On Wednesday, the UFC announced a 2/27 show in London, England, at the O2 Arena.
The show will be an FS 1 card and tickets will go on sale to Fight Club members on 12/1, to Sun+ members on 12/2, and to the public on 12/4 at Noon.
No matches have been announced but UFC stated Michael Bisping, Brad Pickett and Ross Pearson have expressed their desire to be on the show.
YouTube interview: https://youtu.be/ekBi_8Fizt4
Blog Talk Radio Episode: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ringrustradio/2015/09/15/ring-rust-radio–sep-15-w-wwe-legend-bob-backlund-night-of-champions-preview
BOB BACKLUND Transcript
Donald Wood: You recently released your autobiography BACKLUND: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling’s World Champion. The book is a great mixture of your life growing up, your career in the ring and your personal philosophies. Why did you feel like now was the right time to release the book and what are you hoping to accomplish?
Bob Backlund: I have been working on this project ever since I stopped wrestling. I actually didn’t think anything was going to happen with it. I was turning 60 years old and didn’t think I was going to find the right person to write the book. Somebody wrote me a letter back in 2009, he said I was his childhood hero and his name was Rob Miller. He wanted to write a book about me. When we met in Glastonbury, CT in a library to discuss the book, I found out he was the man I wanted to write the book. He had a lot of compassion for the business and he respected the things I went through. He wanted to meet with me to see if I was really that person he was idolizing when he was a boy. He saw there wasn’t much difference between what I was doing in the WWE at that time and my real life. We have been working on it for five years and now the story of my life is in a book and I am very proud of it. I am very excited and every day I am enthusiastic to get out there in the world and meet more kids and meet more parents. Our goal is to have mom and dad want to have their children read the book.
Mike Chiari: The professional wrestling landscape changed significantly when Vince McMahon took over WWF from his father and launched a national and global expansion. You were front and center when that transition takes place, so looking back, what are some of the positives that came from the change, and also what are some of the things that were better in WWF and wrestling in general prior to that transition?
Bob Backlund: The business changed completely back then. One of the bigger things was when they brought the pay-per-view into the picture. That was very lucrative to the Company and the wrestlers. If you wrestled in the Spectrum that holds about 19 thousand people. With PPV that gave you the opportunity to get a 1,000,000 more people watching and that really changed the income of the wrestlers and promotion tremendously.
Brandon Galvin: Mike and I were there at Madison Square Garden to see you inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and I was curious what you felt was the most memorable moment for you from that weekend.
Bob Backlund: I was so excited to be inducted into the Hall of Fame because they had asked me to go in before but I wouldn’t do it because of something they did to me negatively back in the 80’s. They did fix that problem now so I went in. I thought they never were going to fix it as I was coming up on my 60’s and thought I would be gone by the time they do but they did fix it. There was a lot of things that happened that were tiny miracles at the time thankfully. I was really psyched up to give my speech, I was excited to be there, and it was a wonderful day for me.
Donald Wood: One of the interesting notes from your book was that Roddy Piper wrote the foreword. With the news about his untimely passing, what was your relationship like with Piper and what does his involvement with the book mean to you now?
Bob Backlund: I met Mr. Piper when he was a young person getting in the business in the Olympic theater in Los Angeles. He was just starting and I had the championship for a while. I was over in Japan and they had asked me to go over and have a match with Roddy for 59 minutes and 30 seconds. He says some great things about the match and my goal was to put him over and make him look like a champion. It was a pleasure to wrestle with him and he was very advanced for how little time he had in the business. He credits me for helping him launch his career in the business and I was really proud of him to say that. He left a message on my phone about three weeks ago saying it was ok to use him as the forward for the book. I listened to the message, the next day I deleted it, and the next day he passed. I liked him a lot and had a lot of respect for him. I thought he would never leave this earth.
Mike Chiari: You’re one of the longest-reigning WWF world champions of all time, and your reign famously came to an end when you lost to The Iron Sheik. It’s long been said that the original plan was for you to turn heel and drop the title to Hulk Hogan. What do you remember about the plans regarding your title loss, and why were you reluctant to change your persona then?
Bob Backlund: This is explained pretty well in the book, but I had a daughter that was six years old about to start school. I went around the country talking about amateur wrestlers, hosting Bob Backlund kids wrestling tournaments, and I always talked to them about things I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t turn because I made a lot of promises to a lot of kids and with my daughter starting school I didn’t want her to have problems in school.
Brandon Galvin: What do you feel has been the most rewarding part of your wrestling career?
Bob Backlund: I think the biggest thing for me was to find out that Vince McMahon Senior had more honor, dignity, pride, and honesty than any other man I have ever met. He was like a dad to me. He told me some things way ahead of time and he did those things right on time and right on the money. He was a wonderful person and I was very saddened when he passed in 1984.
Donald Wood: During your career, you wrestled against some of the greatest Superstars in history. Of all your legendary matches and feuds, who do you view as your favorite opponent and which wrestler had the biggest impact on your career?
Bob Backlund: Billy Superstar Graham dropped the WWF title to me, and that had the biggest influence because it changed my life. I know he actually didn’t want to do that, and in the book I explain that a lot. A lot of people were trying to talk Vince McMahon Sr. out of doing that with me because I was new and I wasn’t a proven commodity yet. Vince McMahan gave his word and he stuck with it. I loved wrestling. I couldn’t wait to get in the arena and get in the ring. I love the arena and I love the people. I didn’t love the dressing room and I didn’t care for the activity in the dressing room back then. I’d go in there, get dressed, and go out and do the Harvard step test and the wheel for an hour. I enjoyed the time in the ring because I was trying to entertain people and give them a show for their hard earned money they spent to come to the show. I worked as hard as I could in the ring to make the matches enjoyable as much as I could.
Mike Chiari: I think one of the most entertaining and underrated runs of your career was your stint as a heel when you won the world title from Bret Hart. Who came up with the idea for that character and why were you willing to make such a significant change at that point in your career?
Bob Backlund: I didn’t do that in that 80’s because I refused to be bad. In the 90’s I went back and our world had changed a lot. People weren’t interested in all-American boy hero. They were more interested in people that would disrespect their boss. I asked to be bad, but I was being bad by being good. I built up a luminous vocabulary so I could educate the masses. I was preaching being responsible for your own actions. Don’t throw your garbage out the window of your car anymore because you’re defacing our country. I had a policy that you had to recite the presidents of the USA to me before you could get my signature. They hated me for that. That is what was driving me to be so intense. They all thought I was going to fall on my face, but I believe in every word that came out of my mouth and sometimes the truth hurts.
Donald Wood: In that sense, do you feel the comparisons to John Cena are justified?
Bob Backlund: There probably is a little bit because he talks about never giving up and I talk about never capitulating so they are basically the same thing. I understand that, sometimes people don’t want to hear about discipline, hard work, and going the extra mile.
Brandon Galvin: Is there a story you could share with us from your book to serve as an appetizer before fans have a chance to read it?
Bob Backlund: In 1973, I was ready to go to an engagement for a match I had in Baton Rouge, LA. I had a 1967 Chevy Impala that was green and had an aluminous trunk it. I had that and $20 in my pocket when I left Princeton, MN. My parents gave me a hug goodbye and told me to do my best. When I got to Baton Rouge, I had .29 cents in my pocket for the night I wrestled. I made a reservation at the Sheraton that night. After my match I was paid with an envelope, and when I opened it there was $5 in there. I had to go five days before I was going to have another match. I cancelled the reservation at the Sheraton, and I went to the grocery store and bought tuna fish and a can opener. That can opener became the most important tool in those days. I actually slept in the trunk of my car since it had that aluminous trunk. I was broke, homeless, and didn’t know a soul in the area. I was about 1200 miles away from home and couldn’t get there. So I went to the local YMCA and worked out every day. It made me get through the hard times of sleeping in my trunk, being hungry, and being lonely. When I got done working out, I felt good again, I felt positive, and it kept me alive and motivated. I was able to slowly climb to the top of the wrestling business thanks to the principles I learned in junior high and high school. From that point, everything was up hill and couldn’t get any worse, but I never gave up.
—
Thanks,
Donald Wood Jr.
News Writer – TravelPulse.com
WWE Team – Bleacher Report
Ring Rust Radio
News of Delaware County
By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com
1965
Kansas City, Kansas:
– North American Tag Team Champions, Bob Geigel and Bob Brown beat Mongolian Stomper and The Ox by dq
– Jerry Miller beat Jim Grabmire 2 falls to 1
– Bulldog Plechas drew Thor Hagen
– Corsica Joe beat Paul Caruso
1966
Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
– AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon went to a double countout with Wilbur Snyder
– Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Doug Gilbert & Billy Red Cloud
– Chris Markoff drew Ron Reed
– Dale Lewis beat Joe Tomasso
– Jim Raschke beat Johnny Kace (Raschke’s professional debut)
1967
Chicago, Illinois:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher
– Wilbur Snyder beat Angelo Poffo
– Johnny Valentine beat Moose Cholak dq
– Dr X beat Rene Goulet
– Dr Moto beat Bob Boyer
– Blackjack Lanza beat Al Kashey
1972
St. Louis, Missouri:
– Harley Race defeated Pak Song in a tournament final to become the first ever NWA Missouri Champion
St. Paul, Minnesota:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Larry Hennig & Dusty Rhodes 2/3
– Wahoo McDaniel beat Ivan Koloff dq
– Dr X beat Higo Hamaguchi
– Rene Goulet drew Don Muraco
– Ramon Torres beat Big K
1978
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– WWWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Superstar Billy Graham in a Stretcher Match
1982
Oakland, California:
– Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens drew AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
– AWA Champion Otto Wanz beat Nick Bockwinkel
– Rick Martel beat Ken Patera dq
– Jesse Ventura beat Baron Von Raschke
– Adrian Adonis beat Buck Zumhofe
1994
Knoxville, Tennessee:
– SMW Tag Team Champions The Rock N’ Roll Express defeated The Gangstas. However, New Jack & Mustafa would later threaten to sue SMW, saying tape of the match proves that they should have won the belts. As a result, Smoky Mountain Wrestling awarded the titles to the Gangstas
1995
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– The Pitbulls defeated Raven & Steven Richards in a two out of three falls Dog Collar match to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship
– Rey Misterio Jr. (now Rey Mysterio) defeated Psicosis
2002
Tokyo, Japan:
– Low Ki defeated Spanky on a Zero-One event to win the NWA International Light Heavyweight Title
2003
Raleigh, North Carolina:
– Eddie & Chavo Guerrero defeated Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle in a 60-minute Ironman match to win the WWE World Title, 5 falls to 4
2006
New York City:
– The Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Austin Aries and Roderick Strong to win the ROH Tag Team championship
2007
– At the Unforgiven PPV, Batista defeated the Great Khali and Rey Mysterio Jr to win the World Title
– Randy Orton defeated WWE Champion John Cena by dq
– The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry
2010
– Jay Lethal defeated Doug Williams to win the TNA X Division Title
2012
At the Night of Champions PPV in Boston, Massachusetts:
– Daniel Bryan and Kane won the WWE Tag Team Championship from R-Truth and Kofi Kingston
– Eve Torres defeated Layla to win the WWE Divas Championship
– US Champion Antonio Cesaro defeated Zach Ryder
Notes for Thursday’s show, taped in Little Rock, AK:
– WWE Champion/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins came out for a promo and said on Sunday he would be beating two first ballot Hall of Famers. He pushed the main event on the show: he and Sheamus against Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose. Sheamus noted that he could cash in his briefcase at any time.
– Naomi & Sasha Banks b Paige & Becky Lynch when Naomi pinned Paige with an inside cradle.
– Brie Bella and Alicia Fox were backstage preparing for the “Bellabration” of Nikki Bella’s setting the record as the longest reigning Divas champion of all time.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day cut a promo regarding their match with the Dudleys.
– Kofi Kingston b Devon Dudley
– Big Show b Cesaro with the knockout punch
– Kevin Owens b Dolph Ziggler via DQ when Ryback attacked Owens
– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose b WWE Champion/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins & Sheamus when Ambrose pinned Sheamus with Dirty Deeds.
Run date: June 6, 1985
Run time: 36:41
This is one of the few episodes of TNT that feels really modern, like it could have been shot today or in the last few years. Maybe it’s the live Las Vegas crowd, or just about the time McMahon felt comfortable enough to be himself, but he’s in full Mr. McMahon mode here, yes more than a decade before this man and the character would merge on national television.
For starters, he’s wearing an off-white suit, a dramatic change from the purple, red and orange jackets he typically wears. It’s a good color for him, definitely less game show-hostish.
There really is a live crowd this week, not a make-believe one like the every other episode of TNT. Our first guest is Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Man this guy was freakin’ amazing during this time. No one could have ever predicted that he would become a governor one day, and get recognized as one of the most prominent pop culture icons of our time, but it is clear here that he has something extra.
This is the Ventura at the height of his glam phase. He’s wearing red Lady Gaga glasses, a tan jacket, tie-dyed shirt and tight black jeans. Ventura gets booed as he walks out and McMahon says “somewhat of an unfriendly welcome, but you are accustomed to that.” McMahon is such a jerk, even trying to play a face.
Ventura takes the CM Punk approach to his A-holeness and says “I don’t care.” McMahon continues the bullying: “What about your sunglasses? That’s unusual even for you.”
Ventura is done with McMahon games and goes into business for himself.
“I am a new idol for the kids,” Ventura says. “You look at Rock ‘n’ Roll today and you got all these rock stars who think they are big, tough guys, like David Lee Roth and Billy Idol and all these little pipsqueaks who don’t weigh 150 pounds soaking wet. “
Ventura I believe was injured around this time and his time in the ring was about to come to an end, so McMahon and the WWE were thinking of ways to keep him around, rather than send him back to the AWA. So he became this rock star character, complete with a song and video, that actually didn’t sound that bad.
“I got the power, I got the speed. You want to trouble you’ll be sorry if you mess with this body. I got the body, the body rules tonight. “
Ventura sounds at least as good as John Cena, and The Rock, but not quite as good as Lillian Garcia. He’s playing the role well, even if he is technically talking and not singing.
Later in the video he says: “I got the fist, made of iron, I got the body that never tires.” McMahon back in the studio says, “I think you wrestle considerably better than you sing.”
Ventura was never as witty as Bobby “The Brain” Heenan when he was insulted. He typically just barked back, like he did here: “I gave you the opportunity to debut this rock video right here on TNT and this is the kind of shabby treatment I get?”
McMahon cuts him off and says, “We thank you very much for joining us and we wish you well in your career.” Ventura looked stunned that McMahon ended the segment, and McMahon, the ultimate heel, says to Ventura: “What do you want to talk about?”
Ventura responds: “I am the greatest broadcaster in the world today. I tell it like it is. I don’t play favorites.” That’s pretty funny considering Ventura pretty much hated on Hulk Hogan and most of the other good guys as a color commentary.
McMahon then abruptly asks Ventura if we can see “the body.” Ventura popped up and walked off the set, saying “you pay to see the body.”
The live crowd, by the way, booed Ventura with every word, which was Ventura’s greatest gift. He was the ultimate heel and played it well.
Up next is Lisa Sliwa, the Guardian Angel who tried to become a WWF wrestler. We met Sliwa a few weeks ago. Clearly McMahon had big plans for her, but she eventually just sort of disappeared. She was also a fashion model.
McMahon takes us to the gym and Sliwa training with jobber Mario Mancini. God Bless Mancini. Sliwa was demonstrating her wrestling skills and flipped Mancini with a snap mare that looked about 99 percent Mancini and 1 percent Sliwa. Mancini’s lucky he didn’t permanently injure his neck with this botched hold.
Mancini did walk out of the ring after the move, leaving Mean Gene Okerlund to interview Sliwa, who said she had a black belt in karate and jiu-jitsu. Okerlund, always excellent at straddling the line between seriousness and absurdity, asked her what the differences between the martial arts and professional wrestling. Sliwa said she would be disqualified in a second if she performed some of the jiu-jitsu karate in the wrestling ring.
From the brawn we go to the beauty and Sliwa’s modeling shots. Did McMahon think that associating with Sliwa would bring the WWF positive national exposure or did he just see something in her and wanted to try to make her a star.
When they return to the couch and the live crowd, Hayes said “Wendi Richter is going to have to look out.” Maybe Moolah got ahold of Sliwa and scared her away, or Sliwa realized the WWF was not for her, but she disappeared after this.
From one major push to another and Bruno Sammartino as a guest on TNT. Sammartino is appearing the show yet again not to promote himself, but to try to get his son David over as superstar. The problem was that the fans cared more about Bruno than David. But good for Bruno for trying. Bruno sits down and McMahon doesn’t waste a lot of time: “Your son is attempting to follow in your footsteps,” and Bruno takes over.
“For a young fella, he’s really strong,” Bruno says. He claims that David can bench press 545 pounds.
Bruno came back to the WWF to get his son over and even took part in several tag team matches with David against Brutus Beefcake and his manager “Luscious” Johnny Valiant.
We go to Madison Square Garden and the tag match and the crowd is going crazy for Bruno as he’s pounding on Valiant and Beefcake. This was supposed to be a segment that got David over, but it’s not happening. Even the announcers are confused.
“David hasn’t been in the ring yet,” Lord Alfred Hayes says.
“I don’t know if his dad is going to let him in or not,” Gorilla Monsoon says. “He certainly doesn’t need the help.” Just as Bruno finally makes the tag to David, they cut back to the TNT studios, in what certainly must have been a rib on Bruno and David.
Luscious Johnny Valiant them came out on the set wondering why McMahon didn’t show the part of the match where Valiant allegedly threw Bruno into the audience. As Valiant creeps toward Bruno calling him an old man, Bruno says “This old man would have taken you 10 years ago and this this old man would wipe the floor with you today.”
Valiant then throws a blow and Sammartino who blocks it and then throws a John Cena-like right hand that connects on Valiant’s shoulder, sending Valiant over the TNT chair in somewhat of a sloppy bump. Guess it went with the Cena-like right hand.
Valiant was supposed to clear the chair like Capt. Lou Albano did when Rowdy Roddy Piper hit him, in a the same exact segment, but he didn’t sending the chair down with him. McMahon had nothing to say, except “We’ll be back with more TNT.”
Bruno and David would stick around a little while longer, but David never went anywhere, and Bruno would spend much of the next 20 years badmouthing Vince McMahon and the new era of the WWF, including a memorable segment on the Phil Donahue show, until Triple H greased his palm and finally convinced him to forgive and forget and join the WWE Hall of Fame.
Next up is Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Big John Studd. Poor Studd Heenan just overshadowed everyone he managed and here, the 6 foot 11 Studd just faded into the background. Heenan sits down and McMahon says “you hold the distinction of being the first manager in the World Wrestling Federation ever to be fired.”
Heenan kills it with a response of “Had Orndorff stayed out here on TNT another 30 seconds I would have fired him.” The Orndorff turn was no small feat. He was a natural heel, but Heenan was so good that he made the face turn work.
Heenan says he showed Orndorff how to comb his hair and how to work out and took a “ham-and-egger” and turned him into “Mr. Wonderful.” Without him, Heenan says, he’s now “Mr. Pitiful.” Around this time, Heenan put a $25,000 bounty on Orndorff for anyone who “puts Paul Orndorff out of wrestling for good.”
Orndorff would spend the next few months teaming with Hulk Hogan against the Heenan family, setting up the ultimate heel turn, when he turned on Hulk Hogan.
His heel run against Hogan probably wouldn’t have worked as well without Heenan success and turning him face. The show ends with an odd segment held up only by Heenan and Ventura. Heenan and Studd stood on a stage ready to gong anyone from the audience whose questions they didn’t like.
Ventura and Valiant roamed the audience asking questions, but not really. Valiant’s whole schtick was to cut off any of the audience members from actually asking the questions. Ventura was just there to insult the audience.
Ventura asked one guy where he was from and when he responded “New York” Ventura asked if it is as “filthy” as everyone says. The guy didn’t know how to respond and he got the gong from Studd.
The live show really boosted TNT’s relevancy. For the first time, it made the show feel like an actual wrestling talk show, not a staged fake WWF talk talk show.
It’s amazing to watch the WWF in 1985 and 2015. In 1985, the crowd is 100 percent behind the faces and against the heels. If this show were happening in 2015, the live crowd would have been 100 percent behind guys like Ventura and Heenan. Bruno and David would have been booed out of the building.
The WWF in 1985 was a time, as odd as it sounds, of a bit of wrestling purity. The internet had not yet killed every angle before it played out. The fans followed the storylines and generally rooted for the good guys and booed the bad guys.
Lisa Sliwa is cheered here, but would have been absolutely destroyed in 2015. McMahon, however, is still the thread between 1985 and 2015. As much as everything else has changed, McMahon has been the glue behind it all.
by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix
Show notes for tonight:
Total Divas airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on E! with “An Unwanted Proposal.” Paige’s boyfriend proposes; Brie and Bryan argue about their future; and Trinity/Naomi messes up Jon’s/Jimmy Uso’s standup comedy career (?!??!) somehow.
SmackDown and Main Event will be taped tonight in Little Rock. Please send spoilers/reports to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.
****
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.
****
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.
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.
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***
Tuesday Daily Update
— Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard got to take part in the Hulk Hogan apology tour, with the most newsworthy part being that he never spoke to Vince McMahon about his firing, with Paul Levesque calling him in the middle of the night when they got word of the National Enquirer/Radar Online story. Among the “highlights” is this: “I was surrounded by a bunch of negativity in my personal life. My [23-year] marriage had pretty much unwound, and it wasn’t fixable. I was going through a tough time with my son being put in an adult prison when he was 16 years old. I was stressed out to the max.” The videos with Heather Cole were made before July 13, 2007, the date written on the DVDs that were seized as part of a FBI sting. Nick Bollea’s car accident that put John Graziano in a vegetatve state was August 26, 2007.
— Tickets for the meet and greet/autograph session portion of Hogan’s upcoming “talk show” appearance in England are the equivlaent of $350 U.S.
— Meanwhile, Hogan has been successfully trolled on Twitter again, this time being tricked into endorsing disgraced Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. He really, really needs to get away from Twitter, or at the very least stop retweeing things from anyone he doesn’t know.
— Evolve announced that former UFC and Bellator Fighter Matt Riddle will make his debut at their shows in New York next month. Riddle, who purportedly has a ton of potential, has been training at the Monster Factory and working some smaller shows.
— Some new screenshots for WWE 2K16 (comes out on October 27th) that were released today revealed a bit of a pleasant surprise: The game’s campaign, which goes through Steve Austin’s career, will, at the very least, go back to his WCW run. At 2K Games’ media event in New York a during SummerSlam week, the demo they had started with Austin winning King of the Ring ’96, which led a lot of people to think that was where the mode actually started. Today, the screenshots they released included “Stunning” Steve Austin making his entrance circa 1993-1994 and “Superstar” Steve Austin about to wrestle Mikey Whipwreck at the ECW Arena in 1995. The final roster reveal announcement also included Ricky Steamboat with a photo from 1994, when he feuded with Austin right before being retired by a back injury.
— ThinkProgress explains the appeal of Donald Trump via Roland Barthes’ essay about pro wrestling.
— Kevin Eck writes about WWE’s hesitance to acknowledge Roman Reigns’ Samoan heritage when he was working for the company on the creative team.
— E! sent us a video of a bikini clad Kelly Kelly chopping someone on tonight’s episode of WAGs. Thy’re promoting it as her using wrestling moves.
— Bob Backlund’s book was officially released today in both physical and digital formats. WWE’s next home video release is SummerSlam 2015, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray a week from today. WWE’s next archival release is Sting: Into The Light on DVD and Blu-Ray in four weeks.
— The entire Chikara King of Trios tournament is no available as a aVOD download.
— On the latest Between the Sheets podcast, Kris Zellner and myself are joined by Charles (Pro Wrestling Only) and Sean Wheelock (Let’s Get It On/Bellator/co-author of “Is This Legal?” about the first UFC PPV) to discuss the week that was September 8-14, 1994. Listen to us talk about Jim Cornette breaking car windows, Crush & Yokozuna breaking caskets, Keith Hackney breaking his hands, & the Gracie myth breaking apart.
— PWP runs tomorrow night, 9/16, at The Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, NE.
— MCW has a show this Saturday Night in Hollywood, MD. WWE Hall Of Famer Jake the Snake Roberts, TNA Diva and Former WWE Diva Mickie James, and all of the stars of MCW will be appearing at the Pre Show Fan fest. The Fan fest will be from 6:30 to 7:30PM just before the event starts and wrestling fans will be able to meet all of the stars and get photo opportunities with them as well. All that is needed to attend the fan fest is a ticket to the event. Action-Packed Matches include: The Hell Cats vs. Ecktourage vs. Punk Rock All-Stars, Brandon Scott vs. Drolix, Dixon Line Security vs. G-Fed, the Bruiser & Jake the Snake Roberts, Kimber Lee vs. Mickie James, King Ryan McBride vs. Lio Rush, Fenix Fury vs. Chuck Lennox, plus many more stars in action this Saturday Night.
By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com
2015’s Q4 may be a long one for WWE as the Monday, September 14th edition of Monday Night Raw did 3.39 million viewers, almost identical to the record non-major holiday low of the past 18 years of 3.37 million the prior week.
The rating should have been up because last week’s rating was caused by a show that caused massive audience tuning out late, and was also hurt by Labor Day.
This week’s show went against the regular season doubleheader debut of ESPN’s Monday Night Football which did big numbers. The early game (Falcons vs. Eagles) that ended at 10:17 p.m. did 13.56 million viewers while the late game (49ers vs. Vikings) that started at 10:17 p.m. did 14.33 million viewers.
For Raw, the three hours were:
– 8 p.m. 3.29 million viewers
– 9 p.m. 3.54 million viewers
– 10 p.m. 3.36 million viewers
By: Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com
1949
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Bill Longson beat Joe Pazandak in 2 out of 3 falls
– Ronnie Etchison defeated Chief Chewchki
– Enrique Torres beat Jack Suzek
– Garza Lozano beat Danny Fenelon
1956
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Whipper Billy Watson beat Dr. Lee Grable by dq to retain the World Title
– June Byers beat Barbara Baker 2 falls to 0 to retain the World Ladies Title
– Richard Brown beat Sam Menacker
1957
Wichita, Kansas:
– Red Berry defeated Richard Brown to win the Central States Title
1977
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
– Verne Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum
– Angelo Mosca beat Gene Kiniski
– Super Destroyer no contest the Crusher
– Billy Robinson beat Bob Backlund
– Larry Hennig beat Roger Kirby
– Chris Markoff beat Chris Pepper
– Steve Olsonoski vs Jan Nelson
1984
San Juan, Puerto Rico:
– At the WWC 11th Anniversary show, Invader 3 defeated Anibal to win the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title
– Invader 1 defeated Konga The Barbarian to win the WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Title
– Randy Savage defeated Pedro Morales to win the WWC North American Heavyweight Title.
1985
Norfolk, Virginia
– In a Bunkhouse Match, Dusty Rhodes & Magnum TA & Sam Houston beat Ole Anderson & Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard
– AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Krusher Khrushchev & Ivan Koloff
– Manny Fernandez beat Abdullah The Butcher
– Jimmy Valiant beat Buddy Landel
– Ron Bass drew Barbarian
– Starship Eagle & Stoney Burke beat Joel Deaton & Golden Terror
– Billy Graham beat Mark Fleming
1986
Los Angeles, California:
– Black Bart defeated Chris Adams in a phantom title change to win the World Class Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Title.
1989
Dallas, Texas:
– Sheik Braddock & Ron Starr defeated Jeff Jarrett & Matt Bourne to win the USWA Tag Team Title
1991
Marietta, Georgia:
– The Lightning Kid defeated Chaz to win the GWF Light Heavyweight Title
1996
Winston-Salem, North Carolina:
– Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Sting (NWO Sting) defeated Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Sting in a War Games match
– WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat defeated The Nasty Boys
– Chris Benoit defeated Chris Jericho
– The Giant (Big Show) defeated Randy Savage
1997
Charlotte, North Carolina:
– Curt Hennig defeated Steve McMichael for the WCW United States Heavyweight Title
1998
Sacramento, California:
– Jacqueline defeated Sable for the vacant WWF Women’s Title
– X-Pac defeating D’Lo Brown to win the WWF European Title
2001
Carrolton, Georgia:
– Scotty Anton defeated Barry Windham to win the Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title.
2005
Windsor, Ontario, Canada:
– Jeff Jarrett won the NWA title from Raven at a Border City Wrestling event
2007
Chicago, Illinois
– Takeshi Morishima defeated Bryan Danielson via referee stoppage to retain the ROH World Title.
– Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico to retain the ROH Tag Titles.
2012
Chicago Ridge, Illinois:
– Jay Lethal defeated Homicide
– Kevin Steen defeated Rhino to retain the ROH Title in an Anything Goes Match
– Kyle O’Reilly defeated ACH
Courtesy WWE.com
By Jeff Hamlin, WrestlingObserver.com
The Big Takeaway: Sting wrestled his first Raw match ever tonight. He actually wrestled two. The first against the Big Show ended with a Seth Rollins run-in after all of 1:43. The subsequent tag team match saw him defeat Rollins with the Scorpion Death Lock. Much of the discussion on this show will center around the Dusty Finish in the Nikki Bella-Charlotte match, where Charlotte appeared to have won, only to have it reversed when Stephanie McMahon ruled Twin Magic couldn’t count as a title change. This show was billed as the “Season Debut” of Raw. If this was the first Raw you ever watched, you would have thought Stephanie McMahon was the most pushed personality in the company.
Show Recap:
The Authority came out to welcome fans to the new season of Raw. Stephanie McMahon put over the new stars they’ve created over the past year like the New Day, Neville, Rusev, and others. HHH promoted Seth Rollins vs. John Cena & Rollins vs. Sting at NOC.
Stephanie talked about Nikki Bella defending the Divas title against Charlotte. HHH announced Sting would compete tonight for the first-time ever on Raw against The Big Show.
Stephanie brought out the New Day, then started clapping them. This led to HHH joining them, which was amusing.
The New Day (C) defeated the Prime Time Players to retain the WWE World Tag Team Titles (12:10)
Kofi Kingston pinned Titus O’Neal after the Midnight Hour. O’Neal got distracted by Xavier Woods playing the trombone on the apron. Among the newest Woods spots was playing the Pink Panther theme while Big E. struts and Woods playing notes in cadence while Langston and Woods stomp an opponent in the corner. Decent match.
They showed portions of Sting’s past, including a tag team match with Dusty Rhodes against The Road Warriors at Starrcade 1988, which was Dusty’s final NWA bout before his departure for the WWE. He was wearing a striped shirt that was barely more flattering than the polka dots he would be wearing a year later.
Rollins walked in to talk to the Authority. HHH arranged Sheamus vs. Cena for tonight just in case Sheamus thought about cashing in the briefcase tonight.
Ric Flair showed up with Charlotte to do an interview with a now short-haired Renee Young. Charlotte talked about what a dream it would be to win the Divas title. Flair said he’s now living vicariously through his daughter and wants to see her win tonight.
Sasha Banks defeated Paige via submission (5:15)
Sasha Banks won with a backstabber into a Bank Statement. Tamina moved Banks out of the way of a Paige charge into the corner. At one point, Paige delivered a facebuster that appeared to knock the hell out of Tamina. It appeared referee Charles Robinson was concerned momentarily.
There was a very nice tribute to Connor Michalek to start a program the company has launched called “Connor’s Cure” during September, which is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month
The Wyatt Family came out for MizTV. They continue the gimmick that Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose can’t find a third partner for the trios match at Night of Champions. Miz was basically a babyface trying to get a word out of Bray Wyatt, who said he wanted everyone to understand regardless of who shows up at Night of Champions, they will all fall down.
Ambrose and Reigns came out. Ambrose threw the Miz out of the ring while the five men had a stare down. Reigns acknowledged Jimmy Uso was his cousin and Wyatt took him out, which he would pay for. Reigns said they have found a third partner. Reigns vowed to win a war against the Wyatts on Sunday. Wyatt’s flash went off and the scene just ended.
Sting’s next flashback moment was the Great American Bash 1990 where Sting defeated Flair to win his first NWA/WCW World Championship.
John Cena defeated Sheamus (14:43)
Good match with some good selling by Sheamus. Cena won after he no sold the Rolling Senton by Sheamus and immediately hit the AA for the pin. Earlier in the match, Sheamus attempted the Brogue Kick but Cena countered with a clothesline. Crowd was very negative towards Cena, but he delivered in another good match.
Ryback did an interview where he had to sing lyrics to “All Shook Up” that was greeted by crickets. Kevin Owens came out as part of their fledgling program. Owens talked about how Ryback read the book “The Secret” to get him past a low point. Owens brought out his own copy of “The Secret,” said he read it and said he felt sorry for anyone who believes in that garbage. Owens called the book a crutch for weak people. Owens said Ryback was the strongest man in the locker room, but also the weakest mentally.
They were arguing over a book. Then Ryback recited these scripted lines and started repeated “Feed Me More.” Ryback said he respected Owens’ path to the WWE. Ryback admitted that he fell on his face when he first arrived in the WWE, but brushed himself off and won a championship. Ryback said he went to the Authority earlier today, and said they arranged an Intercontinental Championship match between the two at NOC. Ryback wanted to how a showdown, but Owens did his usual walkaway. All I can say is don’t ever watch NWA or Memphis promos via youtube on days leading up to Raws, because you’ll be very depressed after segments like these.
What was supposed to be Neville vs. Stardust turned into a six-way fight. The Ascension are now henchmen for Stardust. Lucha Dragons accompanied Neville and cleared the ring of the heels.
There was a package putting over Nikki Bella as the Divas champion who carried the entire Divas division on her back for the last 295 days. Bella pompously asked viewers have they started their year because she spent the year started a Divas Revolution.
Charlotte defeated Nikki Bella (C) by DQ in 9:55, so Bella retains the Divas Championship to become the longest reigning Divas Champion in history.
It’s only fitting that they showed a clip of Dusty Rhodes from 1989 earlier because they booked a Dusty Finish that killed the crowd tonight as much as it did 26 years ago. They went with Twin Magic as Alicia Fox tried to interfere, which allowed Brie Bella to run-in. Charlotte immediately pinned her with an inside cradle. Flair ran down like his daughter had won the title. Then Stephanie came out and announced that the integrity of the championship must be retained, telling the referee what happened and Charlotte won by DQ, but Bella would still be champion. However, Stephanie ordered a rematch at Night of Champions where if Nikki lost by DQ, countout, pinfall or submission, she would lose the title.
You might wonder why Stephanie didn’t make this ruling when they did this same finish at Money in the Bank. The answer is Stephanie wouldn’t get a chance to stand out as the company’s main star on a June PPV as much as the “season debut” of Raw. The sad part is they had a really good match going where Charlotte sold her arm great and the fans didn’t need to be coerced to emotionally invest in the match. It’s going to be tough trying to recreate that atmosphere on Sunday.
Cesaro defeated Rusev (4:03)
Dolph Ziggler came down and tried to offer Summer Rae a package. Rusev got distracted, allowing Cesaro to get the pin with an Inverted Chikara Special. Ziggler gave Rusev a superkick afterwards. Nothing match. Rusev was backstage furious about losing and slammed the door in Rae’s face. While Rusev was inside, Rae opened up the gift to find a gorgeous piece of jewelry. She started to smile when Rusev screamed at her to come inside.
The Big Show met with the Authority, who gave him a pep talk trying to beat Sting. Before every Authority segment, do they flip a coin to determine if they’re heels or faces?
Sting defeated The Big Show via DQ (1:43)
Rollins ran in for a DQ and I was getting flashbacks to 1999 Nitro the way this last hour went. Thank God Cena came out and joined Sting in clearing the ring. HHH then did the same routine they’ve done at countless Raws after they went off the air where they ordered an immediate tag team match between the four.
Sting and John Cena defeated Seth Rollins and The Big Show via submission (9:13)
Sting got the hot tag and made Rollins tap out to the Scorpion Death Lock after Cena gave the Big Show the AA. Cena spent most of the match trying to lift Show for a slam or the AA, only to fall under the weight. Sting did a good hot tag sequence, but the aura of Sting wrestling his first match on Raw seemed lost on the crowd.
SUMMARY: The company lost a lot of fans to football tonight, if they didn’t beforehand. For starters, the Authority appeared on seven segments on this show, and was mentioned in eight. If they’re role is clearly defined, more power to them. However, it’s impossible to emotionally invest in them as characters when they’re constantly flopping between babyfaces and heels. The effort to promote the company’s efforts to fight pediatric cancer are great. However, HHH is the same person who was negative on Kurt Angle doing PSAs because Angle was a heel in the mid 00’s, so it reeks of hypocrisy. As long as Rollins is the world champion subservient to the Authority, he’s not going to get over strong.
By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com
On Monday, the Nevada Athletic Commission issued a five year suspension to UFC welterweight/middlweight Nick Diaz and fined him $165,000 after a three hour hearing based on his positive test for marijuana on 1/31, the night of his fight with Anderson Silva.
The $165,000 was based on 33 percent of Diaz’s $500,000 purse for the fight.
The hearing got contentious between Diaz’s lawyer, Lucas Middlebrook, and Pat Lundvall of the commission. Middlebrook argued that drug tests taken before and after his fight showed Diaz’s marijuana levels below the 150ng/ML which is the current commission’s threshold for a marijuana positive. The tests would have been above previous levels. However, a third test showed him at 700ng/ML, or nearly five times allowable levels.
The commission stated the suspension was not as much for this marijuana test failure, but because Diaz had failed tests in Nevada for marijuana in 2007 and 2012, making this a third violation.
Lundvall recommended a lifetime suspension, but the other commissioners suggested five years, which, with Diaz being 32 years old, could end his career.