This month and for only the second time ever, WWE will present Fastlane, the now yearly traditional February PPV, I guess. The show takes place on February 21 from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, headlined by a triple threat match between Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose for the number one contender slot to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
This year, WWE threw tradition out the window and made the Royal Rumble match a WWE World title bout in which Reigns had to defend his title against 29 others, from the number one position no less. Of course, he got tossed by the boss (HHH), but don’t worry, he’s getting a rematch at Fastlane, sort of.
Let’s look at how each competitor got here in storyline:
Reigns: He lost in the Royal Rumble so he is due a rematch. One would think he would simply demand his rematch at Wrestlemania, but The Authority made this Fastlane match before he thought of that, I suppose.
Ambrose: He was the runner-up to HHH in the Royal Rumble, and is ALSO the current Intercontinental Champion. If this were the 80’s, that would make him the number one contender automatically. That’s valid enough to put him in the match, kinda.
Lesnar: He had an average showing in the Rumble, and prior to that, was last seen beating the Undertaker at Hell in a Cell in October. He’s the biggest draw, so yeah, he’s in, but in storyline, he hasn’t earned it. Why did The Authority do this? It makes no sense to put the former UFC champion in this match because he’s clearly a major threat unless… he’s joining The Authority. Speculation on my part would suggest to me that Lesnar is winning at Fastlane and turning heel, and will be gifted the title from HHH on Raw. Somehow this will lead to Reigns vs. Lesnar at Wrestlemania with HHH in Lesnar’s corner and The Rock in Reigns’ corner. But that’s purely speculation…
Prediction: Ambrose and Reigns team up to take out Lesnar early, but then both become consumed with hurting / one-upping each other and forget about Lesnar, who recovers and destroys Ambrose before turning his sites to Reigns. Reigns looks like he’s on the verge of defeat, but makes his comeback only to have HHH come to the ring and throw Lesnar the belt which he uses to put Reigns away, probably.
My guess is that the real reason they are doing this match as a three-way is because they remember the excellent three-way match with Lesnar, Rollins, and Cena from last year’s Royal Rumble and think that this match will be able to top that one.
I hope they are right, because the storyline is pretty stupid unless The Authority is just banking on the fact that this match will be so brutal, it won’t matter who wins because they’ll be too badly beaten to put up a fight against HHH at Wrestlemania. From The Authority’s perspective, why give Reigns a chance? They hate him! Why give Ambrose a shot? He is Reigns’ best buddy! Why put Lesnar in there? He is the most dominant force in the WWE and broke HHH’s arm! All this adds up to something fishy smelling.
Here’s what should have happenend: the day after the Royal Rumble, Reigns should have taken Vince McMahon hostage in the ring and demanded his rematch right then. That’s what “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would have done. Instead, just like John Cena would have done, Reigns just eats his crow and gets back in line. He’s so impotent! He put HHH out for a month! He KO’d Vinny Mac! He battled the beast and got screwed at Wrestlemania last year! WHY ISN’T REIGNS MAD? If they are trying to make the next John Cena, they’re doing a good job of it by having Reigns not really care about losing the belt.
This guy is fighting The Authority! Yes, the storyline from 16 years ago is still happening, only instead of an ass kicking, beer swilling, bird flipping madman, we have a cool guy trying to remain cool by not caring. That’s not cool. In fact, that’s decidedly un-cool! Stone Cold didn’t care what Vince wanted. Stone Cold didn’t bother to ask. Stone Cold didn’t wait in line. He took what he wanted, and he was the coolest! Rebels are cool, not guys who take turns.
Hey WWE, we’re not thrilled with the character development of Roman Reigns. He’s mediocre at best. Please listen to us wrestling fans. It’s not that hard. If you’re hell bent on rehashing the storyline from 16 years ago, that’s fine, but go back and look at what worked then and start from there. It’s really simple WWE, just ask yourself one question: what would Stone Cold Steve Austin do?
– Big Damo & Jimmy Havoc vs. Mike Bennett (No Maria) & Drew Galloway (Jokers Wild) (One Night Only)
The match was basically a handicap match, with Bennett & Galloway doing the partners not getting along deal, as they are currently in a program together, although by the time this airs it probably won’t be the case, but who knows. As I say, 2-on-1 with Galloway in-ring for his team, at one point he went to tag Bennett who dropped down from the apron, then later he wanted the tag and Drew wouldn’t give it to him, Galloway made his comeback, hit the double-arm DDT, Bennett made a tag without Drew’s consent, threw him from the ring, and stole the pin. Drew was one of the more over guys on the show, Havoc got a nice reaction, the match was fine.
– Matt Hardy promo to open, he’s said he has beaten EC3 so many times it’s now boring. He’ll never get a shot at Hardy again. Introduces Rockstar Spud (to his hometown). Points out that 1 year ago EC3 left him battered and bloodied, with his head shaved. Now the public are jumping on the latest bandwagon supporting EC3. He took some good old fashioned revenge, and took what EC3 craved. EC3 eventually interrupts with a run in and beats Tyrus, then Hardy. Spud tries to attack, but ends up getting away. EC3 challenges Spud to a “fight”, no ref, no rules.
Xplosion:
– Jessie Godderz beat Tigre Uno by submission with a Boston crab.
Impact Episode 1:
– Here came an hilarious part of the show for me personally. A time or two before this, Borash had added an incentive for the crowd being rowdy, the incentive being particular fans that were seen as the most rowdy would get backstage passes, which they seemed to follow through with. But this time he took it up another level. He encouraged the fans to give Gail a great ovation for the following segment, and said these extra rowdy fans would get to go in the knockouts locker room! Needless to say Gail came out, all the pervs and the place in general went nuts, and she got most probably the biggest reaction of the entire show. Maybe this is commonplace in wrestling, but this was a first for me, and I was in a fit of laughter. So when this airs, if you see some random guy in a second row laughing hysterically, that’s me.
Gail cut a promo on Maria and her involvement in the cage match, said the knockouts division has always been about wrestling and all Maria does is talk etc., calls her out, Maria comes out, doesn’t want to fight, waffles on-and-on (I was tired before the show, and I was already getting agitated as this was close to an-hour-and-a-half into the show and we’d seen two short matches, so I wasn’t paying great attention), they go back-and-forth on the mic, Maria walks-off (was standing outside the ring the whole time), Gail chases her, gets jumped by Jade who gives her a beating on the entrance ramp, grabs the mic, cuts a promo on Gail, holds the title aloft and makes clear our next knockouts program.
Birmingham street fight: EC3 vs Rockstar Spud
We were told by JB beforehand Dixie had made this match. No ref, both guys in street clothes. Standard street fight, lots of brawling around ringside, chair involvement, Carter took a lot of the match with Spud getting on top via shortcuts, crowd wanted tables, eventually got a table, EC3 powerbombed Spud through the table in-ring, locked him in a Cobra Clutch, Spud began tapping frantically, refs, Pat Kenney and maybe some other officials came running down, pulled EC3 off and successfully persuaded him that enough-was-enough.
Impact Episode 2:
– Opens with Dixie carter in ring, TNA roster outside ring. They’re here to celebrate Kurt Angle. Dixie hoped this day would never come, and can’t thank Angle enough for everything he’s done. Drew Galloway gets in the ring, says it was an honor to be picked to wrestle him on his farewell tour. Asks him please don’t go, but then says thank you so much. Angle talks, says he came to TNA to find himself, he’s a better person for being here. Bobby Lashley interrupts. It’s a bad day, but a great experience, an amazing thing for him, so thank you. But, he can see it as he looks at Angle’s eyes and Kurt’s just not ready to wrestle him.
– Borash mentions this is the Feast or Fired episode of impact, and we’ll find out who got what later.
Xplosion:
– Marti Bell and Rebel of Dollhouse vs Beautiful People (Rayne & Sky)
Crowd were really into The Beautiful People, especially Velvet, match was what you’d expect to be polite, but it wasn’t atrocious. Velvet won with a stunner, or some sort of variation. Not sure who she pinned.
Impact:
– King of The Mountain Title Match: Bram, EY, Will Osprey, Jimmy Havoc and Big Damo.
Match didn’t seem that long, Ospreay had his fans, Ospreay took a bump off the ladder into the turnbuckle and appeared to get momentarily wedged between buckle and ladder but seemed ok, Havoc did a dive off the penalty box onto multiple combatants, Young & Bram did the deal where heel partners start off working together and then prize gets between them, Havox took a piledriver from Young onto the steps, Ospreay was climbing the ladder and then Young leaped from the top rope and caught him with a flying neckbreaker from the ladder which led to the Young win.
Feast or Fired briefcases:
Beer Money: Tag title shot
Eli Drake: KOTM title shot
Drew Galloway: World title shot
Grade: Fired
– Mike Bennett & Maria come out for a promo, Bennett talks about Angle leaving and Carter having his chances, says he’s going to be #1 contender and win the title, as well as save wrestling, asks Dixie to come out and grant his request, Drew comes out, they go back-and-forth on the mic, Bennett tells Drew to go and get Dixie for him, Drew turns to do so and then turns back around and attacks Bennett, Bennett powders to end the segment.
– Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs Jade.
Nice match, been a big admirer of Gail’s for a number of years, crowd really got into it. Gail did this ridiculous spot where he did a rope-walk whilst holding onto Jade, then leaped onto Jade for a hurricanrana, who reversed it into a powerbomb. I think she was ok, but it didn’t look pretty and was a pretty risky spot. Finish came when Gail performed a flying crossbody, Jade reversed the pin, then Gail reversed again for the win. The crossbody may’ve came a little earlier, but it definitely ended with the pinning sequence. With the nature of the finish this appeared to set-up another match, and for the aftermath Jade was screaming at Gail from the ring while Gail was on the ramp in a way that seemed to suggest this.
– TNA Tag Champions Wolves vs Beer Money
Crowd were super into Beer Money, really hot for the match, probably the most over match on the show, nice match, probably really good (again, I was beat), loud “this is awesome” chants, Davey Richards got injured leaping from the top rope and taking a super Codebreaker, after taking it whilst lying on the mat he faced my side of the arena clearly in a lot of pain, clutch his knee or shin (would think he injured his knee), rolled outside, Earl Hebner communicated with him and threw up the X, there was a “conference” between the three guys, they went a few more minutes with just the three guys, Hebner communicated with Richards just before the finish, DWI on Edwards by Beer Money to win the titles. Richards was helped to back by doctors and officials. Wouldn’t like to speculate but didn’t look good.
– Borash is about to introduce the Angle-Lashley match, Grado comes running down (pretty over), says he has video evidence that he was screwed out of his job, is about to cue it when Drake & Godderz come out, cut a promo on Grado, 2-on-1 beatdown, Shera makes the save (who maybe the worst wrestler I’ve ever seen live, he looked terrible) Shera gets clobbered from behind with the briefcase by Drake, Drake & Godderz set Grado up for a briefcase shot, miscue, Jesse eats the briefcase, RKO on Drake, Grado steals the briefcase to end the segment.
– Kurt Angle vs Lashley:
Amateur wrestling to start-off, Germans from Kurt, Lashley powders, Kurt works over Lashley, Snake-Eyes for the transition move, Lashley works over Kurt, particularly his neck (being very careful of course), Angle makes his comeback with suplexes galore, Angle Slam nearfall, a Powerslam nearfall for Lashley in here somewhere, Angle Lock escape from Lashley, Spinebuster nearfall for Lashley, two nearfalls from two separate Spears, goes for a third and hits the post, very long Angle Lock escape, Kurt did his deal where he wraps his legs around the ankle, pulled him back to the middle, this went on maybe a couple of minutes, really putting over Lashley, third Spear for the clean Lashley win. Crowd was starting to get tired, so they weren’t super-hot, but had their moments. Good match, but nothing fantastic, but again I taped-out long ago.
They embraced post-match, then as they were standing with their arms linked and aloft, Lashley ambushed Kurt with a punch and then gave him a fourth Spear to turn heel. I think there may’ve been a fifth Spear on Angle I’m not sure, Galloway ran down and attempted to calm the situation, turned his back and got a Spear for his troubles, Edwards ran down and got a Spear, absolutely monster heel Lashley, EC3 came down, there was a mid-ring stare-down, Lashley shot him a sly smile and backed-off, so Lashley-EC3 appear to be an upcoming big program, if this part airs, which I assume it does. Crowd really got into the post-match. Babyfaces all embraced Kurt and stood with their arms aloft, they left the ring to Kurt who cut a short promo saying wrestlers don’t show enough appreciation to their fans and greatly thanked the crowd, before departing with “I’ll see you again soon, some day”, or something to that effect. It was a nice moment.
One Night Only PPV taping
16 man gauntlet match, which for some reason only had 13 entrants. Borash said everybody would be involved but I saw no EC3, Lashley, Beer Money, Angle, or Richards (for obvious reason). Final four were Grado, Hardy, Galloway & Bennett, Hardy was eliminated, then Grado shortly afterwards, Bennett & Galloway went at it for a few minutes with Drew getting the win. Not a lot of people seemed to leave and they appeared to enjoy the gauntlet, especially with Drew winning who remained pretty over despite his numerous appearances throughout the show.
Order of entry: Bennett, Mandrews, Tigre Uno, Jade, Will Osprey, Bram, Eric Young, Eddie Edwards, Drew Galloway, Matt Hardy, Tyrus, Rockstar Spud, Grado.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s UFC show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re looking for reports on today’s Lucha Underground Ultima Lucha tapings in Los Angeles, as well as today’s TNA tapings in Birmingham, England, today’s WWE house shows in Columbus, GA (Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for WWE title, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title, New Day vs. Usos & Ryback) and Tupelo, MS (Kane vs. Bray Wyatt) to Dave Meltzer
Raw will be Monday in Birmingham. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are scheduled on the show.
Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday in Memphis.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today! The latest video is “Kill that Mole”. A silent film we created a few years ago starring Bryan and Vince.
Coverage of the Royal Rumble and where things lead to WrestleMania is the lead story in a jam-packed news issue of the Wrestling Observer. TNA’s statements regarding A.J. Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, the timing, what is accurate, and a lot that wasn’t in those statements as to why the deal didn’t happen. The process that led the stars from New Japan and more. The Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum injuries and title match cancellation and what directions UFC took to try and save it. More on the injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi, the death of Archie “Mongolian Stomper” Gouldie, some stories about his life and career. WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016, New Japan Fantatstica Mania tour with full rundowns and stories behind it, Nikki Bella injury and what led to the increase in ratings for Raw and Smackdown.
The story behind why HHH won the title, why it was the right booking decision given the destination, questions about the execution, the confusing Fast Lane main event, what the original booking plan was behind Roman Reigns ascension to the top and why it was so hard for Vince McMahon to decide against his winning at last year’s WrestleMania, and questions about the crowds at Fast Lane and Mania for the main events. Update WrestleMania, chart out the Royal Rumble with how long everyone was in, eliminations, and news, Rumble business, poll results and match-by-match results with star ratings.
The situation with New Japan losing talent, and how the CMLL stars did on the tour.
The arrival of Shinsuke Nakamura to WWE and why he’s in NXT, an update on Daniel Bryan, NXT finances for talent, another endorsement deal for Dwayne Johnson, notes on the next WWE network live special, updates on NXT talent coming to the main roster, lots of WWE injury notes, WWE plans for post-Mania and the European tour, Lesnar dates, details on NXT tapings as well as details on all the weekend WWE events.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
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Last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio with myself and Bryan Alvarez talking all the weekend news from UFC, TNA and WWE. We also talk in detail about the Awesome Kong/Reby Hardy incident that took place on Friday in the Manchester, England dressing room.
Pro Wrestling Sheet announced that at today’s Lucha Underground tapings that talent were told that there would be a third season, but not when filming was to begin. The scheduled right now is for July. It also said Lucha Underground would be hitting the iTunes store in a few months.
Beer Money captured the TNA tag team titles today in Birmingham, England, cashing in their briefcase, beating The Wolves.
At the UFC post-fight press conference, they said would be announcing the date for Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier rematch within the next week.
Tye Dillinger is the latest WWE injury, collapsing when landing reversing out of a vertical suplex against Sami Zayn, apparently blowing out his right knee. He will be evaluated tomorrow.
I’ll be on the MMA Hour at www.mma.fighting.com with Ariel Helwani tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Other guests on the show will be Benson Henderson, Fabricio Werdum, Scott Coker and Anthony Perosh.
WWE
Stephanie McMahon will be on Good Morning America tomorrow in the 8 a.m. hour.
Dwayne Johnson on Monday: “Ha well at WWE events, going off script is what I live for. So much more fun for the fans. Nightmare for Vince.”
WrestleMania Fan Axxess tickets for Dallas go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow with the code TWWETME
A John Layfield interview with Ron Simmons will air after Raw tomorrow night.
For yesterday, UFC was the seventh most searched term in the U.S. with more than 100,000. Among those ahead included the Pro Bowl, Serena Williams and NHL All-Star game. No. 16 was Sage Northcutt with 50,000.
Former WWE star Dave Bautista posted this: “Anyone who buys that goofy UFC Reebok shit is endorsing the fighters getting fucked out of their sponsorships. Just a thought.”
A crazy clip from a Joe Lauzon fighter from last night.
MISCELLANEOUS
Southern States Wrestling did a Mongolian Stomper tribute on its TV show this week
Lucha Underground debuts tonight on TLM in Canada with shows at 10 p.m and midnight.
Bret Hart has started a company called Sharpshooter Funding, a capital investment firm to help small Canadian businesses that his son, Dallas, will be the head of sales for.
TV Asahi 2 in Japan announced they will be airing five hours of Antonio Inoki’s most famous matches on 2/20, which is Inoki’s 73rd birthday.
Gabi Castrovinci, known as Raquel in TNA (she was on Tough Enough this past season), had her first match last night against Santana Garrett in Orlando. Full results: Josh Parker b Rex Bacchus, Josh Hess & Ace Andrews b CT Brown & Alexx Light, Braydon Knight b Tyranus, Brandon Scherrer b Chico Adams, Mike Reed b Jonny Vandal, Santana Garrett b Rex Bacchus, Santana Garrett b Raquel to retain the Wonder of Stardom title, Rhett Giddins b Mark Silva-DQ, Rhett Ghddins b Mark Silva to keep the Florida title. Next show is 2/20.
St. Louis, Missouri: – Jim Londos beat Ed “Strangler” Lewis – Ray Steele and Mehmet Yousoff wrestled to a draw – Bronko Nagurski defeated Sol Slagel – Orville Brown beat George Tragos
1945
Des Moines, Iowa: – World Heavyweight Champion Orville Brown beat Lord Albert Mills in 2 out of 3 falls
1955
Abilene, Texas: – Bob Geigel and Boris Kalmikoff defeated Jesse and Johnny James in a tournament final for the vacant NWA Southwest Tag Team Titles
1957
Amarillo, Texas: – Dory Funk, Sr. defeated Dizzy Davis to win the Amarillo NWA North American Heavyweight Title
1961
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne drew Gene Kiniski (60 minute time limit) – Wilbur Snyder beat Len Montana – Hard Boiled Haggerty beat Joe Scarpello – Jim Hady beat George Drake
1964
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Rocky (Larry) Hamilton defeated The Stomper to win the Central States NWA United States Heavyweight Title
Omaha, Nebraska: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Mitsu Arakawa – Pat O’Connor (sub Reggie Parks) beat Larry Hennig – Mad Dog Vachon beat Doug Gilbert – Jack Pesek beat Jim Grabmire
1965
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher in 2 out of 3 falls to win the AWA tag team titles – Wilbur Snyder beat Iron Mike DiBiase – Bob Boyer beat Eddie Sharkey – Billy Red Cloud beat Black Bart
1966
Vancouver, British Columbia: – Black Terror (Bobby Graham) and John Tolos defeated Paddy Barrett and Tom Geohagen for the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles
Tampa, Florida: – NWA World Title: Gene Kiniski defeated Eddie Graham in 2 out of 3 falls – Missouri Mauler defeated Danny Miller – Sputnik Monroe defeated Tony Martin – Jose Lothario & Tito Carreon defeated Tom Bradley & George “Two Ton” Harris – Buddy Fuller defeated Roger Kirby
Portland, Oregon: – Tony Borne and Jay York defeated Shag Thomas and Bearcat Wright to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
1976
Sarasota, Florida: – Texas Bullrope Match: Dusty Rhodes defeated King Curtis – Thunderbolt Patterson defeated Missouri Mauler by dq – Southern Title: Billy Robinson defeated Frank Goodish – Florida Tag Titles: Eddie Graham & Jerry Brisco defeated Bob Roop & Bob Orton, Jr. by dq
1978
Tampa, Florida: – NWA World Title: Harley Race defeated Steve Keirn – Ivan Putski defeated Ivan Koloff – Killer Karl Kox & Bobby Duncum defeated Rocky Johnson & Pedro Morales – Mike Graham defeated Mr. Saito – Jack & Jerry Brisco defeated Tank Patton & Randy Brewer
1981
Atlanta, Georgia: – The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes) defeated Ted DiBiase and Stan Frazier to win the NWA National Tag Team Titles
Dothan, Alabama: – Les Thornton won the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title from Jerry Stubbs
Greenwood, Mississippi: – The Grappler defeated Killer Karl Kox for the Mid-South Mississippi Heavyweight Title
1984
Memphis, Tennessee: – The Zambuie Express (Elijah Akeem and Kareem Muhammad) defeated Norvell Austin and Sweet Brown Sugar for the vacant AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1986
Rockford, Illinois: – AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Leon White – No dq match: Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko – Non Title: Nord The Barbarian & Mongolian Stomper beat AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall – Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov – Buck Zumhofe beat Earthquake Ferris – Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers
1987
Fort Lauderdale, Florida: – Bad News Allen defeated Kevin Sullivan for the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1990
Osaka, Japan: – Jushin Liger defeated Naoki Sano to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
1992
Dallas, Texas: – The Dark Patriot (Doug Gilbert) defeated The Patriot to win the Global Wrestling Federation North American Heavyweight Title
1994
Memphis, Tennessee: – The Moondogs (Rex and Spot) defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) to win the USWA Tag Team Title – Eddie Gilbert defeated Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title
1998
Boston Brawl: Boston, Massachusetts: – Chris Benoit defeated Eddie Guerrero – WCW World Television Champion Booker T pinned V.K. Wallstreet to retain the title – WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated Dean Malenko to retain the title – Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair – Lex Luger, WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page, and Larry Zbyszko defeated Randy Savage and WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) – Sting pinned Hulk Hogan in a steel cage match
Hostile City Showdown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – The Triple Threat (ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas and ECW World Tag Team Champions Chris Candido and Lance Storm) fought Bam Bam Bigelow and ECW World Television Champion Taz to a no contest – Al Snow pinned Doug Furnas – In a four-way dance, Rob Van Dam & Sabu defeated The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von), The Gangstanators (Kronus & New Jack) and Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman
2001
Christmas Chaos: Louisville, Kentucky: – The Minnesota Stretching Crew (Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar) defeated Sly Skraper and Johnny Spade – Team Xtreme (Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and Lita) defeated The Disciples of Synn (Synn and OVW Southern Tag Team Champions Damian and Payne) – OVW Heavyweight Champion Nick Dinsmore defeated Chris Benoit by disqualification to retain the title – Kane pinned Leviathan (Batista)
2010
Royal Rumble: Atlanta, Georgia: – Edge won the Royal Rumble – Undertaker defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the World Title – Mickie James defeated Michelle McCool to win the Divas Title – Christian defeated Ezekial Jackson to retain the ECW Title
Saturday night’s UFC on FOX show, headlined by Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s 86 second knockout win over Ryan Bader, did 2.43 million viewers and an 0.8 in the 18-49 demo based on the overnight ratings.
Due to the nature of live sports and the way ratings are measured, that number doesn’t figure West Coast viewership so the number will rise somewhat. The show ended at 10 PM EST with the main event ending at about 9:50 p.m. so the usual late gain from the main event not being figured in won’t be there. Last year’s January show did 2.82 million viewers on the initial overnight rating and the final number came in at 3.049 million viewers. If this year’s number increases by the same percentage, the number should fall somewhere in the 2.6 to 2.7 million range.
That would be the lowest number that UFC on FOX show has done since the July 26, 2014 show headlined by Robbie Lawler vs Matt Brown. It would also be the lowest number that UFC has ever done for a January show. The previous low was last year’s show on January 24th, headlined by Johnson knocking out Alexander Gustaffson in the first round.
In fact, the January number has fallen every year since UFC on FOX 2 in January 2012. That show did 4.7 million viewers for the show headlined by Rashad Evans over Phil Davis. UFC on FOX 6 in January 2013 did 4.22 million for a Demetrious Johnson-John Dodson flyweight title fight and Rampage Jackson in the co-main. The 2014 show, UFC on FOX 10, headlined by Benson Henderson vs Josh Thomson did 3.2 million viewers and then last year’s show at 3.049 million.
FOX is likely to end up as the lowest total viewing audience among the networks, although it may beat CBS with rerun programming. In the demo, it will likely end up second place behind ABC, which had live NBA programming.
I just got back from the house show tonight in Macon, Georgia. It was a pretty damn good show. Overall, the crowd was pretty non-smarky, very old-school when it came to heel/face alignments.
WWE Tag Team Champions New Day vs. Usos & Ryback
The New Day, with the first second generation trombone in WWE history opened the show. Unfortunately, they didn’t open the door until 7:15 for a 7:30 show, so most of the crowd was still coming in when they came out. A lot of “NEW DAY SUCKS” chants got going. The finish came when Ryback hit the Shellshock on Xavier Woods and tagged in Jey Uso for the top rope splash. Overall it was a very good match to start with a lot of back and forth action.
Stardust vs. Titus O’Neil
Stardust is incredibly charismatic. Fun fact, the Macon Centreplex where the event took place is where Cody Rhodes won some big high school wrestling championship, maybe even the state championship, I didn’t hear the people beside me clearly. Cody came out first and after he finished humping a security guard’s face, he got int he ring and laid down with his chin on his knuckles. When he heard Titus’ music, he just went limp and looked incredibly defeated. That was exactly what happened. Titus pretty much squashed Stardust. Crowd had a lot of “CODY” chants and cheered Titus, although it was a very generic face cheer out of obligation.
– Kevin Owens promo: Good quick promo by KO. He pointed out that he had wrestled in Macon before, and hated the city. He said he was going to win back his Intercontinental Championship and and get the hell out of the city.
Los Matadors vs. Hype Bros
The Hype Bros were not advertised, so this was a surprise. Honestly, the Hype Bros music is so freaking loud it was hard to gauge the reaction, but I was marking out. Mojo is a freak of nature and is charismatic. Ryder seemed bored. He did his stuff, and did most of the ring work, but Mojo was the real star. Hype Bros quickly won and Mojo was amazing, taking photographs at ringside with all the fans. Seemed like an awesome dude, and I can’t wait to see what he does in WWE.
Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens
Dean was over with the crowd and the crowd hated Kevin Owens. This match was glorious. These two are so amazing in the ring. After some good back and forth, KO hit the pop-up powerbomb, but Dean kicked out. After that, they had some more back and forth until Dean pulled off the Dirty Deed for the pinfall. Dean Ambrose is a class act. As soon as the match was over, he walked around taking selfies and ringside with the fans and signed a ton of autographs. Dean was OVER with the crowd. I’d say his reaction was #3 of the night.
Social Outcasts vs. R-Truth & Sandizzle
Heath Slater and Curtis Axel came out after a quick intermission to pimp autographed merchandise and Wrestlemania. Curtis Axel cut a pretty cool promo about being sick because he ate Bacon…in Macon…He went back and forth with Slater about Macon Bacon, Macon food, Macon in general, and then culminated it by saying it wasn’t the food that made him sick, it was the people. R-Truth was out next to say WHAT’S UP and get the crowd up and going again after the break. His partner, Damien Sandow, worked as Sandizzle, wearing sunglasses and a black doo-rag. I guess Golden Truth is still on the way. Sandizzle used WHOMP THERE IT IS as his catchphrase. He wrestled in his sunglasses the whole match, which was pretty funny. After a lot of crowd hype, and a Bo run around the ring from hashtag Social Outcasts (sans Bo), R-Truth and Sandizzle got the victory.
– Rusev Promo: Rusev cut a promo from the back stating that when this match was booked, Reigns was the champion, but he robbed him of it at Royal Rumble by putting him through a table. He put over Lana as beautiful, hot, etc.
Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Paige
I will say this…. Becky Lynch was OVER! I don’t mean kind of over. I mean, she was #2 pop of the night, and that was constant through the match. The crowd loved her. Paige worked as a face. At this point, she’s reaching Big Show levels of face/heel turns. Charlotte is pretty damn big in real life. I was surprised by how amazing she looked in person compared to how she looks on television. Paige pushed her “THIS IS MY HOUSE” which got a big reaction since she was working as a face. For a triple threat, they didn’t do much with that aspect. Charlotte got a figure four headlock on Becky and it just dragged on for way too long. Most of the time, one diva was outside of the ring recovering. While Becky was out of the ring, Paige locked in the PTO. Becky got back in and broke it up. Becky slapped on the Disarmer and the crowd went crazy, but Paige broke it up. Becky was out of the ring and Charlotte rolled Paige up with tights for the pin. BECKY. WAS. OVER. It was magical. After the match, Paige pulled Becky into the ring and told the crowd it was her birthday. Paige sang Happy Birthday to her with the crowd. Great moment. I uploaded a video of it, but potato quality, so sadface.
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev
Man, the place came UNGLUED when Roman came through the crowd. Easily pop #1 by an incredible margin. He got a quick upper hand and then Rusev walked out on the match. He took a microphone and said that since Roman was no longer champion, and it wasn’t a championship match, he was done. Roman ran up the stage and brought him back. Crowd loved that. Roman and Rusev went back and forth until Rusev got the Accolade on. (Remember when that move was incredible?) Roman quickly powered out, got the superman punch, got the spear, and it was over.
From the Royal Oak Music Theater in Royal Oak, MI | Submitted anonymously
Enzo and Big Cass vs the Vaudevillians
Enzo did a rap before the match. Vaudevillians have a new heel theme. Lots of comedy spots. Crowd LOVES Enzo. Vaudevillians were pretty over and got cheered until they got the heat on Enzo, Cass got the hot tag, and they won with the rocket launcher move. Fun tag match, crowd was into it.
Carmella vs Alexa Bliss
Carmella did her speech before the match. Crowd loved her. Alexa got heat for being from Ohio. Alexa did a really good job of getting the heat and Carmella did a quick comeback and won with her submission. Surprisingly good match that the crowd was pretty into, Alexa had good heat and Carmella got her chants.
Elias Sampson vs Johnny Gargano
Elias got a lot of heat early on for some reason. He played a song for Detroit before the match to solid boos and Johnny interrupted him. Johnny was over despite being from Cleveland, even got a “Johnny Wrestling” chant. Back and forth match. Crowd was into the heat spots. Crowd blew up for a dive from Johnny to the outside where there was almost no floor space. There was some near falls and Elias won with his neckbreaker. Crowd booed like hell. Great match. Crowd gave a standing ovation to Johnny after the match.
Tye Dillinger vs Sami Zayn
Crowd was into Tye’s entrance. Sami was SUPER over. The story at the beginning of the match was that Sami’s reaction made Tye jealous. The worked heel only to the extent that he wasn’t cheered. Back and forth match where the crowd was into everything Sami did. Some comedy spots with the 10 sign. Tye got the heat, Sami did a comeback and Tye got injured and carried off to the back and they rang the bell. Sami lead a 10 chant and did a speech thanking the fans. Sampson interrupted and beat up Sami and Sami fought him off with a Helluva kick.
Intermission
Women’s Champion Bayley vs Nia Jax
Crowd loved everything Bayley did. The match was similar to their Takeover match. Bayley won with the Belly to Bayley. A fan threw her a Bayley Club shirt and she put it on and celebrated with the crowd afterwards.
American Alpha vs. NXT Tag Team Champions Dash and Dawson
Gable and Jordan got a huge reaction. Dash and Dawson were also there. Crowd loved Jordan and Gable. Match was back and forth at the beginning and then Dash and Dawson got the heat on Jordan. Gable got the heat and American Alpha did some double team stuff and then Dawson started getting the heat on Gable. Jordan exploded with the hot tag. American Alpha hit their finisher and dash pulled the ref out of the ring and got DQ’ed. Chorus of boos. American Alpha got a standing ovation after the match.
Baron Corbin vs Apollo Crews vs Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor
All guys got a great reception and Corbin got plenty of boos. Joe and Corbin disposed of Crews and Balor and then Balor turned on Joe. Balor and Crews disposed of Corbin and Joe and shook hands and went back and forth. Now came in and went one and one with Crews. Then Corbin and Crews. Then Corbin and Balor. Then Joe and Balor. Then Joe and Crews. Corbin and Joe double teamed Balor. Corbin turned on Joe again and then put the beat down on Balor. Joe disposed of Balor and put the beat down on Balor and them Balor got a comeback in on everyone and did the stomp to Crews’ back. Match broke down into a four way brawl. Joe had the clutch on Baron, Crews hit the standing moonsault on him and went for a pin, Balor jumped off the top and hit Crews with the Coup de Grace and pinned Corbin for the win and celebrated after the match. Great back and forth match. Crowd was into it the whole time.
Great show with no real lowlights. Most over was probably Balor or Sami.
Note that all of these matches were in the Lockdown cage
Beer Money beat Eric Young and Bram in a cage match with the DWI.
Decent match. Crowd were hot for Beer Money.
– Spud and EC3 did a promo, EC3 called Spud the most passionate person he’s ever met and they shook hands. Both guys got very good reactions. Matt Hardy came out with Reby and Tyrus, said ‘this’ was his house, etc. and he would win tonight.
X Division Champion Trevor Lee (w/Shane Helms) def. Tigre Uno in a cage match
Lee won with a pin. Another decent match, Uno hit a bit splash off the top of the cage, one of the spots of the night.
First ever Knockouts Lethal Lockdown match
The Dollhouse (Jade, Marti Belle and Rebel) vs. Gail Kim (who got one of the bigger pops of the night), Velvet Sky and a mystery partner – it looked like Maria, but they never announced who it was, so not actually sure. She was a redhead. Whoever it was came out last, teased getting in the ring and then locked the door, leaving the faces outnumbered. Dollhouse won. Not a bad match, they had a bunch of weapons in the cage that were used liberally.
– Kurt Angle did a brief promo, was interrupted by Lashley, Angle challenged him to a fight, Lashley walked away.
Eli Drake vs. Odarg the Great in a cage match
Comedy match that was a lot of fun. Grado did a bunch of funny spots, like failing to climb over the cage. Drake did the old Flair bare-ass spot, which got some laughs. Mahabali Shera came out to stop Jesse Godderz interfering. Grado escaped the cage after Drake grabbed his ‘Odarg’ mask and it came off as he fell to the floor.
TNA Champion Matt Hardy vs. EC3 in a cage match
Decent match with lots of weapons. Tyrus interfered. Funny spot where EC3 chained Tyrus to the ropes and was poised to hit him with a chair, but Tyrus did the Brodus Clay claw dance while pleading with EC3 not to hit him. Reby then came out with a hammer. Spud stopped her before turning heel on EC3 by slamming his head with the cage door which killed the crowd a little bit.
For TNA Xplosion!
Will Ospreay and Mandrews vs. TNA Tag Champions The Wolves
Decent match, but only went 6-7 minutes, Mandrews took a nasty bump and was pretty shaken up. Wolves pinned Ospreay with their finisher. Was good while it lasted.
For March 7th Impact
Jimmy Havoc vs Abyss – Monsters Ball match
Abyss wins with the Black Hole Slam into a barbed wire board. Was typical Abyss match. Havoc got a few chants and looked pretty good.
Mike “The Miracle” Bennett vs Drew Galloway
Crowd didn’t really know how to react to Mike Bennett, Galloway got a big pop however. Pretty decent TV match, they brawled outside a lot and Bennett won with a roll-up after Maria got involved and distracted Drew.
Eric Young vs Big Damo
Bram and Young cut a promo – calling out any challenger. Big Damo responded. He got a similar reaction to Ospreay and Havoc – pretty good, not huge. There were pockets of British indie fans, but many fans probably didn’t know them. Young wins with a piledriver. Okay match.
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode
Angle wins via tap out with ankle lock. Good match, the usual Angle stuff, crowd was really into it. Angle got the biggest pop of the night for his entrance and win. Roode put over Kurt on the mic, James Storm came out and did the same. Storm pulled two beers out of a bag for himself and Roode and then a half gallon of milk for Kurt, that got a nice pop. Kurt drank the milk like Austin drinking a beer. The Wolves’ entrance music played at the wrong time, Kurt covered for it on the mic, Wolves then came out and set up a tag title match with Beer Money for the next show.
One Night Only PPV matches
Both were ‘Jokers Wild’ tag matches.
Tyrus/Jade vs. Bobby Roode and Gail Kim
Comedy match that the crowd enjoyed. Jade ended up pinning Gail with roll up.
Eli Drake and James Storm vs. Will Ospreay and Matt Hardy
Another fun match. Storm superkicked Drake for stealing his beer and then left, at which point Ospreay hit his 450 splash off the top. Hardy tagged himself in and took the pin.
– Overall, this was a fun show. They packed a lot into four hours, but the crowd stayed pretty hot the whole way. No great matches, but nothing bad either.
Ryan Bader vs Anthony Johnson will be fighting later tonight in Newark, NJ. Bader will need this win to keep his title shot hopes alive. Like all Anthony Johnson fights the plan should be to take him into the later rounds and pick him apart then look to take him down and either submit Johnson or grind out a decision. If Bader can survive Johnson’s power in the first round or two then he has a chance though he is certainly an underdog.
Josh Barnett will take on Ben Rothwell. With the ever changing injury situation and shallow talent pool with the heavy weights either one of these men could earn a possible title shot with a win. This is an intruiging fight in that they are both long time vets and there isn’t much either one of them hasn’t seen before. We also get to see if the Sage Northcutt hype train can keep a chuggin’ against Bryan Barbarena, who was a late replacement for Andrew Holbrook. Northcutt in 3 months with the UFC is already having his third fight. This next fight seems to be a step up in competition for the talented Northcutt but UFC is certianly bringing him along slowly. Northcutt is a must see at the post-fight press conference.
Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi for GHC jr. tag titles
Taiji Ishimori vs. Kenou for GHC jr. title
Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Mohammed Yone & Katsuhiko Nakajima for GHC tag titles
Minoru Suzuki vs. Go Shiozaki
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura for GHC heavyweight title
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today! The latest video is “Kill that Mole”. A silent film we created a few years ago starring Bryan and Vince.
Coverage of the Royal Rumble and where things lead to WrestleMania is the lead story in a jam-packed news issue of the Wrestling Observer. TNA’s statements regarding A.J. Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, the timing, what is accurate, and a lot that wasn’t in those statements as to why the deal didn’t happen. The process that led the stars from New Japan and more. The Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum injuries and title match cancellation and what directions UFC took to try and save it. More on the injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi, the death of Archie “Mongolian Stomper” Gouldie, some stories about his life and career. WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016, New Japan Fantatstica Mania tour with full rundowns and stories behind it, Nikki Bella injury and what led to the increase in ratings for Raw and Smackdown.
The story behind why HHH won the title, why it was the right booking decision given the destination, questions about the execution, the confusing Fast Lane main event, what the original booking plan was behind Roman Reigns ascension to the top and why it was so hard for Vince McMahon to decide against his winning at last year’s WrestleMania, and questions about the crowds at Fast Lane and Mania for the main events. Update WrestleMania, chart out the Royal Rumble with how long everyone was in, eliminations, and news, Rumble business, poll results and match-by-match results with star ratings.
The situation with New Japan losing talent, and how the CMLL stars did on the tour.
The arrival of Shinsuke Nakamura to WWE and why he’s in NXT, an update on Daniel Bryan, NXT finances for talent, another endorsement deal for Dwayne Johnson, notes on the next WWE network live special, updates on NXT talent coming to the main roster, lots of WWE injury notes, WWE plans for post-Mania and the European tour, Lesnar dates, details on NXT tapings as well as details on all the weekend WWE events.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
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As noted on the front page by Dave, TNA has confirmed that something happened between Kia “Awesome Kong” Stevens and Rebecca “Reby Sky” Hardy on the UK tour, leading to Stevens being sent home. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet has chimed in with the detail that allegedly, what escalated the situation to a physical confrontation was Hardy calling Stevens a “f**king maniac.”
Hiroshi Tanahashi officially announced at NJPW’s Road to New Beginning show today that he will be Kenny Omega’s opponent on 2/14 in the decision match for the vacant IWGP Intercontinental Championship. That was part of the post-match for Shinsuke Nakamura’s farewell, which also included a speech from Nakamura. It’s all up on NJPW World right now, and the video package for the main event/Nakamura’ farewell is on NJPW’s YouTube channel.
Some online sports books are already taking bets on Fast Lane and Wrestlemania. For Fast Lane you can bet either Roman Reigns, a huge favorite at -1050, or the field at +550. For Wrestlemania you can bet Roman Reigns ends the night as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at -280 or anyone else at +200.
Despite spending all of his time before, during and after his main event fight last night for Bellator talking about Josh Koscheck, Paul Daley apparently wants a fight with Wanderlei Silva as he told reporters following last night’s Bellator 148. Scott Coker later commented that he’s not interested in signing the former UFC fighter and former Pride Grand Prix Champion and doesn’t think the fight will happen.
ONE Championships main card results from Malaysia on Friday – Ev Ting 3rd round sub over Eric Kelly; Eduard Foloyang dec over Tetsuya Yamada; Jake Butler 1st round KO over Tatsuya Mizuno; Geje Eustaquio 1st round KO over Saiful Merican; Samir Mrabet 2nd round sub over Sami Amin; Keanu Subba 1st round KO over Rayner Kinsiong
Victory FC 47 on UFC Fight Pass main card results from Omaha on Friday – Anthony Smith 1st round KO over Josh Neer; Jarred Mercado 2nd round sub over Alonzo Martinez; Dakota Cochrane 3rd round sub over Jake Lindsey; Cody Carrillo 1st round sub over Sean Wilson; Yuri Villefort 1st round KO over Kenneth Glenn; Grant Dawson 2nd round TKO over Bryce Logan
If you’re planning on attending Wrestlemania 32 and would like to be part of the Empire fun, please contact our self appointed Executive Director of events, Eddie Loredo for more information. You can contact him directly at f4wfan@hotmail.com – Or check out our Empire Get-Together section on the BOARD~!
