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  • Wrestling Observer Sin Limite notes

    Mike Sempervive and I will be doing a new Wrestling Observer Sin Limite tomorrow morning along with coverage of the Dominion show.

    Any questions for the show can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com

  • WWE ‘Brock Lesnar: Beast In The East’ results & recap: Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor

    By Josh Nason, WrestlingObserver.com

    The Big News:

    Finn Balor defeated Kevin Owens for the NXT title, Brock Lesnar successfully made his house show return, and Chris Jericho and Neville had a great show opener.

    Show Recap:

    – A short video package starts us out highlighting that this is Brock Lesnar’s first match since Wrestlemania and the Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor NXT title match later on.

    – Michael Cole and Byron Saxton are the announce team. Show is airing live from Sumo Hall in Tokyo with a typical house show set with no ramp.

    Chris Jericho def. Neville by submission 

    Cole and Saxton talk a little about the history of the building with combat sports and Jericho’s past in Japan where he got the name ‘Lionheart’. Saxton even talks about Neville’s history with Dragon Gate which helped bring him to this point. The match was fairly even early until Jericho got the advantage off a back and forth exchange with both guys teasing and preventing jumps to the inside. Jericho eventually hit the second rope dropkick to Neville on the apron. He had a few heel mannerisms, but both guys were loved by the crowd.

    Jericho went for a top rope superplex which Neville blocked for a flapjack. Neville stayed on the top and went for the Red Arrow, but Jericho moved so Neville landed on his feet. He went for a hunacarana which was blocked for the Walls of Jericho. Neville fought and fought and made it to the ropes for the clean break. 

    Neville with a jumping, twisting dive over the top to Jericho on the outside. Neville tossed him back in and hit a top rope clothesline and a standing shooting star press for a near fall. Jericho nailed Neville with a uppercut and hit the Lionsault for two. Neville got the advantage back and launched himself into a Codebreaker. 

    Neville hit two superkicks and went for the Red Arrow, but Jericho put his knees up. He applied the Liontamer for the tap. The match went nearly twenty minutes and was fantastic. I really enjoyed it.

    – Brock “Tucked In T-Shirt” Lesnar is shown walking into the building, making his first appearance in Japan for WWE in more than 12 years. We st

    – I gotta say that this whole house show on TV feel is very refreshing outside the constant reminders that #BeastInTheEast is trending no. 1 in the world on Twitter. I watch to get away from the real world, but I get it. 

    – After RAW this Monday, we get a live ‘The Legendary Stories Of Dusty Rhodes’. Sounds good to me.

    WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella defeated Paige & Tamina in a triple threat for the title.

    Cole references a past women’s title change in Japan by Bull “Nakona” before Saxton corrects him. Tamina and Page went at it for a bit until Bella got back in the fray and the two teamed up to get Tamina out of there. They were certainly trying to up the aggression level with lots of women’s tennis-esque grunting.

    The big spot of the match was a Tamnia powerbomb of Bella as she was superplexing Paige off the top rope. As Paige and Bella were setting it up, you could hear them talking. Ugh. Paige applied the PTO but Tamina superkicked her and hit a Samoan drop on Bella to break it up. She missed a Superfly splash attempt and Bella hit a running forearm for the pin and win.

    I don’t watch a ton of, ahem, Divas matches but this wasn’t that bad. Not much of a story, but it was fun for what it was. 

    Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston

    It took them 36 minutes to mention Lesnar’s opponent for tonight. As Lesnar was walking out, they showed Seth Rollins and The Authority’s attack on him from several weeks ago, but his knee isn’t wrapped. Kingston was trying to avoid Lesnar, but once “The Beast” got his hands on him, it was bad news. Kingston got a lot of offense on Lesnar, but none of it worked. He avoided one belly-to-back suplex (flipped out of it), but was unsuccessful in avoiding three others. Lots of stalking around led to an F5 and the pin and win.

    As Lesnar was leaving the ring, he looked at Kingston and came back in the ring for another belly-to-back and F5. This brought out Xavier Woods and Big E from the back and they both got F-5’ed for their trouble. 

    As a youngster, I used to faithfully watch WWF Superstars of Wrestling Saturdays at noon on WPXT Fox 51 and saw a lot of squashes just like this. I was more than happy to watch another one today. 

    Kevin Owens was seen in the back prepping for his match with Finn Balor. That match is next, preceded by a good video package highlighting the backstory.

    Finn Balor pinned NXT Champion Kevin Owens to win the title

    As expected, Balor is in full warpaint, complete with Japanese writing on the back. Hideo Itami is shown sitting in the crowd as Owens enters in full heel mode. Tons of treamers come into the ring as we get the announcements of both guys as do two ladies who hand giant bouquets to both guys. Owens tosses the flowers in the aisle. Streamers (and tradition!) on WWE TV? This is something else. Cole even talked about how Balor lives in a dojo, that Balor used to go by the name Prince Devitt, and the IWGP titles he won. 

    Balor started out the match quick, teasing the Coup De Grace in the first 10 seconds. Action spilled to the outside where Balor hit a running dropkick to Owens who was sitting in a chair by the barricade. As Owens reclaimed the advantage later on, he played to the crowd big-time and they gave him what he was looking for: boos. The champion dominated most of the action midway through the match, teasing a running knee into a bracing Balor and locking on a rear chinlock instead. He said, “I hate this country and everyone in it.” Heel!

    As Balor was rallying, Owens stopped him and hit the Five Moves Of Doom, but fell short of hitting the Attitude Adjustment. Both guys hit all of their signature moves late in the match including Owens’ cannonball flip in the corner and package powerbomb. Balor hit the Sling Blade adn went to the top to finish Owens, but the champ made it to his feet to prevent it. Owens got kicked and laid out which led to the Coup De Grace….but we only got two. This match must continue!

    Balor attempted a top rope superplex which Owens blocked, eventually hitting a second rope rolling senton which got two. Owens went for the senton bomb, but Balor got the knees up and got Owens in a Dragon suplex for two. Owens with a straight jacket suplex for two. Balor hit a big clothesline and dropkick into the corner to Owens, setting up again for the Coup De Grace. He hit it and this time, Owens didn’t kick out. Balor with the pin and win and is your new NXT Champion.

    Cole put over Balor’s history in Japan huge post-match. This was a really fun match with great sequences that you would expect from these two, especially the near falls. Tatsumi Fujinami walked out from the back and attacked Balor post-match, demanding a title match at SummerSlam. Alright, that didn’t happen but Fujinami did come out and raise Balor’s hand. Owens was still in the ring looking pissed and refused to shake Balor’s hand.

    My apologies if I erred in correctly naming the moves above, by the way. Just go watch the match already!

    And with 37 minutes to go, I fear we are now in the sports entertainment portion of the show.

    – We get footage of Friday’s Fujinami ceremony on Tokyo with Itami. 

    U.S. Champion John Cena & Dolph Ziggler def. King Barrett & Kane 

    Despite my apathy, the fans were into everything. You know, I got into it too. This was typical house show fare with all the guys playing to the crowd and not having to rush through things. When Cena was in there with Kane, it was power vs. power and Cena was actually psyching himself up to go in there and face him. 

    Cena was in there most of the match, getting abused by Kane and Barrett. Cena hit an A.A. on Barrett after powering out of a side chinlock, but Barrett tagged Kane. However, Cena got blocked by Kane on hitting an A.A. on him, building to what would eventully happen later in the match. Kane hit his top rope clothesline which led to another rear chinlock on Cena. Lots of rest holds in this one.

    Ziggler finally got the hot tag and ran wild on Barrett, but a big boot from Barrett stopped that cold. Barrett and Kane worked over Ziggler for a bit until Ziggler eventually got the hot tag. Until we got to that point, there was a lot of good stuff including a big Kane powerbomb. I guess it was the jaded, worn out WWE fan in me, but I was amazed at how much the fans were into this match. I also haven’t been to a house show event in nearly four years, so perhaps I shouldn’t be that surprised. I also liked the subtleties of Barrett holding Ziggler’s arm after tagging Kane so Ziggler couldn’t get away. Tag team wrestling!

    Ziggler got out of a Kane chokeslam attempt and hit a jumping DDT to get the hot tag to Cena while Kane tagged Barrett. Five Moves of Doom on Kane, Ziggler superkick to A.A. on the legal man Barrett for the pin and win for Team Good Guys. Fun match!

    ****
    As a fan of watching the old NESN Boston Garden and MSG Network house shows, I loved this show. Two hours on a Saturday morning full of fun matches and mostly devoid of bad promos and typical RAW b.s.? I’ll take it. Even Cole and Saxton were good and were supposedly trending on Twitter at one point. Cole had his ‘working shoes’, getting in references to WrestleFest during the show’s final tag match. 

    Final recommendation: watch the entire show. I guarantee you’ll have fun in doing so. And in the end, isn’t that what this is all supposed to be about?

  • NJPW on AXS TV report 7-3-15: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

    By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Last week, we saw Katsuyori Shibata defeat Shinsuke Nakamura in a great bout. But if you think we’ve seen the last of Shibata for a while, you are quite mistaken as he’ll be headlining this episode of New Japan on AXS. His opponent? None other than Hiroshi Tanahashi. Shibata and Tanahashi had not crossed paths much during Shibata’s most recent run with the company, though they have a history regardless. How will they fare when they finally square off against one another?

    Tonight’s card is from July 26, 2014 at Akita Prefectural Gymnasium.

    First up is Shinsuke Nakamura taking on Yuji Nagata. They only showed highlights here, but it was a good, stiff match. They had a match earlier this year at New Beginning at Sendai, but this one looks a lot better. Nakamura cut a backstage promo after the match. Well done, job well done. Yuji’s condition was awesome, and this stadium in Akita is where the party’s at. He won against Yuji, and there’s nothing better.

    We follow that with AJ Styles taking on Tetsuya Naito. Naito’s head, explains Ranallo, was busted open by a steel chair shot by Yano on an earlier show. It got bloody again pretty quickly, at least from what these clips show, and soon Naito was busted open again. They had a good. competitive match, and I think this was just below or slightly better than the previous match. Naito really stepped it up in this tournament and we’ve already discussed how awesome Styles was. Naito gets the win clean with a stardust press, setting up a rematch for a future date.

    A Tetsuya Naito promo follows backstage. He had a lot of respect for AJ Styles. and happy to have faced him, but facing him wasn’t enough. This summer is going to be all about him.

    The next match that follows is Karl Anderson taking on Kazuchika Okada. Really good back and forth match. These two have had a history over the IWGP Heavyweight championship and have terrific chemistry, and it showed here. The end saw several counters between the two, each trying to go for their own finish, but finally Anderson finishes off Okada with another gun stun and pins him.

    Following that match, Anderson says the people love Okada, but he’s just been beaten, lying on the floor. When Okada made his way backstage, Gedo declined an interview.

    Shibata says he knows that Tanahashi was an important match. Everyone watches the G1 matches more closely – there is a meaning for everything. Personally, he thought he made the match feel more special since they headlined Akita. He knew there was sense of rivalry and he totally felt it. He talks about a situation where he and Tanahashi exchanged words. He wants to prove all the haters wrong.

    The main event aired. There are two notable matches between these two last year – this one, and their rematch in September that was given five stars by the Wrestling Observer. Both were fantastic matches, but if I had to choose which one I liked more, it was this one. You could just see the intensity and rivalry from the two before the match even started. The two had a tremendous back and forth contest, with Shibata getting the win after the GTS and the Penalty Kick. Ranallo and Barnett were excellent in calling this match, making it feel even more important, going over how Tanahashi’s ego was getting the best of him throughout the match when he wasn’t going for immediate pinfalls, as well as documenting the rise of the New Three Musketeers (Nakamura, Tanahashi, Shibata) and how Shibata left New Japan on multiple occasions, causing rifts between him and Tanahashi. This made the match even better than it was when it first aired last year. Everything about this match is tremendous and highly recommended.

    Tanahashi after the match says he’s spent ten years doing this. After this loss…were those ten years a waste? He sacrificed many things during that time, but it’s pointless if he can’t get the win. He won’t forget about this, because during the last ten years he’s learned to get right back up. This was actually quite the tremendous promo.

    Shibata says 10 years? The ten years that I wasn’t here, he took every bit of it. There’s nothing more, nothing less to it.

    Upon reflection, he says that the matches are what matters the most. You can say what you want, but Tanahashi faced him with his all, and he felt that passion. That match at Kobe he felt like he had to shake his hand. When asked about teaming with Tanahashi, he never thought it would happen, and finishes by saying that wrestling is unpredictable.

    A fantastic show this week, with the highlights being just that, and a main event you have to see and it’s everything that pro wrestling needs in 2015. Next week, we’ll continue looking at the G1 Climax tournament with Tetsuya Naito taking on Shinsuke Nakamura as the main event.

  • FRI UPDATE: Conor McGregor, TNA departure, NXT, Ricochet, GFW show, Dragon Gate

    By dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>Dave Meltzer

    For this weekend, we’ll be doing polls on the WWE show late tonight in Tokyo and the New Japan Dominion show late tomorrow night in Osaka at dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING TONIGHT AT 9 P.M. ON AXS

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson

    A.J. Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito

    Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

    RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE FROM BOISE, IDAHO AT 10 P.M. TONIGHT ON AXS

    Miles Hunsinger (171) vs. Austin Miller (170)

    Stephen Martinez (155.5) vs. Darrell Flores (154.5)

    Daniel Swain (145.5) vs. Scott Thometz (146)

    Jan Jorgensen (250) vs. Josue Lugo (266)

    Czar Sklavos (124.5) vs. Nick Burgos (123.5)

    Joe Murphy (136) vs. Jesse Brock (135.5)

    WWE IN TOKYO SUMO HALL AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN ON THE WWE NETWORK

    John Cena & Dolph Ziggler vs.. Kane & King Barrett

    Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston

    Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor for the NXT title

    Neville vs. Chris Jericho

    Nikki Bella vs. Paige vs. Tamina Snuka for the Divas title

    Prime Time Players vs. Lucha Dragons for tag titles

    *Not all of these matches may be airing on the network as they only have a two-hour window.  The Lesnar and Owens matches are the only sure things.

    NEW JAPAN DOMINION AT 3 A.M. EARLY SUNDAY MORNING FROM OSAKA JO HALL

    Yohei Komatsu & Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger & Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada & Sho Tanaka

    Young Bucks vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta for the IWGP jr. tag titles

    Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi

    Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Katsuyori Shibata

    Kenny Omega vs. Kushida for IWGP jr. title

    Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii for Never Open weight title

    Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows for IWGP tag title

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano

    Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for IC title

    A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada for IWGP heavyweight title

    Saturday also has a WWE show in Winnipeg (Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns, Ryback vs. Big Show)

    Sunday has a WWE show in Rockford.

    Raw will be Monday in Chicago.  Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Randy Orton, HHH & Stephanie McMahon are all scheduled to return 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 new issue is up on the site at July 6, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jose Aldo injury fallout, TNA/GFW mystery

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

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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.

    FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • The Andy Barton departure from TNA is a far bigger story than is being played up.  Barton has been with Dixie Carter since 1996, long before TNA ,and was described to me as the person who would know more about the state of the company than anyone except Dixie Carter.
    • For the NXT show in Brooklyn, they are setting the place up for 5,000 rather than 13,500, but can add seats if they have a quick sellout. 
    • Ricochet showed up at today’s New Japan card and challenged the winner of Sunday’s Kenny Omega vs. Kushida match for the IWGP jr. title.  Ricochet hasn’t been in New Japan since he signed with Lucha Underground. 
    • As for as twitter trending topics for today, UFC Embedded has 5,327, Joe Riggs vs. Uriah Hall has 546 and NXT in Brooklyn has 1,370.  Nothing is listed in Google which is a lot more historically proven tool of interest.
    • For those who didn’t see Conor McGregor on Conan last night, he never said he’s beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match, only that he’d beat him in a fight because boxing is singularly dimensional.  And he’d almost surely wax him in a fight.  He said he’d box him for $180 million but never said he’s actually beat him in such a fight, although if he was offered $180 million, I’m sure he’d say he’d beat him to build up the fight.
    • The WWE 2K 16 video game cover will be announced Monday night on Raw.
    • Nikki Bella is working on a separated shoulder.
    • A correction from yesterday.  As it turns out, we don’t know any wrestling shows shot as TV pilots to be shopped around.  The two examples we listed, WSX and Lucha Libre USA Masked Warriors, were funded by the networks themselves to do a pilot, which is a big difference between doing a pilot and then trying to find a network.  MTV spent $650,000 on the WSX pilot.  Lucha Libre USA had a 52-week contract with MTV which was supposed to be the AAA television show from Mexico with English announcers.  But it bombed before test market audiences to Steve Ship, behind the project, convinced the network to fund an American Lucha Libre TV show.  Ship had all AAA rights in the U.S., which is why AAA was blocked from doing anything in the U.S. for several years.  
    • GFW announced these matches for a show on 7/9 in Appleton, WI:
    • Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Dave & Jake Crist
    • Magnus vs. Tommaso Ciampa
    • Santana Garrett vs. Melanie Cruise
    • Sonjay Dutt vs. PJ Black
    • The 7/24 PWG show in Reseda sold out in three minutes.
    • There will be a Dusty Rhodes special after Raw on Monday night.  This will be a new special and not the one that aired a few weeks ago.
    • Dragon Gate will have an iPPV on 7/12 from Osaka headlined by Masato Yoshino & Shingo Takagi & Ricochet vs. Naruki Doi & K-Ness & Yamato at www.niconico.com
    • The city of Chicago has just imposed a 9% tax on Internet transactions.  It’s been specified this includes Netflix and Hulu, so it should also include everything from WWE Network, UFC Fight Pass and even this web site.
    • Battlewar on Sunday in Montreal:  Shayne Hawke b Stew Ramjattan, Mitch Thompson b Kevin Dunn, Cecil Tank b Adam Sky, Brett McLoed over Mike Mercer and Decker Lockheart, Mike Gibson b Twiggy, Giant Tiger NC Big Magic, Big Magic & Salty Bully b Giant Tiger & 2 Cold Scorpio
    • Evolve announced for show son 8/25 in Queens, NY and 8/16 in Deer Park, NY they would have Johnny Gargano, Ethan Page, Zack Sabre Jr., Timothy Thatcher, Chris Hero, Rich Swann, Drew Gulak, Biff Busick, Rey Hours, Mike Bailey and Tracy Williams.
    • For those in Las Vegas who want to see UFC 189, it is sold out, but the following places will have closed-circuit airings:

    Ri Ra

    Double Barrel

    Legasse’s Stadium

    Palace Station

    Sunset Station

    Green Valley Ranch

    Red Rock

    Santa Fe

    • PWX on 7/18 has a TV taping at the PWX Wrestleplex in Pittsburgh.
    • CMLL from Tuesday in Guadalajara:  Flash II & Magnum b Furia Roja & Jocker, Meteoro & Stukita & Ultimo Dragoncito b Relampago Azul & Mercurio & Pequeno Olimpico, Cancerbero & Okumura & Raziel b Gallo & Hombre Bala Jr. & Super Halcon Jr., Blue Panther & Blue Panther Jr. & Brazo de Plata b Misterioso Jr. & Pierroth & Sagrado, Maximo & Mistico & Volador Jr. b Ephesto & Rey Bucanero & Rey Escorpion-DQ (thanks to Kris Zellner)
    • wXw in Germany announced a 16 team tournament from 10/2 to 10/4.  Announced so far are Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson, Tommy End & Michael Dante, Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan and Jonathan Gresham & Chris Brookes.  Kid & Aslan are from a Berlin based promotion.  Alberto El Patron is booked on 10/17 in Mannheim.  They are also running a major show on 12/12 in Oberhausen.  Gresham and Brookes will be on tour with them from 9/11 to 10/10.(thanks to Markus Gronemann)
    • Mick Foley was at the Portland Seadogs (AA Boston Red Sox affiliate) game last night in Portland, ME (thanks to Kevin Lagasse)
    • Mariusz Pudzianowki (9-3) vs. Peter Graham (11-9) was announced as the main event for KSW on 10/31 at the SSE Arena in London.  Also announced is Jim Wallhead (27-9) vs. Rafael Moks (10-7) and Oli Thompson (14-8) vs. Michal Wlodarek (7-0)
    • Trailer for a Zack Sabre Jr. documentary
    • Preview of new season of Total Divas and making Eva Marie a babyface

    TODAY’S VIDEOS

    WWE/NXT

    7/1/15 Kevin Owens Is Furious After Being Pinned By Finn Balor

    7/1/15-Finn  Balor Celebrates After Pinning Kevin Owens

    6/30/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  Reigns Talks “Tough”

    6/30/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  Emma Gives Her Thoughts On The Competitors

    7/1/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  Lita Imparts Wisdom Upon The Hopefuls

    7/1/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  Alex Confides In His Girlfriend That He Can’t Swim

    7/1/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  The Coaches Break Down Week 2

    7/2/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  The Coaches React To This Week’s Elimination

    7/2/15  WWE Smackdown “Fallout”:  Kiss Time

    7/2/15 WWE Smackdown “Fallout”:  King Wassup Proclaims

    7/2/15 WWE Smackdown “Fallout”:  Lana Ready For Change

    7/2/15 WWE Smackdown “Fallout””  A Humbled Big Guy

    5 Things:  Superstars With The Same Entrance Themes

    MISC. STUFF

    Ringside Collectibles’ “Ringside Or Riot” (season 4, Episode 32)

    Dad You Don’t Work, You Wrestle (Episode 126)

    Larry Zbyszko on “The Apter Chat”

    POWW “Inside The Ropes” (Episode 17)

    7/2/15 CHIKARA “Thursdays On The Throne”

    The Candice & Joey Show (Episode 121)

    Smash Wrestling:  Top 5 Moves-Chris Hero

    Pro Wrestling Blitz “Mid-Week Mayhem (Episode 9)

    Warriors Of Wrestling “Wrestling Wire (Episode 50)

    INDY TV SHOWS

    Smash Wrestling TV (Episode 58)

    Pro Wrestling Syndicate TV (Episode 26)

    CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling “Worldwide” TV (Episode 7)

    LUCHA UNDERGROUND

    The Vampiro Monologues:  My Big Break

    TNA

    7/1/15 IMPACT In 60:  Three Title For The Ages, Which Faction Disbands?  More!

    Comments From EC3 After Becoming World Champion…He Doesn’t Hold Back…

    The Wolves After The 30-Minute Iron Man Match Against The Dirty Heels

    7/1/15-Jeff Jarrett Speaks About The Future Of TNA Wrestling And Global Force Wrestling

    WWE Network Schedule For Saturday, July 4,2015  
    12:00 AM 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!

    2:00 AM ET

    WWE NXT   NXT Champion Kevin Owens teams with Rhyno to take on Finn Balor and Samoa Joe in tag team action!

    3:00 AM ET

    WWE SUPERSTARS    WWE Superstars features the best of the best, in matches you’ll have to see to believe. You never know what to expect, so expect everything.

    4:00 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.

    5:00 AM ET

    FINN BALOR: THE DEMON REVEALED    An in depth look inside the life, career and future of NXT Superstar Finn Balor.

    5:30 AM ET

    THE BEAST: LIVE FROM TOKYO    Live from Tokyo, Japan, Brock Lesnar returns to the ring against Kofi Kingston. Finn Balor challenges Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship!

    7:30 AM ET

    SWERVED    R-Truth gets a lesson in gym safety, a frisky granny invades Axxess and Kofi locks the champ out of Extreme Rules.

    8:00 AM ET

    THE WWE LIST    Whether it’s winning the Diva’s Championship, or posting a very flattering photos on Twitter… These Divas do it all to stay trending.

    8:30 AM ET

    WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG    Renee’s back! Join the Unfiltered host for an exclusive interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the cast of Terminator Genisys!

    8:45 AM ET

    CULTURE SHOCK WITH COREY GRAVES   Corey Graves hits up Austin, Texas for this year’s X Games!

    9:00 AM 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!

    11:00 AM ET

    CELEBRATING THE DREAM    A celebration of the life and career of the late, great WWE Hall of Famer, ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes.

    12:00 PM ET

    WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG    Renee’s back! Join the Unfiltered host for an exclusive interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the cast of Terminator Genisys!

    12:15 PM ET

    CULTURE SHOCK WITH COREY GRAVES    Corey Graves hits up Austin, Texas for this year’s X Games!

    12:30 PM ET

    SWERVED   R-Truth gets a lesson in gym safety, a frisky granny invades Axxess and Kofi locks the champ out of Extreme Rules.

    1:00 PM ET

    THE WWE LIST    Whether it’s winning the Diva’s Championship, or posting a very flattering photos on Twitter… These Divas do it all to stay trending.

    1:30 PM ET

    THIS WEEK IN WWE   Get caught up on all the highlights from Raw and SmackDown with This Week in WWE.

    2:00 PM ET

    THE BEAST: LIVE FROM TOKYO    Live from Tokyo, Japan, Brock Lesnar returns to the ring against Kofi Kingston. Finn Balor challenges Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship!

    4:00 PM ET

    SWERVED    R-Truth gets a lesson in gym safety, a frisky granny invades Axxess and Kofi locks the champ out of Extreme Rules.

    4:30 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.

    5:30 PM ET

    THIS WEEK IN WWE   Get caught up on all the highlights from Raw and SmackDown with This Week in WWE.

    6:00 PM ET

    WWE COUNTDOWN   Counting down the Top Ten Most Epic Smackdown Moments of all time!

    7:00 PM ET

    MONDAY NIGHT WAR    Media mogul Ted Turner launches WCW Monday Nitro in direct competition against Vince McMahon and WWE

    8:00 PM ET

    THE BEAST: LIVE FROM TOKYO    Live from Tokyo, Japan, Brock Lesnar returns to the ring against Kofi Kingston. Finn Balor challenges Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship!

    10:00 PM ET

    SWERVED    R-Truth gets a lesson in gym safety, a frisky granny invades Axxess and Kofi locks the champ out of Extreme Rules.

    10:30 PM ET

    THIS WEEK IN WWE   Get caught up on all the highlights from Raw and SmackDown with This Week in WWE.

    11:00 PM ET

    THE BEAST: LIVE FROM TOKYO   Live from Tokyo, Japan, Brock Lesnar returns to the ring against Kofi Kingston. Finn Balor challenges Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship!

  • VIDEO: UFC 189 Embedded with Conor McGregor

  • WWE NXT: just announced Barclays Center event to kickoff three straight nights in Brooklyn

    WWE announced Friday that there will be an NXT show on 8/22 at the Barclays Center, the night before SummerSlam in the same building. The show will air live on WWE Network

    That will mean WWE has booked the building for three straight nights as the following Monday Night Raw is also at the Barclays Center. Tickets go on sale on 7/18 for the NXT event.

    The NXT event will go head-to-head with ROH’s Field of Honor event in Brooklyn that features their stars in addition to NJPW’s Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada.

  • WWE July 3 Tokyo house show results: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, Finn Balor vs. Chris Jericho

    From Friday’s Sumo Hall show in Tokyo:

    – Neville b Kofi Kingston

    – Cesaro b Kane with the sharpshooter

    – Lucha Dragons won three-way over Los Matadores and New Day (Big E & Woods) when Sin Cara pinned Woods.  They announced the Prime Time Players vs. Lucha Dragons for the titles tomorrow at ‘Beast In The East’.

    – They did a Tatsumi Fujinami Hall of Fame ceremony where Hideo Itami introduced him. Fujinami talked about his career, his son carrying on his legacy, and his goal of seeing his son Leona appear at WrestleMania. 

    – Dolph Ziggler b King Barret

    – Divas Champion Nikki Bella b Tamina Snuka.  Paige attacked Nikki after the match and announced she would be in the three-way tomorrow at ‘Beast In The East’. She was orignially billed to be in this match, so people thought that was really weird.

    – Finn Balor b Chris Jericho

    – U.S. Champion John Cena b NXT Champion Kevin Owens via DQ for a low blow.  Cena gave Owens the attitude adjustment after the match. 

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (July 3): Velvet McIntyre beats Moolah for WWF women’s title, Bret Hart vs. Nick Bockwinkel in 1981,

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1938 – In Waterloo, Iowa; Al Bisignano beat Earl Wampler in a 1 hour and 21 minute match to win the Iowa title. Also, Otto Kuss beat Gordon McKenzie (dq) and Olaf Swenson beat Alf Johnson

    1941 – In Kansas City, Kansas; Orville Brown defeated Benny Rosen in 2 out of 3 falls and Jack Kennedy beat Jack Hader in 2 out of 3 falls.

    1964 – In Davenport, Iowa at Municipal Stadium; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Hans Schmidt, Art Thomas beat Larry Hennig (sub Crusher), Wilbur Snyder beat Mitsu Arakawa dq and Mad Dog Vachon (sub Danny Hodge) beat Rene Goulet

    1969 – At Memorial Hall in Kansas City; Big Luke and Tor Kamata beat K.O. Cox and Dick “Big Daddy” Murdock in 2 out of 3 falls cage match to win the North American Tag Team Titles. Also, The Viking defeated Ronnie Etchison and Pat O’Connor and Joe Scarpello went to a 20 minute draw.

    1975 – In Winnipeg; Billy Robinson won a 15 man Battle royal for $25,000 by eliminating Baron Von Raschke. Also, Nick Bockwinkel beat Khosrow Vaziri

    1981 – In Calgary, Alberta, Canada; AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Bret Hart, Mid Heavyweight Champion Dynamite Kid beat Keith Hart, David Shultz & Kerry Brown & Duke Myers beat Bill Irwin & Duffy O’Rourke & Randy Tyler and Bruce Hart beat Adrian Street

    1984 – In Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Leo Burke beat AWA Champion Rick Martel by dq, Kendo Nagasaki beat Hubert Gallant, Coco Samoa beat George Labelle and JJ Dillon beat Antonio Ricco

    1985 – In Raleigh, North Carolina; NWA World Tag Team Champions Ivan Koloff & Krusher Kruschev won a $50,000, 10-team battle royal

    1986 – Velvet McIntyre defeated the Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women’s Title in Brisbane, Australia

    1995 – The Rock ‘n Roll Express defeated PG-13 for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

    2002 – AJ Styles & Jerry Lynn defeated the Rainbow Express in the finals of a tournament for the NWA World Tag Team Title in Nashville, Tennessee

  • Observer Exclusive: a talk with the Hart family’s Georgia Smith, the sister of Davey Boy Smith Jr.

    By Gary Mehaffy for WrestlingObserver.com

    I had the opportunity to interview Georgia Smith, daughter of ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith and Diana Hart-Smith and an entertainer in her own right, for over 30 minutes talking about her life growing up in the shadow of a wrestling superstar and what she hopes for her future within the acting world.

    We talked about her voice acting work, meeting wrestling fans, her dad’s impact on the UK, his death and how her family dealt with it and are still dealing with it today, the Davey Boy Smith Memorial Cup, the Hart family legacy and much, much more.  It’s a great, fun interview with a great, fun person! I hope you enjoy it!

    **** 

    Starting out, for everybody reading this, how are things with you and what have you been up to?

    Things have been good! Last week I was presenting at The Limelight film awards, and the movie I presented was under the title of ‘Best Experimental Film’ – it won movie of the night! That was really fun. I’ve been to the WWE Hall of Fame and the Slammy Awards when I was little, but I’ve never been to an awards show where I was invited for me and to present something on stage on front of all these people, that was really, really fun.

    I’m working on a voice demo right now with Mark Silk – he does the voices of Bob the Builder in the (United) States and Jonny Bravo and he does various voices. I’m excited to be working with him on other projects as well. Once that’s all prepared then people can hear what my voices are all about! I demoed when I first came here (UK) and I showed some people and they made suggestions, so now I’m on the right track with it.

    I went to school for broadcasting in the States – and for radio – and I interned for Fox, NBC and Daytime Television while I was there. I’ve always had a passion for acting, so I want to get more into that. I’ve done a lot of acting training in Canada and in the States, as well as modelling. So, yea, that’s pretty much me in a nutshell! (laughs)

    I know that when you were young – as with a lot of people – your mum got you involved and got you into a lot of classes, but has your family background and heritage – so to speak – helped to open some doors in the industry?

    Oh yea, absolutely. It’s a blessing and it’s a curse, because so many people know me as Davey Boy Smith’s daughter. I was at London WrestleCon and so many people wanted to take a picture with me – but it’s, like, because my dad’s not here I’m the closest thing to him, looks wise and everything I guess, so it’s like a picture (then) a picture…..(laughs) But it’s not because of me, it’s because of my dad they want a picture with me!

    So, yea, it definitely has (helped) but on the other hand I’ll want to do some acting auditions and then they’ll see who I’m related to and then they don’t take me seriously. Wrestling isn’t the most top of the line drama – people don’t take it seriously – and it’s difficult too because just label me. They’re like “Oh, that’s his daughter” and that’s it. No, actually, there are more layers to me, there’s more to me. I’m trying to make my own life and be my own person. My dad is a part of me but I’m not him and he’s not me.

    He, indirectly – possibly before you were born – is responsible for me having any involvement in the industry, because the first American – or WWE – wrestling match that I ever saw was on ITV. I remember turning it on and The British Bulldogs were coming out with Matilda at Madison Square Garden and from that point as a young child I was like “This is what I have to watch!”

    I can definitely see that. In my opinion – and I’m not just saying this because he’s my dad – he made Britain famous with wrestling. He is the most famous wrestler from the UK – he was the most popular person.

    He was a star in the States, but I don’t think people in America quite realise just how much of a star he was here in the UK. He was legitimately big business.

    Yea, exactly. I totally agree. I think they think like he was just a very famous British wrestler, but he was a lot more than that. He did a lot more while he was here. I mean (at SummerSlam 1992) he and Bret were the main event. They outsold Michael Jackson and Madonna at Wembley Stadium! Research shows that that Wembley Stadium match was the highest grossing show for WWE and it actually beat the record of selling out in ten hours. Who can do that now? Nobody.

    It’s funny that you mention that match at Wembley in 1992. At that point WWE had gone to Sky here in the UK and we didn’t have it but there was a guy at the top of our street who had it. Everybody knew who Davey was, and it was a case of “Oh my goodness! He’s wrestling Bret – we need to see this!” Everybody from our street was piled into this one house for that one match, looking back on it now, you go “Yea…..that’s proper star appeal.”

    Yea, that’s true. And it’s like what you were saying – my dad was such a big star in England that he was ultimately the one who got WWE on Sky. It’s because of him – or that’s what I’ve been told.

    Even a few years after that in WWE the European Title was created specifically for him at first to win it and come over here (the UK) and go “You have got your European hero – your UK hero. Here he is!” I think there were times that some people were frustrated – and you may know this or even from talking to Bret or your mum you might know it – but there were times in both WCW and WWE where people felt that he could have genuinely been moved to the very top and had a run with the title. Do you think that was something that he regretted?

    I think he always regretted that it………I feel bad that it never happened. He should have become World Champion, but I don’t know why. I think it was just that the timing of everything was always wrong because just when he was getting to such a high level something would happen. Then he would be going to the top of the next company and something would happen. I think that had it not happened – after SummerSlam 1992 when he got released – he would have been World Champion then, and I think Vince wanted to the put the World Championship on him (in 1997), but he’s leaving for WCW with Bret so we can’t have that – hence they took away the European Championship from him. I don’t really agree with how that went down, but it was just circumstances that……I think he always felt bad that he knew he had what it took and he could do anything if he hadn’t have quit.

    Even coming full circle now, you have been involved this year with the Davey Boy Smith Memorial Cup. Two aspects to this one: how big an honour was it for you to be involved with it, but also how big an honour was it for you as a family to have this honour of Davey being recognised in this way?

    Well, when Alex Shane presented it to me eh said this is what we want to do, we want to have a cup in your dad’s name, and I was like yea, of course. My dad loved British wrestling so much and I knew that this was something that had to be done. It was such an honour that people were competing for that. I wish my were here to have seen it

    I showed my mum and Harry the matches and it was fun for me, because I’ve never been into wrestling and have kind of always distanced myself from the indy scene and stuff like that, but when this opportunity came from WrestleTalk and they wanted to get this going – and it was a long time coming with a lot of planning. It wasn’t done in a day; it took a long time – but I supported it 100% and I’m glad that it happened and I hope that another one will happen.

    Anything that keeps my dad’s legacy alive – and the fact that the fans and the wrestlers competing in it were doing it for his honour – is really nice.

    Two things off the back of that. You talk about keeping his memory alive. A lot of people, especially here in the UK but in North America as well, would say that he is 100% deserving of being in the WWE Hall of Fame – either as a singles (wrestler) or as part of the Bulldogs, or both. How much do you – hope that happens is maybe the wrong way to put it – how soon do you see that happening, because it definitely should happen?

    I want it to happen so bad, but it’s like…….I’m not trying to make WWE sound bad, but they know that we want it to happen so bad that they’re like “Ok, well, we just won’t give it to them” – if that makes sense, you know? – “Ah, we’ll take our time with it.” I know they have to spread it out and they can’t put everybody in all at once.

    Apparently they’re running out of people to put in, but it’s embarrassing when people ask me why isn’t he in, what’s going on, and I don’t have an answer for them. I wish I did have an answer for them. I wish WWE had some sort of communication just to tell us and give some sort of idea so that I could tell people. The fans have been making petitions to get him in. People are trying to get him and are mailing WWE. I wish I had the answers for them but I don’t!

    I honestly think that it’s going to happen…….I don’t think that it’ll be next year (2016) but I think it’s gonna be 2017 when it happens, and when it does happen it’s going to be like a weight lifted off of my shoulders, because I know if my dad was here he would want it so much. And I think that’s another reason why they (WWE) are taking so long with it, because my dad’s not alive and they only, apparently, do one posthumous person a year. I think that they want as many people as possible that are alive to collect the award, but unfortunately a lot of people in wrestling have died so they’ve steered away from that. That’s fine, if they want to be politically correct and do the right thing, but at the same time you have a legend that you need to put in, so get to it! (laughs)

    The second side (of the question) about his legacy: it was obviously a shock to fans whenever he dies in 2002. Obviously, he had some injuries and stuff that had played into it. I almost feel bad for asking it this way, but how tough was it for you in your early teens to have it happen and how tough is it for you now today? You can tell how much you still miss him in the way that you talk about him, but could you let everyone know just how that was for you?

    It was so shocking. I’ve never gotten over it. It’s been, like, 13 years and I’ve never gotten over it. I saw him the day before he died. I called him and said to come over and he came over and we spent the afternoon together. It was activity day for me at school and I thought “I’m not going to do that!” (laughs). It was a Friday and I said to come on over. I made some really horrible pizza that he ate – well, we all ate it although I really didn’t cook it all that well – and I remember that he said he had a stomach ache, that his stomach hurt. My mum has a pantry full of vitamins and stuff and I said I don’t know if you want to take something for the pain or some pepto bismol or something.

    We were watching movies, and it was at 6 or 7 pm that he said “Well, I’m going on a road trip to B.C.” – which is the province in the West of Canada – and he said “I’ll see you Monday; I’ll be back on Monday.” Then I wake up the next day, and I’m playing on the computer at 11 and my brother came up and he’s like “Eh, something happened to Davey.” I said “What? What do you mean?”

    Plenty of things had happened to my dad, with his hospital incident where he had this major infection in his arm the year before and they had to take so much of it (out) and he always got infections and things, so when he (Harry) told me it was like “Is he at the hospital? Is he ok? I don’t know what’s going on.”

    My mum left her work and she came in and she came downstairs and she said “Get downstairs now!” We came downstairs and she said we were going to my grampy’s house – my grandfather Stu’s house – and she said “We’re going to hear something, but I don’t know how it’s going to go or what’s going to happen, but you guys need to be prepared for it.”

    The phone was ringing off the hook at my grandpa’s house and everyone was crying and I’m like “What’s going on?” because nobody had told me anything. My uncle Ross was like “Well, we’ll have to get the body sent here.” and I’m like “What body? What’s going on?” I was saying to TJ – Tyson Kidd – outside, “Davey’s been through everything – he’s broken his back, he’s been through major injuries in wrestling, he’s been in car accidents – he’s pretty unbreakable!” TJ wouldn’t say anything.  My mum was on the phone – I think she was on the phone with Vince McMahon telling him what was going on – and I looked at her and I said “Tell me! Tell me what’s going on! Is he alive or is he dead?” and she said “He’s gone.” That was like a punch in the face – it was so shocking. It was traumatising, it was bad.

    I don’t know what’s worse – if something like that happens or if you know someone is going to die. If someone is dying, you can go “OK, they’re going to die in two months” or is someone just dies overnight, I don’t know what’s worse. I spoke to my grandfather (in England) on the phone and he was really upset and my aunt was really upset.  Reality really hit when they showed the tribute video on Monday Night Raw. I went to school a week later and everybody was like “What happened? What happened to your dad?” and “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

    It was bad, too, when we went to this funeral home. My dad’s body wasn’t  there – when he passed they flew his body back to England – but prior to it, in the funeral home, they were like “Well, maybe Davey would like this chestnut wood colour,” and it’s like, my dad can’t even fit in these coffins!  It was traumatising to even see that.  “Ok, well maybe would like to be in this urn…..” and I’m like (thinking) “I just saw the guy 2 days ago! What is happening?”

    Then whenever the phone rings you think “Oh, that’s him calling.” Oh, no, it’s a newspaper thing (on the phone) or it’s this……

    It annoyed me too, because when he died there was so much negative press about it. People forget that he had a family. I collect all the mags at the time from when he was in WWF, when he was in WCW and some Australian magazine and then there was PowerSlam magazine, which was a British magazine. I was like “Oh, wow, he’s on the cover of it!” I thought it would be this nice tribute – I read it now, and they’re completely bashing him they’re (saying) well, this was coming to him and I’m like “How dare you! How dare you say this! You don’t know anything about him.”  (They said) “His family may be in denial, but we all know the truth. He was going through a downward spiral and a colleague of his said that he wasn’t able to speak and keep himself standing.” I’m like “Who is this…..who would…….” I found it so offensive, but that’s not the first time I’ve seen it. I’ve seen so many people act like they know everything and know what happened or what kind of person he was, and that’s the most difficult thing.

    Since he’s been gone I feel like I always have to defend him – and I always will, because he’s my dad – but it’s so hard, because I hear all the time these people that try to bash him. it annoys me, because my dad should be here to be like “No, I’ll put these people in their place!” It’s so difficult. When he died, he wasn’t like ‘Bob you neighbour’ he was this massive star, despite not being on TV for a year or two, he was still this icon. I guess when people that are so famous die, they feel like they can say what they want and rip you apart. It wasn’t right – especially when I was 14 and going to school and hearing all these people saying “Oh, he died of steroids.” It’s like “Uh, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” I don’t mind talking to you (now) but then I was “I don’t even want to talk about it! My dad just died a week ago, leave me alone!”

    In talking about him and your extended family, obviously the Harts and the extended family are, without a doubt, the first family of wrestling – they are a dynasty within it. Today we still have Harry, Nattie and Tyson – even Teddy Hart doing some stuff still – as well as others involved in the industry. How do you see the family legacy and the legacy of your dad within the wrestling industry?

    I think it’s kind of sad how it’s all kind of happened that there’s pretty much only one Hart now in WWE. That kind of makes me sad, but at the same time my brother is in Japan and he’s made a really big name for himself over there. He’s got the bulldog on his tights – that’s one of the things that bothered me in WWE.  He was always wearing the pink and black. I mean, I’m glad that they were really putting over the Hart name and using him, but what about his other heritage? The red, white and blue and the bulldog. They kind of were just doing the pink and black, so I’m glad now where he’s at my brother can have the bulldog on his gear and he can things that he wasn’t allowed to do in WWE.

    I’m glad Nattie……she’s working with what she’s got there. I don’t really watch WWE, and I don’t know how well the women’s division is – but apparently, from what I’ve heard, the WWE isn’t doing much with them. So, the fact that Nattie is on a show and showing her personality, and networking and taking what she’s got to another level – and good for her. I’m glad she’s doing that and the fact that she is a Hart doing that – that’s amazing.

    Coming back to you, I appreciate the acting side of things – I am a frustrated actor/writer myself. You have said before about not wanting to get in the ring like your dad, but obviously you have gone into the entertainment industry – you talked about some of the voice work that you’re doing, etc. What do you hope is going to happen for you off the back of all of this?

    What I really want is just to make my own individuality and just to become my own person – and that people will know me as Georgia Smith the x, y and z, and not just Georgia Smith who’s related to some people in wrestling. Sometimes, I kind of hide behind my family sort of, because when people ask me what I do it always comes back to my family. I need to big myself up a little bit and be like “I’ve done this and this.” I’ve accomplished a lot, but at the same time I go “Well, it’s not as great as what they’ve done….” So it’s difficult, but I want to get to a place where I’m completely confident and be like “This is me” and if you go on my Twitter profile you know exactly what I’m about and who I am. I’m proud of where I come from, but I don’t want to be 40 years old and it to be like “Oh, she’s the British Bulldog’s daughter – that’s all she is.”

    Anybody who knows me knows that I have a lot more to show of me and it’s just (about) getting more opportunities for myself to show what I’ve got. That’s what my dad did. My dad wasn’t just one of The British Bulldogs – he became the British Bulldog. HE became his own thing and had the cape and the braids and made his own individuality – he wasn’t in a tag (team) anymore. That’s just an example. Like with Harry – Harry was in the Hart Dynasty, it’s what he was famous for. But now he’s in the Killer Elite Squad, he’s coming into his own, he’s more confident and I’m kind of on that path – but not with wrestling! I do my own thing, my own entertainment thing.

    You mentioned Twitter and stuff there. How can anybody keep up to date with what you’re up to and the things that you’re involved with?

    Twitter (@georgiasmith87) and I have a Facebook page (facebook.com/georgiasmith7). My website is currently being built right now. Those three things are the main things – people can follow my snapchat, but it’s kind of boring! (laughs) It’s just pictures of my dog! Yea, Twitter, Facebook and the website – georgiajsmith – it’s under construction. Probably at the weekend it will be all up and running.

    I much appreciate you giving me your time and on the acting side of things I really hope it all comes off. About 12 years ago I was very close stuff happening for me (in acting) and I made the decision to finish my teaching degree rather than go and pursue the acting. While it was good that I finished my teaching degree, the acting opportunity had passed me be, so I am genuinely a frustrated actor – so from that point of view, I hope it all comes good for you!

    Yea, it’s definitely not easy. It’s like when people ask me “Where should I train to wrestle? “ or “What would you recommend me?” I’m like (laughs) “Do something else! Don’t do it! Do anything else but that unless you want to annoy yourself.” Sometimes I feel like that with acting – sometimes I feel like I’m so close and then something happens and I’m at a standstill.

    Even right now, I have an agent – a big, well known agent – who wants to represent me, but the thing is I don’t have the specific requirements.  I haven’t had years of acting training in England or English drama, and I’m not a part of the union. So, I’m trying to find a way to get around that so that if I get with this agent then it’s going to be like a dream come true. So, I have to just keep like plodding along and if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be – but I feel like whether it’s acting or voice work acting on TV or wherever, I feel like that’s my destiny! I have to get the Bulldog strength and just power through it.

  • NJPW Road to Dominion Korakuen Hall 7-3-15 live coverage and results: Huge surprise appearance

    By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly

    Started out slow with a feeling out process, mostly with O’Reilly working on Tanaka. Komatsu made a great comeback that the crowd ate up big time, including transitioning into a dragon sleeper but O’Reilly came back and broke it up. Komatsu sinked in the hal leg crab. In a funny spot, O’Reilly kept slapping Komatsu as Tanaka deadlifted him into a German suplex. reDragon did a double team codebreaker into a deadlift German suplex for their comeback, then win with the Chasing the Dragon on Tanaka in a very good opener. These four have good chemistry together.

    Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada

    Starts off with Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi, which the crowd liked. Taguchi and Tiger Mask Followed, then Dorada and Liger, with Dorada doing a huge dive on the outside taking out Liger. Didn’t last too long. Taguchi and Dorada made a comeback and wiped out Tiger Mask. Dorada was going for his screwdriver finish when Tiger Mask countered and rolled him up for the win. Any roll up in 2015 is quite the deadly finishing maneuver.

    Yuji Nagata cut a promo after the match, mostly just talking about being in the opener on Sunday.

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Jay White vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Cody Hall

    This turned into a pretty good six man. Usual formula with everyone pairing off. Boiled down to Tama Tonga and Jay White. Tencozy took out Hall with the 3D and White got a nearfall with a missile dropkick. Tonga fired back with a TKO, then pinned him with a waist lock hold into a DDT. 

    Kushida & Captain New Japan vs. Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi

    Despite Kenny Omega stealing the Best of the Super Junior trophy on last week’s show, Kushida came to the ring with it. I guess maybe management forced Omega to give it back, or something. Basic tag match with the Bullet Club getting heat on Captain New Japan. CNJ made the hot tag and Kushida ran wild, including hooking Yujiro’s feet into a bridge and giving a German suplex to Omega for a double near fall. CNJ tagged in and ran wild, but as usual he got cut off and Yujiro pinned him with the Tokyo Pimps.  

    Kushida and Omega were having a staredown when suddenly who should emerge from the crowd but none other than last year’s Best of the Super Junior winner, Ricochet, wearing an Akira Tozawa t-shirt. He challenges whoever wins at Dominion to a IWGP junior heavyweight title match. Crowd popped big time for this.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Gedo

    Another formulaic tag match with everyone pairing off. Naito was the last to enter the arena and was aggressive whenever he was in the ring, including shoving the referee down at one point. Makabe and Ishii had their usual big exchange, then Tanahashi and Yano went at it. The former went for the high fly flow, but Yano got the knees up and rolled up him for the nearfall. Tanahashi then grabbed him by the hair and rolled him up for the three count. Naito immediately bailed the minute Yano was pinned and was never seen again, continuing to signal a heel turn.

    Makabe and Ishii exchanged words after the match, while Yano came back with a chair. Tanahashi dropkicked the chair into Yano’s face and sent him reeling as he celebrated. 

    Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazushi Sakuraba & Gedo

    This was every multi-man tag you’ve ever seen from these six. Not that it was bad, because it actually got really great in the end. Yoshi-Hashi was scoring some great nearfalls, including a powerbomb into a bridge but Goto kept kicking out. Shibata tries to break it up but Goto held his own until he couldn’t no more. Goto hit his neckbreaker on the knee, Shibata hit the penalty kick then Goto followed with the shouten kai for the pinfall.

    Everyone stared down their rival in the post match, with Sakuraba and Shibata exchanging slaps. 

    Kazuchika Okada & Michael Bennett & Matt Taven & Rocky Romero & Baretta vs. A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson & Young Bucks

    Despite being a hard camera event, they made sure to get shots of Maria’s behind when she entered the ring. Amber Gallows was also here seconding the Bullet Club. This started out as the usual ten man tag but got wild at the end. Everyone paired off with their rival, and eventually it boiled down to Romero being worked on. He makes the hot tag to Taven, which brings in the two teams facing off for the titles on Sunday until Okada and AJ are tagged in. Lots of crazy action here including a double tope from the Kingdom onto various Bullet Club members. Anderson grabs Romero in the Razor’s Edge position and throws him onto the rest of the participants in the match. Anderson was stopped by Maria. Anderson was into Maria when Amber Gallows ran in and they had a catfight. Doc Gallows came in and he and Anderson were about to do the Magic Killer when the Kingdom ran in. They wen to the outside as it boiled down to Baretta vs. Young Bucks and AJ Styles. Young Bucks and AJ Styles all did 450 splashes on Baretta for a nearfall when Okada ran in. AJ wipes him out when he helps the Young Bucks do an assisted Indytaker then immediately follows that with the Styles Clash for the pinfall. Great spectacle of a match.

    AJ cuts a promo on Okada after the match, saying he’ll always lose to the Bullet Club because they’re real. 

    Overall a pretty great show with a wild main event, and lots of interesting directions heading into Sunday’s PPV.