– Hype Bros defeated Marcus Louis and Sawyer Fulton via pinfall with the Hype Ryder on Marcus. Good reaction for the Bros here. Fun action.
– Elias Samson beat Rich Swann with his new neckbreaker finish. Good match, Swann is beloved already and Elias had a lot of heat here. After the win, Elias hopped the barricade and drifted away.
– Eva Marie, Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan, Aliyah, and Adrien Reese. The negative reaction for Eva is amazing these days. Eva got the pin on Aliyah.
– Manny Andrade (the former La Sombra) made his NXT debut and defeated Riddick Moss with running knees to the face while Moss is laying with his head on the bottom turnbuckle. Manny wasn’t known yet, so he had to win over this crowd.
– Jason Jordan, Chad Gable and Apollo Crews defeated NXT Champion Dash & Dawson and Angelo Dawkins. American Alpha is very over, a lot of solid wrestling here. Gable hit a delayed roll through Chaos Theory. It was a thing of beauty. Jordan is the best hot tag in NXT, and cleared house before Gable scored the pin after the assisted German Suplex.
– Baron Corbin defeated Alex Riley with the EOD. Physical match. Baron was jawing with the crowd a lot.
– Asuka defeated Billie Kay (w Sylvester LeFort) via Asuka Lock submission. Good match here, all about Asuka.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor and Bull Dempsey defeated Tye Dillinger and Tino Sabatelli. A lot of comedy with Bull doing his jumping jacks routine and upsetting the heels with his antics. Finn was extra animated in this match as he Irish whipped Tino across the ring and chopped him 9 times before Dillinger got in his way to stop the tenth, Finn then chopped Tye for the large ten chant. Balor got the win with the stomp and sent everyone home happy.
Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia with more of the aftermath from Final Battle included the surprise return of Stevie Richards. In another ode to ECW, there was a match with wild brawling, chair swinging and a table breaking. Also, Cedric Alexander and Veda Scott get shocked after an upset. In the television main event, Big Mike provides a display of power.
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 (Steve Corino) provided commentary.
Enter TV champion Roderick Strong to some cheers then a chorus of “you tapped out” chants. Roddy looked annoyed and continued his change to a more heelish demeanor as the champion bro. He bragged that he was still the champion following the last PPV and then he smirked.
The backstory being he tapped out to a submission hold applied by Bobby Fish without the referee seeing the tap. Strong went on to eventually retain. In continuing the Roddy vs. the world theme, Strong issued a new open challenge.
Surprisingly, Stevie Richards returned to challenge for the TV title in the same arena in which he first rose to prominence in during his ECW run.
ROH TV champion Roderick Strong beat Stevie Richards to retain
Richards looked in great shape as he did more than just hang with a conditioned machine like Strong. Corino noted both represented different disciplines of training and suggested the idea of the match being DDP Yoga (Richards) vs. crossfit (Strong).
The match was nip-and-tuck throughout and wide open in the early moments. They slowed down for a knuckle lock when Strong took a cheap shot and dastardly kicked Richards in the stomach. However, Richards escaped his clutches. Roderick cut off Stevie, nailed him with a sweet dropkick then kept him grounded on the mat. Roddy dashed a hope spot before a commercial.
Dashing hope again after the break, Strong got a nearfall. A moment later with Roderick perched on the top turnbuckle, Stevie hit a superkick to send Roddy tumbling down. Off an implant DDT, Richards got a nearfall. Another nearfall by Strong when he delivered a flurry of offense and a backbreaker for a two count. The crowd started dueling chants for their respective favorites.
Landing a series of forearms and elbows, Strong had Richards reeling when he executed a gutbuster and went for his finishing kick. Stevie hit a superkick out of nowhere for a nearfall. The crowd chanted “that was three.” Richards promptly applied the Boston crab on Strong, which is a move Roddy normally uses. Mere seconds later and Strong applies the same hold, which he calls “the stronghold”, on to Richards. As they began slugging it out, Strong suddenly hits a bome ye of sorts with a jumping knee to the face for the pinfall.
Post-match, the theme song for reDRagon interrupted Roddy’s celebration. Bobby Fish sporting a dapper suit entered the scene flanked by three aids collectively carrying a table and two chairs. Fish informed the audience this was an impromptu edition of his Fish Tank segment and he planned to interview Roderick. Clutching his title belt, the champion looked unpleased with the sudden turn of events.
Before the Fish Tank came a commercial break. ACH plugged ROH merchandise including but not limited to a water battle, his new t-shirt, a backpack to put it all in and a coloring book to keep you entertained.
After the break, Fish was seated at a table in the ring. Though he was invited to sit, Strong threw a chair across the ring where it bounced into the turnbuckles.
“Looks like we’re standing,” Fish said.
With a slight dig toward the current champ, Bobby talked about the new heights Jay Lethal took the championship to in the past year. Bobby went on to say the year was a banner year for “Mr. ROH” as well. He put over Strong for a moment before showing a photo on the video screen that Bobby introduced as what the year meant to Roderick. It showed Strong tapping in their match at Final Battle. Roderick was already hollering about not tapping when Bobby asked him directly if he tapped. The champion defiantly shook his head and scoffed.
Strong grabbed a microphone. He fiddled with it in trying to get working, which helped convey his frustration though it was a mishap. Fish just kept ad-libbing. Roddy began to deny he tapped. Then he denied some more before cutting a promo on Fish.
“I did not tap out, you sore loser,” Strong said and angrily threw the mic at Fish then stormed off dragging his title behind him.
Before the next match, Caprice Coleman cut a promo on Will Ferrera. Coleman first bullied the ring attendant. He once again called Ferrera a “jive turkey” and said he would beat Ferrera while looking pretty from all angles. He claimed to “have the body of a god and the face of an angel.” With that, Ferrera jumped him before the bell.
Caprice Coleman beat Will Ferrera in a no disqualification match
After a getting into a brawl and dueling with chairs two weeks ago on TV, this match was no DQ. Upping the violence and the brutality with this match, Coleman and Ferrera took their feud to another level with Prince Nana mysteriously connected to the rivalry. That and they were in the ECW Arena so they took it to the extreme.
They brawled around ringside at the outset. Back in the ring, Coleman whipped Ferrera with a belt. Coleman got the better of a dueling chairs spot. On commentary, Mr. Wrestling #3 pondered about the involvement of Prince Nana and how that has somehow escalated the level of violence.
For the finish, Ferrera made a comeback and retrieved a table. Ironically, Coleman would jump off the top rope with a legdrop to put Ferrera through the table and cover him for the pin. From the aisle, Prince Nana looked on approvingly as he clapped and smiled.
Jonathan Gresham beat Cedric Alexander (with Veda Scott) in an upset
The beginning looked like any enhancement match. Cedric delivered a suplex series of three amigos. When he went for a fourth consecutive suplex, Gresham cradled him in a small package for a nearfall. The underdog fired up. Veda caused a distraction allowing Cedric to derail the comeback. He dropkicked Gresham in a corner a couple times before delivering a vicious falling backbreaker. Cedric and Veda smirked and showboated. When Cedric went for a lackadaisical cover, Gresham used a cruxifix to reverse it and score the pinfall. Veda couldn’t even *ugh*.
Michael Elgin beat Donovan Dijak (with Truth Martini) in the television main event
Airing before the Tokyo Dome show, the story was Dijak trying to soften up Elgin for Jay Lethal and the House of Truth ahead of the title match at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Likewise, Lethal was at ringside providing guest commentary. Before the match, Jerry Lynn interrupted the proceedings and confronted Lethal. At first it looked tense but Lynn admitted he was wrong about his Final Battle predictions. They shook hands. Lethal proclaimed it was the final proof he was the now the greatest wrestler in the world.
This was a mean guy match. They started by slamming into each other with shoulder tackles. Elgin eventually got the better of the early exchange. The fans counted along when Elgin hoisted Dijak up for a delayed vertical suplex. They quickened the pace and Dijak knocked Elgin off the apron. Truth Martini celebrated by break dancing in the ring before a commercial break.
Dijak got heat on Elgin then Big Mike made a comeback. He pummeled Dijak for a few moments until using a German suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. On commentary, Lethal kept mentioning that this was pro wrestling and not powerlifting. So, he would beat the mighty Elgin because he was the best wrestler in the world as ROH world champion.
Elgin blocked a chokeslam. Seconds later, Dijak picked him for a chokeslam into a backbreaker. Dijak leaped to the top rope and did a moonsault for a two count. Elgin fought back with forearm smashes. Dijak lifted him up in a fireman’s carry. Elgin turned it into a sunset flip followed by a deadlift powerbomb. Elgin finished him off with sit-out powerbomb for the pin. He then stared down Lethal.
TNA PPV tonight! That’s right, TNA is running a PPV show tonight, in Bethlehem, PA after four straight days of tapings. As noted by Dave, the ratings for the first real episode of Impact on POP TV did poorly, and I can’t imagine that this PPV will do anything but that.
Conor McGregor will move up in weight to challenge UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in an effort to become the UFC’s first dual belt holder and their third fighter to win belts in two weight classes. More on that here. The show in March will be headlined by McGregor vs. RDA and co-headlined by Holly Holm’s first women’s bantamweight championship defense against Miesha Tate. Yes, UFC is not going with the Ronda Rousey rematch immediately.
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Houston (Brock Lesnar vs. Sheamus, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title),tonight’s NXT show in Tampa and tonight’s TNA show in Bethlehem, PA if there’s anything not on the PPV to Dave Meltzer
We’ll also be doing our weekend poll on the TNA 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
TNA ONE NIGHT ONLY PPV TONIGHT FROM BETHLEHEM, PA AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Kurt Angle & Drew Galloway vs. Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards vs. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz
Bobby Roode & James Storm vs. Eric Young & Bram
Women’s gauntlet match for No. 1 contender for the title (possibly to be won by Awesome Kong since Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong in a title match was already taped for Impact)
Mahabili Shera vs. Aiden O’Shea
Bobby Lashley vs. Tyrus
Mike Bennett vs Robbie E
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M EASTERN (one hour earlier than usual)
A.J. Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for IWGP title
CMLL ON WWW.CLAROSPORTS.COM LIVE FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Marco Corleone & La Mascara & Maximo Sexy vs. Kamaitachi & Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla
Euforia & Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero vs. Dragon Rojo & Rey Escorpion & Thunder
Volador Jr. & Cibernetico vs. Rush & Caristico
CES MMA FROM LINCOLN, RION AXS TV AT 9 P.M. EASTERN
We’re looking for reports on Saturday from the ROH TV tapings in Concord, NC (Young Bucks vs. Matt Sydal & ACH, Roderick Strong vs. Masada, Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley, War Machine vs. All Night Express plus Top Prospect tournament matches), Lucha Underground TV tapings in Boyle Heights, CA, WWE house shows in Montgomery, AL (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for WWE title; New Day vs. Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer, Kane vs. Bray Wyatt) and Bossier City, LA (Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio, Ryback vs. Rusev), TNA PPV tapings in Bethlehem, PA and NXT in Citrus Springs, FL.
Sunday has Lucha Underground tapings in Boyle Heights, CA, as well as WWE house shows in Mobile, AL (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for WWE title; New Day vs. Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer; Kane vs. Bray Wyatt) and Monroe, LA (Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio, Ryback vs. Rusev).
Raw is live Monday from New Orleans. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman return on the show.
Smackdown and Main Event tapings will be Tuesday in Lafayette, LA.
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 have clips of the post Summer Slam / Super China Buffet show featuring a lengthy Brent Kremen discussion, as well as clips from the X-Mas show. This is a soft launch but we will be releasing much more shortly.
In the biggest news week in a long time, we’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, covering John Cena’s injury, New Japan stars headed to WWE, a major feature looking at the year that past in pro wrestling and MMA and the year coming up, WWE direction for WrestleMania season, Tokyo Dome coverage, Rizin debut coverage, TNA changes and UFC 195.
Our lead story talks about John Cena’s injury and the injury issues in WWE with more notes on the training program being used. All the news regarding wrestlers leaving New Japan, who’s been contacted, different roles, the various schedules for different guys, other negotiations, what led to these moves, what New Japan needs to learn from this, affects on ROH, and other ideas for New Japan to break out of its standard mentality.
UFC in 2016, the success of the women’s division, UFC business review, big fights on the horizon, the state of WWE in 2015 and 2016, different fan bases, rise of NXT, where New Japan has failed on the international scene, plus AAA, CMLL, Bellator, TNA and ROH prospects in 2016.
Full coverage of New Japan’s Tokyo Dome show, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, the big angles, Okada’s prospects as the top star, the next big programs on the horizon, big show plans for 2016, the Fanstastica Mania tour lineup and thoughts, New Year’s Dash coverage.
The changes to this year’s Royal Rumble and scout the possibilities and big matches on the horizon for Mania, and the return of Chris Jericho.
WWE Network, John Cena on Peyton Manning and HGH, football coach trying to recruit WWE for Mania, portrayal of Joseph Maroon in the “Concussion”, lots of details on new Dwayne Johnson projects, Lesnar’s schedule, a look at 50/50 booking, Reaction to HHH circumventing his own angle, February NXT, WrestleMania plans, Jericho talks current interview style, WWE looking for new stars around the world, Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament, WWE injury updates, Austin TV show.
A complete look at the debut of the Rizin promotion, details on the ratings and how it compares to WWE & UFC, the Masato vs. Kid Yamamoto show in competition, boxing in competition, Spike TV numbers, Fedor’s return, the freak show fights and what did and didn’t work on the first two shows.
UFC 195, with match-by-match coverage, poll results and business regarding the show, a look at all the close decisions and why they went the way they did.
TNA’s debut on Pop TV, the ratings, the title tournament, who was watching, the PPV show this week, the Mike Bennett debut, the James Storm return, the departure of Taryn Terrell and the good and bad of the latest relaunch.
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
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
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.
The debut of Smackdown on the USA Network did 2,757,000 viewers, up about 600,000 from what the show was doing on Syfy, so the boost of changing networks looks to be significant.
The WWE continues to have fun on its web site with the New Japan raid, showing a photo of most of the Bullet Club, wearing Balor Club T-shirts on their web site while Finn Balor wore a Bullet Club T-shirt in a photo released. Balor did an interview promoting them coming talking about how he was best friends in Japan with Karl Anderson, as well as good friends with Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale and Shinsuke Nakamura while he was in Japan.
Roddy Piper’s last movie, “The Masked Saint,” debuts tonight in 480 theaters around the country. The story is about the life of a pro wrestler who becomes a pastor, but when there are problems paying the bills, he goes back to wrestling to raise money. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY
There was a bomb threat this morning at Arena Mexico. The building was evacuated at 10:30 a.m. and roads around the arena were blocked off. The building was searched and no bomb was found.
ROH announced a battle of champions (Jay Lethal & War Machine & Roderick Strong) vs. Bullet Club (Young Bucks & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) for 1/22 in Asheville, NC. Anderson & Gallows are making their advertised ROH dates this month but will not be taking any new dates.
WWE
WWE stock closed down two cents a share today to $16.30.
To show the relationship with WWE & Evolve is still strong, WWE allowed Evolve to pass out flyers for their shows in January in Orlando at the NXT tapings last night at Full Sail University.
Tickets are on sale today for the complete out of Florida NXT shows. Since they are in smaller buildings, most are likely to sell out quickly. 2/4 in Memphis, 2/5 in Nashville, 2/6 in Indianapolis, 2/18 in Philadelphia (Tower Theater), 2/19 in Asbury Park, NJ, 2/20 in Albany, NY
Daniel Bryan will be appearing toady in Cincinnati at the Cavalcade of Customs at the Duke Energy Convention Center (thanks to Brian Henke)
A couple of stories on the Anoa’i family and wrestling related to Roman Reigns returning as WWE champion to the Gulf Coast this weekend, where he grew up. HERE and HERE
UFC officially announced shows on 5/8 in Rotterdam, Holland, which was reported in this week’s Observer, as well as 4/10 in Zagreb, Croatia. Both will be FS 1 shows.
A Frank Mir vs. Mark Hunt heavyweight main event was announced for 3/20 in Brisbane, Australia.
MISCELLANEOUS
AAA’s vacated heavyweight title, that Alberto Del Rio never lost and wasn’t allowed to return to drop, will be decided on 1/22 in the main event of Guerra de Titanes at Juan de la Barrera Gym in Mexico City. It will start as a tag match with Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown vs. Mesias & El Texano Jr. The winning team will then have a singles match for the championship.
Glory 27 takes place on 2/26 in Chicago at the Sears Centre Arena headlined by Artem Levin vs. Simon Marcus for the middleweight title. There is a pre-sale right now and tickets to on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Sunday.
During last night’s Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets game, in Dallas, they were playing the Shinsuke Nakamura entrance music between plays. (thanks to Paul Fontaine)
CMLL from Tuesday night at Arena Coliseo in Guadalajara: Chakal & Thunder Boy b Divino & Metatron, Disturbio & Malefico & Metalico b Omar Brunetti & Sensei & Starman, Okumura & Sangre Azteca & Virus b Esfinge & Pegasso & Stigma, Angel de Oro & Rey Cometa & Titan b Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora & Rey Hechicero, El Terrible & Rey Bucanero & Vangellys b Mistico & Valiente & Volador Jr.
The non-title win in the main event by Terrible & Bucanero & Vangellys sets up a CMLL trios title match on Tuesday night in Guadalajara.
Casino executive Bryan Lindsey was announced as having acquired a majority equity stake in Tuff N Uff, the 20-year old Las Vegas local promotion.
IWA Mid South tonight in Clarksville, IN at the Colgate Gym features Billy Gunn, Sami Callihan, Michael Elgin and Kongo Kong. They also run tomorrow night in the same building with Gunn vs. Reed Bentley and a women’s no rope barbed wire match.
Key Takeaway: The first season of Breaking Ground caps off with a really strong episode focusing on the NXT performers at TakeOver: Respect.
Show Recap: In terms of a single episode, this edition worked better than any other episode of this season, and arguably works entirely on its own as a backgrounder on the NXT performers. Last week left off with fans beginning to line up outside Full Sail University for TakeOver: Respect. From there, we branch off into several parallel paths:
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable: Gable and Jordan talk about the importance of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – we get a nice video package explaining Dusty’s death and legacy – and then shift to the excitement of them getting to wrestle on their first TakeOver event. They lose to Baron Corbin and Rhyno, but afterwards get a lot of praise backstage for their performance and view the experience as something to build on.
Baron Corbin: Before the show, Corbin and Tino Sabbatelli have a nice chat about their shared background as NFL players. Corbin notes how he came in and people didn’t like him because he didn’t come from the indies or pay his dues, but he worked hard and got to the top – basically saying that he hopes Sabbatelli can do that, too. Anyway, Corbin and Rhyno beat Jordan and Gable, then lose to Samoa Joe and Finn Balor in the finals. (There’s a really cool segment with Stephanie and Triple H looking at the trophy and talking about the presentation of the trophy with Cody and Dustin Rhodes before the show.) After the match, we get Cody’s speech and then see Corbin backstage, a bit gutted that a trophy was being presented and he wasn’t part of it. The guy is competitive.
Dana Brooke: Dana’s mom visits before the show and helps her prepare for the show. She and her mom visit with Tara, the NXT physical therapist, who explains the injury is a pectoral tear and she can work through it. Dana guts out the match with Asuka and does really well, getting praise backstage.
Apollo Crews: Before the show, Triple H and Apollo talk about a new finisher for him. He has a match with Tyler Breeze, who he repeatedly puts over in interviews, and beats him with his new finisher – which is basically a back suplex spun into a power-bomb. It looks cool.
Bayley: The show caps off with highlights from the Bayley/Sasha Iron Man Match, which is edited to look like the most epic match in history. Afterwards Bayley and Sasha get flowers and hug and it’s all very nice and emotional.
After the show, Triple H has a meeting with the agents and producers and praises the show, noting they basically made four acts into stars (Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, Asuka, and Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) in one show, one of which was somebody who lost. Then he heads to the all-talent meeting, where he praises the talent and says that Dusty would be proud of all of them. Then he calls Tyler Breeze down to the front of the meeting and announces that Breeze has been called up to the main roster, leading to a standing ovation from the assembled NXT talent.
The episode ends with a montage of updates on how everyone’s doing now: Dana had pectoral surgery and is rehabbing. Apollo and Corbin are still in NXT and working on their promo skills. Jordan and Gable are one of NXT’s most popular teams and might get called up soon. Sami Zayn returned to action on the European tour. Bayley is still NXT women’s champion and beat Nia Jax in London to retain the title in a match Jax dominated. Bayley hopes to get her call-up soon. Tino, ZZ and the others are still working hard at the Performance Center to pursue their WWE dreams. Tyler Breeze made his debut on the main roster, with the last image shown on Breaking Ground being Breeze coming through the curtain and facing the crowd as Michael Cole and JBL react to his entrance on commentary.
Final Thoughts: This episode was good enough to make me wonder why they spent nine episodes spinning their wheels to get here. It was really focused and somewhat resembled the superb WWE 24 series, which tended to focus on a single event and drill down into the events surrounding it. The emphasis on the importance of the TakeOver events as a means of getting to the main roster really helped make this episode seem really important. The focus on the handful of NXT stars that we’ve gotten to know and care about – rather than random people like Josh, Nhooph or ZZ – really made the episode feel important rather than something crammed with random segments to fill the time. It’d be great if every episode was this focused next season, because then the show could be something special.
Taped on Thursday, January 7th for the January 19th show on POP TV and for future One Night Only PPVs:
– Jeff Hardy beat Tyrus via DQ. Jeff called out Matt Hardy and they did an interview talking about Matt’s career vs. title match with EC 3. This ends up with Tyrus challenging Jeff to a match.
– Knockouts Champion Gail Kim beat Awesome Kong to retain.
– Beer Money (Bobby Roode & James Storm) beat Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz. Roode & Storm challenged Bram & Eric Young to a rematch (from their match that actually takes place on Friday’s show). Instead, Drake & Godderz issued a challenge.
– Mike Bennett beat Pepper Parks in a squash match.
– Kurt Angle is out thanking everyone. Bobby Lashley comes out and said that he wants a rematch from their match last year where Angle beat him. Angle praised Lashley and accepted the match.
– Ken Anderson beat KOTM Champion Eric Young by DQ when Bram interfered. They beat down Anderson until Roode & Storm ran in. Segment started when Young came out and offered an open challenge for his King of the Mountain title against anyone except Roode or Storm, leading to Anderson coming out.
*****
Taped for PPV:
– Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne beat Jade & Marti Bell
– TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III went to a double countout with Matt Hardy
– Drew Galloway beat Eli Drake
– Bobby Lashley beat Mahabili Shera
– TNA Tag Champions Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards beat Abyss & Crazzy Steve
– Bram & KOTM Champ Eric Young beat DJ Zema Ion & Trevor Lee when Young pinned Lee after a piledriver
– Tigre Uno & Mandrews beat Jessie Godderz & Robbie E when the latter team couldn’t get along
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania: – Wladek Zbyszko defeated B.F. Roller for the American Heavyweight Title
1925
Kansas City, Missouri: – Wayne Munn defeated Ed “Strangler” Lewis to win the World Heavyweight Champion in 2 out of 3 falls
1946
San Francisco, California: – Jim Casey defeated Dean Detton to win the San Francisco NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title
1957
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff defeated Fritz Von Erich and Karl Von Schober in a tournament final to become the first Minneapolis NWA World Tag Team Champions (The title would go on to become the AWA World Tag Team Title in 1960)
1958
Mobile, Alabama: – Yvon Robert defeated Mario Galento to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1959
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dick Hutton and Bob Ellis drew 1 fall each (60 minutes) – Ernie Dusek, Lee Henning and Mighty Atlas beat Bobby Bruns, John Foti and Thor Hagen – Bob Orton beat Joe Scarpa
1960
Houston, Texas: – Pete Managoff defeated Nick Kozak for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1962
Memphis, Tennessee: – Len Rossi won the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title by defeating Don Greene
1965
Portland, Oregon: – Pepper Martin defeated Pat Patterson for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Moose Cholak – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Reggie Parks & Billy Red Cloud – Eddie Sharkey beat Johnny Kace – Bob Boyer beat Jack Allen
1966
Omaha, Nebraska: – Mr Wrestling Tim Woods beat AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon in 2 out of 3 falls to win AWA Title (recognized only in Omaha) – Reggie Parks drew Haru Sasaki – Mitsu Arakawa beat Jack Pesek – Billy Red Cloud beat Jim Wehba (Skandar Akbar)
Chicago, Illinois: – NWA Champion Gene Kiniski beat WWA Champion Dick the Bruiser (NWA title only on the line) – Johnny Valentine no contest Wilbur Snyder – Verne Gagne beat Chris Markoff – The Assassins beat Dennis Hall & Huey Long – The Crusher beat Prince Pullins
1970
Jacksonville, Florida: – Brass Knuckles Title: Jack Brisco defeat Missouri Mauler to win title – Mephisto & Dante defeated Sam Steamboat & Ciclon Negro – Bob Orton defeated Skull Von Stroheim – Dory Dixon defeated The Executioner
1971
Portland, Oregon: – Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeated Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title
1972
Hanley, England: – Albert Wall defeated George Gordienko to win the British Empire Heavyweight Title
1974
Tampa, Florida: – Danny Hodge defeated Ali (Iron Sheik) Vaziri – Kevin Sullivan defeated Skull Von Stroheim – Tom Jones defeated Mark Stone – Mad Dog & Stan Vachon defeated Paul LeDuc & Tex McKenzie – Mike Graham defeated Dick Slater by dq – Buddy Colt defeated Paul Jones by dq – Dusty Rhodes no contest Jos LeDuc
1975
Miami, Florida: – NWA Title: Jack Brisco defeat Dory Funk, Jr by dq to retain title – Florida Tag Team Title: Tony Parisi & Dominic DeNucci defeated Dick Slater & Prof. Toru Tanaka to retain titles – Florida Title: Bill Watts defeat The Great Malenko to retain title – Bob Roop & Mongolian Stomper beat Jos LeDuc & Bob Armstrong – Johnny Weaver beat Sonny Rogers – Pat Barrett drew Iron Mike McCord
1978
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: – Leo Burke defeated Don Gagne (Frenchy Martin) for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Stan Stasiak – Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum – Dusty Rhodes beat Waldo Von Erich – Jay Strongbow beat Chris Tolos dq – Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell – Angelo Mosca ddq Peter Maivia
1983
Cloverdale, British Columbia: – Moose Morowski and Al Tomko defeated Dean Ho and Moondog Moretti for the Vancouver NWA International Tag Team Title
Kumaya, Japan: – Kaoru Matsumoto defeated Lioness Asuka to win the AJW Singles Title
1984
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Don Kernodle and Bob Orton, Jr. defeated Dory Funk, Jr. and Jimmy Valiant for the vacant Mid-Atlantic NWA World Tag Team titles
Mexico City, Mexico: – Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. defeated Pirata Morgan to win the Mexican National Heavyweight Title
1985
Tampa, Florida: – Winner gets held up Florida Title and $15,000: Brian Blair defeated Jesse Barr (Blair regains title) – Texas Tornado Match: Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts defeated Khrusher Khruschchev & Jim Neidhart – PYT Express defeated Sweet Brown Sugar & Scott McGhee – Mike Graham defeated Jack Hart
1990
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler defeated King Cobra for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title
1994
Memphis, Tennessee: – Far 2 Wild (Chris Michaels and Todd Morton) defeated PG-13 (JC Ice and Wolfie D) for the held up USWA Tag Team Title
1995
Atlanta, Georgia: – Arn Anderson defeated Johnny B. Badd to win the WCW World Television Title
Nagano, Japan: – Tatsutoshi Goto, Shiro Koshinaka and Michiyoshi Ohara defeated Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado to win the Pro Wrestling WAR Six-Man Tag Team Titles
1998
Daytona Beach, Florida: – Juventud Guerrera defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Ultimo Dragon to win the title
2000
Fajardo, Puerto Rico: – Ray Gonzalez defeated Carlos Colon to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title
2003
Nashville, Tennessee: – America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) defeated The New Church (Brian Lee and Slash) to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles – Curt Hennig defeated David Flair in an axe-handle on a pole match
2006
Albany, New York: – John Cena defeated Shawn Michaels, Kane, Chris Masters, Carlito and Kurt Angle in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the WWE Championship – Edge defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship after cashing in his “Money in the Bank briefcase”
2012
Orlando, Florida: – TNA X-Division champion Austin Aries defeatd Zema Ion, Jesse Sorensen and Kid Kash to retain the title – TNA Knockouts champion Gail Kim (with Madison Rayne) defeated Mickie James to retain the title – TNA Tag Team champions Matt Morgan & Crimson beat Samoa Joe & Magnus to retain the titles – TNA champion Bobby Roode retained the title over Jeff Hardy by dq
Once Upon A Time, in a Business Far, Far, Far Away…the idea that Vince McMahon could push main eventers who had never experienced success outside of the WWF was absurd given how aggressively they had poached the biggest and the best pro wrestlers from rival promotions. Indeed, with only two exceptions, the WWF did not own the exclusive rights to their champion’s gimmick until “Stone Cold” Steve Austin won the title in 1998.
Even then, at a time when McMahon’s main even roster was arguably at its weakest, it was still focused on guys such as Mick Foley and Austin who had won championships in WCW. Even The Undertaker had a notable run in WCW as part of The Skyscrapers. But Triple-H and The Rock were different; the former had achieved nothing during a short-stay in Atlanta whilst the latter didn’t even get that far south after leaving the Canadian Football League. Instead, they were WWF-lifers, men who debuted to much fanfare, suffered a vicious yet deserved backlash, only to finally grow into the shoes they had been given upon entering the Titanverse.
It’s a journey that most of WWE’s late Attitude era draws have trodden. Whether it’s John Cena, Randy Orton, Dave Batista or Edge, they are all were similarly devoid of pro wrestling accomplishments away from the McMahons, and were all strongly pushed upon their debut only to temporarily falter due to the promotion and performer having failed to perfect their persona away from the main stage. Yet, they all eventually achieved real success after tweaking their characters.
It has been more than a decade since the promotion has found the same success in ‘hothousing’ talent in this way. Whether that’s due to the developmental system not recruiting the right performers or creative not letting talent grow into more marketable personas is up for debate. What cannot be argued is that the inability of WWE to grow its own superstars has had the most profound impact on the product they present.
The careers of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are all evidence of how the WWE has been forced to reach into the very same independent scene they used to dismiss to find the next generation of superstars. Still, at least, the promotion was able to console itself with the fact that these men all needed the McMahon Family to get them to the big stage. After all, without the WWE, they wouldn’t be performing in arena shows or on national television.
Indeed, it seemed that this became WWE management’s collective egos’ Maginot Line; anybody could be hired provided they had no national television exposure and weren’t so infamous that WWE couldn’t remould them. Kevin Owens was the first to hint that this defence was creaking. Sure, he was given a slightly different name but he was essentially playing the same character as he had in Ring of Honor. Worse, he had appeared extensively on ROH syndicated television and had even had his own action figure produced.
But that was nothing compared to this week’s news that A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura are on their way to WWE. While both men are just as revered by smart fans as the ‘indie darlings’ that WWE has been busily signing to NXT in recent years, they have far more tenure in “mainstream” pro wrestling.
Styles was not just regularly featured on Spike TV rom 2005 to 2014, but was the TNA champion during the period Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan tried to turbocharge TNA to new heights. A show Styles appeared on as champion was watched (at one point) by more than 3 million people. His merchandise includes action figures, t-shirts, DVDs and video games. He’s wrestled all over the world, and so while the WWE could insist on renaming him, it would likely hold them up to ridicule and lessen the impact of his debut.
Styles has also been the highest profile foreign star in New Japan Pro-Wrestling for the past two years. However, his impact there has been nothing like that of Shinsuke Nakamura. An art-college vision of bad-ass, he is easily the flashiest character and most dynamic performer in New Japan’s main event scene. Not even Sting could boast having headlined a show with as high a paid attendance as Wrestle Kingdom 8, where Nakamura’s Intercontinental Title defence went on last in front of more than 30,000 people.
To underline how significant a change in WWE’s recruitment policies these signings are, consider this. The last person to be recruited by WWE having successfully drawn more than 10,000 buys on pay per view for a rival pro wrestling promotion within a year of their debut was probably Hulk Hogan in 2002! Other than the ill-fated Mistico, WWE has simply not recruited anybody with the success or profile of either Styles or Nakamura since they cemented their dominant market position.
And the reason they are doing so is not because they want to, but because they’ve finally acknowledged that they can’t grow their own talent. That they are being forced to face up to his failure does raise questions about what the millions of dollars being invested into NXT are actually achieving.
They opened with two matches taped for a show called WWE Kids. The idea is that Corey Graves announces with two kids and that kids handle the interviews and ring announcing. One of the ring announcers was Izzy, the Bayley fan who had been featured on TV during her matches the last several months.
Becky Lynch beat Natalya
Big Show beat Heath Slater
NXT for January 13, 2016:
William Regal announces a battle royal with the winner getting a shot at Bayley’s championship. Sami Zayn came out, not to enter the battle royal, but to challenge Finn Balor for the NXT title. Samoa Joe came out so this set up Zayn vs. Joe. Baron Corbin then came out and it set up a three-way for the next title shot.
Tommaso Ciampa beat Danny Burch
Dash & Dawson beat The Ascension
Elias Sampson beat Corey Hollis
Carmella won the battle royal. Eva Marie stayed outside the ring and they teased she had won, but Carmella was never eliminated and threw her out. Bayley and Carmella celebrated after the match.
NXT for January 20, 2016:
Sami Zayn beat Adam Rose
Apollo Crews beat Tye Dillinger. Crews then issued challenge to Finn Balor, saying he just wanted a match with him now and it’s not about the title.
Baron Corbin pinned Rich Swann with the End of Days
Bayley & Carmella beat Alexa Bliss & Emma. They celebrate like best friends (which they are in real life)
Samoa Joe beat Johnny Gargano
NXT for January 27, 2016:
Chad Gable & Jason Jordan came out with the new name American Alpha. they beat Blake & Murphy with the double team back suplex.
Nia Jax beat Liv Morgan. Nia Jax & Eva Marie are together as a unit.
Alex Riley (first match back after knee surgery) beat Bull Dempsey
Elias Sampson beat John Skyler
#1 contender’s match: Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin saw Zayn put Corbin the sharpshooter and Joe put Corbin in the crossface. Corbin tapped out, but the question was who did he tap out to, which will lead to a Zayn vs. Joe singles match for the shot.
NXT for 2/3
The Vaudevillains beat Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder
Carmella beat Emma
Enzo Amore & Big Cass beat ?
Asuka beat Santana Garrett
NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Apollo Crews in a non-title match.
Fresh off her successful title defense submission victory over Nia Jax at NXT TakeOver: London in December, NXT Women’s Champion Bayley now has her next challenger set: Carmella.
NXT announced Thursday night via Twitter that title match will take place at their Friday, January 22nd event at the CFE Arena at the University of Central Florida.
Additionally, Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn will hook it up to determine the new No. 1 contender to NXT Champion Finn Balor. On the aforementioned London show, Balor successfully defended his belt against Joe in the main event via pinfall. Zayn returned on that same show after a long layoff following shoulder surgery, and will be looking to regain the title he lost to Kevin Owens.
The event is part of an aggressive January calendar for the popular WWE-created brand where they will run 15 total shows, including several on the same night in two locations.
In a coincidence, Bayley tweeted out Thursday that today marks her fourth year in NXT.
Alluded to by UFC President Dana White on UFC Tonight Wednesday, Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter cited multiple sources in reporting Thursday night that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will move up in weight to challenge UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in an effort to become the UFC’s first dual belt holder and their third fighter to win belts in two weight classes.
If the report is accurate, the fight will happen at UFC 197 on March 5th in Las Vegas with a co-main event of women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate, a fight that became quite clear after White said that the 10-0 Holm’s next title defense would not be against Ronda Rousey as he had originally said. Holm dominated Rousey to win the title in a shocking upset via 2nd round knockout in November while the 29-year-old Tate (17-5) is riding a four-fight winning streak after downing Jessica Eye in a July unanimous decison win.
White and other UFC officials had previously shot down any other previous champion who said they wanted to move up in weight, win another title, and defend both belts. The 19-2 McGregor, however, has a lot of bargaining power and a fight against the talented but promotionally flat dos Anjos (25-7) is the biggest draw of a fight the champion currently has.
Unfortunately, this also puts a McGregor/Frankie Edgar featherweight title on ice, as well as stunts the next steps for top lightweight contender Tony Ferguson and the winner of January 17th’s Anthony Pettis vs. Eddie Alvarez bout on Fox Sports One.
Regardless, putting these two huge fights on the same show assures the UFC of another big PPV buyrate for the first quarter of the year.
Holm instantly became one of UFC’s biggest stars with a knockout win over Ronda Rousey, winning the bantamweight title. While UFC officials had stated many times that Holm’s first title defense would be a rematch, which would be the biggest money fight in UFC history, the decision was made to give Rousey more time and have Holm defend against Tate. Tate was originally scheduled for the shot at Rousey that Holm got, but it was pulled because UFC officials decided that even though Tate was the top contender and had won a match over Jessica Eye to get the shot, that since Rousey had beaten her twice, they would put Rousey with a new opponent.
It’s virtually a lock that the winner of this fight would face Rousey later in 2016.
