Montague
Russell Doane vs. Jarrod Sanders
Angela Magana vs. Michelle Waterson
Michael Graves vs. Vicente Luque
Cezar Mutante Ferreira vs. Jorge Masvidal
Hayden Hassan vs. Kamaru Usman in the TUF 21 season finale
Jake Ellenberger vs. Steve Wonderboy Thompson
Raw will be live on Monday from Atlanta. Brock Lesnar is booked on the show.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Birmingham.
We’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, highlighted by part two of our look at the career and life of Dusty Rhodes. This focuses on his babyface turn in Florida, his quest for the title, his rise to national prominence, and his feuds with Terry Funk, Superstar Billy Graham and Ole Anderson. Plus, we look at this year’s G-1 Climax tournament, New Japan Dominion, lots of injury notes regarding some of WWE and TNA’s biggest stars, WWE lawsuit, Beast in the East and much more.
The Latest Wrestling Observer: July 13, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Dusty Rhodes bio part 2, back to back major shows in Japan
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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.
Our lead story this week looks at the babyface heyday of Dusty Rhodes as a touring attraction. We look at how the business was in the 70s, the changes in the business in the Southeast and why, the rise of pro wrestling on cable television, his departure from World Championship Wrestling, and his first babyface run that people have forgotten.
We look at the heyday of Championship Wrestling from Florida, the work of Gordon Solie, Eddie Graham, and Rhodes arrival in Florida in 1973. We look at the angle that changed Rhodes’ career, the transition from Jack Brisco to Dusty Rhodes as the big star in Florida and how that changed the business, the Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk I Quit match, the relationship between Rhodes and Funk, Dusty Rhodes’ first two NWA title runs, how the NWA title changed during the 70s and why and Rhodes’ quest for the title. We also look at who Rhodes worked with, and his travels around the globe during his heyday, including some unique matches and opponents that most Americans don’t realize ever took place.
We look at his Madison Square Garden feud with Superstar Billy Graham, pro wrestling at the Omni in Atlanta, Dusty Rhodes on TBS and the role pro wrestling made in the early history of cable television, as well as the famous angle where Ole Anderson & Ivan Koloff kicked off their feud with Rhodes that set cable records.
We look at the famous Ole Anderson interview after turning on Dusty Rhodes and why their angle is so fondly remembered, The last Tangle in Tampa, the night that cable television changed the history of pro wrestling, the end of Roy Shire’s promotion, and the second world title run.
We also have a look at the G-1 Climax tournament for this year, including the favorites, all the matches, as well as full coverage of the Dominion show from Osaka with Kazuchika Okada beating A.J. Styles for the IWGP title.
We’ve got a look at WWE’s latest legal action, including filing suit against four wrestlers in Connecticut. We also look at the cases of wrestlers who are suing WWE.
We’ve also got complete coverage of Beast from the East, how the show came together, why Brock Lesnar was on the show, and match-by-match rundowns with star ratings and poll results.
We also have more on the NXT show in Brooklyn before SummerSlam, how it will be promoted, a scary note on how bad the Tyson Kidd injury could have been, Battleground update, Dolph Ziggler storyline notes, more WWE injury notes, thoughts on Cesaro, Big Show talks about his demotion to OVW, Thoughts on the memo from five years ago with the notes for WWE announcers and how things have changed since then, Brie Bella talks NXT women coming up as well as vague notes on Daniel Bryan’s injury, thoughts on Bryan’s future as well as an update on Bruno Sammartino after back surgery.
We also look at the Sports Illustrated article on pro wrestling this week, social media numbers, Ambrose movie release, why Regal was in Japan, WWE’s Japan tryouts, Piper leaving Podcast One, Austin talking Piper leaving Podcast One, longtime WWE writer takes new job, notes on Randy Orton, USA Network take on Tough Enough, Jamie Noble and Becky Lynch injury updates, WWE stock, movies with WWE talent, lots of Tough Enough news, as well as notes from all the weekend live events, business notes and highlights from all the shows.
The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.
We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.
Also in this week’s issue:
–CMLL running a free live stream this week
–Notes from the latest shows at Arena Mexico
–Controversy coming from a womens’ hair vs. hair match
–Notes from this past week’s AAA TV taping
–A look at the monthly Dragon Gate show at Korakuen Hall
–A look at the next two Dragon Gate iPPV shows
–A look at the last Pro Wrestling NOAH show at Korakuen Hall
–Notes on Tetsuya Naito’s apparent heel turn
–New Japan’s last Korakuen Hall show
–Zero-One Fire Festival notes
–Notes on the heyday of OVW
–A look at the upcoming GFW shows
–Hulk Hogan lawsuit news
–A look at the careers and lives of who are believed to be the two oldest living pro wrestlers
–A look at a former WWE star who will star in a reality show piggy backing off Total Divas
–Former AAA star has a major accident
–Notes on the next PWG show
–Wrestling returns to Royal Albert Hall in London
–Update on Lucha Underground
–NXT and ROH go head-to-head in Brooklyn and what ROH is running
–Notes on return of Austin Aries to ROH nest week
–Notes on Andy Barton leaving TNA
–Update on Kurt Angle
–Thoughts on the GFW deal
–Notes on Gilbert Melendez failing his drug test
–Dana White talks about how much Aldo would have made if he had fought McGregor
–Update on Jon Jones
–Notes on all the UFC shows this week
–Notes on the IV ban
–UFC fighter retires
–Crazy street fight story involving a former UFC fighter and a current one
–Notes on charges against the husband of Britney Palmer
–Notes on fighters cut from UFC
–Jose Aldo drug test note
–Sonnen pranks Mendes just before the fight
–Notes on Jacare Souza
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Our most requested issues in our history are:
*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)
*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you’ll know exactly what was said–the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)
*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
*March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)a
*October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)
*July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)
*February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)
*May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our history)
*January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)
*February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)
*March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)
*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk Hogan)
*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)
*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)
*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)
*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)
*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)
*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s, Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)
*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)
*January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)
*February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)
*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy’s win over Brock Lesnar)
*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)
*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and Wrestlemania history books)
*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair’s book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)
*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair’s book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)
*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)
*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez–this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)
*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)
*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the history of TNA)
*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)
*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their Hall of Fame)
*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)
*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and behind the scenes of both shows)
*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings, Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)
*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)
*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)
*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)
*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year’s Eve 2005 coverage)
*January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)
*April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller Derby–many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)
*April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame week)
*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling–the most unreal story ever in wrestling)
*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)
*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him tick as his real objectives)
*November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff’s book and how the industry was changed forever)
*November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro, Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania planned celebrity away)
*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and why it didn’t click)
*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride’s offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)
*January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bigelow)
*March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)
*March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)
*March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)
*April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage–which many are calling one of the best issues in history)
*July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)
*October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler Lewis)
*November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women’s wrestling) .
*December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)
*January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)
*March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)
*April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair’s meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)
* September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)
* September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)
* September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)
You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North America or $5 overseas.
We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods..
To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.
SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
–Want to say thanks to everyone we got to meet, both convention related and UFC related over the weekend, from all over the world. It was a wild scene last night, and felt like a UFC version of WrestleMania as far as the show aspect was concerned. Bryan and I have a ton of comments regarding the show, the weekend, the Hall of Fame and everything else in last night’s audio show.
–Conor McGregor at the press conference was running down Jose Aldo, and said that he had more severe injuries than Aldo did. McGregor suffered a knee injury when they were doing the world tour. He was really on Aldo for not showing up, talking like his belt is the real belt and talked about facing somebody else for it rather than Aldo. The scary thing is, if they did McGregor vs. anyone and not Aldo, and Aldo headlined defending the real belt vs. Edgar, the interim belt kills it be leaps and bounds.
–Interesting note that McGregor had issued a bet of $3.5 million to Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White that he’d knock Mendes out within two rounds. The bet was never agreed to, but he came in just under the wire.
–Regarding ratings in Ireland and the U.K., the show last night only aired on BT Sports which is a subscription channel with limited penetration, although a lot of sports fans have it because of soccer coverage. It will air on regular TV in Ireland on 3e at 9 P.M. Monday night. (thanks to Sean Herbert)
–Regarding Dana White saying there are more Irish in the U.K than in Ireland, that depends on what you call Irish. In 2011, there were 403,000 born in Ireland living in the U.K., while the population of Ireland is 4.6 million. But if you take Irish to mean someone living in the U.K. with at least one Irish grandparent, that could be true due to the migration from Irish into the UK in the 30s and 40s. McGregor vs. Mendes wasn’t that big in the U.K., but it was huge in Ireland. I was told that if you lived in the U.K. and weren’t a UFC fan, you probably didn’t know an Irish fighter was challenging for the UFC title. There still was more U.K. coverage as the BBC had reps at the show and it made the BBC’s digital text service which is the first time that’s ever happened for UFC. (thanks to Matthew Singh=Dosanjh and Keith Harris)
–Lorenzo Fertitta told ESPN.com that Aldo vs. McGregor could take place on January 2 at the MGM Grand, and also talked about possibly December 5. Because they can charge the highest prices and get the most tourists from Ireland, the decision has been made that if the match happens, it will be in Las Vegas.
–Chad Mendes didn’t protest the stoppage, saying if Herb Dean thought he was done, then it’s is decision. Referees are not supposed to consider time when making stoppage decisions, such as, well there’s only a few seconds left so I’ll let it go. Timing is part of everything. Mendes was done with three seconds left in the round. Robbie Lawler may have been a few seconds from done and was saved at the end of three, and came back to win in five.
–In Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald, that is going to get a lot of consideration for fight of the year. Both were hospitalized, and in fact, took a photo together from the hospital. MacDonald suffered both a broken nose (and badly at that) and a broken foot.
–MacDonald was up 39-37 on all three scorecards going into the fifth round. Had he not been finished, MacDonald would have won the decision.
–UFC 189 had 1,000,000 searches on Google, which is the level of a major PPV show. It’s not necessarily a million buys nor does that indicate any kind of a record, but it’s big numbers. Robbie Lawler had 50,000. Keith Thurman had 20,000.
–As far as Twitter numbers at press time, UFC’s show was 387,000, Cathal Pendred vs. John Howard was 4,719 and Brock Lesnar’s birthday (38) was 1,464.
–UFC ran a promotion that if you bought last night’s show and UFC 190 with Ronda Rousey on 8/1, you would get the 9/5 PPV for free.
–Katsuyori Shibata was injured on Friday night. No word yet on what that means as far as G-1, which starts on 7/20.
–According to WWE, Roddy Piper has not been released from his legends deal.
–Steve Yohe has a book on the life of Ed “Strangler” Lewis, one of the biggest stars in wrestling history (probably top 20 of all-time in importance) that will be coming out very soon. Will update on it.
–Last night’s All Elite show in Queretaro didn’t happen, which is never a good sign. Octagon then went on Facebook and said promoter Javier Montes was a fraud. Mistico said Montes wouldn’t pay the wrestlers.
–Combat Zone Wrestling at its show last night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia announced a deal where CZW will be doing live PPV shows in the U.S and Canada working with Stonecutter Productions, which helped put ECW on PPV and has been doing taped shows. They announced full U.S. coverage with DirecTV, all the major cable systems and The Dish Network. They indicated the first show will likely be announced this week. There have been rumors the first show would be the annual Cage of Death show.
–Hornswoggle was at the GFW show on Thursday night in Appleton, WI. We were told that there’s nothing to read into this. He’s not talking to GFW but was there because he lives 15 minutes from the stadium and there were several ex-WWE guys and crew members working the show, plus he’s friends with a lot of ACW guys and a lot of their wrestlers and fans came to the show because Joey Avalon worked it (Eric Young beat him up).
–Glory will be running a show on 8/7 in Las Vegas.
–CZW results from last night: Shane Strickland (Lucha Underground Killshot) b David Starr Devon Moore & Lucky 13 b Buxx Belmar & Jonathan Gresham, Pepper Parks over Joey Janela and Rich Swann, Chrissy Rivera & Greg Excellent b Neiko Sozio b The Front, Speedball Mike Bailey b AR Fox (best match), Tim Donst b Joe Gacy to win the Wired TV title, Matt Tremont b Blk Jeez-DQ (Jeez retained the CZW world title), Nick Gage b Drew Gulak, Bill Carr & Dan Barry (Team Tremendous) won CZW tag titles in four-way over champs Dave & Jake Crist, Young Bucks and Alex Reynolds & John Silver. Just was told they drew a good crowd (thanks to Bob Magee)
–I’ve already had several people rave to me about Friday night’s Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr. match on the Evolve show. I have their PWG match, which in clips looked phenomenal, cued up for as soon as I have free time, which isn’t going to be for a few days.
–CM Punk was really popular at the Fan Expo, so the idea that UFC fans won’t like him because he’s a fake wrestler, well, there are some vocal about it but the rank and file fans seemed to see him like a top guy.
–TNA is looking for a Senior Manager of Digital Content & Engagement.
–The New York Post story on John Cena at
http://nypost.com/2015/07/11/john-cena-is-the-worlds-biggest-make-a-wish-superstar/
–Jadat Sports LLC and Jerry Jarrett have reached a deal to release DVDs of old Memphis wrestling. Right now the plan is four DVD releases that will total 35 hours of classic Memphis Wrestling.
–John Finnegan has been keeping track of WWE TV and PPV matches starting in November 2006, and Sheamus’ win over Roman Reigns on Raw this past week was his 200th TV win during that period. Nobody else has won as many TV matches. Randy Orton right now has 197 in that period and John Cena has 188.
–Congrats to Premier promoter and sometimes web site contributor John LaRocca, on the birth of his baby girl Khloe Elizabeth LaRocca on Friday at 4:25 a.m. Congrats to John and Katrina, as well as to grandpa Joe, who I’ve known since grade school.
–Wrestlemerica, which is Luke Gallows’ promotion in Barnesville, GA, had a TV taping on Friday night: Shane Marx won three-way over Chip Day and AJ Steele, Iceberg b Pain-DQ, Murder One & Tommy Too Much b Razor & Rowdy, Mickie James b Pandora with Amber Galllows as referee, Sal Rinauro b Kevin Cage, Jimmy Rave b Mike Posey, Andy Anderson & Tyson Dean b Gunner & Iceberg to win the Southern tag team titles due to help from Pain & Tommy Too Much. They announced an 8/15 show at the Academy Gym in Barnesville with Matt Hardy vs. Tyson Dean. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
–Dynamo Pro Wrestling from last night in Glen Carbon, IL Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby b CJ Perry & Snitch, Lucy Mendez b Rachael Freeman, Michael Magnusson & Dave DeLorean b Rocket Mapache & Jackal, Brandon Aarons b Adrian Surge, Mike Outlaw b Jayden Fenix, Ricky Cruz b Evan Morris, Jack Gamble & Jon Webb won four-way over Shorty Biggs & Outtkast, Elvis Aliaga & Jay Howard and Justin D-Air & Keon Option, Jake Dirden b Billy McNeil (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
–Anarchy Wrestling TV tapings from last night in Cornelia, GA: Tommy Penirelli b Strykyn, Kevin Park b Marco Polo, Trever Aeon b Stitch Osiris, Todd Sexton b Raphael King, Mikael Judas b Jeff Lewis Neal, Slim J & Fred Yehi b Geter & Blaze, Azrael & Supernatural and Billy Buck & Bobby More, Kevin Blue b Jeremy Foster, Lars Manderson & BJ Hancock & Tommy Penirelli b Logan Creed & Shadow & Ashworth. Next TV taping is 7/25 (thanks to Bill Behrens)
–Premier Championship Wrestling from last night in Winnipeg: Jackie Lee b Zack Mercury, Chad Tatum over Jacob Creed and Alexander Prime, Antonio Scorpio b Shao Ming, Kenny Omega d Mentallo, Jackie Lee b Chad Tatum, London Dynasty b Kenny Omega & Chris Stevens & Mike McSugar & Michael Clarke, Antonio Scorpio b Jackie Lee in match one of a best of three. Next show is 8/29 with Omega vs. Mentallo in a rematch (thanks to Andrew Shallcross)
–Pure Wrestling Association on 8/16 in Bradford, ONT at the Old Bradford Arena with a tag team tournament including teams like Tommy Dreamer & Rhino, Tyson Dux & Tornado, Steve Corino & Reggie Marley, Johnny Devine & Ruffy Silverstein and several others. There will be an 11:30 a.m. show which is free and a 6:30 p.m. show with $5 tickets.
–Tessa Blanchard and Jessicka Havoc wrestle for Lucky Pro Wrestling on 11/15 in Hudson, MA.
–Lucha Xtreme TV from last night in Fresno: Kikyo b Luscious Lynn & Lisa Lace, Jesse Poole b Aki Sol, CB 3 b Kevin El Divino, Brandon Groom b Johnny Dynamo (thanks to Jon Southerland)
–GOUGE from last night in Raleigh, NC: No Direction b Waylon Maze & Johnny Fulls, Jennifer Blaze b Bill LaBeux, Otto Schwanz b Priest, Seymout Snott b Jakob Hammermeier-COR, Juan Jeremi b Jimmy Jack funk Jr. in a bullrope match. Next show is 7/18 in Fuquay Varina, NC at Draft Line Brewery.
–The seven new matches released on the NWA Classics 24/7 web site of old Houston Wrestling are Kerry Von Erich vs. Kamala, Gino Hernandez vs. Nick Kozak, Rocky Johnson vs Bruiser Brody, Hector Guerrero vs. Jose Lothario, Buddy Landel vs. Al Madril, The Fantastics vs. Dutch Mantell & Bill Dundee and Dusty Rhodes & Bad Leroy Brown vs. Gary Hart & Killer Karl Krupp.
–Showcase Pro Wrestling from Friday night in Woonsocket, RI before a sellout 140 fans: Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt of Woonsocket gave promoter Chris Blackheart a citation. Nichols Night b GA West, Steve Lust & Steve Broad b Chris Matrix & Scott Le’deur, Benny Blanco & DJ AC b Albanian Assassins, Buck Nasty b Blackwolf, Rich Bass b Sgt. Muldoon, Shawn Candito b Cargill Vinton, Chris Matrix won Woonsocket Rumble (thanks to John Callahan)
–AIW Absolution X from Friday night in Cleveland: Gregory Iron & Iron Curtain b Joshua Singh & Kaplan & Frankie Flynn & Brian Carson, Athena b Veda Scott to keep women’s title, Davey Vega b BJ Whitmer to keep Intense title, Ethan Page b Eddie Kingston in an I Quit match, Colin Delaney & Cheech b Tyson Dux & Tracy Williams to keep tag titles, Louis Lyndon won six-way over Candice LaRae, ACH, Flip Kendrick, Cedric Alexander and Tyler Thomas, Tim Donst b Nick Gage, Josh Alexander b Ricky Shane Page to keep AIW title, Ricky Shane Page b Josh Alexander to win title, Young Bucks & Johnny Gargano & Alex Daniels & Josh Prohibition b Ethan Carter III & Matt Cross & DJ Zema Ion & Samoa Joe & Raymond Rowe (thanks to Chris GST)
–The Kickstarter and teaser trailer for “Nightwing: The Darkest Knight” has launched online here- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattboxmedia/nightwing-the-darkest-knight
Nightwing stars Brady Roberts (star of World of Hurt Season 2 with Rowdy Roddy Piper as Brady Malibu, Lance Storm student). Tyson Kidd and Kofi Kingston have tweeted out the trailer already.
—Post match after Friday’s Timothy Thatcher win over Drew Galloway
—Shad Gaspard on the red carpet for Terminatortalking about my next films, WWE and more.
—Trailer for JTG’s first movie
—Conor McGregor’s elite level movement tested out in a lab
Fascinating.. this is the kind of force that sucked the wind out of Chad Mendes with those spinning kicks.