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  • Global Force Wrestling 8/21 TV taping spoilers: tournament matches galore

    By Josh Nason, WrestlingObserver.com

    Here’s the full set of Global Force Wrestling Amped TV tapings results and spoilers, taped Friday night at Las Vegas, Nevada’s Orleans Arena. There is still no word on when these will actually come to a TV or screen near you.

    In no particular order:

    – GFW Tag Team titles tourney match: Kenny King and Joey Ryan def. Cielo Misteriosio

    – GFW Tag Team titles tourney match: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows defeated Lance Hoyt and Davey Boy Smith Jr.

    – P.J. Black & The Akbars def. Los Luchas and Sonjay Dutt

    – GFW Global Championship tourney match: Shelton Benjamin def. JR Kratos

    – GFW Global Championship tourney match: Eric Young defeated Bobby Roode

    – GFW NEX-GEN title tourney match: TJ Perkins def. Andrew Everett

    – GFW NEX-GEN title tourney match: Virgil Flynn def. Trevor Lee

    – GFW Women’s title tourney match: Amber Gallows def. Katarina Waters & Laura James. Anderson and Gallows were at ringside and did a pro Gallows promo.

    – Kevin Kross def. Joey Ryan

    Promos and other notes:

    – Pre-show, they paid tribute to Roddy Piper.

    – Chael Sonnen did an in-ring promo, demanding a match.

    – Amber Gallows interrupted a Karen Jarrett promo

    – Eric Young interrupted a Bobby Roode promo, but Roode ended up beating him up. 

    – Sonnen and Chris Masters did a promo which brought Nick (Magnus) Aldis out. Masters beat him down. Former MMA fighter Phil Baroni started jawing at Sonnen from the crowd and jumped the rail, but security held him back. 

    – Jeff Jarrett came out and cut a promo thanking the fans.

  • More WWE SummerSlam fan feedback

    Thumbs in the Middle
    Best Match: Undertaker v Lesnar (until the ending)
    Worst Match: Miz v Big Show v Ryback

    This PPV would have been a clear thumbs up, but I feel like the ending for a lot of the key matches tainted the overall PPV experience.  I was expecting Reigns to turn on Ambrose at the end of their tag match and it didn’t happen.  So I wonder where they’re going next with these two.  The Divas revolution seems to really have done a 360; we’re back to where we started.  The match was very lackluster and is a stark contrast to the women’s match on the NXT special last night.

    The Rusev v Ziggler countout ending seemed pretty anticlimactic but I suppose they’re building to a mixed tag team match on the next PPV.

    The Cena v Rollins match was a great showcase, again for Rollins talents.  Cena, although booed at first, really seemed to turn the crowd with his performance as well.  I don’t think it needed the swerve ending, so I hope there’s a good explanation on Raw. Perhaps he didn’t want someone tying Ric Flair’s title record?  That’s the first thing I thought.  Other than that, going in, I thought that Rollins was going to win, only because I could really see him bragging the hell out of holding two titles and being the best champion ever.

    The Taker v Lesnar match was fantastic, again, up until the ending.  Compared with their Wrestlemania match, the stakes seemed higher and emotions seemed more intense and it really showed in both performances.  I still don’t know what to think of the ending.  It seemed like a botch at first.  And then it turned out it wasn’t.  So really, Brock did get screwed.  Is this to build to an Undertaker final heel run?  WIth this ending and all the low blows he’s been using lately, one would think so. But it’s Undertaker and perhaps those conventions don’t apply.

    Overall, it was a thumbs in the middle, but it would have been up were it not for one too many shitty endings.

    Thanks for all the work Dave!

    Jeff Lam

    Toronto, Ontario

     Thumbs upBest match:  Rollins v CenaWorst match:  Ryback/Show/Miz Good show, but some strange finishes.   A double count-out, a celebrity run-in, and a timekeeper’s “mistake”…and the one match I thought for sure would end with a screwjob (Reigns/Ambrose v Wyatts) ends with a clean pin and no turn.  I’m a bit perplexed about the Jon Stewart angle.  That wasn’t the match I thought he’d be getting involved in, given the build-up.  Incidentally, no one should be selling for a guy of Jon Stewart’s size even if he has a chair.  I’m game to see how they explain the Taker/Lesnar finish on Monday…especially considering the thousands of visual pinfalls and submissions we’ve seen in wrestling that don’t matter a bit.  What I really want to mention here, though, is what a lousy experience we had watching this on the Network.  Lots of graininess and freezes, especially early on, and some skipping a few seconds back and forth throughout the evening.  Given that I don’t watch the network for historic content anymore (way too much buffering, and not nearly enough content added lately), and could care less about their crop of new shows, I’m left paying an average of $30 per PPV for the ones I watch.  Would I pay around twice that to have those events delivered to me in a way that’s always been in high quality?  I haven’t yet, but one more experience like this and I just might.  So much for the phenomenal value of the Network.

    D Koormon

    Thumbs in the middle

    Best Match:  PTP v. New Day v. Matadores v. Lucha Dragons

    Worst Match: Big Show v. Ryback v. The Miz

    For all the promotion Summerslam received, I expected a bigger and more dramatic show.  The two disputed finishes in the WWE Title and Lesnar v. Taker matches really hurt the show.  To put it another way, the “Too Big For WrestleMania” tagline could have also been, “Big Commercial For Wrestlemania.”  WWE put on a bunch of pretty good wrestling matches tonight, but the quality was on par with Raw or Smackdown main events (omitting the very good tag match and the title match).

    This is the third match in a row where the Undertaker looks and fights like a nostalgia act.  His moves look less and less like wrestling moves and more like weird looking spots.  Lesnar has to climb the ropes and wait because Undertaker needs to hit the Last Ride spot.  Lesnar needs to bend over and wait with his arm draped nonchalantly over the Undertaker’s torso because the Hell’s Gate spot is next.  I would think that at some point the fans would reject a wrestler who paces around for a minute to catch his breath after every move, but it hasn’t happened yet and maybe it never will.

    Casey Goldman

    HI Dave

    Some Summerslam feedback for the site:

    Thumb: In the middle

    Best Match: Cena vs Rollins

    Worst: IC Title 3 way

    This is the first WWE PPV I’ve bought since the 2014 Summerslam. Quite the mixed bag. The opening with Stewart and Foley was Thunder level rubbish. Why this was on my PPV I don’t know. What exactly did it accomplish? Is Foley getting killed on Raw tomorrow by Rollins? And then came out Orton and Sheamus, two workers who need to leave my TV for at least a year. I just don’t care about either guy, and a **1/2 match won’t change that. Tag Team fourway was damn fine thou, best bout of the non main events. Rusev vs Ziggler was a fun 10 minutes. The ICT match isn’t worth talking about, while the Arrow match was fine for what is was.. Cena and Rollins were having an excellent fight until the silly John Stewart “turn”. Clearly they needed far more time rehearsing that with him, since he blew the spot. But beyond that, why should I care if a middle aged guy attacks Cena? I guess it serves as a way out, because God forbid Cena could lose clean. Not sure a clean loss would have been worse than losing because a talk show host hit you with a soft chair shot. Would have been ****+ but that finish brings it down. No doubt this gets Stewart in their HOF come 2017.Moving on, the women all try hard, but it’s like watching ballet rather than something akin to a fight.  Owens-Casero should have gone on it the ICT title slot, would have been a gem if the crowd weren’t burnt out. Taker vs Lesnar was a great spectacle, but again the ending takes it down quite abit. Too clever by half, and this is the big angle for WM2016? Vince needs to give us Rock vs Brock in Dallas. In the end the PPV was decent, but far too long, and at $30+ in the UK, I really don’t believe I got value for money. I can’t see myself purchasing another for a while. But hey the G1 was great, eh?
    Geoff Johnston

    Hi Dave,  Just wanted to give my 2 cents on the Taker/Brock match. I thought it was such a botched finish to an otherwise really good and stiff looking match (which is what people wanted to see originally at WM30 after their kayfabe UFC confrontation). The finish was sooooo butchered, it was right up there with Sting vs Hogan @ Starrcade IMO.  *IF* you’re going to do that finish you have to have the perfect camera angles and posititioning. Taker’s arm needs to be in a position where the time keeper can see it, while the ref is on the other side of him and doesn’t. The audience needs to see Taker tapping, so you’re sitting at home going “HE’S TAPPING!”, then the bell rings and you’re fooled into thinking Brock has legitimately won. Then the ref does the whole “I never called for the bell” thing.  Instead, it came off as a screwjob fast count as Charles Robinson was in the middle of a pin-count, so nobody is thinking about a submission in that moment – and of course the announcers were clueless as always and had no idea what was going on either.  Compare this to a similar finish from Rock vs Benoit @ Fully Loaded 2000 and see how flawlessly this was executed in terms of timing, camera angles, ref positioning, etc. It’s night and day. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz5063_the-rock-vs-chris-benoit-fully-loaded-2000-wwf-championship_sport Tim Dudley
    in Toronto

    Thumbs Up

    Best Match: Rollins vs. Cena

    Worst: Rusev vs. Ziggler

    I thought that every match on the show served its purpose. I know we’re supposed to boo New Day, but it’s hard to do that when they are as entertaining as they are right now. Rollins would have completely stolen the show with a clean win among wrestling fans, but having Stewart help him means more for mainstream exposure in the long run. All of the finishes made good sense. No match was really bad, but the Rusev/Ziggler match, while it builds to a mixed tag or something along those lines, just felt like the one that was the most “there” with no one really looking forward to the follow-up.

    Jason Hanes

    Woodstock, Ga.

    NXT & SummerSlamNXT TakeoverThumbs Up: Overall just good but the fans made it great. NXT is like the combination of Japanese booking with the over the top characters and gimmicks of WWE in the 80’s. Everyone has a role and they act according to that, can’t say the same about RAW or Smackdown.Best Match: Bayley vs. BanksWorst Match: None 1. Liger vs. Breeze. Fine opener. Crowd seems to know Liger’s move which is odd to in a sense. *** 2. Vaudevillians vs. Blake & Murphy. The hot crowd really helped this one. Both teams are good. ***1/4 3. Crews vs. Dillinger. WWE should be very carefull with Crews, he has the potential to be the black star that they are lacking. ** 4. Joe vs. Corbin. Slow at times but fine overall. **1/4 5. Bayley vs. Sasha. The best women match since the glory days of All Japan Women in the mid 90’s.  Bayley has the best underdog act in the business and Sasha is just a complete performer. The post match was even better. It’s a shame that WWE blew the debut of Sasha (and Charlotte and Becky) on the main roster with Stephanie telling them what to do like girl scouts. ****1/2 6. Balor vs. Owens. Very good match but they couldn’t follow the women. Plus the dynamic wasn’t the best as the heel, Owens, was the one chasing the title and that never works as good as the other way around. ***3/4  ===================SummerSlamThumbs in the Middle. Overall good but some of the matches didn’t deliver as expected.   Best Match: Rollins vs. CenaWorst Match: Divas 3-way 1. Sheamus vs. Orton. Good but this was helped by being the opening match, in any other position this would had got the boring chant treatment. *** 2. New Day vs. PTP vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Matadores. Sometimes luck is better than talent, and that’s exactly what happened with WWE and the New Day gimmick; it started as a borderline offensive stereotype and now is the only hot was act in the tag division. Match was all action and fun. ***1/2 3. Ziggler vs. Rusev. Fine but nothing more. Hope this feud ends with Lana back with Rusev. **1/44. Stephen Amell & Neville vs. Barrett & Stardust. Amell looked fine by outsiders standards. Hard to rate this one. *3/4 5. Ryback vs. Show vs. Miz. Average in every sense of the word. ** 6. Ambrose & Reigns vs. Wyatt & Harper. Lots of spots but not real heat. The more they push Reigns the more fans hate him. **3/4 7. Rollins vs Cena. Show stealing performance by Rollins. He is right there for the MVP Award, or at least best in the ring since nobody means anything when it comes to the business aspect except for Cena. Seth delivered a five stars match but Cena took it down, his punches are terrible and he missed the Stunner spot by a mile. ****1/2 8. PCB vs. Team Bella vs. BAD. My God this was boring and pointless. This whole Diva Revolution deal is just a weak excuse for a real change. They didn’t get any reaction here, which is saying something as it was the same building that Sasha and Bayley steal the show the day before. After the post match deal on NXT, I thought that they would drop the whole stables thing and go with a NXT women vs. Total Divas feud. Sadly, it didn’t happened. I think it’s just a matter of time before the fans turned on them. And I’m usually right about that stuff. It seems that WWE is waiting for Mania to pull the trigger on Charlotte, and if that’s their plan it won’t work since it’s expected that Ronda will be there with Step (in any role) and there is no way that those two are going to be outperformed; so it doesn’t matter what the regulars do, on that day, all eyes would be on Ronda and they will just be an afterthought. *1/2 9. Owens vs. Cesaro. Why this was booked so late on the show is anyone guess. This same match could had steal the show if early on the show. If they switch places with the opener no one could have follow but here it was just good. ***1/4 10. Undertaker vs. Lesnar. This was great until the finish. The rematch is just a matter of time, so no Sting or Cena for Taker. ***1/2

    Leonardo Toledo Mendes

  • UFC News: Urijah Faber talks a fight with Conor McGregor, his issues with Duane “Bang” Ludwig

    The following is from a third party:

    Urijah Faber returned to Submission Radio to discuss the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, Conor McGregor and his relationship with Duane Ludwig.

    On not getting to fight Conor McGregor at the end of this seasons TUF

    “You know, it’s interesting. I actually – you know Cruz and I don’t really like each other, Conor and I have a, you know, a funny relationship. We like to talk crap to each other, but I actually think he’s a decent dude. And I think as a competitor, I think he’s a guy that likes to win and so makes for a good competition. I was pretty pumped about it.”

    Urijah explains his relationship with McGregor

    “Well I mean, we’ve had it on a couple occasions where we start talking and start [getting] into physical confrontations. But I think it’s [that] both of us like to, I mean were both fighters and just, you know, when personal space gets invaded. But I mean never really cross the line. Like tempers never flared too bad, etcetera. He can take a joke, I can dish it out and take a joke as well, and so there’s a lot of banter back and forth, and hopefully down the line some sort of fight between us.”

    On Urijah sounding like he’s almost friends at this point with Conor like they have a brotherly bond going on

    “Ahhh I don’t know about that. You’ll have to check out the show and judge for yourself.”

    On if Urijah is looking to fight Conor in the future

    “Yeah, I mean I got into this sport to fight all the best guys, and I think match-up wise, as much he is in denial about it, his grappling was exposed a little bit. And he’s a big, strong guy for the weight class. He knows how to stay in it, he knows how to capitalise, but you know, our guy Chad [Mendes] rolled off the couch and basically had his way with him on the ground. So I think it’s a good match up.”

    “It’s a good match up for me and it’s a fight that we don’t know if it’s gonna happen, but I’d be all for it.”

    Urijah explains his comments in a previous interview that Conor likes the back and forth until he gets manhandled

    “Both times we’ve got into it physically it’s been, you know, he seems okay like putting his hands on me, and then I put my hands on him and then we start moving around a little bit and, you know, [at this point] we’re just getting to know each other. We don’t really know [each other]. We see each other in passing, etcetera, and this is the first time we’ve been forced to be in each other’s presence every day. So I think that was pretty accurate. It hasn’t really happened again since the first two times, but I would say that was accurate.”

    If Urijah thinks the manhandling from the run-ins would translate in a fight with Conor

    “Well I mean, here’s the honest truth, I’m a former champion, top contender for my entire career, I’m a very durable guy, but I have the most submissions in Pride, UFC and WEC history. So that’s one of the things I’ve excelled at, and that’s one of the things that Conor – and from what I’ve seen and from his past, he’s got two losses that are from submissions. We saw the way Chad was able to handle him on the ground. So for me it’s a good match up. Now is Conor a dangerous guy? He’s probably about, maybe 20 pounds heavier than I am walking around, which means I’ll probably be a little faster, he may be a little stronger. But it would be a dangerous fight of course, but for both of us. I’m confident I can submit him and I’m sure he feels like he can knock me out, and we both have trained in the other guy’s strengths. So I think it will make an interesting matchup.”

    If Urijah plans on fighting at 145 and when he will fight again

    “There’s been talk about a couple of different names that I can’t mention because it’s not official, but there’s talk about having me fight in December, I think December 11th, the day before Conor and Aldo fight. It’s not 100 percent sure though. And yeah the weight cut is terrible, but this is the highest level of mixed martial arts and you have to sacrifice at times. So I feel like I compete really well at 145 and 135. So it depends on the fights that make the most sense, the pathway to where I wanna be, the pathway to making the most money out of this career. So I’m willing to stay at 145 and I’m willing to go down to 135. It’s just gonna be kind of dependant on what the future matchups are and I gotta have conversations with Joe Silva and Sean Shelby on that front.”

    On if he thinks TJ Dillashaw will have a shot again Conor McGregor in a Super-fight

    “Oh of course he would have a shot. I mean here’s the honest truth, Conor McGregor is very good, TJ Dillashaw is very good. When you look at different factors, here’s something that’s for sure. Conor is a much bigger guy than TJ, TJ is a much faster guy than McGregor, and speed is an important thing. Conor’s not slow, but TJ is much smaller. He’s not a huge for the weight class, TJ. So on top of his striking ability and the ability to wrestle – ’cause he’s a lifetime wrestler. His Dad was an All-American wrestler, his brothers are wrestlers. TJ is a more well-rounded fighter. I mean the x-factor there again comes into the power. Conor is a big, big guy for the weight class, but I mean this is the era to be seeing fights like that. And as far as money goes and getting a fight that would really showcase TJ, I think that’s a great fight as well.

    On TJ having confrontations with McGregor

    “It’s funny ’cause Conor and I have been around each other and have an interesting relationship, but him and TJ on two different occasions have gotten into it with things escalating to, you know, them kind of bad mouthing each other. So there’s a little tension there as well and I think that’s a good fight the fans would love to see.”

    “One time TJ and Conor and I in the back of the Ronda Rousey fight in LA, we were in just a private little bar with celebrities and the UFC brass and words were exchanged, and TJ was talking about Conor’s title shot and Conor went back and forth and they were getting on each other’s nerves, really. So I think they ended up having to be split up a little bit. And then when TJ was on the show [Submission Radio].”

    On if Chad has been in the gym and helping Team Faber in TUF

    “You know, I spoke about the fact that Chad and I were raised different, and I think people were getting that miscued. Chad has been raised since he was five, six, years old by his awesome pop Alvino – ‘the great Alvino’ we call him – as like a lifetime competitor. Since he was a little kid he’s had the best coaches, he’s gone to big tournaments, he’s a pre-teen state national level wrestler, in junior high and high school he’s a stand-out wrestler in college, he’s a combatant and a national finalist. The guy values his time off. I didn’t start wrestling till I was 12 or 13, so I had to go, go, go. Chad has super valued his time off. An off-season in wrestling means that he gets to go hunting and fishing, but he needs those breaks to stay sane. So even in his fight game, when he’s off season he’s off season. So right now Chad is probably hot on the trails of some sort big game animal or dressed in some turkey feathers, hiding in a bush or trying to lasso a pig. I mean the guy is out hunting and that’s what his real passion is, in addition to being a competitor. So he’s loving life, Chad’s living the dream, man. He’s prepared to be a world champion and he’s enjoying his time off. So we haven’t seen him there in the gym this time around.”

    On if there’s still some ill will towards Duane Ludwig after his Twitter comments

    “You know, I’ve tried to keep it real personal because I don’t want to air dirty laundry necessarily, but it’s just kind of sad. Duane is a guy that was really, really down and out when I gave him a call, and I’ve just learned that dysfunction kind of follows that guy. So we’ve brought him into a great situation and really tried to hoist him up, and to see him bad-mouthing the team is kind of sad, you know? We’ve done a lot for him and he’s been out of our gym for maybe a year and a half, and to see a guy like talk about guys he hasn’t even been around for a year and a half like he knows what the heck they’re even up to is kind of strange. Especially guys that have really gone out of their way to help promote a guy, because he was pretty emotional about how down and out he was at the time. So it’s just unfortunate, man. There’s some guys that, no matter the opportunity seem to stab themselves in the foot. And from my stand point, what I’ve seen from him, I don’t like the way he treats people. He’s a bully, he’s done things that have really rubbed me the wrong way as far as building a positive environment, and I feel bad for the people that are stuck with him, because he takes and he takes and he takes, and it’s not the way that I built my team and I don’t appreciate his negativity. So for me, I’m done with the guy.’

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (August 24): Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle, Ricky Steamboat beats Steve Austin for WCW U.S. title

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1944 – Kansas City, Kansas; MWA World Heavyweight Champion Orville Brown and Les Wolfe drew at the midnight closing 1 fall a piece, Jimmy Coffield beat Jack Suzek in 2 out of 3 falls, Jack Hader beat Earl Wampler, Harold “Sonny” Myers defeated Larry Tilliman by dq

    1955 – Don Leo Jonathan defeated Yvon Robért for the Montreal Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Title in Montreal, Quebec.

    1956 – Eddie Gossett (Graham) and Art Neilson defeated Don and Red McIntyre for the Georgia NWA World Tag Team Titles

    1960 – The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) defeated Lou and Red Bastien for the Capitol Wrestling United States Tag Team Title in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Eric Pederson defeated Joe Scarpa (Chief Jay Strongbow) to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama.

    1961 – Pat O’Connor is awarded the NWA United States Heavyweight Title at the annual NWA meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The title had been vacant since Buddy Rogers won the NWA World Heavyweight Title from O’Connor on June 30.

    1962 – Luther Lindsay defeated Fritz Von Goering for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title

    1963 – Tony Borne defeated Billy White Wolf to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title.

    1964 Davenport, Iowa at Municipal Auditorium; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat The Crusher, Billy Red Cloud beat Larry Hennig and Mitsu Arakawa beat Sailor Art Thomas; Karl and Kurt Von Brauner defeated Al Perez and Tojo Yamamoto for the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

    1966 – Neff Maivia defeated Ripper Collins in Honolulu, Hawaii to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title; Giant and Moose Evans defeated Luke Graham and Karl Von Brauner in Nashville, Tennessee to win the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Title.

    1970 – Johnny Walker and Tojo Yamamoto defeat The Interns for the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

    1972 – Lord Alfred Hayes and Ricky Starr defeated Bobby Duncum and Dick Murdoch to win the NWA Western States Tag Team Title in Amarillo, Texas.

    1973 – John Tolos defeated Victor Rivera for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California

    1974 – Ricky Gibson and Steve Kovacs won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title from Chris Gallagher and Don Kent in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

    1975 – The Crusaders (Billy Red Lyons and Dewey Robertson) defeated NWA Toronto International Tag Team Champions The Kelly Twins (Mike and Pat) to win the title in Toronto. Also, NWA Toronto United States Heavyweight Champion The Sheik defeated John Quinn to retain the title.

    1977 – Dan Morrow and Bryan Turner defeated Kory Williams and Mike Woods for the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; In Miami, Florida; Rocky Johnson and Steve Keirn defeated Dutch Mantel and Buddy Roberts, NWA Florida Television Champion Pedro Morales defeated Pat Patterson to retain the title, NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Champion Ivan Koloff defeated Don Muraco to retain the title and NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes defeated WWWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham by disqualification to retain the title.

    1978 – Wahoo McDaniel defeated The Spoiler to win the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Jacksonville, Florida.

    1979 – Georgia Championship Wrestling held a 14-man tournament in Augusta, Georgia for the vacant NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title. Killer Karl Kox defeated Bob Armstrong to win the vacant NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title; Dick Slater defeated The Mongolian Stomper for the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title in Knoxville, Tennessee.

    1981 – Jerry Lawler defeated The Dream Machine in a No Disqualification match for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. At the same show, Bugsy McGraw defeated Steve Keirn to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title.

    1984 – Chicky Starr defeated Eric Embry to win the Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Junior Heavyweight Title reign in San Antonio, Texas.

    1986 – Fishman defeated Villano III to win the WWF World Light Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico. At the same event, El Dandy won the NWA World Welterweight Title by defeating Javier Cruz.

    1987 – Don Bass defeated Jerry Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

    1990 – The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) to win the title in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Also on the card, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting pinned Ric Flair to retain the title, NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger defeated Mark Callous to retain the title and NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton).

    1991 – Mark Starr defeated Ricky Fuji in Tokyo, Japan for the FMW version of the AWA World Light Heavyweight Title.

    1992 – Miss Texas defeated USWA Women’s Champion Lauren Davenport to win the title in Memphis, Tennessee. Also, USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Gilbert defeated Chris Adams to retain the title and USWA Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler defeated The Moondogs (Cujo and Spike) to retain the title.

    1994 – Ricky Steamboat pinned WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Steve Austin to win the title in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the Clash of the Champions and Ric Flair (with Sensuous Sherri) defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) by countout.

    2002 – 3PW held a one night tournament to determine a heavyweight champion in Philadelphia, PA, Gary Wolfe defeated Christian York to become the first 3PW Heavyweight Champion.

    2002 – ROH held an event in Boston, Mass which saw ROH Heavyweight Champion Low Ki defeat A.J. Styles to retain the title.

    2003 – At SummerSlam in Phoenix, Arizona; World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Randy Orton in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the title, WWE Champion Kurt Angle defeated Brock Lesnar by submission to retain the title and Kane pinned Rob Van Dam in a No Holds Barred match.

    2007 – In Hartford, Conn; ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima defeated Brent Albright and Claudio Castagnoli in a three-way Elimination match to retain the title, – Roderick Strong defeated Jack Evans in a Steel Cage match and ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Jay and Mark) defeated El Generico and Kevin Steen in a Steel Cage match to retain the title.

  • Fights To Make Following UFC Fight Night 74

    By Ryan Frederick, WrestlingObserver.com

    UFC Fight Night 74 ended with a whimper on Sunday night. Max Holloway extended his win streak to seven straight, and he now has ten wins in the UFC at just 23-years-old. It wasn’t the way he wanted to win as his opponent Charles Oliveira suffered a neck injury just 99 seconds into the bout, and was stretchered out of the Octagon following the fight. Holloway was looking good on his feet before the injury, but without a satisfying ending, it remains to be seen whether Holloway is ready to fight for a title.

    The UFC’s debut in Saskatoon may have had a disappointing ending, but there was some solid action on the card. Neil Magny and Patrick Cote were among the winners on the main card, and as we move past UFC Fight Night 74, it is time to play matchmaker and come up with some fights to make in the aftermath of UFC Fight Night 74.

    Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar

    Max Holloway was able to take home the win in the main event of UFC Fight Night 74, scoring a TKO victory over Charles Oliveira after Oliveira suffered a neck injury very early in the fight. While it was not the type of win Holloway was looking for, it still extended his win streak to seven and keeps him in the top five of the UFC’s featherweight rankings. He’s ready for the next level of competition and a title eliminator bout, and that means one man right now- Frankie Edgar. Edgar is, without a doubt, next in line for a shot at the UFC Featherweight Championship when the saga between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor ends. However, he isn’t going to sit around and wait and wants to remain active. Holloway is the right fight for him to take at this time, and it would be a fine addition to a December card in Las Vegas, whether it be a main card bout for UFC 194, or even a headliner for the TUF 22 Finale.

    Neil Magny vs. Rick Story

    Neil Magny made a quick turnaround at UFC Fight Night 74, coming back 22 days after seeing his seven-fight win streak stopped by Demian Maia. It was a solid bounce back for Magny, who scored a split decision win over Erick Silva, who didn’t look like himself on Saturday night. The fight shouldn’t have even been a split decision and Magny was lucky he didn’t get robbed of a decision as he clearly won. Magny is now 8-1 in his last nine fights and is still a top-flight welterweight. He will definitely be back in action, likely sooner rather than later, this year, and a fight against the man he replaced on Sunday, Rick Story, looks to be a solid match-up. Story has won two straight fights and three of his last four, and both are similarly ranked. Story should be back in action before the end of the year.

    Patrick Cote vs. Hector Lombard

    Patrick Cote scored an impressive third-round technical knockout win over Josh Burkman in a fun fight at UFC Fight Night 74. Cote rocked Burkman several times throughout the fight, but Burkman showed heart in surviving. It was a battle in the final round and Burkman looked to have Cote hurt before Cote rocked Burkman with a right hand and finished him with more shots on the ground. It was Cote’s first stoppage win in the Octagon since 2008, but his resurgence since coming back has seen him win five of his last six fights. Cote is in line for a solid fight, and he called out a fighter in his post-fight interview- Hector Lombard. Lombard did call out Cote a while back, but is currently out of action until at least January due to a drug test failure. Cote let it be known he wants Lombard when he comes back, calling him a cheater in the process. Let’s get that fight booked for Lombard’s return.

    Francisco Trinaldo vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier

    Francisco Trinaldo and Olivier Aubin-Mercier both picked wins on Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 74 and extended their win streaks in the process. Trinaldo picked up his fourth straight win when he became the first man to defeat former TUF winner Chad Laprise, finishing him by TKO in the first round. Aubin-Mercier scored his third straight win, going to a decision with Tony Sims. He wasn’t as impressive, only landing three significant strikes in the full 15 minutes, the least amount of significant strikes ever landed in that length of time. Aubin-Mercier only has eight fights in his career, but he is ready for the next level of competition. Trinaldo is that next level. It makes sense to book them against each other.

    Valerie Letourneau vs. Joanne Calderwood

    Valerie Letourneau remained undefeated in her UFC career as she moved to 3-0 inside the Octagon win an unanimous decision win over Maryna Moroz. It was the fourth straight win overall for Letourneau, and she has now won seven of her last eight fights. Her last loss came at the hands of Claudia Gadelha, who will next challenge for the title in the women’s strawweight division. Letourneau is ready for a step up in competition, so why not against the woman that was derailed by Moroz- Joanne Calderwood. Calderwood scored a win in her last fight and she is looking at getting back into contention. She has just one blemish on her career, to Moroz, and now that Letourneau has blemished Moroz’ career, she and Calderwood would be a solid booking.

  • AJ Styles to challenge for IWGP title at NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling

    A.J. Styles will officially be challenging for the IWGP heavyweight title against champion Kazuchika Okada in the main event of New Japan’s King of Pro Wrestling show on 10/12 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

    King of Pro Wrestling is the company’s biggest event between the G-1 finals and the Tokyo Dome show.

    Styles was expected to get the next title shot after cleanly pinning Okada on 8/16 at Sumo Hall in a six-man tag team match. Okada defeated Styles on July 5 in Osaka at the Dominion PPV to win the title that Styles had won from Hiroshi Tanahashi on 2/11 in Osaka.

  • WWE SummerSlam 2015 live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker, John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

    By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome to our live coverage of SummerSlam.  We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show and last night’s NXT show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    Jon Stewart and Mick Foley are opening the show.  Stewart wanted Foley to be his backup because he’s mad at Brock Lesnar for breaking the streak.  Foley referenced The Rock.  Foley said he wouldn’t have come to back him up against Lesnar because he’s afraid of Lesnar.  When Stewart brought up Foley being fearless and his match with Undertaker, Foley said that was 17 years ago.  The skit pretty much ended with both leaving the ring to start the show.

    RANDY ORTON VS. SHEAMUS

    Good match, kind of a surprise how clean Sheamus went over as he got the pin with two Brogue kicks after escaping the RKO.  It looks like the smart money may be accurate here with the long odds that usually end up correct.  They kind of telegraphed it as Orton hit the RKO early but Sheamus rolled out of the ring.  Not as good as their last PPV match.

    PRIME TIME PLAYERS VS. NEW DAY VS. LOS MATADORES VS. LUCHA DRAGONS FOR THE TAG TEAM TITLES

    The New Day sang before the match and got over huge as faces with the fans chanting “New Day Rocks” when it was over.  Xavier Woods in particular has a hell of a voice  Match was sloppy early but the last few minutes were good and crowd loved it because New Day won the title.  Kingston & Big E were the team and Woods never stopped talking at ringside.  Kingston pinned one of the Matadores, I think Fernando, doing the stealing the pin after O’Neil used Clash of the Titus on Fernando.  Right before the finish the Dragons were looking at doing a double superplex on Fernando, but O’Neil power bombed eeryone.

    Jon Stewart said he was friend with Undertaker with Neville and Stephan Amell and Stewart’s son.  Undetraker walked post with smoke following him.  Then Amell signed Stewart’s son’s shirt.

    DOLPH ZIGGLER VS. RUSEV

    Lana is out of the business suits and now wearing a jeans outfit.

    The match ended in a double count out.  Rusev had the accolade on for a while but let it go when Lana distracted him by attacking Summer Rae.  Rusev was then yelling at Lana, which distracted Lana and Summer attacked.  Ziggler had rolled out of the ring and superkicked Rusev.  Rusev was laid out and Ziggler couldn’t beat the count.  Ziggler was pounding on Rusev after the match. Summer jumped on Ziggler and Lana made the save.  The women went at it and were pulled apart by the guys.  Crowd booed the double count out a lot, but got into the women rolling around and chanted “Let them go.”  Match was okay before the finish.  Rusev did some impressive stuff for his size.

    STEPHEN AMELL & NEVILLE VS. KING BARRETT & STARDUST

    Amell dd a few good athletic things such as a leap frog ea  .  Crowd didn’t seen to care about him at first, but they popped pretty big when he did a plancha to the floor onto both heels.  Relatively short match.  Neville pinned Barrett with the red arrow right afer the plancha spot.  Neville was real good when he was in.  Amell was better than he had any business being.  Match was about what you’d think it would be overall.

    RYBACK VS. BIG SHOW VS. THE MIZ FOR THE IC TITLE 

    It’s looking like the smart money was in for this show.  Ryback retained when Show knocked out Miz but Ryback clotheslined Show over the top and pinned Miz.  Short match but lots of near falls, with Miz kept going for pins on both guys such as when Ryback used the shell shock on Show and when Show hit Ryback with a knockout punch and each time Miz tried to get the pin but they kicked out.  Actaully Miz went for about a dozen pins.  The first time people expected a change but after that they really didn’t.  Match was nothing special but it was really exactly what it shoiuld have been.  

    Jon Stewart was mad about Brock Lesnar.  He confronted Paul Heyman about Lesnar breaking the streak.  He was asking Heyman how he felt with all the people wanting to see Undertaker win at WrestleMania.  It feels like there is more to this.  Heyman looked at Stewart and said I guess they couldn’t get Letterman to do this show.

    ROMAN REIGNS & DEAN AMBROSE VS. BRAY WYATT & LUKE HARPER

    Best match so far, but shorter than you’d think.  Fast paced with a real hot open with stiff kicks by Harper, a tope by Ambrose, a tope by Harper,etc.  Reigns was superkicked over the table and sold for a few minutes and Ambrose sold.  Reigns made the hot tag and ran wild.  The crowd cheered Ambrose and booed Reigns more than anyone so far on the show.  The finish saw Ambrose use & Reigns use the Road Warrior clothesline on Wyatt, a double team power bomb on Harper, then the Dirty Deeds on Wyatt and Reigns speared Wyatt for the pin.  It felt like a blow-off of Reigns vs. Wyatt.

    SETH ROLLINS VS. JOHN CENA WWE TITLE VS. US TITLE

    An absolutely incredible match with a finish that will garner a ton of publicity.  Really for the building the company mainstream, this finish will get so much attention and Rollins will get a big rub out of this.  There was a ref bump.  Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Rollins but no ref.  Rollins was pinned for several seconds but when he got up, he gave Cena a knee to the nose and Cena went down  Both were down when Jon Stewart ran in with a chair.  He teased hitting Rollins, but instead, hit Cena in the gut and put the chair on the ground for Rollins to use the pedigree on the chair to win.  Before that point Rollins put on a best in the world caliber performance, doing everything under the sun.  He kicked out of the AA, Cena used the figure four with the tease that Cena would win the title with Flair’s big move.  It was a match filled with highlights, with Rollins doing everything under the sun.

    They announced a lot of new shows including the Stone Cold podcast with Edge & Christian.

    They also announced the next MSG show on 10/3 will be a live network special built around Brock Lesnar again. 

    They also pushed a Hard Knocks show and a WWE 24 show on guys training at the performance center and NXT.

    TEAM BELLA VS. TEAM PCB VS. TEAM BAD IN AN ELIMINATION MATCH

    They gave them 15:00 and it was a good match, not like some of the NXT matchds but well above the usual WWE women’s match.  Brie pinned Snuka in the first fall with the facebuster.  The crowd booed that because it meant Sasha Banks was gone and she was the crowd favorite.  There was a spot early in the match where Naomi and Banks did flip dives, the Bellas followed with a double tope and Fox took a spill into the pile ending with Fox doing a flip dive onto everyone.  The finish saw Lynch pin Brie with a pump handle uranage.  They pushed the idea that the Bellas now have to be concerned.

    KEVIN OWENS VS. CESARO

    They had a hard time this late in the show as the crowd was waiting for the main event at this point.  But the match was very good from start to finish.  Both looked great here.  Owens won clean with the fisherman buster off the middle rope and a pop up power bomb.  Owens needed the win, but Cesaro needs to have his momentum fed at this point.  Both did dives with Cesaro doing a twisting tornillo dive as well as a giant swing and the sharpshooter but Owens made the ropes.  It was a tough spot on the card for anyone and they did as well in the spot as anyone was going to tonight.

    BROCK LESNAR VS UNDERTAKER

    They immediately pushed in commentary that Brock Lesnar hasn’t lost a match clean in 2 1/2 years.  They did a disputed finish.  Lesanr had Undertaker in the Kimura and the bell rang.  Charles Robinson, the ref, said that he never called for the bell.  Lesnar celebrated like he won and Undertaker came from behind and gave him another  low blow and put him in the Hell’s gate.  Lesnar flipped Undertaker off but then passed out.  The story is the timekeeper saw Undertaker tap out, and then in the replay they showed that Undertaker in fact did tap out but Robinson was on the other side and missed the tap.  Obviously the finish is to build for a third match. 

    Really good physical match.  Undertaker took several suplexes.  Most of the match saw them kick out of big moves with Lesnar kicking out of the tombstone and then laughing at him.  Lesnar also escaped the Hell’s Gate the first time.  Lesnar did an F-5 on the announcers table but Undertaker got in before ten, and then Undertaker kicked out of two different F-5s and also escaped from the Kimura.  Lesnar was bleeding a lot from a kick to the head early.  For the most part, the crowd cheered both guys.

    Paul Heyman was screaming “No” and fans were screaming “Yes.”  Heyman said that everyone saw that Lesnar won by submission.


  • WWE Feedback to SummerSlam

    Thumbs up
    Best: Cena vs Rollins
    Worst: Ryback vs Big Show vs Miz

    John Cena continues his march to wrestler of the year, but Seth Rollins was by far the MVP tonight.  Outstanding performance tonight at a point that the show needed it.  The four hours works much better for Wrestlemania when it’s a big spectacle, matches generally get more time and there is some variety.  This was endless 10-15 minute matches until the title match, which was a needed change in pace.  The match was so good I’m even overlooking the non-sensical finish, especially since I was expecting DQ all along.

    I think we can officially blame Undertaker’s concussion for the lousy Wrestlemania match between he and Brock Lesnar, as they delivered in the main event spot tonight.  I can see how the finish of the main event sounded good on paper, but the execution fell flat in my eyes.  Maybe it would’ve made more sense if we saw Taker tap out live and not wonder why the bell rang.  Or if they showed the timekeeper telling Charles Robinson that he saw a tap.  Anyway, the nuances of this were unbelievable — from the laughing after the tombstone to Brock telling Taker to F-off instead of tapping when he was going out in the gogoplata, and we know they’re headed to Cowboys Stadium, it’s just a question of what the stip will be and if it will be Undertaker’s last match.

    My only other nit-pick: I would have had Owens and Cesaro open the show.  Hot crowd would’ve been more receptive to two people they like, and they had a great match too.

    – Chris H.
    Lakeland, FL

    Sent from my iPhone

    WWE Summerslam 2015 Feedback
    Thumbs Way Up
    Best Match: Cesaro vs Kevin Owens
    Worst Match: Ryback vs Big Show vs Miz

    I loved this show. A lot of the matches were good in their spot. Sheamus vs Orton was good and the tag title match was very entertaining and probably a career night for The New Day to this point. Ziggler vs Rusev was quite entertaining with both guys moving really well and Lana and Summer Rae having fun interactions. I liked the finish as well because double countouts are not overdone.

    Stephen Amell was far better that I would have expected and I thought it was one of the best celebrity performances I’ve seen. It was a good rub for Neville and Stardust came a long way tonight. And then Reigns and Ambrose vs Wyatt and Harper was close to the best match. Reigns and Ambrose play off well as best friends who are on call for each other and Wyatt and Harper are much better together than apart.

    Jon Stewart really played off well all night. And then Rollins transformed himself into a long-term main eventer with a great match against Cena. I am a defender of using Stewart in the finish and think he would be part of a good build-up of a possible Rollins vs Lesnar match at MSG

    The women’s match was a real letdown after last night. They really need to let the girls called up from NXT work great matches against each other rather than trying to have them drag good matches out of the Bellas. I did like seeing Becky Lynch go over and think she should get the title next.

    Owens vs Cesaro was a great match. Both really tore into each other and had a solid match. Owens is up there with the best and so is Cesaro. I hope Owens get the IC title as that could be a great run for the rest of this year.

    Taker vs Brock was off the charts and I am also a defender of the finish. Some of the execution production-wise could have been better but I think it build them well for Mania. The match was  very physical and was the best I have seen Taker since the Punk match.

    Dave Musgrave
    Oshawa, Ontario

    Hi Dave,

    Thumbs Up
    Best Match: 
    Worst Match: Ryback vs. Big Show vs. The Miz
    Best Moments: The New Day Singing, New Day Celebration, Xavier destroying Torito, Undertaker & Brock laughing at each other

    *Orton vs. Sheamus: Okay match. Sheamus is the smartest man in WWE because he stepped over the ropes rather than letting Orton drape him for a DDT. Of course then he ate an exploder over the ropes so maybe don’t make Randy mad. Surprised to see a MitB holder win a big match.

    *Tag Title Match: This was my favorite match of the night (not the best star rating but the most fun). The New Day are great! I am going to rewatch this tomorrow because I missed many Xavier lines due to people out loud laughing where I watched. The spot where Xavier caught Torito and smashed him was great if only because Xavier looked sooo pleased with himself for doing it. The Big E splash onto Darren on the apron looked like it could cause internal bleeding. The celebration and singing and celebration were wonerful. The New Day is my new favorite team.

    *Ziggler vs. Rusev: What did Dolph do to Lana!? Why?! The match was a letdown I felt like I could see on Raw.

    *Neville & “The Star from Arrow” vs. Barrett & Stardust: Cody’s gimmick is now Jim Carrey’s Riddler right? Seems timely enough for Vince. Amell looked better than most celebrities who have entered the ring. This wasn’t much match-wise but glad to see Neville get the pin.

    *Ryback vs. Miz vs. Show: The only thing I really remember is that Show throws the slowest punch in wrestling. Miz had to run into his fist. I didn’t care at all. Ryback is the least of three evils in my opinion.

    *2/3 Shield vs. 2/3 Wyatt Family: Pretty fun match. “Roman’s sleeping” chant cracked me up. Seriously, the guy took a minor bump and was gone for like three minutes. Decisive win considering the JBL and Cole said they didn’t expect anything to be settled tonight right before it started.

    *Rollins vs. Cena: Seth Rollins came out looking like the White Power Ranger. Then without the shirt he looked like he belonged in the Beegees. I really liked this match up until the nonsense ending. Seth looked impressive and Cena was really good. The ending seemed straight out of Russo’s playbook. At least Cena isn’t back on top. I like him much more recently since he wasn’t chasing/defending the WWE Title.

    *Divas “Revolution” Match: One of the announce crew summed it up perfectly when he said the Bellas had quelled the Divas Revolution. Seriously, someone add up all the minutes Sasha, Charlotte, and Becky were actually legally in the match. I bet it was less than 5 of the 15 minutes this match took. Sasha’s team was eliminated early and then we got a LONG heat segment on Paige from Team Bella. The right team won but this was not the showcase I was looking for.

    *Owens vs. Cesaro: Why did this go on after the WWE Title match? They both looked very good but they can’t possibly get over because one is Swiss and the other is fat. I really liked the match and at least someone got over with a win unlike Ziggler vs. Rusev.

    *Taker vs. Lesnar: Best Taker match in years (I know he hasn’t had many). I figured they would give Taker the win but I still thought Brock should. The finish helped keep Brock looking strong since Taker did tap. About as good as your likely to get out of Taker at this point. The laughing at each other bit was unintentionally hilarious. Also, Brock is a vile man to look at when he’s sweating.

    –Christian Norman
    Atlanta, GA

    WWE Summer Slam: Thumbs Up
    Best Match: Rollins vs. Cena
    Worst Match: Ziggler vs. Rusev

    Enjoyed what Jon Stewart brought to the table and nice to see Mick Foley help open the show.  Orton vs. Sheamus was fine, but not as good as expected.  Sheamus needed a win since he seems to lose a lot as of late.  Tag Titles was entertaining even with some botched stuff.  New Day winning makes the most sense as they should have never lost in the first place.  They still need some new teams in the mix because the same guys over and over again gets old real fast.  Ziggler vs. Rusev was nothing special and given the double count out is why I put as the worst match for the night.  I do give points just for Lana being out there, but she needs to get with someone in a better spot than Dolph.  Stephen Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and Barrett was enjoyable.  Neville is awesome and Amell was good for being a celeb.  I still wish Barrett and Stardust would get a chance to do something.  Perhaps they throw them into the Tag Title mix.  Triple Threat I-C Title match was okay and I didn’t expect much from it.  Miz badly needs to be rehabed and I hope this feud is over.  Reigns and Ambrose vs. the Wyatts was a good one, but again there are just too many guys who are running in place and not advancing.  Ambrose is another one who deserves more opportunity.  Rollins vs. Cena was tremendous and the finish with Jon Stewart was good, although I don’t know how Cena can get revenge on him or why Stewart would go heel, but maybe he will be making more appearances.  I assume Rollins won’t hold both belts for too long.  Maybe he loses one or both at Night of Champions.  Divas match was pretty good, but again I don’t know why they can’t book a match like they do on the NXT show from last night which was fantastic.  Cesaro vs. Owens was another good one, but should have been earlier in the show when people still cared.  Lesnar vs. Taker was very good and I had no problem with the disputed finish since they are probably saving another meeting for Mania.  All in all a good show. 

    Robb Block

    THUMBS solidly in the middle.

    It was the best of times, and the worst of times.  A lot of good things happened, but a lot of not good things happened.

    The fist match of the show was very blah.  I like the New Day as champs.  I hate that they have ruined Lana’s very good gimmick as a valet for absolutely no reason.  But Rusev put on a great performance.  I had a hard time caring about the IC match, and even the remnants of what could have been a great Wyatt Family vs. Shield program that missed its chance.  I was more interested in seeing how Amell would do, and he did great!

    Rollins put on the performance of the night, and carried the Cena match, but I did not care for the finish.  Maybe this is a good chance to retire the US title.  I was also underwhelmed by the Divas match, but it did have some decent spots, even some by the Bellas.  I had high expectations for Cesaro-Owens, and while it was a strong match, it under-delivered my expectations.  I like both guys, but I’m glad Owens won.  He needs it more than Cesaro.

    The excitement that follows Lesnar is undeniable.  I was somewhat uncomfortable watching this match, because I have a lot of fondness for the Undertaker, and I just worry about his well-being, stepping in there with Brock at his age.  Brock is almost too tough for great athletes in their prime, like Rollins & Reigns.  The sight of him throwing around a 50 year old man might be fine if you labor under the idea the idea that wrestling is fake.  I found myself worrying about him.

    BEST MATCH:  That said, and things considered, including execution and anticipation, and even the complex finish, Taker-Brock was the MOTN.  Both guys did a great job, even though I’m not sure Taker should still be doing this.  I did like the way they laid out the match, and incorporated many signature UT spots early in the match.  I initially hated the finish, but the more I think about it (like the streak being broken, actually) the more it is growing on me.  Unlike everyone’s predictions that the UT should go out on top, he is now poised to go into his retirement match as a heel, take a clean loss, and have his retirement be his permanent babyface turn.

    WORST MATCH: Orton-Sheamus.  This match could have been left off the show.  It didn’t begin or further any story.

    I am waiting for this HUGE surprise tomorrow, because frankly, I wasn’t exactly blown away by tonight.
    Richard Orloski

    Show was a thumbs up though four hours is probably too long.

    Best match: Rollins/Cena. Rollins was ridiculous in this match and the ending actually made me want to see what’s next.

    Worst match: Orton/Sheamus. Both guys bore me silly.

    I wasn’t thrilled with the ending of the Brock/Undertaker match. It’s only going to lead to a third match that Taker will win so why bother? At least Kane didn’t get involved.

    Tom Wagner

    Hey Dave,

    Overall: Thumbs up show. This was a long show with a lot to like, a lot to digest, and a lot to discuss. Many will start by stating how much better the NXT show was than Summerslam. As a whole, the NXT event was the better show, but that statement should be made with some caveats.  First of all, even though this was in the same building, the crowd was incredibly more easy last night than they were this evening. Last night they came ready and willing to enjoy themselves to the fullest extent. Tonight, it felt like they sat on their hands waiting for the wrestlers to impress them. The wrestlers did their part. I am not sure the booking did the athlete’s efforts justice.  I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point. Tonight ended with a semicolon and a question, “what is next.”

    Best Match: Rollins and Cena was a fantastic match and an excellent showcase for Rollins. When the harness is off, Rollins is the most athletically gifted and promising talent in professional wrestling today.
    Worst Match: The women’s match was bad.

    1. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus. The match started slow and treaded dangerous waters, risking eliciting a negative reaction from a rabid crowd. As normal the match built nicely, including just enough innovation beyond the norm to turn in the Randy Orton trademark three star standard.  Fine opener and a surprising win for Sheamus.  Orton epitomizes the concept of doing enough to get over and stay over. ***

    2. WWE Tag Title Match: Los Matadors vs. Prime Time Players vs. New Day vs. Lucha Dragons. Gotta love the New Day. The singing performance was classic. The match itself was a mixed bag; it had some slop and some cool highspots. Particularly, Sin Cara appeared to be having a rough night. The finish peaked nicely with a very energetic hot tag by Titus and a chaotic close that allowed the hottest heel tag team to steal a victory. Fun match. **1/4

    3. Rusev w/ Hot Summer vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Lana. For the third consecutive match, the crowd started cold. The action was fine, but nothing really hooked the live crowd during the body of the match.  New York has traditionally been a Ziggler friendly region. Has he lost that much steam? The Lana effect brought the crowd alive, but the double count out finish killed them dead.  The finishing cat fight revived them. Obviously, nobody likes a double count out finish, but it does serve as an effective vehicle to set up the heavily predicted mixed tag match. **1/4

    4. Steve Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and King Barrett. This was a lot different than I anticipated. Amell was in the ring taking a beating for much longer than I believed he would. His offense was serviceable, his selling was lackluster. I appreciate the fact that the match built to a Neville hot tag. Neville was given more of a showcase than Amell and his speed and fire were impressive.  As for celebrity in ring performances, Amell ranks among the best. Fun match. **

    5. IC Title Match: Ryback vs. Miz vs. Big Show. Short and sweet. This fell on the high level of my expectations. The pacing and action was faster then I would have expected. The MIz played his role exceptionally well. Not sure I would have had Ryback “steal” the victory. A big badass should not have to resort to such means. **

    6. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Wyatt Family. When the crowd is cold, start hot. That is exactly what these guys did. Loved the chaos at the onset. It is consistent with the mood of the storyline. They employed the old Shield template of building the hot tag to Roman. Unfortunately, the crowd is too smart for this in 2015. Nonetheless, the action was solid and aggressive from start to conclusion. The finish was about as clean and definitive as it gets. No dissension, no reveal, no turn, no shenanigans. ***

    7. WWE Title and US Title Match: Seth Rollins vs. John Cena. Rollins has been limiting himself physically over the last year to avoid receiving a respect response from the crowd. Tonight, he tossed that strategy out the window and gave the WWE a glimpse of what he is actually capable of.  Cena manufactured his 2015 match template, and Rollins fulfilled the role of the credible counterpart. Even though he did not cheat until the end, he cheated when it meant the most. How John Stewart and Rollins explain this will be interesting. ****

    8. Divas Tag Elimination Match: Team Bella vs. P.C.B. vs. Team B.A.D. These ladies were given a lot of time, and most of it was wasted. Train wreck of a match that was reminiscent in quality of the Divas matches on WWE over the last 5 + years.  I cannot explain why the Bellas were given more of a shine than anyone in the match sans Becky. They have been given way too many chances for way to long. Hard to explain how two women’s matches from the same company, in the same arena, with similar talent could produce such drastically different results. The fact that they are still trying to sell these Diva’s train wrecks as good when they are obviously not is borderline offensive.  *

    9. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro. They started out of the gates with aggression looking like they were set on stealing the show. It did not happen. The action and moves were fantastic. But, getting over with moves and getting your character over are two different things. No matter what they did, the crowd did not fully invest. It is easy to blame the fans or blame the match placement, but in the end, one must admit the story in the ring did not resonate with the live crowd. A strong match, but I feel like they did not get back what they put in.  ***

    10. Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. It was an all out war from the start. Taker is old, but he put his health in jeopardy to give fans the fight they hoped for at WrestleMania 30.  The action delivered and provided the big fight atmosphere. Unfortunately, the finish did not due justice for the work put in. I understand they wanted to protect both guys, but in doing so they upset a lot of people.  I wanted this to end with a period or an exclamation point, instead it ended with a , “to be continued.” ***1/2.

    Thanks, Derrick Hubbard

    Thumbs Up
    Best Match: Owens v Cesaro
    Worst Match: Divas

    So first off for what everyone may comment on; I dont mind a controversial finish to add to a mania rematch but why not go for the easy simultaneous double pin tap out? The ringing of the bell without that really killed it for everyone. The Lesnar FU while passing out was tremendous, would have been great to use (for either of them) in a Mania match. I dont think it took away from how good the match was just think it became very disjointed. Was tough to not give it MOTN but just couldnt go against Owens-Cesaro.

    Glad to see Owens get a high profile win again and Cesaro continued to show more and I think keep pace while losing. This was the first high profile Owens match where I felt the opponent “did more” which is a good takeaway shine more on the loser while giving Owens something back in the W column.

    Rollins and Cena had a great contest, man Stewart was a shock on paper BUT as soon as he came in he looked right at Cena. How did someone not tell him to never once look in his direction? And he should know that being a fan. Im looking forward to the promo explaining him helping Rollins tomorrow. Interested in what they do with the US title as well.

    Anyone else see Sheamus win and automatically say “well no cash in now”?  Amazing how we can all read some of the even steven booking thought processes. Nothing was bad on the show. Likely due to the length and some of the lulls it couldnt match last nighta overall excitemtnt. Divas were back to being filler but better than normal filler. Some reward for sasha though to be out first. Remember when crowd cared about Rusev? Just nothing there til Lana got involved and even then so much for what they had going.

    This was a great WWE weekend though and with all that talk about a big Raw tomorrow we heard before tonight and the natural follow up, really does feel like a Mania for the summer!

    Michael O’Brien

    Hi Dave, 

    Thumbs in the Middle
    Best Match: Owens vs. Cesaro
    Worst Match: Ziggler vs. Rusev


    -Sheamus def. Orton. Good match, the top rope draping DDT was sick. ***1/2
    -New Day def. PTP(c), Matadores, Dragons. Good, probably should’ve been the open.New Day is awesome. Xavier might just be the manager of the year if he keeps this up. ***1/2
    -Rusev (draw) Ziggler. This was pretty awful. Lana had horrible outside reactions. When Ziggler was beating up Rusev, but Rusev was kicking out, she was concerned. When Ziggler was being beaten, but still kicking out, she was happy. Double count out. Bad. Bad. Bad. 1/2*
    -The Arrows def. Stardust & Barrett. Amell wasn’t too bad, but didn’t get a great reaction. Thank god for Neville, who saved this. *1/2
    -Ryback(c) def. Big Show, Miz. This was about what you’d expect to get from a 5 minute match with these three. Big Show knocked out Miz and Ryback tossed him to steal the win. Not a good night, or year for that matter, for the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner. **1/4
    -Ambrose & Reigns def. Wyatt Family. Really good action, but the crowd wasn’t really having it. Reigns was laid out for far too long at one point, and the crowd chanted “Roman’s sleeping.”. This face run is still not working for Reigns. Good fast paced brawl nonetheless.  ***3/4 
    -Seth Rollins(c) def. John Cena(c). Cena needs to drop the springboard stunner, he misses it about 80% of the time. The audience isn’t reacting to Cena’s match formula as much as they were with Cesaro, Owens, ect. The AA needs to be rebuilt, it’s hard to buy the first one as the finish. My last complaint… Jon Stewart? Of all people, why Jon Stewart? All that said, it was a very good match. Rollins was on his game, breaking out a running shooting star press and a frog splash. Cena using the figure four was a great touch. But seriously… Jon Stewart? ****
    -P.C.B. def. B.A.D., Team Bella. Believe it or not, Banks vs. Bayley was better. This went far too long. Alicia, who showed to be by far the best on Team Bella, got the least amount of offence on her team. *1/2
    -Kevin Owens def. Cesaro. Great match. Should’ve been given more, especially considering there’s nearly 50 minutes left. ****1/4
    -The Undertaker def. Brock Lesnar. The crowd was about 60/40 in favor of Taker. This match was very good until the finish, which was awful. Neither man got over. Of all the ways to set up match three, this was far from the best. ***
    Casey Goss
    Virginia

  • WWE News: Notes on Tuesday’s Tough Enough

    The note about Cesaro taping matches with ZZ and Josh earlier this week for Tough Enough is incorrect.  In actuality, the stuff was not taped for the show as far as we know, although people from the show were there.  But the matches themselves will be done live on Tuesday night.

  • WWE news: Rival world champion at SummerSlam

    Kazuchika Okada, whose IWGP title would probably be considered the No. 2 world title belt in pro wrestling today, was backstage at SummerSlam.

    Okada also watched the show with Samoa Joe, who he was affiliated with from his TNA days when the two were linked together and he did the Okato gimmick that is so amazing in hindsight.