It was reported today on TMZ that Rusev, aka Miroslav Barnyashev, and Lana, aka Catherine Joy Perry, are engaged.
The two had been dating for some time. Perry often posted pictures of them on various non-wrestling trips together on her Instagram account. Eventually they bought a house together in Nashville.
The TMZ report said that the engagement took place last month, and that the engagement was filmed at the pool in their backyard.
Earlier this year the two broke up in storyline, which historically does not bode well for real-life relationships. Barnyashev later suffered an ankle injury, and instead of staying home to recover traveled from city to city with Perry and the rest of the crew.
This probably was the impetus to the angle where Rusev and Summer Rae somewhat got engaged on Raw. Summer asked Rusev to marry him, and at first he said yes, but then stated, “not yet.” He said before she could put gold around her finger he needed to put gold around his waist, meaning he needed to win a title. The belief is that this was a way to drag the storyline out since Perry suffered a wrist injury and won’t be able to return to physical action for awhile. Dolph Ziggler, who is also involved in the storyline, also took time off to film a movie, so the only person involved who has not missed TV time is Summer Rae.
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of NJPW King of Pro Wrestling. The main event features Kazuchika Okada vs. A.J. Styles for IWGP heavyweight title and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito for the Tokyo Dome title shot. Also on the show are Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask and Yuji Nagata.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s 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
New Japan King of Pro Wrestling at 3 a.m. Eastern and Midnight Pacific late Sunday night on New Japan World – Kevin Kelly & Matt Striker will be doing the announcing in English for the first time on the service.
JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK & KUSHIDA & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & MASCARA DORADA VS. JUICE ROBINSON & SHO TANAKA & JAY WHITE & DAVID FINLAY & YOHEI KOMATSU
My stream was down for this match. On the replay, Dorada pinned Finlay afer a Dorada screwdriver after Taguchi used the running hip attack.
TOMOAKI HONMA VS. YOSHI-HASHI
Honma won with a head-butt to the lower back, a shoulderblock and the diving head-butt off the toip rope. Honma’s lower back is jacked up so this wasn’t as good as most of his matches are. Matt Striker thought Yoshi-Hashi was a first and last name and kept calling him Hashi.
HIROOKI GOTO & KOTA IBUSHI & KATSUYORI SHIBATA & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN VS. HIROYOSHI TENZAN & SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI
Kojima pinned Captain after a 3-D and a lariat. The match was solid, about what you’d think. Ibushi didn’t do much in this match. They seemed to focus some on Nagata vs. Shibata, or at least that was the best action but no real clear storylines.
BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY VS. ROCKY ROMERO & BARETTA FOR IWGP JR. TAG TITLES
Decent match but what a weird finish. O’Reilly pinned Baretta and it looked like Romero saved but Tiger Hattori said he counted three and called for the bell. It was an obvious botch. Romero really looked unhappy and complained to the American announce team. I was listening to the Japanese team at the time. The finish really hurt the match which was fine but hadn’t peaked at all. Nobody really looked happy when it was over.
No matter what is announced, there are visible empty seats downsairs
KENNY OMEGA VS. MATT SYDAL FOR IWGP JR. TITLE
Omega retained with the One Winged Angel, which is an electric chair dropped into a Michinoku driver. Omega has all the talent in the world but he overacts badly. It made it hard to take the match seriously until late. Sydal is really great, one of these gus whose role it seems to be is have great matches while never getting a big push. His best spots were a reverse Frankensteiner and a Fosbury flop like dive onto Omega and Cody Hall.
Intermission time.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA & TORU YANO & KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS. KARL ANDERSON & DOC GALLOWS & BAD LUCK FALE
A nothing match. Mostly worked on Nakamura Sakuraba has a brief time in. Yano hot tagged in. Fale went for the Bad Luck Fall on Yano, but Sakuraba saved. Tama Tonga interfered. Yano used a low blow on Fale and Tonga at the same time and surprisingly pinned Fale with the outside cradle.
Very clear this show is all about these final three matches.
TOGI MAKABE VS. TOMOHIRO ISHII FOR THE NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE
Ishii won the title after a dragon suplex and brainbuster after Makabe had missed the King Kong kneedrop off the top rope. This was the weakest match these two have had. So much miscommuniation and botched stuff early, although the crowd was more into it late than anything so far on the show. The last few minutes were very good But it’s a big difference between Ishii now and in February. Honma came out to challenge Ishii after the match but it was quick and almost like a TNA challenge in that he came out and seconds later they were starting the video for Tanahashi vs. Naito.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. TETSUYA NAITO FOR THE IWGP TITLE SHOT AT THE TOKYO DOME
Not a great match. Match was slow, some stuff with Naito using Tanahashi’s moves. Naito threw Tanahashi into ref Red Shoes. There was a guy under a Naito mask the entire match who ran in and it was Takaaki Watanabe. He was wearing a suit and had eye liner like Kevin Sullivan. They were beating on Tanahashi until Goto and Shibata came in. Naito used a low blow but Tanahashi kicked out of the pin. Tanahashi came back with a sling blade, crossbody off the top and high fly flow for the pin. After the match, Watanabe laid out Goto with a uranage, so that’s his direction. Good match but felt very much like a TNA main event with the ref bump and interference.
KAZCHIKA OKADA VS. A.J. STYLES FOR IWGP TITLEan
Okada won a long excellent match after three rainmakers. Okada had the match won with a rainmaker earlier but Karl Anderson pulled the ref out of the ring. Okada then did a flip dive onto everyone. There was a great near submission when Styles used the calf killer and Okada was teasing tapping until he made the ropes. These two proved again they are right at the top of any lis for the best in the world right now.
Okada cut his post-match promo and Tanahashi came out. Tanahashi would say champion and point to Okada and called himself ace over and over. Tanahashi left and Gedo did a promo. Confetti fell from the sky.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Wednesday night’s NXT show and tonight’s New Japan King of Pro Wrestling show. We’re looking for your thoughts on both shows with 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 all three WWE shows in Saudi Arabia, NXT from last night in Winter Haven, FL and WWE tonight in Bloomington, IL (Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman).
New Japan King of Pro Wrestling at 3 a.m. Eastern and Midnight Pacific late Sunday night on New Japan World – Kevin Kelly & Matt Striker will be doing the announcing in English for the first time on the service
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida & Mascara Dorada vs. Juice Robinson & Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka & David Finlay & Jay White
Tomoaki Honma vs. Yoshi-Hashi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Kota Ibushi & Captain New Japan
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta for the IWGP jr. tag titles
Kenny Omega vs. Matt Sydal for IWGP jr. title
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale
Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii for Never Open Weight title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito for the Tokyo Dome title shot
Kazuchika Okada vs. A.J. Styles for IWGP heavyweight title
This is the last really big card before the Tokyo Dome. The winners of the top two matches are expected to face off in the Tokyo Dome main event. With the Tokyo Dome card being announced on Tuesday, expect angles to be set up for more Dome matches. Lineup looks good. Nakamura’s match should set up Nakamura vs. Anderson for the IC title, which I’m expecting next month at the Power Struggle card as the main event.
Since most of the top matches at the Tokyo Dome will be announced on Tuesday, the winners of the last two matches are almost certain to be the main event, and this show will probably set up the other key matches with different angles.
Raw will be live from Chicago, generally one of the hottest WWE crowds anywhere, on Monday night. So we’ll see if Chicago can stay up through a three hour show. No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman advertised.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped in Cincinnati on Tuesday. No John Cena on the show, so Roman Reigns and Randy Orton are the advertised headliners.
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Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring details on all facets of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, including a better understanding of Gawker’s defense, what else the judge has sealed to protect Hogan, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
An update on the status of Daniel Bryan is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which is on the site right now and also can be subscribed to for home delivery. We update his situation and how the decision on his future will be made shortly. We also look at Daniel Cormier and the light heavyweight division and what the business notes say, the WWE’s Madison Square Garden event with Brock Lesnar, TNA’s Bound for Glory and world title tournament, Conor McGregor predicts the future once again, a pro wrestler is in the Japanese cabinet as well as our monthly look at the WWE and TNA’s business indicators.
We look at what Daniel Bryan said this past week regarding his future and how the decision will be made for him soon, and what he’d like to do if he wasn’t working for WWE.
We look at Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson and the shadow over the light heavyweight division, the news coming out of UFC 192, and full coverage of the event with business notes, early PPV indicators and poll results.
We look at the WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden, Brock Lesnar’s return, how the show was promoted, Chris Jericho’s 25th anniversary as a pro wrestler and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
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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Well, sort of in English. Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker were there talking on the English version, but New Japan dropped the ball by not giving them a translator to work with, so there are all kinds of long interviews here in Japanese, and neither knows what they are saying. This isn’t their fault at all. The only guy speaking English was A.J. Styles. Both Styles and Okada talked heavily about wanting to get a win over Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome.
Juice Robinson (who was C.J. Parker in NXT) was announced as being a full-time member of the New Japan roster last night. Really, that deal was pretty much known a few months ago.
Tyler Breeze from NXT is on the road with WWE on the U.S. tour, last night working with R-Truth.
Adrienne Reese, better known as Athena, debuted last night at the NXT show in Winter Haven, FL.
Today would have been Dusty Rhodes’ 70th birthday.
Elliott Russell & Sigmon, known as The Heat Seekers, beat Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. to win the NWA tag team titles last night in Dyresburg, TN.
The Heat Seekers make their first title defense on 10/17 in Dyresburg, TN against Matt Riviera & Greg Anthony on a show that also includes Michael Elgin vs. Steve Anthony and Tim Storm vs. Rob Conway.
SHIMMER RESULTS OF DVD TAPINGS YESTERDAY IN Berwyn, IL
SHIMMER VOLUME 76
Candice LaRae won 20 woman Rumble to earn a Shimmer title shot
Legacy Fighting Championships on 12/4 in Shreveport at the DiamondJacks Casino features welterweight champion Derrick Krantz (17-8) defending against Alex Morono (11-3) in the main event. The show will air live at 10 p.m. Eastern on AXS TV.
Kane and Lana are replacing Ric Flair and Charlotte on 10/30 at the Wizard World Convention in Austin, TX. (thanks to Pete Schirmacher)
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 10/17 in Vancouver, BC at the Russian Community Centre.
American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL, is putting on a 10/30 pro wrestling show at their gym with Stevie Richards vs. King Mo as the main event. ATT owner Dan Lambert is a huge fan, and King Mo has headlined by pro wrestling shows at the gym before.
Smash Wrestling on 10/16 in Toronto at 432 Horner Ave with Sonjay Dutt vs. Speedball Mike Bailey, Matt Taven & Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis) vs. The Overdogs, Dalton Castle vs. Brent Banks, Chuck Taylor vs. Scotty O’Shea and more.
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Shocker headlines for FMLL in El Monte, CA at the Florentine Gardens. Guerrero defends his FMLL light heavyweight title.
Fenix vs. Laredo Kid vs. Pentagon Jr. headlines for Martinez Entertainment on 10/18 in Benbrook TX at the Camp Bowie Bingo Hall.
Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance from last night in St. Louis: Brandon Espinosa b Prince Moses, Brian James b LaMarcus Clinton, J-Mal Swagg b Johnathan Zulu, Billy Diamond b Andrew Wilder, Brandon Espinosa & Ace Hawkins b Varik Morgan in handicap bout, Da’Marius Jones b Barackus, Moondog Rover b Jimmy D-DQ, Gary Jackson b Kevin Lee Davidson-COR (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Charlie Haas debuts and Silas Young also headlines for CWE for shows on 12/2 in Yorkton, Manitoba, 12/3 in Brandon, Manitoba and 12/4 in Winnipeg.
Here is a listing of holiday benefit shows:
11/7: Hoosier Pro Wrestling has a show at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Columbus, IN for the Columbus Fireman’s Cheer Fund
11/7: Ring Wars Carolinas in Lumberton, NC at the Priscilla King Arena, with two cans of canned goods get $2 off any adult ticket
11/7: Atomic Championship Wrestling in Stevens, PA at the Stevens Fire Hall with a food and clothing drive for the local area social services
11/13: Chaotic Wrestling has a Toys for Tots show in Woburn, MA at the Elks Lodge
11/13: Primal Conflict Wrestling on 11/13 in Harpers Ferry WV at 343 Campground Rd. has a good drive
12/5: United Wrestling Coalition at Kelly’s Bar and Banquet Hall has a Toys for Tots drive in Wrightstown, NJ
12/5: CHIKARA has a Toys for Tots collection at its 12/5 show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia
12/5: ECWA has a Toys for Tots show in Woodbury, NJ at the Woodbury Heights Community Center
12/5: Atomic Championship Wrestling in Stevens, PA at Stevens Fire Hall for a Toys for Tots collection
12/5: Crossfire Wrestling on 12/5 in St. Catherines, ONT at the Merritton Community Center with a show benefiting the Niagara Children’s Centre Foundation with Cody Deaner vs. Eric Young.
12/11: Brew City Wrestling has a good drive for Headlock for Hunger in West Allis, WI at the Knights of Columbus Hall
12/11 Chaotic Wrestling in Woburn, MA at the Elks Lodge has a second Toys for Tots benefit show
12/12: CZW has a Toys for Tots collection at the Cage of Death show at Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ
12./18 ROH Final Battle at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia has a Toys for Tots collection.
12/19 ROH TV taping at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia has a Toys for Tots collection
12/19 ECCW in Port Coquitlam, BC at the Elks Hall #49 has a show to benefit the Share Family Services Food Bank.
12/27 Great Canadian Wrestling on 12/27 in Oshawa, ONT at the Harmony Creek Community Hall has a benefit for the local food bank.
Stardom results from earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo: Kris Wolf b Hiromi Mimura, Haruka Kato b Saori Anou, Kaori Yoneyama won three-way over Starlight Kid and Momo Watanabe, Kairi Hojo b Act Yasukawa, Mayu Iwatani b Rosa Negra to win the High Speed title, Io Shirai b Dark Angel to retain the Wonder of Stardom title. Melina Perez was special guest at the show. A.J. Styles was also at the show to see Dark Angel (Sarita), who he hasn’t seen since she was released by TNA.
Stardom runs shows on 10/16 on Covina, CA and 10/18 in Baldwin Park, CA with Cheerleader Melissa, Shayna Baszler, Santana Garrett, Mia Yim, Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, Mayu Iwatani, Act Yasukawa, Kyoko Kimura, Chelsea, Kris Wolf, Hudson Envy, Nicole Savoy, Thunder Rosa, and Brittany Wonder.
Capital City Championship Combat on 11/28 in Ottawa, ONT at the Vanier Columbus Club.
WWE Main Event from Philadelphia was proclaimed the “Kevin Owens Show” by the reigning Intercontinental champion himself and basically it was just that, though credit is due to other talent that anchored the show as well. With a lot of crew headed overseas and unavailable for the taping, this episode featured only two matches, but both got plenty of time. Likewise, an angle on the show saw Jimmy Uso leave the broadcast booth to confront a boastful Kevin Owens.
Owens opened the show with an in-ring promo lobbying for himself to be named Superstar of the Year. He listed various potential nominees including John Cena, Brock Lesner and Seth Rollins. He sarcastically mentioned Kalisto and Cameron as candidates as well. Owens said he the only acceptable choice. He referred to 2015 as the “Kevin Owens Show” then began listing his accomplishments.
He started with winning the NXT title (or “NFC title” according to the closed captioning for this show). Owens went on to talk about beating John Cena. The crowd chanted, “WHAT!” He replied, “I beat John Cena, that’s what!” He then brought up winning the IC title from Ryback before bringing up his recent win over Chris Jericho at MSG. He noted he beat him on the 25th Anniversary of Jericho’s first match. Owens called it the “greatest night of his career” and noted the match was his debut at MSG. Owens claimed he was the first person to debut at MSG as IC champion.
Owens was upset the commentators focused on Jericho’s anniversary on that night and ignored his accomplishments. He signaled out Byron Saxton (who was on commentary on this show with Tom Philips and Jimmy Uso) as Saxton provided commentary for the Garden show. Owens called him “disrespectful” and “rude” before saying it wasn’t the first time it had happened. He called Saxton a bully. Owens then turned his attention to Jimmy Uso, who was smirking and shaking his head.
Owens called out Uso before accusing him of hiding behind the announce desk. “You know, you wouldn’t want to get hurt, would you,” a snarky Owens asked Uso, whose twin brother is still out with an injury.
Jimmy took off his headset and thought things over for a moment. He left the booth and entered the ring to confront Owens. Uso snatched the microphone out of Owens’ hand and said Owens was right about one thing. Uso said he had been “sitting at that table talking all summer long and tonight, I’m done talking.” Uso got in Owen’s face and Owens backed down and slinked away. This set up a match for later in the show.
Naomi (with Tamina) beat Paige
Paige and Naomi began by grappling through several exchanges before reaching a stalemate. Naomi did a few leap frogs over Paige and dodged a few more moves, which frustrated Paige who kept screaming, “STOP IT!” Naomi gave her a flying headscissors but Paige cut her off. Paige draped her in the ropes for repeated knee strikes. Paige grounded Naomi and began to shine her up before a commercial.
After the break, Paige continued to get heat as she kept pummeling Naomi. Paige hooked Naomi in the tree-of-woe at one point. The announcers talked about the ongoing strife between Natalya and Paige. Paige taunted Tamina and the crowd before applying an abdominal stretch. Naomi countered with a hip toss for a hope spot. However, Paige caught Naomi on a crossbody and gave her a fallaway slam. The announcers foreshadowed the outcome in talking about Paige dominating the majority of the match. Just as they mentioned that, Naomi escaped a scoop slam and hit a clothesline.
They were both down on the mat then Paige began feeding into Naomi’s comeback. Naomi ran wild with a series of kick then an enzuigiri. Naomi executed a modified slingblade into a jawbreaker for a nearfall. Paige blocked a rump bump and hit a superkick for a two count. Paige began screaming at Tamina at ringside and Naomi rolled up the distracted Paige with an O’Connor roll into a bridge for the pinfall.
Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens beat Jimmy Uso in a nontitle match
At the opening bell, Owens powdered as he slid out of the ring to confront Byron Saxton, who cowered away. Uso jumped Owens only for Owens to cut him off back in the ring. Uso quickly fired up. After a couple of arm drags and a right hand from Uso, Owens bailed out again to set up Uso doing a baseball slide but Owens blocked it. He slung Uso out of the ring by his hair and Owens proceeded to toss Uso into the barricade. Much like the previous match, the heel kept pummeling the babyface through a commercial break.
Owens talked trash and delivered a DDT after Uso escaped a headlock. Back to the headlock, Uso fought free and a moment later hit an enzuigiri. Much like the prior match with Uso’s wife, both were down on the match selling before the babyface started the comeback. Uso ran wild with a flurry of moves leading to a Samoan drop. Owens blocked an enzuigiri only get reversed on an Irish whip to set up an attempted Umaga splash. Owens avoided the splash and countered with a cannonball into the corner for a nearfall.
Owens signaled for his finisher but Uso escaped and hit a superkick. Uso went to the top but Owens got his knees up when Uso went for a splash. Owens then used the pop-up powerbomb to score the pinfall, ending a very good match.
Afterwards, Owens bullied Saxton at ringside before leaving. Before exiting the scene Owens held the IC title overhead as he stood at the top of the ramp and proclaimed this the “Kevin Owens Show.”
Global Force Wrestling has posted its first trailer for the company’s Amped television show. The company was founded by Jeff and Karen Jarrett two years ago, and has gained traction over the past year. In January, they brokered a deal to broadcast New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestling Kingdom 9 event live. They also brought Jim Ross back to the commentary table, with Matt Striker as the color analyst and thanks to extensive social media work and promoting Jim Ross’s return hard, the event drew surprisingly well on PPV.
Earlier this year, the company announced its roster full of free agents and New Japan talent working their house shows, and they embarked on a series of house shows at minor league ballparks. In July, they held their first TV tapings with Chael Sonnen acting as a color commentator and Cyrus Fees as the play by play man. GFW promised to do something new that hadn’t been done before, and this trailer indicates that they’re going for a behind the scenes documentary-style format for things that happen outside the ring.
In an interview with Marc Madison of thenewshub.com Jarrett explains why GFW’s vision is unique:
“The vision is fundamentally, very different. It’s also because of the timing of things. I named the company April 7th, 2014 and went directly and worked to form alliances with major promotions in Japan, Mexico and independent promotions in South Africa, Europe and Australia and really dialed in and the NEX GEN title was about giving guys opportunity which quite frankly are too many to name.”
The Big Takeaway: Cesaro was extremely entertaining in a 3-minute squash against Adam Rose. The Prime Time players beat The Ascension in a decidedly average main event.
Cesaro beat Adam Rose (3:30)
I mean it really shouldn’t be baffling in this company, but it really is – why is Cesaro on this show working with Adam Rose? The klaxon sound that they use at the Royal Rumble goes off, Cesaro’s music stops and Adam Rose appears on the ramp with a mic. He claims that Cesaro can’t “string a sentence together” and completely buried them both by asking “how does it feel to be here competing against Adam Rose” while the likes of Rollins, Kevin Owens are “megastars”?
Cesaro’s response to all this is to wait for the bell and then absolutely annihilate Rose with a running European uppercut to the corner. He follows this up with a press slam a la the Ultimate Warrior, where Rose just lands on his face, and then another uppercut. Rose dodges a third and then comes off the second rope with a missile drop kick into a cover for two. He begins to work over Cesaro’s neck and back with clubs and blows and then locks on a rear chin lock. Cesaro throws him off but charges into an elbow.
Rose is now doing the stomps that Shawn Michaels used to do before a super kick. He hits Cesaro with one and then goes for an airplane spin to mock Cesaro’s giant swing. Cesaro scoffs at it, no selling it and does a 36 rep giant swing which he slows down as if he’s going to stop at about 30 reps and then just picks him up and carries on. Cesaro is such a great entertainer; the crowd is just eating out of the palm of his hand. He then puts on the Sharpshooter for the win. To his credit, Adam Rose was good here too.
The Prime Time Players beat The Ascension (8:47)
Viktor and Darren Young lock up and test each other’s strength back and forth until a headlock takedown by Viktor breaks things up. Young slaps a headlock on and an arm ring by Viktor is reversed into a hammerlock by Young. Viktor runs into an elbow and tags in Konnor, who comes in to no sell everything and then shoulders Young to the mat. A blind tag from O’Neil brings him in to match up to Konnor’s brawn – he shoulder barges Konnor and scoop slams him and then hits him with a leg drop. Konnor rolls outside and Viktor comes in to start on O’Neil. He gets belly-to-back suplexed on the ring apron by Young, which looks like it really sucked, and we head to a break.
Viktor and Young are in together as we return. Young gets whipped into the corner and does a flip bump over the top rope. Outside, Konnor launches Young into the barricade and the ring apron. They come back in and he covers him for two. Young plays the babyface in peril as they double team him. Young is bleeding from his right shoulder. He goes for a victory roll up, but as he is doing it Konnor blind tags in on the way through. Konnor comes back in and leg drops Young and stomps on his face. Konnor puts on a chin lock and Viktor comes in. They use the ropes to slingshot Young and then go back to the chin lock.
O’Neil eventually gets the heat on Konnor. He steams in and shoulders barges Konnor to the mat and then clotheslines him, following it up with a big boot. He does his triple backbreakers on Viktor and then slings him aside. He charges at Konnor in the corner with a splash and then powerslams him. The pin broken up by Viktor, who is sent outside. As Titus turns round, he eats a big boot from Konnor and then his pin attempt is broken up by Young. Young and Viktor send each other over the top and when Konnor misses a charge to the corner, O’Neil capitalizes with the Clash of the Titus. A nothing match, it was what it was.
– Air Date: October 8, 2015 (Oct 7 in Canada) – Location: Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA
The Big News:
The Smackdown main event ended with a non-finish. Also, they let us know what happened on Raw.
Show Recap:
They announced Roman Reigns and Randy Orton against Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman.
The New Day came out and they recapped the big angle from Raw. Kofi Kingston said John Cena, Dolph Ziggler and The Dudleys could not stop the power of positivity. They claimed to be more dominant than The Shield, Wyatts, Nexus, The Corre, Los Boricuas, Legion of Doom and nWo.
Woods said Philly knows nothing about being champions. He said Eagles head coach Chip Kelly called them asking for advice after losing to the Washington [football team]. They called the Eagles booty.
Kingston said the Dudleys conned their way into another title shot. Big E said they would defeat the disgusting and dirty Dudleys and they changed New Day rocks. Dolph Ziggler interrupted, calling them the three stooges. Ziggler said they cost him a chance at the U.S. title against his “good friend” John Cena.
Ziggler said he asked the Authority for a match with Big E, and he referenced their past together. Woods wished him luck and insincerely said it would be a fair fight. Ziggler said “you’re damn right it will be” and the Dudleys came out. Good opening segment.
Big E (w/New Day) beat Dolph Ziggler (w/Dudley Boyz) via pinfall
Ziggler immediately hit a dropkick and jumping DDT, but Big E escaped the ring and they went to commercial. Big E had the heat after the break as Kingston and Woods yelled and did mock commentary. Big E went shoulder-first into the post and Ziggler hit (missed) a fameasser for two.
Big E came back with a belly-to-belly and a jumping splash. Ziggler hit a superkick, but everything came apart after that. New Day sent Bubba into the steel steps, distracting D-Von. Kingston bounced Ziggler off the rope and D-Von took out Woods. Big E covered Ziggler and Kingston held Ziggler’s foot down, allowing Big E to pick up the pinfall win.
Big E winning makes sense to keep their momentum going from Raw, but Ziggler might be getting the next U.S. title shot and looked really weak here. Worse than that, as New Day posed on the ramp, the Dudleys and Ziggler just stood there watching after getting their asses beat on Raw.
They recapped Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar at MSG. They followed by letting us know a Raw recap would air after commercial. After the break, they replayed the Lesnar/Show stuff from Raw and also the Summer Rae/Rusev angle.
Backstage, Summer talked about her future wedding plans with the makeup women. Rusev joined and told them to leave. He asked Summer why she’s telling everyone about their engagement when they had a plan for Rusev to win gold first. Summer said she got Rusev a match with Ryback, presuming that if he wins he’ll be first in line for the Intercontinental title. Rusev liked this and hugged her. As Summer left, he smacked her ass. Rusev seemed pleased.
Charlotte, Becky Lynch & Natalya beat Team Bella via submission
They said that Charlotte and Lynch would get to pick their partner, and the announcers had to act like they didn’t know who it would be, as if there’s anyone else it could have been. Jerry Lawler said no woman has ever had a friend that she didn’t dislike a little. Ok.
The heels worked over Lynch forever until she made the hot tag to Charlotte, who was quickly cut off with a kick off the middle rope by Nikki. Charlotte came back with a spear and applied the Figure Four but was kicked by Brie, allowing Nikki to reverse the hold. Natalya clotheslined Fox on the outside and Brie clotheslined Natalya. With the referee distracted, Lynch kicked Nikki, allowing Charlotte to apply the Figure Eight for the tap-out win.
Total nothing match but at least Charlotte won over Nikki. This was the fourth straight 6-woman tag match they’ve done on Raw/Smackdown in the last two weeks, all involving the Bellas. Maybe do something else next week?
Backstage, Renee Young caught up to Paige who was shown watching the match. Renee wanted to know her thoughts on “Team NBC.” Paige said it’s Team PCB and Nattie is horning in on her girls. Paige doesn’t like it and she doesn’t like Nattie.
Ryback beat Rusev (w/Summer Rae) via pinfall
Kevin Owens joined commentary and they announced that he would defend the IC title at Hell in a Cell against Ryback. Lawler asked Owens if he would run again and Owens asked Lawler if it looks like he runs anywhere.
Brennan asked Owens about an interview he did with Renee who accused him of not being a proper Canadian. Owens asked Brennan if he gets tired of people telling him that he looks like Milhouse from The Simpsons. Owens said Rusev was motivated because the IC title brings money and prestige, not because he wants to marry Summer.
The match was slow, but they did trade some impressive power moves. After going back and forth near the end, Rusev hit a superkick and went for the cover. Ryback’s foot was on the rope so Summer knocked it off. This didn’t matter, because not only did the referee not see any of it, but Ryback kicked out anyway.
Rusev went for the Accolade but Ryback grabbed his leg and easily hoisted him up to hit shell shocked for the win. Unfortunately for Rusev, the finish made sense. Summer was upset that Rusev didn’t get the win.
Before going to commercial, they again plugged that a Raw replay would air after the break. They always do this on Smackdown but they don’t usually do it more than once. The video package was for Seth Rollins/Kane.
In his dark room backstage, Bray Wyatt said he and Roman would be trapped inside Hell in a Cell and Bray would put him down. Tonight, Roman and Orton would face the wrath of he and the black sheep. Strowman told a story about making rabbits run as a kid.
King Barrett beat Neville via pinfall
Barrett came out holding his crown and wasn’t wearing the goofy outfit. They did a quick video package for Barrett with clips of him laying people out with the Bull Hammer. Barrett got the heat almost immediately and Neville eventually came back with a top rope moonsault to the outside.
Barrett tried Wasteland but Neville reversed into a DDT. Neville went up for Red Arrow but Barrett got up and got in between the ropes for safety. Neville went after him but the referee backed him off. This allowed Barrett to hit the Bull Hammer elbow for the win. If Barrett isn’t supposed to be in the ropes, why didn’t the referee get him out before he could hit his move? (I know, wrestling is fake.) Crowd was dead for this.
In his dark room backstage, Stardust played Pick A Card by himself. The card he picked is presumably a reference to his next opponent (or partner, I couldn’t tell), but we didn’t see the card so who cares.
Randy Orton & Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman via DQ
Reigns did an inset promo before the match saying they’d be going to Hell in a few weeks so they can call tonight Purgatory. I think what he meant to say is that this match doesn’t matter because we just saw Team Reigns beat Team Wyatt on Raw, and Reigns is getting what he really wants at the pay per view. I could be wrong.
They went to break after entrances, which is better than doing it a minute into the match. Orton and Bray started. Orton had his way with him so Bray tagged Strowman who got no reaction. Strowman knocked down Orton with a shoulder block so he tagged in Reigns who ate a shoulder block as well.
Orton tagged himself in and they tried a double team move but Strowman knocked them both down with a double shoulder block. Strowman and Bray worked over Orton for a bit until he made the hot tag to Reigns. Reigns hit a flying clothesline but couldn’t get Strowman up for the Samoan drop. With Strowman on the apron, Reigns clubbed away at him and knocked him off the apron with a superman punch. Reigns then went after Bray and tossed him into the time keeper area.
Reigns followed with an apron dropkick on Strowman but Bray hit him in the gut with a steel chair for a disqualification (this wasn’t actually announced). Bray hit him again with a chair and tossed him in the ring.
Orton made the save but Strowman caught him with the hugging submission move. Reigns saved Orton and tossed Strowman to the outside. Bray tried Sister Abigail on Reigns but Orton saved him again, hitting an RKO. Reigns finished off Bray with a spear to send the fans home somewhat content.
Final Thoughts:
The opening segment was good and it’s a positive that they’re keeping the momentum going for New Day, who were the highlight of this show as usual. Unfortunately, that was it for them and the rest of the show was no good. Reigns speared Bray Wyatt through a table last week on Raw, defeated the Wyatt family this week on Raw, and laid out Bray again here tonight. Why are they having a Hell in a Cell match, exactly?
Show notes for the weekend: Tonight, we’re looking for reports on:
* WWE in St. Louis (Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, New Day, Team BAD, Rusev, Ryback, Kevin Owens and Dudleys)
* NXT in Winter Haven, FL.
Tomorrow, we’ll be looking for reports from:
* WWE in Bloomington, IL (Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, New Day, Team BAD, Rusev, Ryback, Kevin Owens and Dudleys).
New Japan King of Pro Wrestling airs tomorrow night (Sunday night/Monday morning) at 3:00 a.m. ET a New Japan World with the debuts of Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker as the English announcing team:
Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, & Mascara Dorada vs. Juice Robinson, Yohei Komatsu, Sho Tanaka, David Finlay & Jay White Tomoaki Honma vs. Yoshi-Hashi Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, Kota Ibushi, & Captain New Japan reDRagon vs. Roppongi Vice for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Kenny Omega vs. Matt Sydal for th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, & Bad Luck Fale Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii for NEVER Openweight Championship Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito for the Wrestle Kingdom IWGP HeavyweightChampionship match briefcase Kazuchika Okada vs. A.J. Styles for IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Raw on Monday will be live from Chicago, so expect a show that, regardless of quality, is elevated by a hot crowd.
SmackDown and Main Event will be taped in Cincinnati on Tuesday. Roman Reigns and Randy Orton are the advertised headliners.
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring details on all facets of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, including a better understanding of Gawker’s defense, what else the judge has sealed to protect Hogan, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news.
The recent FREEFigure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
An update on the status of Daniel Bryan is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which is on the site right now and also can be subscribed to for home delivery. We update his situation and how the decision on his future will be made shortly. We also look at Daniel Cormier and the light heavyweight division and what the business notes say, the WWE’s Madison Square Garden event with Brock Lesnar, TNA’s Bound for Glory and world title tournament, Conor McGregor predicts the future once again, a pro wrestler is in the Japanese cabinet as well as our monthly look at the WWE and TNA’s business indicators.
We look at what Daniel Bryan said this past week regarding his future and how the decision will be made for him soon, and what he’d like to do if he wasn’t working for WWE.
We look at Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson and the shadow over the light heavyweight division, the news coming out of UFC 192, and full coverage of the event with business notes, early PPV indicators and poll results.
We look at the WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden, Brock Lesnar’s return, how the show was promoted, Chris Jericho’s 25th anniversary as a pro wrestler and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
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
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
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.
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.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
You can see Myzteziz’s Arena Mexico return on The Cubs Fan’s YouTube channel. He’ll be fulfilling his remaining AAA dates before presumably returning to CMLL proper and not just working on the outside Lucha Libre Elite shows at Arena Mexico.
Also announced for the next Lucha Libre Elite show is Negro Casas & Blue Panther vs. Solar & Negro Navarro, which is about as good a legends match as could happen anywhere in wrestling right now.
The intro of the documentary that serves as the centerpiece of WWE’s new Sting: Into the Light home video release is now on YouTube as a teaser. The set will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray this coming Tuesday and is available for pre-order now.
SHIMMER’s 10th Anniversary events begin tonight and will continue into tomorrow at the Berwyn Eagles Club (6309 26th Street) in Berwyn, IL. Bell time on Saturday, October 10th is 10:00am (doors at 9:30am). Bell time on Sunday, October 11th is 12:00pm (doors at 11:30am). Volumes 76-79 of the SHIMMER series will be filmed during the course of the weekend, with two full DVDs worth of live matches each day. Among those appearing on the events this weekend: SHIMMER Champion Nicole Matthews, SHIMMER Tag Team Champions Kimber Lee & Cherry Bomb (though injured, Cherry Bomb will still appear), Madison Eagles, Cheerleader Melissa, Kellie Skater, Portia Perez, Evie, Saraya Knight, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Heidi Lovelace, Rhia O’Reilly, Crazy Mary Dobson, Jessicka Havok, Vanessa Kraven, Tessa Blanchard, Courtney Rush, Yumi Ohka, Allysin Kay, Taylor Made, Thunderkitty, Makoto, Shazza McKenzie, LuFisto, Sonoko Kato, Liberty, Sammi Baynz, Veda Scott, Kellyanne, Marti Belle, Xandra Bale, and more!
General admission seating is still available for both days of events, at a cost of $30 for each full day of taping (essentially $15 per full DVD worth of live matches). If you plan to attend, we strongly encourage the purchase of tickets in advance to guarantee admission on the chance of a sellout. Once we do, we cannot sell any additional tickets at the door on the day of the event.
Steel City Pro Wrestling : SHOCK VALUE 2
Sunday, October 18 at 4:00pm – 7:00pm; Knights of Columbus 222 Queenston Road, Hamilton, Ontario. The Canadian Hybrid Championship controversy will be resolved, as challenger and former champion Beautiful BeaA will get her rematch with Champion Lionel Knight, with the title on the line. The Steel City Pro wrestling Tag team titles will be defended by the Choir of Chaos… vs…. The Gym Rats!!!! Steel City Pro Wrestling is developing a woman’s title for next season. We’ve been showcasing woman’s matches since last year at this time, and we’ve been keeping track in a tournament elimination style. This next bracket will feature two of the most respected women’s competitors in all of Ontario: Xandra Bale & KC Spinelli.
AAW Pro Results from last Night 400 fans at the Sold Out Berwyn Eagles Club in Berwyn Illinois from Keith Lipinski: Allysin Kay defeated Mia Yim with a discus forearm (7:11), AAW Heritage Championship – Six Way Mayhem Match: Louis Lyndon submitted Greg Iron with the dragon sleeper to retain. Shane Sabre, Markus Crane, Brett Gakiya, CJ Esparza (10:18), Heidi Loveless & Candice LaRae defeated Tessa Blanchard & Jessicka Havok when LaRae pinned Blanchard after a Loveless frog splash (8:55). Afterward Blanchard got into Havok’s face blaming her for the loss, Havok clokeslammed Blanchard twice; Oi4K (Dave & Jake Crist) defeated ACH & Ricochet in a fantastic tag team match after a tandem tombstone piledriver on Ricochet, Last Man Standing Match: Eddie Kingston defeated Tyson Dux after multiple backfists and a superplex onto a guardrail that was in the center of the ring propped up by four chairs. Thumbtacks, chairs and a kendo stick were also used (19:04). Afterwards Kingston motioned he wanted his AAW Heavyweight Championship back. The impressive Kongo Kong defeated Christian Faith with Greg Iron (4:49) after a big splash. Afterward Iron berated Faith again on the mic, only to get pie faced by Faith who walked out on Iron afterwards, AAW Tag Team Championship Match: The Hooligans (with Bucky Collins) retained over Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett after interference from Hooligans manager Bucky “Overalls” Collins and a spike piledriver on Mat Fitchett (11:04), Trevor Lee defeated Silas Young with a small package (15:01), AAW Heavyweight Championship Two out of Three Falls Match: Ethan Page defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the championship (25:15). Gargano tapped Page with the GargaNO escape for the first fall. Page kicked the middle rope while Gargano was reentering the ring and then pinned him for the second fall. Page retained after hitting two consecutive Spinning Dwaynes in the third and final fall. As Voices of Wrestling put it “Incredible main event – legitimately great match that had the crowd going nuts throughout”
After the match, Gargano got a standing ovation from the crowd, only for Page to come back in the ring and beat him down again. Candice LaRae ran in to stop Page, but as Page was about to get his hands on Candice, Trevor Lee and Louis Lyndon ran in to stop him. Abyss and Team Tremendous make their AAW debuts on November 6 at 115 Bourbon Street. More information on that show and a full recap coming later this week.
Jim Cornette will be appearing for Metro Pro Wrestling in Kansas City at the Turner Rec Center. A Q & A with Cornette will be from 4:30-6:00 and the live wrestling event starts at 7:30 pm.
Ronda Rousey will be appearing Monday morning on Live with Kelly and Michael on ABC at 9 am Eastern and Pacific.
In MMA news, Joe Warren of Bellator tested positive for marijuana after his decision win over LC Davis at Bellator 143. According to MMAWeekly, he is likely to receive a 90 day suspension. It’s not likely he would’ve fought in 90 days anyways. Emanuel Newton had a similar test failure in February and was back fighting at Bellator’s last tentpole show in September.
MMA Fighting is reporting that the Nevada State Athletic Commission will revisit the lifetime ban of Wanderlei Silva following his evasion of a May 2014 drug test at their hearing later this month. The outcome of this hearing will likely have some bearing on what happens with Nate Diaz’ appeal of his five year ban by the same Commission.
Former UFC and Strikeforce fighter Bristol Marunde fought on AXS TV Friday night, losing a Welterweight title fight in the main event of RFA 31 to Gilbert Smith, who appeared on TUF 17. One of the top non-UFC women’s strawweight prospects in the world, Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger, beat former Bellator and Invicta fighter Zoila Frausto in the co-main to win the group’s 115 lb title.
Another former UFC star, Kalib Starnes fought last night on a GFL.TV show, submitting Craig Hudson in the main event of XCessive Force FC 7, to win that group’s Heavyweight title. The show was fairly deep by regional MMA standards and is available on demand for $14.95
Fedor Emilianenko took to Facebook to deny that Jaideep Sing is his opponent for his return.
As reported earlier today, Urive, was announced as wrestling on a 10/25 show at the arena, promoted by Lucha Libre Elite.
He came to the ring and cut an interview right before the Universal title block B tournament matches were to start.
Although he pretty well turned heel, but was more a tweener in AAA, he acted like a babyface here.
This is a very interesting move because Lucha Libre Elite only runs scattered shows, while AAA is the biggest television wrestling promotion in Mexico right now, and he was in the middle of a program with Rey Mysterio Jr.
In what was essentially Mexico’s version of Lex Luger showing up on the first Nitro, Luis Urive did an interview at last night’s Arena Mexico show, after having worked the night before on a AAA show in Xalapa. He was not booked for AAA last night, but is scheduled for a show tonight in Veracruz.
Urive, who was a huge drawing card in Mexico as Mistico, then signed with WWE as the first Sin Cara, and after that went to AAA, where he was known as Myzteziz. Originally he was brought in as the top star in AAA, but with he signing of Alberto El Patron and Rey Mysterio Jr., he had fallen to No. 3, and then turned heel, then tweener, with his role to feud with Mysterio Jr.
Urive came out, never said his name, and the announcers never acknowledged his appearance in later commentary in the Universal title match that followed. He came out with his ring music, and talked about how he was born at Arena Mexico and that since he left, nobody has been able to get to his level. AAA owns the name Myzteziz, and he did acknowledge that once he left AAA, he would no longer use that name. CMLL owns the name Mistico, but has another wrestler using that name.
It was announced that he would be appearing for Elite Lucha Libre on 10/25 at Arena Mexico, a promotion that runs occasional big shows in the building and advertises with CMLL. But it makes no sense for him to walk about of AAA, where he was in a key feud with Rey Mysterio Jr., which was planned to build to next year’s TripleMania main event, just to do one match. The impression is that he’ll eventually be back with CMLL.
Urive, under his mask, talked with the press after and said he would work the rest of his AAA dates announced, but was leaving the promotion after that. It’s unclear if AAA would even want him on those shows given they were blind sided by this move. He was booked on an AAA show on 10/25 in Durango.
AAA, which taped television last night, hasn’t made any comments at this point.
