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  • WWE Raw August 10 TV results and Recap: Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins title match, Stephen “Arrow” Amell to wrestle at SummerSlam

    Photo: WWE.com 

    by Jeff Hamlin, WrestlingObserver.com 

    The Big Takeaway: This was an excellent show featured Randy Orton-Seth Rollins in a main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Sheamus pulled Orton out of the ring to cost him the championship. Sheamus then teased cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase, but Orton came back in to deliver an RKO. Stephen Amell will compete at SummerSlam in a tag team match. The gimmick is its the Green Arrow (I thought Amell portrayed the Arrow, but just go along with it) and the Red Arrow (Neville) vs. Stardust and King Barrett. 

    Show Recap: 

    Seth Rollins starts the show. Again, they played the highlight of Rollins breaking John Cena’s nose. Rollins said he hasn’t heard from Cena regarding the challenge for a title-vs.-title match. Rollins says Cena wasn’t Straight Outta Compton, he’s Straight Outta Action. Rollins said he heard rumors that Cena was going to be at Tough Enough tomorrow night, then heard from someone at ringside that Cena was going to appear via satellite. Turned out, it was a picture of Cena with his nose broken with a mouth superimposed doing a fake Cena voice, just like the old Conan O’Brien routine. 

    The fake Cena voice’s best joke was “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect” has now become “Surgery, Recovery and Rehab.” The mouth also added he looked like he got a fake nose job from Picasso. He told his fans to never give up, unless Seth Rollins breaks your face. 

    Cesaro came out with more Cesaro Section signs all over the place. Cesaro challenged Rollins to a match tonight. Rollins said there was no open challenge tonight. Kevin Owens walked out and said Cesaro has done nothing to earn a title shot and said some idiot had written out Cesaro Section signs and handed them to sheep who will hold up any sign.

    Owens mentioned he was the only man among the three who has beaten Cena and if anyone deserves a title match tonight, it’s him. Rollins started to turn him down when Randy Orton came out.  Orton wanted a title shot, poking fun at Owens weight in the process. 

    Rollins said Tom Brady has a better chance of getting a free meal in Seattle than any of them getting a title shot tonight. He said he doesn’t care what the Authority thinks, he thinks everyone should get the hell out of his ring.

    HHH came out. Apparently, the roulette ball landed on “babyface” this week on the Authority Wheel of Kayfabe. HHH was mad over Rollins said he didn’t care about the Authority and ordered Cesaro vs. Owens vs. Orton in a three-way with the winner getting a shot at Rollins tonight for the WWE World Heavyweight Title.  

    Daniel Bryan will appear on MizTV tonight.  

    After one week, the Submission Sorority name for Paige, Charlotte and Sasha Banks is already done. They’re now Team PCB and did commentary for the opening match. Marshawn Lynch thought these women were boring and repetitive in their answers to Michael Cole. 

    Team Bella defeated Team Bad (8:57)

    Brie Bella pinned Tamina after a leg cradle . Even though she was on the heel team, crowd chanted big for Sasha Banks. 

    It broke down into a nine-way fight posmatch where Naomi threw the best women’s dropkick since Manami Toyota on Alicia Fox. They teased Charlotte and Banks showdown and members of Team PCB and Team BAD had a staredown.  

    Stephen Amell was shown at ringside for the upcoming angle with Stardust.

    The New Day defeated Los Matadores (3:58) 

    Big E. Langston pinned Fernando after the Midnight Hour. El Torito tried to give Xavier Woods a huracanrana outside the ring, but Woods blocked it like he was going to power bomb. But Diego dropkicked Woods from behind, and El Torito completed the move. Some fans arte treating New Day as faces now. There should be a mic dedicated solely to Woods because he’s the most colorful talker in the company (outside of Paul Heyman) with no script.  

    They showed a picture of Titus O’Neal hanging with Marshawn Lynch at Seattle Seahawks headquarters today. Darren Young also had a photo taken with Russell Wilson.

    New Day did a postmatch promo with Renee Young, who informed them they would get a title shot at the Prime Time Players at SummerSlam. Young also said it would be a four-way match with Los Matadores and Lucha Dragons. In other words, the consequences for Los Matadores losing tonight was getting a tag team title shot at SummerSlam. I love it when Raw wins and losses hold such high stakes.  Renee started clapping with New Day, which was a total babyface act. 

    HHH and Rollins argued over why the title should be defended tonight. HHH said Rollins opened the door last week with the open challenge against Neville and if Rollins wanted to be the man, he has to be the man every single night. Rollins agreed.  

    Randy Orton pinned Cesaro in a three-way that also included Kevin Owens to earn a WWE World Heavyweight Title shot at Rollins (18:10)

    A sensational match where the crowd got the hottest down the stretch when Owens and Cesaro traded big moves. As Owens tried to give Cesaro a Pop-Up Power Bomb, Orton climbed back in the ring and gave Owens an RKO, and gave an RKO to Cesaro as well. Orton pinned Cesaro. Highlights included Cesaro holding Orton in a crossface. Orton had to struggle out of the ring to break in since there is No-DQ in a three-way. Owens followed with a somersault tope onto both men. Later, Orton gave both Cesaro and Orton draping DDTs at the same time. 

    Dean Ambrose did a backstage promo about how he didn’t have many friends growing up, though it would have been nice to have one since you always need one to bail you out when you’re in a Mexican border town. Roman Reigns interrupted him and basically said he was first real friend that Ambrose ever had. Reigns said he and Ambrose were brothers while Bray Wyatt was just using Luke Harper. Reigns’ catchphrase is “Believe that.” 

    They did a piece on the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. They had various Hall of Famers like Steve Austin, HHH and John Cena put over the streak. Seeing the highlights of Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales, King Kong Bundy and a totally past him prime on goes knows what Jimmy Snuka brought ot mind how the Undertaker had to face some crappy opponents in the 90s. Austin, Ambrose, HHH and others put over how stunning it was that Lesnar ended the streak. Heyman said Lesnar will put an end to the Undertaker. It was a very good, UFC-style hype piece.  

    They mentioned for next week’s go-home show, the Undertaker and Lesnar will be in the building.  

    Luke Harper defeated Dean Ambrose (10:35) 

    Harper got the pin afterr a discus clothesline on Ambrose. It spilled into a four-way when Wyatt got involved. Wyatt tried to clothesline Ambrose, who ducked and Reigns hit Wyatt with a Superman Punch. Harper kicked Reigns in the head, but Ambrose hit a tope on Harper. Wyatt then crotched Ambrose after he climbed to the top rope, leading to the finish. Apparently, Wyatt lost his rocking chair so Harper threw Byron Saxton out of his chair for Wyatt to sit in. It got funny when the fans later started chanting “Sit down Byron.” There must be an added bonus in JBL’s paycheck for every week he mentions DX as among the most dominant factions of all time.  

    MizTV started with The MIz pointed out Ammell out Ammell. Miz threw in a jab about how once Stardust is done polishing the floor with Amell, he can call Miz for acting lessons. Amell had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Dryan came out to the expected big reaction. Crowd kept chanting “Daniel Bryan” so long Miz had to stop them.

    Miz tried to talk to Bryan about how he mad Bryan’s career. Bryan mentioned Miz’s upcoming film “Santa’s Little Helper,” which Miz can take credit for. But Bryan’s accomplishments are because of everything he’s ever done for himself, not the Miz. 

    Miz turned the subject to Bryan’s injury since he’s been on the shelf. Bryan sent a nod to Mick Foley and mentioned his best selling book and being on Tough Enough. Miz turned the attention to himself again and focused on Ryback, saying Ryback should forfeit the Intercontiental title because of his staph infection and cancel the three-way match at SummerSlam. The Big Show came out to run down Miz. Crowd chanted “Please retire” at Big Show, who got mad. Ryback came out for his return. Miz and Bryan bolted so Ryback and Show could have a staredown. Then Bryan threw Miz in the ring between both of them.

    Show bullied Show and Ryback into the corner. Show give Miz a Beal Throw, but Ryback clotheslined Show out of the ring. Then Ryback gave Miz a Meathook clothesline which left Miz with only one show on. Bryan raised Ryback’s arm and gave him the I-C belt back while the two chanted “Yes!” Weird to see the most over star on the show as the setup guy for a midcard program.  

    A package profile on Charlotte featured her talking about her father’s dedication to the business and learning from him. She vowed to main event WrestleMania one day and compared herself to Ronda Rousey.

    This led to an announcement of a three-team elimination match at SummerSlam with Team Bad vs. Team PCB vs. Team Bella.

    Mark Henry and Rusev went to a no contest (1:06) 

    Lana was at ringside. Summer Rae jumped on the apron for some reason, leading to Lana pulling her down. Rae threw Lana into the ring, where she was kneeling looking up to Rusev. It led to Rae running for the DQ. Meanwhile, Rusev took out Mark Henry by throwing him into the steps. Rae decked Lana from behind. Rusev ordered Rae to crush her. Rae then put Lana into the Accolade until Lana was unconscious.  As Rusev and Rae posed, the Bulgarian flag came down which now has Rusev’s face on it. Now that is cool.

    Neville defeated King Barrett (1:17)

    Neville got the pin on King Barrett after the Red Arrow. 

    Right away, Stardust ran in the ring to put the boots to Neville. Then Stardust got out of the ring and got in Amell’s face and shoved him. Amell hopped the railing and speared Stardust before security pulled him off. Announcers sold it like Amell had stepped over the line by jumping the rail and going into the ring after Stardust, which was fine. Except we’ve seen dozens of examples of it over the years from numerous celebrities. 

    HHH scolded Amell and Neville for jumping in the ring. Ammell said he wanted Stardust and Barrett at SummerSlam. Amell looked like Andre the Giant standing next to Neville. HHH started to talk down to him about being a TV star in a wrestling ring. Amell said he didn’t care and ordered HHH to draw up the legal papers for him to face Stardust at SummerSlam. I was startled to see somebody talk back to HHH. Good thing Amell isn’t a wrestler. He’d be looking at 6 months worth of jobs to Zack Ryder if he was. HHH told Amell he had no idea what he was getting himself into but agreed. Amell was very good here, but Neville isn’t a talker.  

    JBL was back with his trusty cards about how people will pay more money if they buy SummerSlam on PPV. By the way, Rousey says hello and 900,000 buys. 

    JoJo interviewed Sheamus, who called Orton “boring” (irony) and called Rollins a “skunk haired weasel.” He held up the Money in the Bank breifcase and said he would be the new World Heavyweight Champion and said the time to cash it in may be tonight.  

    Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins (C) by DQ, so Rollins retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. (13:32)

    Another very good match with the crowd really behind Orton. Rollins used Orton’s own draping DDT on him, then made mannerisms like he was going to do the RKO. Instead, Rollins tried a Pedigree, but (after some early communication issues between the two), Orton backdropped Rollins over the top rope.  Rollins landed on the apron and went right to the top rope and jumped off, but Orton caught him with an RKO. Orton covered Rollins, but Sheamus ran down to pull Orton out of the ring. Sheamus threw Orton into the steps and dumped him over the barricade. 

    Sheamus saw Rollins till down, hit a Brogue Kick and was about to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase. Orton was supposed to run up behind Sheamus before he cashed it and give him an RKO. But Orton was way late in doing so and the referee and Sheamus had to play tug of war forever before Orton finally showed up. Crowd really was into the final segment. 

    SUMMARY:

    This was one of the rare weeks where a crowd wasn’t burned out after three hours.  The Amell angle helped. So did having three very good matches on the show. Plus, it was a good show for the TV viewer because we got the good matches plus a terrific Lesnar-Undertaker buildup package. A very good show. 

  • MON UPDATE: Piper magazine, Cyborg, ROH, Paige on Rousey, Tough Enough, Raw

    By Dave Meltzer

    We’re looking for your thoughts on yesterday’s TripleMania show, as well as Saturday and Sunday’s G-1 shows, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>

    We’re also looking for live reports from Raw in Everett, WA tonight with dark matches, Superstars matches and anything else not evident on the live show to Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>, as well as for tomorrow night’s tapings in Portland, OR.

    We’re also looking for reports on the WWE shows over the weekend in Sydney, Australia and Victoria, BC, today’s show in Vancouver, and the NXT shows in Starke, FL on Thursday ad Orlando on Friday.

    G-1 Climax on Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Tokyo Korakuen Hall on New Japan World

    Jay White & Mascara Dorada vs. Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi

    Kushida & Captain New Japan vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga

    Hirooki Goto & Yohei Komatsu vs. Michael Elgin & David Finlay

    Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi

    Tetsuya Naito vs. Doc Gallows

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Katsuyori Shibata

    Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

    A.J. Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Togi Makabe

    Smackdown will be Tuesday night in Portland, OR.

    G-1 Climax on Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Tokyo Korakuen Hall on New Japan World 

    Tiger Mask & David Finlay & Jay White vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka

    Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe & Kushida vs. Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows & Cody Hall

    Karl Anderson vs. Yujiro Takahashi

    Michael Elgin vs. Hirooki Goto

    Satoshi Kojima vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Yuji Nagata

    Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma

    The life and times of Roddy Piper is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We also have coverage of WWE financials and why the stock is going through the roof, the rise of Ronda Rousey and UFC 190 numbers, the G-1 Climax tournament update and the full story behind the 2002 pitch made to WWE about a gay asskicking wrestler.  

    The latest Wrestling Observer: August 10, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Roddy Piper passes away, WWE Q2 results & analysis

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    If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

    The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

    Our lead story is an extensive look at the career of Roddy Piper.  We start by looking at the cause of death, and Piper’s role in the national expansion of WWF and the first WrestleMania.  We look at how Piper differed from almost every wrestler in WWF when he came in, why Piper didn’t work certain shows, Piper working outside WWF while under contract, how he flopped in his first WWF run, his runs in California, Oregon, Georgia and the Carolinas before WWF, the feud with Jimmy Snuka, the Hogan-Piper program, The War to Settle the Score, the original WrestleMania and how it changed the history of wrestling, his period in WCW, his relationship with Mad Dog Vachon, his issues with Kevin Nash, how he got started in pro wrestling, the story behind his babyface turns and the loss at WrestleMania to Bret Hart.

    We also look at WWE business, why stock is up, what aspect of business looked deceptively good, a look in depth at the network numbers, how many people dropped and picked up subscriptions this past quarter as well as how all the other aspects of WWE business are doing.

    We look at UFC 190 and the storyline that led to Ronda Rousey setting her highest PPV mark.  We look at how things have changed for Rousey since February, the interest level of her fight,  Rousey vs. Cyborg, ratings in Brazil and the U.S. and match-by-match coverage.

    We also go in-depth on the G-1 Climax tournament with the updated schedule, standings and match-by-match coverage.

    We also have an update on John Cena, more on the injury and surgery, Cena actually going to a show this weekend but fans didn’t see him, Shawn Michaels return, will fans respect Cena more, update on the SummerSlam card and matches being built, Cena vs. Rollins future, WrestleMania note, note on Daniel Bryan’s book, Update on Ryback, Update on a 2002 angle proposed for a gay wrestler and funny story behind it, Bryan’s plan for the IC title, more on womens’ division, Eva Marie note, Tough Enough notes, Ultimate Warrior book, Cesaro section notes, WWE lawsuit notes, Pat Patterson book, sister of current WWE star gets a tryout and Owen Hart DVD news.  We also have coverage of the NXT and WWE shows over the weekend and business notes on the shows. 

    The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.

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    MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw, the fallout from AAA, as well as taking your e-mail questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
    • The Wednesday morning G-1 show looks to be the best lineup (check the schedule part of the report) of the B block to date.  Ishii vs. Honma is a rematch of one of the year’s best matches, and Goto vs. Elgin could be a sleeper given Elgin’s impressive showing to date.  Okada vs. Nagata and Nakamura vs. Kojima are also both strong matchups.
    • WWE is releasing a Roddy Piper commemorative magazine on 8/31 with an introduction by HHH, photos of matches and old Piper’s Pits and tributes from various wrestlers.
    • George Lockhart, the nutritionist for Cris Cyborg, said today on the MMA Hour that she could make 135 pounds on 12/5.  It’s at www.mmafighting.com  I’m also on the show as the first guest talking December 5 and UFC’s potential big winter season.
    • As noted earlier, Ryback is in Everett, WA.  Whether he’s actually on Raw or not, we don’t know but one would think given there are just two weeks before SummerSlam that he will be.  Dolph Ziggler’s return is imminent.  He was at the house show in Vancouver last night and is scheduled for Raw next week in Minneapolis.
    • ROH announced for the 8/22 show in Brooklyn a match with Rocky Romero & Baretta & Matt Taven & Michael Bennett vs. ACH & Matt Sydal & Young Bucks.  
    • Paige talks Ronda Rousey, WrestleMania and her effect on pro wrestling 
    • John Cena and the NXT roster will be appearing on Tough Enough.  As noted before, during the week, they taped the Tough Enough crew doing matches in the gym with NXT talent as the audience. 
    • The advertised dark match for tonight is Randy Orton & Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins & Big Show & Bray Wyatt.  Show replaced Sheamus, so at the time the new advertising was done they didn’t expect Sheamus would be able to wrestle tonight.  With concussions, there is no way of knowing when someone will be ready. 
    • Stephen Amell from the TV show “Arrow” is on tonight’s show, presumably doing an angle with Stardust.
    • Amir Khan, the well known boxer, was announced as part of the new ownership and management group for the Super Fight League promotion, which is looking to expand onto television in the U.S.  It has produced 41 live events, mostly in India, and was formed for television in India, including five in the U.S.  Announced with Khan as part of the management group is Bill Dosanjh as CEO, George Chung as Digital Media Executive and Brian Halquist, a Seattle based MMA promoter.  A show in the U.S. is expected to be announced soon.
    • Trainwreck, its first weekend with a full nationwide release (it had preview screenings before in some cities) was No. 1 at the box office in Australia. (thanks to James Stanios)
    • Sasha Banks will be a guest this week on Talk is Jericho that drops on Wednesday.
    • Paul London will be doing seminars on 8/13 at the PWX Wrestleplex in McKeesport, PA at 7:30 p.m., and on 8/15 in Strongsville, OH at Wrestling Geekfest at 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Strongsville.  Cost for each is $35.  For any questions, you can send to JoeDombrowskiPR@gmail.com
    • 2K 16 had the following new characters announced for its video game:  Booker T, Col. Mustafa, Emma, Eva Marie, Gen. Adnan, Kalisto, Kane, Lord Steven Regal of WCW, Sin Cara, Summer Rae, Tamina Snuka, HHH, Steve Austin, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett, Paige, Finn Balor, Alexa Bliss, The Rock and Andre the Giant.
    • Invicta has announced a show on UFC Fight Pass on 9/12 from the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City headlined by Tonya Evinger defending the bantamweight title against Pannie Kianzad. 
    • Tier One Wrestling on 10/2 in Queens, NY at the R Studios at 100-17 Atlantic Avenue.
    • Championship Wrestling Entertainment on 8/14 in Port St. Lucie, FL at the Civic Center with Santana Garrett & Su Yung vs. Grace Storm & MJ Night.
    • Nova Pro Wrestling on 8/15 in Orlando at the Northwest Community Center featuring an appearance by Larry Zbyszko, a Battle Royal and an NWA women’s title defense of Santana Garrett.
    • I Believe in Wrestling on 8/22 in Orlando.
    • Pro Wrestling alliance on 8/22 in Port Richey, FL at the Jewish Community Center.
    • Full Impact Pro iPPV from Friday night in Ybor City, FL: Tyranus & Chico Adams & Wayne VanDyke b Josh Parker & Russell Payne & Dustin Dirk, Mark Silva b Arik Royal, Nuclear Kassarole b Flying Solow, Gary Jay b Zane Riley, Bolt Brady b Earl Cooter, Maxwell Chicago b Jonny Vandal to keep Florida Heritage title, Martin Stone b Blake Edward Belakus, Deimos b Josh Hess, Monster Tarver (Michael Tarver) b Rhett Giddins, Hooligans b The Savage to win FIP tag titles, Caleb Konley b Trevor Lee to keep FIP title,
    • Coastal Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in Coral Springs, FL:  Jesus DeLeon b Senior Entertainment, Ace Mayhem b Byronic Hero, Kahagas & Rico Casanova b Pablo Marques & Lanny Poffo, Santana Garrett b Tammy Lynn to keep NWA womens’ title, Dan Embry b Craig Classic, Headbanger Mosh b Kiny Tony, Stefan Guadaluupe won Battle Royal (thanks to Al Haft).
    • Kayfabe Dojo Wrestling from Saturday night in Rochester, NY:  Ryan Cassidy b Cloudy, Victor Lord b Terrell Kenneth, Ron Falco & Bobby Dipinto b Vanguard 2.-DQ, Jason Savior b Charlie Locke, Rob Sweet b Jet Rebel, Mattick b Miliman, Coleman Jackson b Cheech, Gabreal Saint NC Coconut Jones, Interstate Mayhem b Eric Rosecroft & Steve Gage, Frank Burlington b Rik Matrix, Michael McKinger won over Vince Valor, LaDiva, Michael Templar, Professor Wessler, Frankie Feathers and Krist Worthless, Hellcat b Eric Young (thanks to Todd Brantley)
    • The NWAClassics.com web site has released a number of new matches of late, including Andre the Giant vs. Stan Stasiak from the 70s.  Other new Houston matches they’ve posted include a Lou Thesz vs. Wild Bill Longson NWA title match, Killer Tim Brooks & Vida Negra vs. Tiger Conway Jr. & Bella Karina, Mark Lewin vs. Gary Hart in a paint match, a six-man tag match from the 50s with Duke Keomuka and Ray Gunkel, Tim Horner vs Rip Oliver, Jose Lothario & Terry Taylor vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero, Billy Jack Haynes vs. Kamala, King Parsons vs. Jack Victory and Ernie Ladd vs. Brad Armstrong.
    • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling on 8/22 in East Carondelet, IL featuring Flash Flanagan vs. Tokyo Monster Kahagas.
    • Greg Valentine is doing a Roddy Piper Memorial dog collar match with Phil Monahan on 8/22 for the CIW promotion in Jackson, MI.  This is billed in honor of the series of dog collar matches that Piper had with Valentine in late 1983, the most famous being at the first Starrcade show.
    • CaraLucha from Saturday night at Arena San Juan Pantitlan:  Jimmy Madrid & Principe Aereo b Imperio Negro & Ying Sang, Keira & Ludark Shaitan b Felina Metalca & Krazy Star, Los Magnificos I & II b Rayo Star & Sky Man, Akuma & Demus 3:16 b Kilvan & Yoruba, Polvora won three-way over Jinzo and Toxin Boy, Barbaro Cavernario & Rey Hechichero & Ultimo Guerrero DDQ Halloween & Damian 666 & Bestia 666 (thanks to Kris Zellner)
    • New Era Wrestling from Friday night in El Paso before 300 fans:  Piranita & The American b Minotauro & Super Can, Aydan Colt & Pierre Montero b Sub Zero & Zodiaco, Ultimo Samuray b  Metro, Rey Largarto & Triano b El Hijo del Impostor & Dragon.  Next show is 8/21 (thanks to Albert Cerda)

    ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

    1982 – Devil Masami & Tarantula beat Yukari Omori & Mimi Hagiwara in Fukushima to win the WWWA tag titles and Noriyo Tateno beat Chigusa Nagayo to win the Japanese jr. title

    1986 – Villano I beat Fishman in Acapulco to win the UWA light heavyweight title

    1989 – Vader beat Riki Choshu in Tokyo to win the IWGP heavyweight title and Naoki Sano beat Jushin Liger to win the IWGP jr. title

    1997 – Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuo Yamazaki beat Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima in Nagoya to win the IWGP tag titles and Shinjiro Otani beat El Samurai to win the J Crown

    1999 – Arkangel de la Muerte beat Super Delfin in Kawasaki to win the CMLL welterweight title

    2003 – Hulk Ogan (Naoya Ogawa pretending to be Hogan) beat The Predator (Sylvester Terkay) in Nagoya to win the Zero-One U.S. title

    2014 – Kazuchika Okada beat Shinsuke Nakamura at the Seibu Dome to win the G-1 Climax tournament

  • Bellator News: Josh Koscheck talks leaving UFC, GSP build-up, Paul Daley fight

    The following is from a third party:

    Newly signed Bellator welterweight Josh Koscheck made his Submission Radio debut this week. Here’s a transcript from his interview:

    *****

    What prompted Josh to jump over to Bellator

    “The biggest thing was the way that your hands are tied behind your back when dealing with the UFC. It’s like if you just go against the grain one time, then it’s like a slap on the face. You know, they just kind of yell at you and treat you like shit. And it’s a lot of things too. It’s like not only do you have your hands tied behind your back, in my opinion you have an eight-ball stuffed in your mouth and you really can’t say anything. So it’s kind of nice to be done with that pressure where you don’t have somebody breathing down your back, and it just wasn’t fun for me to fight for the UFC, so I figured that I need a change in my life.

    “And after signing this last contract that I had with him, I just wanted to get out of my fights as quickly as possible so I could move on with my life and be done. And even if I never fought again after that last contract, this last fight that I had, I wasn’t going to resign with them, because it’s simple; you put 27 fights in, you give them 10 years of your life, you’d think that they would have stepped up to the game or stepped up to the plate and put a job offer in front of me or something to keep me involved with the UFC and the sport, but there was no talk of that. And so I decided that it was best for me to move on to Bellator anyway, because Scott Coker is so cool and I started my career on Spike TV and I would like to end it on Spike as well.”

    On if he had a chat with Dana White before he decided to leave UFC

    “Nah. It was none of his business what I do with my career. So I knew he wasn’t stepping up to the plate, because he had gotten an offer from Bellator and he didn’t pick up the phone or have the courage to pick up the phone until, you know, his flop of a Reebok deal came out and that was the ‘Josh Koscheck media day’. And my media day was bigger than his flopped Reebok deal, so he should actually be patting me on the back (laughs). ‘Cause the day Reebok launched was a nightmare. Josh Koscheck was all over the news going over as far as signing with Bellator. So I did get a phone call that day actually from him, and needless to say it wasn’t the politest conversation between the both us.”

    On what would have happened if the UFC matched Bellator’s deal if Josh would have stayed

    “Nope. I wouldn’t have signed with them. I would have renegotiated back with Bellator and got a better contract that they couldn’t match. So I wouldn’t sign back with them.”

    On if Josh felt like the UFC was a different company in 2015 compared to when he came in 10 years ago

    “You know, it’s always been the handcuffs and the eight ball. It’s always been that way, so don’t fool yourselves. The media is partly to blame for this because you guys don’t step up and talk. You guys don’t tell the truth because you’ll get blackballed from the events and covering them, so that’s where it starts. It starts with the media speaking up and being truthful and covering it for the fighters, because the fighters are the most important thing. So when dealing with that organization its always been like that. It’s always been “oh hey, well sign this document. If else not, you’re getting kicked out” you know? I mean the history is all documented. If you go back and look at the history of – for example the videogame rights [THQ’s UFC: Undisputed]. You know, it was all, if we don’t sign it we’re done, cancelled, ‘X’, kicked out. You know? So it’s all documented. Let’s just hope at some point this lawsuit that the UFC is under, this class action lawsuit can get to where it needs to be and the fighters can all get on board with this thing and put ’em right in their place for forcing them and forcing them to sign things that they didn’t want to sign.”

     “I mean I can remember back for example coming off the Ultimate Fighter I wanted to have my attorneys and my management look at the contract. And I remember the conversation clearly. It was me sitting in Dana White’s office inside the Ultimate Fighter Gym, and he said to me “you’re going to let this F’n manager screw your career up by not singing onto this agreement”. And you know what I signed? I had to sign an agreement saying that I was signed with the UFC and my fight pay was five thousand for one year, five thousand and five thousand for the first year, seven thousand and seven thousand for the second year, and ten and ten for the third year. I fought Georges St. Pierre, the first time I fought him for ten thousand dollars. So I was stuck in that contract because I got forced to sign it when I wanted my attorneys and my management to look over that agreement and that contract with me. So that’s the pathetic thing. And that’s what I talk about having the eight ball and the hands tied behind your back.

    “I was forced to sign that contract right in front of him and he was like “you’re going to let this guy ‘F’ you up” and then I’m trapped in the room, and here I am this young kid that has no experience and that’s why I have a manager, and I have no experience with that. But you know what, I’m not going to complain about that now because down the road I got taken care of because I did what I had to do. I freaking….I was a team player for a while because I understood how it worked after a while and I understood that hey, I’m gonna build fights and I’m gonna make myself valuable. And I went out there and I made myself valuable by winning fights and hyping fights like the Georges St. Pierre fight. So I got my due afterwards. But you know it’s just things like that. And I can only imagine if that’s just me, you know, how many of these other guys are being taken advantage of.”

    “Look at the percentages of money that goes to the fighters. It’s probably like less than five or ten percent, versus them getting ninety? Ninety percent of the money. Yeah, you know these fighters need to be taken care of. For example if I never got a contract with Bellator. What was my retirement like? Do I have a 401k with the UFC? Did I have a job with the UFC after I’m done? My name wasn’t Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin or Matt Hughes, you know? Or Nogueira, you know? I think I’ve done more for the UFC than Nogueira without a doubt. And he gets a job. So where’s the discretion there? Where does it stop? Who’s to determine these types of things? Them. So there has to be somebody that represents the fighters.”

    On how Josh can get back on a winning track after multiple back to back loses in the UFC

    “Yeah, well I have [for] a long time. Those fights were over a course of three years, three and a half years. So I took some time and focused on some other businesses and got things going. So regardless if I was to ever fight again or not, Josh Koscheck is gonna be fine because I’m willing to freakin’ walk through the shit to get the glory, to get to the top of the hill that I wanna be at. So whether it be my businesses or whether it be back inside the Bellator cage, I’m willing to walk through the shit to get to the top. So I’m willing to put the work in and I’m gonna put the work in. And this is my last hoorah with Bellator. You know, I’m gonna finish my career on Spike TV and with Bellator, and I’m really pumped about it. So I just gotta put the work in. If I put the work in I believe I can still win fights.”

    On what he thinks about Robbie Lawler and if the belt looks to move around over the next few fights

    “I definitely think the belt’s going to move around. The UFC belt is definitely gonna get passed around. GSP was a special guy and I think that he had a great run, and it was smart of him to leave when he did. I think that he’s going to be the one that everyone is going to look back and say “wow, he left the champion and he left on top”. So it’s pretty awesome for Georges, and I think Georges would be a guy that would be a good representation for head or one of the VP’s or heads of the union. You know, he speaks well, he’s been there, done that, and he hasn’t always been on good terms with the UFC it sounds like. And I think that Georges – I can’t say for sure, but I remember some conversations when we were teaching and coaching on The Ultimate Fighter season 12, so in the conversations that I had with Georges at the time [It sounded like Georges wasn’t happy]. I think things will come 360 and something good is going to happen soon for us fighters. But the Welterweight division, it’s always going to be tough, because it’s that 170 to 185 type of athlete. So it’s the middle range and there’s a lot of guys out there in the world that are around that weight, and it seems to be always a tough division.”

    On if Josh ever had any real ill will towards Georges St. Pierre

    “Nah. We knew what our job was and we did it. So I have no ill will against Georges St. Pierre, so he’s a stand-up guy and I would even say that. You know, when you can edit things from the first day and put ’em in the last day and vice versa, editing can do some crazy things. But that’s what you sign up for reality TV and shows. But Georges is a great champion. When you can go out and you lose your title and then you win it back and then you go on a tear for four or five fights or whatever he did, that’s pretty impressive. He’s always been a great champion, he wore the belt great, and I’m excited about seeing the future of what Georges St. Pierre can bring to the table to help support the fighters.”

    On if there’s still a grudge there with Paul Daley all those years later from their original UFC fight

    “Yeah, you know, I’m ready to beat down Paul Daley again. That’s one of the reasons why I was so excited about signing with Bellator, and pretty much primarily the only reason I wanted to sign, is to get a chance to take this guy out. You know, I grinded him out. He still – after watching him fight – he’s still got 3rd grade wrestling. So it’s gonna be an easy fight for me. I probably won’t even do any wrestling for the whole camp, just because his wrestling is just pathetic and I can’t wait for that fight, and that’s what I’m working towards. I gotta go out there and obviously win a fight or win maybe two fights and hopefully Paul Daley can be my third fight. So I’m looking forward to potentially getting that fight next summer.”

    On how the second fight with Paul will play out compared to their first fight

    “I’ll finish him. It’s that plain and simple. I’m gonna finish Paul Daley and it’ll probably be in the first or second round. So that fight won’t go any further than that. I’ll put money on that.”

    On if Josh would be open to a fight with Chris Leben if he got signed to Bellator

    “Yeah I think so, but I think Chris Leben is still tied to the UFC, so I don’t see him getting…they own him. So I don’t see him becoming a free agent out of the UFC. But I’d definitely love that opportunity to get in there and mix it up with Chris Leben again.”

    If Josh is interested in fighting Andrey Koreshkov for the Welterweight title and becoming a champion in Bellator

    “Nope. I don’t care about a belt. You know what I care about? Big fights, big ratings and lots of butts in the seat. That’s what I care about. You know, at some point hopefully I’d love the opportunity to fight on like Fort Benning, or Fort Bragg, or Camp Lejeune, one of the military bases. I think that would be pretty surreal to the get the opportunity to go back there and Spike TV lines up a fight for the troops again. So that’s one of my goals , do one more fight for the troops at some point and just make it a good little run here in Bellator. I don’t care about belts. Those things are all sweet and dandy, but it’s not important for me. What’s important for me is to go out there and win a couple of fights and then whip Paul Daley’s ass. That’s all I care about.”

    On when we can expect Josh to have his first Bellator fight

    “Yup, we’ll be fighting Bellator in December. I don’t know if it’s the 11th or 12th. Whatever that Friday is of that week, that’s when I’m fighting, and I’m fighting in Fresno California.”

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (August 10): Vader wins IWGP title, Hogan wins WCW title, Luger wins U.S. title

    By Brian Hoops

    1939 – At Memorial Hall in Kansas City; World Junior Heavyweight Champion Steve Brody beat Prospector Pete 

    1944 – In Kansas City; Kansas; The Black Faced Panther beat Jimmy Coffield in 2 out of 3 falls and Orville Brown defeated Jack Hader 1 fall to 0.  

    1963 – In St. Paul, Minnesota at Midway Stadium; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Larry Hennig in a fence (cage) match. Also, The Crusher beat Haystack Calhoun in 2 out of 3 falls, AWA Tag Team Champions Ivan Kalmikoff & Karol Kalmikoff beat Butch Levy & Don McClarty, Eddie Sharkey beat Gene Anderson and Iron Mike DiBiase beat Stan Kowalski. Attendance was 6,064

    1968 – In Chicago, Illinois; Dr X beat Wilbur Snyder, The Crusher beat Mad Dog Vachon, Bill Watts beat Harley Race and Blackjack Lanza beat Dutch Savage

    1972 – In Kansas City, Kansas; Steve Bolus & Les Thornton defeated Omar Atlas & Bobby Whitlock, The Viking vs. Jim Preacher, Danny Little Bear vs. Yasu Fuji, Terry Funk vs. Harley Race and Roger Kirby & Black Angus (w/ Percival A. Friend) vs. The Stomper & Rufus R. Jones

    1972 – In Jacksonville, Florida; NWA Champion Dory Funk Jr. beat Paul Jones, Eddie & Mike Graham beat Buddy Colt & Phil Robley, 
    Ray Stevens beat Louie Tillet and Nick Bockwinkel drew Mr Wrestling Tim Woods

    1973 – In Denver, Colorado; AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel on a 3rd fall countout. Also, Superstar Billy Graham beat Ken Patera, Red Bastien drew Ivan Koloff and Greg Gagne beat Ric Flair. Attendance was 4,501

    1976 – In Omaha, Nebraska; Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell ddq Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke, 
    Bobby Duncum beat the Crusher, Peter Maivia beat Blackjack Lanza and Billy Red Cloud beat Buck Zumhofe

    1992 – Big Van Vader defeated Riki Choshu to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

    1992 – Reno Riggins defeated Brian Christopher for the USWA Southern
    Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee.  On the same show, The Moondogs
    (Spot & Cujo) defeated Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett for the USWA Tag Team
    Title,

    1996 – Hulk Hogan defeated The Giant to win the WCW World Title at the
    WCW Hog Wild PPV in Sturgis, SD. Also on the show, WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat defeated Rick & Scott Steiner, WCW United States Champion Ric Flair defeated Eddie Guerrero and Scott Hall & Kevin Nash defeated Sting & Lex Luger. 

    1997 – Shinjiro Otani defeated El Samurai in Nagoya, Japan to win the J-Crown.

    1998 – On Monday Night Raw, Kane & Mankind defeated Steve Austin &
    Undertaker, Rock & D’Lo Brown, and the New Age Outlaws to win the WWF
    World Tag Team Title.

    1998 – On Monday Nitro, Lex Luger defeated Bret Hart for the United
    States Title and Chris Jericho defeated Stevie Ray for the WCW
    Television Title.

    2003 – Christian defeated Booker T for the WWE Intercontinental Title in
    Des Moines, Iowa.

    2008 – At the TNA Hard Justice PPV; AJ Styles defeated Kurt Angle in a Last Man Standing match and Samoa Joe defeated Booker T in a 6 sides of Steel match.

  • WWE News: NXT in Brooklyn now officially sold out

    The 8/22 NXT show headlined by Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens, set for the Barclays Center in Brookly, is now officially sold out with more than 13,000 total in attendance.

    The WWE will have, perhaps for the first time ever in North America, sold out a major NBA arena on three successive nights, with NXT, SummerSlam and Raw that week all with no tickets left.

    The first two hours of the show will be aired live on the WWE Network as a major Takeover show.  The third hour will be a television taping for the show after Takeover.

  • WWE house show report 8-9-15 Vancouver, BC Reigns vs. Wyatt

    By Jeff Zanatta

    Before the show started, there was a film crew in the arena filming scenes for the new WWE film “6:42”. Dolph Ziggler filmed a few scenes where he was walking through the crowd to his seat. There were a few fans in the crowd trying to get pictures with him, but for the most part they stayed clear as it was obvious they were filming. The camera was facing opposite the ring, so I doubt Ziggler will be attending a wrestling show at any point in the movie. 

    Show started with the same Piper tribute package we saw on Raw, and a 10 bell salute. Crowd loved Piper. 

    1. New Day defeated Lucha Dragons, Ascension, Heath Slater and Brad Maddox, Curtis Axel and Damian Sandow in battle royal to determine who faces the Prime Time Players for the titles later in the show. Kofi and Woods worked the match for the New Day. Biggest reaction came from Big E on the outside getting the crowd worked up. 

    2. Stardust defeated Zach Ryder with the crossroads. After the match Stardust grabbed a planted #AmellGetsRaw sign and ripped it up in the ring. No Amell appearance tonight though. 

    3. Miz defeated Jimmy Uso with a roll up when he got his feet on the ropes. Pre-match Miz went on about how Vancouver should thank him for providing so many jobs to the city, because of all the WWE studios movies he’s filmed there. Post match he made fun of the Big Show, who came out to a massive pop, and gave Miz the choke slam. Show helped Jimmy to the back and played to the crowd, so i suppose he’s a face again, at least on the house shows. 

    4. Prime Time Players defeated New Day to retain the tag titles when Titus hit clash of the Titus on Woods. Big E and Woods were in the ring for New Day. This was given quite a bit of time, crowd loved to boo the New Day and were into basically everything Titus did.

    Intermission

    5. Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch defeated Team Bad when Paige tapped Naomi with the PTO. Crowd was really into Paige, much more so than the recent NXT call ups. Notable that the face trio came out to Charlotte’s music though. 

    Rusev and Summer Rae were then introduced, and Rusev got the mic to run down Vancouver, Lana, and then Ziggler. Lana came out and brawled with Summer, and then Ziggler came out, to no music, and fought with Rusev. Segment ended with Ziggler hitting the zig zag on Rusev, and he and Lana celebrated with the crowd. Crowd was hot for the whole segment, especially when Lana came out. 

    6. Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt with the spear in a street fight. Loudest pop of the night was for Reigns’ entrance. Long main event that the crowd loved, including a few “this is awesome” chants. Wyatt put Reigns through a table with that standing rock bottom slam he does, Reigns later power bombed Wyatt through a table. Reigns countered the sister Abigail to hit the spear. Crowd was 80% behind Reigns, but there were a few audible boos. Crowd was into Wyatt as well, everyone had their phones out for his entrance. 

    Overall a fun show with a fairly hot crowd for the majority of the time. Typical house show crowd that cheered all the faces and boo’d most of the heels, although Wyatt got a lot of cheers as well. 

  • Weekend show feedback

    Thumbs down
    Best Match : Myzteziz vs Rey Misterio Jr
    Worst Match : Villanos vs Psycho Circus

    That was my first AAA event ever, and I ordered it on a whim. Did not expect such horrendous wrestling and production hiccups. It was worth it for all the laughs I got out of it, especially on that last Myzteziz botch on the tope in the very end, and the fact that there was still action in the ring and a story being told while the credits rolled. Definitely glad I got to be a part of this, but seriously, never paying money for something like this again.
    Yuriy Bortnik

    : Thumbs Up

    : Best Match – Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Myzteziz

    : Worst Match – Los Villanos III, IV, V vs. The Psycho Circus

    This was a last minute decision to order the PPV and I figured for $20 what the heck. Overall despite the audio problems which weren’t really that bad I still enjoyed the show. The opening two matches did nothing for me as I’ve never been a fan of mixed tag matches and the Los Villanos vs. The Psycho Circus match was dreadful. It looked like something from a kids television show with three purple Barney the dinosaurs lumbering around the ring. Everything else outside of that I liked and the Mysterio Jr. vs. Myzteziz match I thought was really good although Myzteziz timing on some moves seem off since his Sin Cara days in the WWE. The post match attack on both guys seemed pointless with Myzteziz turning heel anyways. I was entertained enough that I will give the October show a shot providing it will air in Canada.

    -Ed Ludwig

    Burnaby, BC

    AAA TripleMania 25

    thumbs down
    best Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Myzteziz
    worst Los Villanos III & IV & V vs. The Psycho Circus (has to be the worst match in the last 10 years or so….what was that finish were they were really hitting each other. 

    wow i don’t even know what to say about that…the production was an all time low…the commentary from what you could hear of it when the sound was buzzing in and out or when they were running production test was awful they kept talking over each other all night. the last match was fine actually it was pretty good but nothing else was worth going out of your way to see. the only thing you can take pride in is the fact that you probably saw one of the all time worst ppv train wrecks. 

    g1
    thumbs up 
    best Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii (really good everything this week has been good. lord im done complaining about the g1 after tonight it looks like the best stuff on earth compared to the triple a show tonight.
    john juett 


    Hi guys:

    Wanted to write you about my ordering experience with TripleMania 23 tonight. That name is appropriate because if you Triple the number 23 you get the number of ways in which this was a fail for me.

    So on Friday I ordered the show in advance because being someone with a visual impairment I need someone to navigate the on-screen menus for me. I mention the visual impairment because it is kind of important later.

    Anyway, the preview show starts at 5:30 with no problem. The show starts at 6 and my friends and I are treated to the same technical issues that plagued everyone else.

    Then after the Villanos match, right as they were making preparations for the Trios title match the PPV feed cut off and we were taken back to the menu screen. We waited a few minutes to see what was happening, thinking that things with the show had just gotten worse. Well after seeing people still tweeting about the show I figured maybe it wasn’t a problem with the show so I rang up my cable company.

    Generally, I like my cable company and think they have great customer service. I even like that they charge the same amount for HD as they do for SD, so the HD feed of this show was only $19.99. Anyway, I called and told them that we were watching the show and that it had just stopped.

    Tonight, the guy was helpful but had to put me on hold several times. Once was because they couldn’t find a listing for this anywhere. Eventually, they did and decided that what they were going to do is reset my box and order the show for me again. So that’s what they did.

    When the box came back online they directed me away from channel 808 where we were watching the show to channel 807. I told them that it was showing, the guy asked if Mysterio had wrestled yet and then we ended the call. Then I realized that we were now watching the Spanish feed of the show which explained why they asked me to change the channel.

    The Spanish version of the feed was miles ahead of the English version even though my friends now were watching an SD picture. Being visually impaired, I rely on commentary for a lot of information but given the quality of the first two matches commentary wise I think I also may have been better off listening in Spanish.

    But this is where it gets really weird. I tweeted about how my cable company ordered the wrong version of the show. They replied asking for my account info which I sent via direct message. They messaged me back and said that they apologized but they had to order me the Spanish feed because according to their schedule the next English broadcast wasn’t until tomorrow morning. Keep in mind that this is during the Hair vs. Hair match.

    The happy ending is that they credited me for $15 on my account. So unless I get double charged for this show which they said they would reverse if it happened, I’m going to get it for $5. That may still be too much.

    Strange times all around.

    Casey Trowbridge
    Huron, SD.

    –Thumbs Down
    Best match: Mysterio vs Myzteziz
    Worst Match: Los Villanos vs Psycho Circus

    There is no way I can recommend the English version of this show. I don’t have anything against Matt Striker but he and Hugo were terrible, they didn’t work with each other and constantly flubbed things that should not be a problem for either of them (like Rey winning with La Mistica). I wish I could make a crack about the technical problems being an improvement but the horrible buzzing and scratching noises they produced had me changing the volume constantly. It was a struggle watching this live. As soon as it seemed they righted the ship they some screwed up worse by cutting away in the middle of the big show ending angle. They completely missed Konan’s promo at the end and came back to the show with no explanation of what was going on and why it was such a big deal. On the plus side the two main events were very good. Cage wearing a Donald Trump shirt was great heel stuff, he and Alberto put on a fun brawl. Mysterio and Myzteziz were excellent but I felt the match itself might have been too short. The undercard was unremarkable with the cage match being a total let down. Watch this show in Spanish if you must, otherwise don’t bother.
    Jack Wofford

    Thumbs down
    Best match Rey Jr vs Mysteziz
    Worst match Los Villanos vs Psyco Circus

    The rare thumbs down show that i didnt regret paying for at all. I highly enjoyed both main events especially Rey vs Mistico even if the postmatch stuff was something else. Albero vs Brian Cage was fun and I enjoyed myself and in the opening match I fell in love with Goya Kong.

    Everything else on the show was something else with the constant technical difficulties and when there werent any difficulties Matt Striker was so grating that I was wishing for more technical difficilties. The Villanos match will also go down in my book as one of the worat matches I have ever witnessed…enough so that I expect I will watch it multiple times just to see if it was really as bad as I remember it.

    Wade Haugen

    Thumbs DOWN!

    Best Match: Rey vs Myzteziz
    Worst Match: Villanos vs Psycho Circus

    I paid $19 dollars for this putrid, sorry excuse, for a PPV.  I took a chance knowing this would happen seeing as they had issues with the Trios World Cup show but I honest to God thought they would get it right this time.  Nope, I was a fool!

    Good luck ever getting another chance like this AAA because I doubt Cable companies are going to want to continue airing your PPV’s in the United States after this debacle.

    Anyone who paid for this show needs to get a refund ASAP in order to send AAA a message.

    David Penton
    San Antonio, TX

    Hey Dave,

    Overall: thumbs down show.
    Best Match; Rey vs. Myzteziz
    Worst Match; The Villanos vs. Clown posse rivals the Rosa Mendes singles match for worst match in recent memory.

    Thoughts:

    I have never been much more than a casual fan of authentic lucha libre wrestling. The only time I really watched AAA or CMLL consistently is when I first started to train to wrestle in 2003. Back then, I watched Sunday morning Lucha Libre in an attempt to learn new moves and transitions.  Needless to say, I did not have the skills needed to execute such complicated maneuvers. On many occasions I have heard other people, both wrestlers and wrestling fans, state they did not understand the psychology behind Lucha Libre. I share similar sentiments.  In other words, forgive my ethnic bias. Triplemania is Mexico’s biggest Lucha Libre Event. A lot can be said for watching an event and being able to feel the culture and vibrant energy through the television screen.  I believe this is why the World Cup and other live sporting events generate such buzz and viewership from casual fans. People want to feel the event. I wanted to get the feeling of authentic lucha libre through the viewing experience.

    Obviously, the audio difficulties were a source of frustration and distraction for the majority of the show. The multiple distractions severely hurt the experience. It is hard to judge the show based on the merits of the in ring action when everything built to enhance the presentation failed.  To make matters worse, out of befuddlement, Striker resorted to his sarcastic super smark comments.  I feel Hugo’s role was to fill in the backstory to place each event and match into a context. Without Hugo’s commentary, I was unaware of the essential relationships and stakes that make each match important.  The continuity between the camera work, live audio, timing, and commentary was off all night.  As a viewing experience, it was unique, but not in a good way. Unlike Wrestle Kingdom 9, this did not leave me wanting more or urge me to direct more attention to AAA.

    1. Drago & Goya Kong & Dinastia & Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Daga & Sexy Star & Mini Psycho Clown & Mamba. Good variety, notable diversity, and a lot of high energy. The match had some good sequences and an abundance of confusion. I was entertained yet perplexed.  The momentum of the match did not flow or build into the finish.
    2. Los Villanos III & IV & V vs. The Psycho Circus. Some like to lean on the card of cultural relativity. I am not going to be one of those people. This was a cluster fuck of the worst kind. The audio feed made the action worse. Got to love Matt Striker. He took chicken shit and compiled it into a chicken shit septic tank. Awful.
    3. Cibernetico & Chessman & Averno defend the trios titles against Jack Evans & Fenix & Angelico and El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr. & Pentagon Jr. Another match ruined by audio distractions and camera mis cues. The top of the cage cam actually subtracted from the effect and impact of many of the moves. It was supposed to be a train wreck match up. It was a train wreck, just a train wreck I could easily bypass without second thought.
    4. Blue Demon Jr. & La Parka vs. Mesias & Electroshock. I attempted to tune out the audio, and enjoyed some of the action. If Blue Demon was two steps faster, he would be quite amazing. Striker was able to relay enough commentary to portray the historic importance of Blue Demon.
    5. Alberto El Patron vs. Brian Cage. This was an American style heel/face match. It was fine.  Alberto did not showcase anything we have not seen from him in WWE. When Cage is not hitting spots, he shows an abundance of amateur tendencies.  The ref bump was perhaps the silliest part of the entire match. Matt Striker telling the American wrestling fans that the American flag is a symbol of ethnocentrism in Mexico was great.
    6. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Myzteziz. This match had a story I could follow. I dream match built on respect devolved into a grudge match. For the most part, the action was solid. Mysterio is still capable of performing his trademark maneuvers in a quick and believable way. Myzteziz played the aggressive role better than I expected. All in all, it was good but fell short of hype and expectation. The after match shenanigans were a booking disaster that made WWE run in finishes appear to be sacrament like in execution.

    Thanks,
    Derrick Hubbard from Utah

    Hi Dave and Brian 

    All I can say about the show was “ugh”! It was pretty bad from start to finish. Mysterios match was the best on a show that was horrible. Aside from the audio and technical problems Hugo was horrible as well. Striker was ok. Thumbs down.

    Peter Leong

    Dave,

    Hope you had a better weekend than that show. I only wish I had more hands, so I could give TripleMania four thumbs down. What a total disaster. One of the 4 or 5 worst PPVs I’ve ever watched, and I stayed to the bitter end of WCW. 

    Rey vs. Myzteziz was, but FAR, the best match. You could draw the rest out of a hat for worst match, but if I had to pick one, I guess it’s the Villanos-Psycho Circus debacle. I think Vince Russo booked that swerve fest mess at the end of the show. 

    Even without the gaffs in production, this show was beyond awful. Striker makes doing wrestling commentary seem like rocket science, like it’s the hardest thing in the world to figure out. How can anyone be as bad and unprepared as he was tonight? My favorite was him asking Hugo what Myzteziz translated to. What a dolt. Hugo wasn’t much better, either. 

    Why is it that 30-40 years ago, there were dozens of promoters and bookers that could put out a quality product around the world and today, whew, only a small, small handful. 

    AAA has a long way to go before I plop down $30 for one of their shows again. 

    All the best,
    Sammy Eanes

    Thumbs in the middle
    Best match: Mysterio/Myzteziz
    Worst match: Villanos/Psycho Circus

    Well…it wasn’t When Worlds Collide but I had fun watching this show with a friend. The opener was fine, exactly what I expected. The Villanos match was bad, like worst match of the year bad. Cage match was a blast even with the technical problems. Hated the Blue Demon Jr. match and that Cage/Alberto match was horrendous. The Perro tribute was my favorite thing on the show. I’m glad they did as good of a job with that as they did. The main event was excellent as well. On the whole, I felt like I spent $30 reasonably well. I had fun if nothing else and I’m looking forward to seeing heel Myzteziz vs. Rey in a mask match.

    Ricky Schmidt

    G1 night 8/8/15

    Thumbs in the middle

    Most of the card wasn’t great and would probably be thumbs down but the Tanahashi match elevated it beyond that.  Though even Tanahashi playing to the crowd didn’t seem as great as it normally is, probably because of the crowd.  It was noticable how few people were left when the camera pulled away as Tanahashi was walking back up.  Naito and Ibushi continue to be the other standouts in the A Block.

    Best Match – Tanahashi vs. Shibata

    Worst Match – Opening 6 man (mainly because it is the same as all the other 6 man tag matches that have taken place on this tour)

    G1 night 9/8/15

    Thumbs up

    Much better than previous day, it is amazing how much of a difference having commentary makes to the presentation, even though I basically understand nothing they say. The crowd also seemed much more into it tonight. All the tournament matches tonight were really good. A lot of Bullet Club interference as well but not to the point that it was too much. Elgin and Anderson had a great match, much better than I thought it was going to be.

    Best Match – Goto vs. Ishii

    Worst Match – Tonga & Fale vs Finlay & White

    Looking forward to the last few nights of tournament, it should really start to pick up from now on.

    Lee Dunn

    GLORY 23

    Decent. MMA defector Dustin Jacoby, showing improvement, wins a 4 man tourney MW tourney which allows him to enter the next 4 man MW tourney for (I think) a title shot. HW Xavier Vigney does a 3R paint job on Daniel Sam but has to settle for an incomprehensible split decision. Nieky Holzken repeats his previous stoppage of Raymond Daniels, this time for the WW title left vacant by Joe Valetillini’s medical suspension. Holzken avoided all Daniels’ movie kicks and picked his shots, and in the 3rd cornered Daniels, landed a flurry, and then backed away, talking to ref BJM, who took one look at the cut over Daniels’ eye, caused by a legal knee, and waved it off. The cut was horrible.

    UFC FN 73

    Thumbs middle. Too many mismatches.
    Best fight: Glover-OSP
    Worst fight: Rosholt-T. Johnson
    Best performance: Glover, Nunes
    Worst performance: yet again, the judges
    KO: Wilson
    Sub: Vera

    Onesided UFC debut win for Scott Holtzman over Anthony Christodoulou, who still needs to drop at least one division, dominating standup completely then finishing with RNC in the 3rd. Chito Vera, probably behind, taps Ramon Salazar with a triangle/arm bar in the 2nd and then screams and yells a lot. Quick UFC debut KO for Raymond Wilson over the badly outsized Chris Dempsey, who has no business at 205.

    Frankie Saenz gets a dubious 30-27 x 2, 28-29 SD over Sirwan Kakai. Very close fight. Onesided 3rdR G&P TKO for Distin Ortiz over late sub Willie Gates. Onesided, tedious UD for Chris Camozzi over Tom Watson. Quick win for Uriah Hall catching a kick and spilling way overmatched late sub indy phenom Oluwale Bamgbose and bombing him out with G&P. 

    Onesided but fast paced and sorta entertaining FlyW grapple-fucking card sweep UD for Ray Borg over UFC debuting Geane Herrera.

    Amanda Nunes comes through, stuffing Sara McMann’s TDs, dropping her with a combo capped with a right, and not letting her off the hook, taking back, pounding and opening up the RNC for the tap.

    Jared Rosholt barely survives the 3rd but has plopped and schmopped his way to a 29-28 HW porkfest UD over Tim Johnson. Dreadful.

    Derek Brunson batters Smilin Sam Alvey on the fance till he goes down and Yamasaki jumps in prematurely. Eh.

    Beniel Dariush gets an EXTREMELY dubious 29-28 SD over Michael Johnson, who certainly seemed to win at least the 1st and 2nd.

    Best performance in a couple years from Glover Teixeira. After a back and forth 1st, takes over completely scoring TDs at will and puts OSP to sleep with RNC early in the 3rd. OSP’s TD defense was nonexistent.
    Crimson Mask

    Here are my tournament thoughts on a thumbs up show. The best match of the night was Shibata vs Tanahashi. The worst match was Naito vs Yano.

    Night 13 

    Ibushi vs Fale

    Fale is using his size to beat down Ibushi. They do a good job of giving Ibushi hope spots only for Fale’s size to be too much. This even makes more sense this late in the tourney. They tease a Razor’s Edge on the floor, but Ibushi escapes and delivers an Asai Moonsault. It looks like Ibushi is about to make a run, but Fale cuts him off with a Samoan Drop. Some more and eventually it builds to a finish. From a story this was pretty basic, and honestly they needed it to be.  2 3/4*

    Naito vs Yano

    Some comedy early. Naito kicking Yano’s ass. Some Yano shennanigans. 1 1/2*

    Styles vs Tenzan

    AJ with some fun hair pulling. AJ is working another smart match. Tenzan has now busted his mouth. AJ selling the Koppo kick big. Nasty kick in the corner by AJ. Styles working the leg. Calf Slicer!!!!! Followed up by a Figure 4. Tenzan comeback after AJ mocking him. I bought Tenzan’s nearfall. I like how the story went back to Tenzan’s leg. I bit again on AJ’s close call. Yes and I loved that the leg work was paid off. I can’t wait to see AJ next month. He can go so many different ways in a match and tell so many different stories. He’s a lot like Billy Robinson in that regard. 4*

    Gallows vs Makabe

    Hoss fight. Gallows choking Makabe with his own chain. Now he’s punching him with it. Big sternum bump into the guard rail by Makabe. Gallows smashes a guard rail and chairs on Makabe. I guess the ref is giving him leeway. Makabe comeback. Gallows bumping good for him. A cursing battle to boot. Gotta give Makabe credit, he’s taking an ass kicking, and his strikes seem on point. A fun match. 3*

    Tanahashi vs Shibata

    Liking the mat work to start. The battles for positioning is really cool. Very old school build with a modern update. Tanahashi’s ankle pick was  sweet. Tanahashi doesn’t give Shibata a clean break. A nice piece of history in the match. Shibata transitions into an Abdominal Stretch into a Figure 4. I’m really liking the chess build here. Shibata beating Tanahashi down. Tanahashi tricks him and gives a low level drop kick. Dragon Screw by Tanahashi. Tanahashi presses his advantage on the floor. Shibata does a fighting spirit comeback, but at least it’s after 2 Tanahashi pussy elbow strikes. Shibata with some nasty work in the corner. A modified Octopus by Shibata. A kick stops Shibata cold. Tanahashi going back to the leg was awesome. This feels epic and a total battle. Super hot finishing sequence. What a match. The finish was perfect NWA champion. 4 1/2*

    Pete Schirmacher
    @titansowrestlin

  • After Dark Radio for tonight — Steven Streufert talks new Patterson/Gimlin video plus open lines and news!

    After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez returns tonight streaming LIVE AND FREE from the After Dark Radio Show website on the Dark Matter Radio Network. You can also now stream the show through the front page of this website using the link on the right-hand side of the front page!

    The show airs at MIDNIGHT ET/9 PM Pacific for two hours!

    Tonight we will be joined by special guest STEVEN STREUFERT of the Bluff Creek Projectfor an awesome discussion! We will also be taking your open lines phone calls on any topic imaginable! Check the website for NEW call-in numbers/email addresses in addition to our normal toll-free line.

    We will also be discussing tons of news, both from our website, afterdarkradioshow.com, our Facebook page, and, of course, Artbell.com, plus taking your phone calls, emails and Twitter questions!

    All of the phone numbers are available at afterdarkradioshow.com. You can send in emails on any topic to bryan@afterdarkradioshow.com. Remember, this show survives on your participation, so please send those emails or be prepared to call!

  • AAA TripleMania live coverage from Arena Ciudad in Mexico City – Mysterio vs. Myzteziz, Alberto vs. Cage hair match

    The first AAA PPV in the U.S. in 21 years is today’s TripleMania 23 from Arena Ciudad in Mexico City.

    We’re looking for your thoughts on today’s show, as well as today and yesterday’s G-1 shows from Japan, 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

    We’re opening the show with audio difficulties.

    MINI PSYCHO CLOWN & MAMBA & DAGA & SEXY STAR VS. DINASTIA & PIMPINELA ESCARLATA & GOYA KONG & DRAGO

    Goya Kong is Porky’s daughter and looks just like him.  The finish saw Pimpinela make Sexy submit to version of a backbreaker.  The guys and minis were really good, he women not so good more comedy and the exoticos were what they were.  Some of the wrestling was really bad and the flying was tremendous.  Everyone but Kong did dives and there were multiple dives.  Pimpinela was kissing Matt Striker in the cheek after the match.

    They are now honoring Tropicasas, the father of Negro Casas who is retiring as a referee at the age of 82. 

    The announcers are really struggling. 

    So Striker compared Tropicasas with Terry Funk.  Because both wear a headband.

    Marisela Pena was almost in tears as Tropicasas came out.  He’ll be doing his final match tonight.

    They are doing a photo spread of Los Villanos, including showing Ray Mendoza, their father, who was one of the biggest stars in Lucha Libre history and a major star in California as well.

    LOS VILLANOS III & IV & V VS. THE PSYCHO CIRCUS

    The Villanos came out wearing their masks.  Two of them have to take their mask off after the match per commission regulations.

    Holy shit.  Think of the worst match that you ever saw.  That would be a fantastic match compared to this.  One of the Villanos used a low blow to pin one of the clowns.  Psycho Clown had Villano III pinned a couple of times but he refused to pin him because it was Villano III’s last match.  The announcing was hilarious as Matt Striker even said when they were throwing punches that they aren’t slapping their legs.  Hugo Savinovich’s mic was off so Striker was having a conversation with someone we couldn’t hear.  Between the technical problems, the wrestling and the announcing I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything worse.  I knew this would be bad, but it was at a different level.

    At least the post match was touching.  The clowns are hugging Tropicasas.  The two Vilanos, Vilanos III and Villano V unmasked with some of the younger members of te Villano family in the ring.   Joaquin Roldan was thanking Villano III.

    Villano III and Tropiecasas were thanking the fans on the way out.   The Psycho Circus led chants for Villanos after.

    CAGE MATCH WITH THE BELTS HANGING ABOVE THE RING FOR AAA TRIOS TITLES.  CHESSMAN & CIBERNETICO & AVERNO DEFENDING AGAINST JACK EVANS & ANGELICO & FENIX AND PENTAGON JR. & EL HIJO DEL FANTASMA & EL TEXANO JR.

    Yes, we have the best flyers in the world and they are in a cage match.  We will be having all sorts of dives off the cage here no doubt.

    This was awful due to the production.  The cage kept the flyers from doing their thing past Fenix doing a moonsault block on Penataon and Evans did a flip off the thing over the ring, like a scaffolding made of metal.  Evans and Angelico ere both knocked off the cage to the floor.  It ended up with Averno, Fantasma and Angelico were on the scaffolding.  Angelico was knocked off the scaffolding into the ring.  Averno gave Fantasma a low blow and he fell into the ring.  Averno then grabbed the belt to win.  Cibernetico speared Texano through a  table in the ring and Chessman was knocked off the cage by Fantasma off the cage onto two tables that didn’t really break at all.

    This match made the least use of some talented guys and poor Matt Striker trying to announce this travesty.  By the end, we did get Hugo Savinovich back.

    BLUE DEMON JR. & LA PARKA VS. MESIAS & ELECTROSHOCK

    Demon Jr. made Electroshock submit with a combination scorpion and armlock after Parka had hit Mesias with a tope.  Some of this was pretty bad and other parts were okay.  Demon wasn’t bad considering his age and Parka tried given how beat up he is.

    Striker just said we may never see a wrestler have such a great career for as long a period of time as Blue Demon Jr.  Did anyone tell Matt that it’s not his father in the match.

    Next is the tribute to Perro Aguayo Jr. & Hector Garza.  They are both being inducted into the Hall of Fame tonight.

    Joaquin Roldan was out and Hugo was translating, except we couldn’t hear his translations.  The Garza family is out.  They are having wrestlers talk about Garza.  Lots of clis of Perro Jr. & Garza.  Perro is now talking.  

    His father Humberto accepted the plaque.  His brother and kids were out.  The Aguayo family is out and the fans are chanting.  The family has the urn.  Perro Agauyo Sr. isn’t there.  They are now showing a Perro video.   They showed him as a baby with Andre the Giant and Abdullah the Butcher.  They had his mother being interviewed.  They showed his father on the screen saying he was the best son you could ever have. 

    They are now playing his music.  They are showing lots of fans with Perros Del Mal shirts.  This was the best thing on the show.

    ALBERTO EL PATRON VS. BRIAN CAGE IN A HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH

    Alberto won with the armbar a low blow and throwing Cage into a chair in the corner.  This was more the idea that Cage, Fantasma and heel ref Tirantes were conspiring against Alberto.  Cage wore a Trump for President tank top.  It was more of a brawl with lots of chair shots to the head, although not severe, and table breaks.  It looked like Cage blew out his right knee during the match so he was doing the match with one leg.  He did every spot planned and went several minutes.  It looked like the knee went out on a missed moonsault.   Alberto juiced early on.  Fantasma and Fenix got involved until Cage threw Fenix into Fantasma who backdropped him on the ramp.  Alberto ended up giving El Hijo del Tirantes a spinning backbreaker and superkick.  Rafael el Maya came out as the new ref after Cage power bombed Alberto off the middle rope through a table but Alberto kicked out.  They are shaving Cage’s head. Alberto used a step up enzuigiri and a short power bomb and buried Cage under the Mexican flag since this started with Cage burying Alberto under the American flag.  Alberto kissed Marisela Pena when it’s over.

    REY MYSTERIO JR. VS. MYZTEZIZ

    This was a really good match.  Mysterio won with Myzteziz’s own La Mistica finish by tap out  The announcers didn’t know it was Myzteziz’s move.  Tons of near falls with the slow counts.  Myzteziz used the 619 and frog splash to Rey but Rey kicked out.  There were table breaks and all kinds of cradles for near falls.  Mysterio did a Thesz press on him over the post.  Myzteziz bled from being rammed into the post several times which he immediately recovered from.  Averno, Pentagon and Joe Lider all atacked Myteziz after the match while Rey is hanging out with Marisela Pena.  Rey ran in to clean house but they are beating him down.  Lider used the staple gun on Rey.  Looked like first they were pushing Pentagon  Lider vs. Myteziz & Rey for the tag title.  Averno went for the mask of Myzteziz.  They are all beating on Rey as he hung upside in the coner.  The doctor is with Myzteziz in one corner.  Rey & Myzteziz cleaned house together.  They used a double 619 on Pentagon and Lider.  Myzteziz got the staple gun and stapled Lider in the head, chest shoulders and arms.  Mysterio gave Averno a head scissors and went for the 619 n Averno but Averno ran off.  Myzteziz went for a tope on Averno but missed.  Averno started attacking him until Mysterio used a spinning head scissors on Averno on the floor.

    They announced another show on October 4th from San Luis Potosi.

    Rey talked to Myzteziz after but Myzteziz blew something in his face and cut a heel promo on him and called the fans dogs  He asked for a rematch with Mysterio in an anything goes match with no referee in front of these people and I want to embarrass you as the idol you claim to be.  He wanted a a mask vs. mask match and power bombed Mysterio through a table again.  That should only happen at TripleMania.  Mysteziz press slammed him into a codebreaker.  They rolled the credits while Konnan turned on Rey and the announcers were calling it as the show credits rolled.  Konnan was inviting Myzteziz to join La Sociedad as the show went off the air.

    This was something else.

  • WWE News: Possible surprise at WWE house show tonight

    We’ve been told that Stephan Amell of Arrow fame who will be on Raw tomorrow night, is backstage at today’s WWE house show in Vancouver.

    –Thanks to Michael Curson