As WWE was airing their final big event of the year with TLC, SI.com media critic and wrestling fan Richard Deitsch broke the news that longtime boxing, MMA, and New Japan Pro Wrestling play-by-play man Mauro Ranallo will be announced Monday as the new lead announcer on WWE Smackdown when the show moves to USA Network in January.
Ranallo told SI that Michael Cole had reached out to him a month ago to ask if he had interest in working with WWE. Ranallo sent along some clips, including some commentary he did for a mock Floyd Mayweather vs. Warren Buffett fight for a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder conference. From the interview: “This was an opportunity I did not think I would get at this point of my career and I jumped on it,” Ranallo said. “I have been a lifelong fan of the product. Michael said that when Vince saw the Warren Buffet video, it seemed to cinch it. They believed I could sell the entertainment part.”
Ranallo will continue to call both boxing for Showtime and GLORY kickboxing for ESPN, but will be a full-time employee of WWE, working backstage at RAW and other broadcasts in an unspecified capacity. While it wasn’t mentioned in the piece, it can be assumed Ranallo will no longer be calling NJPW on AXS TV. It’s also uncertain who his broadcast partners will be.
The 45-year-old Ranallo got his start in combat sports in the pro wrestling business at just 16 years old for Vancouver, Canada,’s All-Star Wrestling. He has always been a fan and advocate for wrestling, slipping in plenty of references during many a fight he’s called cage/ringside.
The latest stop on NXT’s UK tour was in Blackpool, England tonight, for a sold out show at the 2,000 capacity Empress Ballroom, a beautiful building set up wonderfully with WWE’s usual production and lighting. It was a fantastic show, with several very good matches, an incredible atmosphere throughout and quite clearly, the performers were having an absolute ball in front of such a hot crowd.
It felt like a special show, rather than just another stop on the tour. Part of that was due to the ornate ballroom they were running (rather than a regular arena like other stops on the tour), and part of it was due to the obvious factor of it being William Regal’s (and Robby Brookside’s too) return to the place they largely first made their names in wrestling some 30+ years ago. Both spoke about this in separate promos later on.
NXT Tag Champions Dash & Dawson def. Enzo Amore & Big Cass to retain
Enzo & Cass were predictably over huge, with everyone singing along to their opening catchphrases. They had a really good 20 minute match with the champs going over. Amore sold most of the way and they built to Cass getting the hot tag.
Asuka def. Alexa Bliss
Another really fun match. Both very over. Asuka made Bliss submit in 10 minutes.
Bull Dempsey def. Tye Dillinger
This was tons and tons more entertaining than you could possibly imagine and was one of my favourite matches of the night. Mostly comedy but really funny comedy, with the heel (Dillinger) being infuriated by the crowd’s antics. Firstly, fans were chanting ‘Bull is gorgeous’. They liked doing the ‘Ten, Ten’ thing with their hands like Dillinger, but when Dillinger went for a test of strength with one hand, fans were chanting ‘Five, Five’. Then when he pointed angrily with one finger, fans were chanting ‘One, One’. Each time, Dillinger flipped his lid. You probably had to be there, but the crowd had an absolute ball with this match. Dempsey won with a sit down splash off the top rope.
– Jordan & Gable def. Blake & Murphy
This was the match of the night. The crowd reaction for Gable & Jordan was OFF THE CHARTS. I’ve being going to wrestling for 25 years, have been to 5 Wrestlemanias and lots of post-WM Raws, as well as tons of wild UK indy crowds, but the duelling chants for Jordan and Gable at the start of this match was nuts, up there with the very best reactions I’ve witnessed in person. They literally didn’t lock up for the first 5 minutes because the crowd were singing, jumping up and down, going crazy. Blake & Murphy were great too, sold being pissed off, stormed off, came back, and the chants would start again. I noticed Canyon Ceman come out at the side of the entrance area during this craziness and he was visibly getting a kick out of it, taping the reactions on his phone. And then the match was excellent. Gable was phenomenal; how this guy (and Jordan for that matter) are not already on the main roster is travesty.
Intermisson
After intermission, William Regal came out to a heroes’ welcome in his adopted home town. He came out to his normal theme, then after a few bars, it stopped. Instead they then played old-style Blackpool ballroom organ music, which he may have entered the ring to 30+ years ago. Regal engaged in some comedic banter with some overly rowdy ringside fans, and mentioned how, even though he originally wrestled many times in Blackpool in the early 1980s, this was his first time in this ballroom. He mentioned his former mentor Bobby Barron, and paid tribute to all the fans in attendance. This was all great.
– Nia Jaxx def. Carmella
Quick match. Jax was over as a heel. Crowd liked Carmella and were chanting ‘How ya’ doing?’ at her.
– Samoa Joe def. Apollo Crews
Another very good match. Both worked really hard. They were a few ‘Uhaa Nation’ chants for Crews at the start of the match, as Crews wrestled numerous times in this region for Preston City Wrestling over the past few years prior to his WWE signing and was very popular. The fans then got into singing the Apollo Crews name. I thought it was really interesting seeing how Crews has adapted his wrestling style to WWE style, slowing down but making things mean more. Joe won with the muscle buster. Crowd cheered Joe too and didn’t really boo him at all.
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. Emma (w/Dana Brooke) to retain
Crowd heavily cheered Bayley as expected. Another good match. Emma had a spot where she picked up Bayley’s belt and tried to run to the back with it, and the crowd sung ‘Same old Emma, always stealing!’ Ouch. Dana was thrown out by the referee for interfering prior to the finish.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor def. Baron Corbin & Sami Zayn to retain
Zayn was heavily cheered,more than Balor. Corbin was hated, but wasn’t resented like I thought he might be. There were some comedic spots where Zayn and Balor put on each other’s jackets and imitated each other. There was a frequent spot in the show where the crowd were chanting ‘<Wrestler X> give us a wave’, mainly directed at babyfaces. They sung ‘Corbin – give us a wave’ to mock him. Rather than ignore it like a heel, he sarcastically waved, which led to ‘Thank you Corbin’ chants. Finish saw Balor do a double foot stomp off the top on to Corbin for the win. Besides the comedy spots, all three worked very hard, much harder than a usual WWE main roster house show main event.
Afterwards, Balor and Zayn remained in the ring. Zayn took the mic and said it was great to be back, and paid tribute to Regal for bringing him into WWE and making him want to be a wrestler. He then praised Robby Brookside and asked him to come out. Brookside came out to a huge ovation, with a ‘God Save The Queen’ Sex Pistols-type theme music used. Brookside gave a similar speech to Regal earlier, putting over their former mentor Bobby Baron and also paid tribute to the crowd, to end the show.
Notes & Observations:
– All in all, a fantastic show. With the hot crowd and unique setting, I’m kind of surprised they didn’t hold the Takeover event here. I get why they picked London, but Blackpool would have looked great on tv. Maybe in the future.
– Crowd booed any mentions of the WWE TLC ppv (an advert played on the big screen), and during several matches, chanted ‘Better than Raw’.
– The NXT crew was very visible around the town during the day, as most were clad in black NXT-branded tracksuits. A lot of the NXT crew including Matt Bloom had an afternoon meal at the Harry Ramsden’s Fish & Chips restaurant.
– There were very few kids in the audience, the show drawing mostly young adults.
– There was an interesting rumour going around (unconfirmed, but take this for what its’ worth) that the WWE Raw & Smackdown tv tapings next November will be held in Glasgow, Scotland for the first time, at the Hydro Arena. This, if true, would be a fascinating move, as they would likely be taking place 2 weeks before ICW runs the Hydro Arena for the biggest show in their history. I guess another business rival has been identified.
At Survivor Series, WWE decided to shuffle up the deck and pull a swerve by having Sheamus cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase, snatching the WWE title away from five minute champion Roman Reigns in a move that disappointed many.
We’re doing our post-match poll on both this show and the UFC show last night, 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
BECKY LYNCH VS. SASHA BANKS IN THE PRE SHOW MATCH
Nice match, particularly the last 30 seconds or so as Lynch kept going from armbar to Fujiwara armbar. Tamina Snuka distracted the ref and Naomi kicked Lynch and then Banks did the back stabber into the bank statement. The crowd popped pretty good for the Banks win since she’s local. Crowd wasn’t super into it but they reacted decently enough.
They are teasing that Zeb Colter may be back with Jack Swagger, which may also mean that the Del Rio/Swagger thing from Raw also could be a swerve.
It appears smart money is in because the odds are long now. So here are the favorites:
Sheamus 45-to-1 favorite
Dean Ambrose 12-to-1 favorite
New Day 20-to-1 favorite
Charlotte 5-to-1 favorite
Wyatt Family 6-to-1 favorite
Alberto Del Rio 45-to-1 favorite
Rusev 45-to-1 favorite
NEW DAY VS. USOS VS. LUCHA DRAGONS IN A LADDER MATCH FOR TAG TITLES
The New day retained when Kalisto was climbing and Xavier Woods, who was on commentary, threw the trombone at Kalisto and Kingston threw him off the ladder. Kingston slowly climbed and pulled down the belts. Absolutely awesome spot fest like a modern version of the Edge & Christian vs. Hardys vs. Dudleys match but with all new spots. Kalisto did the Salida del on Jimmy off the top of a ladder crashinG through another ladder. There were dives, like the Dragons doing a double moonsault off the middle rope to the floor on E & Kingston. Kalisto did a dragon rana off a ladder which flipped Kingston back into the ladder face first. There was about 18 minutes of this. Like a crazy Lucha match in many ways. It’s going to hard for anyone to come close to this. Creative and well executed.
RYBACK VS. RUSEV
Good match. Rusev threw Ryback into Lana and she started selling which distracted Ryback. Rusev superkicked him and went for the pin but Ryback kicked out. Ryback got out of the accoalde but Rusev got out of shell shock and Rusev used a high kick and won with the accolade with Ryback passing out. Rusev and Lana had teased a walk out and Ryback pulled him back which was the spot where Rusev shoved Ryback into Lana. Lana never actually got hit and was pretending again.
Dean Ambrose promo. Roman Reigns is with him. Ambrose said he was feeling good. They were doing the best friends stuff. You always wonder if something will happen.
ALBERTO DEL RIO VS. JACK SWAGGER FOR U.S. TITLE IN CHAIRS MATCH
No Zeb at all. Chair matches are hard because you do a million chair matches and they don’t really mean anything. They did a good job building up to Swagger finally hitting the Swagger bomb and getting the Patriot lock, but Del Rio, whose leg was wrapped up in a chair, made the ropes. Del Rio had the armbar in the ropes. Del Rio did four hard chair shots to the back and then a double foot stomp off the top rope onto chairs.
Kevin Iole reported that Mauro Ranallo will be the new voice of Smackdown, but he’ll be keeping his boxing, MMA and kickboxing duties on weekends. Story is true.
Dudleys did a promo.
DUDLEYS & RHINO & TOMMY DREAMER VS. WYATT FAMILY IN AN ELIMINATION TABLES MATCH
The Wyatts won 4-1. There were two tables broken that didn’t count, including Braun Strowman kicking through a table. A table also broke when it wasn’t supposed to when Devon rolled off. First Rowan took a 3-D through a table from the Dudleys. Harper kicked Rhyno through a table for the second elimination. Wyatt put Devon through a table with a uranage. Harper did a tope knocking Dreamer through a table leaving Bubba by himself. Bubba poured lighter fluid on a table and the place went nuts, but before he coudl light it, Harper superkicked him and Strowman choke slammed Bubba through a table. There were two funny spots where Strowman was off but crowd really liked this a lot with ECW and ECW style chants.
Kevin Owens heel promo. Said you as individuals have nothing to do with it when your team wins like Dean Ambrose. Ambrose acts like he’s accomplished something. Owens said, in reference to Ambrose throwing soda and popcorn on him that “I eat popcorn and drink soda every day of my life.”
KEVIN OWENS VS. DEAN AMBROSE FOR IC TITLE
Ambrose won the title by reversing the pop up power bomb into a huracanrana. Match was shorter than you’d think but very good. They did a good tease count out early on Ambrose. Ambrose escaped the pop up power bomb and hit Dirty Deeds but Owens got two fingers on the ropes for the break. People were really into the title change, I don’t think they were expecting it. The title change felt like a real big deal here. They pushed that Ambrose held up his part of it and now Reigns has to.
CHARLOTTE VS. PAIGE FOR THE DIVAS TITLE
Charlotte was a total heel working the match like Ric Flair with the begging off kneedrops, working the leg. Charlotte did seem more confident. The crowd really got into it when Paige used the figure four on Charlotte like every babyface would do to Flair. Paige used the Rampage but Ric put Charlotte’s leg on the ropes. Right after, Charlotte took off the padding of a turnbuckkle and pulled Paige’s head into the exposed metal for the pin. I’d rather she was something different from Ric but she had more presence in this role than she’s had up to this point in WWE, but not more than in NXT.
Ric and Charlotte were celebrating. Becky Lynch confronted her. Lynch said she didn’t like the way she won. Charlotte said would you rather your best friend won or Paige won. Lynch looked confused and unhappy about Charlotte’s tactics.
WWE CHAMPION SHEAMUS VS. ROMAN REIGNS IN A TLC MATCH
Sheamus retained due to inteference from Rusev and Alberto Del Rio, but no King Barrett. Also, there was no Ambrose or anyone to make the save for Reigns.
This was a really good match. At first, the crowd wasn’t that hot or were doing non-match related chants for Cena and ECW. Both guys worked really hard and physical with lots of teases of wins, chair shots, and more.
Sheamus backdropped Reigns through a table on the floor. Sheamus suplexed Reigns through a table. Sheamus used White Noise off the steps through a table. Reigns got out of an armbar and reversed into a one arm powerbomb onto a ladder. Reigns with a Samoan drop through a ladder that broke in half. At this point, the crowd was booing when they thought Reigns would win.
Reigns’ Superman punch knocked Sheamus off a ladder. Reigns had the title won when Rusev & Del Rio came in. They beat him down, but Reigns came back and gave them both Superman punches. Sheamus was on top. Reigns pulled him off and Sheamus hit a Brogue kick, knocking Reigns out of the ring. Sheamus climbing again. This time they were booing thinking Reigns would lose. Sheamus pulled down the belt to win before Reigns could recover.
The highlight was post-match as Reigns totally snapped. He speared all three at the same time. He destroyed everyone with chair shots. HHH & Steph came out out. Reign nailed Sheamus with a chair after HHH and Stephanie told him to put it down. HHH was on the apron and told Reigns to calm down. After a long tease, Reigns hit a Superman punch on HHH. He grabbed a chair and hit HHH over and over with chair shots. It was funny as at one point, HHH told him to do it again (which you could hear) so then he did another chair shot.
Stephanie was screaming as Reigns gave him a real beating. Reigns gave him a power bomb onto a table that didn’t break. Fans were chanting “One more time!” Reigns elbowdropped him through the table, so they are doing an injury angle with HHH. This finish was great, complete with a “Thank you Roman” chant.
They are pushing like Reigns is going to be fired. HHH finally got up, and Reigns turned around, sprinted down the aisle and speared him again. This was the best thing they’ve done with Reigns. HHH selling it huge. The crowd didn’t like Reigns at all at first and were cheering heavily for him by the time this was done.
WWE TLC PPV ON SUNDAY FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON PREVIEW
Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns for WWE title in a TLC match – This is kind of weird because the choices are getting the belt off Sheamus right away on a weak PPV, or keeping a weak champion for another month. My gut says Rumble is the bigger show and you can hold it off until then, but it really doesn’t matter. Ultimately they still need to get a heel hot, and Sheamus isn’t the guy. The matches these two have been having on the road haven’t been tearing the houses down, but WWE TLC matches usually deliver.
Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose for IC title – They have to get Ambrose hotter, whether that’s a turn or what, I don’t know. Owens should retain here and on paper they should have a really good match.
New Day vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Usos in a ladder match for tag titles – Given the Lucha Dragons were given two wins over the New Day on TV, they’re probably losing to the New Day here. It’s not time for the title switch, nor given where the Usos have been positioned in the food chain with Ambrose & Reigns, are they the ones to beat in this match.
Charlotte vs. Paige for the Divas title – A lot here will be determined by the crowd, both in if they give the match a chance, and who they cheer. Charlotte technically hasn’t turned and Paige did back away from her on Monday, but until backing away, Paige was positioned as the face in their segment. The key is whether people care enough one way or the other, and get into the match.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger for the U.S. title in a chair match – This is a big shot for Swagger so he should be motivated, even though he is almost surely losing and even if the match gets over, which Del Rio’s matches haven’t been doing of late, it won’t matter because Swagger isn’t in their plans. The key is will Zeb Colter come out and screw Swagger and the breakup on Monday was a swerve to lead to the finish, or is Zeb gone with Del Rio.
Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman vs. Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer & Rhyno in a tables match. WWE doesn’t like to put over guys from the past, particularly whose are still best known from another promotion, and the Wyatts are their own act, so Wyatts would be expected to win, unless they are doing a longer four vs. four program with these teams.
Rusev vs. Ryback – I think it’s Rusev’s turn this week, right? Ryback has been working really hard of late and Rusev can go. They probably won’t get a lot of time, though.
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks– Banks is from the Boston area so she’ll probably be cheered even though Lynch is positioned as the face.
WWE talent always works hard but aside from Owens vs. Ambrose, there isn’t a match that will probably get enough time that is a lock for a great match. A lot of this show feels like it’ll be determined by how the main event does overall, and what kind of a story they tell if they hold off the Reigns title win.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s TLC show as well as last night’s UFC 194 show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re also looking for reports on today’s Lucha Underground tapings in Los Angeles and today’s NXT show in Blackpool, England
Raw, sorting all of this out, will be Monday night in Philadelphia while NXT runs Monday night in Nottingham, England.
Smackdown will be taped Tuesday night in Newark, NJ while NXT runs Tuesday night in Cardiff, Wale.
NXT TAKEOVER FROM SSE WEMBLEY IN LONDON ON WEDNESDAY
Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for NXT title
Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin
Bayley vs. Nia Jax for women’s title
Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady for tag titles
Coverage of the biggest weekend in UFC history, the stories behind the big matches, scouting the fighters, the business and handicapping the fights is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at the promotion of the show, how changes in the UFC can affect the major fights, little things in each fight that haven’t beentalked about, fugure for the winners and much more is looked at.
We also look at the New Japan Tokyo Dome show, the New Japan tag team tournament, what’s new with A.J. Styles and his schedule, the controversy over the winners of the tournament and how it played out, New Japan business this past month and going forward, tournament standings and a rundown of the shows this past week.
We also have an update on Sting and his condition coming off the match with Seth Rollins, something to watch for about a very significant WWE employee, WWE increasing security at leve events, WWE putting up lots of new content on the network, why the Stampede tapes were taken down, Alberto Del Rio blames AAA for his not coming back and losingg the title, why the time-line of what he says doesn’t add up, another new franchise movie idea for Dwayne Johnson, a new WWE movie annnounced, Mick Foley’s son with WWE, Sami Zayn’s return, Tommy Dreamer’s schedule, WWE surveys, John Cena media, WWE and ESPN update, NXT taping news, Brock Lesnar schedule news, WWE firing, Del Rio & Colter alliance, as well as notes on all the NXT house shows from the past week as well as all the WWE house shows of the past week and the business from the last week.
We’ve got a look at this year’s Tokyo Sports pro wrestling awards, all the winners, how the balloting went down, as well as a list of every MVP dating back to 1974, and why different people won the awards and the nature of the politicas behid the awards.
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” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
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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.
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. 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.
We cover all the news coming out of last night’s UFC 194 on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio. A lot of the talk today concerns Conor McGregor’s contract demands that people are talking like he’s going to ask for which would be a level of money that only the top PPV draws in boxing have gotten and nobody in MMA has gotten. Dana White talked about how McGregor can challenge Saturday’s Donald Cerrone vs. Rafael dos Anjos winner for the lightweight title and give up the featherweight title, but McGregor said he wants both belts and is not giving up the featherweight belt. As far as what is next for McGregor, nobody is going to make a decision until after this coming Saturday’s lightweight title fight.
Yoel Romero vs. Jacare Souza scoring, Judge Lester Griffin gave Souza rounds two and three; Judge Glenn Trowbridge gave Romero the first two rounds and gave a 10-8 round one and Judge Tony Weeks gave the first two rounds to Romero. Of 17 key media members polled at MMADecisions.com, only two gave the fight to Romero. Three, including me, had it a draw based on a 10-8 first round for Romero and Souza taking two and three, while 12 others had a 10-9 first for Romero and rounds two and three for Souza. I thought two and three were clearly for Souza.
Luke Rockhold last night talked about wanting Vitor Belfort in a rematch although he also said he knows he does have to face Romero. Belfort knocked out Rockhold two years ago, and Rockhold has been furious about it, especially since Belfort was jacked up on TRT at the time.
Before the stoppage, two judges had Luke Rockhold up 30-26 after three rounds and the other had him up 29-27, with the first round the one in question. All three gave the third round a 10-8, which you had to, but having to doesn’t always happen. Judges are far more liberal now with 10-8s which is a good thing..
There is a major breakthrough on treatment of concussions that has started gaining some traction in the MMA world. I talked about it last night on the Observer radio show but for WWE, all of wrestling, MMA and high school football programs. It is a way to really improve treatment, along with far better methods to determine both the extent of the brain injuries that an athlete has and determining when an injured athlete should be allowed to return to their sport.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with coverage of the WWE TLC PPV. We’ll also be taking questions on wrestling and MMA that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
WWE
TLC tonight is close to sold out. The expectation is it will sell out. The set up is 13,800 so they’ll probably announce in the 16s.
Steve Austin’s show with Shawn Michaels airs immediately after TLC tonight on the WWE Network.
Big advance for Raw in Philadelphia tomorrow. Raw hasn’t sold out in the U.S. in months, but there is the belief this one will either sell out or come very close. Weird how all the negativity on the product and the bad ratings and this week’s key shows are doing well.
NXT sold out Blackpool, England today, but that was a small venue. We’re looking for reports, but William Regal did an interview and the crowd loved him, as expected since he started there and is billed from there. The crowd was going totally nuts for Jason Jordan & Chad Gable as well.
Odds as of 7:30pm Eastern with smart money in…
Sheamus -4500
Roman Reigns +1500
Kevin Owens +600
Dean Ambrose -1200 (so expect the title change)
Alberto Del Rio -4500
Jack Swagger +1500
New Day -2000
Usos +1500
Lucha Dragons +2000
Charlotte -600
Paige +400
Team ECW +350
Wyatts – 530
Rusev -4500
Ryback +1500
A note since one of our readers didn’t know, WWE no longer allows fans to bring cameras into the arena at their house shows. One reader said that last night in Lewiston, ME, many fans were upset about it.
Not the best of signs. At the NXT shows in the U.K., fans were booing the TLC promotional video.
Ronda Rousey will be featured on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. as part of the Barbara Walters’ special on the year’s most fascinating people. Those on the list besides Rousey are Bradley Cooper, Amy Shumer, Tracy Morgan, Bernie Sanders, Misty Copeland and Donna Karan. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
ESPN covered the Conor McGregor win as a significant story that I saw, but not nearly as much on the Luke Rockhold win. The coverage wasn’t close to that of the Ronda Rousey loss.
Ratings in Brazil were unreal last night. Like the glory days level.
TSN in Canada didn’t mention the fight until about 15 minutes in and highlights weren’t shown until 20 minutes into their SportsCenter with everything based on the Warriors loss (which was a huge story in the U.S. and all the hockey coverage.
FS 1 has a Best of Donald Cerrone TV special at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
Chris Weidman has Ian Matuszak, 20, who suffers from cerebral palsy and stage 3 esophageal cancer in his corner last night as a special guest. Matuszak, despite his problems, has trained in Jiu Jitsu and recently earned his blue belt.
Tryouts for Ultimate Fighter are tomorrow at 8 a.m. at the Red Rock Casino with the next season being light heavyweights, plus bantamweight and strawweight women. Dana White on Friday was asked about the coaches for the season that will air in the spring of 2016. He gave an answer that let you know they have picked them, but said he wasn’t announcing it yet.
MISCELLANEOUS
ROH sent out a press release today regarding a partnership with PWG as we’ve noted has been talked about for a few months. Basically ROH contracted talent is now allowed in PWG. Before, with the exception of The Young Bucks and Roderick Strong, no contracted ROH guys could appear on PWG shows. Guys like Matt Sydal don’t have an ROH contract.
Destination America is pretty much done with TNA. This coming Wednesday, they will air from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., or out of prime time, with no replay. At this point, that is the last scheduled episode airing., so TNA would be off for two weeks before the launch on Pop TV.
Kyle O’Reilly was the latest ROH performer under contract to appear on PWG last night in Reseda, CA. Heard last night’s show was great.
Great Khali’s wrestling school had its first show today with put together by Jesus Rodriguez, formerly Ricardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez has been the head trainer at the school which has 75 students. They are running under the banner of Continental Wrestling Entertainment.
ECCW from last Saturday in Vancouver, BC: Bishop b Carl Cunningham, Bollywood Boyz (GFW) & Nicole Matthews b West Coast Express & CAT Power, Ravenous Randy b Pete Power, Phantasmo b Air Adonis, Andy the Dreadful Bird b Antonio Thomas, Scotty Mac b Memphis, Tony Baroni b Artemis Spencer.
Red Rock Wrestling on 1/9 in Charlottetow, Prince Edward Island with a combination minor league hockey game at 3 p.m., wrestling at 5:30 p.m. and anther hockey game at 7 p.m.
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 12/15 in Port Coquitlam, BC.
Great Canadian Wrestling on 12/27 in Oshawa, ONT is a charity show for the Harmony Creek food bank. Everyone who brings food will get raffle tickets for a drawing of wrestling prizes.
CWE on 2/20 featuring Colt Cabana.
Rassle Rap charity festival show from Thursday night in Valparaiso, IN: Shane Mercer b Mad Man Pondo, Ring Rydas b Super Strong Tiger & Spider Monkey to keep JCW tag titles, Moshpit Mike over Rude Boy and Chuey Martinez, 2 Tuff Tony b Ruff Crossing in a lumberjack match, Kongo Kong b Weedman to win the JCW world title.
Same promotion from Friday night in Sauget, IL: 2 Tuff Tony & Justin D’Air & Mike Outlaw b Viking War Party, Mad Man Pondo & Crazy Mary Dobson b Jake Dirden & Samantha Heighs, Rude Boy won three-way over Mosh Pit Mike & Chuey Martinez, Super Strong Tiger & Spider Monkey b Ring Rydas to win JCW tag titles, Weedman b Ruff Crossing in a lumberjack match (thanks to Kevin Gill)
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL before a sellout of 350 fans: Daniel Gunner b Jimmy D, Britt Tucker d Bobby D, Ax b Barracus, Troll b Red River Jack (Bob Orton)-DQ, Ken Kasa & Jake Dirden b Chris Hargas & Brandon Espinosa, Sean Vincent b Curtis Wyld in a cage match, Gary Jackson b Attila Khan in a cage match, Kahagas won a three-way over Ron Powers and Flash Flanagan in a cage match (thanks to Larry Matysik and Patrick Brandmeyer)
Michael Elgin headlines for Pro Wrestling Phoenix on 12/30 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.
Colin Delaney vs. Lionel Knight in a loser leaves UWA forever headlines 2/7 in Toronto at the Lithuanian House.
Great North Wrestling on 2/27 in Hawkesbury, ONT at the Robert Harley Arena with Jeremy Prophet managed by disgraced senator Patrick Brazeau vs. Hannibal and Carlito vs. Paul Rosenberg.
Despite Sasha Banks hailing from Boston, MA, the site of tonight’s WWE TLC pay-per-view, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha was just announced for the pre-show.
The show is likely to start shortly after 7:30 p.m.
We will be having live coverage of the show, headlined by Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE title in a TLC match, starting at that time. Bryan Alvarez and I will also be back later tonight with a post-show recap, our third of the weekend.
A full report on the show will be coming in the daily update.
Lynch and Banks had a tremendous match earlier this year on an NXT Takeover special. They also had a short Raw match. Banks has been protected in booking while Lynch has been teased in having a down-the-line feud with Charlotte.
Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive will be doing a two-hour pre-show LIVE on Sports Byline USA/Sirius Satellite Radio starting at 6 ET/3 PT, which you can listen to through TuneIn Radio on the front page of the website, or by clicking here. There will also be a Bryan and Vinny Show after the PPV tonight talking all of the matches and angles.
Arena was nearly full for what was put on sale as it was cut at the half way point with the top tier curtained off.
Ring announcer Brown Shoes welcomes us.
Match 1 Enzo and Cass beat Blake and Murphy. Crowd were massively into all the catchphrases of the faces.
Match 2 Bull Dempsey over Tye Dillinger with a top rope sit down splash.Crowd got into the perfect ten gimmick.
Match 3 Samoa Joe defeated Apollo Crews with a musclebuster. Good match.Lots of Uhaa chants for Crews.
Match 4 Bayley beat Emma with Baylay to Bayley.
Match 5 Dawson and Dash beat Jordan and Gable. Match of the night a very good old school tag team match. Half way through some idiot jumped the rail and got in the ring. Security got him quick however. Jordan and Gable are just brilliant and were very popular with the audience.
Match 6 Asuka over Carmella via submission.
Match 7 Finn Balor beat Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in a three way dance. Zayn got huge ole chants prior to his entrance. As Corbin was pinning Zayn,Balor came off the top with a coup de grace on him for the win.
Decent night of action, only downside was the trouble getting into the arena, queue was massive in the rotten UK winter cold and they were confiscating items including my pregnant wife’s handbag and even fans umbrellas. I understand why with the heightened security issues but it was taken too far tonight.
So WWE went ahead and rebooted itself shortly after Survivor Series. They sort of had to, after all, when their long term project Seth Rollins was put out of action with a serious knee injury. Out of all the situations they could have done, they went ahead and did the one that made the least amount of sense – make Sheamus, who on that very same show was treated like a total geek in a nothing match – the WWE champion, pinning new champion Roman Reigns after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase.
Sheamus, now the top heel in the company (except whenever the Authority make their presence), has formed a stable consisting of him, Wade Barrett, Rusev and Alberto del Rio known as the League of Nations. Their target is Roman Reigns, who gets another title opportunity this weekend thanks to Triple H, who just gave it to him despite doing everything in his power to get the belt off Reigns. The odds are stacked against him, but he’s proven that he can win the big one, as evidenced the previous month. Will we see a new champion crowned at the final pay per view of the year, or will the Authority’s latest charge find a way to keep his title?
Chairs Match for the WWE United States Championship: Alberto del Rio (c) vs. Jack Swagger
Bryan Rose: A main event in any arena! Or, should I say, a Main Event main event in any arena. Really, the booking is so lame here. You take Jack Swagger, who has not been on TV for months besides doing jobs on Main Event and Superstars, and now suddenly he’s number one contender just because. He has zero momentum to speak of, Alberto only has a bit more, and overall this just feels like a very lame feud that they gave zero time or effort to get over. Whether or not Zeb is involved doesn’t really matter, as with the new League of Nations gimmick he’s the odd man out, plus he and Alberto really have no chemistry to speak of. With that said, I fully expect it now to be a swerve that will allow del Rio to get the clean win. Over Jack Swagger.
Winner: Alberto del Rio
James Cox: It is difficult to hold out much hope for a gimmick match that has traditionally not offered up classic matches. The most intriguing thing will be how they use Zeb, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they just completely ignore that angle and move on without him at all. Swagger can never get over with this character unless they let him win, but, clearly, he’s losing here after what I would guess will be a tussle and back-and-forth between their submission moves in the finish.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Jeremy Peeples: This feud has been built up terribly on television and this match seemingly serves no purpose. Swagger is feuding with MexAmerica, which no longer exists after Raw, so why is this happening? Beyond just giving Swagger a payday, it should be a fine showcase for Alberto and perhaps they bring Swagger and Zeb together. There’s a very slim chance they give Swagger the title here to move Alberto into the WWE Title picture officially, but that seems very unlikely.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Steve Khan: I expect a lot of chairs to be used in this match. Maybe Del Rio will double foot stomp a chair into Swagger’s face. Or maybe he’ll superkick a chair into Swagger’s face. Or maybe he’ll do an armbar through a chair. Either way…
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Eight Man Tag Team Elimination Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno vs. The Wyatt Family
Bryan Rose: I guess ECW is still popular enough in 2015 that the return of Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno are going to get big reactions. Hey, that’s a testament to the power of WWE still getting over ECW 14 years after it went out of business, plus a misguided attempt to reboot it 9 years ago. I’m not sure what to expect here other than a bunch of table shots. With the Wyatts losing clean last month to the Undertaker, something tells me they’ll do just fine against Team Extreme (not to be confused with Team Xtreme).
Winners: The Wyatt Family
James Cox: I worry that this won’t amount to much after an initial ECW pop in Boston, but I hope that I’m wrong. In theory, you can use this to reboot The Wyatts after losing last month, but I don’t know how this company thinks anymore. You can certainly beat any of these men and I would assume they will at least protect Bray and Strowman. I really want this to be a lot of fun, on a ppv that doesn’t look that exciting as things stand.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Jeremy Peeples: They haven’t been doing much with the Dudleys, although Tommy Dreamer has been shockingly over and Rhyno is a welcome sight on the main roster. With Bubba Ray being truly wasted in this ECW/Attitude Era nostalgia act, hopefully he turns heel and does his own thing. Since there is no chance of that happening, Team Extreme will just be used to put over the Wyatts and they can talk about how the Wyatts are the only team in WWE history to defeat the Dudleys at their own game. Sure, it won’t be true, but it will tell a nice story.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Steve Khan: Whether or not this feud is continuing, the Wyatts should win and they probably will. Tables matches are dumb so I don’t expect much from this.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Divas Title: Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair in her corner) vs. Paige
Bryan Rose: Does anyone care at this point? Now Charlotte’s teasing a heel turn because…I don’t know? I guess we aren’t supposed to think of the Divas as faces or heels? The only true babyface on the Divas roster at this point is Becky Lynch, who only pops up now and again. For all of this talk about a Revolution, we’re right back to square one with Divas whose one note gimmicks are that they are either heels or crazy people. Virtually nothing’s changed now and that’s probably the saddest thing about the WWE this year. Charlotte retains, I guess, but who can care at this point?
Winner: Charlotte
James Cox: I hope we see the completion of a double turn in this one. The muddying of the waters around who is the heel is just irritating. Flair can be either. On his own, he’s always going to get a babyface reaction, but with Charlotte I can see that they can use him in that way. But the fact that I’m writing this, after what happened last month with the Flair family name, is ridiculous. With no smoke and mirrors, they’re going to have to work hard to make a Boston crowd care much.
Winner: Charlotte
Jeremy Peeples: This feud has been a colossal waste of both women, but Paige’s character is more of a babyface than Charlotte’s now since she’s speaking the truth – it’s just a truth no one wants to accept. Of course, a double turn won’t do much for either of them since the commentators will just talk about how it’s okay for Charlotte to cheat because her dad did, so everything will be undercut. They had a good-ish match on the last PPV and a better one on Raw, so I expect this to have pretty good action if the match itself isn’t just a backdrop to the angle. Charlotte needs the title more than Paige, and a heel-ish win moves her cocky character forward too.
Winner: Charlotte
Steve Khan: Paige should really be the star of this division right now, as Charlotte has been nothing as champion, but her storyline over the last few weeks has probably bought her more time with the belt. She cheated last month by accident, so I think she cheats on purpose here to pick up the win. The match itself should be good.
Winner: Charlotte
Ryback vs. Rusev
Bryan Rose: This match was added at the very last minute on Smackdown. They’ve built it up the last few weeks in a build that was, well, just a build. As for the actual match, it could go either way. This could either be a fun slugfest or a WWE-style centric match, which can produce a boring bout. Let’s hope for the latter. I say Rusev wins as he needs some heat on him following his return.
Winner: Rusev
Steve Khan: It seems like this show could be dominated by heels, so Ryback getting a token win wouldn’t surprise me, but they just reunited Rusev and Lana and Rusev is in the League of Nations so he should really win.
Winner: Rusev
Ladder Match: WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Usos vs. The Lucha Dragons
Bryan Rose: I think this’ll be a stunt show, but a good one. All three tag teams are probably going to go all out here, with lots of ladder shots in between. Not the best built program leading to this, but not many matches on the show were anyway. I see the New Day winning here because there really aren’t any tag teams that are over enough for them to drop the titles so.
Winner: The New Day
James Cox: This is a classic case of being booked into a corner by creating gimmick ppvs in advance. There’s no reason to have three teams in this match. But, I’d call this to be the match of the night, provided it isn’t just a spot-fest. Kofi, Kalisto and The Usos are all capable of doing something special here. The New Day have become bloated versions of themselves in the last few weeks, but it makes zero sense for them to lose the titles, other than just for the sake of playing hot potato with the belts.
Winner: The New Day
Steve Khan: This obviously has potential to be match of the night and hopefully it’s given time to produce. I would actually put the titles on the Usos. WWE is in love with New Day but too many babyface acts are coming up short lately, and that could continue on this show if Ambrose and Reigns both lose. New Day can come out of this feud as champions eventually, and they’ll probably win here despite what I Just said, but I’ll go out on a limb (?) and take the Usos.
Winner: The Usos
Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Bryan Rose: This should be a good match if given time. I can’t say there’s a whole lot of interest here because the way it was built, which included Dean Ambrose throwing soda and popcorn at his opponent, and Owens using the walkout finish on nearly every match he’s been in leading up to this one. But again, if they are given enough time, they can go out there and steal the show. As for who wins, it could go either way, but I see Owens retaining here in some sort of finish that allows a rematch for next month.
Winner: Kevin Owens
James Cox: With all the bells and whistles that this show has, I feel like time could be an issue here. If they give them 15mins, they can have a great match. Less than 12 and I struggle to see this being much better than just OK. Owens is a great heel and Ambrose a great babyface, but only if the company want them to be and are prepared to invest time in them. With one eye on WrestleMania now, you’d have to think that if Ambrose wins, Owens becomes a potential for the Rumble or a high spot on the WrestleMania card. But in theory, with this weakened roster, so should Ambrose.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Jeremy Peeples: This match really hasn’t had much of a build to it, and Raw’s popcorn and soda usage didn’t exactly set fire to the feud. Dean Ambrose has no momentum, while Owens at least has some – so he seems like a lock to win – especially if they decide to throw him in as one of the many champions in the League of Nations. Doing so would keep this feud alive and make a Dean win in the future mean more since it showed Roman’s group could take something from Sheamus’s.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Steve Khan: It occurred to me that this company may not want to put a title on Dean Ambrose as long as Roman Reigns is without one himself. Imagine the Usos and/or Ambrose walking out with Reigns and they have belts but he doesn’t? That puts the odds against Ambrose and the Usos on this show. Watching the babyfaces constantly come up short is getting tiresome, so that’s probably what we’ll see. The match itself should be good.
Winner: Kevin Owens
TLC Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Bryan Rose: So they went ahead and did the worst possible finish they could have done at Survivor Series by making Sheamus the WWE champion again. Booking and ratings aside, Sheamus has never felt like a main event talent, and that is what causes me to have little to no interest in this match. They’ll work hard and probably have a good match. But I’m jaded enough on WWE’s product to know there will probably be a screwy finish here that leaves Roman Reign a loser for the upteenth time this year, leading to a Royal Rumble scenario that probably sees him winning the title shot again. To say this isn’t interesting television right now is an understatement. But hey, Roman Reigns has a few people cheering for him now, so I guess it all paid off, right?
Winner: Sheamus
James Cox: A TLC match is just the kind of match that Sheamus does well in when in the main event picture: long brawls where he ultimately stands tall, drenched in sweat. There’s so much that they can do here with the two factions that they have created around each of them, that maybe this will become just a series of run-ins. I hope not. This needs to kick start this programme and, ideally, we should know by the end of it what our Royal Rumble main event is. But Reigns losing again? That feels like one too many. In a TLC match I guess you can still keep him looking strong despite the defeat. And let’s not forget that, for whatever reason, this company likes Sheamus.
Winner: Sheamus
Jeremy Peeples: Sheamus is dangerous enough in a regular match, but adding at least three implements of destruction (or toys as JBL could call them) adds even more risk to Roman. With so many people out with injury, I wouldn’t put Roman in this match against Sheamus, but it’s booked and Sheamus needs to look strong. The problem is that Roman needs to as well and really can’t be losing so many title matches. With that said, Sheamus needs the win and has an entire stable to ensure a victory, so he is the likely victor and then Roman will have to overcome the entire League of Nations to get a rematch or something along those lines.
Winner: Sheamus
Steve Khan: The finish of the match is important (or at least the follow-up) because it potentially sets up the title picture through WrestleMania, which probably has a lot of moving parts at the moment. Reigns winning here seems unlikely. If he gets a rematch at the Rumble, he can win that and go into WrestleMania as champion. But if he loses and the Authority refuses to give him another rematch, then Reigns goes into the Rumble and probably wins that. That leaves a hole for Sheamus to be filled at the Rumble. Maybe they’ll throw Brock Lesnar or Undertaker or John Cena in there to set up a match with Reigns, but for now it doesn’t really matter.
WWE announced Saturday that there will be an NXT TakeOver special on April 1st at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center* in Dallas, TX, with tickets going on-sale December 19th.
The show is the Friday night before WrestleMania, making it the fourth WWE event in the market announced for that week with the Hall of Fame on Saturday, Wrestlemania on Sunday, and RAW on Monday. It seems likely the show will sell out quickly with so many people coming into Dallas that weekend.
Plans for the show’s card are likely close to being finalized already, or will be in a few weeks as they are taping television well ahead of time. Most all the television leading to this show will have been taped by the end of January.
NXT is currently on a tour in the United Kingdom, headlined by NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. the returning Sami Zayn. The tour is building up to the next TakeOver special on the WWE Network, set for Wednesday night in London, England.
*We originally reported the American Airlines Arena, and apologize for the error.
Huge reaction for Enzo and Cass – their shtick is very over. Enzo does most of the work in this one, with all 5 people playing to the crowd frequently. Blake and Murphy get their rest spots in, and regularly cut Enzo off as he inches towards a hot tag. Once Cass eventually gets in, he clears house, before tagging Enzo in for the rocket launcher splash for a clean pinball victory.
Tye Dillinger v Bull Dempsey
Dillinger’s ’10’ chant is over for the rest of the night. It’s made clear from the offset that this is strictly a comedy match. Bull does jumping jacks for a good few minutes, and gets Tye to join in against his will. Tye gets defensive over his laminated ’10’ sign, and flips out once Bull accidentally makes him stand on it. Then a match breaks out, with Tye getting most of the offence in before Bull hulks up and hits a flying headbutt for the pin.
Alexa Bliss v Asuka
Asuka is super over with the crowd. After the early flurry from Asuka, Bliss targets the arm and gets in some moves before getting in some rest spots. Asuka then turns the tables, and makes Bliss submit to the Asuka lock. A basic match, but the crowd enjoyed it.
Some promos for TLC aired in the arena, which the crowd didn’t really appreciate, and they amped up the NXT chants.
Baron Corbin v Neville
The crowd were surprised and happy to see Neville on the tour. This was possibly the longest match of the night, in a show that ran about 45 minutes longer than advertised. Corbin grounds Neville for large chunks of this with the usual big man v little man dynamic. Neville got some hope spots in, but Corbin would hit some big moves to ground Neville. After a few 2 counts, Neville comes back into it with some strikes that send Corbin outside, allowing for an asai moonsault to the floor. Back in the ring, Neville reverses an End Of Days, and after a couple of teases and attempted reversals, Neville hits the Red Arrow for the very popular win.
Jordan and Gable v Dash & Dawson for the NXT Tag Titles
Huge ovation for Jordan and Gable, with a lot of creative chants for them. A chant set to 1993 dance hit ‘No Limit’ by 2 Unlimited was the highlight, as was ‘Save the Gable’ to the New Day chant. Gable starts this one, but unlike Enzo earlier, gets mostly offence in against the champs. Jordan gets a couple of spots before Dawson manages to ground Gable. Quick tags between the champs weaken Gable, before he is able to turn the tide and eventually tag in Jordan. Jordan gets some drop kicks and a belly-to-belly in, and makes the tag to Gable to set up for the Grand Amplitude before Dawson sweeps Jordan out the ring, and Dash rolls up Gable, holding the tights to get the 3 count. Great match, and the crowd showed their appreciation for the challengers post match.
Emma v Bayley for the NXT Woman’s Title
Dana Brooke accompanies Emma. Bayley gets the biggest reaction of the night so far, and there was enough in the budget to bring the whacky inflatable arm-flailing tube men. Many creative chants for Bayley, set to soccer songs and Christmas songs (eg 12 days of Bayley). Bayley plays to the crowd a lot before Emma starts getting in some offence. After a rest spot and an Emmamite sandwich to the corner, Bayley starts to make a comeback, but Brooke grabs her foot from the outside, to which the referee ejects her. Bayley then hits the Bayley-to-belly for the very popular 3 count. Nia Jax makes a brief appearance, but instead of entering the ring, just gives her a warning ahead of their Takeover London match.
Apollo Crews v Samoa Joe
Decent reaction for Crews, but Joe is the over one in this match. I think he has too much respect to be treated as the heel here. A very fun back and forth match, with Joe playing to the crowd throughout. A lot of families left around us, with tired and cranky kids, obviously realising the show was overrunning. Joe the takes control and hits a Muscle Buster for a surprisingly clean 3 count.
Finn Bálor v Sami Zayn for the NXT Title
Huge reaction for both stars. Bálor comes out first, and there was a very brief delay for the ‘ole’ chants – the crowd knows who the challenger is. Zayn is very over with the Glasgow crowd, and is met with huge ‘Welcome Back’ chants. This match was very equal throughout, with Bálor appearing to take the roll as the more heelish of the two. The match kicked into high gear with an insane tope to the outside by Zayn. Zayn then got a close 2-count from a sit-out power bomb. Bálor then got a 2 from a Pele kick. Zayn set up for a Helluva Kick in the corner, but this was reversed before Bálor hit the kick into the corner before hitting the Coup de Grace for the big 3 in an excellent match.
