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  • WWE NXT house show report 7-10 Orlando

    By Wayne Mason

     

    It was a sweltering night in Orlando, but fans fought the heat to pile into the National Guard Armory for a night of NXT wrestling action. Even the contestants of Tough Enough were in attendance for a night of action that featured top notch wrestling, WWE legends, and the homecoming of a new champion.

     

    The familiar music of DX hits and out comes Billy Gunn to a huge pop. He speaks for a moment before introducing Lita, who is met with a very enthusiastic crowd. The two introduce the hopefuls of Tough Enough who make their way around the ring greeting the fans. Afterwards the contestants would watch the show from ringside. Even if just plugging a television show, Billy Gunn and Lita are a great way to start the evening.

     

    Our first match of the evening is Uhaa Nation taking on Axel Tischer. The two start off with some impressive grappling before the incredibly agile Uhaa takes control and takes his bigger opponent down with a beautiful dropkick. Moments later Tischer would level Uhaa with a big boot and commence a beatdown. Axel wisely slows the pace, grounding Uhaa and working the arm. Later though Uhaa Nation would mount a comeback culminating in a huge military press followed by a standing moonsault for the victory. This is yet another good match that emphatically states that Uhaa Nation is going to be a very big deal in NXT. Ty Dillinger must agree, because afterwards he scored the match a 9.

     

    Next up, Cassie McIntosh takes on Dana Brooke. Early in the match Cassie takes control with an onslaught of offense culminating in a nice headscissors. Eventually, Brooke takes control mostly brawling and using her power to her advantage. Dana traps Cassie in a grounded abdominal stretch until she manages to break free. Cassie comes back with a series of high kicks and a crossbody off the turnbuckles. She attempts to climb the ropes again but Brooke hoists Cassie onto her shoulders and slams her to the mat with a Samoan Driver to gain the pin. There were some rough spots for Dana but overall she is showing a lot of improvement. Cassie McIntosh continues to impress and is proving to be a valuable addition to the NXT roster.

     

    Next, the ring is set up with leopard skin furniture and Cass and Enzo come out to a huge pop. They announce the inaugural addition of their new show, Sawft Talk. They introduce their first guest, Preston Cunningham Jr the 1st aka Josh Woods. Enzo comments that with his tattoos and attire Preston looks like the love child of Baron Corbin and Tiger Woods. Later in the segment Preston explains that his father earned their money the old fashioned way, by inheritance. He also tells us that his father bought him the best MMA training money could buy. Enzo and Cass don’t seem impressed and things start to unravel. Cunningham snatches the microphone from Enzo and says his “daddy” paid good money for him to be here and he would not be disrespected. Amore ended up smacking the spoiled rich kid several times with a leopard skin pillow before Cass dropped him with a big boot. This was a goofy segment, but it did explain a little more about Preston Cunningham.

    The action continues with Bull Dempsey taking on the tortured Marcus Louis. In the opening moments Bull is obviously apprehensive to lock up with the maniacal Frenchman. Bull backs up out of the ring and Marcus gives chase. The two run around the ring until a visibly winded Dempsey rolls back into the ring and asks for a time-out to catch his breath. Marcus will not relent and the two end up running the ropes for an absurd amount of time. Dempsey takes down Marcus with a shoulder tackle, but exhausted collapses onto him. The two eventually make it back up and Louis attacks violently first with a series of knees and continues to decimate his opponent. Bull comes back with a flurry of punches and lays out Marcus. Dempsey climbs the ropes and crashes onto Louis with a seated senton for the victory. Ty Dillinger gave the match of 3 but Marcus began to flip out, so he gave it a 5 instead. This was a fun match, Bull is starting to connect with crowds more than ever while Marcus Louis is still very underrated in my estimation.

     

    Tag team action is next as “The Hype Bros” Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley take on Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. The Hype Bros start off strong keeping one step ahead of their opponents. Mojo goes into his shtick informing the crowd that Dawson isn’t hyped and can’t get chicks. Dawson and Wilder manage to take control of the match and isolate Ryder. Employing frequent tags and great tandem wrestling Dawson and Wilder take apart Ryder culminating in a nice guillotine. Eventually though Ryder would find an opening and make the hot tag to Mojo who would take out Dawson and Wilder with a series of splashes and shoulder tackles. Rawley picks up Wilder and Ryder comes off the ropes with a Rough Ryder for the win. Tag teaming is doing Mojo well and he is showing some improvement in the ring, though I still don’t get the character at all. House show faithful will attest to the fact that Dawson and Wilder steal house shows on a regular basis, I just wish they were challenging for gold, rather than losing the majority of their matches.

     

    The night continues with Ty Dillinger taking on Tyler Breeze. The two are so evenly matched and it shows for much of the back and forth contest. Eventually Dillinger takes over working the arm of Breeze before mocking him atop the turnbuckles. Breeze makes a very aggressive comeback and drops Ty with a superkick. Ty fights back, showing a very aggressive mean streak of his own. With Breeze grounded, Ty hikes down his kneepad to go for his knee smash. With the refs attention elsewhere Breeze takes advantage poking Dillinger in the eye and following with a Beauty Shot for the victory.

     

    Triple threat tag action is up next with The Vaudevillians vs Blake and Murphy vs Jordan and Gable. Much of the early goings of the match saw the champs Blake and Murphy getting owned by both team. The match was fast paced with lots of blind tags and too much back and forth to call. Eventually it is English that finds himself isolated and being picked apart by both teams until he makes the hot tag to a very fired up Simon Gotch. In the fray all competitors end up in the ring as Gotch nails them all with forearms in each corner. Ultimately, everybody starts nailing everybody left and right until a confident Blake lays out Gable with a cutter. Unfortunately for him he was left in the ring with both Vaudevillians. Gotch nails him with an uppercut to the back of the head and English follows with a swinging neckbreaker for the victory. This was a great match and likely the best of the night. All six men looked great in this contest, but Chad Gable is definitely the standout for me. Pound for pound he is easily one of the best wrestlers in NXT, with a chance and proper booking he’ll end up at the top.

     

    Sasha Banks is out next for a promo. She lets us know that her title signifies that she is better than all of us and better than all of the women in the back. She reminds us that she has beaten Charlotte, Bayley, and Becky. But then she is interrupted by Carmella who tells her that she didn’t hear her name on that list. Carmella issues a challenge but Sasha declines and begins to leave. Carmella calls her Sawft and tells her “Bye Felicia”. An irate Sasha Banks charges back to the ring and a match is on. Both women are fired up and the match goes back and forth until Sasha nails Carmella with double knees in the corner. Banks slows the pace contorting Carmella into an abdominal stretch. Carmella gets free and comes back with a beautiful head scissors followed by three Lou Thez Presses. Moments later she attempts to set up her headscissor submission but Banks wisely evades. Carmella gives chase but Banks pulls her into the ropes and follows with a backstabber and a Bank Statement for a submission victory. Carmella has so much potential, it’s nice to see her going toe-to-toe with the champ rather than accompanying her “boys” to the ring.

     

    In our main event Baron Corbin challenges new NXT champion Finn Balor in a title match. Before introductions are even done Corbin jumps Finn, drops him with a big boot and continues to beat him down. Balor mounts a brief comeback but Baron drops him with a jaw shattering punch. Corbin slows down the pace picking apart the champ methodically. Finn comes back with a few chops and a pele kick. Balor takes down Corbin with a slingblade. Finn attempts to dropkick Corbin into the corner but gets caught and laid out with a huge swinging side slam. Frustrated Corbin grabs a chair but the referee wrests it from his hands. Corbin lays out Balor with another big boot. Baron climbs the turnbuckle but Finn drops him with a kick to the head. Finn follows dropkicking Corbin into the turnbuckles and follows with a Coup De Grace for the win.

     

    From top to bottom it was a fun night and no doubt the standing room only crowd went home happy. Hopefully the cast of Tough Enough were paying close attention, they have big boots to fill.

     

     

     

     

  • NJPW on AXS TV report 7-10-15: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito from the 2014 G1 Tournament

    By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Last week on this program, we saw Katsuyori Shibata defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi in a epic battle, stemming from resentment that’s been building between the two over the last decade. This week’s program won’t feature something as heated as that rivalry, but we’re still in for a potentially awesome match as Kazuchika Okada, winner of the 2012 G1 tournament, takes on Tetsuya Naito, the winner of last year’s tournament.

    Tonight’s event took place on July 28, 2014 in Sendai Sunplaza Hall.

    First matchup is Bad Luck Fale taking on Hiroshi Tanahashi. This wasn’t bad, though clearly there are better matches in the tournament. Fale can be perfectly fine with the right guy, and Tanahashi was the right guy to put him with. They put over Fale strong, having him win with the Bad Luck Fall in 12 minutes. 2014 was a strong year for Fale, and his dominance over former champions helped build his credibility a lot. We’ll see how he fares in this year’s tournament.

    After the match, Tanahashi in a post match interview simply states that his luck has changed.

    We follow that with Shinsuke Nakamura against Tomoaki Honma. This match I remember clearly, though for bittersweet reasons. On one hand, they had a hell of a match, way above the four star range for me, and it easily established Honma as a guy that can get over anywhere no matter how many times you beat the guy. On the other hand, there has a huge botch towards the end where Nakamura went for a backslide but the move fell apart in execution, and they kind of seemed lost in transitioning towards the ending. I think this was even edited from the live version as they shot to the crowd at one point towards the ending. Nakamura won after two boma yes. Still a hell of a match to check out on New Japan World, just a shame it ended the way it did.

    Nakamura states in a post match interview that he’s on a roll. Meanwhile, Honma seems disappointed in himself, asking why he can’t win. He especially wanted to win in the Sendai region. He saw that Nakamura changed the belt strap on the Intercontinental title to white; he wants to change it to yellow because it’s the color of happiness.

    Tetsuya Naito is interviewed before the match. He noticed that everyone was picking Kazuchika Okada and AJ Styles as potential winners of the block they were all in, and that irritated him, so he wanted to make sure he beat them all. When asked about the Sendai Sunplaza Hall, he remembers a match in 2012 where CMLL luchador Rush tore a ligament in his knee, sending him out of commission for months. Not pleasant memories of the arena, in other words. He says despite that, it’s one of the more memorable areas.

    Should note here that since Josh Barnett is out due to scheduling conflicts, MMA legend Frank Shamrock is filling in for him for shows going forward. I didn’t feel like he added much, and was usually quiet, but I didn’t feel he was terrible or detracted for the matches. Perhaps in due time we’ll see an improvement, but right now I wasn’t blown away.

    The main event aired, with Tetsuya Naito taking on Kazuchika Okada. They had a great match, worthy of airing last on a show like this. I think the previous match, despite it’s botched finish was better, but this was a case of two guys showcasing why they get the hype they get. Finish of the match was really hot, with Naito getting the win after a uranage suplex followed by a stardust press. I liked how they aired the interview package before this, as it added context to the match: Naito wanted to upset the two guys who proved to be the biggest challenge for him, and he succeeded by taking out both Styles and Okada in their respective G1 matches. Great stuff.

    Okada says in a post fight interview that he said he would win all of his matches, and even though he’s a loser tonight he’ll win his remaining matches. Gedo says after G1 he’ll slowly take care of Naito, that bastard. Back in the ring, Naito says that he’s had some bad memories here in the past, but he is glad to have the support of Sendai tonight. He says that although the G1 isn’t over yet, this is his tournament and summer. In a backstage interview, he says that he got his revenge for the WrestleKingdom main event. He’s sure no one expected this ,but he will be the main wrestler this summer and win all his matches.

    We look at a reflective piece from Naito. He says that it was an important match, since it was in Sendai. He showed those who wanted AJ or Okada to win that he was still there. He fights in the G1 to win, so while he had a good run, he faces many challenges since he didn’t win. He’s certain he’ll win this year’s G1.

    Next week, we’ll see highlights of the Wrestling Observer’s 2014 match of the year between AJ Styles and Minoru Suzuki, highlights of Hirooki Goto taking on Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and we’ll see the full match between Tomohiro Ishii and Shinsuke Nakamura.

  • UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor weigh-in results and live video

    Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor weigh-ins from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada kicking off at 7 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. International Fight Week is upon us with the biggest UFC event of the year and first of two events this weekend.

    The event will be headlined by two title fights. The Interim UFC Featherweight Championship is up for grabs in the main event as longtime contender Chad Mendes steps in for the injured champion, Jose Aldo, to take on Irish superstar Conor McGregor, who is looking to grab the gold and the fight against Aldo in front of a record-setting crowd for an event in Las Vegas. The co-main event features the UFC Welterweight Championship on the line as Robbie Lawler makes his first title defense against Rory MacDonald in a rematch from UFC 167 in November 2013, a bout won by Lawler.

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

    Chad Mendes (144.5) vs. Conor McGregor (145)
    Robbie Lawler (169.5) vs. Rory MacDonald (170)
    Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Jeremy Stephens (149.5)
    Gunnar Nelson (169.5) vs. Brandon Thatch (170.5)
    Brad Pickett (136) vs. Thomas Almeida (136 with sunglasses)

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

    Matt Brown (171) vs. Tim Means (171)
    Mike Swick (170.5) vs. Alex Garcia (171)
    Cathal Pendred (171) vs. John Howard (170.5)
    Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Henry Briones (136)

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

    Neil Seery (125.5) vs. Louis Smolka (126)
    Yosdenis Cedeno (155) vs. Cody Pfister (156) 

    NOTES FROM BRYAN:

    They had a legit turnaway crowd of 10,000. People were being turned away at least 20 minutes before the weigh-ins began. Dave Meltzer said he’s never seen anything at a weigh-in like the atmosphere this evening.

    Great moment where the biggest weigh-ins of all time for UFC began and nobody was there to weigh the guys in. Took him a good 60 seconds to be found.

    Pfister looked 16 years old or so.

    Seery, an Irishman, was super over. Rogan said it felt more like we were in Dublin than Las Vegas.

    The weigh-in guy was loudly yelling at everyone to keep their arms down, no posing, nothing. I guess when you lift your arms, you weigh less.

    The new video wall is pretty awesome.

    Mike Swick is, in fact, back in the UFC.

    Conor was super over since everyone in Ireland flew over for this show. Mendes was booed a lot.
    Rogan pushed Tim Means vs. Matt Brown as potentially Fight of the Night. It’s the FS1 main event.

    Gunnar Nelson stood on the scale looking like he was on his way to a funeral. Then he made weight with plenty to spare.

    Stephens also looked like he was heading to a funeral and then he missed weight by 3.5 pounds. OOPS.

    Kind of amazing to think that Rory MacDonald, GSP’s protege, is once again attempting to win the UFC Welterweight Title, and there was hardly a peep about it going into this show because it was all Conor all the time. I suppose after his last performance against Robbie it’s hard to get that excited.

    Rory did a promo and said he really felt like this would be his moment. Lawler said was the man, he was gonna knock his ass out, and thanks for coming.

    Conor called him an “overblown midget” and said tomorrow he was going to raise gold for his country. Mendes was in quite the jovial mood. “THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME MAN, LOOK AT THIS SHIT, WHOO! IT’S TIME TO TAKE WHAT’S MINE, BABY!”

    We will have two shows coming for subscribers in the next 12 hours — a Wrestling Observer Radio live from our website convention party, and a Dave Meltzer Q&A from after our banquet. Sign up now, and then join us later for two huge shows, and then for UFC 189 tomorrow!

  • UFC 200 announced and will be in conjunction with 2016 convention

    Dana White announced today at the UFC Fan Expo that UFC 200 will take place on July 2, 2016 at the new 20,000-seat MGM Arena that will be located across the street from the current MGM Grand Garden Arena.  It will be the first UFC show at the new arena.

    So for those making plans the 2016 web site convention will be from June 30, 2016 to July 3, 2016,

  • Update on Davey Richards

    The preliminary indications we were given is that Davey Richards suffered a stinger last night in a match last night in West Virginia, which is resulting in his having to miss his weekend Evolve bookings.

  • FRI UPDATE: McGregor PPV buys, TripleMania, TNA star attacks Jarrett in angle, TNA tag title jinx

    By Dave Meltzer

    There is a huge weekend of live events, which starts tonight.

    We’re looking for reports on tonight’s loaded up WWE show in Philadelphia with John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, tonight’s  NXT show in Orlando, tonight’s GFW show in Erie, PA and last night’s GFW show in Appleton, WI at Dave Meltzer

    NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT 8 P.M. (one hour earlier than usual)

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale

    Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada

    EVOLVE ON FRIDAY NIGHT FROM YBOR CITY, FL AT THE ORPHEUM AT WWW.WWNLIVE.COM AT 8 P.M.

    Drew Galloway & Roderick Strong vs. Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley

    Zack Sabre Jr. Vs. ?

    Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee

    Rich Swann vs. Timothy Thatcher

    Andrew Everett vs Gary Jay

    Saturday, we’re looking for reports on WWE in Pittsburgh (John Cena, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Ryback, New Day, Big Show), Nashville (Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Sheamus), ROH in Hopkins, MN (A.J. Styles vs. Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly, Jay Lethal & Truth Martini vs. Jay Briscoe & ODB, Adam Cole vs. Bobby Fish, Michael Elgin vs. Matt Taven) and NXT in Jacksonville.

    UFC 189 FROM THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS

    Fight Pass at 7 p.m.

    Yosdenis Cedeno vs. Cody Pfister

    Neil Seery vs. Louis Smolka

    FS 1 at 8 p.m.

    Henry Briones vs. Cody Garbrandt

    Alex Garcia vs. Mike Swick

    John Howard vs. Cathal Pendred

    Matt Brown vs. Tim Means

    PPV at 10 p.m.

    Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett

    Gunnar Nelson vs. Brandon Thatch

    Dennis Bermudez vs. Jeremy Stephens

    Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald for welterweight title

    Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes for interim featherweight title

    EVOLVE IPPV AT WWW.WWNLIVE.COM at 7 p.m. Eastern on Saturday

    Drew Galloway vs. Trent Baretta fro Evolve title

    Chris Hero vs. ?

    Timothy Thatcher vs. Martin Stone

    TJ Perkins vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

    Anthony Nese vs. Trevor Lee

    Caleb Konley vs. Andrew Everett

    On Sunday, we’re looking for reports on WWE in Macon, GA (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Ryback, Big Show, Kevin Owens, Prime Time Players) and Knoxville (Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Kane, Cesaro, Dean Ambrose).

    UFC ON SUNDAY FROM THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA ON FS 1 AT 8 P.M.

    George Sullivan vs. Dominic Waters

    Mike De La Torre vs. Maximo Blanco

    Dan Miller vs. Trevor Smith

    Caio Magalhaes vs. Josh Samman

    Willie Gates vs. Darrell Montague

    Russell Doane vs. Jarrod Sanders

    Angela Magana vs. Michelle Waterson

    Michael Graves vs. Vicente Luque

    Cezar Mutante Ferreira vs. Jorge Masvidal

    Hayden Hassan vs. Kamaru Usman in the TUF 21 season finale

    Jake Ellenberger vs. Steve Wonderboy Thompson

    Raw will be live on Monday from Atlanta.  Brock Lesnar is booked on the show.

    Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Birmingham.

    We’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, highlighted by part two of our look at the career and life of Dusty Rhodes.  This focuses on his babyface turn in Florida, his quest for the title, his rise to national prominence, and his feuds with Terry Funk, Superstar Billy Graham and Ole Anderson.  Plus, we look at this year’s G-1 Climax tournament, New Japan Dominion, lots of injury notes regarding some of WWE and TNA’s biggest stars, WWE lawsuit, Beast in the East and much more.

    The Latest Wrestling Observer:  July 13, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Dusty Rhodes bio part 2, back to back major shows in Japan

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

    Our lead story this week looks at the babyface heyday of Dusty Rhodes as a touring attraction.  We look at how the business was in the 70s, the changes in the business in the Southeast and why, the rise of pro wrestling on cable television, his departure from World Championship Wrestling, and his first babyface run that people have forgotten.

    We look at the heyday of Championship Wrestling from Florida, the work of Gordon Solie, Eddie Graham, and Rhodes arrival in Florida in 1973.  We look at the angle that changed Rhodes’ career, the transition from Jack Brisco to Dusty Rhodes as the big star in Florida and how that changed the business, the Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk I Quit match, the relationship between Rhodes and Funk, Dusty Rhodes’ first two NWA title runs, how the NWA title changed during the 70s and why and Rhodes’ quest for the title.  We also look at who Rhodes worked with, and his travels around the globe during his heyday, including some unique matches and opponents that most Americans don’t realize ever took place.

    We look at his Madison Square Garden feud with Superstar Billy Graham, pro wrestling at the Omni in Atlanta, Dusty Rhodes on TBS and the role pro wrestling made in the early history of cable television, as well as the famous angle where Ole Anderson & Ivan Koloff kicked off their feud with Rhodes that set cable records.

    We look at the famous Ole Anderson interview after turning on Dusty Rhodes and why their angle is so fondly remembered, The last Tangle in Tampa, the night that cable television changed the history of pro wrestling, the end of Roy Shire’s promotion, and the second world title run.

    We also have a look at the G-1 Climax tournament for this year, including the favorites, all the matches, as well as full coverage of the Dominion show from Osaka with Kazuchika Okada beating A.J. Styles for the IWGP title.

    We’ve got a look at WWE’s latest legal action, including filing suit against four wrestlers in Connecticut.  We also look at the cases of wrestlers who are suing WWE.

    We’ve also got complete coverage of Beast from the East, how the show came together, why Brock Lesnar was on the show, and match-by-match rundowns with star ratings and poll results.

    We also have more on the NXT show in Brooklyn before SummerSlam, how it will be promoted, a scary note on how bad the Tyson Kidd injury could have been, Battleground update, Dolph Ziggler storyline notes, more WWE injury notes, thoughts on Cesaro, Big Show talks about his demotion to OVW, Thoughts on the memo from five years ago with the notes for WWE announcers and how things have changed since then, Brie Bella talks NXT women coming up as well as vague notes on Daniel Bryan’s injury, thoughts on Bryan’s future as well as an update on Bruno Sammartino after back surgery.

    We also look at the Sports Illustrated article on pro wrestling this week, social media numbers, Ambrose movie release, why Regal was in Japan, WWE’s Japan tryouts, Piper leaving Podcast One, Austin talking Piper leaving Podcast One, longtime WWE writer takes new job, notes on Randy Orton, USA Network take on Tough Enough, Jamie Noble and Becky Lynch injury updates, WWE stock, movies with WWE talent, lots of Tough Enough news, as well as notes from all the weekend live events, business notes and highlights from all the shows.

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    Also in this week’s issue:

    –CMLL running a free live stream this week

    –Notes from the latest shows at Arena Mexico

    –Controversy coming from a womens’ hair vs. hair match

    –Notes from this past week’s AAA TV taping

    –A look at the monthly Dragon Gate show at Korakuen Hall

    –A look at the next two Dragon Gate iPPV shows

    –A look at the last Pro Wrestling NOAH show at Korakuen Hall

    –Notes on Tetsuya Naito’s apparent heel turn

    –New Japan’s last Korakuen Hall show

    –Zero-One Fire Festival notes

    –Notes on the heyday of OVW

    –A look at the upcoming GFW shows

    –Hulk Hogan lawsuit news

    –A look at the careers and lives of who are believed to be the two oldest living pro wrestlers

    –A look at a former WWE star who will star in a reality show piggy backing off Total Divas

    –Former AAA star has a major accident

    –Notes on the next PWG show

    –Wrestling returns to Royal Albert Hall in London

    –Update on Lucha Underground

    –NXT and ROH go head-to-head in Brooklyn and what ROH is running

    –Notes on return of Austin Aries to ROH nest week

    –Notes on Andy Barton leaving TNA

    –Update on Kurt Angle

    –Thoughts on the GFW deal

    –Notes on Gilbert Melendez failing his drug test

    –Dana White talks about how much Aldo would have made if he had fought McGregor

    –Update on Jon Jones

    –Notes on all the UFC shows this week

    –Notes on the IV ban

    –UFC fighter retires

    –Crazy street fight story involving a former UFC fighter and a current one

    –Notes on charges against the husband of Britney Palmer

    –Notes on fighters cut from UFC

    –Jose Aldo drug test note

    –Sonnen pranks Mendes just before the fight

    –Notes on Jacare Souza

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    New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

    Our most requested issues in our history are:

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    *March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)a

    *October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)

    *July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)

    *February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)

    *May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our history)

    *January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)

    *February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)

    *March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)

    *April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk Hogan)

    *May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)

    *June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)

    *June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)

    *July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)

    *August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)

    *September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s, Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)

    *October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)

    *January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)

    *February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)

    *February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy’s win over Brock Lesnar)

    *March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)

    *March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and Wrestlemania history books)

    *July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair’s book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)

    *July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair’s book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)

    *August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)

    *August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez–this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)

    *October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)

    *November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the history of TNA)

    *January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)

    *March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their Hall of Fame)

    *May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)

    *June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and behind the scenes of both shows)

    *July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings, Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

    *August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)

    *September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)

    *October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)

    *November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

    *December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)

    *January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year’s Eve 2005 coverage)

    *January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)

    *April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller Derby–many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)

    *April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame week)

    *July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling–the most unreal story ever in wrestling)

    *September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)

    *October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him tick as his real objectives)

    *November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff’s book and how the industry was changed forever)

    *November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro, Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania planned celebrity away)

    *November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and why it didn’t click)

    *December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride’s offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)

    *January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

    *February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bigelow)

    *March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)

    *March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)

    *March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)

    *April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage–which many are calling one of the best issues in history)

    *July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)

    *October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler Lewis)

    *November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women’s wrestling) .

    *December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)

    *January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

    *March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)

    *March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)

    *April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair’s meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

    *August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)

    * September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)

    * September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)

    * September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)

    You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North America or $5 overseas.

    We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods..

    To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.

    FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • Those in UFC claim that the PPV advance for Saturday as far as orders go as of Wednesday were ahead of any show to date including UFC 100.  Almost all PPV buys are done the day of the show so that isn’t yet a strong indication of guaranteed success, but it’s a good indication.  Within the PPV industry, the belief is this will top 725,000 buys and that with Aldo, it would have beaten that handily.  The belief is a McGregor win would mean Aldo vs. McGregor, whenever that would happen, would be much bigger than it would have been tomorrow.  However, a Mendes win, the belief is, would cost all parties involved a combined $45 million.  And a lot of smart people favor Mendes, although McGregor is the betting favorite.
    • They are also expecting the largest crowd in history for a UFC show in Las Vegas to the weigh-ins today.
    • I hope all pro wrestling schools are paying attention and sports business classes are paying attention to the value of a personality and promo when it comes to the world of sports entertainment.  Everyone who aspires to be a main event wrestler really should watch yesterday’s press conference.  While we have examples in past decades of people who have been able to talk people into seats, for a guy in a 200,000 buy weight class who hasn’t even won the title to pull this off is a great modern era example.
    • A first-time ever dream match of Rey Mysterio Jr. taking on Myzteziz was announced earlier today as the main event for Triple Mania, which takes place on 8/9 at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City.  The show will air on iPPV into North America.
    • Lisa Lee Fox, who was Executive Vice President of content with WWE, was let go earlier this week.  She was overseer of creative and also in charge of content, such as the WWE Network.
    • Davey Richards was knocked out in a match last night in West Virginia.  He was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and was told that he couldn’t fly, nor wrestle this weekend.  No word on how long he’ll have to be out of action, but The Wolves are the TNA tag team champions and the next tapings start in 12 days.
    • Richards was scheduled for Evolve shows tonight in Ybor City, FL and tomorrow night in Orlando.  His respective opponents, Zack Sabre Jr. and Chris Hero, will be on the shows and will face a new opponent in a singles match.
    • UFC 189 is the No. 26 most searched for term in the U.S. as of this morning.  Usually it doesn’t crack the list until the day of the show.
    • For twitter, the leading numbers are

    UFC 189 39,800 tweets

    Invicta 14,900

    Cris Cyborg 9,668

    Jamie Moyle 264

    • Eric Young attacked Jeff Jarrett in an angle at the TNA show last night in Appleton, WI.  Young came out and wanted Jarrett.  Jarrett said he’d give him a match on the show, but Young didn’t want that.  He attacked Jarrett and stole the King of the Mountain belt, saying he was bringing it back to where it belonged.
    • Rowdy Bec Rawlings was pulled from the UFC show on FS 1 on 7/18 due to an injury.  Joanne Calderwood will now face the debuting Cortney Casey on UFC’s debut card in Glasgow, Scotland.
    • Check the Thursday update for all the activities in Las Vegas this weekend. 
    • Several pro wrestling types were at the Invicta show last night.  CM Punk was there, and I believe Adam Cole and Roderick Strong were, although I didn’t see them.  Shayna Baszler was there and she said she’s looking at doing more pro wrestling as a competitor.  Baszler is the exact opposite of what they wanted on Tough Enough, but she’d have been perfect for the show as a personality.  But they were looking for bikini models and a few years younger women.  We talked about the street fight story that is in this week’s issue and she said it’s still surreal thinking about it.  Josh Barnett also was interested in doing more over the next year with pro wrestling, particularly in Japan.  UFC stars were everywhere, as well as many of the top brass at UFC.  No Dana White, but both matchmakers, Joe Silva and Sean Shelby were there.
    • It looks like the plan going forward will be to have Invicta shows in Las Vegas, more on the Friday nights before UFC.  They did more than 1,000 paid and the theater at the Cosmopolitan was a great place to watch fights. 
    • Sabu suffered a bad shoulder injury, but left for a wrestling tour of Europe this week.
    • Ronda Rousey refused to break training to come to International Fight Week.  She and Jose Aldo (injured) are just about the only top UFC stars not here.

  • VIDEO: DON FRYE previews UFC 189~!

  • VIDEO: UFC Embedded 8 with Conor McGregor

  • TNA tag champ Davey Richards knocked out, off Evolve weekend

    Evolve Wrestling reported this morning that Davey Richards will be off its two weekend iPPV shows due to an injury suffered last night.

    Richards, who is half of the TNA tag team chamion Wolves, was wrestling last night in West Virginia, and was knocked out during a match.  He was rushed via ambulance to the hospital.  Due to the injuires he was both forbidden from flying, and from wrestling.

    He was scheduled for shows tonight in Ybor City, FL against Zack Sabre Jr., and tomorrow night against Chris Hero.  In both cases, a new main event caliber opponent will be a replacement according to the promotion.

  • UFC announces a new brand identity starting tomorrow night

    UFC® Unveils New Brand Identity

    UFC launches a transformed visual identity, from its signature logo

    mark to its broadcast package, ahead of UFC 189: MENDES vs. MCGREGOR

    Las Vegas – As the doors swing open on the 2015 UFC Fan Expo®, UFC® will unveil a completely transformed visual identity – the first since the mixed martial arts (MMA) organization was purchased by Zuffa, LLC in 2001. The biggest transformation will be experienced by fans watching UFC® 189: MENDES vs. MCGREGOR this Saturday, with the launch of a completely redesigned graphics package. 

    UFC’s new visual identity, designed in partnership with Hollywood-based branding and marketing agency Troika, celebrates the UFC position as an undeniable force in the world of sport. It further brings to life the UFC brand attributes: premium, electric and lionhearted, while also elevating UFC athletes as larger-than-life heroes. 

    The broadcast will feature innovations throughout the on-screen information system, enabling depth of storytelling while enhancing the viewing experience with a low profile footprint that does not distract from the action in the famed Octagon®. UFC also moves to center clock in broadcast – a first in combat sports.

    “UFC has and always will be true to its DNA,” UFC Chief Global Brand Officer Garry Cook said. “We didn’t set out to reinvent ourselves, we looked at ways to build on our solid foundation and better deliver on a broad range of storytelling components, providing more context and meaning, and further enhancing the viewing experience for our fans.”

    With an increasing slate of content available across a wide range of platforms, design elements where heavily focused on providing navigational clarity and product differentiation for fans. The newly designed logo architecture and brand signatures, which include an ownable tab system utilized across all UFC properties, will be especially prominent in marketing and promotional materials serving to distinguish Pay-Per-View (PPV) events from broadcast and those exclusive to UFCFIGHTPASS.com. 

    An overview of UFC’s new visual identify can be viewed here: http://media.ufc.tv/PR/UFC_BRAND.pdf

    For a full look at the transformed UFC broadcast identity tune-in on Saturday, July 11 as UFC 189: MENDES vs. MCGREGOR goes live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. 

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