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  • NJPW G1 Climax 25 (day 8) August 1 live results: Okada vs. Goto, Nakamura vs. Ishii

    By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome to tonight’s G1 Climax show (we’re on day 8) in Osaka. This is a full camera show, complete with commentary for the first time in what seems like ages.

    It was announced a few hours before showtime that Shinsuke Nakamura has been cleared of his elbow injury, and will compete on tonight’s card.

    Jay White & David Finlay vs. Cody Hall & Doc Gallows

    Solid tag. White is really improving and is probably going to be a great worker someday, though already he shows a lot of fire. Hall isolated Finlay on the outside as Gallows pinned White with the Gallows poll.

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

    Naito teased at the start of the match like he and Tenzan were gonna go at it, but he immediately bailed. Dorada and Komatsu were in for a few minutes and looked good. Naito tagged himself in and continued the heel tactics. He teased like he was going to do a brainbuster but then just stopped and posed to boos. Tenzan at one point was stomping at him while having Makabe in a figure four. Boiled down to Dorada and Komatsu who had another good exchange before Dorada won with his screwdriver finish.

    Katsuyori Shibata & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

    Shibata and Fale had a staredown before the match. AJ worked for a long time on Tiger Mask’s leg until he tagged in Shibata, and that’s when the crowd woke up. Both tagged out rather quickly, leaving Captain New Japan and Tonga alone. They went at it briefly before Tonga pinned him with the waistlock DDT. 

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo

    Another fun tag team match. Of course, a lot of this was Yano avoiding Tanahashi. Gedo and Kushida had some good back and forth as well. Tanahashi and Taguchi did a double crossbody to the floor that left Kushida and Gedo by themselves. Kushida laid out Gedo and submitted him with the hoverboard lock.

    Satoshi Kojima vs. Yujiro Takahashi

    This was ok, but nothing special. Yujiro just lacks in the in-ring finesse others have in spades here. Crowd was really not into this at all until Kojima started making his comeback. He laid out Yujiro at one point with a DDT on the apron. Yujiro fired back with a buckle bomb. Kojima had the win with the lariat but Hall broke up the count. He took care of Hall then went back to Yujiro. He went for another lariat but Yujiro blocked it, gave him a low blow then pinned him with the Miami Shine. This was fine, and since Yujiro’s on the lower end of the totem pole right now it’s the right finish to do based on where they’re going in this tournament.  

    Karl Anderson vs. Yuji Nagata

    Pretty good, but nothing too special. Anderson worked a lot on Nagata’s ribs. He made a comeback and got the white eyes armbar in but Anderson escaped. Anderson tried for the gun stun but Nagata avoided it. Nagata grabbed him for the backdrop suplex but Anderson dropped him with a gun stun in mid motion and pinned him. 

    Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

    Crowd was super into this from the start, of course behind Honma. Elgin continued to look good, showing impressive work including a deadlift suplex into a falcon arrow off the top rope and a Oklahoma stampede. He went for the buckle bomb but Honma landed on his feet and surprised him with a kokeshi. He went for the top rope variation but missed. Amazing finish as Elgin hit him with the pop up powerbomb, a buckle bomb then a spinning powerbomb for the pinfall. Really good stuff towards the end. 

    Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tomohiro Ishii
    Nakamura’s elbow looked very swollen, even in bandages. This was really just a match until towards the later stages of the game, just back and forth stuff that wasn’t at all that interesting. It picked up when Nakamura hit a boma ye and Ishii laid out Nakamura at one point with the sliding D. Nakamura hit another boma ye for a surprise nearfall. Ishii fought back but Nakamura put him in the armbar, then hit a falcon arrow then landed one more boma ye for the win.

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto

    Okada did a big leap over the guardrail and onto Goto at one point that sent them clear into the audience. They had a really good sequence of back and forth roll ups as well. Okada went for the Rainmaker but Goto countered with his knee neckbreaker. Shouten kai attempt but Okada blocks it and escapes. He deadlifted him with a German suplex but Goto came back and laid him out with a lariat. Another rainmaker attempt but Goto dodged, headbutted him twice then finished him off with the shouten kai to win. 

    Current Standings


    Block A

    Katsuyori Shibata- 6

    Bad Luck Fale- 6

    Tetsuya Natio- 6

    AJ Styles- 4

    Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4

    Kota Ibushi- 4

    Togi Makabe- 2

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

    Toru Yano- 2

    Doc Gallows- 2

    Block B

    Tomohiro Ishii- 6

    Kazuchika Okada- 6

    Karl Anderson- 6

    Hirooki Goto- 6

    Shinsuke Nakamura- 4

    Michael Elgin- 4

    Yujiro Takahashi- 4

    Satoshi Kojima- 2

    Yuji Nagata- 2 

    Tomoaki Honma- 0

  • New Japan on AXS report 7-31-15: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Today’s show is from August 8, 2014 at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, continuing our look at the 2014 G1 Climax tournament.

    First up tonight is Bad Luck Fale taking on Shinsuke Nakamura. This was a good, heated match. With Fale, it’s always a matter of who he’s facing. If it’s someone like Tanahashi or Nakamura, as it is here, he can have a good match. With other, less talented guys, it’s not going to be pretty. But for the most part, Fale’s booking in New Japan has been strong and they had a good match here. Interesting to note that at one point Nakamura kicked out of the grenade, a chokeslam/asiatic spike combo. Both that move and the Bad Luck Fall are usually protected big time, so it was something big for Nakamura to kick out of that. Nakamura wins the match with the boma ye.

    AJ Styles against Togi Makabe was next. This was really good, at least from the highlights shown. Makabe is usually in brawls, while AJ is not, so it was interesting to see the different dynamics here in terms of in ring style in play. Ranallo mentions during commentary that AJ injured his neck after a spider German suplex by Makabe and that played into the match in terms of drama. This was mostly highlights but the action here was good.

    Next up is Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Hiroshi Tanahashi. This was another good back and forth match. Smith’s style is perfectly suited for Japan and that showed in this match. It also helps he and Tanahashi have great chemistry. Smith is such an exceptional talent I’m truly astounded the way that his WWE run went, it really makes you think what a missed opportunity they had with him. They had a nice series of back and forth near falls. Tanahashi was going for a pin but Smith countered with a bulldog bomb and got the win.

    Tanahashi was upset after the match, on the floor screaming in disappointment. People know how to sell wins and losses here in New Japan, that’s for sure.

    Okada is interviewed. He was surprised at how many people were in the 2014 tournament. He knew he had to win after Nakamura won his match, so he dreaded the fact he had to face Minoru Suzuki. He knew the match would be a tiresome affair.

    The match then aired. This was way better than I remember it being. Again though, we have to look back at last year’s G1 tournament and just see how crowded it was in term of excellent matches. This was toward the end of the tournament and the drama of if Okada would make it to the finals or not was there, as the crowd were into everything. But just in terms of a match, it was awesome and different than most other matches in the tournament. While there was some back and forth, and there was some action on the outside this was a very submission oriented match. Suzuki wore down Okada’s arm and went after it for a good part of the match. Okada came back and hit the red ink. The back and forth mat oriented work was awesome, and so was Okada’s selling. He gets the win over Suzuki after coming back with a dropkick and a rainmaker that Suzuki took and landed right on his head with.Overall a fantastic match and another fun hour of television.

    Suzuki dares the interviews to say something following the bout. He says this loss means nothing and he’ll go to the finals. He says what if everyone gets food poisoning. Good point. He says he doesn’t care he wins or not because he’s risking his life. Meanwhile, in the ring, Okada and Gedo say there’s only one person left to face in this tournament, and it’s Shinsuke Nakamura. Gedo says that one thing’s for sure, at the Seibu dome, money will rain.

    Nakamura is interviewed for the upcoming finals. He says that he will “boil with excitement” when he faces Okada. Okay!

    Okada reflective interview time. Says he wanted to beat Suzuki quickly since his matches can be tiresome, but it didn’t happen. He was just relieved his match with Nakamura was set once he won. He wanted to win with his rainmaker pose, and he was excited to wrestle at the Seibu dome for the first time.

    PROGRAMING NOTE: Next week’s New Japan on AXS show will actually be two back to back episodes of the finals from the 2014 G1 Climax finals in the Seibu Dome. We’ll be seeing the third place match between AJ Styles and Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first hour, followed by the full finals match in the second. It will start an hour early at 5 PM PT so set your DVR’s accordingly!

  • WWE releases staement on the death of Roddy Piper

    WWE is deeply saddened that Roderick Toombs, aka “Rowdy” Roddy Piper – WWE Hall of Famer and Intercontinental Champion – passed away today at the age of 61.  WWE extends its sincerest condolences to Toombs’ family, friends and fans.” 

    BELOW PLEASE FIND A STATEMENT FROM WWE CHAIRMAN AND CEO VINCE McMAHON

    “Roddy Piper was one of the most entertaining, controversial and bombastic performers ever in WWE, beloved by millions of fans around the world. I extend my deepest condolences to his family.”

  • Wrestling legend Roddy Piper passes away at 61, WWE & Vince McMahon statement (updated)

    By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com

    TMZ.com reported Friday that “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (born Roderick George Toombs) has passed away at the age of 61. The site reported Piper died of cardiac arrest in his sleep Thursday night in Hollywood, CA.

    Wrestling Observer subscribers can listen to breaking news audio with myself and Bryan Alvarez now, as well as classic audio Piper did with Bryan from 2011.

    WWE made a statement:

    “WWE is deeply saddened that Roderick Toombs, aka “Rowdy” Roddy Piper – WWE Hall of Famer and Intercontinental Champion – passed away today at the age of 61. WWE extends its sincerest condolences to Toombs’ family, friends and fans.” 

    Vince McMahon made a statement as well:

    “Roddy Piper was one of the most entertaining, controversial and bombastic performers ever in WWE, beloved by millions of fans around the world. I extend my deepest condolences to his family.” 

    Piper was one of the key figures in the growth of WWF. In particular, he helped power the success of the first WrestleMania: the most important show in company history beacuse it was such a make-or-break event. He was considered one of the greatest promos in pro wrestling history, competed in all of the major organizations, and while he never won a World title, he held the WWF Intercontinental title and the WWF Tag Team titles (w/Ric Flair).

    He was named to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and was an actor in a variety of lead and supporting roles in B-movies and TV series like the infamous They Live, Bodyslam, and Hell Comes To Frogtown. He appeared in the popular FX series ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘ as Da Maniac, a pro wrestler.

    Piper leaves behind his wife, Kitty, four children, and one grandchild.

  • More on death of Roddy Piper

    TMZ.com has reported that Roddy Piper, real name Roderick George Toombs, passed away last night from a heart attack at a home he was living in when working in Hollywood, CA.  Piper wasn’t found until today.

  • FRI UPDATE: Ronda Rousey, John Cena, Owens vs. Jericho, Japanese group schedules U.S. shows

    By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com

    We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in San Diego (Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Rusev) and NXT in Lakeland, as well as last night’s NXT show in Tampa at Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>

    For this weekend, we’ll be doing polls on three shows, the G-1 shows in Osaka and Nagoya and the UFC PPV from Rio de Janeiro.

    New Japan World Pro Wrestling on AXS TV tonight at 9 p.m.

    Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale

    A.J. Styles vs. Togi Makabe (this was the match where Styles suffered his neck injury on a German superplex)

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

    Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki

    G-1 Climax tonight at 4 a.m. Eastern from Osaka

    Jay White & David Finlay vs. Cody Hall & Doc Gallows

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

    Katsuyori Shibata & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo

    Satoshi Kojima vs. Yujiro Takahashi

    Karl Anderson vs. Yuji Nagata

    Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

    Shinsuke Nakamura (if he’s able) vs Tomohiro Ishii

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto

    The WWE on Saturday has house shows in Ontario, CA (Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Rusev, Neville, King Barrett) and Hidalgo, TX (Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Sheamus).  We’re also looking for reports on NEW at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY (Rey Mysterio & Alberto el Patron vs. Young Bucks)   

    UFC 190 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro
    Check out our coverage of the weigh-ins:  UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia weigh-in results and live video

    Fight pass at 7 p.m. Eastern

    Guido Cannetti vs. Hugo Viana

    Clint Hester vs. Vitor Miranda

    FS 1 at 8 p.m.

    Iuri Alcantara vs. Leandero Issa

    Warlley Alves vs. Nordine Taleb

    Rafael Feijao Cavalcante vs. Patrick Cummins

    Neil Magny vs. Demian Maia

    PPV at 10 p.m.

    Jessica Aguilar vs. Claudia Gadelha

    Antonio Bigfoot Silva vs. Soa Palelei

    Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Stefan Struve

    Dileno Lopes vs. Reginaldo Vieira in the TUF Brazil bantamweight finals

    Fernando Bruno vs. Glaci Franca in the TUF Brazil lightweight finals

    Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua

    Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia for the women’s bantamweight title

    World Series of Fighting at 11 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas

    Islam Mamedov vs. Jimmy Spicuzza

    Jorge Moreno vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov

    Mike Kyle vs. Clifford Starks

    Marlon Moraes vs. Sheymon Moraes for the bantamweight title

    Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields for the welterweight title

    G-1 Climax tournament from the Aiichi Gym in Nagoya at 3 a.m. Eastern (shortly after UFC ends)

    Satoshi Kojima & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay

    Michael Elgin & Jay White vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall

    Hirooki Goto & Yuji Nagata & Captain New Japan vs,. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi

    Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga

    Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    Katsuyori Shibata vs. Bad Luck Fale

    A.J. Styles vs. Doc Gallows

    Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano

    WWE on Sunday has house shows in Fresno (Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Rusev, Neville, King Barrett) and Stockton, CA (Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Sheamus) and NEW has a show in Lowell, MA (Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto el Patron vs. Matt Hardy).

    Raw will be Monday night in San Jose with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman returning for the show.

    Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday night in Sacramento.

    We have one of the biggest issues of the year with a look at Hulk Hogan’s rises and falls over the last 24 years and the trouble he’s gotten himself into, lots more on Daniel Bryan, his injury situation and his future, HBO Real Sports looks at domestic violence in MMA, the decline of G-1, UFC on FOX, GFW, ROH and PWG, and a riot involving some of the biggest names in the industry and resulted in a suspension are the major stories in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  

    The Latest Wrestling Observer: August 3, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Hulk Hogan fired by WWE over leaked hate speech, Daniel Bryan update

    Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site are at  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!

    You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

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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.

    The ups and downs of Hulk Hogan is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We look at his rise to fame, steroids in pro wrestling, Hogan as a fan, the Zahorian trial and why Hogan wasn’t involved, the first time Vince McMahon sent Hulk Hogan away, the McMahon trial, and his career post-wrestling.  We look at Hogan Knows Best and how that plays into his latest problems, Bubba the Love Sponge, when Hogan’s racist rant was first reported and how three years ago, the story behind the tapes, what was said, , Hogan’s apology, the Gawker threat and how it plays into his lawsuit, WWE’s reaction and how this is different from his other historical issues.  We look at how fiction vs. reality is Hogan’s friend, fan reaction, and more.  This is the most detailed look at not just Hogan’s latest situation, but life after wrestling over 25 plus years.

    We also look at Daniel Bryan’s current situation, his concussion issues, his wanting to wrestle again and WWE not clearing him, his wife’s reaction to his wrestling again, how his neck is holding up, what could have gotten him to TNA and his different views of the 2014 and 2015 Royal Rumble.

    We also look at the HBO Real Sports story on domestic violence issues with fighters, including War Machine, Josh Grispi, Rumble Johnson and Chris Leben.

    We also look at the injuries to John Cena and Alicia  Fox, lots of notes on SummerSlam, updates on Sting, New WWF considerations for the network, Movie box office with WWE stars, the original gay wrestler idea from 2002 and who it was talked about for, Chael Sonnen and WWE, Celebrity in WWE programming going forward, WWE lawsuit news, Tough Enough notes, new WWE movie and a look at a new developmental star who just debuted.

    We also have notes on all the WWE & NXT live events over the weekend, business notes and highlights.

    We’ve got a detailed look at G-1 thus far with a tournament overview, problems involved, update on Nakamura, standings, results of all the matches and the next week schedule.

    We’ve also got full coverage of the UFC on FOX with T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao, with match-by-match coverage, business notes and poll results.

    We also look in depth at Jeff Jarrett’s first TV taping for GFW in Las Vegas, including matches, direction and future.

    We also have full coverage of the ROH Death Before Dishonor show, with match-by-match rundown, star ratings and poll results.

    We’ve also got a look at PWG’s 12th anniversary show, the atmosphere, and notes on Battle of Los Angeles.

    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.
    We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.

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    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

    FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • All three nights of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles sold out in three minutes.  It was insane.  There were people all over the country with multiple computers trying to log in all at the same time.  One minor stall and they were out of luck.  They seriously need to move to a bigger building but I know that’s not happening.
    • UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia weigh-in results and live video
    • John Cena has officially been pulled from the advertising from Sunday’s Fresno show, so he’s off everything for the next two plus weeks
    • First time ever matches of Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho will be headlining both Ontario and Fresno this weekend
    • There is a lot of speculation that Ronda Rousey will be cheered more than Bethe Correia even though the show is in Brazil.  To the guy on the street, she is the most popular, but sometimes ticket buyers are different.
    • James Strom wrote that last night was his final night with TNA, so he apparently just returned for the final taping to finish up storyline loose ends.
    • In the weekly cable ratings, USA was No. 4 this week behind Fox News, Disney and HGTV.  Syfy was No. 8.  Spike was No. 16.  The three hours of Raw ranked No. 4, 5 and 7 for the week beating everything but NASCAR and TNT dramas.
    • Ric Flair appears for a meet and great and photo ops tonight at the PAL Hall in Fall River, MA at from 4-7 p.m. for Top Rope Promotions.  
    • Stardom, a Japanese all-women’s promotion, will be running shows on 10/16 and 10/18 in Southern California.  The 10/16 show will be in Covina at the Father McGuire Knights of Columbus Hall, and the 10/18 show will be in Baldwin Park at the Esther Snyder Community Center.  Appearing on the shows will be Cheerleader Melissa, Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, Mayu Iwatani, Act Yasukawa, Chelsea, Reo Hazuki, Kris Wolf, Hudson Envy, Thunder Rosa and more.  Tickets HERE
    • The reason a clip of Billy Gunn yelling at ZZ was release publicly is because they want him out after this week.  The impression I have is that things were set up last week for him to be gone, but the public wasn’t manipulated the way they expected and so it didn’t happen.
    • Seth Rollins was on The Daily Show last night with Jon Stewart. 
    • The Mid Atlantic Fan Fest is going in this weekend in Charlotte.  Lance Storm, Tom Prichard, Nigel McGuinness, Les Thatcher and Rip Rogers were doing a weekend training seminar for aspiring wrestlers from around the world.  Lance Russell at 89 years old was there.  Jimmy Hart sang the song “Lance Russell’s Nose.”  From 1983, here was the music video.
    • Jim Ross did his one man show and they debuted the documentary Mid Atlantic Memories.  Ole Anderson is doing a Q&A today. 
    • GFW sent out a release today listing Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Shelton Benjamin, Candice LaRae and Eric Young all at their 8/21 tapings in Las Vegas at The Orleans Arena.
    • Even though the WWE stock went way up yesterday, Hilliard Lyons today downgraded it from long-term buy to neutral.  They were disappointed that WWE only projected 1.2 million network subscribers on 9/30.  They were of the camp still thinking they’re soon to be at 3-4 million.  The downgrade is because they thought the stock was underpriced this year, but with the new numbers, they feel the stock is priced at about where it should be.  The stock was at $19.57 at this writing, so it was still up from yesterday.
    • Not a good sign for ticket sales for the go-home Raw on 8/17 in Minneapolis.  Livingsocial is putting the unsold tickets on the market for a lower price.
    • Pure Wrestling Association on 8/2 in Thedford, ONT at the Legacy Centre.
    • Pro Wrestling Phoenix tonight in Council Bluffs, IA at the National Guard Armory.
    • Ricky Steamboat worked as a commissioner at an Ultimate Championship Wrestling show last night in Halifax.
    • Primos Pro Wrestling on 8/9 from The Watering Bowl in Denver.
    • EWF on 8/7 in Covina, CA at the EWF Arena at 4315 Vincent Ave.  
    • A story on Sunday’s show at LeLacheur Park, a minor league baseball stadium in Lowell, MA headlined by Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Matt Hardy
    • The Washington Post on WWE stock
    • A Rey Mysterio story promoting TripleMania

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

    1979 – Monster Ripper (a teenage Ronda Sing) beat Jackie Sato in Tokyo to win the WWWA title

    1982 – Dandy beat Modulo in Mexico City to win the Mexican national featherweight title

    1986 – Stan Hansen beat Jumbo Tsuruta in Tokyo to win the International title

    1988 – Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu beat Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy in Hakodate to win the All Japan world tag titles

    1998 – Hikari Fukuoka & Tomoko Kuzumi beat Devil Masami & Cuty Suzuki to win the JWP tag titles 

    1998 – Scorpio Jr. beat El Hijo del Santo in Mexico City to win the Leyendas de Plata tournament

    1999 – Hiromichi Fuyuki & Gedo & Koji Nakagawa beat Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda in Tokyo to win the FMW World Street fight six man tag titles

  • UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia weigh-in results and live video

    Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia weigh-ins from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kicking off at 5 PM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on pay-per-view at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 7 PM eastern time before moving over to FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM eastern time.

    The event is headlined by the most dominant fighter in the sport today, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, making her sixth title defense as she heads to Brazil to take on heated rival Bethe Correia, who is looking to remain undefeated and score the biggest upset in UFC history all while dethroning Rousey’s title reign. In the night’s co-main event, it is a light heavyweight bout as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua meets Antonio Rogeiro Nogueira in a rematch from a PRIDE bout in 2005 won by Rua. Also on the card is the lightweight and bantamweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4, and a title eliminator in the women’s strawweight division between Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar.

    MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT):

    Ronda Rousey () vs. Bethe Correia ()- UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship
    Mauricio Rua () vs. Antonio Rogeiro Nogueira ()
    Glaico Franca () vs. Fernando Bruno ()- TUF: Brazil 4 Lightweight Finals
    Reginaldo Vieira () vs. Dileno Lopes ()- TUF: Brazil 4 Bantamweight Finals
    Stefan Struve () vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ()
    Antonio Silva () vs. Soa Palelei ()
    Claudia Gadelha () vs. Jessica Aguilar ()

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT):

    Demian Maia () vs. Neil Magny ()
    Rafael Cavalcante () vs. Patrick Cummins ()
    Warlley Alves () vs. Nordine Taleb ()
    Iuri Alcantara () vs. Leandro Issa ()

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 7 PM ET/4 PM PT):

    Vitor Miranda () vs. Clint Hester ()
    Hugo Viana () vs. Guido Cannetti () 

  • Ask The Observer: Undertaker, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, highbrow pro wrestling

    By David Parker, Wrestling Observer

    Here is the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio mailbag where we post some of the questions asked during weekly Observer audio shows. Want to know if something’s been asked? These will be a good place to start. If you want to hear more questions and insight from Observer audio several times a week, subscribe now!

    Questions are asked by Bryan Alvarez or Mike Sempervive and are in bold, and primarily answered by Dave Meltzer unless otherwise noted.

    How much did Undertaker changing to the American Badass gimmick affect his drawing power? How did Taker and Vince view the gimmick change? Do you think turning him back was overdue?

    DM: Turning him back was something they had to do. The thing was that I think they felt that the supernatural Undertaker had run its course, and they tried to make him into a real person, but the thing is that the people really did not want Undertaker as a real person. They wanted him as a supernatural. I thought the Badass gimmick was kinda of a cool gimmick.

    MS: Yeah, I thought it was the right place at the right time (inaudible).

    DM: People wanted the old Undertaker back very quickly. Not right away, but very quickly. The Badass gimmick, had he done it now and not turned back, I don’t think Undertaker would’ve had anywhere near the aura that he had the last ten years or so. Did it hurt his drawing power? Yes, I think it did. He became one of the guys more than he was when he was Undertaker with the other (gimmick).

    I read Terry Funk attacked Dusty Rhodes..

    DM: Okay, this is the Dusty Rhodes-Harley Race world title match in Orlando, where Dusty had lost the title, so this is a true story.

    …Terry Funk had attacked Dusty Rhodes before the match and broke his arm (DM: Yes.). Dusty was given the option of not (wrestling), but because he owed it to the fans, he wrestled (DM: Yes.) Dusty lost the title when he backdropped Harley Race over the top rope and got DQ’ed.

    DM: Yes, that is what happened. They changed the world title not just (by) a broken arm by Terry Funk, but in fact it was a title can change hands on a DQ finish. They did not publicize the title can change hands on a DQ finish outside of when the clip was shown in Florida because the rest of the NWA really didn’t like the idea that (they) did a DQ finish in a world title change, so nobody talked about it, but in fact that is what happened.

    MS: I can understand Sam Muchnick. You’re getting paid, or you have a reason for doing this, and they approve it, and it’s okay, but it’s up to the local promoter to come up with a finish. WIth that, I’m assuming all of that was to protect Dusty Rhodes. You have all of this…

    DM: Yeah. Dusty Rhodes was the superhero, and the deal was that they had gone so long with Dusty challenging that Eddie Graham just…they didn’t have the approval to put the belt on Dusty, but Eddie Graham got whatever it is permission. Eddie Graham was a power broker anyway and was like, “Look. We (have) had him chase the title for four years now, and people were just starting to get tired of it.” It wasn’t working anymore. They had seen him challenge him how many times in all (of) these cities, so it was like he’s just gotta win, but the problem is if you win and lose it a week later, it’s better off not even doing it because then people go, “Oh man. We waited all (of) this time, and then he went and blew it.”

    So they created this scenario where they put so many layers on it: the broken arm, the DQ, the fact that he still wrestled that afternoon. They had this whole thing to where it was the idea that the odds were just too great, and you cannot expect Dusty to have retained in that situation, and even then, Harley couldn’t beat him. It was a freaking fluke-ass thing with the idea that then people would pay and now that Dusty could beat Harley in the rematch. So that’s why it was done, but outside of Florida, the idea that you changed the world title on a DQ in that era. Munchnik still had his promotion, but he was not running the NWA. This is 1979, and Munchnik had stopped booking the champion in about 1975, but had it been Munchnik….

    MS: (Inaudible) then who was the…

    DM: Jim Barnett was the booker, and Barnett let anyone do whatever they wanted, which a lot of people were very negative. The promoters liked Barnett because he didn’t say, “Hey, you’re doing DQ’s every night. Our champion needs to win.”

    MS: Well, I’ll say this: if they would’ve used that from Eddie Graham as a template for Kerry Von Erich and Tommy Rich and other people that had these very short reigns or did it like if Steve Rickard, “Look, here’s the deal. If you feel as though you want to change your championship, technically, we can’t stop you, but if the media finds out about it, we’ll fine you some huge amount, but (inaudible).”

    DM: Yeah, but how can you do that? They did the thing in New Zealand and Signapore in 1984, I think.

    MS: Yeah, for Rickard, but if they had at least a template of “Look, we don’t approve of this, but if you’re going to do it, do it in a way where it doesn’t look stupid,” where again because Tommy Rich in five days, that ended up just hurting him.

    DM: I thought that hurt him greatly.

    MS: Yeah, big time there. The Kerry Von Erich thing was if the story was told where he was attacked and there was a reason he lost it instead of just he finally makes this struggle, he wins it, and then now what, which is what seemed to happen after that.

    DM: Yeah, three weeks later. I lived in Dallas when that happened, and they went in there and they said it was a sumo referee, which it wasn’t, and he got screwed by a bad decision, but Flair and Kerry was still a good card afterwards, but I know the one where I really knew it was like when Flair and Kerry worked the Christmas show in 1984, which was the big rematch coming off the stadium where they did the 32,000, and they did 15,000.

    Now, that sounds really good, but then, I remember thinking, “Man, how do you not sell out and turn people away?” because I was going to Reunion Christmas the year before; I had already moved back by then, but I went to Reunion Christmas the year before, and that thing was sold out so far in advance, and that was with Flair and David, and Thanksgiving, without even Flair on the card, when it sold out and all of those people were turned away, so the fact that you would have Flair and Kerry, which is the biggest match possible, and you didn’t sell out, that told me that the edge was off, and it was.

    Has any company ever tried to promote a wrestling product aimed at what would be perceived as a highbrow demographic? If not, is there any reason why this hasn’t been done, (presenting) stories more complex that adults would find appealing or even present wrestling as a legitmate sport, as they do in Japan?

    DM: A lot of guys in the old days. Florida and St. Louis certainly.

    MS: Yeah, I was gonna say. St. Louis was the epitome of that when it came to nicknames, moves, and all (of) that stuff. They seemed to be…

    DM: St. Louis and All Japan were very similar. They (were) not identical by any means, but there (were) similarities between the two of them. I can’t say St. Louis ever tried to promote highbrow wrestling, but they very much tried not to insult their audience, and they really tried not to lie to their audience. That was a big one. You had to lie, because they would never admit wrestling wasn’t real in those days, but it was always like, “Don’t lie to your audience,” and when it came to substitutions…sometimes it frustrates me, because I will look and of course being friends with Larry Matysik and everything, I know how they were doing stuff, and the way they booked and everything, they did not book with the idea their audience was a lowbrow audience. I remember the thing was “We were a B audience. Not a C audience, a B audience, but not an A audience either,” so that’s what they tried. They definitely in the original Wrestling at the Chase, where they were at the Corasan room, that was as close to an A audience as wresting ever got in this country.

    If you ever watched the clips, it was like a ballroom with a thousand people for the TV tapings. The big shows were still at the arena, but that was suit and tie and fancy dresses, and it really was. If you ever see the tapes, and some of them exist, if you go up, I’ll give you one to look for: it’s Pat O’Connor against Lorenzo Parente. which is also a hell of a match, you’ll really get a kick out of how great Pat O’Connor and Lorenzo Parente were.

    I know it’s on the Internet because (when) Lorenzo Parente died, I watched the match; look at the audience and Joe Garagiola doing the announcing, who was a very famous sportscaster and ended up being more famous when he left, but even then he was a pretty highbrow guy because he was a broadcaster for the (St. Louis) Cardinals at the time and a famous baseball player. Not a good baseball player, but famous because of his personality.

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (July 31): Stan Hansen wins NWA International title, Giant Baba, Hulk Hogan in AWA

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1947 – In Kansas City; Tug Carlson beat Wally Dusek, Warren Bockwinkel beat Jack Hader, Sailor Fred Blassie drew Ronnie Etchison.

    1959 – Dick Gunkel defeated Fred Blassie for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia

    1962 – In Minneapolis, MN; AWA Champion Mr. M beat Moose Evans via dq and Ilio Dipaolo & Joe Scarpello beat Bob Geigel & Blackjack Daniels

    1965 – In Omaha; AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Danny Hodge, Nebraska Champion Mighty Igor Vodik beat Haru Sasaki via dq, Reggie Parks beat Bulldog Danny Plechas and Ivan Kalmikoff beat Bob Brown; In Minneapolis, MN; AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Verne Gagne beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race via dq and Tex McKenzie beat Roger Kirby

    1969 – At Memorial Hall in Kansas City; The Viking defeated Tarzan Tyler via DQ, Lou Thesz defeated Pat O’Connor and Danny Little Bear & Big Luke defeated Dick Murdoch & K.O. Cox

    1970 – In Denver; In a Non Title match; Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher beat AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon in 2 out of 3 falls, Red Bastien beat Larry Hennig in 2 out of 3 falls and Pepper Gomez beat Tarzan Tyler; In Milwaukee; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Blackjack Lanza, Mighty Igor Vodik & Paul Diamond beat Dr X & Double X, Ernie Ladd beat Bob Windham and Lars Anderson drew Bad Boy Bullinski. Attendance was 6,330

    1971 – In Milwaukee; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel dq, Andre The Giant & Bull Bullinski beat Larry Hennig & Lars Anderson 2 falls to 0, Billy Robinson beat Big K and Ray Stevens beat Red Bastien. Attendance was 10,245.

    1972 – In Orlando, Florida; Don Curtis & Mike Graham & Eddie Graham beat Jim Dillon & Phil Robley & Buddy Colt, Florida Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Dale Lewis & Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods, Johnny Walker beat Mike Webster and Mike George beat George McCreary

    1973 – Tim Woods defeated Paul Jones for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa

    1976 – Hurricane Castillo defeated Jose Lotario in Bayamon, Puerto Rico for the Caribbean Heavyweight Title.

    1979 – Pampero Firpo defeated Abdullah The Butcher in Bayamon, Puerto Rico to win the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title.

    1982 – In Milwaukee; In a Cage Match, AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan, In a Handicap Match, Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan, Bobby Duncum beat Otto Wanz dq, Rick Martel beat Jacques Goulet and Brad Rheingans drew Steve O. Attendance was 5,486

    1984 – Giant Baba defeated Stan Hansen to win the PWF World Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan. Also on the card, AWA Champion Rick Martel double count out with Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu beat Alexis Smirnoff, Great Kabuki drew Dick Slater and Mighty Inoue beat Johnny Mantell. Attendance was 12,500.

    1986 – At an All Japan Pro Wrestling show at Budokan Hall, Stan Hansen defeated Jumbo Tsuruta for the NWA International Heavyweight Title. The card also saw Hiro Saito defeat Brad Armstrong in a tournament final to determine the first PWF World Junior Heavyweight Champion

    1988 – Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy in Hokodate, Japan to win the All Japan Tag Team Title

    1992 – The Ebony Experience (Booker T & Stevie Ray, later known as Harlem Heat) defeated Gary Young & Steve Dane to win the Global Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title in Dallas Texas. On the same show, Alex Porteau defeated Terry Simms for the GWF Light Heavyweight Title.

    2011 – Adam Pearce won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Chance Prophet, Jimmy Rave and Shaun Tempers in a four-way match to win the vacant title

  • WWE News: Daniel Bryan book hits No. 18 on New York Times best seller list

    In its first week of release, the Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan autobiography “Yes” was ranked No. 18 on the New York Times best seller list in the adult non-fiction category.