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  • On this day in pro wrestling history (June 13): ‘Strangler’ beats Londos, Crusher vs. Mad Dog cage match, Briscos win tag team gold, Jerry Lawler vs. Curt Hennig

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1924 – For promoter Tom Paks in St. Louis, Missouri at St. Louis University Stadium, World Heavyweight Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis defeated Jim Londos in 2 out of 3 falls.

    1940 – Orville Brown defeated Bobby Bruns in Kansas City, Kansas to win the Kansas City version of the Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title.

    1947 – At Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri; Ray Steele beat Bronko Nagurski, Dizzy Davis defeated Bob Cummings, Butch Levy beat Jack Conley. Promoter was Sam Muchnick. Attendance was 2,316 fans and event was billed as season finale.

    1957 – Ed Francis defeated Al Lolotai for the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.

    1960 – Tony Borne defeated Bull Curry to win the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title in Fort Worth, Texas.

    1961 – In Kansas City, Art Neilson & Ray Shires defeated Red Bastien & Lou Bastien in three falls, Bobo Brazil defeated Killer Kowalski in three falls and Bob Ellis defeated The Sheik via DQ in three falls.

    1963 – At Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Masked Medic #1 and Masked Medic #2 beat Pat O’Connor and and Tiny Mills 2 falls to 1, Sonny Myers beat Bob Geigel 2 falls to 1 via dq, Larry Hamilton drew Steve Kovacs and Rock Hunter beat Steve Bolus

    1969 – In Duluth, Minnesota; The Crusher & Bill Watts beat Larry Hennig & Lars Anderson, Red Bastien beat Dr. X and Billy Red Lyons beat Big K

    1970 – In Milwaukee, Wisconsin; In a Steel Cage Match, The Crusher beat Mad Dog Vachon, Dr X & Double X beat Edouard Carpentier & Pepper Gomez, Paul Diamond beat Larry Hennig, Butcher Vachon beat Billy Howard, and Blackjack Lanza beat Moose Cholak Attendance was 12,076 and gate was $58,000. That card set a new Wisconsin indoor gate and attendance record.

    1972 – Alfonso Dantes defeated Rey Mendoza for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Tijuana, Mexico; Jerry Brisco defeated Rip Hawk to win the Mid-Atlantic Eastern title in Columbia, S.C.

    1974 – The Interns (Tom Andrews and Jim Starr) defeated Bob Geigel and Rufus R. Jones to win the Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Title in Kansas City, Kansas. Also, Jim Brunzell defeated Bobby Garcia, Pat O’Connor defeated Ciclon Negro via DQ and Bob Brown defeated Don Fargo via DQ.

    1975 – Black Gordman and Goliath win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title from The Hollywood Blonds (Jerry Brown and Buddy Roberts).

    1975 – Great Kusatsu and Mighty Inoue defeated Tor Kamata and Duke Savage in a tournament final to win the vacant International Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Title in Morioka, Japan.

    1978 – Jack and Jerry Brisco defeated Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato (The Great Kabuki) in Miami, Florida to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title.

    1981 – The Kelly Twins (Pat and Mike Kelly) defeated Wilbur Snyder and Spike Huber to win the World Wrestling Association (Indiana) Tag Team Title in Indianapolis, Indiana; The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura dq, AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe and Jerry Blackwell ddq Brad Rheingans in Omaha, Neb.

    1982 – Centurian Negro defeated Gran Hamada in Monterrey, Mexico, for the Universal Wrestling Association World Middleweight Title

    1983 – Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) defeated Fishman to win the vacant WWF World Junior Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico; In Salt Lake City, Utah; Rick Martel beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq, Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon and Wahoo McDaniel beat Blackjack Lanza

    1985 – Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated The Dynamite Kid for the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title in Koga, Japan; In Ibaraki, Japan; Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu beat Terry Gordy & Tiger Jeet Singh & Mario Milano, Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq, In an International Junior Heavyweight title match, Kuniaki Kobayashi beat Dynamite Kid dq.

    1986 – Lex Luger defeated Ron Bass to win the NWA Bahamas Heavyweight Title in Nassau, Bahamas.

    1986 – In Houston, Texas; In a Texas Tornado Street Fight; Steve Williams & Dusty Rhodes & Bill Watts beat Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff & Kortsita Korchenko, Terry Gordy beat Terry Taylor, AWA Champion Stan Hansen no contest Nick Bockwinkel, Rock & Roll Express beat Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts and Magnum TA beat Baron Von Raschke

    1987 – Bill Dundee defeated Chick Donovan to win the AWA International Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee

    1988 – At the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, TN; AWA Champion Jerry Lawler beat Curt Hennig, Brickhouse Brown dcor Max Pain and Great Sensei & Dutch Mantel beat Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden dq. Attendance was 4,500.

    1991 – Gran Hamada and Perro Aguayo defeated Los Brazos (Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata) to win the UWA World Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.

    1992 – Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. defeated El Egipicio in Mexico City, Mexico to win the Mexico National Heavyweight Title

    1993 – The WWF held the first televised King of the Ring pay-per-view event in Dayton, Ohio. Yokozuna pinned Hulk Hogan to win the WWF World Title and Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow to win the King of the Ring Tournament.

    1994 – PG-13 (J.C. Ice and Wolfie D.) defeated The Eliminators (Saturn and Kronus) for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee

    1997 – Nygma defeated El Salsero to win the Mexico National Welterweight Title in Xochimilko, Mexico.

    1998 – Buddy Landel defeated Jimmy Cicero in Alexandria, Virginia for the Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title; E.Z. Ryder and Darren Daulton defeated Damage Inc. (Skar and Sledge) to win the Canadian Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title in Garden City, Manitoba.

    1999 – WCW held the Great American Bash at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The Jersey Triad (Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon) defeated Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn to win the WCW World Tag Team Title; Koji Nakagawa and Gedo defeated Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda to win the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Title in Okayama City, Japan.

    2002 – Shouichi Ichimiya defeated Chocoball Mukai for the Dramatic Dream Team Ironman Heavymetalweight Title in Tokyo, Japan

    2003 – Yutaka Yoshie and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan in Tokyo, Japan, to win the IWGP World Tag Team Title

  • PBC on Spike report: Erislandy Lara vs. Delvin Rodriguez

    By Jeremy Wall

    Spike TV aired its latest broadcast of PBC boxing Friday, June 12th from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. The show featured a double headline of Erislandy Lara shutting out Delvin Rodriguez by unanimous decision in one of the dullest fights yet promoted by PBC. Lara has a terrible reputation as a boring fighter and this fight was a classic example of a fighter losing reputation with a bad win. In the other bout broadcast by Spike, Artur Beterbiev had another star making performance by stopping Alexander Johnson in the seventh round. This was Beterbiev’s second appearance on a PBC broadcast after knocking Gabriel Campillo in the fourth round on PBC’s debut on CBS on April 4th.

    The 32-year old Lara (21-2-2, 12 KOs) was defending his WBA Super Welterweight championship against 35-year-old Rodriguez (28-8-4, 16 KOs). As per PBC convention the title wasn’t mentioned on the Spike broadcast by name. It was a total mismatch anyway. To be clear, Lara holds the regular WBA Super Welterweight title, whereas Floyd Mayweather Jr holds the WBA Super Super Welterweight title (which the WBA calls the Super World Super Welterweight title, which I guess to them sounds a bit less ridiculous). If PBC accomplishes anything, I hope that it is cleaning up the title situation in boxing and making it less of a joke.

    It was a battle of the B-sides as both Lara and Rodriguez had been opponents for bigger name fighters in recent years. Lara was coming into the fight off a win over Ishe Smith by decision in December, but previous to that was the most notable fight of Lara’s career when he lost a dull split-decision to Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand last July. Rodriguez hadn’t fought since going to a split-draw with Joachim Alcine last May, but previous to that was stopped by Miguel Cotto in the third round in October 2013.

    Rodriguez was handpicked as an opponent to showcase Lara in front of the Spike audience, to build Lara up as a credible opponent for another bigger name under the PBC banner. Lara knocked Rodriguez down in the sixth round and shut him out on the scorecards with scores of 120-107, 120-107 and 120-107. But in the world of combat sports you can’t control what happens in the ring and the two had a complete snorefest that damaged Lara’s reputation more than an exciting loss would.

    Lara, of course, was oblivious. “This was really a great performance tonight,” Lara said after the fight. “I was able to land my left. Delvin was really just trying to survive in there, so I knew what I was doing was working.” Despite Lara believing he put in a great performance, the crowd began to boo the fight in the fifth round and didn’t stop until it was over.

    “I’m going to sit down with my team and Al (Haymon). The future is clear,” Lara said in his post-fight interview with Jimmy Smith. “We want the best. We want Floyd Mayweather. We want Miguel Cotto. We want Gennady Golovkin at 160 pounds.”

    He is probably getting none of those fighters. Maybe with a great performance here he could have gotten his name in the mix as Mayweather’s opponent for September 12th. But after the way Lara fought Rodriguez, I can’t see that happening. Cotto will be fighting Canelo. And Golovkin doesn’t fight on PBC.

    **********

    Beterbiev’s performance against Alexander Johnson at light-heavyweight in the opening bout on Spike was far more intriguing. The 30-year-old Beterbiev is only 9-0 as a pro, but he had a long amateur career which included two Olympic appearances and amateur championships. He has knocked out all nine of his opponents, now two of them on national television.

    He knocked Alexander Johnson (16-3, 7 KOs) down four times during their fight, twice in round five and twice more in round seven. Johnson fought defensively and was clearly trying to survive for as long as possible before Beterbiev finished him in the seventh. Johnson’s performance wasn’t impressive, but he was the first fighter to take Beterbiev beyond four rounds in a professional fight.

    Beterbiev did have a bit of a problem with Johnson being a southpaw, as Beterbiev was originally scheduled to fight the orthodox DouDou Ngumbu, who pulled out nine days before the fight.

    “This is a big plus for me and great experience for my pro career. I’m very happy to have gone past four rounds tonight,” said Beterbiev. “Nothing was really working that well for me tonight though. I like to box smart and find the right openings. Maybe the righty to lefty switch in the last week made a difference.”

    Last week PBC announced that Beterbiev had signed a long-term contract with both Al Haymon and Montreal-based promoted Yvon Michel, who worked with Haymon to promote the April 4th CBS broadcast in Quebec. I was a bit surprised to read that, since Beterbiev had already fought for PBC in April. I’m unclear on whether Beterbiev had a short-term contract with Haymon and then signed a long-term extension, or if he fought in April without being under contract to Haymon.

    “The only disappointment he’s had in his career is that he hasn’t fought for a world title yet. He’s willing to fight anybody in boxing in the light heavyweight division,” said Yvon Michel. “There’s a lot of talent in the light heavyweight division now. There’s WBC champion Adonis Stevenson. There’s Sergey Kovalev, who has the other three belts. There’s a guy here [in Chicago] who I have a lot of respect for, Andrzej Fonfara … it’s a very, very interesting weight division. Artur Beterbiev wants to play a major role in it.”

    Fonfara was ringside for the fight. He is under contract to Haymon and recently beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on Showtime in a Haymon card that wasn’t promoted under the PBC banner. He also had a great fight against Adonis Stevenson in Montreal last year. He’s an exciting fighter and would be a good higher profile opponent for Beterbiev. Fonfara has a reputation for being an underdog that upsets better fighters, so it would be a good test to see where Beterbiev stands as a fighter before graduating to fight the elite.

    Between Adonis and Kovalev, it would seem more likely that Beterbiev would face Adonis for the WBC belt. Adonis is under contract to Haymon. Kovalev is promoted by Main Events and fights on HBO. One of the biggest potential fights in boxing is Adonis vs Kovalev, but because they are under contract to opposing promoters it has been nearly impossible to put that fight together. The negative is that if Beterbiev faces Adonis, he will invite unfair comparisons to Kovalev, who is similar to Beterbiev in that they are both power fighters from Russia in the prime of their respective careers. Kovalev is a champ and has been around as a pro longer than Beterbiev, though. Kovalev is defending his three light-heavyweight titles against Nadjib Mohammedi on HBO July 25th. Adonis last fought in April on CBS and currently has no fight scheduled.

    **********

    The last PBC on Spike show with Amir Khan beating Chris Algieri by decision to possibly setup Khan facing Floyd Mayweather in September drew 811,000 viewers on average in the DVR +3 ratings, peaking at 1.3 million. The live average was 772,000 viewers with a peak of 1,120,000.

    In March, PBC on Spike drew 869,000 viewers and peaked at 1 million. In April, it drew 569,000 and peaked at 761,000. PBC airs on Spike from 9pm ET to 11pm.

    The live average for the three PBC on Spike broadcasts has been 736,667 viewers. It is better than what Glory draws on Spike, and in the same range as what the weaker Bellator shows draw, but not as good as the strong Bellator shows.

    I suspect this most recent broadcast to have low viewership considering the main event was weak both from a box office perspective and from a fighting perspective. Bad fights between relative unknowns isn’t going to draw an audience on Spike. PBC has struggled a bit more on Spike compared to NBC or CBS, probably because boxing skews older and Spike skews younger, so PBC would have a hard time winning over Spike’s demographic. Spike’s demo of young men is strong from an advertising stance as that demo commands better ad rates, so PBC increasing their penetration with males 18-34 is one of the many roadblocks PBC has in winning its war for boxing.

    *********

    On the Spike broadcast PBC also announced that former light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (31-6, 22KOs) would return to the ring for PBC to face Steve Cunningham (28-7, 13KOs) at heavyweight.

    Tarver is 46-years-old and currently works as a colour commentator for PBC on Spike. His last high profile fight was in May 2009, a unanimous decision loss to Chad Dawson at light-heavyweight on HBO.

    Tarver has been active since losing to Dawson, moving up to heavyweight and fighting in a series of low-profile bouts. His last fight was December 11th, 2014, a seventh-round TKO over Johnathan Banks. Tarver came into the fight at 225 pounds. Fighting on Spike, however, will be Tarver’s highest-profile match since 2009.

    I think what’s notable about Tarver fighting for PBC is that with boxing’s comeback we will likely see a number of stars from the past attempt returns to the ring to cash in on the sport’s increase in popularity. There is a major promotional war happening between Haymon’s PBC and HBO. Similar to how UFC and Bellator are using aged stars from the past as chess pieces to try and steal market share from one another, PBC and HBO will likely end up doing the same.

    Tarver will likely beat Cunningham. If Tarver has a good fight, he could be someone used to put over Deontay Wilder, the WBC Heavyweight champion under contract to Haymon who has tremendous star potential and could use a few wins over big names to build his box office appeal.

    **********

    Speaking of aged fighters seeking just one more chance at faded glory, after the PBC show, Spike aired shoulder programming for the Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice fight on Bellator next Friday.

    It was a talk-show format with Jimmy Smith hosting. He interviewed Michael Chandler, Bobby Lashley, and then Kimbo and Ken separately, and then interviewed Kimbo and Ken together.

    Chandler and Lashley came across as likeable. But Ken is still one of the best promos in MMA. They talked vaguely about the fight between Kimbo and Ken that never happened years ago and positioned the bout as MMA vs streetfighting with Ken seeking to prove to Kimbo that technique trumps brawling.

    Ken still has all the same fire and intensity he had years ago for his fights against Tito (and even longer ago for his fights against Severn and Royce Gracie). It is that same intensity that Ken was never able to successfully import into his pro wrestling career. Ken looks old facially, though. With Kimbo it is harder to tell because he wears the cap, the sunglasses, and the giant beard.

    The fight is the most ridiculous MMA match in many years. But Spike has done everything to promote it as well as they can, so we will see if these two can still bring the ratings.

    But really, neither of these guys belongs in the ring in 2015.

    Jeremy Wall can be contacted at jeremywall1984@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @jeremydalewall.

  • WWE NXT June 12 Cleveland, OH, house show results: Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Finn Balor

    Submitted by Adam Scraga

    – A ten bell salute for Dusty Rhodes occurred at the start of the show.

    Enzo & Big Cass d. Vaudevillains

    Enzo and Cass were very over. Good match with some comedy including a chicken fight with Enzo/Gotch on their partner’s shoulders. Enzo got the pinfall with a Cass-assisted big splash from the top. After the match the crowd chanted for them to hug it out, and they did.

    Bull Dempsey d. Jason Jordan

    Bull was the face in this matchup. They repeated the spot from Bull v. Breeze with them running on the outside and Bull getting winded. Bull got the pinfall with an Avalanche splash from the turnbuckle.

    Baron Corbin d. Rhyno

    Lots of ECW chants as well as “Corbin sucks” chants to the beat of “New Day sucks.” Corbin got the pinfall with End of Days. After the match he attacked Rhyno again and received a gore.

    Bayley & Carmella d. Dana Brooke and Emma

    Bayley entered first, followed by Brooke and then Emma. Brooke and Emma cut a promo about how Brooke was ashamed to be from Cleveland, the “mistake on the lake” and that Bayley had no partner for this match since she has no friends, so it was now a handicap match. Enter Carmella. Dana Brooke’s family was at the show in a balcony box and were very vocal in their support of her. Carmella got the victory with her headscissors submission.

    NXT Tag Team Champions Blake & Murphy with Alexa Bliss d. Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley

    A decent match between the teams. Ryder was very over while Mojo was not. There was a spot where Alexa came onto the ring apron to cause a distraction and was grabbed and kissed by Mojo. The champions retained with a frog splash.

    NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks d. Charlotte to retain NXT Women’s Championship

    The match of the night, in my opinion. They went back and forth with a unique spot where Charlotte had the figure four locked in, Sasha got to the ropes, and Charlotte slid underneath the ropes to the floor with the hold still attached. Sasha eventually got the win with the Bank Statement.

    NXT Champion Kevin Owens d. Samoa Joe, Tyler Breeze, and Finn Balor

    All four men were cheered. After Owens entered, chants of “John Cena sucks” began, and he got on the mic to say that very soon we will never have to see him again. A very good match. Owens mocked Cena by using the Five Knuckle Shuffle and Attitude Adjustment on Breeze. The finishing sequence was a Muscle Buster from Joe to Balor, a Beauty Shot on Joe, and a pop-up powerbomb from Owens to Breeze for the pin. After the match, Joe and Balor had a face to face staredown in the ring, only to too sweet one another and walk away.

    – A lot of bionic elbows tonight and other tributes to Dusty.

  • WWE June 12 Springfield, IL, house show results: John Cena vs. Kane, Chris Jericho vs. Luke Harper

    Submitteed by Wayne Utt

    – IC Champion Ryback defeated Bray Wyatt. Standard match. Wyatt hit an apron DDT in a great moment.

    – Bo Dallas cut a promo about how awful Springfield was then promptly lost to Jimmy Uso in a quick match after a superkick and a top rope splash. Bo then blamed the audience for not Bolieving in him and said he wanted someone to come out and give him another chance to win.

    – Jack Swagger came out, got jumped by Bo and then came back to snag Bo in an ankle lock for a tap out victory.

    – Cesaro defeated Erick Rowan in a great back and forth match. A highlight was Cesaro hitting a running European Uppercut to Rowan, who was leaning against a rail. Cesaro won after swinging Rowan four times before locking in the Sharpshooter for the submission.

    – Chris Jericho was out next to hype up the crowd. He asked the audience if he would be a better person to lead WWE than the Authority, which the audience promptly agreed with. In the midst of him revving up the crowd, Luke Harper walked out, smacked the mic out of Jericho’s hand. Jericho called for a match and it started. There was an excellent moment where Jericho was punching Harper in the corner and Harper lifted Jericho into a suplex. Jericho looked great and full of energy and the crowd gave him a great ovation.

    – The Bellas defeated Tamina and Naomi in a tag match. The match was voted on by the audience (the options were either a one-on-one between Naomi and Nikki or the tag match. The tag match won by a landslide.) This was a good Divas match that featured the women hitting their signature spots. Nikki pinned Naomi after hitting the Rack Attack.

    – New Day came out next for a Fatal Four-Way tag match for the Tag Titles. Big E personally told me that I smelled, which I appreciated. Next out was The Miz and Adam Rose as a team, then The Ascension, followed by Axelmania and Macho Mandow. Each team took time cutting promos before the match started up. This match was filled with blind tags, humor and a lot of chaos, but was good fun for the crowd. New Day took the win after Adam Rose took the pin.

    – U.S. Champion John Cena defeated Kane in a cage match for the U.S. Title. Standard cage match. Cena was in much better spirits on this visit as last year he spent very little time interacting with the crowd. This time around, he was happy to speak with kids, sign autographs and shake hands. He won after kicking the door in Kane’s face and dropping to the floor. He took a moment to note my Kevin Owens shirt and said, “He better be ready.” I assured him KO was.

    Overall, it was a good show with a decent crowd. Definitely worth the money!

  • New Japan on AXS June 12 TV results & recap: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale

    By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Last week, the team of Togi Makabe and Hiroshi Tanahashi failed to win the titles from Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. But there was still a chance on this Dominion card to get a win over the Bullet Club, with the giant Bad Luck Fale challenging Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental championship. Will Nakamura score one for the New Japan originals, or will the Bullet Club take out all of their competition in a clean sweep?

    We continue looking at the NJPW Dominion card from June 21, 2014 at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka.

    Yuji Nagata and Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata

    This was a good match. Whenever Honma and Shibata were in the ring, it got really awesome. These two would go on to have a tremendous match during the G1 finals. The real story was the feud between Nagata and Shibata, as they had been teasing tension between one another on recent shows leading to this match. This was a pretty good match; I don’t know if this was edited for time or not, but I remember liking it more live than I do rewatching it now. It’s definitely a good match, regardless. Goto picks up the win with his neckbreaker on the knee on Honma.

    After the match, Shibata and Nagata were already making their way to the back, brawling in front of people and eventually disappearing behind an oddly placed makeshift wall. These two would also go on to have a tremendous match in the G1 tournament. As far as building towards the tournament, this match was great.

    Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale

    Bad Luck Fale talks about his upcoming match against Nakamura. He realized when he lost the New Japan Cup that year, he wanted to beat him. His motivation wasn’t winning the belt originally, but he understands it’s a prestigious title and realizes it’s significance.

    The match aired. A lot of people say that Fale isn’t good. And technically, he isn’t. But the thing that makes his run valuable here is that he’s working with some of the best workers on the planet. It also helps he’s still mobile and isn’t that bad in the ring. Also keep in mind that the booking they’ve done with him to establish him as a threat was very well done. Instead of exposing his weaknesses, New Japan hid them and accentuated his positives. This match is a great example of that.

    Nakamura and Fale had a great match, filled with drama. Nakamura kicked out of a grenade and hit two boma yes but Fale kicked out and gave him a spear after a third attempt failed. Bad Luck Fale finally landed the Bad Luck Fall to win the title. Say what you want about Fale winning a championship and getting a push to this level, but it was a part of the Bullet Club storyline they were doing in 2014. A lot of long time New Japan fans weren’t happy with this development at the time, but it’s clear there was a storyline reason for this.

    Anderson promoted his guys after the matches, pointing out how now Fale, Styles, and Anderson and Gallows have titles, and soon everyone in Bullet Club will be wearing gold. They reiterate this in the back, with Fale saying he’s taking the title back to Tonga.

    After the match, Fale says he realized that he had beaten someone great, who had great wrestling skills. He realized how important it was to win the belt, though he had no real emotional response to winning the belt initially. But the next day, he felt the weight and importance of the belt and the prestige it carries.  He says that now he feels the pressure of being a top guy, and it’s something daunting. His outlook for 2015 is to either challenge for the Intercontinental championship again (he would go on to lose it back to Nakamura later that year) or to challenge the IWGP champion.

    Overall, another solid show. Both matches were pretty good, with the former being good build towards the G1 and the latter furthering the story of the Bullet Club winning all the titles and gaining momentum. I think the storyline kind of faltered towards the end of the year when Styles lost the title to Hiroshi Tanahashi out of nowhere, but that’s another story for another time.

  • Dusty Rhodes and the American Dream: a look back to 1978

    Credit: Palm Beach (FL) Post

    By Chris Aiken, WrestlingObserver.com

    In an interview from an episode of Championship Wrestling in April 1978, Dusty Rhodes and Vince McMahon sat in an empty arena. Vince introduced him and Dusty began to speak before removing his cowboy hat to look in the camera and address the viewing audience in a more serious and straight forward tone than his usual high energy promos.

    A day after Dusty passed away at the age of 69, here’s the transcription about his journey and how it relates to the American Dream:

    “…It’s always a little yelling, little screaming, little really get down fever and boogie when I’m rapping and never get a chance to really sit down and rap with my people and talk to you. When I was a kid growing up, I did have a dream. You know, I look around this building. I look around at the things that go on in this building. The people screaming and hollering, and this is a quiet time for me. It’s a personal time for me because my dream is every little child’s dream or every person’s dream that ever wanted to be anything. It is an American Dream. There is an American Dream.

    Hell, whether it’s filling a building like this or if it’s doing plumbing like my daddy did as well as you can do it, you understand. (Takes off his sunglasses) I mean just as good as you can. I just thank God that there are people like yourselves that come out to see ‘The American Dream’ because when I was growing up I sure didn’t think 265 pounds of blue-eyed soul would captivate a country like I have. The people drive me.

    There’s never been a man I don’t think in sports anywhere [that] gets a natural high. That might be it, you look around, a natural high from doing what he’s doing. It’s not dope. It’s not pot. It’s not whiskey and wine. Now I drink a little whiskey and wine. (Pauses) But it’s every man, woman or child that really believe in the American Dream.

    And you know, Vinny, this building… (Getting excited) I’m getting down now because I’m saying things in my heart. This building will be full, it’s true. They’ll be screaming and hollering and jumping and shucking and jiving because this man knows no color barrier. He has no qualms about going out and eating dinner with a black man, or a Puerto Rican, or a Greek man, or a Chinese man, or Mexican-American, or anybody like that. Because I was raised to understand a man is a man first when he proves himself a man no matter what color he is, no matter what creed he is.

    Playing football back in West Texas, you know, we had many black guys on the team. Really boogie get down fever boys. And there were a few people around the town there in Texas that were still down a little on blacks. Now the world has changed. The arenas has changed. (Talking louder) You can look up in this building in a matter of a few hours when it’s full, and you can see a black man and a white man eating out of the same popcorn box. Wooo, that’s funky! That’s the American Dream!

    And I don’t care too much for politicians you understand, or don’t get involved in what’s their business. All I know is my business is making you happy. And I get a little sentimental when I’m thinking about it because making you happy makes my dreams fulfilled. And God knows I love you. Now whether it’s Superstar Billy Graham or Bob Backlund – a great, great champion that he is – or whether it’s sitting here with Vince, or whether it’s Freddie Blassie or Captain Lou Albano, the weasel, or any of his people, or Spiros Arion.

    There is a triumph in an empty building when I can sit here and really let my feelings go telling you in two hours [it] will be full of screaming people for one thing. For one instant in their life everything else don’t matter (long pause) but the American Dream. Now whether I carry that banner like I should sometimes it takes help from you.

    But I tell you one damn thing, I’m going to carry it forever and ever. The American Dream lives in this empty building.”

  • WWE News: Tough Enough finalists announced

    After their tryout camp, WWE has whittled down the field of 40 to 13 finalists for WWE Tough Enough, set to debut on USA Network on June 23rd. This group will compete for two one year, $250,000 contacts (one male/one female). A competition special will air on the WWE Network this Tuesday.

    Your finalists: 

    • Alexander Frekey of Dallas
    • Amadna Saccomanno of Yorktown Heights, NY
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    • Hank Avery Jr. of Macon, GA
    • Joshua Bredi of Thornton, CO
    • Mad Abdel Hamid of Los Angeles
    • Patrick Clark of Washington, DC
    • Sara Lee of Hope, MI
    • Tanner Saraceno of Boiling Springs, SC
    • Zamkariah Loupe of Bayuo Bluff, LA

  • Kevin Owens talks match with Cena, his son’s reaction to his Cena program and twitter

    The following is from a third party:

    NXT Champion Kevin Owens joined CBS Radio’s The Chad Dukes Wrestling Show on Thursday to promote his Champion versus Champion rematch with John Cena at the Money in the Bank show Sunday on PPV and the WWE Network.  During the interview Owens talked about his success in WWE so far, his son’s reactions to wrestling John Cena, the importance of the NXT title, blocking kids on Twitter, and more.

    On his success so far in WWE;

    “I went into NXT with no expectations.  That’s what I was told when I was hired, have no expectations, just do the best I could, and that’s always what I’ve done for the last fifteen years.  That’s what I did and you know it’s obviously working out pretty good.”

    On wrestling his son’s hero and its influence on his signing with WWE:

    “My son’s a big John Cena fan and obviously a big fan of mine who is very proud of everything I’m accomplishing.  A big reason why I signed with WWE in the first place was because my son wanted to see me wrestle in WWE and he wanted to see me wrestle John Cena.  So now he gets to see it.  I don’t know if he realized what it would entail, it would entail me beating up John Cena and John Cena trying to beat me up.  I’m sure it is a bit of conflicting feelings here and there for him but he’s proud of everything that’s happening and he’s really loving you know seeing me on WWE TV every week.”

    On stepping on the United States Title:

    “I think every single title in WWE means a lot.  Me stepping on the United States Championship wasn’t meant to disrespect the title itself but I think that the title I have is the most important in WWE because I have it.  Whether it’s the NXT title or the United States title or the Intercontinental title or the World title, if I have that title then that’s the most important one.  That’s all I was trying to illustrate by stepping on the United States title.  For me the NXT title is what it’s all about because that’s the one I have, that’s just the way I think.  Who knows what’ll happen in the future, who knows what title I’ll be competing for a few months from now but whatever title I’m going for is obviously going to be the most important to me because that’s the one I’m trying to get.”

    On John Cena:

    “Anybody who says that he’s not a very good professional wrestler and a very good performer all around is kidding themselves.  I know he gets a lot of years a lot of hate from a lot of people for various reasons, but anybody who denies the talent, John Cena’s talent in the ring is really in denial.  He’s a fantastic competitor and you know if it wasn’t made evident by the match and we had at Elimination Chamber it’s going to be made evident again by the match we have at Money in the Bank.  I feel like we brought out the best in each other at Elimination Chamber and we’re going to do it again this Sunday but there’s no way I’m leaving Columbus as anything but a winner.”

  • Dusty Rhodes funeral notes

    Ric Flair stated today that the funeral for Dusty Rhodes would be this Wednesday, June 17th in Tampa, FL, confirmed by others close to the family.

    Rhodes passed away Thursday at the age of 69 years old. 

  • Background of Austin vs. Lesnar and what happened after podcast, A look at how viewers reacted to ROH & TNA on Wednesday, History of New Japanjr.divisionan dits legends, Hall of fame coverage

    Last week the big story was the tease of a Steve Austin vs. Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania.  This week we have a double issue because of such a busy news week, with our lead story talks about the background of that promo and why the match isn’t happening.  We have the background of Austin, Lesnar, Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon, what led to the promo on the WWE Network, why Vince McMahon was unhappy about it, and what happened from there including Austin talking about the situation.

    We also have the first look at the Wednesday night wrestling wars with ROH & TNA, an update on MMA in New York, coverage of one of UFC’s best shows in recent years, New Japan’s summer look at including the G-1 Climax and Super Juniors tournament along with a history of the New Japan junior heavyweight division, as well as full coverage of the Hall of Fame and the new season of Tough Enough.

    The new issue is up on the site at http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/110-wrestling-observer-newsletter/42967-june-15-2015-wrestling-observer-newsletter-latest-on-austin-lesnar-destination-america-ny-mma-and-much-more

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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 talks about Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar.  We look at Austin’s comments regarding what he said last week, we look at the background, we look at why Vince McMahon wasn’t happy about what happened, we look at what this seems to end speculation on, where the Texas death match comment came from and what we don’t know about the situation and why the book seems closed on the match.

    We’ve got full details on the first week of both ROH & TNA together on Destination America.  We look at the audience for both groups, and what the quarter hours told about both groups.  We look at what the ratings seem to have indicated about both ROH and TNA and their audiences, as well as the next time this should be evaluated.

    We also look at Money in the Bank, the WWE Network special on 7/4 from Japan with the lineup.  We also look at the rest of the tour, an idea floated for the Slammys, what Vince McMahon wants out of the live talk shows on the WWE network, update on Tyson Kidd, why the stock is rising, Dwayne Johnson entertainment news, how the Kevin Steen action figure triggered so many things, return of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, special guest on Raw next week, Austin signs a new deal, and lots of the recent WWE tryout camp.

    We also look at the Jessicka Havok situation.

    We also look at all the NXT and WWE house show notes and business notes from the past week.

    We look at the new attempt to pass legislation in New York to legalize MMA, how this affects pro wrestling in the state as well as boxing, why MMA has to agree to certain things that are inherently unfair in a last ditch effort to get into the state.  We also look at a unique law regarding attendance at events in the bill, as well as what rules are in place to promote pro wrestling in New York.

    We’ve got coverage of one of the year’s best events, Saturday’s UFC show in New Orleans.  We look at the record tied, the career of Dan Henderson, the career of Brian Ebersole, as well as business notes and full coverage of the show.

    We also look at New Japan’s G-1 Climax tournament, who is in, who is out, what is says about current booking, the big shows on the tour, coverage of the show, prior winners, handicapping the tournament, why the winner is already planned out and how far in advance booking is, as well as the next few shows on New Japan World and the Dominion PPV show.

    We also have coverage of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, why the interest level was down, business notes on the tournament, a look at the great finale match, as well as coverage of the final shows.  We also have a history of the New Japan junior heavyweight division, including the stars that build the division and the 1996 heyday period.

    We’ve got full coverage of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremonies last month in Amsterdam, NY, with the awards, presentations, and a look at talent like Jumbo Tsuruta, Rick Martel, Vivian Vachon, Whipper Watson, Pedro Morales, The Freebirds and Curt Hennig.

    We also look at the new season of Tough Enough, who was and wasn’t picked to be part of the show, notes on why the winners are going to have it tough and not winning may to advantageous, as well as notes and backgrounds of some of the people involved.

    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:

    –A look at this year’s Busca de un Idolo tournament’s first shows

    –What happens in pro wrestling the night before UFC

    –Problems between companies in Mexico regarding CMLL pulling talent

    –Notes on Verano de Escandalo and U.S. iPPV and the card

    –First notes on TripleMania

    –What mach may be headlining this year’s TripleMania

    –Upcoming AAA TV

    –The debut of the three generations of green mist trio

    –Dragon Gate two big shows coming this week

    –All Japan’s big event for the week

    –A tag team of stars from two different promotions has a long reign as tag champions gone

    –More on the new Japan NOAH relationship and how this relates to the New Japan World service

    –New Japan scouting talent in the U.S. this summer

    –New Japan’s upcoming shows in Singapore

    –Satoru Sayama health update

    –Notes on the beginning shows of Global Force Wrestling

    –Notes on the lineups and what is and isn’t important about these events

    –Special celebrity guest added

    –An unselfish act acts an aspiring pro wrestling career

    –Another streaming service expected to start featuring 800 hours of a lost library

    –Chris Hero’s three hour gauntlet match and full details

    –Bill Goldberg talks about a potential pro wrestling farewell match and what could stand in the way

    –Who Goldberg still keeps in touch with in wrestling

    –Goldberg talks Brock Lesnar

    –A look at the big show at Citifield in New York this past week

    –A look at what TNA angle was revived on the show and how Goldberg fit in

    –A.J. Styles vs. Lionheart match coverage, back story, and why the crowd was so hot

    –Kris Travis talks return from cancer

    –Tons of indie big show news

    –A suspended senator in Canada participates in a pro wrestling show

    –Early ROH champion moving into MMA

    –Son of former Oregon star suspect in a beating death

    –Wrestling star in talks for a national cable television show unique deal

    –Update on the next ROH PPV

    –A look at the weekend ROH events

    –Why they did the Mickie James angle

    –TNA gets another international deal

    –UFC’s Labor Day weekend show announced

    –Two new title fights announced

    –Comparing Bader vs. Gustafsson as challengers for Cormier

    –When Cormier is targeting his first title defense

    –What Bader needs to do to get a title shot

    –Update on Anderson Silva and his suspension hearing, as well as Nick Diaz

    –Ben Rothwell accuses Cain Velasquez of PEDs and Velasquez responds

    –Former UFC star gets TV major network announcing gig

    –An interesting question that the courts may have to decide regarding UFC contract clause

    –Lots of new UFC fights

    –Notes on Shamrock vs. Kimbo

    –The first head to be cut off in new stronger penalties for PED usage

    –War Machine has court outburst

    –TV martial arts star with pro wrestling ties in bad health

    –Fighter comes back from nearly being stabbed to death to win a small promotion world title

    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.

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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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