Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC On FOX 17: Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone 2 weigh-ins from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The fighters will hit the scale at 4 PM eastern time. The card airs on Saturday with the main card on FOX at 8 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off at 3:30 PM eastern time on UFC Fight Pass before heading over to FOX Sports 1 at 5 PM eastern time with additional preliminary bouts. This is the second time the Octagon has appeared in Orlando and it marks the 41st and final UFC event of 2015.
The event is headlined by UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos making his first title defense against challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who enters his first UFC title fight riding an eight-fight win streak. They have met once before, at UFC Fight Night 27 in August 2013, a bout won by Dos Anjos. The co-main event will be a heavyweight battle years in the making as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos takes on Alistair Overeem. The card also features the return of Nate Diaz after a year out of action as he takes on Michael Johnson.
MAIN CARD (FOX- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT): Rafael Dos Anjos (154.5) vs. Donald Cerrone (154.5) – UFC Lightweight Championship Junior Dos Santos (239) vs. Alistair Overeem (243) Michael Johnson (155.5) vs. Nate Diaz (156) Randa Markos (116) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (114.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 5 PM ET/2 PM PT): Charles Oliveira (150.5) vs. Myles Jury (146) C.B. Dollaway (185.5) vs. Nate Marquardt (186) Sarah Kaufman (136) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (134) Josh Samman (186) vs. Tamdan McCrory (185) Nik Lentz (156) vs. Danny Castillo (156) Cole Miller (146) vs. Jim Alers (145)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 3:30 PM ET/12:30 PM PT): Kamaru Usman (171) vs. Leon Edwards (171) Hayder Hassan (170) vs. Vicente Luque (171) Francis Ngannou (254) vs. Luiz Henrique (248)
*Danny Castillo missed the lightweight limit by two pounds. He later came back and made weight at 156 pounds.
*C.B. Dollaway missed on his initial attempt but made weight after the towel was brought in.
*Charles Oliveira missed weight badly, once again. He weighed in 4.5 pounds over the featherweight limit.
Kansas City, Kansas: – Orville Brown beat Al Lovelock to retain the MWA Title – Fred Blassie beat Yukon Eric (as Eric Holmback) 2 falls to 1
1965
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Non Title: Verne Gagne & Mighty Igor Vodik beat AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race – Chris Markoff beat The Crusher dq – Ivan Kalmikoff beat Danny Plechas – Larry Heiniemi beat Jack Pesek – Terry Funk beat Guy Taylor
1969
Bristol, England: – Tony Charles defeated Al Hayes (Lord Hayes) to win the Southern Area title
1970
Houston, Texas: – Toru Tanaka defeated Fritz Von Erich to win the NWA American Heavyweight Title (later to become the World Class World Heavyweight Title)
1975
Tokyo, Japan: – Giant Baba won All Japan Pro Wrestling’s 20-man Open Championship tournament, beating out second place finishers Abdullah The Butcher and Dory Funk Jr. by one point
1978
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA United States Title
Tokyo, Japan: – Antonio Inoki declares himself the inaugural Martial Arts title holder
1982
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana – Hulk Hogan & Dick The Bruiser beat Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum – Jesse Ventura beat Baron Von Raschke – Bobby Heenan & Jerry Blackwell beat Rick Martel & Spike Huber – Jerry Lawler beat Steve Regal – Tom Lintz beat Sonny Rogers
1983
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza by countout – AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera beat Greg Gagne & Rick Martel – Mad Dog Vachon & the Crusher (sub for Hogan) beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura – Billy Robinson beat Superstar Billy Graham – Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens – Brad Rheingans beat Bill White
1991
Acapulco, Mexico: – Blue Panther defeated Satanico in a tournament final to become the first CMLL World Middleweight Title
1993
Breman, Germany: – Hiroyoshi Yamamoto (Tenzan) defeated Alex Wright to win the CWA Jr heavyweight title
2011
– Big Show defeated Mark Henry to win the World Championship in a chair match – Daniel Bryan cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated the Big Show to become new World Champion – WWE Champion CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio and The Miz in a TLC match to retain the title
YESTERDAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY (thanks to Barry Rose)
1956 – Argentina Rocca beat Wild Red Berry (Tampa)
TNA will be starting earlier than expected on POP TV with its debut show coming out this Tuesday night from 9-11 p.m — the company’s regular time slot on the station.
TNA finished its Destination America run on Wednesday night, and it was originally believed that the company would not have television until their originally scheduled debut show on Tuesday, January 5th. Instead, POP TV will be picking up with the final two episodes of Impact for 2015, airing on Tuesday, December 22nd, and Tuesday, December 29th, both of which will be “Best of 2015” type shows. This week, their first hour will go head-to-head with a live Smackdown.
The 1/5 “live” show from Bethlehem, PA, will feature the semifinals and finals of the TNA title tournament that has come down to Bobby Lashley, Eric Young, Matt Hardy and Ethan Carter III. The company is saying it’s a live show, but in the past, that has meant taping two hours before and airing it the same night.
1500 tickets for a 1/16 NXT house show in Chicago at the Portage Theater, the group’s debut in the market, sold out in one minute today.
At this writing, there are 48 tickets left on Stubhub with a cheapest ticket price at $145. There are also tickets available in other secondary market sites and through area ticket brokers, but are for well above face value and there are not a great deal of them available.
Tickets for a 1/30 NXT show in Royal Oak, MI, just outside of Detroit, sold out their pre-sale allotment on the first day as well.
Also, it appears as if the entire pre-sale allotment for the NXT event on April 1st in Dallas, TX, is also sold out. The show, set for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, seats about 7,000. A public on-sale is scheduled for Saturday, but it’s likely only a small amount of tickets will be made available which is usually the case in these situations.
The go-home show leading to Final Battle was the second installment in the current series of Ring of Honor television episodes from the Nashville Fairgrounds. The focus was on building the pay-per-view and every match had some purpose in an upcoming PPV match. Jerry Lynn returned to ROH for an interview segment and a confrontation with ROH world champion Jay Lethal. After this show aired, ROH announced Lynn would also appear at Final Battle.
The show opened with the entrance of Adam Cole. The announcers, Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness, talked about Cole’s upcoming match at Final Battle against Kyle O’Reilly.
Adam Cole beat Corey Hollis
Cole began squashing him while showcasing a variety a moves like a fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker and a shining wizard. Hollis made a comeback but Cole quickly cut him off. Though he was over with the crowd, the villainous Cole mocked some ringside fans. Hollis sidestepped an attempted superkick and used a schoolboy to roll up Cole for a nearfall.
Moments later, Cole hit a bicycle kick that they had teased earlier in the match. Hollis countered a suplex into a stunner then did a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster. Hollis jumped off the top rope and ate a superkick. Cole picked him up for a suplex into a neckbreaker for the pinfall. Afterwards, Cole remained in the ring to cut a promo. He promised to keep it short and said when he makes a promise he means it. He promised to beat O’Reilly at Final Battle and “end” him in Ring of Honor.
Last week on ROH TV, the show ended with three tag teams brawling. In a follow-up, Kevin joined Nigel (who is also the matchmaker in storyline) in announcing a three-way tag match at Final Battle with the Briscoes vs. Young Bucks vs. ANX.
Related to the tag team picture, the next match on the go-home show showcased War Machine as they readied to challenge the Kingdom on the PPV for the tag team titles.
War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) beat the Washington Bullets (Jon & Trey Williams)
In an updated version of a Road Warriors squash match, Hanson and Rowe wrecked shop on the Bullets. They did power moves all over the place and manhandled their opponents. Rowe held one Bullet over his knee while Hanson jumped off the ropes with flying legdrop for the pin. War Machine looked impressive and menacing.
Before the next match, Mike Posey from “the hood” in Trussville, Alabama, marched to the ring with a posse. His five-person entourage included three dudes and two women. In doing a white rapper gimmick, Posey began rapping badly and dissing Dalton Castle. Poesy’s entourage encouraged his behavior.
Dalton Castle beat Mike Posey
The announcers talked up Castle’s return grudge match at Final Battle with Silas Young over who should rightly have custody of The Boys. Castle took most of the offense in this match with Posey. At one point, the entourage caused a distraction allowing Posey some offense. Posey dove off the top rope into the arms of Castle, who caught him and tossed him over the ropes on to the posse at ringside. Castle gave Posey his finish, the Bang-a-Rang, to score the pin.
In a post-match promo, Castle eloquently compared himself to the Aurora Borealis and vowed to kick Silas Young’s ass before calling him out right then. Instead of Silas confronting him, The Boys sauntered to the ring and confronted Dalton.
With Dalton distracted by The Boys and their newfound attitudes, Silas attacks him from behind and gives him the Misery finisher to leave Castle down and out. The Boys raised the hands of Silas and acted as if their time with the “Last Real Man” truly has transformed them, creating another layer to the drama that will play out at Final Battle.
In an in-ring interview segment, Kevin Kelly brought out Jerry Lynn. Kelly asked Lynn about his recent surgery and Lynn thanked the fans for their support during his recovery. Kevin brought up the upcoming ROH world title match at Final Battle and asked for Jerry to predict a winner.
Though he tried to avoid directly answering the question, Kelly pressed him while Lynn dodged the question putting over both guys in the process. Cue House of Truth theme music and Jay Lethal emerges carrying his ROH world title belt while also accompanied by Truth Martini and Taeler Hendrix.
Lethal confronted Lynn, who offered a friendly handshake. Lethal no-sold the handshake and said he was out there for one reason, which was he really wanted to hear the answer to the question. Lethal instructed Lynn to “turn your hearing aid up because he asked you a question.”
The expression on Lynn’s face immediately changed. Lynn said he knew Lethal and his family for years.
“You are not the Jay Lethal that I knew back then,” Lynn said. “You’re an arrogant prick!”
Lynn then basically said that overconfidence would be Lethal’s downfall and AJ Styles will beat him to become the champion. The crowd chanted for AJ in response. Lethal ordered the audience to shut up before saying Lynn and everybody else blindly follows AJ and Lethal said he “don’t give a damn” what Lynn thought. He threatened to kick Lynn’s ass.
Lynn countered by bringing up he has known Lethal’s parents for as long as he has known Lethal. Lynn said Lethal wanted to make them proud, but by attacking him they would be ashamed instead. Lethal thought it over for a moment before snapping.
Lethal yelled at Lynn saying he was standing in the ring with the ROH champion and claimed he was the greatest wrestler in the world. Lethal shouted about climbing a ladder this past year to get where he is while AJ only climbed a step stool. With just a touch of trepidation in his voice Lethal continued screaming about AJ being pushed to the main events and the title picture unfairly.
Lethal went on to say he would not attack Lynn because he needed Lynn healthy so Jerry could console AJ when Lethal beats him at Final Battle. Lethal said that is when AJ will learn Lethal himself is the greatest just like he claims. Before storming off, Lethal concluded with the proclamation, “I am professional wrestling.”
Following an announcement of Moose vs. Michael Elgin being signed for Final Battle, a video package highlighted their feud. Their story is they both want a shot at the ROH world title and each stands in the other’s way on their journey to a title shot.
Alex Shelley came to ringside to provide guest commentary for the main event tag match. They quickly recapped the scene from last week in which Shelley unveiled himself as the mysterious masked character that had been causing grief for Chris Sabin and the Addiction. Shelley is set to team with Matt Sydal and ACH in a six-man tag match at against the Addiction at Final Battle.
Matt Sydal & ACH beat Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta)
Sydal and Romero start slow but quickly picked up the pace with Sydal executing a monkey flip and later a hurricanrana on Romero, who begged off. ACH and Baretta squared off. At one point, ACH did a backflip then immediately sprung up with a dropkick.
After a commercial break, Roppongi Vice were in control with Romero getting heat on Sydal. ACH came in off the hot tag. He does a crossbody off the top, an enzuigiri on Romero and catches Baretta on the outside with a soccer kick. ACH then runs across the ring, springs off the middle rope with one foot and does his crazy flip dive over the ropes to the outside.
Romero and Baretta cut off ACH with a series of great double team moves. Sydal makes a bling tag only to get caught with sliced bread from Romero. However, ACH jumps off the top with a double foot stomp on Romero. Sydal and Baretta exchange strikes with Sydal gaining the advantage. Romero jumped in to make the save for Baretta and ACH jumps in to make the save for Sydal moments later.
ACH did a handspring over the ropes into a dive on the floor. Sydal went for the shooting star press but Baretta got his knees up. Roppongi Vice went for their finisher. As Romero did a springboard off the top rope, ACH flew in out of nowhere off a springboard to wipe out Romero. Sydal executed a code red on Baretta to score the pin.
Happy Star Wars day! There will be no spoilers in this review because…this has absolutely nothing to do with Star Wars. Instead we’re heading towards the Tokyo Dome, as the name suggests, which means we’ll be seeing a lot of tag matches related to the event. We’ll also see the NWA Jr. Heavyweight title on the line as Tiger Mask IV defends against Jushin Thunder Liger, and in the main event Shinsuke Nakamura battles the king of the hip attack, Ryusuke Taguchi. All here live at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
They first aired a video highlighting the big moments of 2015 in New Japan, everything from WrestleKingdom to their joint shows with Ring of Honor in the US to what went down a few weeks ago at the World Tag League tournament.
TenKoji & Jay White vs Nagata, Nakanishi & David Finlay
The usual good tag opener. Kojima and Finlay had some nice exchanges. Finally went to hit the ropes but Kojima clobbered him with a lariat and pinned him.
Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe vs. Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka
Nice match. The crowd got really into it towards the end as Komatsu and Tanaka are great at selling and heightening the drama of a match. The World Tag League winners dominated a lot of the match. There was a submission spot that people got into where Tanaka wouldn’t submit to a Boston Crab by Makabe. They had some good back and forth until Makabe pelted him with a lariat to the throat, then hit the king kong knee drop from the top rope for the win.
Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Cody Hall and Yujiro Takahashi
Just a match. Not a really good one, honestly. They just did some plodding work throughout and Yujiro’s antics only led to the finish. He and Yujiro worked part of the math, a lot was Sakuraba facing off against Cody Hall. Hall used power spots while Sakuraba grinded him down. He went for an armbar as Yujiro was about to break it up, but Yano low blowed him, distracted the ref and hit Hall to allow Sakuraba to get the submission win.
Liger wore a completely different outfit here. If you’ve seen him in the past when he’s wrestling heavyweight matches (like in matches against Great Muta and Hashimoto) it’s something similar to that, with a different mask and no bodysuit, just tights. Liger looks in tremendous shape for someone that’s fifty years old. Tiger Mask tried for the tiger suplex at one point but Liger hooked Tiger Mask’s leg and they both fell. Crowd was dead for this for whatever reason despite both working hard and having a pretty good match. Liger submitted after Tiger Mask took him down with an armbar, then transitioned into a chickenwing and Liger verbally submitted.
Tetsuya Natio, Evil and Bushi vs. Hirooki Goto, Mascara Dorada and Captain New Japan
Solid match. They were teasing something between Naito and Milano Collection AT as Naito made him open the ring ropes for him. Naito then teased like he was going to attack him, but did nothing. Dorada accidently kicked Goto as Naito tripped him into the ropes and Bushi smashed Dorada’s face into the apron, sending him out of the ring. The usual finish here as Captain New Japan fought bravely against Evil and Naito but he eventually fell to Evil’s STO.
Bushi ripped off Dorada’s mask after the mask and said he’d be the next CMLL welterweight champion. He grabbed Dorada’s belt and posed with it before making his exit with the belt.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi was over tonight. Nakamura went for the boma ye but Taguchi fell to the floor. Taguchi came back with a hip attack and a springboard crossbody to the floor. Taguchi had him in the ankle lock at one point too. Taguchi went for a sliding hip attack but Nakamura rolled out of the way and took him down. Taguchi kicked out a boma ye from the top rope. Nakamura rolled out of a hip attack and struck down Taguchi with another boma ye knee strike for the win. Really nice back and forth match and way better than one would expect.
Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Gedo, Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, Kushida and Hiroshi Tanahashi
Chaos worked as the heels and dominated Kushida in the match, nearly getting him eliminated from the top rope (those count in elimination matches in Japan). Shibata and Ishii worked together and the crowd was very into the elimination teases. They both made it to the apron where Shibata was about to take out Tomohiro Ishii to the floor when Yoshi-Hashi came in and dropkicked Shibata, sending both he and Ishii to the floor, eliminating them. Yoshi-Hashi and Robinson then went at it, which didn’t last long as Robinson missed a moonsault, which allowed Yoshi-Hashi to eventually pin him with the senton.
Tanahashi came in and soon submitted Gedo with the Texas Cloverleaf, which left him and Okada together. They teased some back and forth, but it didn’t last long as Okada managed to get him over the top rope, eliminating him. That left Kushida, who worked over Okada’s arm. Okada gained control, hit a high fly flow to mock Tanahashi, and pinned him with the rainmaker to win the match. Good stuff throughout and the crowd was into it.
Overall, this was a fine card. Watch the NWA Jr. title match if you can, and the top two matches were great. One of the better Korakuen Hall house shows in a while.
At Bellator’s September Dynamite show, it was announced that Fedor Emilianenko would return to MMA on New Year’s Eve for a new Japanese promotion which we later learned would be called Rizin Fighting Federation. Former Pride president Nobuyuki Sakakibara made the announcement but didn’t announce an opponent for the former Grand Prix champion.
Several names have been rumoured to be Fedor’s opponent with word first leaking out (and quickly denied) that the opponent would be former Super Fight League fighter Jaideep Singh. Seemingly every non-UFC heavyweight who didn’t already have a fight booked was linked at one point or another, and late Thursday night, the promotion held a press conference, to announce Fedor’s opponent on December 31st.
And that opponent is…Jaideep Singh.
At the time of the original rumours, Singh had only fought one in MMA, a 2013 bout in which he submitted 0-1 fighter Alireza Tavakoli. He’s since fought for the DEEP promotion in Japan, scoring a 2nd round KO over Carlos Toyota (6-6-1). Fedor and Singh will be the main event of “Breakfast with Fedor” — a show that will be broadcast on New Year’s Eve on Spike TV at 10 AM Eastern. The show will feature fights from the three shows that Rizin will be running that weekend, two of which involve current Bellator fighters Brennan Ward and King Mo Lawal in separate fights.
Emilianenko was at one time considered the top heavyweight and pound-for-pound fighter in all of MMA. He had a 10-year winning streak snapped at the hands of current UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum in June 2010. He went on to get knocked out in his next two Strikeforce fights against Bigfoot Silva and Dan Henderson before returning to Russia and Japan. He won twice for M1 Global and once for Dream before retiring after a June 2012 KO of Pedro Rizzo.
Conor McGregor winning the UFC featherweight title and 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.
We also have news on a new Takeover special and WrestleMania weekend, WWE week on the USA Network, dates Brock Lesnar is booked, WWE making a deal with Coca Cola, new season of Total Divas, Slammy Awards notes, why it is unlikely Dwayne Johnson will be at WrestleMania, Ronda Rousey and WrestleMania, William Regal injury update, death of Jim Dotson, Daniel Bryan update, offers made to Bryan, Bryan talks WretleMania and bringing back stars from the past, HHH talks NXT, why Raw is three hours and why that isn’t going to change soon, WWE injury updates, NXT touring in 2016, Cena in the movies, Lineup of DVD releases for 2016, how ECW ended up being a financial success, difference in the makeup of Raw and Smackdown viewers and what viewers are more likely to watch both shows, plus we’ve got reports from all the WWE & NXT arena events over the past week with business and overall highlights.
We also look at the complete New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 10 show and other activities in conjunction with New Japan’s signature show of the year.
We also look at the death of Yan Jian Bing from weight cutting and talk about the story that needs to be addressed by the MMA community and commissions
We also have the complete monthly business breakdowns for WWE and TNA when it comes to ratings, attendance, merchandise and other business notes.
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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
We’ve also got the weekly coverage of all the ratings of the major shows, results from the major league events held around the world, and the major TV show rundowns.
Also in this issue:
–The latest from Arena Mexico
–Update on next AAA big show
–Dragon Gate iPPV notes and unique way to pick a main event
–All Japan having to cutback on business
–Tokyo Dome ticket sales
–A.J. Styles update
–Fantastica Mania ticket sales
–Notes on two wrestlers debuting on 1/3 in New Japan
–One of greatest real woman wrestlers ever officially retires
–Notes on the weekend PWG shows
–Wrestler wins Olympic athlete of the year award
–Update on Nick Aldis after biceps surgery
–Update on legal battles involving Hulk Hogan
–2CW promotion closing up with three big shows
–CZW draws big crowd for cage of death
–Notes on former pro wrestler who was accomplished rodeo star
–Notes on the pro wrestling debut of Rachel Ellering, daughter of Paul Ellering
–Notes on Rey Mysterio’s debut in Lucha Underground
–Notes on five weeks worth of Lucha Underground television
–Lucha Underground builds around unknown star, who gets injured and an update on him and his condition
–Notes on lots of new characters for season two of the promotion and new storylines
–A.J. Styles talks getting ready for ROH show
–Complete ROH lineup
–More on the TNA title tournament
–Update on the Hardys in TNA
–Update on Kurt Angle in TNA
–TNA looking for new talent to debut on 1/5
–Pop TV talks about its goals for TNA
–TNA star in new Conan movie
–TNA stars win overseas tag team title
–TNA looking for stars from India
–More notes on the fight in the airplane with UFC fans coming to Las Vegas from Ireland
–Rousey blows away Internet numbers in 2015
–Notes on the final UFC show of the year
–Upping the quality of Fight Pass
–Cris Cyborg gives up on cutting to 135
–Lots of new UFC fights
–New storyline involving the Gracie vs. Shamrock fight
–More notes for the debut of Rizin at the end of the month with lots of new fights
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We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s NXT show and we’ll also be doing a poll for tomorrow’s ROH show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
Smackdown tonight on Syfy:
Alberto Del Rio vs. Ryback non-title
Titus O’Neil vs. Tyler Breeze
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs. Lucha Dragons non-title
Becky Lynch vs. Brie Bella
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler non-title
New Japan from Korakuen Hall tonight/tomorrow on New Japan World at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time/1:30 a.m. Pacific time
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Jay White vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay
Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Liger for NWA jr. title
Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan & Mascara Dorada vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi & Evil
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Kushida vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo
There will be another Korakuen Hall show headlined by Tanahashi & Shibata vs. Okada & Naito on late Friday night/Saturday morning at the same time. ROH has its Final Battle PPV tomorrow night, and UFC has its final show of the year on Saturday night.
Conor McGregor winning the UFC featherweight title and 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.
We also have news on a new Takeover special and WrestleMania weekend, WWE week on the USA Network, dates Brock Lesnar is booked, WWE making a deal with Coca Cola, new season of Total Divas, Slammy Awards notes, why it is unlikely Dwayne Johnson will be at WrestleMania, Ronda Rousey and WrestleMania, William Regal injury update, death of Jim Dotson, Daniel Bryan update, offers made to Bryan, Bryan talks WretleMania and bringing back stars from the past, HHH talks NXT, why Raw is three hours and why that isn’t going to change soon, WWE injury updates, NXT touring in 2016, Cena in the movies, Lineup of DVD releases for 2016, how ECW ended up being a financial success, difference in the makeup of Raw and Smackdown viewers and what viewers are more likely to watch both shows, plus we’ve got reports from all the WWE & NXT arena events over the past week with business and overall highlights.
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There were a lot of pro wrestling people at the Combate Americas MMA show last night on NBC Universo at the Florentine Gardens in Hollywood,CA. Gene LeBell was a judge. Konnan did the color commentary. Court Bauer was a Co-executive producer. Also at the show included Frank Shamrock and Taya Valkyrie.
Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte) is on the cover of the new issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers that comes out in a few days.
Dwayne Johnson and girlfriend Lauren Hashian had a baby girl yesterday. Congratulations to both.
Tickets for the 1/2 PWG show in Reseda, CA sold out instantly last night.
POP TV, the new home of TNA, has been cleared by Cablevision as of mid-January. It won’t be airing on Cablevision in time for the 1/5 show, but it will be airing in time for the 1/29 show.
WWE
When they taped Smackdown in Newark for tonight, in Roman Reign’s opening interview, he said that HHH hadn’t been seen since TLC anywhere. So there were wires crossed between those running the show and HHH.
Also in a rarity, on tonight’s show during the national broadcast they will plug the Brock Lesnar appearance at the show on Saturday night at the Forum in Los Angeles. That show has a surprisingly weak advance. Lesnar faces Alberto Del Rio on that card in a U.S. title match.
All the allotment of pre-sale tickets put on sale today for NXT live events in Royal Oak, MI and Pittsburgh in January have sold out.
The Baron Corbin win over Apollo Crews was to set up some Finn Balor vs Corbin matches for the NXT title.
Joe Rogan has apologized for saying that Jose Aldo looked different in Saturday’s fight and any insinuations regarding that.
John McCarthy will be the referee for the 1/2 Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit welterweight title match. The judges will be Derek Cleary, Chris Lee and Tony Weeks.
Nate Diaz showed up in great shape for Saturday’s fight with Michael Johnson. He wasn’t happy he wasn’t on the event poster, so today he drew himself on an event poster.
Rafael Feijao vs. Ovince Saint-Preux has been added to the 2/6 UFC show in Las Vegas, which is the Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez show.
Martin Sevensoon vs. David Teymur, both off the recent TUF season, and both from Sweden and Conor McGregor’s team, will face off on the 2/27 sold out UFC show at the O2 Arena in London.
Paul Bradley (22-6, 2 NCs) vs. Chris Honeycutt (6-0, 1 NC) in a battle of former All-American Division I wrestlers in a rematch of a fight that went to a no contest a few months back, has been rescheduled for the 1/29 Bellator show in Fresno. Also announced for prelims were Anthony Avila (12-4) vs. John Reedy (11-6), Javy Ayala (8-4) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (9-6) and Art Arcienega (14-5) vs. Justin Smiley (9-7).
Rockstar Pro Wrestling tomorrow night at the Rockstar Pro Arena in Dayton.
Maryland Championship Wrestling on 12/26 in Joppa, MD featuring Ethan Carter III, Chyna and Ashley Massaro as well as the area debut of Sean Studd, the real life son of Big John Studd.
The ECWA announced Jason Kincaid as the first person in the 2016 Super 8 tournament which takes place on 4/23.
L.A. Park & Laredo Kid vs. Mascara Maligna & Silver Star headline a Saturday show in Dallas at the Indoor Soccer Camp.
Solar vs. Blue Panther is headlining a Sunday show at Arena Coliseo in Monterrey. They also could have headlined the same arena 30 years ago.
40 years ago today in Miami Beach before 4,200 fans:
Omar Negro (Buddy Moreno/Omar Atlas) drew Bruce Swayze (Patrick’s uncle)
Mike Graham beat Bob Orton Jr. via DQ to retain the U.S. jr. heavyweight title
Karl Von Steiger beat Abe Jacobs
Bob Roop beat Bill Dromo
The Destroyer (Killer Kowalski) no contest Big Bad John
Billy Robinson beat The Great Malenko to retain the Southern title
Rocky Johnson & Thunderbolt Patterson beat Rip Hawk & Roger Kirby via DQ to retain the Florida tag team titles
Terry Funk beat Cyclone Negro to retain the NWA title (thanks to Barry Rose)
Rock Solid Pro Wrestling on 2/12 in Kirkland Lake, ONT at the Northern College Kirkland Lake Campus headlined by Cody Deaner.
Want to make mention of the work of Kathy Fitzpatrick for her work in helping organize a lot of Toys for Tots pick-ups at wrestling events in the Philadelphia and New Jersey areas snd working with the Marine Reserve groups to come to the events, as well as transporting the toys
Bob Magee on wrestling promotions who have been working hard for charity during the holiday season:
* 3XWrestling presented Holiday Havoc 6 on December 4 in Des Moines, IA, and collected toys at its annual Toys for Tots Drive.
* 2300 (ECW) Arena presented the first of their Toys for Tots collection on December 5 at the CHIKARA Pro Wrestling season finale at the 2300 (ECW) Arena with an overflowing box of toys, as well as cash donations, and food donations to Philabundance being collected.
* New England Championship Wrestling held its annual Toys for Tots collection/meet and greet at West Real Estate in Wilmington, MA on December 5, collecting nearly 100 toys.
* The originator of Toys for Toys events in the Philadelphia/South Jersey region, United Wrestling Coalition, did it again on December 5 at Kelly’s Bar/Banquet Hall, 14 Railroad Avenue, Wrightstown, NJ with 300-350 toys plus 10 bikes.
* ECWA Pro Wrestling held its annual Toys for Tots show on December 5 at the Woodbury Heights Community Center, Woodbury, NJ with six boxes of Toys for Tots collected.
* Right Coast Pro returned to Newark, DE on December 5 and collected 2 shopping carts of canned and nonperishable goods for the “Feed the Need Ministry” in Newark, DE and $500 for the Josh Jones Fund.
* WAR Wrestling returns to Lima, OH on December 5 for United or Divided in a fundraiser for the Veterans Food Pantry; raising over $600 in cash and a whole SUV full of food.
* Crossfire Wrestling presented Jingle Bell Brawl IV on December 5 at The Merritton Community St. Catharine’s, ON, and raised $500 for The Niagara Children’s Centre Foundation.
* New Era Wrestling returned to Golden, CO on December 5, collecting dozens of toys at their Toys for Tots collection.
* Charity Wrestling Show came to Kingston Gospel Temple, Kingston, ON, Canada on December 5; with proceeds going to Hands of Hope, a charity that provides groceries over the holiday season to families in need.
* Pure Wrestling Association returned to Guelph, ON on December 4 and Kitchener, ON on December 5 for “Spirit of the Season” collecting scores of new, unwrapped toys and Guelph, ON on December 6 collecting many canned foods items.
* Old Time Wrestling collected numerous bags of food items at its December 5 weekly show in Williamstown, NJ.
* Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling returned to Warren, MI on December 6 for Hardcore With A Heart at The Ritz collecting hundreds of canned goods to benefit the homeless of metro Detroit.
* The stars of Juggalo Championship Wrestling will join forces with legendary rappers to deliver 6 shows to benefit Saint John’s Children’s Hospital of Illinois. The Rassle Rap Charity Festival Tour features all the stars of Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) like 2 Tuff Tony, Crazy Mary Dobson, Madman Pondo, The Weedman, The Ring Ryda’s, Kongo Kong, The Rudeboy, Super Strong Tiger, The Spider Monkey, The Iron Demon Shane Mercer, Moshpit Mike, Samantha Heights, and many more competing in the ring. All proceeds from the tour will go directly to Saint Johns Children’s Hospital, and that includes not only ticket sales, but also the various support packages available which include a special edition t-shirt, the opportunity to be a lumberjack in one of the matches, a VIP meet and greet with every performer on the show and more!!!
Show dates are:
12/10 Valparaiso, IN – Big Shots 12/11 Sauget, IL – Pop’s 12/12 Kokomo, IN – The Stage 12/13 Columbus, OH – The Newport 12/16 Glen Jean, WV – Glen Jean Armory 12/17 Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
* Texas Wrestling Association returned to the Texas Wolverine All-Star Gym, San Antonio, TX on December 11 for Gold Envy, part of the annual Toy Drive for Mujeres Unidas benefit Children’s Hospital of San Antonio; collecting 75 toys for area children.
* Old Time Wrestling collected yet more bags of food items at its December 12 weekly show in Williamstown, NJ.
* Grumpy’s Bail Bonds Operation Christmas sponsored a show in Portland, TN at the Richland Park Gym on December 11 with Ricky Morton, Bill Dundee, and TNA’s Crimson which raised nearly $1,000 for local youth organization HYPE Mentoring. Children received nearly 200 toys from Santa.
* Brew City Wrestling ran its annual Headlock for Hunger on December 11 at the Knight of Columbus Hall in West Allis, WI. The show featured a food drive for the Hunger Task Force of Greater Milwaukee, collecting 600 canned goods and non-perishables.
* Chaotic Wrestling ran its second Toys for Tots show of the year on December 11th at the Woburn, MA Elks Lodge.
* Combat Zone Wrestling presented its annual Toys for Tots collection (in conjunction with the Marine Corps Reserve) at Combat Zone Wrestling’s 17th annual Cage of Death on December 12 at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ as part of an all day CZW event, including a Combat Zone Wrestling afternoon student show at 2:00 pm. The day’s events produced 420 toys donated by CZW fans on Cage of Death day…an 11 year record for toys collected tonight at a CZW show….more than any Flyers Skate Zone or ECW Arena CZW show ever did, and twice what the promotion did in 2013.
* Grand Slam Wrestling returned to the Moosic Youth Center in Moosic, PA with 50 toys collected for Toys for Tots.
* Wrestling for a Cause ran Night of Miracles: The Fight for Luther on December 12 in Pryor, OK (7:00 pm belltime). 100% of the show’s went to the family of a child with cancer.
* All Star Wrestling presented Bodyslams For Toys on December 12 at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, 6050 176 St, Surrey, BC, collecting nearly 50 toys.
* Definitive Wrestling International held a Toys for Tots show on December 12 at Rivercrest Community Clubhouse in Riverview, FL, collecting numerous toys.
* Old Time Wrestling again collected food items at its December 12 weekly show in Williamstown, NJ as part of its holiday food drive.
* Game Changer Wrestling held a Toys for Tots fundraiser in Howell, NJ on December 12 with “Reckless Youth” Tom Carter, WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele and Terri Runnels.
* GALLI Lucha Libre presented its annual GALLI Toy Drive Navidad event in Villa Park, IL on December 13
Here are the events still scheduled in December and January:
* WrestleMerica returns to Griffin, GA on December 18, with a Toys for Tots collection for the children of Spalding County. The show features The Bullet Club’s Doc Gallows, 12 of the IWGP Tag Team Champions, Knux, Glacier, and Brad Attitude. Bring a new, unwrapped toy for get a discount on your ticket.
* 2300 (ECW) Arena and Ring of Honor present a Toys for Tots collection at Ring of Honor’s Final Battle PPV on December 18 at the 2300 (ECW) Arena on December 18 with an 8:30 pm bell time.
* 2300 (ECW) Arena and Ring of Honor present a Toys for Tots collection at Ring of Honor’s TV taping on December 19 at the 2300 (ECW) Arena with an 6:00 pm bell time.
Additionally, ROH and Donovan Dijak are doing a Go Fund Me page to benefit national Toys for Tots. You can donate directly to national Toys for Tots at this link
* Old Time Wrestling will collect numerous bags of food items at its December 19 afternoon and evening shows in Williamstown, NJ as part of its holiday food drive.
* Elite Canadian Champion Wrestling presents Wrestling with Hunger on December 19 in Port Coquitlam, BC, supporting the Share Family Services Food Bank. Feature matches: Artemis Spencer/Buddy Wayne vs. King Khash/Jorel Nelson, “Kingpin” Johnny Flynn vs. Andy “The Dreadful” Bird, Shotgun Stevens vs. Nick Pesky, Xavier vs. Mike Everest
* Premiere Wrestling Xperience is offering an opportunity for spectators to bring a new unwrapped toy to the Hickory National Guard Armory, 1251 8th St NE in Hickory, NC on December 19. Spectators who bring a new unwrapped toy (with a suggested minimum value of just $10) can attend their event for only $10 and any child, aged 12 and under, who also brings an unwrapped toy will be FREE in rows 3-8.
* SCW Entertainment returns to the Coronaca Fire Department in Coronaca, PA for the 5th annual Toys for Tots event on December 19. Featured matches: Anderson Strong (c) vs. Dean Richards in a SCW Heavyweight Championship/30 Minute Iron Man Match, TJ Boss vs. Ben Wright in a Cage Match/Loser Leaves SCW/Winner is # 1 Contender to the SCW Heavyweight Title, and Kat Daddy (c) vs. Karl Hager for the SCW Internet Championship
* Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling will hold Wrestling With Hunger at the Elks Hall #49 ,2272 Leigh Square, Port Coquitlam, BC on December 19 (8:00 pm belltime/ 7:30 doors open) to support Share Family Services Food Bank. All seats ONLY $16
* Supreme Pro Wrestling returns to Sacramento’s SPW Arena on Sunday, December 20, with Brian Tannen defending the SPW Heavyweight Title against Scoot Robertson — The Beautiful People defending the SPW Tag Team Titles against the Honor Society — Michael Hayashi defends the SPW Xtreme Title against Airon Skye — and Joe DeSoul in a grudge match against Ring Announcer Ethan White. Fans donating an unwrapped toy will get half-price admission in our annual Toys For Kids promotion!
* Smash Wrestling presents Infinity Chapter 3 & 4 on December 27 at Harmony Creek Community Hall, 15 Harmony Rd. N, Oshawa Ontario. This is the annual Christmas show for local food bank. Fans are asked to bring donations for Harmony Creek food bank. No matches yet announced.
* On Point Wrestling presents its third anniversary show on January 2 at the Old Time Wrestling Arena, 1041 Glassboro Road (Monroe Business Center) Building C/Suite 1 – Williamstown, NJ. Doors open at 6:30 pm/7:00 pm bell time. Main Event, for the On Point Championship/No Rope Barbed Wire; Joey Janela defends against Oz Tyler (with Loudy). A Toys for Tots collection will take place at the show.
Between all of these over the years, tens of thousands of children have been able to have a Christmas or Hanukkah. Please help your local independent promotion do the same, or encourage them to schedule an event soon for the Holidays if they haven’t already. If you’re a promoter, PLEASE email me and let me know of your holiday charity themed plans (fund-raisers/collections for clothes, food pantries, Toys for Toys, etc.) at wrestling or MMA events to bobmagee1@hotmail.com.
Kansas City, Kansas: – Frank Gotch defeated Fred Beel to win the American Heavyweight Title
1930
St. Louis, Missouri: – World Champion Jim Londos beat Milo Steinborn to retain the title – Fred Grubmeier beat Ray Steele
1965
Dothan, Alabama: – Chris and Ken Lucas defeated The Mysterio Medics to win the Gulf Coast version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Title
1967
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Mitsu Arakawa & Dr Moto beat Bill Watts & Rock Rogowski (Ole Anderson) – Dr X beat Mighty Igor Vodik – Harley Race beat Bob Geigel – Luke Brown beat Bill Green – Rene Goulet beat Chris Markoff dq – Eddie Sharkey beat Steve Druk
1968
Dallas, Texas: – Fritz Von Erich & Dan Miller defeated The Spoiler & Gary Hart to win the NWA American Tag Team Title (later to become the World Class World Tag Team Title)
1969
Brisbane, Australia: – King Curtis Iaukea defeated Billy Robinson to win the IWA title
1970
– Kim Il and Pak Song defeated Gorgeous George, Jr. and Rufus R. Jones to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title
1971
– The Royal Kangaroos (Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles) defeated Beauregard and Dutch Savage for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title
1973
Miami, Florida: – Buddy Colt defeated Eddie Graham for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title
Vancouver, British Columbia: – Buck Ramstead and Mr. X (Guy Mitchell) defeated The Samoans (Afa and Sika) to win the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Title
1977
San Juan, Puerto Rico: – The Hollywood Blondes (Jack Evans and Larry Sharpe) defeated Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica for the WWC North American Tag Team Title – Jose Rivera and Invader I defeated The Samoans (Afa and Sika) for the WWC World Tag Team Title – Joe Novak defeated Hercules Ayala for the WWC Caribbean Heavywight Title
1978
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Dino Bravo defeated Gene Kiniski to become the first holder of the Toronto version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title
Dallas, Texas: – Tiger Conway, Jr. and Bull Ramos defeated Killer Karl Krupp and Mark Lewin for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title
1979
New York City: – Bob Backlund defeated Bobby Duncum in a Texas death match to win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Title
1985
Ames, Iowa: – Bob Brown defeated Brett Sawyer to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1987
Acapulco, Mexico: – El Gran Markus, Jr. defeated Super Halcon for the Mexican National Heavyweight Title
1988
Bayamon, Puerto Rico: – Hercules Ayala defeated Ricky Santana for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title
1989
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico: – Leo Burke defeated Carlos Colon to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title
1993
Tokyo, Japan: – Gran Hamada defeated Villano IV to win the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title
1994
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Tommy Dreamer & Cactus Jack defeated Tommy Cairo & The Sandman – ECW World Champion Shane Douglas defeated Ron Simmons – ECW World Tag Team Champions The Public Enemy defeated Sabu & Taz
1995
Hershey, Pennsylvania: – The Undertaker defeated King Mabel in a Casket match – Bret Hart pinned The British Bulldog to retain the WWF Title
Mexico City, Mexico: – Dr. Wagner, Jr. defeated Atlantis to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title
1999
Nashville, Tennessee: – Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome for the ECW World Heavyweight Title
2000
Washington, DC: – Kevin Nash & Dallas Page defeated Shawn Stasiak & Chuck Polumbo to win the WCW World Tag Team Titles – Goldberg defeated Lex Luger – Scott Steiner defeated Sid Vicious to retain the WCW World Title
2005
Edison, New Jersey: – Austin Aries and Roderick Strong defeated Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke to win the ROH Tag Team Titles – Bryan Danielson defeated Naomichi Marufuji to retain the ROH World Title – KENTA defeated Low Ki to retain the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title
2006
Richmond, Virginia: – The Undertaker defeated Mr. Kennedy in a Last Ride Match – Chris Benoit defeated Chavo Guerrero to retain the US Title
YESTERDAY IN FLORIDA WRESTLING HISTORY (thanks to Barry Rose)
1958 – Sylvia Torres won 5 woman Battle Royal (Lake Worth)
1960 – Chief Big Heart & Chief Big Eagle beat Eddie Graham & Buddy Austin via DQ (Miami Beach)
1968 – Great Malenko & Louie Tillet & Tarzan Tyler beat Rene Goulet & Jose Lothario & Wahoo McDaniel (Orlando)
1969 – Dory Funk Jr. beat Dale Lewis to retain NWA title (Tampa)
1972 – Great Malenko & Big Bad John beat Paul Jones & Buck Robley (Lakeland)
1974 – Toru Tanaka & Dick Slater retained Florida tag titles over Eddie & Mike Graham (Orlando)
1975 – Terry Funk beat Jack Brisco to retain NWA title (Tampa)
1978 – Dusty Rhodes beat Pak Song in a bullrope match (Lakeland)
1979 – Dusty Rhodes & Manny Fernandez beat Bugsy McGraw & Bad Leroy Brown in a cage match (Orlando)
1980 – Dusty Rhodes beat Dick Murdoch (Tampa)
1981 – Barry Windham beat The Spoiler via DQ in a Southern title match (Miami Beach)
1983 – Blackjack Mulligan beat Ron Bass in a bullrope match (St. Petersburg)
