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Category: News

  • Samoa Joe talks leaving TNA, the company’s identity

    The following is from a third party:

    Samoa Joe was a guest on The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling this past Sunday and promoting his appearance for Smash Wrestling in Toronto on Saturday June 6th against Chris Hero. The full show is available at www.liveaudiowrestling.com and below are some of the highlights:

    Decision to leave TNA:

    I think the decision was made in the final few weeks. I’ve often been called by people loyal to a fault, and I didn’t feel the mission was accomplished in TNA yet. I’d done my best throughout my career to help try to build the company and bring it into prominence. It’s had its ups and down and pitfalls here and there, and I don’t feel that job was finished yet. Towards the end there, there were some apparent things and incidents that kinda showed me that maybe it was time for me to move on and maybe it was better for me, both personally and professionally, to explore other options and explore other things. I’ve gotta admit, I’m not unhappy with my decision. I’m unhappy that I didn’t get the opportunity to kinda finish out what I wanted to start in TNA, but at the same time, so many great things have popped up since that I’m very, very satisfied with the decision that I made.

    TNA’s identity as a promotion during his tenure:

    I think at times TNA did have a defined identity, but the identity wasn’t really supported, and it was restarted in favor of something else they thought would be somewhat better or was pitched to them as being better. With the X-Division being what it was, the level of athleticism and the guys we had prominent in the company at the time, it very much did have an identity. And then somewhere along the line, that identity was kind of pushed to the background in favor of trying to be something that I feel it never should have gone to be. TNA was unique in that it had a very high-level athletic style, and at times I felt it was trying to be transformed into something more sports entertainment-ish, when we were definitely an alternative to that particular kind of style. As time when on, it ebbed and flowed, and it’ll come to the surface and then it’ll be pushed to the background. Wrestlers were cycled in and out, and creative teams were regularly cycled in and out. That’s I think where the identity started to get muddled.

  • UFC News: Michael Bisping headlining Scotland debut, Ross Pearson in co-main

    The UFC announced Monday that Michael Bisping vs. Thales Leites will headline its debut show in Scotland, taking place on 7/18 at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow. The event will air on Fox Sports One.

    #10 Bisping is coming off a convincing recent victory over C.B. Dolloway, while #9 Leites has an eight fight winning streak, a perfect 5-0 in his second UFC run. He has finishes in his last three. Bisping is 4-4 in his last eight.

    In a lightweight clash, Ross Pearson vs. Evan Dunham is the co-main event. Pearson has won two of his last three, while Dunham snapped a three-fight losing streak with a decision win over Rodrigo Damm in January. The show will also feature Joanne Calderwood vs. Bec Rawlings.

  • UFC: Frank Trigg talks Hall of Fame, playing heel and creating a feud in UFC

    The following is from a third-party:

    Frank Trigg came on Submission Radio to discuss his UFC Hall of Fame fight induction for his second fight with Matt Hughes.

    Trigg is still yet to get his head around the big news:

    “It hasn’t really set in yet. It’s still kind of surreal. You know, I didn’t know about it until about 4 o’clock on Tuesday night, and then about 5:15 or thereabouts they announced it on Wednesday night. Karen Bryant announced it on UFC Tonight and it still hasn’t set in much.”

    Frank was clear that his animosity with Matt was created by him to sell tickets and nowhere close to being real

    “No, there never really was. It was all made up. It was a rivalry set because when UFC was squared away back then, there was only eight fights a year. Now they’re doing almost four fights a card. So it’s a different ball game. They’d have a face, they’d have a heel. Matt was the champ, he gets to play face. He’s not much of a talker anyway publicly, and I am. So I played the heel and we showed it off. You know it’s, it was a rivalry to set people to want to buy tickets and want to see this fight, and that’s just kind of what’s up”

    Frank also discussed why he thought people needed to stop feeling sorry for Jon Jones

    “People have to stop making excuses for this guy and feeling sorry for this guy. I feel sorry for his Mom and Dad. I feel sorry for his brothers, I feel sorry for his Girlfriend and for their kids. I feel sorry for the team, the team around him. You know the guys at Jackson’s that have to deal with this whole fallout. Don’t feel sorry for Jon Jones. He’s a grown ass man. He’s a man that’s an adult, that pays his own bills and has his own pay cheque, can drive his own car, can make his own decisions. He’s making dumb decisions. So when you make bad decisions you have to pay for them.”

    “I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”

    When it came to Conor McGregor, Frank admitted he hasn’t been a fan of some of his antics during the world tour with Jose Aldo

    “I’m just one of those guys that I’m kind of a traditionalist. I know that if you look at how I act you would think that I wouldn’t be that much of a traditionalist, but I’m a traditionalist. You never touch the belt till you’ve earned the belt. You don’t go and grab it away from the champ. That’s just not what you do. You don’t do that. It’s kind of disrespectful to the promotion and it’s disrespectful to what we’re trying to accomplish. I get his antics, I get what he’s doing, but that for me is the line-crosser.”

    Check out the rest of the interview in the transcript below featuring Frank’s thoughts on the Reebok deal, never getting paid 10,000 dollars that Pride owed him and if any of his feuds were ever really real.

    Transcript:

    Reaction to finding out his fight second with Matt Hughes will be inducted into the UFC HOF

    “It hasn’t really set in yet. It’s still kind of surreal. You know, I didn’t know about it until about 4 o’clock on Tuesday night, and then about 5:15 or thereabouts they announced it on Wednesday night. Karen Bryant announced it on UFC Tonight and it still hasn’t set in much. You know and really, it’s just kind of been so much of a whirlwind. But to be honest with you, I don’t really know what’s happening. Like I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve been told that I’m in the Hall of Fame. I’ve been told I’ve got some stuff I have do the week of the fight expo in July, but other than that I don’t really what else is going on.”

    If he expected to ever be inducted into the hall of fame

    “No. No I never thought I would be inducted in. I mean my record obviously shows that I’m not a great champ like a Matt Hughes was, and obviously he’s already been in the hall of fame. He’ll be a double inductee now. He’ll in one as a fighter and for his fight history as being a champ, and now one for this fight. But I never thought it was going to happen. I was completely blindsided when they gave me the phone call that this was going to happen for me.”

    On the animosity towards Matt Hughes never really being real

    “No, there never really was. It was all made up. It was a rivalry set because when UFC was squared away back then, there was only eight fights a year. Now they’re doing almost four fights a card. So it’s a different ball game. They’d have a face, they’d have a heel. Matt was the champ, he gets to play face. He’s not much of a talker anyway publicly, and I am. So I played the heel and we showed it off. You know it’s, it was a rivalry to set people to want to buy tickets and want to see this fight, and that’s just kind of what’s up”

    If Matt knew that the rivalry was made up

    “I have no Idea. I can’t speak for what Matt thought or didn’t think at that time. I have no clue.”

    How it was decided that Frank would play the ‘Bad Guy”

    “I just decided to play the heel and sell the fight. Like I said, he’s not much of a talker. He doesn’t go out publicly and talk trash. It’s not his style. His style is very quiet and very humble and he goes in there and does his job and beats. You know and I had to get people to wanna watch these fights and wanna buy tickets, so one of us had to talk. And so I ended up – you know because I enjoy speaking, I enjoy the public aspect of selling stuff like that – so I went out and chose that role on my own  to do it and it seemed to work.”

    If any of his rivalries with guys such as GSP or Matt Serra were ever real

    “No. To me it’s always been…I’ve never been one of those guys that has to hate my opponent to have to beat them up, you know like have to hate them and have to hate everything about them to fight them. I was always one of those guys where it’s all about business. It’s all about trying to get the next meal on the table for my kids and try to provide for housing and provide for the college fund. So for me it was always business. You know there’s a multitude of fighters that don’t like me, but there’s no fighter that I can really think of off the top of my head that I don’t like. I don’t like some of the things that some of the fighters do outside of the cage. I mean I don’t like some of the things that how they act or how they conduct themselves, but those things don’t really affect me. So I kind of separate myself from that kind of mindset. So there’s no real rivalry between any of those fighters to my knowledge.”

    If it would be tough reliving the losses to Mat Hughes when Frank gets inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame

    “Well no because now – like you said, the UFC hall of fame is the most prestigious hall of fame in mixed martial arts. It’s one of the most prestigious hall of fames of all hall of fames. You know of course you go against boxing and football and basketball and hockey, you know you have a longer hall of fame for those. The UFC hall of fame is newer but it’s a very prestigious hall of fame. Now it actually helps take away some of the bitterness of the fight. You know I’ve come to terms with it, it’s a piece of history. I lost the fight, I lost to Matt twice. He was the champ and I couldn’t defeat him either time and that’s the reality of those fights. And now it kind of takes away – for the rest of my life I will always have that on my business card. For the rest of my life, it will always be in my bio page of all my social networks and my bio page on Wikipedia that right now I am a UFC inductee. That I’m in the hall of fame. Come July 11th I will be a UFC hall of fame member. And that will always be on my business card for the rest of my life because that is the reality.”

    Thoughts on the Reebok deal numbers and fighters complaining about losing money through it

    “The fighters can complain all they want. If they don’t like it then leave. Go someplace else. You don’t get what you deserve. Athletes don’t get what they deserve. Every athlete deserves at least two or three times more than they’re actually getting paid from their promotion, or from their team, or from whatever. The reality of it is, you get what you negotiate. And these guys are negotiating, and this is part of the negotiation deal that these Reebok deals will be a part of their deal, a part of their contract now.”

    Frank on if any sponsors never paid him his money

    “That was back in the day. I’ve had, you know Pride still owes me 10,000 dollars and they closed shop and never paid me. It’s always been one of those deals where you can stuff the fighter and all he can do is complain about it and it won’t do him any good. And I’ve had sponsors bail out on me and I’ve called them to task. And I’ve been real lucky that my management team – you know I’ve had different managers throughout my career, but they’ve always been able to hunt down the money and get it for me. And so literally the only time I really didn’t get paid was when Pride walked away and they owe me 10,000 dollars. Other than that, I got the money that I could get and that was how the game was, and when I was in there, there wasn’t that many sponsorships that you could actually have, because people didn’t have money and the game wasn’t that big. And when they finally put a lockdown on them, a lot of sponsors got pulled out and they couldn’t afford to be in as much as they were. So that’s the game. That’s just how it goes. You know and I’ve been very lucky, I haven’t had to worry about sponsorship money and didn’t have to worry about sponsorship deals like that, but of course I wasn’t in the heyday. My payday was not in the heyday.”

    Thoughts on Conor McGregor and they was he carried himself in the press tour with Aldo

    “I’m just one of those guys that I’m kind of a traditionalist. I know that if you look at how I act you would think that I wouldn’t be that much of a traditionalist, but I’m a traditionalist. You never touch the belt till you’ve earned the belt. You don’t go and grab it away from the champ. That’s just not what you do. You don’t do that. It’s kind of disrespectful to the promotion and it’s disrespectful to what we’re trying to accomplish. I get his antics, I get what he’s doing, but that for me is the line-crosser. But then of course you have Chael Sonnen talking about, you know smacking Anderson Silva’s wife on the ass was a line crosser for me as well. Like it’s always been trash talking for you between the fighters. Keep the families out of it. But Chael made a career out of it and I didn’t like it, but I laughed at it. It was funny. The same thing with Conor McGregor. I don’t like it, but I got it. I understand what he’s doing.”

    “Right now honestly, and people ask and ask about it, that he is the number one draw right now for the UFC. Right now, he’s the biggest name the UFC has. Bigger than Ronda Rousey, bigger than Jose Aldo, bigger than – obviously bigger than Jon Jones now that he’s out, bigger than anybody else in the UFC right now. Conor McGregor the challenger is the biggest name we have going on.”

    Reaction to Jon Jones hit and run and him being suspended by the UFC

    Like, I’m on the fence with the Daniel Cormier side, in where people have to stop making excuses for this guy and feeling sorry for this guy. I feel sorry for his Mom and Dad. I feel sorry for his brothers, I feel sorry for his Girlfriend and for their kids. I feel sorry for the team, the team around him. You know the guys at Jackson’s that have to deal with this whole fallout. Don’t feel sorry for Jon Jones. He’s a grown ass man. He’s a man that’s an adult, that pays his own bills and has his own pay cheque, can drive his own car, can make his own decisions. He’s making dumb decisions. So when you make bad decisions you have to pay for them. Sometimes the payment is smaller and easier, and this payment that he’s about to make is going to be huge.

    “It’s going to be crazy for him to try to even think about trying to get out of this. And he’s in a difficult place right now. And you know for the UFC – and I think Dana White came out and said “hey, he’s going to have an immediate title shot when he comes back after everything gets settled”. It’s kind of early to say that. You know, we love Dana and the fact that he says everything that comes to his mind, he holds true to his word and he wears his heart on his sleeve, but the reality of it is that it’s too early to say that because, you know he could be doing six months. You know six months in jail in New Mexico. And then to come out and start training again and try to get ready, I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I don’t know if he could pull that off.”

  • WWE NXT: After Banks vs. Lynch, the future of women’s wrestling is now

    Submitted By Paul O’Brien

    I tried writing something directly after NXT TakeOver Unstoppable. I typed and I made sentences, but the piece never came together. It was hard to figure out just what happened. Where were the big changes? What was so different? Why had wrestling become cool again?

    Then, it hit me as I re-watched. NXT is feels so future-leaning because it perfectly blends whats coming with what’s worked in the past. It’s the show that is open to new thinking. It is the show that galvanises tradition.

    If you need evidence of NXT’s nod to its roots, just watch Unstoppable’s opening video and count for yourself how many times the word
    ‘wrestling’ was used. If you need evidence of their stampede towards freshness, just look at their roster, their creative freedoms; just look at Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch.

    And if you need evidence of just how personal it is to everyone involved, then all you have to do is observe them. The passion for what they do just pours out from the wrestlers and the decision makers in every video, interview, tweet, and Instagram. These are a bunch of internationally talented, dedicated people who have something to prove. And that includes those on top too.

    If you needed evidence of all these things together, I suggest you put down your $9.99 (or more in euros) and see for yourself. What’s happening in NXT was perfectly encapsulated by the Women’s title match at Unstoppable. Banks and Lynch emoted artistry and technique and hunger and intensity and spirit. They told a great story, reeled their audience in and made them care.

    It wasn’t just the best WWE womens match of all time for me; it was a classic match featuring any two wrestlers, full stop. With all the talk of Ronda Rousey being the catalyst of dragging women’s combat competition to the main event in other arenas, #GiveDivasAChance now has its own trailblazers. It doesn’t need to ride the wave of outsiders, and it doesnt need to feel inferior or less than. WWE has the best roster of female wrestlers top to bottom that I’ve ever seen in my 30 years as an observer.

    Give them time, give them a spotlight, give them issues of substance, and get out of their way. Let them do what they do best. Let these wrestlers kick ass. Theyve proven they can.

    NXT is WWE’s place to measure, cut, plan and cast, and recast. It’s a laboratory for controlled explosions, and the one thing in particular they should be trying to replicate out in the wild of WWE, is the women wrestlers ability to connect. WWE says they’re all about what their fans want. Take one look at Banks v Lynch and tell me that the reaction in the building and online afterwards isnt transferable to the big stage.

    There’s something new and cool happening in WWE. There’s something new and cool happening, WWE.

  • AAA World Cup report 5-24-15: Rey Mysterio, Alberto El Patron, Johnny Mundo, Matt Hardy, more

    Submitted By Rob Bihari

    Show began with technical issues as audio was too low or non-existent and then both announcing crews were talking over each other but it
    cleared up before the first match. Aside from that everything went smoothly from an iPPV perspective. The only other technical glitch was the pre-match video screen promos had no audio which was disapointing since some of them looked great, especially the one with ACH.

    The show started with everyone around the ring as the Mexican anthem was played & the Mexican army stood on the stage. Felt like a major show immediately.

    The English announce team was Vampiro & Striker who did a great job and I personally thought were very entertaining. They were a bit lost at times when it came to the rules but more than made up for it by being witty & Vampiro going crazy. In fact I would go as far as to say if you are on the fence about ordering, Vamp’s commentary alone is worth your iPPV purchase. Trust me.

    The Spanish announce team was Hugo Savinovich, Arturo Rivera & Leonardo Riano. I didn’t get to hear them except when their feed bled over into the English version but apparently they were not very good with Riano in particular being racist all night long towards the Japanese wrestlers especially.

    Alberto El Patron/Rey Misterio Jr./Myzteziz vs Taiji Ishimori/Atsushi Kotoge/Yoshihiro Takayama

    Huge reactions for all the Mexican team as you’d expect. Rey wore his old school tights & ended up going through 3 outfits before the night was done. The Japanese team didn’t do much while on offense before the Mexican team made the comeback. Rey hit a silla dive as Alberto superkicked Takayama on the floor. Great nearfall where Kotoge/Ishimori did their Tomikaze/450 combo on Myzteziz and looked to break him in half. Finish came when Myzteziz hit La Mistica on Kotoge. Huge pop.

    Texano Jr./Hijo Del Fantasma/Psycho Clown vs Brian Cage/Moose/ACH

    Brian Cage came out with ACH on his shoulders in a cool visual. The Mexican team got a huge reaction with Psycho Clown in particular super over. This was a good back-and-forth match. Crowd went nuts when Psycho Clown took off his belt and started whipping all the Americans and then even his own partners & the cameraman. It built to a dive train spot where ACH did his step-up somersault plancha, Psycho Clown hit a plancha, Fantasma did his tope of death, Cage hit a moonsault & then Moose lept off the ramp leading to the ring with a plancha onto everyone.

    Finish was a trainwreck as they were supposed to draw as Cage pinned Texano but the guest NOAH referee didn’t hold up his count at 3 like he was supposed to. Cage was confused, power bombed Texano again & the ref counted 3 even though the time limit was up. He then raised the hands of Cage/Moose/ACH but the announcers kept screaming the time was up. Konnan came out (off camera but audible) and said it’s a draw so they are going to OT. It was all very confusing. In less than 20 seconds Cage pinned Texano with a power bomb into the turnbuckles. Good match until the mess at the end.

    Dr. Wagner Jr./Solar I/Blue Demon Jr. vs Kenzo Suzuki/Tiger Mask III/Masamune

    This is a recording – Team Mexico got a huge reaction. Wagner was easily the biggest non-Dream Team star here. Tiger Mask did his usual spots with Wagner including the corner bootscrape. They worked the majority of the match together. Solar took out Masamune with a pescado followed by Kenzo taking out Demon with a dive over the top. A bit later Tiger Mask hit a tope suicida at the same time Masamune did a running corkscrew dive. With about 2 minutes to go Demon made Masamune submit to a scorpion deathlock variation which got a big pop.

    Angelico/Mesias/Drew Galloway vs Ken Anderson/Matt Hardy/Johnny Mundo

    Easily the best match of the first round. Angelico & Mundo had a kung-fu style exchange to start off. Galloway looked really good working with Mundo & Hardy. Show was already going long even by this point so the crowd began whistling (a sign of boredom in Mexico) but these guys worked hard to get them back into it. Angelico did a wild somersault dive over the  ringpost. Mundo did a 450 splash to the floor. Mesias did a tope suicida. Galloway did a running somersault plancha. Mundo had his finisher set up but Galloway knocked him to the floor and the time ran out. The same two got picked for OT and in just over 2 minutes Mundo was finally able to knock Galloway off the top rope and hit the Fin de Mundo for the win. Crowd applauded everyone afterwards.

    Jeff Jarrett came out to join Vampiro/Striker for commentary on both semi-final matches.

    Alberto El Patron/Rey Misterio Jr./Myzteziz vs Brian Cage/Moose/ACH

    Pretty good match with ACH in particular standing out due to his natural charisma. Alberto/Cage was one of the main focuses. Alberto took out Cage with a tope suicida out of nowhere during the big comeback. They ended up brawling onto the ramp and Cage suplexed Alberto. This came full circle later in the match when Alberto returned the favor to a huge pop. Then ACH attacked Alberto and got suplexed for a bigger pop. Finally the Mexicans all suplexed Moose on the ramp for the biggest pop. This reaction was fantastic and I imagine the wrestlers were happy to be working in front of such an easy crowd.

    They did a bunch of nearfalls as time ran down. Key spot ended up being when Rey went for his silla off the apron but hit Myzteziz taking them both out. The ROH/LU team couldn’t finish off Alberto inside the ring. Myzteziz/Rey eventually made it back and Myzteziz did a tope suicida through Rey’s legs which was followed by Rey doing an asai moonsault dive onto everyone. With 40 seconds left Alberto ended up using his armbar to tap out Moose. It should be noted during the match Alberto shoved Jarrett and the two had a brief staredown.

    Dr. Wagner Jr./Solar I/Blue Demon Jr. vs Ken Anderson/Matt Hardy/Johnny Mundo

    Very clunky match with the obvious style clashes. It was only a 7 minute match but seemed to drag with nobody doing much of anything until Solar & Wagner did dives. The finish was never in doubt as Solar took the Fin de Mundo from Johnny. Crowd was unhappy to see the legends team lose.

    After the match, Jarrett seperated the two teams who were arguing on the ramp. The Mexicans challenged the TNA/LU team to get back in the ring which they did but then the Mexicans chased them off. 60 year old Solar almost out ran Ken Anderson.

    There was some confusion afterwards with the announcers not knowing if it was time for the finals or 3rd place match and what the rules were. Eventually it was announced the 3rd place match would be automatically sudden death rules.

    ACH & Blue Demon Jr. were chosen as the first representatives to go at it. It was clear they were doing a draw as they weren’t rushing and Demon even grabbed a headlock with 30 seconds left in the 5 minute time limit. It was interesting when the time ran out it was ACH who had the visual pinfall.

    Next up were Brian Cage & Dr. Wagner Jr. who only went about 2 minutes before in a huge shocker – Cage pinned Wagner clean with an F5. Great booking since Cage is headlining the next AAA major show & whoever talked Wagner into doing a clean job should win booker of the year. Wagner did an injury angle afterwards to save face and had to be stretchered out. Cage ended up posing on the ramp to lots of boos.

    Alberto El Patron/Rey Misterio Jr./Myzteziz vs Ken Anderson/Matt Hardy/Johnny Mundo

    Myzteziz came out in a cool shirt that looked like he had bodypaint on. Rey wore his formerly yearly traditional comic book outfit along with a giant Aztec headdress. Very very very slow match early on which telegraphed the draw coming up. A couple of okay nearfalls but nothing noteworthy. For the first overtime Myzteziz squared off with Anderson and they had the longest 5 minutes you will ever experience. They did less than nothing. 2OT featured Alberto vs Matt which was much better. Matt got a great nearfall with the Side Effect. Alberto ended up locking on the armbar with seconds left but Matt refused to give up until AFTER the time expired.

    So 3OT came down to Rey vs Mundo which was a super hot match with great nearfalls. Rey hit the 619/splash combo which everyone
    thought was the finish. Mundo hit the Fin de Mundo which won two matches already but Rey kicked out. Both ended up on top and Rey used
    a cool Victory Roll for the win. Crowd was ballistic. During the celebration they showed the trophies being engraved at that very moment
    rather than being pre-done which was a nice touch.

    Post-show was awards time. Angelico’s dive won Best Move. Dream Team vs Team ROH/LU in the semi-finals got Best Match. Rey Misterio Jr. won MVP. They gave bronze medals to Cage/Moose/ACH for 3rd place & silver medals to Anderson/Hardy/Mundo for 2nd place. Finally the Dream Team got their trophies & celebrated with the Mexican flag as ‘We Are The Champions’ played.

    From a pure wrestling standpoint it wasn’t a blowaway show by any means but there was lots of solid wrestling and nothing was actually bad. But from the standpoint of a major event it completely delivered with the big entrances, huge crowd that stayed into it the entire time & all the drama in the finals. Really felt like a spectacle, even moreso than your typical AAA major show. This is the type of thing you could never do in the U.S. unless it was on a much MUCH smaller scale so kudos to AAA for pulling it off. Hopefully they can do it again next year.

  • WWE NXT Starke, FL, house show report 5-23-15: Finn Balor & Solomon Crowe vs. Tye Dillinger & Tyler Breeze

    Submitted By Aaron Whitehead

    Mike Rallis d. Chad Gable

    Gable was doing an Olympic wrestling gimmick. Basic match. Rollins won with a modified powerbomb.

    Bayley & Devin Taylor d. Jessie & KC

    Taylor did a Sex and the City sort of gimmick with a big handbag and a fashionista sort of attitude. Jessie is, I think, Jessie McKay, but I didn’t catch the name of her partner. I’m sure you’re hearing this from a lot of people, but Bayley is crazy over. Out of a crowd of 200-300 (I suck at estimating crowd size), there were four or five little girls all dressed up as Bayley. The “I’m a Hugger” shirt was one of the more visible ones in the crowd. I really think they’re onto something big with her. She’s got great charisma but manages to come off as sincere and real unlike any other woman I’ve seen in the business. She’ll never be a “superstar” like Charlotte or Sasha, but I think she might make a more genuine emotional impact among the fans than any of them if they just let her be herself.

    They interviewed Braun Stowman who looks like an absolute beast. Perfect name for him, as he is big and brawny. Promo was lacking, but he’s obviously developing. He was interrupted by someone doing a rich kid gimmick. He was pretty decent, and then Braun laid him out.

    Angelo Dawkins d. Silver Knight

    Decent match. Dawkins showed some flashes of interesting. Both guys still developing, which is fine. As I recall, Dawkins won with a fall-away slam and Razor’s Edge

    Baron Corbin d. Jason Jordan

    Not bad at all. In fact, a better match than anything I’ve seen Corbin do. He was totally playing the heel and had some nice subtleties that surprised me after seeing him look so bland on TV. Jordan also looks pretty good, like he’s a good athlete that’s really getting a handle on the in-ring stuff. Corbin won with his finisher.

    Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady & Carmella d. Tag Champions Blake & Murphy & Alexa Bliss

    This was fine. The whole “How You Doin’” routine is a big hit, obviously, and both guys were about as over as anyone on the card. Lots of signs and t-shirts for Sawft. Blake & Murphy seem to be solid performers, but I’m not sure what their gimmick is. Babyfaces won with the Rocket Launcher.

    Vaudevillains DQ Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder

    Very fun. Dawson’s partner was the same guy who showed up on TV with him a few weeks ago. They were scheduled to face Amore & Cass before Blake & Murphy ambushed them. Both guys were good. I’m surprised the Vaudevillains haven’t been called up, since they seem ready-made for backstage segments and a few cheap laughs, which seems to be what Raw is all about. And they seem to have actual talent, which helps I guess. Bad guys were DQ’ed for double-teaming, which I haven’t seen in 20 years or so.

    Becky Lynch d. Lina

    Don’t know the name of Becky Lynch’s opponent, but she was massive and very impressive-looking. She’s going to get comped to Awesome Kong, which is unfortunate, but she is a plus-sized black woman wearing black leather. She is actually attractive; in fact, she looks like a badass Eartha Kitt. She also has a real ease in the ring as far as her presentation goes; she seems to be a natural at that aspect. The wrestling is a work in progress, but she was doing the giant/power style that’s a good fit for her size. Becky Lynch was excellent and did a great job of working a David-and-Goliath match, very different than any match she’s wrestled on TV. She made the other woman look good, probably better than she actually is. Her steampunk look is a real hit with me and makes her really stand out.

    Finn Balor & Solomon Crowe d. Tye Dillinger & Tyler Breeze

    Balor was super over, not surprisingly. My brother leaned over to me during the match and repeated Jim Cornette’s old line about the guys not working enough county fairs anymore. While I’m too young to have been to a spot show during the territory days, this reminded me of what the Rock & Rolls and Midnights might have done in Osceola, Arkansas. They did some hilarious spots that came off as a little too well-planned at times but still drove the audience crazy. No highspots at all, other than Balor’s double foot-stomp as the finish. That didn’t bother me, as I don’t mind guys saving those for the big shows. I don’t think anybody was disappointed.

    Dillinger is the most naturally funny guy I’ve seen in quite a while, and he’s a great fit for what wrestling is now (didn’t see enough of his work in the ring to judge him there). Breeze also has great natural instincts as a performer. Balor was Balor and played the total babyface, doing a round of handshakes and photo ops after the match. I got a better sense of Crowe’s personality than from anything I’ve seen on TV and actually liked what I saw. I feel like his gimmick is a little too specific for him to make it his own, but if they let him be he could do some good stuff.

    Notes

    All in all, it was a very entertaining show, and I think everybody had a really good time. There weren’t many big spots at all and there was much more working the crowd than super-fast wrestling. It did really strike me as more of a “let’s not kill ourselves” spot show from the territory days than what you’d expect from a lot of indie shows.

    The crowd seemed to really enjoy it. The matches with the developmental talent that was really green didn’t seem to bother them or disappoint them, which was nice. There were no ‘boring’ chants, although they did start chanting “what” during Braun’s promo. I was surprised at how many young kids were there. It was more of a Raw audience – with kids and families – than a bunch of guys in their 20s and 30s, which is what I expected. The Starke Armory is small, but they said it was sold out, SRO only.

    My only big gripe is that they advertised several names who weren’t there. When I bought the tickets about a week and a half ago, they were advertising Owens, Zayn, Itami, and Charlotte, none of whom were on the show. I understand if one person doesn’t make it, but I was disappointed that there were so many changes. And as far as I know, Owens and Charlotte aren’t suffering storyline injuries.

    Best match was the main event tag with Balor and Crowe winning. Most over performer was probably Amore and Cass, although Bayley and Balor were close. Sorry I couldn’t be more specific on the names of the talent, but I was seeing a lot of these wrestlers for the first time.

  • The full details of TNA’s television situation, The battle for No. 2, Drug testing punishment in MMA, ROH viewership, MMA changes upcoming, NXT Norheast tour

    The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is among the most talked about of the year, with a detailed lead story on the plight of every key non-WWE promotion, as well as details of TNA’s future with Destination America, ROH viewership and more, a detailed look at how MMA is going to be changing with far more serious repercussions for drug test failures and the story behind the changes, a look at Elimination Chamber, a rundown of Payback, a detailed update NXT with coverage of its Northeast tour, and of the ROH/New Japan tour.  We also look at the Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Edgar show and the death of Corey Hill.

    The new issue is up on the site at http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/110-wrestling-observer-newsletter/42649-may-25-2015-wrestling-observer-newsletter-state-of-tna-nsacs-new-doping-penalties-and-more

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    If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

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

    The lead story looks at the battle for the No. 2 spot in American pro wrestling.  We look at ROH, TNA, GFW and Lucha Underground, as well as how WWE may have created the real No. 2.  We look at where things stand with all the groups, both in going forward, if they even can go forward, the TV situation with everyone, tons of changes in TNA television with the move to Wednesday. 

    We also look at the background of the changes in drug testing penalties in Nevada, what it means for the sport, how the business will change for many, the realities of drug testing with these penalties, injury rates, careers ending earlier, the Wanderlei Silva case, the marijuana threshold and far more.

    We also have coverage of the Elimination Chamber lineup, questions regarding the show, business for Payback and match-by-match coverage of the show with star ratings and poll results.

    We also look at the attempt to make NXT a third WWE touring brand.  We look at the plans for the next few years for the brand, ideas Paul Levesque talked about, long-term plans for shows in and out of Florida, business notes from the Philadelphia and Albany shows and full coverage of all three nights.

    We also look at the last three nights of the ROH/New Japan tour with shows in Philadelphia and Toronto, with notes on the business and iPPV, as well as when ROH is trying to cut a deal to bring New Japan talent back. 

    We also look at the update on the Steve Austin/WWE relationship and some podcast notes, Update on injuries to key talent and how some of them happened, promotions, Ronda Rousey talks a WWE return, Vince McMahon on WrestleMania, What WWE performer has ESPN and FOX wanting them, Notes on how this season’s Tough Enough will work, view on women in WWE going forward, Samoa Joe in WWE, WWE Studios looking to make major moves, what WWE star is in the biggest grossing movie of the weekend, more on the box office for Dwayne Johnson’s latest movie, ABC airing a piece on WWE and Finn Balor talks NXT.

    We also look at the next group of wrestlers getting WWE tryouts, what group in WWE is history, what person from another sport was a guest trainer last week, and a former MMA fighter signs with WWE.  We’ve also got business notes for all the weekend WWE shows and highlights of the events.

    We’ve also got full coverage of UFC’s morning show from The Philippines, including the retirement of Mark Munoz, Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Edgar and business notes from the show.

    We also have a story on the death of former UFC fighter Corey Hill, as well as one of the worst injuries in UFC history, why people thought he had championship potential and what happened.

    We’ve also got notes on AAA’s big show of he weekend, Verano de Escandalo, with many of the stars of Lucha Underground, as well as Rey Mysterio Jr.

    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:

    –One of biggest stars in Mexico under a police investigation and has been pulled from bookings

    –Full details on how this went down

    –Octagon first Arena Mexico appearance

    –Big tournament coming up

    –New Japan star headed to CMLL

    –Huge head-to-head battle on Sunday with loaded shows a few miles from each other

    –Lineup for the AAA World Cup tournament

    –Notes on this week’s iPPV of World Cup

    –King of Gate tournament coming up to this finals this week

    –One of the greatest pro wrestling stars of the 70s returns to Japan at the end of the month

    –A look at all the New Japan Super Juniors shows of the week and complete New Japan World lineup of multiple shows

    –Update on health of one of 80s biggest names

    –More details on Global Force Wrestling including lineups for the first four shows

    –Who are newcomers that they have added

    –Who was pulled from the promotion

    –An update on Scott Hall

    –Update on Bill Goldberg and his appearance on a pro wrestling event

    –Huge fund raiser to commemorate regional wrestling from the 70s with tons of area stars involved

    –Notes on ROH Final Battle

    –More on ROH signing of Moose

    –Who else had made a play for him

    –Main events for the next few ROH shows

    –A look at ROH television over the next month

    –Why this week’s first-run Impact show didn’t air in the U.S.

    –A look at the Impact schedule and more on the time slot change

    –TNA’s U.K. tour notes

    –More on Billy Corgan in TNA

    –Dixie Carter talks to Steve Austin, fact vs. fiction

    –TNA loses anther time slot

    –A look at this coming week’s UFC show

    –Lots of UFC card changes and why

    –UFC debuts in South Korea in the fall

    –Who are the biggest stars from there

    –Will UFC’s books be made public due to lawsuit

    –UFC expected to sign WSOF champion

    –A look at all the activities in July in conjunction with UFC in Las Vegas and Fight Week

    –Lots of new UFC fights

    –A look at Bellator’s last show and next show

    –Former Pride star put in jail

    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)

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    *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)

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    *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)

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    *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)

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    *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.

  • SUN. UPDATE: More from UFC last night, Today’s World Cup, Scott Hall, new faces on WWE road tour, Super Juniors, Dwayne Johnson

    By Dave Meltzer dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s UFC 187 and Wednesday night’s NXT Takeover Unstoppable show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

     We’re also looking for reports on these weekend shows:

    *WWE last night in Worcester, MA

    *WWE today in White Plains, NY (John Cena, Rusev, Dean Ambrose, Kane, Luke Harper, Neville)

    *WWE today in Binghamton (Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, Sheamus). 

    AAA LUCHA WORLD CUP IPPV AT www.LuchaWorldCup.com starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time from Los Palacios de los Deportes in Mexico City 

    Tournament first round matches

    • Alberto El Patron & Rey Mysterio Jr. & Myzteziz vs. Taiji Ishimori & Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshihiro Takayama
    • El Hijo del Fantasma (King Cuerno) & El Texano Jr. & Psycho Clown vs. ACH & Brian Cage & Moose
    • Blue Demon Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Solar vs. Masamnune & Kenzo Suzuki & Tiger Mask (Koji Kanemoto)
    • Angelico & Drew Galloway & Mesias (Mil Muertes) vs. Ken Anderson & Matt Hardy & Johnny  Mundo 

    – Raw is Monday night at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.  The cast of Entourage will be guest stars on the show. Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

    *****

    The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is among the most talked about of the year, with a detailed lead story on the plight of every key non-WWE promotion, as well as details of TNA’s future with Destination America, ROH viewership and more, a detailed look at how MMA is going to be changing with far more serious repercussions for drug test failures and the story behind the changes, a look at Elimination Chamber, a rundown of Payback, a detailed update NXT with coverage of its Northeast tour, and of the ROH/New Japan tour.  We also look at the Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Edgar show and the death of Corey Hill.

    The new issue is up on the site at http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/110-wrestling-observer-newsletter/42649-may-25-2015-wrestling-observer-newsletter-state-of-tna-nsacs-new-doping-penalties-and-more

    Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show on the history of the site are at  http://www.f4wonline.com/member/signup.php

    You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    Rates are:

    For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending tomoonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

    If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

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

    The lead story looks at the battle for the No. 2 spot in American pro wrestling.  We look at ROH, TNA, GFW and Lucha Underground, as well as how WWE may have created the real No. 2.  We look at where things stand with all the groups, both in going forward, if they even can go forward, the TV situation with everyone, tons of changes in TNA television with the move to Wednesday. 

    We also look at the background of the changes in drug testing penalties in Nevada, what it means for the sport, how the business will change for many, the realities of drug testing with these penalties, injury rates, careers ending earlier, the Wanderlei Silva case, the marijuana threshold and far more.

    We also have coverage of the Elimination Chamber lineup, questions regarding the show, business for Payback and match-by-match coverage of the show with star ratings and poll results.

    We also look at the attempt to make NXT a third WWE touring brand.  We look at the plans for the next few years for the brand, ideas Paul Levesque talked about, long-term plans for shows in and out of Florida, business notes from the Philadelphia and Albany shows and full coverage of all three nights.

    We also look at the last three nights of the ROH/New Japan tour with shows in Philadelphia and Toronto, with notes on the business and iPPV, as well as when ROH is trying to cut a deal to bring New Japan talent back. 

    We also look at the update on the Steve Austin/WWE relationship and some podcast notes, Update on injuries to key talent and how some of them happened, promotions, Ronda Rousey talks a WWE return, Vince McMahon on WrestleMania, What WWE performer has ESPN and FOX wanting them, Notes on how this season’s Tough Enough will work, view on women in WWE going forward, Samoa Joe in WWE, WWE Studios looking to make major moves, what WWE star is in the biggest grossing movie of the weekend, more on the box office for Dwayne Johnson’s latest movie, ABC airing a piece on WWE and Finn Balor talks NXT.

    We also look at the next group of wrestlers getting WWE tryouts, what group in WWE is history, what person from another sport was a guest trainer last week, and a former MMA fighter signs with WWE.  We’ve also got business notes for all the weekend WWE shows and highlights of the events.

    We’ve also got full coverage of UFC’s morning show from The Philippines, including the retirement of Mark Munoz, Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Edgar and business notes from the show.

    We also have a story on the death of former UFC fighter Corey Hill, as well as one of the worst injuries in UFC history, why people thought he had championship potential and what happened.

    We’ve also got notes on AAA’s big show of he weekend, Verano de Escandalo, with many of the stars of Lucha Underground, as well as Rey Mysterio Jr.

    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:

    –One of biggest stars in Mexico under a police investigation and has been pulled from bookings

    –Full details on how this went down

    –Octagon first Arena Mexico appearance

    –Big tournament coming up

    –New Japan star headed to CMLL

    –Huge head-to-head battle on Sunday with loaded shows a few miles from each other

    –Lineup for the AAA World Cup tournament

    –Notes on this week’s iPPV of World Cup

    –King of Gate tournament coming up to this finals this week

    –One of the greatest pro wrestling stars of the 70s returns to Japan at the end of the month

    –A look at all the New Japan Super Juniors shows of the week and complete New Japan World lineup of multiple shows

    –Update on health of one of 80s biggest names

    –More details on Global Force Wrestling including lineups for the first four shows

    –Who are newcomers that they have added

    –Who was pulled from the promotion

    –An update on Scott Hall

    –Update on Bill Goldberg and his appearance on a pro wrestling event

    –Huge fund raiser to commemorate regional wrestling from the 70s with tons of area stars involved

    –Notes on ROH Final Battle

    –More on ROH signing of Moose

    –Who else had made a play for him

    –Main events for the next few ROH shows

    –A look at ROH television over the next month

    –Why this week’s first-run Impact show didn’t air in the U.S.

    –A look at the Impact schedule and more on the time slot change

    –TNA’s U.K. tour notes

    –More on Billy Corgan in TNA

    –Dixie Carter talks to Steve Austin, fact vs. fiction

    –TNA loses anther time slot

    –A look at this coming week’s UFC show

    –Lots of UFC card changes and why

    –UFC debuts in South Korea in the fall

    –Who are the biggest stars from there

    –Will UFC’s books be made public due to lawsuit

    –UFC expected to sign WSOF champion

    –A look at all the activities in July in conjunction with UFC in Las Vegas and Fight Week

    –Lots of new UFC fights

    –A look at Bellator’s last show and next show

    –Former Pride star put in jail

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

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    *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)

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    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.

    SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    –Besides the coverage of last night’s UFC, I talked a lot about the TNA/Destination America story on the show with Bryan last night.  There’s a lot in there about TNA and its reactions.  TNA hurt itself badly the last few weeks on how it handled the situation.   

    –Pretty amazing UFC main card last night.  The undercard was nothing special but Travis Browne vs. Andrei Arlovski was a potential match of the year.  A lot of talk it was the best main card of a PPV since UFC 139 in San Jose, which was more than three years ago.

    –UFC 187 was the single most searched item yesterday on the Internet in the U.S. at more than 200,000.  But a show of that caliber would be expected to do considerably more than that.

    –We got a lot of sports bar reports and they were at a very strong level.  I don’t think sports bar attendance would be impacted much by being three weeks after Mayweather-Pacquiao.  PPV may be.  That was a topic of conversation last night.

    –UFC 189 has supposedly already broken the UFC’s all-time U.S. live gate record.  Dana White said they’d be opening up closed-circuit locations in Las Vegas for the overflow, figuring a ton of people are coming in from the UK, Ireland and Brazil for the fight.

    –Ryan Bader had a big confrontation with Daniel Cormier at the press conference last night, and showed some fire.  Cormier is always the main with the mic.  

    –Big Show was back on the road last night at the WWE show in Utica, as was Brad Maddox and Layla.  All three were on the Orton tour, in Utica last night and Binghamton today.

    –Scott Hall was pulled from the GFW shows that he was booked for due to the TMZ coverage of the incident where he was allegedly drinking.  The decision was made when the story made the news.  There are reports gong around from people who thought he was pulled due to WWE, and that’s not the case. 

    –There will be a preview of the Daniel Bryan new video on the WWE Network tomorrow night after Raw.

    –There is a claim that Dwayne Johnson broke a Guinness World Record for most selfies (105) taken in a three minute period.

    –The Best of the Super Juniors matches tomorrow (late night tonight) in Niigata are:

    • Jushin Liger vs. Kyle O’Reilly
    • Tiger Mask vs. Bobby Fish
    • Mascara Dorada vs. David Finlay III
    • Baretta vs. Chase Owens

    –For Tuesday in Yamagata

    • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Baretta
    • Rocky Romero vs. Nick Jackson
    • Kushida vs. David Finlay III
    • Gedo vs. Barbaro Cavernario

    –For Wednesday in Aomori

    • Jushin Liger vs. Chase Owens
    • Tiger Mask vs. Mascara Dorada
    • Alex Shelley vs. Bobby Fish
    • Yohei Komatsu vs. Kyle O’Reilly 

    –Both the ROH shows from Philadelphia with the New Japan talent are available on VOD for $19.99, night 1 and night 2.

    –A story on Trish Stratus and her wrestling career.

    –A story on Owen Hart.

    —NPR did a story on Lucha Underground and Mexican wrestling in Los Angeles.

    –The Ultimate (Bryce) Harper

    –Fan reaction to Samoa Joe in NXT

    –Samoa Joe interview.

    –Honky Tonk Man interview.

    —Ric Flair on WWE being afraid to put him on live TV (thanks to Johnny Kramer)

    –Story in the New York Times Magazine on Dwayne Johnson.

    –Kevin Eck relives how the Daniel Bryan/ AJ Lee storyline happened.

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

    • 1969 – Waldo Von Erich & The Spoiler beat Tex McKenzie & Billy White Wolf (Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie) in Sydney to win the IWA tag titles
    • 1984 – Ric Flair beat Kerry Von Erich in Yokosuka to win the NWA world title
    • 1988 – Johnny Saint beat Mike Jordan in Wolverhampton to win the world lightweight title
    • 1992 – Atsushi Onita beat Leon Spinks in Tokyo to win the WWA martial arts title and Tarzan Goto & Gregori Veritchev (Olympic judoka) beat Sabu & Horace Boulder to win the tag titles
    • 1993 – Ultimo Dragon beat El Samurai in Osaka to win the UWA middleweight title
    • 1996 – Akira Taue beat Mitsuharu Misawa in Sapporo to win the Triple Crown
    • 1997 – Minoru Tanaka beat Shoichi Funaki in Nagoya to win he UWA middleweight title

    –Today is the 42nd anniversary of the night Harley Race beat Dory Funk Jr. in Kansas City to win the NWA title, which Funk held for four years.  I remember as a kid how huge of a story that was at the time.

    –Shinya Aoki retained the One lightweight title beating Koji Ando via unanimous decision in Kallang, Singapore on Friday.  The other title fight saw Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichok beat Roy Doliguez to win the strawweight title, which is the men’s 115 pound division.

    –There was a fight with Angela Lee vs. Aya Sabier on that show that Lee won via submission in one minute.  I’m told she has a good look and cut a great promo (thanks to Paul Fontaine)

    –A show called Ladies Night takes place on 6/19 in Glen Burnie, MD at Michael’s Eighth Avenue with Melina Perez, Mickie James, Tessa Blanchard, Renee Michelle, Amber Rodriguez, Lisa Marie Varon, Kimber Lee and Mick Foley.   

    –Jessica Havok and Santana Garrett were extras backstage at the NXT tapings on Wednesday and Thursday night. 

    –Aaron Solo sent in a Tough Enough video, saying he was more than just Bayley’s boyfriend.  

    –All of the Busca de un Idolo tournament marches will stream like at Terra.com  The first day of the tournament is Tuesday night.

    –RF Video has a 25% off sale for Memorial Day.

    –The WWE’s Samoa Joe T-shirts are all sold out.

    –To clarify something from last week’s TNA show.  The second Austin Aries & Bobby Roode vs. Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards match of the seres will be airing this Friday.  It didn’t air this past Friday on the show that wasn’t seen in the U.S.  On the international version, they were pushing that match, which I was told was great, for “next week’s show.” (thanks to John Pollock)

    –TMZ reported a funny story where Roman Reigns, R-Truth and Jimmy Uso attended a wedding last night.  This was after last night’s house show in Utica.  The three were at the bar and heard that there was a wedding reception.  They went to check it out an found out that the couple were both wrestling fans and asked them to stay.  The funny thing is, the couple were such fans they sent an e-mail to WWE, knowing talent was in the area, if they could have some wrestlers attend.  The e-mail was never answered and the guys had no clue the new wife, Beth Samuels, had sent the letter.

    –CWF from last night in St. Catherines, ONT at the Haig Bowl Arena on 6/6 including Yusuke Kodama from Wrestle-1, Brian Christopher, Scotty 2 Hotty, Paul London, Rene Dupree, Cody Deaner, plus a ladder match.

    –Masters of Wrestling did a women’s wrestling tribute in Wilmington, NC last night.  Among those attending were Trish Stratus, Lita, Lisa Marie Varon, Terri Runnels, Lisa Moretti (Ivory), Missy Hyatt and Litttle Egypt.  Results from the show:  Le’D Tapa b Candy Cartwright, Kacee Carlisle b Devyn Nicole, Roni Niclle b Aramanda Rodriguez, Santana Garrett b Nikki Adams, Kacee Carlisle b Le’D Tapa, Santana Garrett b Roni Nicole, Santana Garrett b Roni Nichole to win tournament.  Lisa Moretti presented the trophy to Garrett. Here’s some pictures.

    –The Winter Palace podcast debuted  a discussion onthe recent Chikara UK tour, recent comics and –Tfilms. There will be lots of wrestling content, especially lucha, in upcoming episodes. 

    –Florida J Cup tournament on 5/30 at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando.

    –Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling on 6/20 in East Carondelet, IL at the Community Center. 

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (May 24): Harley Race wins NWA title due to interesting circumstances, Ric Flair beats Kerry Von Erich in Japan

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1961 – In Duluth, Minnesota; Verne Gagne & Wilbur Snyder beat Hard Boiled Haggerty & Gene Kiniski.

    1963 – In Omaha, Nebraska; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Duke Hoffman, Bill Miller went to a double DQ with Waldo Von Erich and AWA Tag Team Champions Ivan Kalmikoff & Karol Kalmikoff beat Doug Gilbert & Guy Mitchell.

    1967 – In Fargo, ND; Verne Gagne & Bob Geigel beat AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race by dq and The Crusher beat Chris Markoff

    1973 – Harley Race defeated Dory Funk, Jr. for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Kansas City, Kansas. This was the title change that was supposed to go to Jack Brisco, but Funk suffered an auto accident and couldn’t defend against Brisco so a change with Race in Kansas City was planned. Also on the card, Danny Little Bear fought Bob Brown to a draw and Bob Geigel & Bobo Brazil defeated Togo the Great & Tokyo Joe; In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff beat Wahoo McDaniel & Angelo Mosca in 2 out of 3 falls and AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch when Stevens pinned Murdoch after using brass knuckles in a no DQ match.

    1976 – Ric Flair defeated Wahoo McDaniel for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title in Charlotte, North Carolina in a title vs. hair match.

    1984 – Ric Flair defeats Kerry Von Erich for the NWA World Heavyweight Wrestling Title in Yokosuka, Japan in the third fall of their title match on an All Japan Pro Wrestling show.

    1985 – Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura defeated International Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch via count-out to win the titles in Kobe, Japan; In Denver, Colorado; Jim Brunzell & Baron Von Raschke & Larry Hennig beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering, Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke, Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel and Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Brad Rheingans & Jim Brunzell.

    1987 – Jim Crockett Promotions debuted in Chicago, Illinois; headlined by The Rock N’ Roll Express defeating NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions Midnight Express in a non-title Best 2 out of 3 falls match.

  • UFC 187 Fan Feedback

    UFC 187

    Thumbs Up! Excellent show top to bottom. The last four fights were all great. Cerrone needs to get a title shoot. No excuses. Weidman proved that he is more than legit. Belfort has nothing left except an Anderson Silva in Brazil. He didn’t look like he was on something and was pushed around like a rag doll. Coincidence? I think not! Johnson looked great when allowed. Needs to work on cardio. Cormier style is kind of boring but that’s his thing. His post-fight promo was just perfect.

    Jon Jones situation…
    Mike Tyson was convicted for rape. Floyd Mayweather for domestic violence. And even De La Hoya had some weird scandals. Jon Jones and UFC can pretend all they want, deep inside they know that they just hit the lottery. It’s a shame but is the way our society (and this business) works. Cormier’s promo just made it official.

    Best Fight: Arlovski vs Browne.

    Leonardo Mendez Toledo

    Dave,

    UFC 187 was the first UFC show I’ve bought since Weidman vs. Machida. Pretty much I only buy Weidman cards since they are guaranteed to be good, and they usually offer a good double-bill with Rousey, but this time we got a light-heavyweight title fight sans Jones, which to me is must see since I never cared for him and was looking forward to change. My money was well spent. What a great show, especially the main card. Wall-to-wall action, and for my tastes everyone that I wanted to win did.

    Not enough can be said about Arlovski’s comeback in recent years. About five years ago it pretty much looked like he would have to retire, and you can’t fix a glass-jaw. Yet, somehow his stint in the WSOF, and working with Greg Jackson not only fixed him, it also made him a much better fighter than before. He destroyed Travis Browne; if you told me that was going to be a possibility just a year ago I would have probably laughed at you.

    Cowboy put on a showcase against a much-better-than-expected replacement, ending the fight it classic fashion. I can’t think of anyone else that wins this many fights against anyone thrown at him, and still has to wait and see if he gets the title shot. If he were in almost any other division he would have had the shot about midway through his current streak.

    Weidman showed why he is one of the best with a quick destruction of Belfort. Vitor used to be one of my favorites until it became clearly evident that TRT was why he was so good in recent years. His statements of aggression against media did nothing to help curb the stereotype of a juicer. I was glad to see him get folded like an accordion like the rest of his Brazilian counterparts at the hands of the current champ. Rockhold vs. Weidman awaits.

    Johnson vs. Cormier showed the resiliency it takes that separates a champ from an also-ran. Johnson’s muscled frame, and excessive early striking did him in. That works for a few minutes against chumps, but Cormier did what it takes to be a champ. People may have booed the slowdown in action, but it was all setting up a clear dismantling of the Johnson Scud Missile. Two Blackzilians entered title fights, and two walked out empty-handed with their asses handed to them.

    Thumbs up
    Best Fight: Arlovski vs. Browne
    Worst Fight: None -Every match on the televised undercard was also good, although I disagreed with Natal getting the nod.
    Performance: Weidman, Arlovski, Cormier
    KO: Arlovski
    Sub: Cormier

    -Matt Wright

    UFC 187

    Thumbs up. Not much to bitch about here. Maybe some of the judging. The top card came through big time.
    Best fight: Arlovski vs. Browne
    Worst fight: nothing really
    Best performance: Arlovski for the upset
    Worst performance: Uriah Hall, not that it was that bad and I thought he got mildly robbed, but still so far below his potenital
    KO: Cerrone
    Sub: gonna call this an across the board draw. Islam, Kim & Cormier.

    Justin Scoggins does a 30-27 X 3 karate paint job on Josh Sampo in the opener. Islam walks through Kuntz (hee hee hee) finishing in the 2nd with RNC (seriously this is a guy to keep an eye on).

    Colby Covington grounds the veteran Mike Pyle for most of the fight and escapes a very tight last 30 seconds RNC for the UD with one 29-28. After drama at the weigh in, Rafael Natal opens the fight with a groin kick and goes on to edge Uriah Hall via dubious 29-28 split. Dong Hyun Kim too much for Josh Burkman and secures the arm tri tap in the 3rd. A rusty, slower John Dodson gets a highly dubious 29-28 UD over Zach Makovsky.

    Joey Benavides also not ultra impressive taking a far more competitive than the scores indicate 30-27 UD over John Moraga. I don’t see either him or Dodson staking a claim on the next title shot off this. Good fight though.

    Andrei Arlovski flipped the script, stunning Travis Browne early and not letting him off the hook, finally dropping him with a backfist. Browne gets up and drops Arlovski with a Hail Mary but Arlovski flips the script again by not getting knocked out, gets up, and finishes Browne with more punches and somehow is in title contention again in 2015.

    John Makdessi steps in way over his head late and saves the fight vs. Donald Cerrone and lands enough to keep it interesting until Cerrone lands a head kick in the 2nd that breaks Makdessi’s jaw and Makdessi obviously knows it and steps back making the TO sign and the fight is over.

    A very skinny looking Vitor Belfort busts up Chris Weidman in the opening seconds but Weidman takes him down and the fight is pretty much over, getting the TKO off 40+ undefended strikes and retaining the MW title.

    Anthony Johnson lands a right in the opening seconds that probably would have finished anybody else but Daniel Cormier is up quickly and grinds Rumble down and wears him out, really wrecking him with G&P in the 2nd, and finishing him in the 3rd with RNC and winning the vacant ‘undisputed’ LHW title. Every time Rumble got any distance he landed something heavy with either fists or feet and rocked Cormier several times but just couldn’t keep Cormier off. Cormier’s whole promo was ‘Jon Jones, get your shit together, I’m waiting for you,’ and he just walked out of the cage.
    Crimson Mask

    Hi Dave, Big Thumbs UpWas really looking forward to this card. Wish I was there. Even more miraculous was that there were not a lot of changes due to injury, unlike Montreal. I didn’t mind too much that the Cerrone vs Nurmagomedov was changed although I would have liked to see it. Makdessi was a great substitute going in for a battle of strikers who like to throw down.  Best Fight: Browne vs ArlovskiWorst Fight: Pyle vs Covington – wasn’t horrible but everything else was betterBest Performances: Weidman, Cormier Anthony Johnson vs. Daniel Cormier – Cormier’s fight plan to a T. Survive Rumble’s early attack until he gasses, then take him down and grind him out. Cormier looked good here but not sure if this Cormier could still beat Jones and get inside his crazy reach.
    Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort – Weidman was a beast surviving Vitor’s early barrage before coming back to just decimate him. Dominant performance and looking forward to Weidman vs Rockhold. Loved how Weidman’s winning scream kind of scared Herb Dean, watch Dean’s facial expression during it then after as he kind of jokes about it.
    Donald Cerrone vs. John Makdessi –  Loved how they both stayed in the pocket and let fly. Can’t wait to see Cerrone get his much deserved title shot.
    Travis Browne vs. Andrei Arlovski – What a slobberknocker. Just what we love from watching the heavyweights throw down. Not sure if I would call it the greatest heavyweight fight of all time though Joe. Although he is kind of like Jimmy Hart with “This is the greatest day of my life baby” with the most recent fight being the best. I still think Big Foot vs Hunt tops this one.
    Joseph Benavidez vs. John Moraga – This fight was OK, Benavidez wasn’t as dominant as he usually is but he deserved the decision.

    John Dodson vs. Zach Makovsky – I want to like Dodson but I just can’t. I respect his talent but there is something about his personality that turns me off. I’d rather watch Uncle Creepy, Ian McCall any day.Grant Zwarych
    Hi Dave,

    I watched the PPV card today at the pub here in Melbourne.  the crowd was about double what it was for Pettis & Dos Anjos, which was the last one I watched there.

    Great card.  Easy thumbs up.

    Best Fight – Arlovski & Browne
    Worst Fight – Benavediz & Moraga
    Best Performance – DC

    No surprise Belfort was dangerous early and then folded, but surprised how quickly that happened.  A great setup for a Middleweight Title fight with Rockhold.  Rumble is still terrifying, so outstanding performance by DC to implement a ‘weather and grind’ strategy to take the title.  Lastly Arlovski looked sharp and I expected he would go down first round, so that fight was quite the spectacle.

    Daniel Anerphy