While up from last week’s record modern era seasonal low, Raw’s numbers will still at low levels Monday night, doing 3.65 million viewers.
The number was up about 190,000 from the prior week. The audience remained steady based on the hourly breakdowns.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.64 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.69 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.62 million viewers
Notes for Thursday night’s show, taped tonight in Milwaukee:
Seth Rollins opened the show with a promo. He was complaining about how Brock Lesnar destroyed the Cadillac. Paul Heyman showed up. They went back-and-forth on the mic.
They announced Seth Rollins vs. Ryback and Roman Reigns vs. Big Show for tonight.
Dean Ambrose b Bo Dallas with Dirty Deeds. The match didn’t get over live.
Rusev b Fandango. The big news is Rusev is now wrestling with shoes, which is a smart thing given his injury. It was a quick destruction.
Roman Reigns b Big Show via DQ. There was once again a fake Bray Wyatt outside. This time Reigns ignored it. But the real Wyatt attacked Reigns for the DQ and laid him out with two Sister Abigails.
Titus O’Neil b Big E
Randy Orton cut a promo regarding Sheamus. The Ascension came out and told him to get out of their ring. Orton laid both out with RKOs.
Brie Bella & Alicia Fox b Naomi & Tamina Snuka
Ryback b Seth Rollins via walk out count out. After the match, Rollins and Big Show beat down Ryback until Reigns made the save.
By James Cox, WrestlingObserver.com
The Big Takeaway:
The Ascension faced the Mega Powers for the umpteenth time, but beat them for once, with the crowd still enjoying the novelty of Axel and Mandow. Adam Rose and Fandango are still kind of feuding under the radar with Rose winning here, tweaking his character to try to get more heat.
The Ascension beat The Mega Powers (4:28)
Viktor and Mandow start in the ring together. Viktor runs into an elbow and Mandow quickly tags in Axel. Jimmy Uso on commentary is asked about how his brother is doing and noted that he is ahead of schedule but wouldn’t be back in action until the fall. Axel goes up top for ten punches on Viktor. This crowd love counting along. Mandow comes back in and the pair hit double back elbows on Viktor and then clothesline Konnor outside.
Viktor comes back into the ring and Konnor tries to distract Mandow and Viktor takes advantage with a quick pin attempt. When it doesn’t pay off, Viktor uses stomps. The Ascension then start to use a series of quick tags, cutting of the ring. They use that half Boston crab/leg drop to the back of the head combination and Konnor goes for a cover and then puts on a rear chin lock.
A double clothesline sees both men go down. Both make tags, with Axel getting the heat. He lands the big boot, tears his shirt and then takes out Viktor with an atomic drop and clothesline to send him packing. Mandow goes outside, but is rammed into the apron by Viktor and this distracts Axel. Konnor hits Mandow with a big boot and then they use the Fall of Man for the win.
Adam Rose (w/ Rosa Mendes) beat Fandango (5:44)
Adam Rose and Rosa come out to cut a pre-match promo. They finish each other’s sentences and have a pretty boring dynamic of being a ‘power couple’. They remind me of Laycool. Rose finishes by saying, “its all about Adam.”
This is pretty short and quick for a Superstars main event at just under 6 minutes. Rose uses hip toss on the bell to try to fluster Fandango and postures to the crowd. Then they chain and run the ropes and a shoulder barge followed by a drop kick give Fandango the early going. He clotheslines Rose over the top rope and then hits a fairly graceful slingshot cross body on to Rose on the outside.
Back in the ring a side suplex by Rose sends both men down. Fandango gets up first and uses an atomic drop and quick clotheslines to get him in control until Rose grabs him and lands a swinging neckbreaker to break up the charge. A DDT by Rose gets him a two count. Fandango retorts with a power slam and gets two.
Fandango continues with Flair chops and then tries a backslide cover but can only get two. Fandango uses a sitout suplex slam and then Rosa distracts. Rose launches Fandango off the apron into the dasher boards. Rose brings him back in, and ends it rather suddenly with the Party Foul or, as he is now calling it, the Disaster Piece.
By Kenneth Nida, WrestlingObserver.com
Last week’s episode saw the competitors swim with alligators, take bumps off the top rope, and argue for entirely too much time. ZZ continued his trend of being the most entertaining thing on the show, but actually avoided the bottom three. Alex was eliminated after arrogantly declaring “Knowledge means nothing.”
This week’s guest WWE Superstar is Seth Rollins. Hopefully he contributes more than Roman Reigns’ 45 seconds of speaking from last week’s episode. The show opens up with an introduction for the judges, each judge speaking briefly about the show so far. We then cut to the reactions of the contestants after last week’s elimination. Dianna then decides to leave the show and is picked up by her fiancé at 2:00 a.m.
Billy Gunn wakes the contestants up at dawn for some exercise. He’s very upset with the fact that Dianna quit, asking if anyone else wants to go home. Seth Rollins makes his appearance for the first challenge, which will involve character building. Each contestants pick a card with a character theme such as “American Hero” and “Farmer’s Daughter”. Each contestant gathers props, which Seth Rollins offers advice on before he leaves. His appearance lasted longer than Roman Reigns, but it was equally pointless.
We go back to the live show, where the judges offer their thoughts on Dianna quitting the show. Paige is quite upset that their time was wasted on a quitter. Back at the barracks, Sara Lee is the first contestant to show off her character through a ring entrance. She takes the stage as Jayde the “Queen of Mean” (with a surprising lack of latex or a whip). The judges don’t really understand her character, saying her music is doing more for them than her performance. Patrick as the “Evil Intellectual”, carrying Lita’s dog as his minion impresses the judges. ZZ upsets the judges with an overly comedic entrance. Billy Gunn even says it’s insulting – I’m curious about what he thought of Santino.
Patrick wins the challenge on the men’s side, while Giorgia wins among the women. Lita notes this is the second week in a row both have won. They announce that there will still be an elimination even though Dianna went home. ZZ is frustrated because he feels misunderstood. Gabi recruits Sara Lee to be her ally. The two trash talk the other women. Patrick and Tanner get into an argument which escalates into a fight which is quickly broken up.
We go back to the live show for the elimination. The judges grill the contestants. Somehow Daniel Bryan’s question to Sara Lee about not appearing to be mean, turns to Paige and Hulk Hogan asking about ZZ’s bulge that he showed off in his entrance. This week the bottom three are, Daria as chosen by Daniel Bryan, Sara Lee as chosen by Paige, and ZZ as chosen by Hulk Hogan. It’s announced the contestants will get a second chance to do their ring entrance before the vote. Sara Lee comes across as a bit meaner, ZZ plays to the crowd, and Daria improves drastically in the eyes of the judges.
Each contestant then gets 30 seconds to plead their case. This time, they actually started the voting after the contestants plead their case, as opposed to before like in week’s past. They also take time to ask the other contestants who they think should go home before the votes come in. The judges decline to use their one save. ZZ got 52% of the vote, Sara Lee got 34% of the vote, and with 14% of the vote Daria is eliminated. Daria speaks briefly on the outpour of support she got from the LGBT community after she came out on the show.
by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix
TV/show notes for tonight:
Tough Enough is on USA Network at 8:00 p.m. E.T. with an episode titled “Who Are You?” Seth Rollins is “guest starring.” Starting to wonder if it’s hurting the show/viewership that they’re not able to edit together promos for the next show since they’re going week to week. They can’t pick a favorite cast member to spotlight or anything like that, and the same problem hurt the “live” season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Total Divas’ new season starts at 9:00 p.m. E.T. on sister network E! with an episode titled “Diva Divide.” The Bellas face the harsh realities of quitting World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.; chaos breaks out in the Divas division when news of Eva’s new role reaches the other ladies; Nattie explores a more domineering side of herself. Wait, dos that mean that in the Total Divas universe, the Bellas actually quit WWE for a while?
SmackDown and Main Event will be taped tonight in Milwaukee, WI. If you’re attending and would like to write a spoiler report, please send it to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.
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The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with an extensive look at the ongoing legal battle between Hulk Hogan and Gawker over their publication of a “highlight reel” of the sex tape with Heather Cole that was shot without his knowledge. Among the topics covered are:
* The origins of the video, including who was shopping it around.
* The schism between Hogan and Todd “Bubba the Love Sponge” Clem.
* Why Gawker sued he FBI and where that case is going.
And much more. Plus, as always, we have all of the usual reviews and international news.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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The story behind UFC losing perhaps its biggest fight of the year with Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, update on WrestleMania and the match that isn’t in the plans right now, the TNA-GFW situation and how it happened, and how many expect big changes in UFC very soon, multiple WWE related lawsuits, Tough Enough and the WWE & TNA monthly business rundowns are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The latest Wrestling Observer: July 6, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jose Aldo injury fallout, TNA/GFW mystery
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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 looks at the injury to Conor McGregor, what UFC attempted to do to save the fight, why the fight didn’t happen, McGregor building up a later fight, how much does this change hurt, the positives of Mendes in the spot and the mentality of the PPV buyer. We look at the key issues involved in the fight not happening.
We also look at why the TNA/GFW alliance took place, why TNA made the call to Jeff Jarrett, plans or non-plans going on, why this is beneficial to both, departures from TNA, where that talent would go next and more.
We look at why Saturday’s UFC show in Hollywood, FL was the end of an era on several accounts, both from the uniform standpoint, as well as drug detection and weight cutting standpoints. We also make a suggestion of something that is already done in other sports that UFC should implement, although it will never happen, as well as an example of why weight-cutting is done the way it is.
We also look at a lawsuit against WWE for making allegedly misleading claims that led to the stock price going way up, and then falling. We look at a unique thing that came up regarding the key witness, stories changing, and if stories were legit to begin with.
We also look at the death of the bill to legalize MMA in New York, and how it went down.
We also have early notes on next year’s WrestleMania, an update on Sting, how the main event planned is unique because it’s out of WWE’s control if it happens, more on Reign vs. Wyatt, the Japanese tour, ideas for the network in 2016, Japanese pro wrestler tryouts, Dolph Ziggler on his contractual situation, The Rock at the house show in Boston, Rock movie news, update on Tyson Kidd, update on WWE network, update on lawsuits against WWE, and notes on the new season of Total Divas.
We also look at awards WWE is nominated for, Randy Orton, WWE announcing, and notes on the weekend NXT and WWE house shows and business notes and highlights from all of the shows.
We’ve got coverage of the UFC show in Hollywood, FL, how the card fell apart beforehand, business notes on the show, and what should happen next for Yoel Romero. We also look at TNA Slammiversary.
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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.
Also in this week’s issue:
–New promotion that has had success dumps its two biggest stars
–A look at the All Elite show in Mexico City with several American stars brought in and others scheduled who had to pull out
–CMLL announces its next major big show main event
–Updates on reaction to the Busca de un Idolo tournament
–Notes on the last shows at Arena Mexico
–Notes on this year’s TripleMania and why it is taking place so late in the year
–Some major injuries to Lucha Underground stars
–AAA signs a longtime CMLL star
–Rey Mysterio Jr. headlines for AAA’s last TV tapings
–Why the Great Muta U.S. tour fell through
–An international promotion having money problems and having to cut back and losing wrestles in the process
–Notes on Dragon Gate’s next major show including some U.S. tours appearing
–Notes on the NOAH upcoming junior heavyweight tournament
–Updates on New Japan business
–New Japan World G-1 notes
–Notes on New Japan’s biggest main event of the week
–Notes on the New Japan U.S. television show
–Update on the original tiger Mask
–Genichiro Tenryu’s final match
–Hiroshi Tanahashi appears on DDT major show
–Update on Bruno Sammartino
–Dave Bautista likely to land another major movie role
–Notes on this past week’s PWG show including celebrities and four-star matches
–Notes on the next two PWG shows
–Young Bucks face Mysterio for the first time and notes no the show
–More talent appearing for Jarrett on shows
–Lots of news regarding the new NWA streaming service and Houston wrestling tape collection
–Another major streaming service announced
–Former WWE star set for a new E! reality show
–Another former WWE performer gets into legal trouble
–Notes on pro wrestling books
–Update on former WWE star Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore
–Update on the WWC’s last major show
–Former pro wrestler competing in high level bodybuilding contest
–One of the most reviled men of the last 50 years in wrestling is coming out of retirement once again
–Latest on Lucha Underground
–Notes on the ROH stadium show in Brooklyn
–Complete lineup for ROH’s next iPPV show
–Notes on the next ROH show in Las Vegas
–Updates on TNA titles after this set of tapings
–Everything on TNA television through mid-August
–Update on problems with production people
–Update on health of Kurt Angle
–Update on Jeff hardy
–Former WWE star working for TNA behind the scenes
–Controversy over Anderson Silva drug test result
–Ronda Rousey ESPY award nominations
–Crazy UFC schedule over an eight day period
–Official UFC 187 numbers
–Update on C.M. Punk training
–UFC’s return to Ireland announced
–Update Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson
–Lots of new UFC fights
–Aftermath of Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice
–Ken Shamrock talks about a fight with Frank shamrock
–More on Alexander Shlemenko suspension
–Foamer Pride star sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison
–An August battle of MMA legends falls through.
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Our most requested issues in our history are:
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*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
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*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)
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*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)
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*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)
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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.
Tuesday Daily Update
— UFC has cut 14 fighters, the biggest names being Hatsu Hioki and Ryan Jimmo. This was originally reported by the UFC Fighters Info Twitter robot that tracks UFC website changes and was later confirmed by MMAFighting. No real surprises, though Jimmo being released will get some interest because of how outspoked he’s been as of late.
— TheStreet has upgraded WWE stock to “buy.”
— Ring of Honor announced Kazuchika Okada vs. Roderick Strong and Killer Elite Squad vs. War Machine for the Field of Honor show in Brooklyn on August 22nd.
— With Biff Busick injured, Drew Galloway will be wrestling another match at this Saturday’s Evolve show in Florida as a make good. He’ll defend the Open the Freedom Gate Title against a challenger determined Friday night.
— Brian Hoops sent in this note about the Super Clash III talk last night on Observer Radio: For whatever this is worth. Greg Gagne has always maintained that each promoter was to pay his own talent and thus the AWA guys were paid but Jarrett was to pay Lawler and Chavo Guerrero. That said, the Guerreros had been working for the AWA, not Jarrett, so that doesn’t necessarily speak well to Gagne’s claim.
— A today in history note from Beau James: 30 years ago today Mid Atlantic started their monthly cards at Freedom Hall in Johnson City moving from D-B Dome in Kingsport. World Champion Ric Flair beat MagnumT.A. by DQ, World TV Champion Dusty Rhodes with Baby doll beat Tully Blanchard Dusty had won Baby doll the night before at The Great American Bash. World Tag Champions Ivan and Nikita Kolloff beat Jimmy Valiant and Manny Fernandez, Buddy Landell with J.J. Dillon beat Ron Bass. Superstar Billy Graham beat Johnson City’s Kim Birchfield. two other matches I can not remember.
— At MMAFighting, Dave has an article about the Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz fight, which is probably the best fight in pre-Zuffa UFC and was considered the greatest fight in UFC history when it happened.
— International Fight Week schedule of events for our friends at the Las Vegas Fight Shop:
FRIDAY JULY 10TH
12-2pm: Adidas presents LUKE ROCKHOLD! Kick off fight weekend by meeting the UFC Middleweight contender in store.
*VIP entry with Adidas purchase ($30+)
6-7pm: Bad Boy presents CHRIS WEIDMAN! Meet the UFC Middleweight Champ!
*Bad Boy Purchase Required ($30+)
6-7:30pm: UFC Octagon Girl ARIANNY CELESTE! Join Arianny after the weigh ins for her official 2016 Calendar Launch.
*Calendar purchase required ($20)
6-7:30: UFC Octagon Girl BRITTNEY PALMER! Meet Brittney with Arianny and pick up her new 2016 Calendar after the Weigh Ins.
*Calendar purchase required ($20)
7:30pm: Affliction presents RANDY COUTURE! Meet the UFC Hall Of Famer in store for the launch of his new Affliction “Living Legends” shirt.
*Affliction Living Legends Shirt purchase required ($58)
7:30pm: UFC Octagon Girl VANESSA HANSON! Welcome Vanessa to Las Vegas Fight Shop for the first time and get her limited edition poster signed!
*Poster Purchase required ($20)
SATURDAY JULY 11TH
10AM-12PM: Torque presents URIJAH FABER! Meet the California Kid!
*Torque purchase required ($35)
12-2pm: Affliction presents CAIN VELASQUEZ! Meet with the fromer UFC Heavyweight Champ before UFC189!
*Affliction Cain shirt purchase required ($48+)
2:30pm: Affliction presents MIESHA TATE! Who wants cupcakes? Meet Miesha in store and pick up her new Affliction tee.
*Affliction Miesha Tate shirt purchase required ($58)
All meet & greets include personal meet, photo op & signed item. Free autograph photo cards or posters are available. You may bring your own item. UFC gloves, belts, posters, etc are available in store for purchase.
— New England Championship Wrestling returns to live action this Saturday night, July 11th at the 2015 Brockton Fair, 600 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA. Bell time is 7 PM. Admission is FREE with your admission to the Fair so come enjoy all the rides, games, food and attractions, as well as a tremendous line-up of bouts you don’t want to miss: In the main event, the NECW Heavyweight Championship is on the line as NECW Heavyweight Champion Slyck Wagner Brown battles a standout from the 2015 IRON 8 Championship, making his return to NECW, “The Pure Talent” Chris Escobar.
— Limited standing room tickets are available for Absolute Intense Wrestling’s Absolution X this Friday night at the Ohio City Masonic Arts Center located at 2831 Franklin Blvd in Cleveland, OH Bell time will be at 7:30pm with doors opening at 6:45pm for a card headlined by Team AIW (The Young Bucks, Johnny Gargano, Josh Prohibition, & Alex Daniels) vs Dudes on TV (NXT’s Samoa Joe, The NewTNA Champion EC3, DJ Z, Raymond Rowe, & Matt Cross) in a Cleveland Street Fight. Yes, that’s a match with wrestlers contracted to WWE, TNA, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and Evolve/WWN. Also, Tim Donst has announced that he’s cancer-free and will return to the ring on this card.
— BATTLE ARTS PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING: RISING STARS (Santino’s promotion) returns to the Don Kolov Arena a week from Saturday, July 18th @ 7 p.m.
— New interview with Matt Striker at The News Hub. Lots of interesting details about WWE announcing.
— Steve Corino joins the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast this week to talk about the NJPW/ROH crossover, what it means to the business, adjusting styles, his heat w/ Homicide, working w/ Dusty Rhodes in ECW, Paul Heyman’s greatest compliment, and more.
— A reader is looking for 1 or 2 UFC 189 tickets for this weekend at “not insane prices,” so if you’ve got some spares and are up for making a deal, email him at scottrandom@hotmail.com.
By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com
1961 – At Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri; The Sheik fought Bobo Brazil to a draw, Art Neilson & Rip Hawk (sub. Ray Shires) defeated The Hillbillies in three falls and Dick the Bruiser defeated Haystack Calhoun in three falls; In Winnipeg; AWA US Champion Gene Kiniski beat Wilbur Snyder in 2 out of 3 falls and Hard Boiled Haggerty beat Roy McClarty in 2 out of 3 falls; In Fargo, North Dakota; Bob Geigel beat Hard Boiled Haggerty
1965 – In Davenport, Iowa; AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat The Crusher & Verne Gagne dq, Pampero Firpo no contest Wilbur Snyder, Mighty Igor Vodik beat Haru Sasaki and Chris Markoff beat Ivan Kalmikoff
1966 – In Kansas City; Bob Brown & Alex Perez fought Sonny Myers & Timothy Geohagen to a draw, The Mongolian Stomper defeated Jack Donovan and Tiny Smith (w/ The Mongolian Stomper) defeated The Viking (w/ Jack Donovan) via DQ in three falls; In Municipal Stadium at Davenport, Iowa; AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Billy Red Cloud, AWA Tag Team Champions Dick The Bruiser & Crusher beat The Alaskan & Big K and Wilbur Snyder beat Angelo Poffo
1967 – At the Amphitheatre in Chicago; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Mitsu Arakawa, Dick the Bruiser beat Harley Race, Devils Duo Angelo Poffo & Chris Markoff beat Rene Goulet & Jack Lanza, Lou Thesz beat Johnny Powers and Moose Cholak drew Ernie Ladd
1973 – In St. Paul, Minnesota; Nick Bockwinkel beat Ken Patera, The Crusher beat Ivan Koloff, Reggie Parks beat Larry Heiniemi dq and Bob Bruggers drew Joe Scarpello
1977 – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell defeated Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Also on the card, Billy Robinson beat Mad Dog Vachon, Super Destroyer & Angelo Mosca beat Pedro Morales & Ray Stevens, Bob Backlund beat Billy Francis, Larry Hennig beat Roger Kirby and Chris Markoff beat Steve Olsonoski. Attendance was 5,119.
1981 – In Omaha, Nebraska; AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura, Tito Santana beat Sheik Adnan by dq, Baron Von Raschke ddq Ray Stevens and Ray Stevens (sub Jerry Blackwell) drew Laurent Soucie
1990 – Sting defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title at the Great American Bash in Baltimore, Maryland. NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom defeated The Rock N’ Roll Express, U.S. Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated Tracey Smothers & Steve Armstrong and U.S. Champion Lex Luger defeated Mark Callous.
1996 – Ric Flair defeated Konnan to win the U.S. Title in Daytona Beach, Florida. Also, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & their mystery partner (Hulk Hogan) vs. Randy Savage, Sting & Lex Luger went to a no contest and launched the NWO.
2003 – Booker T defeated Christian for the WWE Intercontinental title in Montreal, Quebec
Ohio Valley Wrestling, the brainchild of Danny Davis, which produced many of the biggest stars of modern wrestling including Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and, to a degree, John Cena and Dave Bautista, is being sold.
Davis, who started the promotion in 1993, announced the company was being sold to a private investor, who was not named. Several years after the company was founded, it became the main developmental territory for WWE with the help of Jim Ross and Jim Cornette.
“I have been searching for the perfect person to carry on OVW’s legacy and I believe I’ve found them,” Davis said in a post on their website Tuesday. The new owners will be announced at the company’s television tapings Wednesday night at the Davis Arena in Louisville.
By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com
Newly crowned IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada will be defending his title against Roderick Strong in one of the main matches on Ring of Honor’s Field of Honor event on August 22nd at MCU Field in Brooklyn, NY.
Strong, the PWG champion, has had one of the best runs of matches this year in the U.S. with bouts with Shinsuke Nakamura, Zack Sabre Jr., Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kyle O’Reilly, Jay Lethal, Kushida, Trevor Lee and Christopher Daniels among others. He also headlines the 7/24 ROH iPPV in an ROH title match with Lethal.
Okada defeated A.J. Styles at NJPW Dominion Sunday in Osaka in one of the year’s best matches.
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida (first time match) in addition to Davey Boy Smith Jr./Lance Archer vs. Raymond Rowe/Hanson have been announced for Field Of Honor — an event that goes head-to-head with an NXT special on the WWE Network live from the Barclays Center.
Submitted by John Pinkus
Superstars:
Heath Slater vs Neville: Heath got decent amount of heat, which resulted in fairly loud chant for Neville. Neville won with the red arrow, but Heath had to readjust his position before he jumped. Overall, good opening match.
Ascension vs WWE Tag Champions Prime Time Players:
Chicago, like everywhere, doesn’t like these painted goofs. Not much of a match, Titus had to wait a long time for the hot tag from Darren. Titus proceeded to throw around dudes around. This was followed by a short parade of finishers, pin by Titus on Viktor, I believe.
Other RAW Notes
– Noelle Foley was in the front row with the guy dressed up like a clown.
– Post match: Instead of a dark match, John Cena, talking in a slightly higher pitched voice, did his best to verbally put over Cesaro. He called Cesaro back into the ring, for Cesaro was being helped to the back by the refs. Cena then talked about the various matches he has at All State Arena, from his debut to having a match with a guy who won his title then jumped over the railings. (Light CM Punk chants.) He talked about how when you preform well for this Chicago crowd, they let you know about it. He was got emotional telling Cesaro you deserve their praise for how well you perform each time you get the chance. He said he earned the right to challenge for the US title after their last two matches. Finally, he asked the crowd to give Cesaro one last ovation, and Cesaro did his little air punch pose.
The chants for Cesaro were much louder during this post match promo then during their actual match. And, like I said before, Cena appeared to be pretty emotional during the whole thing. It almost, almost felt like a retirement speech. The crowd was very appreciative of what Cena was trying to do for Cesaro, and they gave him a standing ovation after Cesaro left the ring. Though, Cena did say Chicago was the greatest wrestling city in America. I hope they air this promo on their website at some point.
By Dave Meltzer
dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
We’re looking for your thoughts on the weekend’s New Japan Dominion show and yesterday’s WWE Best from the East shot, 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”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
We’re also looking for reports from Raw tonight in Chicago, with dark matches, Superstars matches and anything else not evident on the live broadcast. Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, on Monday. Guess which two were pushed on USA network ads last night?
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Milwaukee. No John Cena advertised, so the top stars advertised are Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton.
The story behind UFC losing perhaps its biggest fight of the year with Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, update on WrestleMania and the match that isn’t in the plans right now, the TNA-GFW situation and how it happened, and how many expect big changes in UFC very soon, multiple WWE related lawsuits, Tough Enough and the WWE & TNA monthly business rundowns are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The latest Wrestling Observer: July 6, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jose Aldo injury fallout, TNA/GFW mystery
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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 looks at the injury to Conor McGregor, what UFC attempted to do to save the fight, why the fight didn’t happen, McGregor building up a later fight, how much does this change hurt, the positives of Mendes in the spot and the mentality of the PPV buyer. We look at the key issues involved in the fight not happening.
We also look at why the TNA/GFW alliance took place, why TNA made the call to Jeff Jarrett, plans or non-plans going on, why this is beneficial to both, departures from TNA, where that talent would go next and more.
We look at why Saturday’s UFC show in Hollywood, FL was the end of an era on several accounts, both from the uniform standpoint, as well as drug detection and weight cutting standpoints. We also make a suggestion of something that is already done in other sports that UFC should implement, although it will never happen, as well as an example of why weight-cutting is done the way it is.
We also look at a lawsuit against WWE for making allegedly misleading claims that led to the stock price going way up, and then falling. We look at a unique thing that came up regarding the key witness, stories changing, and if stories were legit to begin with.
We also look at the death of the bill to legalize MMA in New York, and how it went down.
We also have early notes on next year’s WrestleMania, an update on Sting, how the main event planned is unique because it’s out of WWE’s control if it happens, more on Reign vs. Wyatt, the Japanese tour, ideas for the network in 2016, Japanese pro wrestler tryouts, Dolph Ziggler on his contractual situation, The Rock at the house show in Boston, Rock movie news, update on Tyson Kidd, update on WWE network, update on lawsuits against WWE, and notes on the new season of Total Divas.
We also look at awards WWE is nominated for, Randy Orton, WWE announcing, and notes on the weekend NXT and WWE house shows and business notes and highlights from all of the shows.
We’ve got coverage of the UFC show in Hollywood, FL, how the card fell apart beforehand, business notes on the show, and what should happen next for Yoel Romero. We also look at TNA Slammiversary.
We’ve got a story on the new season of Tough Enough, what has and hasn’t worked so far, notes on the ratings, notes on the competitors, who are said to be the favorites, what on the show is misleading and more on what is involved.
We also have our monthly business review for WWE & TNA, looking at monthly business in a number of categories. We look at what categories are up, how far down are the ones down, and what one category with WWE that is significantly up and one that is collapsing.
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.
Also in this week’s issue:
–New promotion that has had success dumps its two biggest stars
–A look at the All Elite show in Mexico City with several American stars brought in and others scheduled who had to pull out
–CMLL announces its next major big show main event
–Updates on reaction to the Busca de un Idolo tournament
–Notes on the last shows at Arena Mexico
–Notes on this year’s TripleMania and why it is taking place so late in the year
–Some major injuries to Lucha Underground stars
–AAA signs a longtime CMLL star
–Rey Mysterio Jr. headlines for AAA’s last TV tapings
–Why the Great Muta U.S. tour fell through
–An international promotion having money problems and having to cut back and losing wrestles in the process
–Notes on Dragon Gate’s next major show including some U.S. tours appearing
–Notes on the NOAH upcoming junior heavyweight tournament
–Updates on New Japan business
–New Japan World G-1 notes
–Notes on New Japan’s biggest main event of the week
–Notes on the New Japan U.S. television show
–Update on the original tiger Mask
–Genichiro Tenryu’s final match
–Hiroshi Tanahashi appears on DDT major show
–Update on Bruno Sammartino
–Dave Bautista likely to land another major movie role
–Notes on this past week’s PWG show including celebrities and four-star matches
–Notes on the next two PWG shows
–Young Bucks face Mysterio for the first time and notes no the show
–More talent appearing for Jarrett on shows
–Lots of news regarding the new NWA streaming service and Houston wrestling tape collection
–Another major streaming service announced
–Former WWE star set for a new E! reality show
–Another former WWE performer gets into legal trouble
–Notes on pro wrestling books
–Update on former WWE star Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore
–Update on the WWC’s last major show
–Former pro wrestler competing in high level bodybuilding contest
–One of the most reviled men of the last 50 years in wrestling is coming out of retirement once again
–Latest on Lucha Underground
–Notes on the ROH stadium show in Brooklyn
–Complete lineup for ROH’s next iPPV show
–Notes on the next ROH show in Las Vegas
–Updates on TNA titles after this set of tapings
–Everything on TNA television through mid-August
–Update on problems with production people
–Update on health of Kurt Angle
–Update on Jeff hardy
–Former WWE star working for TNA behind the scenes
–Controversy over Anderson Silva drug test result
–Ronda Rousey ESPY award nominations
–Crazy UFC schedule over an eight day period
–Official UFC 187 numbers
–Update on C.M. Punk training
–UFC’s return to Ireland announced
–Update Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson
–Lots of new UFC fights
–Aftermath of Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice
–Ken Shamrock talks about a fight with Frank shamrock
–More on Alexander Shlemenko suspension
–Foamer Pride star sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison
–An August battle of MMA legends falls through.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
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:
*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)
*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you’ll know exactly what was said–the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)
*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
*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.
MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
–Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, Gilbert Melendez as well as taking your e-mail questions that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com We have a show with about 90 minutes of questions being answered with Mike Sempervive and I that we recorded yesterday. We may do another one next month after the G-1 finals.
–Ric Flair is in Chicago but as of a few minutes ago, was not scheduled for Raw. He will be on the Dusty Rhodes special which is being done live after the completion of Raw. WWE has announced Jerry Lawler hosting a special that features Flair and Arn Anderson.
–Randy Orton got engaged to girlfriend Kim Kessler over the weekend. He returns tonight.
–Just for those who have asked, the reason Roddy Piper left Podcast One was because he asked out of his contract there. Any other story is just, well, what can I say, fantasy.
–Speaking of which, even more fantasy is the stories of Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada doing a WWE tryout. It was somebody’s idea of a joke on Twitter and somehow that became news.
–The Los Angeles Sports Arena, which was the home to many pro wrestling events over the years, including the AAA La Revancha and When World’s Collide shows, is being demolished for a new soccer stadium on the same grounds. There is no timetable of when, but the decision has been made that it will be happening. The building also housed several NCAA title wins by UCLA, was the home of the Lakers before the Forum, housed big matches with Freddie Blassie in the early 60s and Mil Mascaras in the late 70s, was the site of JFK’s nomination and the site of Muhammad Ali vs. Archie Moore.
–Steve Austin did some media to back up his being the cover guy on the 2K16 video game. To me, it’s really telling that they went with Austin rather than an active star. It would be one thing if it was HHH or Dwayne Johnson who still wrestle but aren’t full-timers. They did John Cena last year. Anyway, don’t think this means Austin is going to wrestle again, because it’s highly unlikely and he’s said so, although I do figure he’ll be in WrestleMania in some form on the next show.
–For a clarification on the Steve Austin stuff earlier today, he was doing U.K. media to promote the game. He was not in the U.K. doing that media, as he’s shooting Broken Skull Challenge right now in the U.S. through around 8/3. That’s the reason he couldn’t do Tough Enough this season is that he’d already committed to that show.
–Austin interview at http://talksport.com/wwe/wwe-steve-austin-says-brock-lesnar-and-paul-heyman-are-magic-one-two-punch-150706154953
–As noted yesterday, David Otunga worked the WWE show yesterday in Rockford, IL, losing to R-Truth. He’s very muscular, even more so than the last time we saw him.
–New Japan announced the Young Bucks vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish for the IWGP jr. tag titles for 8/16 at Sumo Hall, which is the same card as the finals of the G-1 Climax tournament. They haven’t announced the date yet for the big Kushida vs. Ricochet match.
–The opening G-1 show, so this is kind of how the cards will be, on 7/20 in Sapporo is which starts at 11 p.m. Pacific time on a Monday night:
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay & Jay White
Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
Shinsuke Nakamura & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga
Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows
Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano
Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale
A.J. Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
Unlike the last few years where the entire cards have been off the chain, this year they are focusing on two strong main events each card.
–I’m scheduled to be filming some UFC history interviews this weekend for UFC Fight Pass. They’ll be for future packages.
–On Point Wrestling on 8/29 in Williamston, NJ is doing a Taipei death match with Matt Tremont vs. Jeff Cannonball with Ian Rotten as ref. The idea is it’s the 20-year anniversary of the Axl Rotten vs. Ian Rotten Taipei death match in ECW.
–The Marvel Experience tour, which included voice overs of Hulk Hogan and HHH, a $30 million traveling theme park, announced after its first event in Philadelphia over the weekend, that the rest of the tour has been canceled. The event was to take place over multiple days in several major cities including New York, Chicago and St. Louis.
–Nanae Takahashi, who was a star with All Japan women during the last years of that promotion, and has wrestled ever since, will face ODB on the 7/17 ROH show in Las Vegas.
–Evolve on 7/11 in Orlando at the Barnett Park Gym
Drew Galloway vs. Trent Baretta
Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher
Davey Richards vs. ? (Biff Busick is injured, we don’t have word what his situation is)
TJ Perkins vs Zack Sabre Jr.
Anthony Nese vs. Trevor Lee
Caleb Konley vs. Andrew Everett
–This coming Saturday wrestling returns to Royal Albert Hall in London, which was a famous wrestling venue of the 60s and also housed a UFC show and WWE shows in the past:
Blue Demoncito & Octagoncito vs. Mini Abismo Negro & Mini Histeria
Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr. – Fenix is injured, not sure of his status
Bengala (Ricky Marvin) & Fabi Apache vs. Drago & Sexy Star
Blue Demon Jr. & La Parka & Psycho Clown vs. El Hijo del Fantasma & Villano IV & ?
–Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling on 7/18 in East Carondelet, IL at the Community Center featuring Ricky Cruz, Ron Powers and Gary Jackson.
–The IWS in Montreal announced partnerships with AAA and Lucha Underground and will start featuring talent from those groups regularly starting with the 9/5 show. There will also be an IWS vs. CZW show on 10/17 with interpromotional matches. They also announced a the Metropolis in Montreal on March 5, 2016, that Rey Mysterio Jr. will be appearing. Speedball Mike Bailey is the current champion of the group (thanks to Pat Laprade)
–Kurt Angle will be in Waterloo, IA this weekend for the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame ceremony. Actual Hall of Fame inductions will go to Jim Londos and Greg Wojciechowski (Great Wojo). Angle will be getting a special ring from USA Wrestling at the Dan Gable Museum in honor of the 20th anniversary of his winning the 1995 world championship. Also honored for contributions to wrestling are Brian Blair, Wade Keller (for journalism), Beth Phoenix (for charity work) and Matt Lindland (for using wrestling to succeed in MMA). There will also be a show in town at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center headlined by Bob Holly vs. Colt Cabana. Blair Wes Brisco and Nick Dinsmore are also wrestling on the show. Also appearing will include Jim Ross, Jerry Brisco, J.J. Dillon, Larry Hennig, Baron Von Raschke and Jim Brunzell.
–The first ever Great American Bash took place 30 years ago today before a sellout of 27,000 fans at Charlotte Baseball Stadium with these results:
Ron Bass drew Buddy Landel
Ole & Arn Anderson b Buzz Sawyer & Dick Slater to retain the National tag team titles
Manny Fernandez & Sam Houston & Buzz Tyler b Superstar Billy Graham & The Barbarian & Abdullah the Butcher
Jimmy Valiant b Paul Jones in a dog collar chain mach
AWA tag champs Road Warriors DDQ NWA tag champs Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khrushchev
Magnum T.A. b Kimala via DQ to retain the U.S. title
Ric Flair b Nikita Koloff with David Crockett as referee to retain the NWA world title
Dusty Rhodes b Tully Blanchard in a cage match to win Baby Doll for 30 days
–WWE stock dropped 22 cents a share today to $16.31
–The UFC Hall of Fame ceremony airs live on Fight Pass at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Inductions will be held for Jeff Blatnick, B.J. Penn, Bas Rutten and the Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg fight.
–Valkyrie women’s pro wrestling on 7/9 at the Woodbury Heights Community Center at 7 p.m.
–In Australia, Mad Max: Fury Road (Nathan Jones) was No. 11, Entourage (Ronda Rousey) was No. 14, Pitch Perfect (Lana) was No. 16 and San Andreas (Dwayne Johnson) was No. 17 at the box office (thanks to James Stanios)
–Invicta, headlined by Cris Cyborg, will be live on UFC Fight Pass at 11 p.m. Eastern on Thursday night.
–Grand Slam Wrestling on 7/11 in Scranton, PA at Back Breakers Training Center.
–Eva Marie talks San Francisco Giants at http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/article26562550.html
–Mainstream news story about women in sports and author David Zirin listed his five must-see sports stars on television as Stephen Curry, Bryce Harper, Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks. He also mentioned Charlotte and Becky Lynch changing the face of women in pro wrestling.
Story is at http://www.thenation.com/article/why-im-done-defending-womens-sports/
–The new episode of the Winter Palace podcast is live featuring comics writer (and longtime Observer subscriber) Steven Grant talking SD Comic-Con, WWE Japan special and comics vs Hollywood and Steve “Dr Lucha” Sims talking Lucha in Tijuana in 2015 and En Busca de un Idolo.
–Lex Luger and Nikita Koloff interviews at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQiwYaF0Mwc
WWE Network Schedule for Tuesday, July 7,2015 From Bert Duckwall
12:06 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Epic Smackdown Moments of all time!
1:06 AM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.
2:06 AM ET
WWE TRIBUTE TO DUSTY RHODES Live from Chicago, WWE celebrates the life and career of Dusty Rhodes, as told by WWE Legends and Superstars.
3:06 AM ET
WCW GREAT AMERICAN BASH 1995 WCW’s annual summer spectacular features Nature Boy Ric Flair taking on Macho Man Randy Savage. Sting faces Meng for the U.S. Title.
6:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Epic Smackdown Moments of all time!
7:00 AM ET
FIRST LOOK MNW SHOTS FIRED! In this Network Exclusive, join Triple H and Sting as they sit down with Renee Young and discuss Monday Night War.
7:30 AM ET
WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.
8:01 AM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.
9:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Epic Smackdown Moments of all time!
10:00 AM ET
FIRST LOOK MNW SHOTS FIRED! In this Network Exclusive, join Triple H and Sting as they sit down with Renee Young and discuss Monday Night War.
10:30 AM ET
WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.
11:01 AM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.
12:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Epic Smackdown Moments of all time!
1:00 PM ET
FIRST LOOK MNW SHOTS FIRED! In this Network Exclusive, join Triple H and Sting as they sit down with Renee Young and discuss Monday Night War.
1:30 PM ET
WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.
2:01 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE The legends play a polo match…WWE style! Back at the Legends House, Tony Atlas and ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan attempt to co-exist.
3:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE A bowling competition kicks things off! However, the real mayhem begins when the WWE Legends attempt to film a bizarre commercial.
4:00 PM ET
FIRST LOOK MNW SHOTS FIRED! In this Network Exclusive, join Triple H and Sting as they sit down with Renee Young and discuss Monday Night War.
4:30 PM ET
THE WWE LIST Highlighting the Royalist of Superstars that WWE has ever been graced with!
5:00 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR An industry icon’s transformation propels Nitro to prominence, and forever changes sports entertainment history.
6:00 PM ET
WWE BEYOND THE RING Witness some of the rarest matches from Hulk Hogan’s 30-year career. This special is an absolute must-watch for all Hulkamaniacs!
8:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE A bowling competition kicks things off! However, the real mayhem begins when the WWE Legends attempt to film a bizarre commercial.
9:00 PM ET
WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.
9:30 PM ET
THE WWE LIST Highlighting the Royalist of Superstars that WWE has ever been graced with!
10:00 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR An industry icon’s transformation propels Nitro to prominence, and forever changes sports entertainment history.
11:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE A bowling competition kicks things off! However, the real mayhem begins when the WWE Legends attempt to film a bizarre commercial.