While nothing has been stated to talent and employees regarding the future of TNA on Destination America as of yesterday, TNA is still listing the show for 9 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday, 10/7.
The last taped episode of Impact was scheduled for 9/30. The Discovery Network had sent a memo to employees in May stating that they were going to exercise their option to cancel the show at the end of September.
According to one company source, the belief is that a lot of matches that were taped during the early part of the tapings that were not taped as part of an Impact show will be able to be put together for international programming to fill the commitments, and that could be done for domestic commitments as well.
Right now, the company has not scheduled any future television tapings, but there is a deal being negotiated for tapings to be done in late November in India.
– Rey Mendoza defeated Dory Dixon for the EMLL NWA Light Heavyweight Title
1965
Minneapolis, Minnesota (5018 attendance):
– AWA Champion The Crusher beat Larry Hennig – Harley Race beat Tex McKenzie – Chris Markoff beat Santiago Acosta – Reggie Parks beat Guy Taylor
1967
Fort Worth, Texas:
– Fritz & Waldo Von Erich defeated Brute Bernard & Mike Paidousis to win the NWA American Tag Team Title
1968
Duluth, Minnesota:
– The Crusher beat Dr X in a Saloon Match – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Luke Brown & Bill Watts – Chris Markoff beat Mike Boyer – Billy Red Lyons beat Blackjack Daniels
1969
Kansas City, Kansas: – The Viking defeated Masao Komura – Joe Scarpello defeated Jack Armstrong – K.O. Cox defeated Ronnie Paul – Stan the Mad Russian defeated Big Luke via DQ – Tarzan Tyler defeated Dick the Bruiser in three falls
1973
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Professor Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji defeated Tony Garea & Haystacks Calhoun for the WWWF World Tag Team Title
Honolulu, Hawaii:
– The Crusher beat Superstar Billy Graham – Ed Francis beat Sam Steamboat to win Hawaiian Title – Neff Maiava & Tosh Togo beat Tony Borne & Ripper Collins – Nick Bockwinkel beat Ken Patera
1975
Kansas City, Kansas: – Prince Tapu & Don Wayt defeated Dan Burdick & Jesse Ventura – Jerry Oates fought Terry Funk to a no contest – Central States Heavyweight Champion Ed Wiskowski (Colonel DeBeers) fought Dick the Bruiser to a double-DQ in three falls
1976
Greenville, North Carolina: – Wahoo McDaniel defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA Mid Atlantic Heavyweight Title
1977
Orlando, Florida: Dusty Rhodes & Don Muraco defeated WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff
1981
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel ddq Tito Santana – Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell by countout – Greg Gagne & Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan – Adrian Adonis beat Ed Boulder (Ed Leslie/Brutus Beefcake)
1988
Greensboro, North Carolina: – Sting defeated NWA US Champion Barry Windham by dq – NWA World & U.S. Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) – Lex Luger defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair by dq
1990
Dayton, Ohio: – NWA US Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated the Samoan Swat Team. – Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk. – NWA World Champion Sting pinned Ric Flair.
1992
Chicago, Illinois: – Brad Armstrong pinned Brian Pillman – WCW World TV Champion Ricky Steamboat defeated Steve Austin. – Sting & Nikita Koloff defeated Jake Roberts & the Super Invader. – WCW World Champion Ron Simmons defeated WCW U.S. Champion Rick Rude.
1993
Morristown, Tennessee: – Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson defeated SMW Tag Team Champions the Bruise Brothers to win the titles
1995
Memphis, Tennessee: – Brian Christopher defeated Billy Jack Haynes for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1997
Louisville, Kentucky: – Tracy Smothers defeated Bull Pain for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title.
1997
Wrestlefest – 50 Years Of Funk – a card put together by Terry Funk in Amarillo, Texas to celebrate fifty years of the Funk family wrestling in Texas, was held at the Amarillo Fairgrounds Coliseum, drawing almost 4,000 fans.
– WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Terry Funk in the main event. – ECW World Television Champion Taz defeated Chris Candido – ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas defeated Tommy Dreamer. – Dory Funk Jr. defeated Rob Van Dam
2004
Elizabeth, New Jersey: – Bryan Danielson defeated Alex Shelley – ROH champion Samoa Joe pinned Doug Williams
2005
– Austin Aries defeated Roderick Strong – AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe to win the TNA X Division Title.
2010
New York City: – Colt Cabana & El Generico defeated Steve Corino & Kevin Steen in a double chain match – ROH Tag Team champions The Kings of Wrestling defeated Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin – ROH TV champion Eddie Edwards defeated Shawn Daivari – Christopher Daniels defeated Austin Aries – Roderick Strong defeated Tyler Black to win the ROH championship
2011
Orlando, Florida: – Winter defeated Mickie James to win the TNA Knockouts Title – Austin Aries defeated Brian Kendrick to win the TNA X Division Title – Matt Morgan defeated Samoa Joe – Kurt Angle defeated Sting and Mr. Anderson to retain the TNA World Title
2014
Winter Park, Florida: – Kalisto and Sin Cara defeated Konnor and Viktor for the NXT Tag Team Titles – Charlotte defeated Bayley to retain the NXT Womens’ Title – Adrian Neville defeated Tyler Breeze, Tyson Kidd and Sami Zayn to retain the NXT Title
This only lasted roughly around ten minutes, but this was a fine back and forth match. They traded offense and submissions, including Finlay’s stretch muffler which is always a fun move to see in pro wrestling. Komatsu made a comeback and put him in the half crab, and Finlay submitted.
Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger vs. Jay White & Sho Tanaka
It was what you’d expect out of a veterans vs. young lions match. Lions made a comeback at one point and Tanaka nearly had Tiger Mask submitted with an awesome looking figure four. Liger was able to make the comeback for his team, then Tiger Mask isolated Tanaka with what looked like a half chickenwing.
Liger cut a promo after the match mentioning how Tiger Mask has a NWA Jr. Heavyweight title match coming at at Destruction. He goes with the Mick Foley routine, telling him to win it so he can challenge him at Korakuen. That got a pop, of course.
Toru Yano came out with a new song from the CHAOS album. It was…rather interesting. He was introduced as the producer of the album. Typical ten man tag with some good moments. Taguchi and RPG Vice were in there for a while and did some comedy spots. Nagata was in there briefly and beat both of RPG Vice up. It boiled down to Juice Robinson and Yoshi-Hashi. He looked better here than last week, but still feels like he’s a step below the other heavyweights. We’ll find out how he does in time. They had some fine back and forth with Yoshi-Hashi hitting his neckbreaker and pinning Robinson with the swanton bomb.
Kazuchika Okada & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Tama Tonga & Cody Hall
Another simple match. Not bad, but there was a familiar story. Tonga and Hall had the heat on Sakuraba for a long time. Okada made the hot tag and cleared house. Hall made a comeback and soon both heels were on Okada. Sakuraba came in for the save and took Tonga down as Hall was submitted with the Red Ink by Okada. That’s the first time in a long while someone submitted to that; would be a good idea to use it on guys like Hall in the future to get it over as a finish.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Kushida vs. Bad Luck Fale & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Kenny Omega
Good match. This wasn’t like a typical ten man tag where everyone just works against their future opponent; they all worked with one another (though there was focus on their opponents during certian points of the mtach) and the action was good. At one point Doc Gallows had Kojima choked out with a chair and was dragging him backstage. The crowd was also getting into it near the end. Kojima was making his comeback on Anderson but Gallows was involved and was able to take him out with the magic killer, allowing Anderson to score the win for his team.
Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito
Of course the stories here are between Shibata/Naito and Makabe/Ibushi. Shibata did the spot he’s done in other tags against Naito by giving him a huge boot to the face that sends him to the floor. Fans were super into the interactions between Naito and Shibata. Naito’s heel mannerisms are top notch and it’s getting big reactions from the fans. Shibata actually submitted him with a sleeper, which seems to be the theme of the night with getting a lot of submissions over. Shibata destroyed Naito’s Los Ingobernales hat to boot. Ibushi and Makabe brawled after the match and had to be separated a few times before doing so.
This was a match where the crowd made it better than it was. This was actually a very good match but the crowd made it seem like this awesome main event. I wouldn’t put it at that level but it was very fun. It was what you’d expect, with the four rivals pairing off with one another. Good offense, but it just felt familiar. The fans ate it up regardless . Finish had Honma and Ishii dishing out punishment. Ishii pelted Honma with headbutts but he was no selling them until Ishii headbutted him in the throat and got a nearfall with a lariat. My least favorite place to be headbutted would probably in fact be the throat, ouch. Ishii hit a brainbuster and pinned him.
I’d say watch the two top matches as they built up Destruction really well with those. Overall, a pretty solid card that served its purpose.
– Friday, October 7th was officially announced as the date for the next TakeOver show at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. Three shows were taped Thursday night to lead up to the live Network special.
Presumed dark match:
– Hype Bros def. Elias Samson and Riddick Moss. Zack Ryder pinned Samson after a Rough Ryder while Mojo held him up.
Wednesday, Sept. 16 show:
– Tyler Breeze vs Adam Rose never happened. Bull Dempsey came out, and he and Breeze went at it on the mic over their loss last week. Bull tried to get the match from Rose, which turned into a mini brawl with Bull getting the best of it.
– Tye Dillinger def. ? with a shinbuster type move that resembled a one legged Codebreaker.
– Apollo Crews def. Solomon Crowe in a good but short match.
– Dusty Rhodes Classic quarterfinal: Rhyno & Baron Corbin def. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa. Tons of heat in this match. Corbin pinned Gargano with the End of Days after a lot of back and forth action.
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. ? in a quick match with the Belly-to-Bayley. Bayley celebrated before the match in the crowd and brought fan Izzy into the ring to pose with the belt. After the match, Sasha Banks came out. They both put over the Brooklyn match, but Banks said she wanted to prove she was the best women’s wrestler. William Regal came out and announced the main event of the next TakeOver show is Bayley vs. Banks in a 30 minute IronWoman Match. The crowd is filled with glee over this news.
Wednesday, Sept. 23 show:
– Jason Jordan and Chad Gable def. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson.
– Eva Marie def. Carmella by countout. Match was fine, but very lame finish. Crowd was all over Eva with “that’s a kickout” and “botch queen” chants.
– Tyler Breeze beat Bull Dempsey using a roll-up and the ropes as leverage.
– Regal came out to announce the signing of Kana, who is now Asuka (pronounced Ask-uh). She was interrupted by Dana Brooks and Emma, who said they were the welcoming committee and it was time for Asuka to leave the ring. She reluctantly did. Odd.
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillains retained over Blake and Murphy with the Whirling Dervish. Blue Pants came out early on and chased Alexa Bliss away. Good near fall late when Blake got the knees up on a swanton attempt and Murphy hit a top rope knee drop.
Wednesday, Sept. 30 show:
– Apollo Crews def. Johnny Gargano. Similar in length and quality to the Crowe match. Crowd lost a little steam by the end since it was their 2nd time out.
– Dana Brooke and Emma def. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. Dana pinned Peyton after Emma grabbed Peyton’s foot when they were both in the ropes.
– Tyler Breeze beat Tomasso Ciampa with the Killswitch. Good match.
– Dusty Rhodes Classic match: NXT Champion Finn Balor and Samoa Joe def. Enzo and Cass when both guys hit their finishers. Balor came out to a new BALOR CLUB logo on the big screen and white lights instead of his usual red fog.
– Nothing else was announced for TakeOver besides Banks vs. Bayley and the Dusty Rhodes Classic final.
Recent signee Kana was at the WWE NXT TV tapings Thursday for her debut, and was given the new ring name “Asuka”.
Lioness Asuka was probably the second most popular woman pro wrestler ever in Japan, part of the 80s tag team The Crush Gals during the era when women’s pro wrestling did television ratings equivalent to what the NFL was doing at the same time in the United States.
– Air Date: September 10, 2015 (Sept 9 in Canada) – Location: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA
The Big News:
The Wyatts took out another friend of Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins got his win back over Ryback.
Show Recap:
They announced the two main events for tonight, including a Seth Rollins vs. Ryback lumberjack match. They pushed this with a graphic reading “Champion vs. Champion” in big, gold lettering as if the titles are at stake, but they’re not.
Bray Wyatt and his friends came out for a promo. Bray said Roman Reigns is sick—infected with the desire to become “the one.” Bray claimed that Roman didn’t care about the fans because he’s a smart man.
Bray said Dean Ambrose is cursed, cursed by his loyalty to Reigns who doesn’t care about him. Bray warned anyone who wanted to join their team that they are the modern day Hatfields and McCoys, destined to fight forever.
He reminded us what they did to Randy Orton and showed a clip. Bray warned Jimmy Uso not to make the wrong decision, “and you can believe that.” Braun Strowman finished off by saying, “They all fall down.” This was nothing special and the crowd didn’t care.
The new commentary team is Rich Brennan, Booker T and Jerry Lawler.
Cesaro beat The Miz via submission
The Miz got an entrance. Cesaro did not. Cesaro’s ribs were taped so Miz took control working them over. Miz applied a weak leg scissor and Cesaro impressively countered into a vertical suplex. Miz regained control briefly, but after trying a running kick, Cesaro caught his leg and again did an impressive counter, this time into a Sharpshooter for the tap-out win. Short match.
Backstage, Renee Young asked Ambrose and Reigns about Jimmy Uso. Reigns said it was Ambrose’s idea to bring in Jimmy Uso, but Reigns was hesitant to involve more of his family. Ambrose thought he was the perfect fit and said Jimmy got him so excited he almost painted his face. Jimmy showed up, excited to return to action. He and Ambrose did the “Uce-O” routine and Reigns looked at them like they were nuts.
Paige NC Sasha Banks
They showed a replay of the finish from Raw and said the shoulders of both women might have been down. In an in-set promo, Paige told Sasha it was time to tap. Sasha responded, saying she was the boss of this house. The teams almost got into a brawl before the match so the referee kicked out the peripherals.
Booker and Brennan reminded us that Stephanie McMahon started this revolution and that women have taken the centre stage all over the sports world. Banks had control for a while and Paige started selling an eye injury. As the referee checked on her and backed off Banks, Paige shot out of the corner with a spear and attacked her wildly. The two of them brawled to the outside, ramming each other into the barricade.
Eventually, Team BAD and Team PCB ran out to pull them apart. As with every wrestling brawl, Paige and Banks each broke through a couple of time until this was finally settled when referees ran out and Team BAD left. The crowd was into the brawl and we even got a “P-C-B” chant. I did like the angle, especially if Paige is turning heel.
Backstage, Seth Rollins told Byron Saxton that Sting caused him to have, perhaps, the worst night of his career. Rollins screamed about the statue before calming down to explain that Sting is burying himself into a bigger hole. Rollins said he would crush Sting the way his statue was crushed.
Rollins wanted the locker room to watch him beat Ryback to prove he only lost because of a distraction. He said he would beat Cena and Sting at Night of Champions when Sheamus showed up. Sheamus said something uninteresting and then wished Rollins luck. Same old.
The New Day NC Jimmy Uso, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns
The crowd was pretty quiet to this point but there were loud “New Day sucks” chants here. Ambrose had control until he was cut off by a Big E clothesline. Kingston knocked Reigns off the apron so Ambrose tagged in Uso who hit Kingston with a superkick and Samoan drop.
Ambrose took out Woods with a suicide dive and Uso took out Kingston and Woods with an Uso dive. With the referee distracted, Big E hip tossed Uso to the outside to regain control.
After a break, New Day stomped a mudhole in Jimmy and Woods stopped in the middle of it to grab his trombone to play a few notes. Crowd popped for that. Xavier ran at Uso but ate a superkick and Reigns made the hot tag.
Reigns hit Woods with ten clotheslines and an apron dropkick, clotheslining Kingston along the way. Big E tried to interfere so Reigns gave him a Samoan drop. Woods hit a spinning DDT on Reigns and presumably had him beat but Ambrose broke it up.
Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Kingston, and a rebound clothesline to Big E on the outside. Reigns hit Woods with a superman punch and tagged in Jimmy Uso who went up for the big splash but the lights went out.
When the lights came on, Strowman had Uso in his hugging maneuver on the stage (with Bray and Harper looking on). Ambrose and Reigns went after them but the lights went out and the Wyatts disappeared. Ambrose and Reigns checked on Jimmy as the phrase “They all fall down” played over the speakers.
The Ascension (w/Stardust) beat The Lucha Dragons via pinfall
Ascension came out with Stardust to their own music. Viktor gave Kalisto an STO and they used Fall of Man for the win. Ascension and Stardust attacked Lucha Dragons after the match so Neville ran out to make the save. He tossed out Konnor and Viktor and chased away Stardust. If they’re going to do a six-man they shouldn’t have killed the Dragons so easily.
Backstage, Nikki Bella told Renee that Charlotte is jealous and afraid of her. Charlotte showed up and said none of those things are true. Charlotte asked if Nikki was excited because Nikki was about to become the woman who was almost the longest reigning champion ever. Charlotte said Nikki would be calling her champion after Monday. This is all they did to build the title match on Raw and it wasn’t good.
Non-Title Lumberjack Match: WWE & US Champion Seth Rollins beat IC Champion Ryback via pinfall
After Stardust and Ascension just ran away from Neville and the Lucha Dragons, they were all out here together as lumberjacks. Ziggler, Show, Henry, Dudleys and Owens were among the bigger names out there.
Ryback was tossed to the outside and the heel lumberjacks jumped him for no reason. The good guys backed them off and they went to commercial.
In the middle of his comeback, Show blatantly pulled Ryback out of the ring and tossed him into the barricade. This was not a DQ. Show knocked out Mark Henry for good measure. The good guys backed off Show and he left.
Ryback knocked away some lumberjacks and nailed Rollins with a forearm to counter a suicide dive. Ryback gave him a spinebuster and sent him flying onto the babyface lumberjacks on the outside.
The heel lumberjacks jumped Ryback again, this time in the ring, until the faces made the save. The Dragons hit suicide dives and Neville took out a bunch of them with a moonsault off the top.
With everything presumably clear, Rollins and Ryback traded counters. Ryback had Rollins up for the shell shocked but Kevin Owens hooked Ryback’s leg (ref happened to be distracted) and Seth countered into a pedigree for the win.
This match was nonsense. Booker called this a clean win.
Final Thoughts:
I was almost going to call this show a positive. I like that Paige is slowly losing it and the six-man tag was really good. But two non-finishes and a crappy, overbooked main event sure made the show feel like a waste.
After Kurt Angle announced earlier this week that he would not sign a new TNA contract after his deal ran out at the end of the year, TNA announced Thursday that Angle would be wrestling on a TNA house show on 10/3 in Salem, VA, as well as Bound for Glory on 10/4 in Concord, NC.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley will face former champion Sasha Banks in a 30 minute IronWoman match as the main event for the next NXT TakeOver special on October 7th at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL.
The two faced off at WWE TakeOver: Brooklyn in a match that was hailed as one of the best, if not THE best, of WWE’s SummerSlam weekend in NYC.
The last two matches are kind of unique and could be something.
There is an Invicta show tomorrow on Fight Pass from Kansas City.
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.
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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 look at Saturday’s UFC show, the business notes on the show, where the top guys go next along with match-by-match coverage, how much everyone earned, and poll results on the show.
We also have rundowns of the major TV shows of the past week.
We also go in depth on the Battle of Los Angeles tournament with match-by-match coverage for all three nights, what is PWG, the atmosphere and more.
We also have notes on the ratings of all the major television shows, including just how badly the main shows fared, and results of the major league arena events over the past week.
We also look at the affect that Dr. Wagner Jr. and L.A. Park have on business in Mexico, what dream of L.A. Park fell through, Rey Mysterio in AAA and notes on several big shows plus names they are talking about bringing in.
We also update the Dragon Gate tag team tournament and the NOAH Jr. tag team tournament. We also look at New Japan’s next international tour, why Tenryu vs. Okada is taking place in November, what foreign stars are being discussed for New Japan, and Hiroshi Tanahashi doing the DDT show and the future of Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka.
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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THURSDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
Total Divas on Tuesday night drew 1,143,000 viewers, which was well up from the prior week.
The Ultimate Fighter last night did 622,000 viewers on FS 1. That’s for the show with Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber as coaches. The first show of last season did 490,000 viewers.
I’m not sure that this means anything, but on Tuesday there were 94,700 tweets regarding Kana signing with WWE.
Catherine Jo Perry (Lana) had surgery on her left wrist today.
The rainstorm in Japan that has been all over the news killed attendance at shows today in Japan. The New Japan show was in the city where the river overflowed and there was blooding. There were only 480 fans at the show and some left early, as there were homes lost and damaged in the city.
Former Australian pro wrestling promoter Andrew McManus, 54, was arrested today at Melbourne Airport, among five people arrested in connection with allegations of cocaine importing and money laundering. The FBI in the U.S. worked with New Zealand authorities on the case when Sean Carolan, an MMA fighter and racehorse trainer was discovered in 2011 with a black suitcase with $702,000 in cash in it. He claimed the money came from Owen Hanson Jr., who was going to invest it in his weight loss business. The authorities confiscated the money, but Carolan went to court to have it returned. But in court, McManus claimed the money was his after an interview with police in 2012. He said the money was from the Lenny Kravitz tour he had promoted in New Zealand, but he was using it to replay Hanson Jr., who had put up a deposit for a ZZ Top tour McManus promoted. .
The movie “12 Rounds 3: Lockdown” with Dean Ambrose will have a limited theatrical release starting tomorrow.
UFC 194 tickets for 12/12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena went quickly to Fight Club members yesterday. Some seats were held back for today’s pre-sale using the code word GOBIG and some tickets will be put on sale Monday. That’s the Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo and Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold show that is expected to do another near record gate.
Tickets for UFC’s debut in Monterrey, Mexico go on sale to the public tomorrow. A press conference was held toady in Monterrey with headliners Kelvin Gastelum, Ricardo Lamas, Diego Sanchez, Erik Perez, Leandro Silva, Efrain Escudero, Hector Urbina and Henry Cejudo.
A few days ago, when we mentioned it would be good for all talent with WWE dreams to get rid of any photos in social media that have a sexual connotation or any tweets that contain anything that could be taken racially, it was regarding Nhooph Al-Areebi (Jasmin) since some tweets of hers were discovered by those in the company a few days ago. The company issued a statement saying, “WWE conducted a thorough investigation and has determined that Nhooph-Al Areebie’s Twitter account was used without her knowledge when she was 16 and 17 years old. Jasmin remains apologetic for any offensive remarks that were made.”
The World Series of fighting announced three names to its Board of Directors, Mark Ford, the Executive Vice President of Global Advertising for Time Inc., Mike Stevens, the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the New York Giants and John Weiser, the President of U.S. Distribution for Sony Pictures Television. The promotion also announced the signing of Caros Fodor and Cory Devela, both former Strikeforce fighters.
Global Force Wrestling announced for its 10/23 tapings in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena, the last tapings on the current schedule, that PJ Black, Jigsaw, Christina Von Eerie, Amber Gallows, Chris Mordetzky, Bobby Roode, Reno Scum and the Bollywood Boyz will be appearing.
Kurt Angle will be doing a speaking tour of the U.K. Dates are:
11/18 in London
11/19 in Cardiff
11/20 in Leicester
11/21 in Rotherham
11/22 in Edinburgh
11/23 in Manchester
NXT has announced more title matches for next week in Texas
9/17 in Houston Bayley vs. Emma for women’s title
9/18 in Austin Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin for NXT title
9/19 in San Antonio Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze for NXT title
Premier Wrestling on 9/19 in San Jose at Del Mar High School at 6 p.m.. Tickets are $5 off regular prices at www.premierwrestle.com JR Kratos (8-2) vs. Jeff Cobb (6-2-1) headlines plus Nicole Savoy (2-1) & Kahmora (0-1) vs. Raze (0-1) & Kikyo Nakamura (0-0), Timothy Thatcher (3-2-1) vs. Joe Graves (2-0-1), Gabriel Gallo (3-0) vs. Dom Vitalli (1-2), Alexander Hammerstone (0-0) vs. Dylan Drake (4-4), Marcus Lewis (4-4) vs. Julio Pedroza (3-3), Tyler Bateman (0-2) vs. Dalton Frost (0-0) and Nick Ruiz (3-4) vs. Hawaiian Lion (0-0).
There is a 35th anniversary of the 1980 Olympic wrestling team that was not allowed to compete due to the boycott at 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Gold Coast Hotel in Las Vegas. The 18 surviving members of the team, including former pro wrestler Brad Rheingans and Great Wojo, will be there, a will Dan Gable, Lee Kemp and Randy Couture (who will represent the late Jeff Blatnick).
Tanner Saraceno from Tough Enough will be fighting in the main event of an MMA show in Kuwait tomorrow night.
Lennie Hardt, the famous Pride ring announcer, will be doing the Bellator show in San Jose on 9/19.
Austin Matelson, who was in WWE developmental as Judas Devlin, is in the commercial for the new season of Big Brother. (thanks to Ross Blair)
CWE on 9/25 in Steinbach, Manitoba at the Legion Community Hall has eight woman Battle Royal.
Pure Wrestling Association on 9/19 in Kitchener, ONT at the Alpine Club and 9/13 in Kitchener, at the Williamsburg Town Centre Community Festival outdoors between 1 and 4 p.m.
Absolute Intense Wrestling tomorrow night in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School headlined by Bob Holly. Also on the show are Louis Lyndon, Johnny Gargano, Candice LaRae, Colt Cabana, Athena, Cliff Compton and Eddie Kingston.
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ricochet vs. P.J. Black in a three-way headlines a TV taping for Destiny World Wrestling on 10/3 at the Don Kolov Arena in Mississauaga, ONT. There will only be 500 tickets available and they are expecting to sellout, as the ringside and VIP tickets are already gone.
Smash Canada vs. USA womens’ wrestling on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Franklin Horner Community Centre with Nicole Matthews, Portia Perez, Jewells Malone, KC Spinelli, Jennifer Blake, Vanessa Kraven and Xandra Bale of Team Canada against Kimber Lee, Cherry bomb, Sassy Stephanie, Jessicka Havok, Veda Scott, Candice LaRae, Heidi Lovelace and Allysin Kay of Team USA.
Great North Wrestling has a benefit show for the Canadian Cancer Society on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Hawkesbury Ford in Hawkesbury, ONT with Frenchy Martin managing Hannibal against Myzery Barbarian.
Eddie Edwards headlines for New England Championship Wrestling on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Everett Rec Center in Everett, MA. Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Mike McCarthy vs. Brad Hollister for the NECW title is one of the main events.
Jim Ross is doing a talk show tonight in Knoxville.
House of Hardcore runs 11/13 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena and 11/14 in Queens at the Elmcor Center with Ethan Carter III, Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke as the FBI, Rhino, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Chris Hero, Austin Aries and Thea Trinidad.
Vince Russo is doing a Q&A on 9/28 in Dublin, Ireland at the Academy Plaza.
Tier One Wrestling on 10/2 at the R Studios in Queens, NY.
Carolina Wrestling Showcase on Saturday night in Asheboro, NC with Gunner and C.W Anderson.
Longtime Canadian independent wrestler Robby Royce announced he was retiring after 25 years.
ECW Press has a 50% off sale on all of their books, which includes the new Bill Apter autobiography.
The new match uploaded to NWAClassics.com today is Wahoo McDaniel vs. The Spoiler in a two out of three falls match.
PBC returns to NBC with a 4 p.m. show on Saturday headlined by Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22 knockouts) vs. Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9 knockouts) from the Foxwood Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT.
A new comic book called Ringside #1 will be released on 11/25, written by Joe Keatinge.
The South Jersey WrestleFest and Convention takes place on 10/11 in Woodbury Heights, NJ at the Community Center. The convention starts at 3 p.m. and features reps from a number of independent promotions with New Jack, Sandman, Justin Credible and Raven.
– Everett Marshall beat Sol Slagel to retain the World title – Lou Thesz beat George Zaharias
1951
Augusta, Georgia:
– Don McIntyre defeated Art Nelson in a two of three falls match to win the Southern Heavyweight Title
1952
Des Moines, Iowa (4900 attendance)
– Pat O’Connor beat Jim Dobie – Gypsy Joe beat Balk Estes – Billy Hickson beat Milt Olsen – Johnny Balbo defeated Reggie Lisowski (Crusher)
1965
Denver, Colorado:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat The Crusher & Verne Gagne
1968
Dallas, Texas:
– The Spoiler & Gary Hart defeated Fritz Von Erich & Grizzly Smith to win the NWA American Tag Team Title. Also, Nick Kozak fought Dusty Rhodes to a draw.
1976
Denver, Colorado:
– Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke – Blackjack Lanza beat the Crusher – Bobby Duncum beat Peter Maivia on a 3rd fall dq – Billy Francis drew Pierre Poisson
1978
Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
– Angelo Mosca beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel by countout – WWWF Champion Bob Backlund beat Gorilla Monsoon – Andre the Giant beat Waldo Von Erich – Verne Gagne beat Lord Alfred Hayes
Dallas, Texas:
– Kevin Von Erich fought Gino Hernandez to a double countout. – David Von Erich beat Bruiser Brody to win Texas Heavyweight title. – Rocky Johnson & Leroy Brown went to a time limit draw with Killer Karl Krupp & Killer Brooks.
1979
Louisville, Kentucky:
– Steve Regal & Eddie Gilbert defeated the Spoilers – Ron Bass defeated Tommy Gilbert – AWA Southern tag champs the Blonde Bombers (Wayne Ferris & Larry Latham aka The future Honkytonk Man & Moondog Spot) beat Steve Regal & Eddie Gilbert. – Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy defeated Sonny King & Ricky Morton via DQ. – Bill Dundee defeated Jerry Lawler.
1980
Ohtsu, Japan:
Harley Race defeated Giant Baba for the NWA World Heavyweight Wrestling Title
1982
Dallas, Texas:
– Brian Adidas defeated The Samoan – Al Madril defeated Armand Hussein – José Lothario defeated Magic Dragon – Bill Irwin and King Kong Bundy defeated WCCW America’s Tag Team champs Kerry and Kevin Von Erich to become the new champions – The Great Kabuki defeated Bugsy McGraw
1983
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Austin Idol defeated Ken Patera to win the AWA International Heavyweight Title.
Portland, Oregon:
– Brian Adidas wrestled Matt Borne to a time limit draw. – Al Madril and Jules Strongbow went to a time limit draw. – Siva Afi defeated Scott Ferris by disqualification. – Al Madril and Mike Miller went to a time limit draw. – Rip Oliver & The Assassin & The Dynamite Kid defeated Buddy Rose & Billy Jack (Haynes) & Curt Hennig.
1984
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Dutch Mantell fought Mark Ragin to a draw. – The Dirty White Boys (Tony Anthony & Len Denton) beat Johnny Wilhoit & Mark Batten. – Tojo Yamamoto beat Kurt Von Hess via DQ. – AWA Southern Tag Champs The Nightmares beat The Rock N’ Roll Express. – CWA International Champ Eddie Gilbert beat Tommy Rich. – King Kong Bundy & Rick Rude beat Jerry Lawler & Randy Savage via DQ.
Baltimore, Maryland:
– David Schultz defeated Jose Luis Rivera. – The Fabulous Freebirds’ Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy defeated the Moondogs. – The Junkyard Dog defeated the Iron Sheik. – Andre the Giant & Pat Patterson, & Sika defeated Capt. Lou Albano & WWF Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch. – Sgt. Slaughter defeated Bob Orton – WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Jesse Ventura.
1988
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated Four Horsemen members Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard for the NWA World Tag Team Titles
1990
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Brian Lee & Don Harris defeated Jeff Jarrett & Jeff Gaylord for the USWA Tag Team Title
1992
Providence, Rhode Island:
– High Energy, Owen Hart & Koko B. Ware defeated Skinner & Barry Horowitz – The Mountie pinned Tito Santana – Shawn Michaels pinned Virgil – Razor Ramon pinned Randy Savage – WWF Tag Team Champions Natural Disasters defeated the Beverly Brothers – Bret Hart pinned Papa Shango – The Undertaker defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification
1995
– Yoshinari Ogawa defeated Dan Kroffat (aka Phil LaFon) in Tokyo, Japan to win the All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Title. 2001
San Antonio, Texas:
– Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Chris Kanyon for the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title
