St. Louis, Missouri: – Ray Steele beat Leo Numa – Abe Coleman and Ernie Dusek drew – George Tragos beat Casey Berger
1936
Hollywood, California: – Chick Dude defeated Albion Britt for the World Junior Heavyweight Title
1950
Chattanooga, Tennessee: – Eddie Gossett (Eddie Graham) and Roy Welch defeated The Masked Bat (Danny Dusek) and Finis Hall to win the NWA (Mid-America) Southern Tag Team Title
1962
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Whipper Billy Watson defeated Mike Sharpe to win the NWA (Vancouver) British Empire Heavyweight Title
1965
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Stan Mykietowich and Al Tomko defeated Frenchy Champagne and George Eakin in a tournament final for the Madison Wrestling Club Tag Team Title 1968
Laurel, Mississippi: – Bob Kelly defeated Rocket Monroe to win the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title
1969
Duluth, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Blackjack Lanza 2 out of 3 falls – Red Bastien & Billy Red Lyons & Pepper Gomez beat Luke Graham & Larry Hennig & Dr. X – Butcher Vachon beat Bruce Kirk
1970
Memphis, Tennessee: – Big Bad John and Pepe Lopez defeated Oni Wiki Wiki and Young Atlas for the NWA (Mid-America) United States Tag Team Title
1973
Atlanta, Georiga: – Ron Fuller defeated Bill Watts for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title – Gorgeous George, Jr. and Bobby Shane defeated Bob Armstrong and Robert Fuller for the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title
Los Angeles, California: – Rey Mendoza defeated Kim Sung Ho to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title
– Raul Mata and Victor Rivera defeated Dr. Death and Mr. Wrestling to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title
1974
Peoria, Illinois: – Death Match: Greg Gagne beat Bobby The Brain Heenan – Larry The Axe Hennig beat Ox Baker – Jim Brunzell beat Baron Von Raschke – Khosrow Vaziri beat Rock Riddle – Geoff Portz beat Yugo Babich
1975
Memphis, Tennessee: – Bearcat Brown and Tommy Gilbert defeated The Interns (Tom Andrews and Jim Starr) to win the NWA (Mid-America) Southern Tag Team Title
1976
Bayamon, Puerto Rico: – Eric The Red defeated Jose Rivera to win the WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Title.
1977
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – Gama Singh and Igor Volkoff defeated The Black Avenger and Mike Sharpe for the NWA (Vancouver) Canadian Tag Team Title
1979
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – The Dynamite Kid and Sekigawa defeated Leo Burke and Hubert Gallant in a tournament final for the vacant Stampede International Tag Team Title
Houston, Texas: – Dusty Rhodes defeated Mark Lewin to win the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Tag Team Champions Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Super Destroyer Mark II & Super Destroyer Mark III – Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Steve Olsonoski
1985
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler won the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title by defeating Bill Dundee
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: – Kerry Brown defeated Davey Boy Smith for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
1989
Bristol, England: – Mal Sanders defeated Steve Grey to win the vacant British Welterweight Title
1992
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jeff Jarrett defeated Brian Christopher for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1995
– Hisakatsu Oya & Horace Boulder defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Daisuke Ikeda to win the FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles
1996
Bremen, Germany: – Rambo defeated Ludvig Borga to win the Catch Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title
Caguas, Puerto Rico: – El Bronco defeated Jake Roberts to win the World Wrestling Association Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title
1997
San Germain, Puerto Rico: – Villano III defeated Ricky Santana to win the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title
YESTERDAY IN FLORIDA WRESTLING HISTORY (thanks to Barry Rose)
1956 – Argentina Rocca beat Marco Polo (Fort Lauderdale)
1956 – Wild Red Berry beat Billy Raborn (Jacksonville)
1960 – Man Mountain Managoff & Chief Big Heart beat Buddy Austin & Hans Schmidt (Tampa)
1961 – Eddie Graham & Harry Smith beat Tojo Yamamoto & Taro Miyake via DQ (St. Petersburg)
1963 – Mark Lewin & Don Curtis & Chief Crazy Horse beat The Assassins & their manager (Miami Beach)
1965 – Eddie Graham beat Missouri Mauler (Orlando)
1966 – Eddie Graham & Lester Welch beat The Infernos via DQ in a world tag team title match (Tampa)
1967 – Johnny Valentine & Duke Keomuka beat Jose Lothario & Joe Scarpa via count out (Sarasota)
1971 – Dick Murdoch & Ole Anderson & Bobby Duncum beat Bearcat Wright & Johnny Walker (Wrestling II) & George Gaiser (Orlando)
1972 – Jack Brisco beat Rene Goulet to retain the Florida title (Miami Beach)
1973 – Jack Brisco beat Lou Thesz to retain the NWA title (Jacksonville)
1975 – Billy Robinson beat Bill Dromo to retain the Southern title (Sarasota)
1978 – Jos LeDuc beat Dick Slater via DQ (Tampa)
1978 – Dick Slater beat Jack Brisco via DQ in a Southern title match (Miami Beach)
Today is Slammy Award day at WWE, which means a series of awards (some tongue in cheek, some serious) will be released throughout the day with what the company believes are the major awards being released throughout the three-hour Raw tonight from Minneapolis.
Usually this builds to the fan voted Superstar of the Year award at the end of Raw. Given the timing of Roman Reigns winning the title this past week and all voting being done this week, plus the other leading candidates, Seth Rollins, John Cena and Brock Lesnar all being off television the past two months, he would look to be the favorite.
These awards will be announced throughout the day on WWE.com and will get updated here as they do:
Tag Team of the Year – The New Day would seem like the favorite here.
Hashtag of the Year
Celebrity Moment of the Year – Stephen Amell, Jon Stewart and Wayne Rooney would be the favorites here.
Tell Me You Just Didn’t Say That Moment of the Year
Best John Cena Open Challenge match of the year – Choices are Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose and Neville.
The following awards will be announced on the Raw pregame show on the WWE Network starting at 6 PM EST:
Rivalry of the Year – Undertaker vs. Lesnar would be a favorite but you can’t predict fan voting on something like this
Double Cross of the Year
Surprise Return of the Year
Best WWE Network Original Series
These awards will air live on Raw:
Superstar of the Year
Match of the Year – Candidates are John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins at Royal Rumble, Sting vs. HHH at WrestleMania, Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber, Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler vs. Owens on Raw, Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell
Diva of the Year – Choices are Nikki Bella, Noami, Charlotte, Paige and Sasha Banks
Breakout Star of the Year – Owens, Neville, Charlotte, Tyler Breeze and Braun Strowman.
A few promos for the Slammy’s tomorrow night with Lillian and Byron mentioning it in the ring.
The Miz vs Ryback (W)
Great opener with Ryback getting the crowd hot
Young crowd so Ryback was very over.
Miz was pretty outstanding in this match and really played up the heel card.
Skull Crushing Finale for a 2 count which led to the go home for Ryback to hit Shell Shock.
Wyatt Family vs Dudley Boys, Tommy Dreamer & Kane (W)
Wyatt’s and Bray in particular were very over with the older parts of the crowd. Bray seemed extra vocal on the apron during the entire match.
Kane was a surprise guest and received a huge pop when coming out.
Did the big Kane vs Strowman spot which led to a spot fest, everything landing finishers.
Ended with Kane getting the pin and the 4 raised hands in the middle of the ring.
Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose (W) (IC Title Match)
Owens was definitely over being in Canada.
Attacked Dean as he was getting into the ring and cut a promo while Ambrose recovered.
Brawl on the outside which led to Owens grabbing an Ambrose fan sign and ripping it up, and eventually eating it in the ring. Super heel crowd reaction to this.
Ambrose lands the DDT and gets the win. Celebrated taking photos with the barrier etc.
Team B.A.D vs Charlotte, Becky, and Brie Bella (W) (Elimination Style Match)
Sasha was over getting chants right from the walk. Quick promo in the ring about how it will be 3 vs 2 because Paige isn’t around anymore.
Becky comes out to a HUGE reaction, was definitely the most over of all the girls tonight. Charlotte follows after with Brie being the surprise 3rd.
Order of elimination was… Tamina, Becky, Naomi , Brie. We Want Becky chants started after she was eliminated.
Great final match with Charlotte and Sasha, definitely felt like NXT calibre. Felt like this is the next feud coming.
BAD rushes the ring followed by Becky and Brie for the brawl, Charlotte hits the spear into the figure 8 and gets the tap.
Match of the night for sure.
Jack Swagger vs Alberto Del Rio (W)(US Title Match)
Crowd definitely seemed a little quite for this.
Highlight was Swagger throwing Del Rio’s shirt into the crowd, followed by Del Rio hopping the barricade and snatching it back from the fan. Swagger grabbed ADR and brawl ensued at the barricade.
ADR hit the top rope stomp for the win.
Sheamus vs Roman Reigns (W)(WWE WHC Match)
Sheamus rolled out of the ring to start, Reigns grabbed him and brawled on the outside for a while
Crowd was super into Roman. Almost no boo’s. Older guys in the audience tried to get a little Roman Sucks chant going.
5:15 chant from small part of the audience seemed to get some attention.
Fortunately, The Miz was shown backstage watching this on TV (at a preposterous angle of course) with megaphone in hand, rather than shouting through it at ringside. An admission here that that particular piece of this promising nascent Neville storyline did not work on Monday night.
Lots of Neville using his speed to avoid Rusev and employ some trusty arm-wringers to start here – before the Bulgarian caught him off a cross-body attempt and fallaway slammed him leading into the break. Back with Rusev continuing to get the heat, working a slow methodical pace that fails to hold the interest. Neville manages an enziguri to start his comeback and follows up with a missile dropkick and a superkick to set up the Red Arrow.
Rusev rolls to the floor to avoid however, so Neville hits him with a moonsault to the outside instead, before rolling Rusev back into the ring for a second bite at the Red Arrow apple. This is Lana’s cue to climb the ringsteps and point at Neville, which is apparently enough of a distraction to cause him to hesitate and allow Rusev to recover. Rusev slams Neville off the top, before hitting the kick to the head and locking on the Accolade for the submission finish.
Pretty boring heel offence from Rusev here. The match was briefly enlivened by the moonsault highspot, only for it to eventually fall victim to the dumbest of dumb distraction finishes.
Post-match, Rusev shows exactly why he’s so awesome by ad-libbing a fantastically furious reaction to his flag failing to unfurl properly from the ceiling. He grabs his own handheld version and waves it furiously, before handing it off to Lana and cussing out the WWE staff at ringside in Bulgarian instead. Fantastic stuff.
Jack Swagger def. Bo Dallas by submission (12:08)
Alas, Vince McMahon did not appear to call a premature end to this clash of the titans. Bo shows off his jiggle with an early victory lap, before Swagger takes control leading into the break with a vicious running clothesline on the outside.
Swagger is still dominant when we return, only for Bo to kick off his heat with a double sledge off the ropes. Dallas then continues his gimmick of shouting “BOLIEVE!” while applying restholds. One too many Bolieves allows Swagger to recover and shoot for an anklelock, which Bo escapes, only to eat yet another running clothesline.
Bo gets the knees up off a Swagger Bomb attempt, but gets thrown to the outside, where he trips Swagger on the apron and throws him into the steps for a close nine-count. Bo signals for the Bodog, but Swagger reverses it into the Patriot Lock for the submission, to put a merciful end to this disjointed and dull affair.
– We get our obligatory RAW recap, focusing on Roman Reigns’ one-night ascension to the top of the company. Worth noting that they did not show the Brogue Kick kick-out here, but did show the post-match celebrations with the Usos and Dean Ambrose. Still no explanation as to where those guys were on Sunday night, though.
The Usos def. The Ascension by pinfall (5:55)
Jimmy gets the shine on Konnor to start us off, before tagging in Jey – your babyface-in-peril for the evening – who immediately gets caught with a flapjack to start the heat. Viktor tags in and hits an excellent looking STO to Jey on the outside. He applies a headlock inside the ring, before neatly swatting away an attempted dropkick from the Uso. A damn crisp worker is our Viktor.
Konnor comes in and ruins everything by eating a Jey elbow off an attempted corner charge. Enziguri from Jey leads to the hot tag to brother Jimmy, who runs wild on Viktor – hitting him with the usual Samoan Drop and corner hip attack combo.
Double superkicks to both Konnor and Viktor follow, before Jimmy hits the Superfly Splash on the latter for the pinfall victory. Short, by-the-numbers and perfectly acceptable tag match, highlighted by Viktor’s contribution.
Final Thoughts
A pretty bleh show this week, highlighted by Rusev’s ability to think on his feet and react to the overhead flag malfunction. As for the actual wrestling, there’s not much to recommend here. An eminently skippable outing for Main Event, I’m afraid.
Great free UFC show. I ordered the PPV last weekend since I only pay for Weidman cards at home these days. The free show card overall was much better, but the top two fights last weekend were worth the purchase. It’s interesting to see that the next PPV is followed by a Fight Night and Fox show that both have way more depth and appeal. They should rethink how they book these shows.
Anyway, thumbs up for the show. Best fight: I would probably go Diaz vs Johnson followed by McCroy vs Samman. Worst Fight: Jury vs Olivera.
Thanks, Matt Wright
Gave the show a thumbs up. Especially since it was free.
Best Fight: Nate Diaz vs Michael Johnson
Worst Fight: Alistair Overeem vs Junior Dos Santos on main card, Sarah Kaufman vs Valentina Shevchenko on undercard
Best Performances; Rafael Dos Anjos, Nate Diaz, Charles Oliveira
Really loved the first round of Nick Lentz vs Danny Castillo. Some great mat work by both.
Thought Nate Marquardt KO’ing CB Dollaway was a huge upset. Nothing against Marquardt but I can’t see him hanging with the top middleweights at this point of his career.
I really loved Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her fight vs Randa Markos. She had some great movement the whole fight and never tired. She could be someone to watch out for in the future if she keeps progressing. Markos was not a pushover opponent for her but I question her strategy of trying to stand with her and not trying to get her to the ground earlier.
Nate Diaz vs Michael Johnson was a great fight. Nothing like those Diaz bad boys to keep your interest in a fight. Diaz looked great and his posturing during the fight was fun to watch. Too bad they bleeped out his whole promo. I would love to see the build up for a Diaz vs McGregor fight! Could you imagine the shenanigans that would ensure with that one! Make that fight happen!
Dos Santos vs Overeem was a huge let down and didn’t really make either look great or want to make you see either in title contention. They were both fighting not to lose. Winning a boring fight doesn’t make you want to put money into a PPV buy to see you in a title fight. The heavyweight division is in trouble. After Velasquez vs Werdum who do you want to see fight?
Disappointing that Cowboy couldn’t get out of the gates against Dos Anjos. Big fan of Cowboy. Dos Anjos looked great though.
Everyone up and down the card wants the big payday against McGregor.
Grant Zwarych
Thumbs up. Good card to end the year. Some changing of the guard evident.
Best fight: McCrory vs. Samman
Worst fight: Miller vs. Alers (for a ‘contest’, Overeem vs. JDS until the KO)
Best performance: RDA, Oliveira
Worst performance: Johnson
KO: Marquardt
Sub: Oliveira
Scary debut for 6’4″, 254, 83″ reach, action figure looking HW Francis Ngannou, outcardioing 23-y-o skilled wrestler Luiz Henrique and knocking him silly with a left shovel hook in the 2nd. Vincente Luque avenges a debatable SD loss from TUF, rocking Haydar Hassan and putting him out with a Rolling Anaconda that has him doing the chicken on the mat and with no clue what happened when he wakes up. Kamaru Usman survives some early headsup work from Leon Edwards and wears him out for a UD.
Cole Miller vs. Jim Alers off to a decent start when Alers sinks a finger deep into Miller’s eye in the 2nd and it’s a NC. Nik Lentz coming up in weight takes a SD over Danny Castillo (3rd straight SD loss) in a fight that starts out great but both gas quickly. Lentz sounds seriously physically ill on his promo. Tamdan McCrory and Josh Samman stage a rare entertaining 99%-grappling match that’s back and forth for a round and a half then McCrory gets on top and stays there until Samman reverses him late in the 3rd which just allows McCrory to snag and constrict a triangle till Samman is forced to tap. McCrory then leaps the fence to high five Rogan. Muay Thai fighter Valentina Shevchenko comes in as a 1 week sub and completely dominates a much more MMA-experienced Sarah Kaufman at all ranges for 2 rounds until fading in the 3rd (with a 1 week camp this is not puzzling) and takes a ridiculously split decision. ‘Punchcount’, apparently based on Bizarro World planet along with the one judge, comes up with a 162-65 strike advantage for Kaufman. After a shaky 1st, Nate Marquardt saves his career catching CB Dollaway coming with a 1 punch right hand KO at the beginning of the 2nd. Note to Rogan and whoever else, it’s not a ‘counter’ unless the other guy punches first. Miles Jury drops a division (and looks emaciated) and changes camps but Charles Oliveira despite missing weight by 5lb manhandles him down, takes his back when Jury misses an arm bar, and sinks jumping standing Guillotine the instant Jury regains his feet, and it’s over.
UFC-debuting Karolina Kowalkiewicz is either better than she looks technically or Randa Markos has gone way backward training with Farah Salami. Close first, Markos edges the 2nd, and KK wins the 3rd way big, maybe 10-8. 29-28 either way, 28-28, or 29-27 Kowalkiewicz all possible decisions. But Markos’ worst performance IMO. 29-28 x 2, 30-27 Kowalkiewicz. We’re starting to see the level rise in the women’s divisions.
Nate Diaz shows up in actually suspiciously muscular good shape and feeling like fighting for a change and paintjobs Michael Johnson, who fights an increasingly stupid fight, for a 29-28 UD. MJ was effective with low kicks in the 1st then abandoned them, and left his footwork in the dressing room.
Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem stage an almost action-free display until Overeem, looking by far the smaller of the two, catches him with an awkward left hook in the 2nd that sends him crashing to mat and finishes with 3 hammerfists. Reem trained with some cold weather guru for his S&C. Junior went to ATT but apparently too late. He’s done. Really both looked awful till the KO but Reem is suddenly in pole position for first shot at the Werdum-Cain 2 winner.
Rafael Dos Anjos wastes no time repeating his previous win over Donald (maybe his nickname should be ‘Chokeboy’ instesd of ‘Cowboy’) Cerrone, this time ripping into him with knees and kicks to the body from the bell, a barrage of punches, stuffing a desperation TD and pounding him out. Cerrone once again chokes in the big fight but it may not have mattered, as RDA has somewhat obscurely developed into a top 5 P4P fighter and him vs. Conor suddenly looks like a superfight.
Crimson Mask
Thumbs up show
Best Fight: Rafael dos Anjos vs Donald Cerrone
Worst Fight: Alistair Overeem vs Junior dos Santos
Even though everyone said dos Anjos looked smaller because he could be off the PEDs I think he probably came in lighter for camp due to the IV ban.
I guess they could pair up Overeem vs Rothwell and maybe dos Santos vs Travis Browne. If they did dos Santos vs Gonzaga, then Dave is right, no one is doing him any favours.
Thanks,
Eric Poon
Thumbs in the middle due to overall fight quality,
The only moments that stand out are the Diaz promo, Overeem’s KO after a dull fight vs. JDS, and RDA thrashing Cerrone in record time for a 155 title fight. The prelims were dull with no stakes making them completely forgettable.
Best fight: RDA over Cerrone as it created another very clear next potential opponent for McGregor who looked very strong while beating Cerrone.
Worst fight: Markos/Kowalkiewicz, bad selection to open the FOX card after almost an hour break between fights. Not a fan of strawweight fights as openers as finish rates are low and an opener needs to be more action oriented.
Thanks,
Urooj Islam
Good evening (early morning here in Ireland).
Tonight’s UFC on Fox was an excellent end to an excellent year of fights, particularly the second half of the year which provided some incredible matchups including Lawler V McDonald 2, McGregor V Mendes, McGregor V Aldo and Weidman V Rockhold. From the fights tonight, it was amazing to see a motivated and prepared Nate Diaz. He was a 4/1 underdog due to one fight in two years (not to mention a stinking attitude at times) but he displayed everything that makes fans love the Diaz brothers. I, myself, am not a fan of his persona but his fighting abilities cannot be denied and he entertains like very few fighters.
The co main event started out in the fashion of the Gonzaga fight from last weekend but once JDS and Overeem woke up, it improved immeasurably. JDS needs to retire. The damage he has taken from the fights with Cain and Stipe have left him very vulnerable and considering he is a very affable man, it would be really disappointing to see him continue and for his mental well being (as well as his physical) to diminish.
It is very interesting to see how the UFC proceed with Overeem, however, given his big win and his contract being expired. For the first time, the UFC could potentially be on the back foot with some of their fighters. McGregor is negotiating ludicrous contracts and fighters like Overeem and Benson Henderson are surely too good and important to their respective divisions to allow them to fight elsewhere.
The main event was a massive disappointment simply because, like most fans of MMA, I love Cowboy. To see him completely dominated and pummelled viciously was difficult to watch, although it is testament to the ever improving talents of RDA. His finish tonight could have potentially set up a monster fight with Conor with the angle available of RDA seeking vengeance for his fellow countryman. Whereas for Conor, it is an opportunity to solidify his belief that he is the greatest MMA fighter on the planet.
Hopefully some of these musings help.
Kind Regards,
David.Walker
UFC on FOX Thumbs up Best: Diaz vs Thompson Worst: Overeem vs Dos Santos
NXT Takeover London Thumbs up Best: Emma vs Asuka Worst: Corbin vs Crews
I think Asuka could have a match of the year level match with Seth Rollins. She’s unbelievable. Tough to not give Balor/Joe the nod for match of the night, but I was more entertained by the opener so that was the tiebreaker for me. Plus the main event is always expected to reach a certain level, so when an unexpected match delivers so well, I feel it gets the benefit of the doubt. Corbin has become a better worker, but I’m just not into his matches. Same problem now with Crews. He needs to take the next step before he can be in the main event picture. I was surprised Dawson and Wilder retained the tag belts, but it may just be so they can drop it to the white hot Jordan/Gable combo. It still boggles my mind that WWE needed 3 hours of gimmicks on Sunday to have great matches, while NXT continues to do it in a normal, one on one match all the time. And when there are stips in NXT, it means something — in WWE, it’s just December so that’s what they do.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s UFC show, Friday night’s ROH Final Battle and Wednesday night’s NXT Takeover, 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 WWE show in Winnipeg (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens, yesterday’s ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia and today’s 2CW shot at Dave Meltzer
Monday will be the Slammy Award edition of Raw from the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Smackdown will air live on the USA Network at 8 p.m. on Tuesday from Des Moines. The New Day vs. Lucha Dragons for the tag team titles has been announced.
The USA Network will air Tribute to the Troops on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., a taped show from Jacksonville.
Conor McGregor winning the UFC featherweight title, the story behind UFC 194 and the path of Roman Reigns to the WWE title are the lead stories in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with coverage of so many major shows over the past week.
We look at McGregor’s financial goals, the business of UFC 194 and the records set, early PPV projections, what is next for McGregor, TV viewership numbers in the U.S. and Brazil, , as well as the path of McGregor to being the No. 1 male star in the promotion. We look at Frankie Edgar as a contender, potential of UFC 200 if Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor are booked on the same show, the last two PPV shows, Rousey vs. McGregor as draws, Luke Rockhold’s middleweight title win, looking at the Yoel Romero vs. Chris Weidman judging and the future of the middleweight division.
We also look at the path of Roman Reigns to the WWE title, the increased viewership on Raw, where the new viewers came from and how viewership differed from recent weeks. We look at the reaction to Reigns, and the storylines that led to that reaction.
We’ve also got complete rundowns on WWE TLC, NXT Takeover, as well as all three UFC events, including match-by-match coverage, business notes, star ratings and more.
We also have a look at Mauro Ranallo’s signing with WWE, his background, how the deal came to fruition and the path from announcing pro wrestling on TV while a teenage on national television in Canada to the WWE 30 years ago, with stops in kickboxing, MMA and boxing in between.
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
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. 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.
To clarify Nate Diaz saying that Joe Silva told him he was getting the next shot at Conor McGregor, which he said in an interview last night after the show with Ariel Helwani, we’re told that nobody knows where that came from but we’re told Silva never said that to him. Conor McGregor, when talking about Diaz, Rafael dos Anjos and Charles Oliveira, all of whom challenged him last night, said, “Line them up on their knees with their hands out. I want them to beg me.” Diaz did the best interview, only nobody watching on television saw it since just about the entire interview was bleeped out. At the press conference, Diaz said, and I’m not sure of this logic, that since McGregor already punked out dos Anjos at a press conference months ago, that nobody wants to see that fight and that he’d have a real fight with McGregor, not a fake fight.
Ronda Rousey’s first major interview since losing the title will be on Wednesday with Kelly and Michael Strahan on ABC at 9 a.m.
Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis finished up with ROH last night. It was pretty well acknowledged and everyone did a thank you for them at the end of the show. They are expected to be headed to TNA, which is trying to debut new talent for its 1/5 show. A.J. Styles was at the ROH tapings last night and got involved in a finish but didn’t do a match as he was pretty banged up after his match with Jay Lethal on Friday.
Pop TV has added another TNA special, which will be on New Year’s Day at 1 a.m. called “This is Impact,” which will be a preview show to hype the final four in the world title series on 1/5. TNA also announced that the 1/30 show in London will feature multiple cage matches as one of the two shows taped will be Lockdown, an all cage match television show. They also announced a Monster’s Ball match on 1/29 in Manchester and a King of the Mountain match on 1/31 in Birmingham. Names announced for the tour are Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, Matt Hardy, EC 3, Drew Galloway, Eric Young, Bobby Roode, Rockstar Spud, Grado, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Ken Anderson, Tigre Uno, Robbie E, Mandrews, Mahabili Shera, Gail Kim, Taryn Terrell, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, Abyss, Awesome Kong, Jessie Godderz, DJ Zema Ion, Eli Drake, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, Rebel, Tyrus, Marti Bell and Jade.
WWE
WWE week begins tonight on the USA Network with the movie Santa’s Little Helper with Miz and Paige at 8 p.m. Plus during the week from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be WWE interviews with Big Show, Miz, Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon, plus they will during the week be airing Dwayne Johnson movies such as The Rundown, Fast Five and GI Joe Retaliation.
Big E promotes the 12/26 house show in Detroit. He said he’d like a singles match with Brock Lesnar. When asked what would happen in a powerlifting competition between he and Mark Henry, he said, “In his heyday, I’d give him his due. He would have beaten me handily. He’s one of the strongest men to have ever walked the Earth. Right now, though, I’d smoke him.”
UFC/MMA
The Final F4Wonline.com 2015 prediction standings for UFC
Jack Encarnacao of Sherdog/Boston Herald 113-49 (69%)
Steve Juon 105-57 (64%)
David Bixenspan 104-58 (64%)
Mike Sempervive 103-59 (63%)
John Pollock 101-61 (62%)
Dave Meltzer 101-61 (62%)
Frontrow Brian 99-63 (61%)
Mike Sawyer 96-66 (59%)
Josh Nason 91-71 (56%)
Weekend trending, UFC was No. 4 for Saturday behind the Dallas Cowboys, BYU Football and Alcorn State, with 100,000 searches. Nate Diaz was No. 9 with 50,000 searches. Nothing from the NXT show got 20,000 searches which was No. 2 for either Wednesday or Thursday.
Amber Gallows, the wife of Doc Gallows, captured the NWA women’s title from Santana Garrett on Friday night in Sherman, TX. Gallows formerly worked as Amber O’Neal, and made some New Japan appearances this year as the Bullet Club Babe.
Rock Solid Wrestling on 2/15 in Wasaga Beach, ONT at the Rec Plex with Cody Deaner vs. Anthony Darko as the main event.
Lucha Xtreme TV from last night in Fresno: Manny Fernandez b Brandon Pinion loser leaves town, Mortal DCOR Brandon Groom, Mortal b Jesse Poole.
I Believe in Wrestling from last night in Orlando: Brandon Scherer b Slade Porter, Tyranus b Rex Bacchus, Ace Andrews b CT Brown Josh Parker b Chico Adams, Mike Reed b Siniestro, Santana Garrett b Shaniah Ariyana to keep the Wonder of Stardom title, Jonny Vandal & Aaron Epic b Michael Patrick & Leo Brien-DQ. Next show is 1/2 with a tag team title match with the titles being able to change hands via DQ plus Garrett and Rhett Giddins. (thanks to Al Haft)
Great North Wrestling on 2/27 in Hawkesbury, ONT at the Robert Hartley Arena with Jeremy Prophet vs. Hannibal and Carlito vs. Paul Rosenberg.
Johnny Mundo spoke with Alfred Konuwa of the PodNasty Wrestling Podcastduring last week’s Lucha Underground tapings. He talked about his current run in Lucha Underground and continued his war of words with former WWE champion Seth Rollins. Mundo also talked about how Lucha Underground compares to other promotions, long-term goals and the Boone: the Bounty Hunter film which he wrote, directed and starred in.
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bob Orton defeated Alo Leilani to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1985
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – The Cobra defeated Gama Singh to win the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
1994
Nagoya, Japan: – Ricky Fuji defeated The Great Sasuke to win the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title
1996
Middleton, New York: – The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus) defeated The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa) to become ECW World Tag Team Champions
1997
Osaka, Japan: – Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka & Hisakatsu Oya defeated Atsushi Onita, Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Hido to win the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Title
1999
– Bret Hart vacated the WCW World Title – Hart defeated Goldberg to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title
2009
Orlando, Florida: – Tara defeated ODB to win the TNA Knockouts Tite
The fast national ratings for Saturday’s UFC on FOX were disappointing as the show did a 0.9 in the key 18-49 demo and 2.28 million viewers.
Keep in mind that this number covers what the FOX affiliates did between 8-10 p.m. Eastern, 7-9 p.m. Central, 6-8 p.m. Mountain and 8-10 p.m. Pacific time. That means it doesn’t include the main event, which started at about 10 p.m. and figures in West Coast programming that wasn’t the UFC which aired from 5-7 p.m. Pacific.
With the short main event, the growth from these numbers is unlikely to be as much as in most past FOX shows.
The number was weak for a football season number for a UFC show, and more along the lines of a summer show. Also, UFC usually wins the 18-49 demo with the networks and here, it finished third as both ABC and CBS are listed as doing 1.1 for prelim numbers with ABC running the Democratic Debate (6.71 million viewers) and CBS running an NCIS repeat (5.15 million), a Criminal Minds repeat (5.20 million) and a 48 Hours repeat (5.80 million). FOX only beat NBC, which aired The Wiz repeat that did a 0.4 in the demo and 1.59 million viewers.
The UFC also had to compete with an NFL game (Cowboys vs. Jets) on NFL Network, as well as people going to the movies to see the new Star Wars movie which has been crushing all-time box office numbers since it came out Thursday night.
Actual numbers will be released on Monday or Tuesday.
Welcome to our Wrestle Kingdom 10 Preview Series, otherwise known (by nobody) as the #WK10PS! As January 4th nears, I’ll be bringing you previews of all the matches set to take place at the Tokyo Dome. Up first is the obligatory four-way tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles.
I have to be honest: I was not looking forward to previewing this particular match. No offense to any of the guys involved as they’re all great! I mean, Rocky Romero is pretty much the best. Trent has great Bill Murray knee pads. The Young Bucks are the Young Bucks. Kyle O’Reilly is awesome and had one of the best matches this year with KUSHIDA. Bobby Fish has a mean moustache. Ricochet and Matt Sydal are a fresh tag team and do an assortment of very pretty flips. With this much talent involved, it’s no doubt going to be a fun, funny, chaotic, fast paced, Dragon Gate style match.
When I say I’m not looking forward to previewing this match, what I mean is that I’m not looking forward to trying to explain the storyline reason for this match But, before I endeavour to do that, let’s prolong the inevitable/get to know the participating teams a little better.
reDRagon
reDragon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) appear frequently in New Japan as part of the ROH/New Japan partnership. Along with being three-time ROH World Tag Team Champs, they are currently in their second run as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team champs. Their first run came about after winning the 2014 Super Jr. Tag Tournament and going on to defeat the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) for the titles. Their current reign started on August 16 at the G1 Finals when they defeated the Young Bucks. And yeah, they’re pretty great.
Young Bucks
The Young Bucks are another team out of ROH that are featured regularly in New Japan. They are also former ROH World Tag Champs and three-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champs. They enjoy doing superkicks and telling people everywhere to suck it. Despite the constant ordering to do so, I’ve never seen any actually take them up on the offer, and I thank the lord for that every day. They’re also in this little group called the Bullet Club. You may have seen their shirts.
Roppongi Vice, or sometimes, RPG Vice.
Roppongi Vice are the Forever(ish) Hooligan Rocky Romero and Trent “My Name Is a Question” Baretta. RPG Vice formed after Romero’s Forever Hooligan partner Alex Koslov retired, leaving Romero in need of a new partner. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Romero become a singles wrestler as he’s one of the best and most entertaining juniors on the New Japan roster, but it wasn’t meant to be. It all worked out in the end as the also very talented and underrated Baretta joined Rocky in March this year to form RPG Vice. The duo very quickly captured the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship(s?) from the Young Bucks at Invasion Attack in April (They lost the titles back to the Bucks a month later, but who hasn’t?). Their theme music, produced by Romero, is ridiculously catchy and refuses to get out of your head. Furthermore, if they ever produce a line of perfume, it will be called Roppongi Spice.
Matt Sydal & Ricochet (Air Puma?)
To enter the 2015 NJPW Super Jr. Tag Tournament, singles stars Matt Sydal and Ricochet joined (air)forces to become…Matt Sydal & Ricochet: Tag Team! The Crown Prince of Boyle Heights and former Evan Bourne defeated the Time Splitters, Young Bucks, and Roppongi Vice in the finals to win the annual tournament. The team has adopted a very effective double team finisher of stereo Shooting Star Presses. Besides making for a great visual, thanks to the pair’s impeccable timing, what I love about it is that it’s a double team move that takes out both opponents. Pretty much every other double team finisher I can think of is done to only one opponent, leaving the other open to make a save. I just think that’s pretty neat. Let’s carry on.
Well, I guess I’ve avoided this part long enough. So, just how did we get to this quadruple team title match?
Here goes! To start, reDRagon (Fish & O’Reilly) are the IWGP Jr. tag champs (just like they were this time last year) so obviously they’re in. Sydal and Ricochet earned a title shot by winning the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament, so they’re in. Now, this is where it gets a little fuzzy. The Young Bucks felt, and rightly so I suppose, that they deserved their rematch for the titles after losing them to reDRagon back in August, so they’re in. Finally, RPG Vice defeated reDRagon in the semifinals of the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament, so they felt they too deserved a shot at the titles, and thus, they’re in. And the rest, as they say, is history. It does make you wonder what the purpose of having a Jr. Tag tournament when 50% of the teams end up in the Wrestle Kingdom title match.
Of course, the simple version of the story is that four-way tag team matches for the IWGP Jr. Tag titles have seemingly become a traditional Wrestle Kingdom match. The last Tokyo Dome show that featured only two teams fighting for the titles was in 2011 at Wrestle Kingdom VI. Wrestle Kingdom 7 was a three-way, and since Wrestle Kingdom 8, it’s been four-ways.
Personally, I’d prefer a traditional 2-on-2 tag match for the titles at the Dome. Four-ways are fun, but when it’s teams who’ve faced each other again and again, it’s hard to make the match up feel fresh (at least the new pairing of Sydal & Ricochet help with that issue). They’re always very fast, with a nice mix of athleticism and comedy, and with the level of talent involved, the quality is always top notch. They’re basically a very good Dragon Gate match. I guess the other upside is that eight talented and deserving workers are getting a spot on the card for the biggest show of the year instead of 4.
Be prepared. There will be flips, splashes, superkicks, forever clotheslines, arm bars, guillotines, back rakes, Indytakers, Meltzer Drivers, Suck Its, and more! And if you blink, you’ll miss all of it.
The April 1st NXT Takeover show in Dallas is now officially sold out.
Pre-sale tickets went quickly on Friday and the held back tickets for the public sale went in 15 minutes when they were put on sale this morning for the show at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
At this point every NXT show outside of Florida that had tickets put on sale for early next year but one has sold out.
Tickets for Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Royal Oak, MI are limited even on the secondary market. In Chicago, the bottom price right is $165, which is the most expensive bottom price.
There are less than 125 tickets on Stubhub for Dallas, with a low price of $50 but very few at that price and almost but a handful at $80 or more, and most closer to $150 and up.
The Dallas show will be run in association with WrestleMania 32 weekend. WWE’s biggest show of the year, which airs on April 3rd from the AT&T Arena, will likely be the biggest WrestleMania of all time based on the size of the building, ticket and merchandise sales, pay-per-view revenue, Network buys, etc.
