Category: News

  • WWE Main Event TV Report: Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust, Prime Time Players spoof Los Matadores

    By Chris Aiken, WrestlingObserver.com

    WWE Main Event from Evansville (taped 5-12-15) was part of the go-home of programming leading to Payback. While the previous few episodes featured more angles than usual, this show saw mainly first-run matches with little storyline advancement. The only angle on the show featured the Prime Time Players spoofing Los Matadores. Elsewhere on the show were matches designed to build up those involved in matches at Payback.

    Naomi & Tamina Snuka beat Natalya & Alicia Fox

    While Alicia is normally a heel, she was a babyface here. Nattie & Alicia gained the advantage at the outset. Nattie went for a sunset flip on Naomi but a Tamina made a blind tag in. When Naomi ducked an attempted clothesline by Nattie, Tamina hit Nattie with a lariat to set up the heat spot. The heels got heat on Nattie for a while until a hot tag to Alicia, who ran wild. Alicia hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Naomi. Tamina jumped in to make the save and break up the pin. Nattie and Tamina brawled out to ringside. Tamina hit a superkick on Alicia and Naomi covered her for the pinfall. The win helped build up Tamina and Naomi for their match at Payback against the Bellas.

    Prime Time Players beat Los Matadores (with El Torito)

    Before the match, Titus O’Neil cut a promo from the stage while dressed as a matador. He admitted to looking ridiculous. Conversely, he said the Matadores have looked silly for two years now while being Puerto Ricans pretending to be bullfighters. Titus then introduced “El Dyoungo”, which was Darren Young dressed in a bull costume spoofing Torito.

    In the actual match, Matadores got heat on Young at the outset by attacking him at the bell. Eventually, Titus ran in to brawl and Young used a gut buster (called the “gut check” on commentary) for the pin.

    Luke Harper & Erick Rowan beat Jimmy Uso & Zack Ryder

    Uso and Ryder dominated on offense in the early portion until Rowan cut off Jimmy with a spin kick. The heels began to pummel Jimmy and get heat on him. After a hot tag, Ryder ran wild until running into a big boot from Harper. Rowan finished him off with a full nelson slam for the pin.

    Dolph Ziggler beat Stardust

    The crowd chanted “Cody” at Stardust. There were lots of reversals, leg takedowns and cradles in the opening sequences. After a commercial break, Stardust was getting heat on Ziggler when he fired up for a comeback. Stardust cut him off with a scorpion death drop for a nearfall. Moments later, Stardust used a sit-out powerbomb for another nearfall. At one point, Stardust took off one of his gloves and began slapping Ziggler with it.

    Stardust went for a springboard off the top rope only to jump into a superkick from Ziggler for a nearfall. Stardust blocked an attempted zig zag to set up another nearfall. Ziggler sold being knocked out when Stardust picked him up for his finisher. Stardust went for cross roads but Ziggler countered into hitting a zig zag for the pin.  

  • SUN. UPDATE: Payback preview, UFC Countdown show today, Rusev’s star stolen, Super match yesterday, WWE injury angle notes, Cena, big weekend coming, Bruno anniversary

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

    We’re looking for your thoughts on both tonight’s WWE Payback show and the ROH Global Wars show from Toronto so you can send 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 tonight’s Shooto Brazil show on Fight Pass.

    WWE Payback from the Baltimore Arena Sunday on PPV and WWE Network

    *Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose for WWE title – With another show in two weeks with a title match, they need a strong angle or hook coming out of tonight to set the next show up.  I don’t expect a quickie title change but that may be what they come up with.  Most expect Rollins to retain with help from Kane, but whatever they do, it has to clearly set up a match right away.  This should be a very good, if not great match.
    *John Cena vs. Rusev for U.S. title in an I Quit match – One would think Lana will somehow cost Rusev the match here, bringing another step into her face turn
    *Ryback vs. Bray Wyatt – Could go either way.  This is the first match of their program and I don’t see it as a one-time thing, so a Wyatt win to bring it back would seem to make sense.  This depends a lot on how much time they are given and where it’s placed on the show.  It’s a hit-or-miss match. 
    *New Day vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro 2/3 falls – This is to set up the Chamber match.  This could involve other teams coming out, but New Day winning with outside interference is what they’ve been doing.  With 2/3 falls, this is expected to be either the best match or second best match of the night, unless they do the rushing two falls thing that often gets done in 2/3 fall bouts.    
    *Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus – With Ziggler winning last time, I could see Sheamus winning this time, but expect both in the IC title chamber match.
    *Neville vs. King Barrett – These two have been having really strong house show matches and this could be a real sleeper.  I can see Neville doing more than usual given it’s his first actual PPV match
    Axel Mania & Macho Mizdow vs. The Ascension (preshow match at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time)
            On paper this show looks strong.  Everything on the PPV portion figures to be at least decent and most should be good.  I don’t sense the interest level of a lot of shows given the four-way main event and the feeling of a “B” show, but for three hours of entertainment, it looks good.

    Shooto Brazil airs on UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. Sunday

    Felipe Froes vs. Paulo Guerreiro for featherweight title
    Rony Torres vs. Benito Tavares
    Luiz Cane vs. Ricardo Silva
    Pedrinho Falcao vs. Thiago Manchinha
    Guilherme Jacare vs. Edson de Souza
    Felipe Colen vs. Alex Trem Bala
    Oton Jasse vs. Marcio Breno
    Ivan Paiva vs Antonio Pedreira
    Yago Bryan vs. Carlos Eduardo
    Guilhereme Doin vs. Denilson Oliveira
    Matheus Nacacche vs. Alir de Oliveira
    Elves Oliveira vs. Lucas Bigous

    Raw will be live on Monday night from Richmond, VA.

    Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Norfolk, VA.

    The story behind the Elimination Chamber as a network special, why and how it came about, as well as a look at the next two WWE major shows, Payback and Elimination Chamber and NXT Takeover, is the lead story in this week’s Observer.  We also have a look at the injury situation with Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami.  We also look at the Mayweather-Pacquiao business, New Japan & ROH working together for big shows, a detailed story on Global Force Wrestling including talent and television outlets and the TV scene, a lawsuit that has nothing to do with WWE & UFC, but where the result will be very important to both, Tough Enough, has NOAH turned the corner, as well as the monthly business rundowns for WWE & TNA.

    The new issue is up on the site at http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/110-wrestling-observer-newsletter/42526-may-18-2015-wrestling-observer-newsletter-last-minute-elimination-chamber-special-mayweather-vs-pacquiao-destroys-ppv-records-and-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.

    The lead story looks at the addition of the Elimination Chamber show, why this is being done, plans for the future and how this relates to it, the Elimination Chamber card as well as notes on the Chamber matches.  We also look at Daniel Bryan and the poor job of pushing his appearance and how they are pushing the Payback main event.

    We also look at the Mayweather-Pacquiao business, and how it breaks down, live event business, Vegas closed circuit, bar business, how much Mayweather and Pacquiao figure to earn, Mayweather talks rematch, why the fight was so big, and the state of PPV in 2015. 

    We also look at a big question as to how this relates to UFC going forward.

    We look at the historical implications of Ronda Rousey on the Sports Illustrated cover.

    We also have a rundown of ROH and New Japan working together in Philadelphia.

    We’ve got a major piece on Global Force Wrestling.  We look at the talent list, notes on the schedule for different talent, notes on the taping schedule, different TV stations they are talking with, Spike talks about getting into wrestling, the business ideas behind all this, as well as thoughts on the talent and both who is surprisingly not listed.

    We also look at the new season of Tough Enough including the nature of the contract to the winner, Steve Austin talks WrestleMania 32, the Owen Hart DVD controversy, new movie projects with Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista, a night Raw is going to have to be special show next year, WWE injury notes, Fourth generation wrestler gets a WWE tryout, WWE angle news, When they had ideas for Justin Bieber at SummerSlam, Jerry Lawler day, Sheamus talks his career, WWE raising ticket prices for premium seats, WWE tryout notes, most popular shows on WWE Network, WWE Japan tour notes, why Jericho vs. Balor was put on the Japan show, Lesnar story involving the brother of a famous actor and notes and business of all the arena events from the past week.

    We look at last week’s UFC show in Australia, the heavyweight title picture, the Mark Hunt stoppage and match-by-match coverage.

    We also look at the latest Pro Wrestling NOAH major show, which included appearances by Kenta Kobashi and Yuji Nagata, as well as NOAH’s Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial tour coming up next month.

    We also have a business rundown for WWE & TNA and where things stand in the different categories.

    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:

    –Wrestler fired once from major promotion, doesn’t last long on his return

    –The Santo Memorial tournament for 2015

    –Notes on the format of the AAA World Cup tournament

    –Who is now heading two promotions at the same time and why the move was made

    –Update on Dragon Gate’s King of Gate tournament

    –Minoru Suzuki promoting a show

    –New Japan lineups for all the big shows in June as well as the Dominion PPV in July

    –Notes on this year’s Best of the Super Junior tournament

    –Hall of Famer and health issues noted

    –Shinya Hashimoto Memorial show

    –Fujinami vs. Funaki Battle of Hall of Famers for the first time

    –Notes from the AGON promotions and main event pay

    –Notes on a promotion which claimed a TV deal and it falling apart

    –Details on all TNA television through mid-June, with matches, angles and destinations

    –A look at TNA’s Slammiversary show

    –Notes on TNA’s prospects on PPV

    –Update on Jeff Hardy

    –Notes on the best of five series between the Wolves vs. Aries & Roode

    –Update on TNA money issues

    –Update on TNA creative team

    –A look at those who returned to TV this past week and who is long and short-term

    –Who turned down an offer to come in

    –TNA announcing situation

    –Notes on TNA’s relationship with AAA

    –What happened with TNA and Wrestle-1

    –Can TNA talent work for GFW

    –Best stuff at the TNA tapings

    –Updates on UFC PPV numbers

    –Managers meeting and why

    –Dana White’s reaction regarding complaints about the Reebok deal

    –An interesting legal question stemming from the deal

    –UFC schedule notes

    –Anthony Pettis injury notes

    –Josh Barnett vs. Ryron Gracie

    –Metamoris news

    –Fight Pass promotion

    –New Fight Pass deals made

    –Rousey talks coaching vs. Cyborg

    –Lots of new UFC fights

    –Active UFC fighter sort of does a pro wrestling match

    –Huge Bellator signing of Olympian

    –This week’s Bellator show 

    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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    *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)

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    *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)

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

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

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    SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    –Myself, Bryan and Tom Lawlor will be back tonight talking WWE Payback, UFC and the Nevada commissions new policies of drug test failures late tonight.  You can also send questions to the show, but it’s best to concentrate on current topics because time will be limited, to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com

    –Tonight’s show is expected to be sold out.

    –The only combat sports thing getting lots of traction as far as mainstream is GGG with 50,000 searches last night.  In sports, lots of NBA interest and The Preakness.

    –It was 52 years ago today that Bruno Sammartino beat Buddy Rogers to win the WWWF title in Madison Square Garden for the first time.  If you look back from an historical perspective, that should be on the list for one of the biggest matches in history because it was really the match that kicked of the Sammartino legacy.

    –The Countdown to UFC 187 will air on FS 1 today at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.

    –TNA announced today its 2016 U.K. tour with shows on 1/29 in Manchester, 1/30 in London and 1/31 in Birmingham.

    –As noted earlier, the Brie Bella injury on Friday night was a work, as they did the exact same thing last night in Atlantic City. 

    –People were raving about how great the ROH TV match with Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong was yesterday in Toronto.

    –Rusev’s star from the Russian Federation was stolen on Friday night.  I’ve heard conflicting stories, one saying it was at the arena and the other saying it was at the airport.  If he is wearing one tonight it means they had a new one made quickly.

    –Titus O’Neil was named Celebrity Dad of the Year in the MEGA Dads awards.  This prompted his friend Dave Bautista to write:  “You’re everything a WWE star should be.  Get out there and represent our company.”  He then wrote about his lack of a push saying “WWE:  Sorry there’s nothing for you creatively” and followed it by writing #sameoldbullshit.

    –John Cena has to be honest when it comes to the weights at the very least.  There was a video of him doing a squat and TMZ wrote that it was with 600 pounds.  Cena then on Twitter wanted to clear it up saying it was 396 pounds.

    –We want to send sympathies to Nigel McGuinness on the passing of his father.

    –The first ROH show from Philadelphia is available right now for VOD at www.rohwrestling.com  Hopefully the second show will be up today.  

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

    1968 – Giant Baba beat Killer Kowalski in Osaka to win the World League tournament
    1974 – Mr. Wrestling (George Barnes) beat Larry O’Dea in Sydney to win the WCW TV title
    2006 – Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Giant Bernard to win the vacant IWGP title that Brock Lesnar had vacated i Sapporo

    –Another busy week upcoming, with the Wednesday NXT special, UFC’s biggest show since January on Saturday, and the AAA World Cup on Sunday.  New Japan World will also have the jr. tourney with shows on Friday, Saturday and Monday mornings.

    –Spike’s next PBC show is 5/29 from the Barclays Center with Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri as the main event.

    –PBC will also be live on NBC on Saturday night.

    –In picks from last night, Jack Encarnacao and John Pollock both went 4-1.  Encarnacao was the only one to pick Philippe Nover, which really should have gone the other way.  Pollock was the only one to pick Mark Munoz.  Me, Front Row Brian, David Bixenspan, Mike Sempervive and Steve Juon went 3-2 and Josh Nason and Mike Sawyer went 2-3.

    –PWA on 7/3 in Meaford, ONT at the Fourth Canadian Training Centre.

    –Victory Commonwealth Wrestling on 6/7 in Toronto at Lee’s Palace.

    –The Bruiser Brody Memorial show and 56th anniversary of the debut of Wrestling at the Chase from last night in East Carondelet, IL promoted by Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling with guest appearances by Stan Hansen, Barbara Goodish and former AWA announcer Mick Karch:  Jake Dirden & Bobby D & Daniel Gunner b Brandon Espinosa & Curtis Wylde & Bubba Troll, Ax Allwardt b Jim Hoffarth, Chaz Wesson b Waco, Gary Jackson b Barackus, Lucy Mendez b Paloma Starr, Keith Smith Jr. b Ken Kasa, Attila Khan & Chris Hargas b Ricky Cruz & Ron Powers, Flash Flanagan b Daniel Eads, Ron Powers won Bruiser Brody Memorial Battle Royal (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)

    –Big Show is expected to return at TV this week.  He’s been out selling the beating from Roman Reigns in the last man standing match.

    –Trish Stratus will be a torch bearer for the Pan American Games.

    –Not that this necessary means anything, but Chris Jericho is advertised for house shows this summer against King Barrett.

    –Curtis Axel was given last night off from house shows to attend the induction of his father into the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, NY.  It was a super emotional moment as he read the eulogy that his grandfather, Larry Hennig, gave to Curt Hennig at his funeral.  

    –UCW from last night in Bay City, MI:  Brian Fury won Battle Royal, Danny Shay b John E Bravo, Black Bushido b Bryan Castle, Ingrid Isley b Shayla Hyde, Taeler Hendrix b Ingrid Isley, Ben Boone & Bry Sullivan b Kharma Police, Jake Something b Mad Dragon Hakeem Zane, Justin Mane b Brian Christopher-DQ, Dave Duponte b TK Parker, Caleb Stills b Gangrel (thanks to Leonard Brand)

    –GOUGE from yesterday in Raleigh, NC:  Ivan Putin & Vladimir Ryker b Rob Van Pillman & Old School, Jimmy Jack Funk Jr. b Victor Andrews, Otto Schwanz & Zero Gravity b No Direction, Mickey Gambino b Juan Jeremi, Jakob Hammermeier b Seymour Snott.  Next show is 5/30 in Guquay Varina, NC at the Draft Line Brewery.

    –Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice TV commercial at

    http://spikecreativehub.com/links/Bellator/BTOR_138_Kimbo_Shamrock/BTOR138_Kimbo_Shamrock_30_cut14_MIX2.mp4

    –Wrestling bloopers at

    http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/05/06/botchamania-blooper-reels-wrestling-video?page=4&devicetype=phone

    –A Jim Ross interview in Baltimore, where he did a show last night

    http://www.abc2news.com/entertainment/hall-of-fame-pro-wrestling-announcer-jim-ross-to-share-stories-answer-questions-at-rams-head-live

    –Jeff Jarrett beat Matt Riviera to win the Western States Heritage title Friday night in King City, CA.  

    TOMORROW’S WWE NETWORK SCHEDULE (thanks to Bert Duckwall)

    2:00 AM ET
    TOUGH ENOUGH Stone Cold Steve Austin enlists the help of four sexy WWE Divas and THQ video games to teach the remaining contestants all about creativity.

    3:00 AM ET
    WWE NXT With one week until Takeover, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens meet face to face in the ring to determine the fate of their NXT Championship Match.

    4:00 AM ET
    WWE SUPERSTARS Stardust arrives from the fifth dimension to battle R-Truth. Plus, Kalisto is in singles action against Heath Slater.

    5:00 AM ET
    OLD SCHOOL Old School WWE card from the Boston Garden features Macho Man Randy Savage defending the Intercontinental Title in a Lumberjack Match.

    6:00 AM ET
    WWE PAYBACK 2015 Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal 4 Way Match against Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns!

    9:00 AM ET
    WWE PAYBACK 2015 Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal 4 Way Match against Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns!

    12:00 PM ET
    WWE PAYBACK 2015 Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal 4 Way Match against Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns!

    3:00 PM ET
    WWE PAYBACK 2015 Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal 4 Way Match against Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns!

    6:00 PM ET
    TOTAL DIVAS Trinity’s inability to have sex frustrates Jon, and Bryan and Nikki shock Brie when they team up to stage an intervention.

    6:55 PM ET
    WWE 24 In this edition of WWE 24, we reveal the personal story of this rising star, his family and his memorable experience at Wrestlemania 31.

    7:30 PM ET
    RAW PRE-SHOW From WWE Studios in Stamford Connecticut. Scott Stanford, David Otunga and Corey Graves cover all the events leading up to Monday Night Raw.

    8:00 PM ET
    MONDAY NIGHT WAR Jericho shed his cruiserweight stigmas to make his mark on both WWE and WCW throughout the Monday Night War.

    9:00 PM ET
    WWE COUNTDOWN Countdown Greatest High Flyers counts down the top ten greatest high flying superstars of all time!

    10:00 PM ET
    TOTAL DIVAS Trinity’s inability to have sex frustrates Jon, and Bryan and Nikki shock Brie when they team up to stage an intervention.

    11:06 PM ET
    WWE NETWORK EXCLUSIVE The action continues live after Raw!

    11:11 PM ET
    FIRST LOOK First Look: It’s Good To Be King

    11:41 PM ET
    CULTURE SHOCK WITH COREY GRAVES Corey Graves gets a culture shock immersing himself within the fascinating world of Marvel Comics, from their headquarters in New York City!

  • WWE NXT house show report 5-16-15 Albany, NY: Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze (updated)

    Submitted by Adam Shinder

    – Greg Hamilton and Jojo welcomed the crowd, then William Regal came out to a huge ovation, kicking things off.

    NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy beat Enzo and Cass (w/ Carmella)

    Enzo and Cass’ act was massively over with the crowd, everybody singing along with their pre-match shtick. Fun tag team opener, champions won with a roll-up on Enzo with feet on the ropes.

    Solomon Crowe beat Bull Dempsey

    Nothing wrong with the match, just relatively heat-free. Crowe won with the stretch muffler.

    Tye Dillinger beat Jason Jordan

    Dillinger’s “Perfect 10” gimmick got over huge. Kept pulling “10” cards from his tights. Jordan stole one, they played tug-of-war with it for a bit. Couple impressive spots from Jordan, including a huge delayed vertical suplex where he walked around the ring four or five times. Dillinger won with a superkick out of the corner, followed by a sliding codebreaker with his kneepad removed.

    NXT Women’s Championship match: Sasha Banks (c) beat Charlotte

    Just the announcement of the women’s title match got a huge pop. Both women insanely popular, Charlotte may have gotten the biggest pop of the night when she did a Flair flop out of the corner. Lots of submission work from Sasha, some great counters and roll-throughs. Sasha wins with her crossface, bending Charlotte almost completely backwards. Big “That was awesome” chants afterward.

    *** INTERMISSION ***

    Baron Corbin beat Tommy Dreamer

    Huge pop “ECW” chants for Dreamer. Corbin played the bully for most of the match, eventually won with the End of Days.

    Bayley and Alexa Bliss beat Dana Brooke and Becky Lynch

    Dana Brooke was hated, the other three were loved — especially Bayley, who got chants before her music hit. Fun bit at the beginning where Dana made fun of Alexa’s height, so Bayley put Alexa on her shoulders and Alexa hit a knee. All four looked good, some really impressive athletic spots from Alexa. Faces won when Bayley hit the Bayley-To-Belly on Dana Brooke and Alexa wiped out Becky with a crossbody off the top.

    NXT Championship Triple Threat Match: Kevin Owens (c) beat Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze

    Technical strangeness here. After Breeze came out, things just kind of froze. Not if it was the lights, the music or both, but things just paused for a bit. Breeze went with it, started asking the ref to raise his hand and give him the win by forfeit. Eventually, Finn came out on the ramp and did his entire entrance without the music, with the crowd popping for every one of his poses. Music finally hit when he posed on the top rope. Owens came out and immediately sat down on the outside.

    Great comedy early with Owens and Breeze double-teaming Balor, including a great spot where Owens set up for a double suplex, but Breeze insisted on switching sides. Later, Owens started alternating between putting Balor and Breeze in chinlocks, then hooked them both for a chinlock at the same time and declared it “Chinlock City,” getting a huge chant from the crowd.

    Action picked up with Balor hitting a flip dive to the outside on Owens and Balor. Owens and Balor brawled to the stage, Balor got out of a powerbomb attempt and hit a double stomp on the stage, then another from the stage to the floor. Nearfalls picked up back in the ring, including a great spot where Breeze hit a Supermodel Kick on Balor, who hit him with the Pele kick on the way down, then Owens came off the top with a senton bomb on Breeze.

    Finish came when Balor had Owens set up for the Coup de Grace, but Breeze hit Balor with a Supermodel Kick while he was on the top rope. Breeze then turned into the pop-up powerbomb from Owens for the pin. Post-match, Balor hit Owens with the Coup de Grace, then grabbed a mic and told Owens he was coming for the title before thanking the crowd and posing in the ring.

    – Without a doubt, the most fun I’ve had at a live wrestling show in a long time.

    – Crowd was hot for pretty much everything, with the exception of the second match on the show. Couple audio glitches throughout the show (including a big one at the start of the main event).

  • Global Force Wrestling announces first weekend lineups

    Global Force Wrestling’s first house show lineups:

    6/12 in Jackson, TN at the Ballpark

    – Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The New Heavenly Bodies
    – Sonjay Dutt vs. Jamin Olivencia
    – Chris Adonis (Masters) vs. Dustin Starr
    – Brent & Brandon Tate vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta
    – Le’D Tapa vs. Thea Trinidad
    – George T. Murdoch (Tyrus) vs. Moose

    6/13 in Knoxville, TN at Smokies Park

    – Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. New Heavenly Bodies
    – Sonjay Dutt & Chase Owens vs. Olivencia & Jason Kincaid
    – Chris Adonis vs. Devon Driscoll
    – Tate Twins vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta
    – Le’D Tapa vs. Thea Trinidad
    – George T. Murdoch vs. Moose

    Jim Cornette will appear on both shows.

  • WWE house show report 5-16-15: Newark, DE: Roman Reigns vs. Kane

    – King Barrett v Neville: Very good match. Crowd was hating Barrett. Neville won with the red arrow.

    – Lucha Dragons beat Los Matadores in a good tag team match. Matadores worked a slow heel turn the whole match and bullied the bull entire time.

    – R-Truth beat Stardust in a good back and forth until truth hit him with his finisher for the pin. Crowd loved Truth’s gimmick.

    – Ryback def Bray Wyatt with the shellshock after reversing out of Sister Abigail. Worked a good match, crowd kinda liked Ryback.

    – Emma def Alicia Fox. Alicia went nuts and yelled at the crowd for a while. Natalya came out and kicked her ass.

    – Sheamus def Dolph Ziggler with a brogue kick in a very good back and forth. Ziggler kicked out at 3 but Charles Robinson called for the bell. Sheamus left looking angry at the finish very quickly.

    – Street fight: Roman Reigns def Kane in a good match. Finish was roman spearing Kane thru a table for the pin. Crowd loved Reigns, big pop for the win.

  • WWE house show report 5-16-15 Atlantic City: Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton, John Cena vs. Rusev

    – Dean Ambrose b Luke Harper
    – Prime Time Players b The Ascension
    – Fandango b Adam Rose
    – Zack Ryder & Damien Sandow b Heath Slater & Bo Dallas
    – US Champion John Cena b Rusev in a cage match
    – Bella Twins b Naomi & Tamina Snuka. Brie Bella wrestling pretty well confirms Friday’s injury was an angle.
    – WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods b Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
    – Randy Orton b WWE Champion Seth Rollins via DQ

  • ROH/NJPW Global Wars Night 2 report 5-16-15: AJ Styles & The Young Bucks vs. Okada, Trent Barretta and Ricky Romero

    Submitted By Dave Musgrave

    – Dark Match: Rip Impact, The Romantic Touch and Pepper Parks defeated Ashley Sixx, Davey Vega and Kenny Lush

    – Nigel McGuinness announced the following for the Best In The World on June 19: Roderick Strong vs Michael Elgin vs Moose for #1 contender spot, World Champion Jay Briscoe vs TV Champion Jay Lethal title vs title

    Kushida defeated Will Ferrera by submission

    – The Addiction said that Fish and O’Reilly have been complaining about wanting a title shot for weeks.  Kazarian said they get it “next week” and next week only

    Silas Young defeated Takaaki Watanabe

    Moose defeated Colby Corino

    Moose was supposed to wrestle BJ Whitmer but Whitmer gave the match to Colby Corino after teasing giving it to Adam Page. Moose destroyed Colby including a powerbomb on the apron and one in the floor before pinning him

    The Briscoes defeated Donovan Dijak and J Diesel (w/Jay Lethal and Truth Martini)

    Jay Briscoe gave Jay Lethal a Jay Driller after the match

    ROH Tag Champions Daniels and Kazarian defeated Kyle O’Reilly

    Daniels and Kazarian said that Bobby Fish is not medically cleared to wrestle and if he and O’Reilly don’t come down they forfeit their title shot. O’Reilly came down by himself. At one point he had Daniels and Kazarian seated on each other on a chair at ringside and did a missile dropkick on both of them. Daniels and Kazarian beat on him after the match and Matt Sydal and ACH made the save

    Jushin Liger defeated Dalton Castle

    Fun match with great reactions

    Bob Evans vs Cheeseburger ended in a no contest

    Match ended when Evans gave Cheeseburger a brutal sidewalk slam from the apron through a table at ringside

    Mike Bennett and Matt Taven vs Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows ended in a double DQ

    DQ happened after Anderson and Bennett both pushed down referee Red Shoes several times.  Anderson and Gallows had Maria up for their finisher after the match but Bennett saved her and then got beat down by Anderson and Gallows.

    BJ Whitmer and Adam Page vs. War Machine

    Whitmer gave Colby Corino his place in the match again saying his father didn’t get it two weeks ago. Colby got destroyed again by Hanson and Rose when Page refused to tag in. Whitmer then had a face-off with Steve Corino who was on commentary.

    Cedric Alexander defeated Moose

    Cedric Alexander came out and said this time last year he was the breakout star of 2014 but he no longer he is. He said he needs to start picking up wins and his first challenge is to the undefeated Moose. Match ended after Moose was holding a wrench Veda Scott gave him but Cedric got it from him and punched him out with it for the pinfall. Good match.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuyo Naito defeated ACH and Matt Sydal

    This built really well and tore the house down. ACH came off as a star and has stepped up to another level in 2015.

    – Nigel McGuinness comes to the ring and calls out Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe for a contract signing. They faced off and signed the contracts. Lethal said the only reason he doesn’t put Briscoe through a table is because he needs him at his best on June 19 so there are no excuses when he beats him. Briscoe says that after he gets done with Lethal he will need to go back to being Black Machismo.

    Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Roderick Strong

    Strong really dominated here with lots of backbreakers. Nakamura came back and got a Bom A Ye that Strong kicked out of at 1. Strong then hit one and Nakamura got a second one for the pin.

    Michael Elgin beat Gedo

    This was a bit of a death spot for this match and the crowd was tough. It might have done better elsewhere in the night.

    AJ Styles and The Young Bucks beat Kazuchika Okada, Trent Barretta and Ricky Romero

    Styles and the Bucks are amazing together and the parts with Okada vs Styles were unbelievable. This might have been Okada’s best of his three Toronto matches. The Bucks did a Meltzer Driver on Barretta, Styles picked him up for a Styles Clash and let the Bucks super kick him before song the clash for the pin. Taven and Bennett came out. Okada hit a rainmaker on Styles and CHAOS and The Kingdom celebrated.

  • WWE News: Update on Brie Bella (updated)

    The Brie Bella injury Friday night at State College in Pennsylvania looks to have been an angle as she worked a tag match on Saturday’s house show. The Friday “injury” set up a Paige run-in.

  • ROH announces two matches for 6/19 PPV

    Officially announced for the 6/19 PPV show from New York:

    – ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe vs. ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal in what is billed as the Battle of the Belts

    – Michael Elgin vs. Moose vs. Roderick Strong for the No. 1 contender position

    Thanks to Dave Musgrave

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (May 16): Verne Gagne wins AWA title, Stomper wins NA title, Baba vs. Tsuruta, US tag tourney finals, Jerry Lawler vs. Dundee

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1952 – Roger Mackay defeated The Masked Marvel (Buddy Knox) for the Pacific Coast Junior Heavyweight Title in Tacoma, Washington.

    1963 – Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy defeated Buddy Austin and The Great Scott in Washington, DC to win the WWWF United States Tag Team Title; Bull Curry defeated Jack Dalton in Houston, Texas for the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title

    1964 – Verne Gagne won the AWA World Heavyweight Title in Omaha, Nebraska by defeating Mad Dog Vachon.

    1967 – Togo Shikuma and Chati Yokouchi defeated Jack Brisco and Gorgeous George, Jr. to win the Tri-State NWA United States Tag Team Title in Little Rock, Arkansas; Boris Malenko defeated Wahoo McDaniel for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.

    1969 – Archie Gouldie (The Mongolian Stomper) defeated Angelo Mosca for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Calgary, Alberta; The Professional (Doug Gilbert) defeated El Mongol to win the vacant NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia

    1970 – The Claw defeated Moondog Mayne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title

    1972 – Paul Jones defeated Jack Brisco to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida

    1973 – Johnny Powers defeated Eric the Animal to win the NWF North American Heavyweight Title in Buffalo, New York; In Honolulu, Hawaii; Wahoo McDaniel beat Billy Graham in an Indian Death Match and North American Champion Dusty Rhodes beat Billy Robinson via DQ.

    1975 – Antonio Inoki defeated Killer Karl Krupp by submission to win the annual NJPW World League tournament.

    1977 – Giant Baba defeated Jumbo Tsuruta to win the annual AJPW Champion’s Carnival tournament.

    1980 – Al Madril and Tom Prichard defeated Jack Evans and Pampero Firpo to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title; In St. Louis, Missouri; WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Roger Kirby and Missouri State Champion Ken Patera defeated Kevin Von Erich.

    1981 – Eddie Gilbert and Ricky Morton defeated The Akbar Army (Jerry Brown and Ron McFarlane) for the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Title in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Kim Song defeated Tommy Gilbert for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    1983 – In Memphis, Tennessee, Bobby Eaton and Duke Myers defeated The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) for the AWA Southern Tag Team Title. At the same event, Ken Patera won the CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Title from Jerry Lawler, and Bill Dundee won the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title from Dutch Mantell.

    1984 – Wojo Yawrenko defeated Al Tomko to win the Vancouver NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title in Abbotsford, British Columbia

    1987 – The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) defeated Ronnie Garvin and Barry Windham in the finals of a six-team tournament for the NWA United States Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia

    1988 – In Memphis, Tennessee; AWA Champion Jerry Lawler beat Bill Dundee; Robert Fuller beat Jeff Jarrett and CWA Champion Max Pain beat Curt Hennig via DQ.

    1991 – Villano III defeated El Signo for the UWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico. At the same event, Los Cowboys (Silver King and El Texano) won a tournament to become the first UWA World Tag Team Champions.

    1992 – In Charleston, SC; Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff defeated WCW US Champion Rick Rude & Steve Austin and WCW World Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko in a steel cage match.

    1998 – In Anaheim, California; The Undertaker defeated Kane in a lights out match, WWF Tag Team Champions the Road Dogg & Billy Gunn defeated LOD 2000 and WWF World Champion Steve Austin pinned WWF Intercontinental Champion the Rock with Dude Love as special referee.

    2010 – At the TNA Sacrifice PPV; Doug Williams defeated Frankie Kazarian to win the X Division Title.