A lightweight bout between rising prospect Sage Northcutt (7-0, 2-0 UFC) and fellow undefeated fighter Andrew Holbrook (11-0, 1-0 UFC) has been added to the next UFC on FOX event, which takes place next month in Newark, New Jersey. Ariel Helwani reported the bout on tonight’s UFC On FOX 17 broadcast. It will be on the main card of the event.
It is a quick turnaround for Northcutt, who is coming off a second-round submission win over Cody Pfister at last week’s UFC Fight Night 80 event in Las Vegas. It will be his third UFC bout in just under four months after he scored a quick first-round TKO win over Francisco Trevino in his UFC debut at UFC 192 in October. It will be his first fight televised on the FOX network as the UFC continues the big push of the rising 19-year-old prospect out of Katy, Texas.
Holbrook will fight in the UFC for the second time after scoring a split decision win over Ramsey Nijem at UFC On FOX 16 in July. It was the first time Holbrook had gone the distance in a fight as his prior ten wins all came by stoppage, with nine wins in the first round. While still young in his career, he represents another small step up in competition for Northcutt.
UFC On FOX 18 takes place on January 30 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It will be headlined by a five-round light heavyweight bout as Anthony Johnson takes on Ryan Bader.
Donald Cerrone gets a long awaited title shot tonight at UFC on FOX in Orlando against Rafael Dos Anjos. Man has he earned it. He is on an eight fight win streak, 4 times already this year with 2 of those fights only 2 weeks apart. Cerrone’s last loss coming at the hands of current champ Rafael Dos Anjos by decision in 2013. Also on the card is Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem, which should be a good one, and is a fight that has been scheduled a number of times already but always ended up canceled. Overeem came in a lot lighter than for his last few fights and is on a two fight win streak. With a win tonight could see him sneak into a title shot of a muddy UFC Heavyweight division. Dos Santos has only lost to Cain Velazquez in the last 8 years and could find himself with another title shot if Werdum, someone Dos Santos previously defeated, is able to win the rematch against Cain.
Danny Castillo vs. Nik Lentz – Castillo looked shocked that he didn’t make weight. And he wasn’t the only one. There were clearly issues between other scales and the one they used, even though most fighters made weight)
Tamdan McCrory vs. Josh Samman
Sarah Kaufman vs. Valentina Schevchenko
Nate Marquardt vs. C.B. Dollaway
Myles Jury vs. Charles Oliveira
FOX AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Karollina Kowalkiewicz vs. Randa Markos
Nate Diaz vs. Michael Johnson
Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Donald Cerrone or the lightweight title
Saturday we’re looking for reports on the WWE show from the Forum in Los Angeles with Roman Reigns’ first title defense against Sheamus, plus Alberto Del Rio vs. Brock Lesnar for the U.S. title and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for the IC title and from the ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia (Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin, Moose vs. Matt Sydal vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Dalton Cantle, Adam Page vs. Mark Briscoe and Deonna Purrazzo & Hania the Huntress vs. Mandy Leon & Sumie Sakai).
Sunday will be WWE in Winnipeg with Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for the WWE title and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for the IC title.
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
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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.
The only thing we know about Matt Taven today is that he’s cautiously optimistic that his knee injury isn’t serious, but of course nothing is known until he gets it fully checked out. He injured it doing a dive off the post to the floor for a spike piledriver spot at the ROH PPV on Friday night.
Big interview with John Cena in GQ Magazine where he talks a bunch of different subjects including why he spoke Chinese during his sex scene with Amy Schumer.
There are photos here of Lizmark’s funeral. It was an open casket affair, and yes, he was buried with his mask on.
Pro Wrestling
Angelico and Jack Evans did an interview with PlanetaDeporte in Spain and said they had twice been approached by WWE officials to see if there was interest in signing, but they both agreed they wanted to stick with Lucha Underground for as long as it continued to exist. They noted that they’d been approached during a PWG show. It’s no secret that there are WWE office people who regularly attend most of the PWG shows.
The first announced match for PWEclipse February Frenzy Legion br. 43 Oshawa, Ontario has Jewells Malone defending her newly won PWE Flame Championship against Sassy Stephanie.
BUSHI beat Mascara Dorada to win the CMLL Welterweight title at Korakuen Hall Friday.
Smackdown did 2.33 million viewers this week, up from last week’s 2.1 million.
As noted on last night’s Observer Radio, Toru Yano’s two mystery partners on the January 4th Tokyo Dome event will be Mark and Jay Briscoe. This was a special Friday night edition of the show, and Dave and Bryan will be back again tonight to cover UFC.
From Bryan Alvarez: If you are an AFTER DARK RADIO fan, Sunday is the final day to contribute to our annual Whale Scout fundraiser, which has offered some great F4W-related perks including four chances to co-host the Bryan & Vinny Show which sold out immediately. We have added a couple special AFTER DARK-related perk. We’ve got THREE Bigfoot flasks and one –ONE — full-sized Bigfoot cast I picked up at the 2015 Sasquatch Summit in Ocean Shores. Because it is a cast of an alleged real Bigfoot track, it is, in fact, really big (if you go to the Indiegogo page you can see exactly how big it is), and if you want it I recommend you get up there quick because once it’s gone it’s gone. Whalescout is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization so your donation is tax-deductible, and I want to really thank everyone who has helped contribute this year. I can’t say it was all because of Whale Scout because it wasn’t, but Whale Scout works hard on habitat restoration projects with the idea being that if they can clean up rivers and streams, salmon runs will improve, and more salmon means more food for the whales. In the last 12 months, EIGHT baby orcas were born, which is an incredible number, and whether Whale Scout bears any responsibility or not, we would like to thank everyone who has helped the cause. You can find the Indiegogo page here!
UFC/MMA
Donald Cerrone joins the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast to talk tonight’s title fight against Rafael Dos Anjos. On his accusations that Dos Anjos is on PEDs: “I was just making iterations that maybe he is or he isn’t. Maybe he is just training real hard and is elevating and doing what he has to do but who knows. You’ve seen a lot of body types change since they put the new USDA ban into effect and they put the IV ban back on so we will see if things will be different and when you dehydrate your brain and you can’t rehydrate properly it can definitely cause a fighter to not be able to take those punches like they used to. Will he be able to go as long and as hard as he used to? I don’t know. Only time will tell.”
Paul Bradley vs. Chris Honeycutt, which was stopped for an accidental headbutt the first time, was rebooked for Bellator’s January 29th card in Fresno.
Thumbs way up! Best match: Jay Lethal vs AJ Styles Worst match: By default, The Kingdom vs War Machine
Everything on this show was good to great, except for the tag match which was obviously hindered by Taven’s leg injury. I’ve become a ROH fan in 2015 after never really watching them before and I have no reservations about continuing to give them my money for their top-notch professional wrestling product.
Jon
-Thumbs up for the show
– Best Match: AJ Styles vs Jay Lethal
– Worst Match: 6 Man Tag Match
Interesting show when it’s all put together. The opener was great and got the crowd pumped (still shocked at the ANX heat). Castle vs Young & the six man tag match felt a little flat. The Cole & O’Reilly match tore the house down along with the AJ & Lethal match. Fish vs Roddy and Elgin vs Moose were very solid matches.
The crowd was very hit and miss. I was there live and a portion of the crowd (10-20 people all lumped together) were absolutely putting out garbage chants for attention that took away from some matches. Other parts of the crowd were surprisingly quiet, which let the obnoxious ones sound loud. At times the crowd got it together and really supported the in-ring work. Far cry from the amazing crowd at War of The Worlds night 2.
Taven’s injury looked bad when it happened. When he was being helped out you could see him crying, the man was devastated, thinking its a nasty injury.
Luis Gonzalez
I was there live, sitting on the camera side in the 6th row.
Thumbs up!
Best match: AJ Styles VS Jay Lethal, but O’Reilly/Cole was great Worst match: Kingdom VS War Machine, poor Matt Taven
Crowd was into everything. Biggest pops were for the Young Bucks, the entire finish of Lethal/Styles, Dalton Castle and the Boys reuniting, Roderick Strong was actually very very over as a babyface, little to no boos, Adam Cole was very over, even cheating to win he got a huge pop. It’s crazy how well ROH can put on an entertaining show, everyone looks good, everyone gets over, and they have great wrestling matches. It’s ridiculous how much talent is on this roster and the kind of guys that I saw tonight, the promos I saw tonight, and the fact that WWE or TNA reject these guys and won’t even take a flyer on them when they’re better talkers or workers than 90% of the WWE roster. Guys like Adam Cole, Jay Lethal, the Briscoes, Fish/O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, not even mentioning AJ Styles. Just crazy.
Richard Kelly
Best matches were a tie between the main event and Cole / O’Reilly. Moose & Elgin was very good too.
Six man, TV title, and Tag title matches were all disappointing, but I guess it’s understandable in the tag title match given the injuries. For the Six Man, the reveal of Alex Shelley as the man in the mask was a good angle but poorly delivered. There was no buildup to Sabin coming out for the segment and Shelley just walks out and unmasks and that’s it. For the TV title, I just didn’t care. I’m blaming Fish, since Roddy was my favourite wrestler this year probably.
I had actually thought the main event would have some sort of referee screwup since Sinclair was the official. Wonder if that goes anywhere.
I have no interest in Lethal vs. Lynn if it happens.
Overall thumbs up, but not as good as my expectations (though they were sky high).
Kevin Elliott
ROH Final Battle feedback
Thumbs up
Best match: Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly
Worst match: Rhett TItus and Kenny King vs The Briscoes vs The Young Bucks
The three-way tag match was fine but was the low end of stuff on the show for me. The bell-to-bell stuff in the tag title change was short but I really like War Machine and could never dislike this match.
Cole and O’Reilly had an incredible match, doing state-of-the-art working style with strikes and submissions.
There was lots of other great stuff to. Strong and Fish had a good match and I was actually ok with the finish. And Elgin going over Moose was good by me too.
The world title match delivered in my mind. Given some people’s contract statuses it is hard to know what is coming at the Dome show but I do think some freshening up of the roster would be good. But to be positive everything was quite good on this and it caps off a great year for the company
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: – Cy Williams defeated Yvon Robért for the Montreal World Heavyweight Title
1939
Dayton, Ohio: – Bily Weidner won a tournament to become the first Midwest Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Champion
1947
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Tug Carlson defeated Orville Brown to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title
1957
Amarillo, Texas: – Dory Funk won the Amarillo NWA North American Heavyweight Title by defeating Danny Plechas
1962
Los Angeles, California: – The Destroyer and Dan Moukian defeated Haystack Calhoun and Abe Jacobs to win the NWA International Television Tag Team Titles
1963
Kansas City, Kansas: – Sonny Myers and Pat O’Connor defeated The Mongolian Stomper and Mike Sharpe in a tournament final to become the first Central States NWA North American Tag Team Champions
1968
Okiyama, Japan: – Billy Robinson defeated Toyonobori to win the first IWE (International Pro Wrestling) World Series tournament and become the first IWE World Heavyweight Champion
1969
Atlanta, Georgia: – The Assassins (Jody Hamilton and Tom Renesto) defeated Buddy Fuller and Ray Gunkel for the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title
Mexico City, Mexico: – Carlos Elio Colisetti defeated Ray Mendoza to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title
Los Angeles, California: – The Great Kojika defeated Mil Máscaras for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title
Sydney, Australia: – King Curtis Iaukea defeated Billy Robinson for the International Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title – Spiros Arion and Mario Milano defeated Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy to win the IWA World Tag Team Titles
1970
Los Angeles, California: – Giant Baba won the NWA International Heavyweight Title from Gene Kiniski
Atlanta, Georgia: – Luke Graham defeated Bobby Shane for the NWA Georgia Television Title
1973
Jackson, Mississippi: – Ken Mantell defeated Danny Hodge to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
1978
Tampa, Florida: – Jos LeDuc defeated Mr. Uganda (Ciclón Negro) to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title
1979
London, England: – Wayne Bridges defeated Spiros Arion for the United Kingdom World Heavyweight Title
1984
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Ricky and Rocky Johnson defeated Super Fly Tui and Super Samoan Sakalia to win the NWA Polynesian Pacific Tag Team Titles
1985
Albuquerque, New Mexico: – Dusty Rhodes defeated Buddy Landel for the NWA National Heavyweight Title (This was a fictitious match as Landel was fired as the champion)
1992
Bremen, Germany: – David Finlay defeated Eddie Gilbert in round seven to win the vacant CWA World Middleweight Title – Buffalo Patterson defeated The Warlord in round five to win the vacant CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Title – Road Warrior Hawk defeated CWA World Heavyweight Champion Rambo in round six to win the title
1993
Naucalpan, Mexico: – Canek defeated The Canadian Vampire Casanova (Vampiro) to win the UWA World Heavyweight Title
1994
Memphis, Tennessee: – Tommy Rich defeated Brian Christopher in a Loser Leaves Town match to win the USWA Heavyweight Title
1998
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – ECW World Tag Team Champion Sabu defeated Justin Credible and FTW Champion Taz in a Three-Way Dance to win the title
1999
Washington, DC: – Chris Benoit defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Ladder match to win the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Title – Madusa defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Evan Karagias to win the title
2000
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Edge and Christian defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The Rock and The Undertaker to win the title
32 events later (that we picked from anyway), we’re here at the finish line. We’ve seen quite a bit this year with the rise of superstars, the falls of others, a lot of title changes, and a lot of flotsam and jetsam along the way.
Thank you for following along with the 2015 picks, and I’m happy to say we’ll be back for another year…but with a different captain helming the ship. Paul Fontaine will be penning these starting in 2016 and will be joining the picks group along with fellow staff writer Ryan Frederick. Everyone, including yours truly, will be back with the exception of Sherdog’s Jack Encarnacao who is taking his victory lap tonight and will leave a champion.
For the final time in 2015, I present your picks panel:
– Jack Encarnacao (111-46 | .707): Sherdog Rewind host, The Lapsed Fan podcast co-chair
– Josh Nason (90-67 | .573): JNPO host, Wrestling Observer digital media and content guy, WON Twitter guy
*****
> UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos (24-7) vs. Cowboy Cerrone (28-6-0-1) II
It feels like it’s been two years since we saw RDA shock the MMA world in dispatching Anthony Pettis back in March to win the title. Since 2012, RDA is 9-1 with wins over Cerrone, Nate Diaz, Pettis, Benson Henderson, and a slew of lower-tier lightweights. His sole loss in that stretch? To oft-injured Khabib Nurmagomedov. The winner of four straight has a lot of MMA gossip bees buzzing about how different his body looked, but at weigh-ins, there wasn’t a discernable difference. Underappreciated? Yes. Overlooked? Yes. A win tonight would help that a lot.
Cerrone’s UFC career began back in 2011 following the WEC merger, and he’s been nothing if not active and a winner in that time. In 18 trips to the Octagon, he’s won 15 times and is on an eight-fight win streak. The heads of Edson Barboza, Jim Miller, Eddie Alvarez, Myles Jury, and Benson Henderson were mounted on his trophy wall during that time and a possible tilt with featherweight champion and game-changer Conor McGregor awaits him if he can pull out a win. There’s a lot riding on tonight.
> Junior dos Santos (17-3) vs. Alistair Overeem (39-14-0-1) Heavyweights
I feel like this fight has been talked about for a solid year and to no surprise, it’s been a year since we last saw JDS winning a brutal bout with Stipe Miocic on Fox. The big question here is whether the beatings JDS has taken in the past few years have caught up with him to the point where he wilts in a fight he should win. He’s 11-2 in a long UFC career with two losses coming to a guy named Cain.
The Reem is a free agent after this fight, so it’s in his best interest to put on a great show. He’s only fought once this year, a March decision win over Roy Nelson that I remember nothing about. He’s won two straight and has had an odd UFC career the past few years, a mix of no-doubt KOs that had him looking up at the lights and a few decision wins that kept him alive. What’s the value of a 35-year-old heavyweight free agent? His performance tonight should help give us an answer.
> Michael Johnson (16-9) vs. Nate Diaz (17-10) Lightweights
Holy Christmas, I can’t wait to see this. The two had a pull-apart earlier this week and are intense enough where you know they’re not going to mess around in there. Johnson was steamrolling through a slew of veterans until rising prospect Beneil Dariush stopped that cold in August with a split decision win. This is a big spot for him and one that UFC has to expect him to win. He’s just got to do it.
It’s been a solid year since we last saw Diaz, a loser in three of his last four. In those three, those defeats have come at the hands of Benson Henderson, Josh Thomson, and the current lightweight champion with his only win coming over a guy in Gray Maynard who should be retired. He’s an underdog here and for a good reason. He’s in fantastic shape, but with the Diaz brothers, there’s always more of a question of what’s happening between the ears.
> Randa Markos (5-2) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (7-0) Strawweights
This is the first fight on big Fox for a reason, friends. The 30-year-old Markos is 1-1 in the UFC and is coming off an April decision win over Aisling Daly. However, the Polish Double-K is the real reason to pay attention here. The undefeated 30-year-old is making her UFC debut just a few years into her pro career. To no surprise, she’s on a similar career track to countrywoman Joanna Jedrzejczyk and with two or three impressive wins, you could see an all-Polish title fight happening in that country in late-2016 or early-2017.
> Charles Oliveira (20-5-0-1) vs. Myles Jury (15-1) Featherweights
The 26-year-old Oliveira missed weight…again. It’s the third time he’s failed to hit 145 in eight efforts. While it might not seem like a big deal, it is. Oliveira saw a four-fight win streak (three finishes) snapped in August due to a ruptured esophagus against Max Holloway, a very strange finish to one of the most anticipated featherweight fights of the year. He’s got a chance here to get back in the conversation and to perhaps get a Holloway rematch with a big win.
The 27-year-old Jury makes his featherweight debut in his first fight since getting his first loss in January to Donald Cerrone. Before that, he had won all six of his battles in the Octagon including Michael Johnson, Diego Sanchez, and Takanori Gomi. He can be a force at 145 if his body adapts appropriately and if his skills continue to evolve. I see lots of good things ahead for Jury if both of those come together.
It’s the last New Japan show of 2015 as we are back at Korakuen Hall for some more tag action. In the main event, we’ll see Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsyuori Shibata take on the team of Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii, which promises to be one hell of a match if it plays out the right way. We’ll also see Mascara Dorada defend his CMLL Welterweight championship against Bushi, and a bunch of other tag matches that have Tokyo Dome implications.
Kushida, Jushin Thunder Liger and Jay White vs. David Finlay, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi
Solid opener where everyone worked with one another. Finlay looked pretty alright here as he worked a lot of the match. He and Kushida were the ones in the ring as the finish happened. Kushida laid him out and pinned him with a moonsault. Everyone shook hands after and raised everyone’s hands. Kushida took a microphone after the match and spoke a few words, probably Wrestle Kingdom related but not sure.
Tencozy and Yohei Komatsu vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata and Sho Tanaka
Solid match. A lot of the bout was Tencozy and Nakanishi/Nagata. Sho Tanaka and Satoshi Kojima looked really great in the ring together. The crowd and the announcers flipped out when Tanaka gave Kojima a deadlift suplex for a nearfall. Tanaka hit the ropes but Kojima fired back with a lariat and pinned him.
Tenzan and Nakanishi teased something as Tenzan goaded Nakanishi into going back into the ring with him and Tenzan jumped him. They did a pull apart brawl to set up a possible feud that, well, no one asked for. Nakanishi should not be doing singles matches at this point. Let’s hope its hype towards the battle royal or something.
Kazushi Sakuraba and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma
It’s weird that Sakuraba has been teaming with Chaos members all year, but technically he’s not a part of the stable. Sakuraba worked over boy Honma and Makabe with submissions. Yoshi-Hashi made the hot tag and went toe to toe with Makabe but fell to a lariat. They did a variation of the Doomsday Device as Honma went to the top rope, Makabe held YH on his shoulders and Makabe connected with the headbutt. Makabe followed with the king kong knee drop and pinned him. Solid match.
Hirooki Goto and Juice Robinson vs. Evil and Tetsuya Naito
Before the match, Naito offered a mask to Goto that looked similar to Captain New Japan’s mask. He promptly refused and attacked him to start the match. Match was fine, didn’t last that long. Naito choked out Goto on the outside as Robinson was mounting an offense. He looked good here. Evil laid him out with a lariat. Goto came for the save but Naito low blowed him. Evil laid out Robinson with a perfectplex into a brainbuster but only got two. He finished the job with the STO.
Mascara Dorada vs. Bushi for the CMLL Welterweight title
Match was fine. They had some nice back and forth early, but aside from one cool suicide dive by Bushi on the outside it was nothing remarkable. Naito started to get involved but Goto came back and they brawled towards the exit. Dorada went to the top rope but Evil came to the ring and distracted the ref. Bushi low blowed him then pinned him with a bridge but Dorada kicked out. Bushi then went to the top rope and hit a codebreaker from there to win the title. I understand this a nice program to do in the months of leading up to the Fantasticamania shows next month, but one stable already does the cheating gimmick, so there’s really no need to do another.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano vs. Cody Hall and Bad Luck Fale
It’s weird seeing Yano with jet black hair. The guys who dye their hair here have been inconsistent lately. Yujiro used a chair on Yano but he mostly no sold it and tagged in Nakamura who made the comeback. Cody Hall came in and worked with Nakamura towards the end They had a schmozz in the end that ended up with Nakamura hitting the boma ye and getting the win. Just a match.
Toru Yano got the mic and introduced his partners for the eight man at WrestleKingdom 10 via video. It was none other than the Briscoes from ROH. They cut a short promo with Mark mentioning Yano’s DVDs and Jay saying they’d help out at WK10. Crowd didn’t recognize the name at first but popped when they appeared on the video screen.
Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada
My stream kept going in and out during this match. Same thing during the CMLL Welterweight title. I saw most of it, which was very good. Everyone worked with one another. Okada and Tanahashi had a some good back and forth that people got into. Tanahashi laid him out with the sling blade and was going for the high fly flow when Ishii stopped him and superplexed him to the floor. Eventually Tanahashi and Shibata double teamed Ishii, laying him out as Tanahashi hit the high fly flow. Shibata covered with the penalty kick and pinned him.
Tanahashi cut a promo on Okada after the match, one that ended with Okada storming out. Snow started to fall from the arena as Tanahashi started to leave, then came back inside the ring and did his usual routine to close out the show.
Not as good as yesterday morning’s Korakuen Hall show, but it was a fine show to watch, technical issues aside.
*We don’t have an update on Matt Taven past the injury to his right knee was legit. Taven came off the middle rope to do a spike piledriver on Ray Rowe before the tag team title match on tonight’s ROH show started. Taven started limping badly. They only did a three minute match with War Machine winning the titles. Bennett & Taven are no longer under contract to ROH and it is possible this was their last match with the promotion.
*Charles Oliveira failed to make weight and was fined 20 percent of his purse for his fight with Myles Jury. He looked confused as to why he didn’t make weight even though he was 4.5 pounds over.
*Danny Castillo, who was two pounds over, came back about 20 minutes later and made weight.
*C.B. Dollaway somehow lost 1.5 pounds just by taking off his underwear and he also made weight.
*Yoshitatsu was announced as part of the English language broadcast team for the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show. He will be working with Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker filling in the holes needed to translate Japanese. He’s very excited for getting this shot. This was a decision made some time back but New Japan just announced it tonight.
*Every NXT non-Florida house show in the month of January is sold out except for the 1/15 show in Green Bay, and that has a strong advance.
*There are tickets remaining for the 4/1 NXT show in Dallas before WrestleMania which is the next Takeover special. They’ll be available to the public at 10 a.m. Central time tomorrow. They’ll be gone very quickly so if you have interest in tickets I suggest logging in right away.
The UFC ends 2015 with an event in Orlando, Florida on FOX, headlined by a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between champion Rafael Dos Anjos and challenger Donald Cerrone. It is one last time to make some money playing daily fantasy for MMA in 2015, and below are our studs, value plays and fighters to avoid as well as our own line-ups for Saturday’s event.
STUDS
C.B. Dollaway ($10,800)
C.B. Dollaway is looking to end a two-fight losing skid when he takes on Nate Marquardt. Marquardt is on quite the skid himself, losing five of his last six fights. Marquardt’s chin has also seemingly seen better days, and he has trouble taking a punch these days. Dollaway has never been known as a knockout artist, but he has some power. Dollaway is still a top-ten caliber talent while Marquardt’s days challenging for titles are long gone. Dollaway should get a win and has a very good chance for a finish.
Kamaru Usman ($10,200)
Kamaru Usman won season 21 of “TUF” for the Blackzilians camp and looked impressive in doing so. He has been very impressive in his short MMA career as well, with all six of his career wins coming by stoppage. He has good power in his hands and some solid submission skills, and he trains with one of the top camps in the sport. He has a tough challenge in Leon Edwards ahead of him, but I like Usman to continue his impressive career start.
VALUE PLAYS
Valentina Shevchenko ($8,800)
Valentina Shevchenko is making her UFC debut on short notice against a tough challenge in Sarah Kaufman, but she has the skills to score a big upset. Shevchenko is better on the feet than Kaufman and has a ton of kickboxing experience, with a 60-2 record to go with her 9-1 MMA record. The biggest key for her is to keep the fight upright, but she has good takedown defense. She has the biggest shot to score an upset, and at her salary, that makes her a good play to where you can spend up on your line-up.
Nate Diaz ($8,300)
Nate Diaz has the lowest salary of all of the fighters on the card, and with someone of his popularity and skills, that almost seems like an insult. He does have a tough opponent in Michael Johnson, but Johnson’s struggles in his MMA career have been against fighters like Diaz. Diaz is a volume striker with dangerous submissions, and he can suck opponents into his game. He does look in excellent condition and has something to prove. At his salary, he definitely can upset Johnson, and is worth a look for your line-up.
AVOID
Nik Lentz ($9,700)
Nik Lentz is moving back up to lightweight on Saturday for a bout with Danny Castillo, but he is still small for the division. He is a good wrestler, but he isn’t overly impressive with all of his aspects. He does enough to score wins, but that may not be enough against Castillo, who definitely has his back against the wall. Lentz just isn’t enough of a difference maker to make me wanna use him, so I suggest avoiding him.
Nate Marquardt ($8,600)
His opponent, C.B. Dollaway, is listed above as a stud, and Marquardt is the one fighter I would avoid on the card whether I was making just one line-up or a hundred. I don’t like his chances against Dollaway, and I think he gets finished. Even if the fight goes the distance, Marquardt just hasn’t shown enough in recent years to make you think he has what it takes to score a lot of fantasy points. It just doesn’t seem like it will be his night.
OUR LINE-UPS
RYAN FREDERICK: Junior Dos Santos ($10,900), C.B. Dollaway ($10,800), Josh Samman ($10,300), Donald Cerrone ($8,900), Nate Diaz ($8,300)
I like Junior Dos Santos to score a knockout win over Alistair Overeem. Dos Santos has taken some beatings but perhaps the time off has freshened him up. He looks good right now and Overeem seems to have lost something coming in for various reasons. Dos Santos still has big power. I like Dollaway to finish Nate Marquardt. I like Josh Samman at his salary. He has three UFC wins, all by finish, and is very good. He has a tough fight against Tamdan McCrory, but is a finishable fight. I like Nate Diaz to score an upset over Michael Johnson, and to win by submission. Finally, I’m going with Donald Cerrone. I think he wins, and he wins by decision. With the thinking it will go five rounds, that is two extra rounds to score more points, and a decision win scores the same whether it goes three or five rounds. The two extra rounds benefits you in scoring more points, and I always try to take a fighter in a five-round fight.
PAUL FONATINE: Junior Dos Santos ($10,900), Josh Samman ($10,300), Kamaru Usman ($10,200), Cole Miller ($9,600), Donald Cerrone ($8,900)
Dos Santos is at least a level above Overeem, maybe 2. After a five round war with the very tough Stipe Miocic, this will be like a walk in the park for the former champ. One good shot and Overeem should go down, likely very early in the first. Samman has been a steamroller since losing on TUF to Kelvin Gastelum. McCrory is a nice story but he’s not going to be enough to stop Samman. Usman won the final match in the TUF 21 show to win the competition for his team. That was his fifth straight stoppage win and he should make it 6 over the overmatched Edwards. It seems like destiny that Donald Cerrone will win the lightweight title and then go on to face Conor McGregor in his first title defense. I see this going a lot like the Aldo/McGregor fight actually as the PED crackdown has had a noticeable effect on the physique of the current champion. I’m going with the veteran Cole Miller for my last pick. He’s usually good for a stoppage win and his opponent Alers was lucky not to have lost both of his UFC fights to date, taking a split decision in the opener before losing his second fight earlier this year.
PEACH MACHINE: Junior Dos Santos ($10,900), Myles Jury ($10,000), Danny Castillo ($9,700), Karolina Kowalkiewicz ($9,000), Donald Cerrone ($8,900)
I love Cerrone and I think RDA got lucky against Pettis. Cerrone is gonna knock him out eventually. It may take four and a half rounds but that head kick is coming. JDS is still a monster and Overeem is done. This is an easy pick for a KO. Myles Jury hasn’t fought in a year and finds himself against a formidable opponent, but Jury has only lost once and that was to Cerrone. More importantly, Oliveira is coming off a freak injury loss. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him come out a little gun shy. I’m taking Castillo because Nik Lentz sucks and I hate how he spells his name. Plus, Castillo has lost three in a row and will be motivated to win. Kowalkiewicz is undefeated an I don’t think Markos is much of a fighter. As always, you’d probably be better just picking the opposite of me. In a side note, I hope Dolloway and Marquardt both get cut. I can’t believe we’re still watching these two clowns.
As you can see, we are all big fans of Junior Dos Santos and Donald Cerrone scoring wins on Saturday. Good luck to all of those playing!
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’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 will also be doing a poll on tomorrow night’s UFC show on FOX.
UFC, New Japan and ROH all finish 2015 tomorrow.
RING OF HONOR FINAL BATTLE AT 8:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME FROM THE 2300 ARENA IN PHILADELPHIA
Cheeseburger vs. Brutal Bob preshow match on You Tube at 8:30 p.m.
Young Bucks vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe for the top contenders for the tag titles
Moose vs. Michael Elgin
Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young
Alex Shelley & Matt Sydal & ACH vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Chris Sabin
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish for TV title
Matt Taven & Michael Bennett vs. Hanson & Ray Rowe for ROH tag titles
Jay Lethal vs. A.J. Styles for ROH title
WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING TONIGHT AT 9 P.M. EASTERN FROM THE CHELSEA AT THE COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL IN LAS VEGAS ON NBC SPORTS
Ozzy Dugulubgov (7-2) vs. Nic Herron-Webb (18-6), lightweight
Robbie Peralta (18-6) vs. Sheymon Moraes (7-1), featherweight
Josh Hill (12-1) vs. Beckbulat Magomedov (16-0), bantamweight
Jake Heun (8-4) vs. Clinton Williams (7-2), light heavyweight
Lance Palmer (10-1) vs. Alexandre Almeida (17-5) for the featherweight title
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS AT 9 P.M. EASTERN ON AXS TV
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP title – This is a replay of the 2013 match of the year.
CMLL ON CLARO SPORTS AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN AT WWW.CLAROSPORTS.COMFROM ARENA MEXICO
NEW JAPAN FROM KORAKUEN HALL LATE TONIGHT/TOMORROW MORNING AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN AND 1:30 A.M PACIFIC ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Jushin Liger & Kushida & Jay White vs. Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Yohei Komatsu vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Sho Tanaka
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi
Hirooki Goto & Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil
Mascara Dorada vs. Bushi for CMLL welterweight title
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
Saturday we’re looking for reports on the WWE show from the Forum in Los Angeles with Roman Reigns’ first title defense against Sheamus, plus Alberto Del Rio vs. Brock Lesnar for the U.S. title and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for the IC title and from the ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia (Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin, Moose vs. Matt Sydal vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Dalton Cantle, Adam Page vs. Mark Briscoe and Deonna Purrazzo & Hania the Huntress vs. Mandy Leon & Sumie Sakai).
Sunday will be WWE in Winnipeg with Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for the WWE title and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for the IC title.
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.
A lot of interesting things to look out for on tonight’s ROH show with Michael Elgin, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Michael Bennett, Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis all either no longer under contract or contracts expiring shortly. I believe Jay Lethal also fits into that category. Tonight’s lineup looks real strong on paper. Jerry Lynn will be appearing at the Final Battle show tonight in an angle of some sort. I’m told it will be a wrestling-heavy show. Check out Dave Meltzer’s play by play: ROH Final Battle 2015 live results.
It was notable in a number of fighters today the physical changes. USADA drug testing has completely changed the game for the better. Fighters, on average, have shown up for fight week and in their first weigh-in (everyone weighs in when they get there so there are no big surprises) are about five pounds down from the average previously. That isn’t necessary PEDs, although in some cases it would be, but also people showing up with less weight to cut due to the IV ban.
For all those talking about how TV viewership is down, the ratings in November for the three networks was identical. Actually NBC was up 3% from last year, FOX was up 20% from last year, CBS was down 1% from last year and ABC was down 15% from last year. The increases and decreases were largely sports related. NBC had a good month for Sunday Night Football. FOX had the world Series. ABC had lower rated college football games. Cable was down 8% for the month but many cable stations were up. USA had a big decline overall and WWE’s decline was part of it.
WWE
The NXT show in Royal Oak, MI is sold out.
The pre-sale for the 4/1 NXT show in Dallas sold out in 30 minutes. The public sale should sell out instantly.
The last we heard, they are down to selling standing room tickets for NXT in Milwaukee on 1/14 after seated tickets sold out.
The movie “Santa’s Little Helper” will air at 8 p.m. Sunday on the USA Network. The Miz and Paige are both in the movie. It starts WWE week on the network.
Sky Sports 2 in the U.K. will be doing an all day Christmas Eve WWE programming marathon starting on 12/24 at 6 a.m. including DVD profiles and documentaries. (thanks to Lee Wall)
Tickets must not be selling well for a house show on 2/13 in Fresno as they have offered four tickets for the price of two, six for the price of three or eight for the price of four starting on Monday and ending on Wednesday. Announced as the top matches, which mean nothing at this point, are Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for the WWE title and Kane vs Bray Wyatt.
UFC has apparently given Aljamain Sterling permission to seek a deal elsewhere. His contract expired and even though he won his last fight, that sounds like they are either trying to scare him and make an example, or they just aren’t interested in bring him back.
MISCELLANEOUS
A battle of wrestling standouts with former NCAA champion Darion Caldwell (8-0) vs. Joe Warren (13-4) will headline a 3/4 Bellator show in Thackerville, OK.
Bellator announced that 18-year-old A.J. McKee, the son of Antonio McKee, had signed a multi-year contract with the promotion. McKee, a featherweight, has a 3-0 record with all of his fights being since his April debut in Bellator.
Joey Ryan has signed a sponsorship deal with YouPorn Sports, a newly created division of the YouPorn adult entertainment web site. As part of the deal, Ryan’s new finishing move will be called the YouPorn Plex and he will model YouPorn clothing at his wrestling appearances. The YouPorn plex will be the move he got fame from last week in DDT.
ACW tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in New Port Richey, FL at the All Sports Arena.
Abyss (Chris Park) is doing a seminar at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Toronto at the Lithuanian House for $50. You are asked to arrive by 1:45 p.m. to sign in. It’s open to wrestlers of all levels.
PWE Eclipse on 2/27 in Oshawa, ONT at Legion br. 43 with Cody Deaner, Ethan Page, Buxx Belmar ad Tyler Tirva.
Last week, the quarter-finals of the World Title Series were held. Lashley beat Shera, EY beat Tigre Uno, Matt Hardy beat Jessie, and EC3 beat Davey Richards. Tonight, we get some new matches in the form of a cage match that has been set up with graphics and no storyline, and some random matches with other World Title Series folks. The show begins with a silly video saying that the winner of the TNA World Title is truly the king of sport. Josh runs down tonight’s two matches and says we’ll get a look at everyone in the semi-finals. This means we hear his thoughts on the series and see clips of his match from the October 14 edition of the show against Davey Richards. Matt recaps what happened after this, and how he knew he couldn’t lose. Small clips are shown of him beating Roode and Godderz. Matt says that EY can’t stop the Matt Hardy Train and Josh plugs the final four roundtable. Kurt Angle will speak on the final four, and the first all-star match is next.
Team Future Four vs. Team X Division
Team Future Four comes out to generic music while Josh says that Eli and Jessie can walk around like they have an S on their chest. Eli has “ED” on his, sadly. Manik, Uno, Mandrews, and DJZ are out. Eli starts by wearing his vest, but tags out to his former partner Micah. DJZ hits a pop-up dropkick of Micah while Josh gives us a geography lesson of Betheham, PA. Mandrews gets dominated a bit by Jessie and in an musing bit, everyone comes in to try and suplex Jessie, and they execute a “triple double suplex” to Jessie and Micah. Josh hypes up The Asylum Years being streamed on the Impact Wrestling site on Thursday nights. Josh plugs Jessie being on the red carpet of Miss Teen California. Manik flies on everyone on the floor.
Eli and Mandrews are now legal and Eli gets 2 off a suplex. Jessie tosses Mandrews into a gigantic chokeslam by Crimson. Eli comes in and he argues with Crimson. Josh actually compares this to the Mega Powers exploding. Uno lands a very sloppy dropsault to Eli resulting in Eli landing right on Uno’s head. Eli’s partners leave and he tries to, but they toss him back in. Manik hits his modified GTS, DJZ actually hits his wacky DDT, Mandrews gets the SSP and the win. Recap of Lashley’s run through the series is next. First, we see a brief clip of Lashley asking if EC3 can win without friends. We see the entire match of Lashley vs. Aries from the November 25 show. Pope and Josh talk about how Lashley must prove that he can beat EC3, and he will have to do so on live TV. The all-star fatal four way is up next.
We see EC3 talking about going to one of his homes in Nashville. EC3 gets out of his BMW and lifts weights for a bit He calls the World Title Series BS and wonders just why Dixie and Billy Corgan came up with this idea. EC3 says he is a one-percenter money-wise, but he wasn’t gifted his work ethic. Now it’s time for the fatal four way. Spud comes out while Josh hypes up that Spud is the first pro wrestler to work with the Starlight Foundation.
Rockstar Spud vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Roode
The match begins and Josh says that this is an elimination match, which should make it better. Roode and Spud start it off, and everyone needs to tag in to try and win. Eddie gets a blind tag and he gets an inverted atomic drop to Roode while Spud kicks him down for an ad break. Spud goes for a cradle and Eddie kicks out of it. Spud drops down and Eddie dives onto Roode on the floor. Anderson comes in and Spud imitates his mic drop. Anderson laughs and hits a shortarm clothesline. Spud lands a tilt-a-whirl headscissors to send Ken to the floor and he hits a flip dive onto the pile. Spud gets a flying AJ forearm to Eddie, who counters the Underdog with a backslide, but Eddie gets one of his own to eliminate Spud.
Ken and Roode eat a double rana from Eddie. Josh says that he talked to the referee and once it got down to three men, they could all just go at it tornado-style. Despite this, Ken just stands on the apron and waits for a tag. Roode gets a crossface onto Eddie, but Ken wants to fight Roode here for some reason. Mic Check hits Eddie and takes him out. Roode avoids the Mic Check, but eats a back elbow. Roode lands a spinebuster for 2. Finlay roll from Anderson gets 2. Ken rolls him up, but Roode kicks him off and locks on the crossface. Ken rolls through it, but Roode hangs on and earns the win with a tapout.
Kurt Angle says it’s been hard to see the World Title Series as an outsider, and it’s the toughest tournament in TNA history. Kurt says that whoever wins the series is going to earn it. Next, we’ll see a recap of Eric Young’s rise through the tournament. Eric Young gets a crazy heavy metal song recapping all of his biggest piledrivers, and is easily the best thing involving him this year. Eric Young vs. Robert Roode from November 4 is recapped. We see more of EY beating guys in the series. EY says Uno was good, but he was X Division champion too. More with EC3 is coming up.
We see clips of the roundtable with EY insulting Matt Hardy. EC3 vs. Mr. Anderson from November 11 is shown. EC3 says it’s time to go home and we see him work out and mock his pool cleaner. He makes himself a drink and recaps his tournament wins. EC3 says that he’ll beat Lashley in the semis and then beat either EY or Matt in the finals. The roundtable is next. Lashley says that he’ll beat up EC3 and his friend. They have a World Title Series graphic over the table to seemingly act like there’s a graphic on the physical tablecloth. EC3 says that he fought Lashley while a loud buzzing is audible in the background. Matt Hardy insults EC3 and EC3 says that he has one of the three Is – integrity. Matt says that EY is “mented” and will beat the meanness out of him. EY says that he has held every title here, which no one else has done in this. Matt says the Matt Hardy Train will not be stopped.
Matt says that EC3 relies on Tyrus too much, and Lashley will beat EC3. Lashley says he wants to face the legend of Matt Hardy. Does Matt own a stake in TNA now? Josh hypes up Matt vs. Lashley as a historic first-time ever match that sure seems like something that was thrown on a random SmackDown in 2006. Josh asks EC3 who is not advancing, and EY says that Matt isn’t advancing. Matt and EY argue while Josh does a voiceover acting like he’s trying to keep order. Next week’s show will be a Best of 2015 show – so TNA actually gets one more show on Destination America.