Oakland, California: – Sandor Szabo defeated Billy Hanson to win the San Francisco Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title
1948
Eugene, Oregon: – Gypsy Joe Dorsetti defeated Billy Hickson for the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Title
1949
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Orville Brown beat Tarzan Kowalski (Killer Kowalski) 2 out of 3 falls to retain title – Bobby Bruns and Don Eagle beat Jack McDonald and Bob Wagner
1955
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Al and Tiny Mills won the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Title defeating Paul Baillargeon and Whipper Billy Watson
1959
Dallas, Texas: – Joe Christie defeated Pepper Gomez to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1961
Houston, Texas: – Pepper Gomez and Hogan Wharton defeated Jet Monroe (subbing for Rocket Monroe) and Sputnik Monroe for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title – – Dan Manoukian won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title from Ciclon Negro
1962
Portland, Oregon: – Fritz Von Goering defeated Billy White Wolf for the NWA PAcific Northwest Heavyweight Title
1963
St. Paul, Minnesota: – No dq, No Time Limit Match: AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Crusher – AWA Tag Team Champions Ivan Kalmikoff & Karol Kalmikoff beat Doug Gilbert & Moose Evans – Rocky Hamilton beat Gordon Nelson – Dick Steinborn beat Stan Kowalski
1964
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – Don Leo Jonathan and Kinji Shibuya defeated Dory Funk, Sr. and Dory Funk, Jr. to win the vacant Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles
1966
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Mighty Igor Vodik 2 out of 3 falls – Fence Match: The Crusher beat Chris Markoff & Professor Steve Druk – AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Dale Lewis & Larry Heiniemi 2 out of 3 falls – Chris Tolos beat John Zendejas – Eddie Sharkey beat Bob Morgan
Tampa, Florida: – Eddie Graham and El Gran Lothario beat Sputnik Monroe and Don McClarity – Lou Thesz and Les Welch beat Kurt and Skull Von Braunner – Dick Steinborn and Sam Steamboat lost to Masked Interns – Argentina Zuma beat the Mummy – Hiro Matsuda beat Silento Rodriquez
1972
Denver, Colorado: – Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens defeated Red Bastien and Crusher Lisowski for the AWA World Tag Team Titles – Pepper Gomez beat Blackjack Lanza 2 out of 3 falls – Don Muraco beat Bobby Heenan 2 out of 3 falls
1973
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: – Lennie Hurst and Dan Kroffat defeated Danny Babich and Michel Martel to win the Stampede International Tag Team Title
– Earl Maynard won the NWA Beat the Champ Television Title by defeating Ripper Collins
1975
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – Guy Mitchell defeated Gene Kiniski to win the Vancouver NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title
1976
Mobile, Alabama: – Lanny and Randy Poffo defeated The British Bulldogs (Jonathan Foley and Edward Heath) for the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Titles
1978
Uniondale, New York: – Carlos Jose Estrada (Jose Estrada, Sr.) defeated Tony Gara to win the vacant WWF Junior Heavyweight Title
Tokyo, Japan: – Animal Hamaguchi and Great Kusatsu won the International Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Title, defeating The Samoans (Afa and Sika)
Obihiro, Japan – NWA Title: Harley Race went to a 60 minute draw with Jumbo Tsuruta – Giant Baba and Rocky Hata beat Bull Ramos and King Curtis! – Mark Lewin beat Takachiho – The Destroyer and Great Kojika beat Johnny Rodz and Kim Duk
Atlanta, Georgia: – Dick Slater beat Stan Hanson – Bob Armstrong beat Mongolian Stromper – Tony Atlas and Bobo Brazil beat Ole Anderson and Sgt Goulet – Mr. Wrestling #2 beat Georgeous George Jr. – Bounty Hunter beat Charlie Cook – Mighty Zulu beat Intern #1
1979
St. Petersburg, Florida: – Thor the Viking (Scott Irwin) defeated Terry Funk for the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1980
Guadalajara, Mexico: – Raul Mata defeated Alfonso Dantes to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title
1981
Mobile, Alabama: – Brad Armstrong won a tournament for the vacant Southeast NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Title
Tampa, Florida: – Special Challenge Match: Dusty Rhodes defeated The Assassin by dq – Sweet Brown Sugar won a Battle Royal – Mike Graham & Barry Windham defeated R.T. Tyler & Bobby Jaggers – Nikolali Volkoff defeated Scott McGhee – Reggie Parks defeated Hans Schroeder – Chris Markoff defeated Mike Davis
1984
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Killer Khan defeated Archie Gouldie (Mongolian Stomper) to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
1985
San Antonio, Texas: – The Maoris (Tudui and Wakahi) defeated Rick Casey (Wendell Cooley) and Jerry Oske for the Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Tag Team Titles
1987
Tampa, Florida: – Bad News Allen won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title from Ron Simmons
Memphis, Tennessee: – The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) defeated Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis for the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1989
– Unified World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler, who held the AWA, CWA and World Class Titles, is stripped of the AWA title when CWA and the AWA ended their relationship.
1997
Osaka, Japan: – Mitsuharu Misawa won the AJPW Triple Crown Title from Kenta Kobashi
Tokyo, Japan:
– WWWA World Champion Kyoko Inoue defeated International Wrestling Association and AJW All Pacific Champion Takako Inoue to unify the three titles – Kumiko Maekawa and Tomoko Watanabe won the WWWA World Tag Team Titles from Mima Shimoda and Manami Toyota
1998
Davis, California: – Owen Hart defeated Goldust, who was dressed as Triple H, to win the WWF European Title
2002
Atlanta, Georgia: – William Regal defeated Edge to win the WWF Intercontinental Title – Ric Flair defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight – Chris Jericho defeated the Rock to retain the Undisputed WWF World Title
UFC 197 is still over a month away, but with tickets going on sale this week, UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos, UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and Miesha Tate will be involved in today’s UFC 197 Press Conference from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which hosts the event on March 5. Dos Anjos will defend the UFC Lightweight Championship against McGregor, who will be looking to become the first fighter to hold two titles in two different weight classes at the same time when he goes for 155-pound gold in the main event of UFC 197. In the co-main event, Holm will make her first title defense against Tate, winner of four straight fights. Hear from those four, along with UFC President Dana White, at 2 PM eastern time by watching above.
Also announced for the UFC 197 card is Filthy Four Daily co-host and our very own Tom Lawlor taking on Corey Anderson in a light heavyweight bout, Erick Silva taking on Nordine Taleb in a welterweight bout, and a featherweight clash between Darren Elkins and Chas Skelly.
Ratings are in for this past Sunday’s UFC Fight Night on Fox Sports 1 and they’re excellent.
Sunday’s four fight main card from Boston, headlined by Dominick Cruz defeating TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title, averaged 2.288 million viewers for the nearly three hour broadcast — the second highest number ever for UFC on that network, trailing only the January 2015 Boston show headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver.
Even more impressively, the two-hour prelims show (Patrick Cote vs Ben Saunders was the featured fight of four televised bouts) averaged 1.767 million viewers. That’s good for the fourth highest rated UFC show on FS 1, just behind the promotion’s debut show in August 2013 that was headlined by Chael Sonnen vs. Shogun Rua. Coincidentally, that was also in Boston.
With the expirement of running a UFC show following NFL’s NFC playoff games earlier in the day on FOX – and heavily promoting the show during the game – proving to be a ratings success, expect the Sunday January show to become an annual tradition.
Matt Hardy offered to put his career on the line against Ethan Carter III in order to receive one last shot at the TNA World Title.
On this week’s show:
The main event will be TNA Champion EC3 vs. Matt Hardy in a title vs. career Last Man Standing Match. Also Knockouts champion Gail Kim will defend against Awesome Kong, plus “Miracle” Michael Bennett and “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis will make their Impact debut, and more on the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour.
Recap:
Impact kicks off with an awesome video package previewing the main event. Josh Matthews is pushing on commentary that this match would be the last time the two will meet.
– Jeff Hardy makes his way to the ring and grabs the mic. He says “that something just doesn’t feel right” in regards to the main event. He calls brother Matt to the ring. They’re pushing that this could be the last night that we see Matt Hardy. Matt convinces Jeff that he’s going to beat EC3 and there’s nothing to worry about. Jeff starts a “Hardy” chant. EC3’s music hits but out comes Tyrus. Tyrus is upset that Jeff called him stupid last week when he implied that Tyrus couldn’t read. Tyrus challenges Jeff to a match and he accepts.
Jeff Hardy vs. Tyrus
Josh reminds us that Tyrus is the “de facto” number one contender for the TNA World Title. Jeff went to the top rope but lost his balance, fell and injured his knee. Tyrus dominates Jeff for the rest of the match. Tyrus goes for a steal chair and shoved the referee, which led to a DQ. After the match, Jeff hit the Twist of Fate on Tyrus.
– Next week it’s Feast or Fired on Impact. We get a video package explaining the concept of the Feast or Fired Match.
– Backstage, TNA tag champs The Wolves talk about the past two years in TNA. They name several tag teams they have beaten which includes the Bro Mans, The Hardys, and Team 3D. Now they’re looking to face off with Beer Money. Crazzy Steve interrupts them and laughs manically. Suddenly, The Wolves and the cameraman are attacked from behind by a mysterious monster. We see only his boot.
TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
Before the match, Kong grabs the mic. Kong tells Kim that nobody cares that she’s married to the cook even though “he makes the best damn lobster raviolis I’ve ever eaten in my life.” This was in reference to Gail Kim’s husband, celebrity chef Robert Irvine. Kong dominated Gail in the early part of the match. Gail hits a crossbody off the top rope to the outside and takes out the entire Dollhouse. The Beautiful People run down and fight Marti Bell and Rebel to the back. Gail hits Eat Defeat on Kong, and throws Jade off the top rope onto Kong. Gail pins Kong to win the match and retain her title.
– They show Jeff injuring his leg earlier in his match with Tyrus.
– Back from commercial, we get scenes from the Kurt Angle Speaking Tour. Kurt talked about a match he had earlier in the year with Bobby Lashley and hopes to face him again.
– Beer Money head down to the ring and they’re looking for a fight. They call out Eric Young and Bram but instead, Eli Drake and Jesse Godderz come to the ring.
Beer Money vs. Jesse Godderz & Eli Drake
They brawl around ringside to start the match. Drake and Godderz get the advantage early on but Beer Money quickly puts an end to that. Beer Money hits the DWI to win the match.
– Backstage, Jeff is icing his knee when Matt, Reby, and Maxell come in to check on him. They convince Jeff to leave and go to the hospital to get the knee checked. Jeff wants to stay for the main event but Matt assures him he’ll be okay. Jeff leaves the arena.
– Kurt Angle makes his way down to the ring. Kurt wonders who should be the next person he faces in the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour. “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Lashley explains that 14 years ago Kurt Angle discovered him. Lashley then quotes Ric Flair and says, “To Be The Man, You Have to Beat The Man” and that Kurt Angle is the man. Lashley challenges Kurt Angle and Kurt accepts.
-Backstage Lashley is asked about his upcoming match with Kurt Angle, when a mysterious woman in a stunning/sparkling dress with purple hair interrupts. She says, “my pleasure is your pain.” She walks away and Lashley is checking her out hardcore.
“Miracle” Michael Bennett vs. Pepper Parks
-Maria Kanellis comes and introduces The Miracle. Bennett gets the advantage in the match with a sweet looking super kick. This was basically a squash match to showcase the skills and talent of Michael Bennett. “Miracle” Michael Bennett picks up the win.
TNA Champion Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy – Title vs. Career Last Man Standing Match
It’s main event time. Both Matt Hardy and EC3 come out alone. They use a lot of weapons, such as tables, chairs, and ladders. Matt hits a twist of fate from the apron through a table at ringside. Reby Sky is watching the match from ringside. Tyrus makes his way down to the ring. Instead of helping EC3, Tyrus turns on him and attacks EC3. He then goes over and hugs Matt. EC3 is playing the face, while Matt is now playing the heel. EC3 fights off both Hardy and Tyrus. Matt uses the TNA World title to knock out EC3. Matt is the new TNA World Champion. After the match, Matt is now a full blown heel and is insulting the fans. Matt hits EC3 with a one man con-chairto. Matt Hardy, Reby, and Tyrus pose on the entrance way with the world title to end the show. A double turn happens with Matt Hardy now the heel, while EC3 is now a babyface.
Final Thoughts:
A good show this week with a really solid main event, which was followed up by a major angle. The double turn was an interesting choice. Next week’s show is built around the Feast or Fired Match with Booby Roode, James Storm, Rockstar Spud, Eli Drake, Jesse Godderz, Eric Young, Bram, Grado, Chris Melendez, Robbie E, Aiden O’Shea and Drew Galloway.
There will be no ratings for either the weekend UFC programming or for Raw available today due to Martin Luther King’s birthday.
Ratings for the weekend, which includes the Dominick Cruz vs. TJ Dillashaw bantamweight title change, will be available tomorrow. Preliminary numbers based on the overnight ratings have indicated Sunday’s show will be one of the most watched UFC events ever on FS 1, likely second most to the show last January headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver.
Raw’s number will also be interesting as it was for the go-home show for the Royal Rumble, built around a Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns confrontation from early in the show. Traditionally Raw numbers bounce back significantly in January when football season ends. Monday will be the first show since the last football game of the season airs on a Monday, although the show two weeks ago didn’t have football competition and the bouce-back was less than anticipated.
JOSH FROM TOUGH ENOUGH CATCHING HEAT; ROYAL RUMBLE BOUND?
By Bryan Alvarez
There is a ton of heat on Josh from Tough Enough after he tweeted last night about #SocialJobbers in regards to the Social Outcasts. The key to the story is that whether he is right or wrong (and, if you are being honest, it would be very difficult to fairly say that the Social Outcasts are not jobbers after being destroyed 4-on-1 last night by the Big Show), to say something like that publicly, especially since he’ll already have heat for getting a $250,000 contract because he won a reality show, is idiotic.
There is a ton of heat on him today from the main roster, to the point where it is possible that management will have to step in to try to quell things if they have not already. The other key is that the Royal Rumble is in Orlando and all the NXT talent will be there. Probably going to be a long day for young Josh. We have heard from people in the company who want to see him in the Royal Rumble now.
NEW JAPAN FANTASTICA MANIA DAY TWO ON TUESDAY IN KYOTO (not on New Japan World)
Ryusuke Taguchi & Fuego vs. Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka
The Panther vs. Okumura
Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Bobby Zavala
Dragon Lee & Jushin Liger & David Finlay & Titan vs. Barbaro Cavernario & Yoshi-Hashi & Virus & Hechicero
Stuka Jr. & Mascara Dorada & Atlantis vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi
Mistico & Kushida vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gedo
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Volador Jr. & Juice Robinson vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Mephisto
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Dayton, OH.
NEW JAPAN FANTASTICA MANIA DAY THREE ON WEDNESDAY IN OSAKA (not on New Japan World)
Jushin Liger & Stuka Jr. vs. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
The Panther vs. Bobby Zavala
Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Okumura
Jay White & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida & Titan vs. Gedo & Yoshi-Hashi & Hechicero & Barbaro Cavernario
Mistico & Volador Jr. & Juice Robinson vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Ultimo Guerrero & Mephisto
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dragon Lee vs Kazuchika Okada & Virus
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today! We have two new quick video clips up on our Youtube page, so check it out and subscribe today for more!
An update on Shinsuke Nakamura, WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling is the lead story of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. His departure, not losing the IC title in the ring, the decision making surrounding it, Nakamura’s final matches in Japan and his start in the U.S., New Japan’s next two PPV shows, and the future of the IC title.
Nick Diaz’s updated suspension, Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler, and the welterweight division title situation. UFC 197 through 200 with talk about what is next for Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, MMA in New York, what huge publicity coup UFC had that fell apart, is UFC too confident about high ticket prices, and a number of future main events. The plans for C.M. Punk’s debut.
Lots of WrestleMania updates, including what is on the books and other key matches. We’ve got more on John Cena’s surgery, updates on a number of WWE injuries, a look at the first Smackdown on USA, more on brain injuries to fighters and wrestlers, Notes on the next NXT tapings, new WWE camps, double standards, Linda McMahon update, NXT weekend, and football background of two NXT stars.
Rundowns of all the WWE & NXT house shows over the weekend and business notes. Updates on Royal Rumble.
A feature on Sting and his career, from growing up through Memphis, through WCW and TNA and his final run in WWE. How he got started, his first break, the Ric Flair match that made him a star, when he was originally going to win the NWA title and why it was delayed, what happened when he was champion, the Hogan vs. Sting disaster, how he ended up in TNA.
Full coverage of TNA’s tapings and PPV, contract issues, the Matt Hardy situation and what is the short-term future for television.
Yoel Romero and his potential test failure and how this changes the middleweight division. Romero’s background, fighter reactions to his test failure.
The future of the AAA Mega championship and the current plans for Guerra de Titanes, the first major show of 2016 in AAA.
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 Meltzer
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Jim Ross will be our guest on Wrestling Observer Radio on Thursday. Ross, confirmed with FOX SPORTS today that he will returning to commentating, taking over for Mauro Ranallo who was doing the commentating for NJPW on AXS.
If you haven’t checked it out already and subscribed, you must check out our Youtube Channel. On top of posting our free shows there, we just posted what is possibly the greatest silent film ever created. The award winning(ok, one of the runners up) The Paper Bag Bandit! Subscribe to our channel now! We will be reposting more in studio videos, the Bryan vs Vinny BATTEL~! which includes all the vignettes leading to the match, another silent film called Kill that Mole and we will keep posting free shows for your enjoyment.
WWE ratings are delayed a day because of the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. In the meantime, check out this look at last week’s ratings, along with speculation at what this week might look like
This will probably change before Sunday but if betting odds are any indication, these are the betting favorites for Sunday’s Royal Rumble match (as per Oddsbreakers.com):
Triple H 6-4
Roman Reigns 9-4
Brock Lesnar 3-1
No one else is any better than a 16-1 longshot. Interesting other names on the listing are:
Daniel Bryan at 18-1
AJ Styles at 33-1
Finn Balor at 40-1
John Cena, Randy Orton, Ronda Rousey (?!!!) and Sami Zayn all listed at 50-1
Shinsuke Nakamura and the Rock both at 66-1
Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and the Big Show at 80-1 (yes, the “largest athlete in the World has the same odds as two guys who haven’t even debuted and probably won’t any time soon)
Chyna (???!!!!??!!), Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe at 100-1 (the same odds as Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry and some other active superstars)
UFC/MMA
BJ Penn announced on the MMA Hour that he is officially out of retirement. He had called out Nik Lentz in the last couple of weeks but today’s announcement by Penn indicated that this is not just for one fight and he’s at least planning on making a title run.
After a successful Strawweight title defence, Invicta Champion Livia Renata Souza had a lot to say Saturday night. She shot down a potential fight with Alexa Grasso, saying that she’s done all she can do in Invicta. She was pushing for a UFC fight with Paige VanZant, calling the recent main-eventer “a joke” and also claimed that she will be the “Conor McGregor of the strawweights”. Hey, at least she gets it.
Speaking of fighters who “get it”, Patrick Cote is pushing for a fight with Nick Diaz. If Diaz’ history is any indication, there’s about zero chance of him taking that fight but at least Cote’s trying.
EVOLVE runs this Friday night in Ybor City, FL with an IPPV available at WWNLive.com and via the Flipps app. The show is built around the first round of their tag team title tournament with the tournament matches being EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Chris Hero & Tommy End, Caleb Konley & Anthony Nese vs. Harlem & Lancelot Bravado, Roppongi Vice (Trent Baretta & Rocky Romero) vs. Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr), and Johnny Gargano & Drew Galloway vs. Drew Gulak & TJ Perkins.The show also includes Style Battle Round Robin Singles Tournament matches with Fred Yehi, Matt Riddle, Peter Kaasa, and Tracy Williams, plus a bonus match featuring PJ Black vs. Ethan Page.
Announced for House of Hardcore on Saturday Night April 16th at the ECW Arena are Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Brian Cage, Sami Callihan, Billy Gunn and more.
On the latest episode of Between the Sheets, Kris Zellner & David Bixenspan are joined by Pete Schirmacher to discuss the week that was January 12-18, 1996 including Sabu & Peter McNeely being in the 1996 Royal Rumble and why it didn’t happen, the Billionaire Ted striking a nerve in WCW, the birth of BattlARTS, AAA vs. Televisa, a wacky MMA-themed episode of the Phil Donahue Show, the awesomeness of early 1996 USWA, the Welch Family Tree, Mike Ditka being rumored to manage Mongo McMichael, and more.
AIW 2/12/16 will be the last time Missy Hyatt manages, since the weekend of Wrestlecon is her final bookings. She is going to be managing Dick Justice & Colt Cabana & Marion Fontaine vs. Bunkhouse Buck & Tracy Smothers & Jock Sampson with Robert Fuller for AIW. Jock Sampson cut a promo on her regarding the match here.
Nick Dinsmore’s Midwest All Pro Wrestling runs January 22 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota featuring the in ring debut of Shayna Baszler and Heather Patera.
Steel Domain Wrestling next event is January 23 in Richfield, Minnesota featuring an “Make or Break” over-the-top-rope Battle Royal!
Next event for Metro Pro Wrestling is Saturday, January 30 featuring: Metro Pro Championship Match: Jeremy Wyatt (c) vs. The Beer City Bruiser and former ECW/SMW/NWA/WWF star Tracy Smothers vs. The Math Magician
Midwest Pro Wrestling runs February 6 in Columbus, Nebraska headlined by MWA Champion Brian Blade defending the title against Nathan Redwing.
Paragon Pro Wrestling on Fight Network January 17:
Caleb Konley vs Mikey O’Shea. Before match O’Shea was attacked by a hooded gentleman. match never started
Ethan HD w/Christian Cole defeated Crash Test Cody
Greg Romero and midget Buggy Cub beat Anthony Green and midget Cowboy Kid Quick
Feature on Darin Corbin
Wes Brisco defeated Darin Corbin
Alex Chamberlain retained the PPW championship defeating The Gentleman Brawler, Eric Right
I normally try not to list off everyone who helped with the daily update today because so many of us do and it would be hard to list everyone every day. But thanks to David Bixenspan, Paul Fontaine and Brian Hoops for the help today, and Bryan too I guess…
New York City: – William Muldoon defeated Thiebaud Bauer to become the first American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Champion
1940
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bobby Bruns defeated Orville Brown to become the first Kansas City Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion
1960
Nashville, Tennessee: – Tex Riley and Len Rossi defeated Don and Jackie Fargo to win the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Titles
Tampa, Florida: – Mike DiBiase defeated The Red Raider (Pedro Godoy) for the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title – Prince Neff Maiava defeated Danny McShain – Don Curtis (sub Eddie Graham) defeated Marco Polo
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – George Eakin defeated John DePaulo to win the Madison Wrestling Club Heavyweight Title
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – NWA World heavyweight champion Lou Thesz beat Billy Watson on a count out – Bob Wagner beat Johnny Barend
1961
Kansas City, Kansas: – The Medics (Tony Gonzales and Donald Lortie) defeated John Paul Henning and Sonny Myers in a tournament final to become the first NWA Central States Tag Team Champions
1962
Portland, Oregon: – King Curtis and Haru Sasaki defeated Herb and Seymour Freeman to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title
1966
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Ripper Collins defeated Ron Reed to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title
1968
Atlanta, Georgia: – Ray Gunkel and Buddy Fuller defeated Butcher Vachon and Stan Vachon (Stan Pulaski) for the Georgia NWA World Tag Team Title
1970
Portland, Oregon: – Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeated Tony Borne and Moondog Maybe for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title
Memphis, Tennessee: – Dennis Hall and Johnny Walker defeated Al and Don Greene to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1972
Buffalo, New York: – Mitsu Arakawa and Yoshino Sato defeated Dominic DeNucci and Tony Parisi in a tournament final for the vacant National Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Title
Mobile, Alabama: – Bob Kelly defeated Donnie Fargo to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1973
St. Louis, Missouri: – Johnny Valentine defeated Harley Race for the held up NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title
Dotham, Alabama: – Ken Lucas defeated The Wrestling Pro to win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title
1976
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler defeated Ricky Gibson for the held up Mid-America NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1977
Raleigh, North Carolina: – Greg Valentine defeated Rufus R. Jones for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Title
Miami Beach, Florida: – Superstar Billy Graham defeated Dusty Rhodes by dq – Ox Baker defeated Jos LeDuc – The Assassin defeatd Steve Strong – Mike Graham & Jack & Jerry Brisco defeated Buddy Wolff & Bob Roop & Bob Orton, Sr. – Steve Keirn defeated Angelo Poffo
Omaha, Nebraska: – Cage match: The Crusher beat Mad Dog Vachon – AWA Tag Team Champions Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum beat Peter Maivia & Billy Francis – Greg Gagne beat Roger Kirby – Jim Brunzell beat Angelo Mosca dq – Super Destroyer beat Jan Nelson (sub Bull Bullinski)
1979
Atlanta, Georgia: – Ole Anderson and Ivan Koloff won the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title from Jack and Jerry Brisco
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Tag Team Champions Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Verne Gagne – Terry Funk beat Blackjack Lanza – Mighty Igor Vodik beat Iron Sheik
1980
Mexico City, Mexico: – Kato Kung Lee defeated Americo Rocca to win the NWA World Welterweight Title
1981
San Juan, Puerto Rico: – Carlos Colon and Invader I defeated Danny (Dennis) Condrey and Dutch Mantel for the WWC North American Tag Team Titles
1982
Tampa, Florida: – Florida Title No DQ Match: Killer Karl Kox defeated The Spoiler to retain the title – Dory Funk, Jr. & David Von Erich defeated Mike Graham & Mr. Wrestling 2 – Hacksaw Reed & Jack & Jerry Brisco defeated Chan Chung & Mr. Fuchi & Mr. Onita – Iron Mike Sharpe drew Eric Embry
1987
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada: – Owen Hart defeated Makhan Singh (Mike Shaw) for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: – Hercules Ayala defeated David Schultz to win the International Wrestling International Heavyweight Title
1991
Miami, Florida: – Sgt. Slaughter pinned WWF Champion The Ultimate Warrior to win the title – The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato) – Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble Match
Matsumoto, Japan: – Jumbo Tsuruta won the AJPW Triple Crown Title from Stan Hansen
1992
Albany, New York: – Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble match and won the vacant WWF World Title – The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) by countout – Roddy Piper defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion The Mountie to win the title
Vancouver, Washington: – Art and Jesse Barr defeated The Bruise Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
1997
San Antonio, Texas: – Shawn Michaels pinned WWF Champion Sycho Sid to win the title – Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble
2003
Boston, Massachusetts: – The Dudleys defeated William Regal & Lance Storm to capture the Raw Tag Team Titles – Brock Lesnar won the 30 man Royal Rumble
2005
Louisville, Kentucky: – The Thrillseekers (Matt Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter) defeated MNM (Joey Matthews and Johnny Nitro) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
WWE Hall-of-Famer, longtime broadcaster, and podcast host Jim Ross confirmed Tuesday with Fox Sports that he will be returning to the broadcast booth for the newest NJPW on AXS TV season, starting on Friday, March 4th.
Ross replaces Mauro Ranallo, who recently started with WWE and is now the lead voice of Smackdown. Color commentator, past NJPW competitor, and UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett will remain on the team.
Ross told Fox that he will head to Los Angeles between 8-10 times a year to do his play-by-play for two-day sessions where they will record six shows at a time, beginning with action from Wrestling Dontaku 2015. The duo will also call matches from the 2015 New Japan Cup, Invasion Attack, HINOKUNI, Best of the Super Juniors 22, Dominion 7.5, G1 Climax 25 and more.
This isn’t Ross’ first time calling NJPW action as he and Matt Striker were the American announce team for Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 2015.
The longtime voice of RAW with Jerry Lawler, Ross returned to WWE several times over the years for Smackdown, NXT, and spot shows through his “retirement” from the company in 2014. He tried his hand at boxing for Fox Sports One, as well as MMA with the Battlegrounds tournament PPV alongside Chael Sonnen.
Last Monday’s average viewership of 3.23 million viewers was the lowest for RAW in the month of January since the Monday Night Wars era. Viewers were down 14.48% from a year ago this week (January 12, 2015), which also went up against the NCAA college football national title title game. That particular edition of RAW averaged 3.89 million viewers, which, in itself, was down 11.67% from the same week in 2014.
The rating for the 2016 show was a 2.36, down 12.92% from the same week in 2015, and also the lowest January rating since before the Monday Night Wars.
The 2015 rating was a 2.71, down 12.86% from the previous year. It’s important to note that 2015 was the first year that of the current format of the NCAA college football playoffs, meaning that the championship game was later than it had been in previous years and had never gone up against RAW prior to that.
The average for the month of January is now 3.451 million viewers, well down from January 2015’s 4.035 million.
If this trend continues, it would be the 14th straight month that RAW viewership has dropped year-over-year with most of those months seeing a decline of more than 10%. Similarily, the combined rating so far in January is 2.43, down 17.8% from last year’s 2.95 rating in January.
While pro and/or college football has a clear effect on RAW’s ratings, that doesn’t tell the full story.
Every year, without exception, RAW’s viewership numbers drop generally about 5-10% as soon as the NFL season starts. After the season ends, the numbers generally return to slightly above the level they were prior to the football season, partially due to the “Road To Wrestlemania” season of January-March. This year, the decline was much worse than usual and the numbers were nearing record lows to begin with. The numbers will almost certainly rise now with the end of football on Monday nights, but it would take a drastic turnaround to get even close to 2015 totals. After Mania, when the viewerships traditionally drops again, it’s very likely that RAW will return to doing non-holiday record lows every week.
What about this week?
With nothing major promoted for last week’s show (Brock Lesnar appearing on the show wasn’t announced until later in the week), there is no reason to expect any increase to the Monday, January 18th rating other than the typical non-football bump. One year ago today, RAW did an average of 4.09 million viewers. The last 10 weeks, RAW has been averaging about 11% less than the previous year’s number, so the estimated numbers are 3.65 million viewers and a 2.65 rating.
Anything higher than could be a sign that WWE is slowly turning things around and something’s clicking. If the number is lower than that, the slide is getting worse. If they score anything around 3.5 to 3.8 million viewers, that’s a good sign things may be stabilizing.
