by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix
Tonight’s major show is Bellator Dynamite live on Spike TV at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT (for once, Spike is airing it live on the west coast):
Liam McGeary (c) vs. Tito Ortiz in a five round fight for the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship
Light Heavyweight Tournament Final
Saulo Cavalari vs. Zack Mwekassa in a five round kickboxing match for the Glory Light Heavyweight Championship
Josh Thomson vs. Mike Bronzoulis
Paul Daley vs. Fernando Gonzalez in a kickboxing match
Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez vs. Hadley Griffith in a kickboxing match
Emanuel Newton vs. Phil Davis in a two round light heavyweight tournament semifinal fight
King Mo Lawal vs. Linton Vassell in a two round light heavyweight tournament semifinal fight
Francis Carmont vs. Anthony Ruiz in the two round light heavyweight tournament alternate fight will be on the prelims due to time constraints.
In the event of a draw, all first round tournament fights will go to a secondary scorecard asking the judges who won the fight overall to determine which fighter advances. However, they would officially be draws on the fighters’ records. The winner of Carmont vs. Ruiz will only get added to the finals if both men in a main bracket fight can’t continue.
Scott Coker has a lot of high hopes for this card ratings-wise, aiming for a peak at or near the level of the Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice fight. With Tito Ortiz in the main event, that’s not a compltely ridiculous notion. While the kickboxing lineup is not as strong as originally hoped for due to injuries among other things, the fights should still be fun, and the MMA lineup is really strong. The tournament is a bit strange in that it’s a cool concept and a nice mix of talented fighters, but the stylistic likelihood of boring fights is not low at all. McGeary-Ortiz is intriguing: By all rights, McGeary should finish Ortiz, but it’s winnable on paper for Ortiz if he can take McGeary down and defend submissions. All in all, it’s a fun card on paper and the promise of a Pride-style production, including Lenne Hardt doing ring announcing and Mauro Ranallo calling the kickboxing fights, should amplify that.
Titan Fighting Championships from Ridgefield, WA on UFC Fight Pass tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET:
Pat Healy vs Rick Hawn for lightweight title
Andre Harrison vs. Desmond Green for featherweight title
Tim Elliott vs Felipe Efran
Steven Siler vs. Austin Springer
Zane Kamaka vs. Belel Muhammed
Ricky Simon vs. Alex Soto
Tomorrow night:
WWE Night of Champions PPV at 8:00 p.m. ET (pre-show an hour earlier) on WWE Network/PPV:
Seth Rollins vs. Sting for th WWE Championship
Seth Rollins vs. John Cena for the WWE U.S. Championship
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & ??? vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman
Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte for the WWE Divas’ Championship, title can change hands via DQ or count out
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
New Day vs. Dudleys for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Neville & The Lucha Dragons vs. Stardust & The Ascension preshow match
Raw will be Monday night in Laredo, TX.
Smackdown will be taped Tuesday in Corpus Christi with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Sheamus as the top advertised stars.
New Japan Destruction in Okayama PPV on Tuesday night at 2:00 a.m. ET on New Japan World:
Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Yuji Nagata & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Jay White & David Finlay & Manabu Nakanishi & Tetsuya Naito
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jushin Liger & Mascara Dorada in a non-title match
Steve Anthony vs. Tiger Mask for NWA Junior Heavyweight Title
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Matt Sydal vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga
Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan for IWGP tag titles
Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi & Alex Shelley vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Baretta
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. A.J. Styles & Cody Hall
Kushida vs. Kenny Omega for IWGP jr. title
Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi for Never Open weight title
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com:
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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 a look at the latest in the concussion lawsuits filed against WWE on behalf of various wrestlers by Konstantine Kyros. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recnt FREE Figure 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:
A look at next weekend, which is one of the biggest weekends of the year with Bellator and CMLL having their biggest shows, plus a WWE PPV show and an ROH PPV, is one of the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also have a look at the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot, tons more on the Jimmy Snuka case, An update on TNA and the future of Kurt Angle, a letter UFC sent to all its fighters about unionization, plus full coverage of UFC 191 and Battle of Los Angeles, and thoughts behind Raw & Smackdown doing record low numbers.
The latest issue of the Wrestling Observer: September 14, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Huge Weekend Preview, WWE/CMLL/ROH/Bellator
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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
We look at next week’s big shows, including a preview of CMLL’s main event, why L.A. Park is already gone from the promotion, and a preview of both Raw and Night of Champions.
We’ve got more on the Jimmy Snuka case, with a background of WWE in 1983, Vince McMahon purchasing the company from his father, what was and wasn’t known in wrestling at the time, the first Snuka arrest, the decision made on Hulk Hogan being the face of the company’s expansion, the role Snuka’s autobiography played in his indictment, the corner saying why he felt there was no indictment and his quotes on the subject, new evidence, Buddy Rogers before his death talks about the subject, another coroner weighs in, a lawyer who investigated the case in 1983 weighs in, how Snuka handled his finances fro that point on, Snuka’s run in New Japan, the famous Brody & Snuka walking out on the tag tournament finals, what Vince McMahon was doing to protect Snuka, key Allentown officials talk cover-up rumors, WWE talks those rumors and more.
We also update the Kurt Angle TNA situation and why Angle said he was leaving the company when his contract expires in January. We look at the situation with Destination America, what talent knows and how WWE fits into all this right now.
We look at the letter sent by UFC to all of its fighters regarding unionization and our thoughts on the subject.
We’ve got a look at the 2005 Hall of Fame ballot, a look at the new candidates and their credentials, candidates for the future, understanding of the process, as well as how everyone on this year’s ballot fared last year.
We also look back at research into the biggest draws of all-time on the ballot, as well how the candidates have done in various awards, in drawing power for their era, as well as match quality, how difficult it is to be voted in, and notes on a lot of this year’s modern candidates.
We have an update on Ronda Rousey and WrestleMania, an upcoming WWE wedding, John Cena injury notes, WWE asks fans about PPV start times and thoughts, update on Amanda from Tough Enough and what appears to be her new deal, WWE pulling out all stops for next months tour of Mexico and why, Dean Ambrose talks acting, Nikki Bella as Divas champion, Eric Bischoff appearing on WWE Network, Undertaker’s future, the signing of Kana and she talks coming to WWE, Zahra Schreiber talks her firing, some NXT matches, a WWE wrestler on a sabbatical, as well as the WWE business notes from the past week and highlights from all the house hows.
We also look at Hulk Hogan’s overseas talk shows, the death of Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics, Dave Brown retires from WMC TV and how it was celebrated locally, Axl Rotten’s future goals, CHIKARA King of Trios, Jeff Jarrett TV talks and the final GFW ballpark shows of the year and what is left on the schedule, Bob Backlund’s autobiography, update on Batista, the death of Jerry Prater, an instrumental figure in Florida wrestling in the 70s and the heyday of wrestling programs and magazines, the Carlos Maynez tribute show this past week featuring legends from the past, a Roddy Piper movie not released and the Darrell Dawkins connection with pro wrestling.
We also update things on Lucha Underground.
We look at next week’s ROH matches.
We look at a TNA wedding, lineups for the upcoming TNA shows, U.K. TNA ratings and updating Impact.
We also have Conor McGregor talking his future, McGregor vs. Faber and why it didn’t happen, key UFC announcements over the pat week including new shows, new main events and new title matches, the retirement of Sam Stout, Rousey doing “Road House,” next UFC TV events, update on Charles Oliveira, UFC’s most popular markets, how much Rousey and McGregor are carrying things right now and former UFC star buys $2.75 million mansion from a rock star.
We also look at Alexander Shlemenko’s attempt to get his steroid punishment over turned and his arguments, plus a new Bellator show was announced.
We also update Fedor Emelianenko and his situation, as well as a former WWE star debuts this week as an MMA announcer and top pro wrestling stars attending. We also look at the results of the latest medical study on injuries suffered in boxing vs. MMA and where each is more and less dangerous than the other.
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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
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Saturday Daily Update
— The internet pay-per-view of the CMLL 82nd Anniversary Show ended up being a disaster, but not in the way you might expect from an IPPV. The page for buying the show on Cleeng.com was actually just embedding an unlisted YouTube live stream, and the YouTube link could be spread around freely. They went from about 700 viewers at the start of the show to about 1,000 during the first match and eventually 10,000+ during the main event. To make matters worse, the YouTube page showed up first for people who were searching Google to find the official page for the stream. Being that this was the first CMLL stream that wasn’t (officially) free, you can see why fans wouldn’t have had any idea that something was amiss. I heard from people who had n idea until I tweeted about it.
— Virgil told TMZ that he taught Donald Trump about showmanship when his casino hosted WrestleMania IV and V. Really.
— TBS jobber turned southern indie promoter Paul Lee may be disqualified from the mayoral election he’s tried to run in. As somene who’s made a lot of enemies in the southeast, there are probably a bunch of wrestlers and promoters amused by this.
— CantonRep.com talks to Jessicka Havok about returning home to Canton. One guess what’s not talked about.
— The Houston Chronicle’s La Voz covers the launch of the new Combate Americas promotion and Alberto El Patron’s role as color commentator.
— WWE’s “Owen: Hart of Gold” Owen Hart DVD set is now available for pre-order on Amazon, though the Blu-Ray version isn’t listed yet. WWE’s next release is SummerSlam 2015, which is out this Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray. The next archival/specialized release is Sting: Into the Light, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 13th. They also have a special collectible “coffin edition” of “Undertaker: The Streak” coming out on November 17th.