Raw last night did 3.04 million viewers, the second lowest modern number, beating only the 2.95 million of the 11/23 show.
The number was down from last week partially due to the show falling off the tracks late, but also the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins game did 14.15 million viewers, a number very close to the game on 11/23, while last week’s game did 10.12 million viewers.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.27 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.04 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.85 million viewers
The biggest UFC Fight Week in company history is finally here, with three straight nights of fights coming from the fight capital of the world- Las Vegas, Nevada. It all kicks off with UFC Fight Night 80 on Thursday night at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, an exclusive event airing on UFC Fight Pass. The action kicks off at 6:45 PM eastern time with the preliminary card heading into a 10 PM eastern time start for the main card.
The main event will be the first time a female non-title bout has headlined a UFC event as former strawweight title challenger Rose Namajunas takes on budding star Paige VanZant in VanZant’s first showcase in a main event slot. The card as been billed as “Paige & Sage” as 19-year-old Sage Northcutt also competes on the card, taking on Cody Pfister in a lightweight bout. The UFC is banking on VanZant and Northcutt to carry the company into the future, and they get their chance to shine in the beginning of the biggest week in UFC history. There is more action on the card, so let us take a deeper look and give you five storylines to keep an eye on for UFC Fight Night 80 on Thursday.
1. Who wins the main event between Rose Namajunas and Paige VanZant?
Two rising contenders in the UFC’s women’s strawweight division square off in the main event of the first of three straight nights of UFC action. Paige VanZant, a 115-pound fighter being groomed for big things in the future at just 21 years of age, makes her first headline appearance against Rose Namajunas, an injury replacement for Joanne Calderwood, who was originally scheduled to fight VanZant. There is an argument to be made whether this is a stiffer test for VanZant as Namjunas and Calderwood have a different approach to a fight, but either way, it will be the toughest test for VanZant, winner of her first three UFC bouts, as she looks to knock on the door to a title shot. Namajunas has already fought once for the title, in the inaugural fight for the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship, but came up short in her quest as she was submitted by Carla Esparza. Esparza has since lost the title to the dominant champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, while Namjunas has fought just once since then, a submission win over Angela Hill in October.
This is an interesting bit of match making as both women could be built up for a fight for the championship. Granted that Namajunas is an injury replacement, but this is a tough match-up for VanZant, who the UFC is banking on as a potential challenger. Even though Claudia Gadelha is waiting in the wings, it would be easy to envision a scenario where VanZant gets a title shot with a win. She isn’t ready, but a win puts her at 4-0 in the UFC, a record only matched by Jedrzejczyk at 115 pounds. VanZant is a grinding wrestler with excellent conditioning and a solid top game and submission game. Namajunas has submissions for days, but she can break mentally when pushed into a tough fight. We haven’t seen VanZant tested too much as she has won her three UFC bouts with relative ease. This one won’t be as easy. It really is a tough fight to predict, but I do see VanZant getting the win in the later rounds.
2. Will Sage Northcutt continue to live up to the hype?
This event is being billed as the “Paige and Sage” show as, along with Paige VanZant, the UFC is banking on 19-year-old Sage Northcutt to be a future star in the sport. He has been impressive in his young career with six wins by stoppage, and five coming in the first round. He may be young, but he is clearly ready for the UFC with his skills, and he brings in a lot of hype. It may not be as warranted, but he has the marketability that the UFC looks for when grooming a future star, and he has shown the skills to back it up, albeit against lesser competition. He had an impressive UFC debut, destroying Francisco Trevino in just 57 seconds at UFC 192 in October. Trevino made it easy for him, though, as he came in four pounds overweight, didn’t look like he cared too much, didn’t put up much of a fight, complained when the fight was stopped, and, to top it all off, failed a drug test and was later released from the UFC.
Northcutt is going to be built up the right way by taking on lesser competition until you can no longer avoid giving him top-flight opponents. He is taking on Cody Pfister on Thursday night, a solid fighter, but one that doesn’t have the look of being a future contender. Pfister is 12-4-1 in his career and has just one loss in his last ten fights after starting his career 4-3, and he does train with a solid camp in the Team Takedown camp. He is just 1-1 in his UFC tenure and is coming off a decision win over Yosdenis Cedeno at UFC 189 in July. He is the perfect opponent for Northcutt at this point. The question is whether Northcutt is too overhyped. He has gotten a lot of attention in the last two months since his UFC debut, and he has gone and trained at other camps in the meantime. Whether how all of this fame, hype and change in fight status will affect him remains to be seen, but he gets the bigger stage to show if he will continue to live up to the hype, or if he just isn’t ready for the limelight yet. Pfister, despite being groomed as someone who is being fed, isn’t taking this lightly, but I see Northcutt getting the job done and continuing his path.
3. Who wins in a solid co-main event scrap when Jim Miller and Michael Chiesa do battle?
Lost in the shuffle of the hype behind Paige VanZant and Sage Northcutt is an excellent co-main event scrap in the lightweight division as UFC veteran Jim Miller makes his 21st appearance inside the Octagon to take on former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Michael Chiesa, winner of five of seven in the UFC. It will be the biggest fight to date for Chiesa, who is coming off a dominant decision win over Mitch Clarke in April. Chiesa’s only losses in the UFC have come to Jorge Masvidal and Joe Lauzon, a fight that was controversially stopped due to a cut. In Miller, he has an opponent who has scored 14 wins during his UFC career, but he has also scored just five wins in his last ten bouts after being very close to scoring a chance at earning a title shot at 155 pounds. Miller got back on track with a close split decision win over Danny Castillo in July.
These two men have similar fighting styles with wrestling and takedowns as their primary strengths to go along with solid submission skills. Both men grind their opponents, and it is an interesting clash of styles. Both men fight as southpaws, but land roughly the same amount of strikes with the same type of accuracy. Chiesa’s takedown game may be a little stronger as he averages more over the course of a fight, and he has shown better defense. Chiesa will also have a five-inch height advantage and a four-inch reach advantage, and he will want to exploit his length over Miller. Miller hits a little harder and mixes his kicks and knees in well. This is a tough fight to predict as the betting odds have it as pretty much a pick ’em. It will be Miller’s Octagon experience against the gritty nature of Chiesa in what should be an excellent fight. I like Miller just a little bit more to score the win due to his experience, but Chiesa is going to make it a battle.
4. Why is Aljamain Sterling in the prelims?
No offense to any other fighter competing on this card, but the best fighter fighting on the UFC Fight Night 80 card is buried way down in the preliminary card, and that is rising bantamweight prospect Aljamain Sterling. A product of the Serra-Longo fight team in New York, Sterling is a perfect 11-0 in his career, with his last three wins coming after signing with the UFC as an injury replacement in early 2014. He has scored wins over Cody Gibson, Hugo Viana and Takeya Mizugaki in his UFC career, and he has been dominant in all of his fights. He has scored seven of his eleven wins by stoppage, and alongside Thomas Almeida, he is looked at to be the future of the UFC bantamweight division. He has been inactive for a while, whether it be due to injury or the UFC matchmakers having trouble finding him an opponent and spot on a card.
Sterling deserves to be showcased on the main card. He is extremely talented and will likely fight for the title within the next two years. He had to campaign hard to get on a fight card, and his fight was the last fight put together for this card. The UFC realized they were making a mistake in not featuring him prominently, and made him a late addition to the open workouts for this event. He has an extremely tough opponent in Johnny Eduardo, who has 36 professional bouts in his career. Eduardo has scored wins in 13 of his last 14 fights, but injuries have limited him to just three fights in the last four years. Eduardo hasn’t fought since a May 2014 knockout win over Eddie Wineland, but it was his most impressive performance to date inside the Octagon. This is one fight that has been flying under the radar for this crazy fight week. Sterling deserved to be on the main card, and really, this fight did as well. He will show why when he steps into the Octagon on Thursday night.
5. What else on the card is there to keep an eye on?
Rounding out the main card for this UFC Fight Pass exclusive event is a former “TUF” winner, as “TUF: Nations” middleweight winner Elias Theodorou puts his perfect 11-0 record on the line against Thiago Santos. Theodorou is coming off a big TKO win over Roger Narvaez at UFC 185 in March, and he is a solid prospect at 185 pounds. He gets a big test in Santos, who has won three of his last four fights, and is coming off one of the best knockouts of the year, a head kick knockout of Steve Bosse at UFC Fight Night 70 in June. Headlining the preliminary portion of the card is a solid welterweight bout as Tim Means looks to get back into the win column following a loss to Matt Brown when he takes on John Howard, who got back into the win column after ending his three-fight losing skid when he scored a split decision win over Cathal Pendred at UFC 189 in July.
Three other fighters to keep an eye on during the preliminary card are Antonio Carlos Junior, Danny Roberts and Kailin Curran. Carlos Junior is a former “TUF: Brazil” winner as a heavyweight, and has since moved down to 185 pounds, where he has a huge size advantage. However, he utilized IV’s, and this will be his first fight without them, so it will be interesting to see how that effects him. Roberts is making his UFC debut with an 11-1 record and on the heels of five straight wins. He has an excellent mix of skills and has scored nine of his wins by stoppage. Curran is still in search of her first UFC win, having dropped both of her prior UFC bouts. She was in a heated battle with Paige VanZant in her UFC debut, and was dominating her fight with Alex Chambers before being submitted late in the fight. She has a lot of potential and just five career bouts, but gets a favorable match-up taking on Emily Kagan in the opening bout.
Full UFC Fight Night 80 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions
MAIN CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
Women’s Strawweights: (#3) Rose Namajunas vs. (#7) Paige VanZant
Betting Odds: Namajunas (+160), VanZant (-185)
Prediction: VanZant by submission in round 4
Lightweights: (#14) Jim Miller vs. Michael Chiesa
Betting Odds: Miller (+105), Chiesa (-125)
Prediction: Miller by decision
Lightweights: Sage Northcutt vs. Cody Pfister
Betting Odds: Northcutt (-1250), Pfister (+800)
Prediction: Northcutt by knockout in round 1
Middleweights: Elias Theodorou vs. Thiago Santos
Betting Odds: Theodorou (-250), Santos (+210)
Prediction: Theodorou by knockout in round 2
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 6:45 PM ET/3:45 PM PT)
Welterweights: Tim Means vs. John Howard
Betting Odds: Means (-335), Howard (+275)
Prediction: Howard by decision
Welterweights: Omari Akhmedov vs. Sergio Moraes
Betting Odds: Akhmedov (-140), Moraes (+120)
Prediction: Akhmedov by knockout in round 2
Middleweights: Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Kevin Casey
Betting Odds: Carlos Junior (-290), Casey (+245)
Prediction: Carlos Junior by submission in round 3
Bantamweights: (#5) Aljamain Sterling vs. (#10) Johnny Eduardo
Betting Odds: Sterling (-700), Eduardo (+500)
Prediction: Sterling by submission in round 2
Welterweights: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Andreas Stahl
Betting Odds: Ponzinibbio (-190), Stahl (+165)
Prediction: Ponzinibbio by decision
Welterweights: Danny Roberts vs. Nathan Coy
Betting Odds: Roberts (-155), Coy (+135)
Prediction: Roberts by knockout in round 1
Featherweights: Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Phillipe Nover
Betting Odds: Tukhugov (-330), Nover (+270)
Prediction: Tukhugov by decision
Women’s Strawweights: Kailin Curran vs. Emily Kagan
Betting Odds: Curran (-350), Kagan (+290)
Prediction: Curran by submission in round 2
1956
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Central States title-wire fence around ring match: Dr. Lee Grable defeated Richard Brown to win Central States title
1959
Pensacola, Florida:
– Billy Wicks defeated Pancho Villa in a tournament final to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship
1971
Buffalo, New York:
– Dominic DeNucci defeated Waldo Von Erich for the National Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title
Miami, Florida:
– The Alaskans (Mike York & Frank Monte) defeated The Australians (Larry O’Day & Ron Miller) to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title
1972
Denver, Colorado:
– AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Dusty Rhodes
– Billy Robinson beat Dick Murdoch
– Superstar Billy Graham beat Don Muraco
– Rene Goulet drew Reggie Parks
1973
Minneapolis, Minnesota:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Red Bastien
– The Crusher no contest Superstar Billy Graham
– Chris Taylor (pro debut) beat Rene Goulet
– Buddy Wolff beat Geoff Portz
– Greg Gagne beat Tony Rocco
1974
Green Bay, Wisconsin:
– Baron Von Raschke won a 15 Man, $12,000 Battle Royal
– The Crusher beat Horst Hoffman
– Ivan Putski drew Baron Von Raschke
– Chris Taylor beat Buddy Wolff
– Greg Gagne beat Bobby Heenan by countout
– Jim Brunzell drew Geoff Portz
1977
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
– Verne Gagne & the Crusher beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum
– AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Ray Stevens by count out
– AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant
– Angelo Mosca beat Larry Hennig
– Super Destroyer beat Johnny Solo
– Larry Hennig beat Ivan Crankovic
– Super Destroyer beat Jan Nelson
1978
Sydney, Australia:
– Andre the Giant & Ron Miller defeated Butcher Brannigan & Ox Baker to win the Australian-Asian heavyweight tag team title
1979
Osaka, Japan:
– Tastusmi Fujinami defeated Masashi Ozawa (Killer Khan)
1983
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
– AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel
– Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera
– Bunkhouse Match: Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan
– Mad Dog Vachon no contest David Shults
– Mr Saito beat Baron Von Raschke
– Superstar Billy Graham beat Steve Olsonoski
– Bulldog Bob Brown beat Bill White
Tokyo, Japan:
– Antonio Inoki & Hulk Hogan d Dick Murdock & Adrian Adonis
1990
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Tony Anthony & Doug Gilbert defeated Jeff Jarrett & Cody Michaels to win the USWA World Tag Team Title
1994
Atlanta, Georgia:
– Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) defeated Stars & Stripes (The Patriot & Marcus Bagwell) to win the WCW World Tag Team Title
2001
Glasgow, Scotland:
– Psicosis defeated Juventud Guerrera to win the World Wrestling All-Stars International Cruiserweight Title
2008
Tokyo, Japan:
– Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Shuji Kono & Suwama
2013
Tokyo, Japan:
– Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson beat Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Even though Tommy Dreamer is booked for a number of WWE house shows and has been appearing on WWE television, he is still keeping his own promotion going.
Dreamer’s House of Hardcore organization, which has been using TNA talent, ECW talent of the past, and some name independent talent, has announced an April 16 show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show will be a combination of a wrestling show and an Icons Of Wrestling convention at the same building.
Tickets will be going on sale tomorrow for the event, but no names have been announced yet.
The 44-year-old Dreamer has been working on and off again with WWE since May when he faced Baron Corbin at an NXT event in Philadelphia. He returned to RAW just over a week ago, tagging up with The Dudley Boyz against the Wyatts. He lost to Braun Strowman on last night’s RAW.
Comedian Howie Mandel will be appearing at Tuesday’s WWE television tapings in Jacksonville, FL, as part of the Tribute to the Troops show.
Tonight’s show will be a combination taping of Smackdown (which airs Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in most of the rest of the world), and Tribute to the Troops which is scheduled to air on 12/23 in the U.S. on the USA Network.
Mandel, best known for hosting Deal Or No Deal and being a judge on America’s Got Talent, is the only celebrity thus far announced as appearing on the show. Military personnel and their families from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Naval Station Mayport, and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base will be allowed in for free.
WWE started doing Tribute to the Troops in 2003 as the brainchild of John Layfield. At first, WWE performers would put on a show at an international military location, but in recent years, it was taped in conjunction with a regular television taping.
Last Friday’s Bellator 147 event averaged 656,000 viewers on Spike TV, headlined by former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC fighter Josh Thomson knocking out Pablo Villaseca. This was the final show of the year for Bellator, and the average viewership for their regular Friday night shows was 655,833 viewers – virtually identical to what they did Friday.
Notes:
– Bellator ran 16 shows in 2015; 12 regular shows (down 3.1% from 2014’s average viewership of 676,571) and 4 “tentpole” shows. They ran 21 regular shows in 2014 and plan to move to a more frequent schedule again in 2016.
– The 4 tentpole shows for the year averaged 1,016,500 viewers — greatly inflated by the 1,580,000 viewers for the Kimbo Slice-Ken Shamrock show in June. In fact that number was almost twice as high as their next highest rated show, which was the 872,000 viewers for the February British Invasion show. In 2014, they ran one tentpole show, Tito Ortiz-Stephan Bonnar at Bellator 131, which did 1,241,000 viewers.
– For their 16 shows this year, Bellator averaged 746,000 viewers overall for 22 shows, up 6.2% from the 2014 average of 702,227 viewers.
Thoughts:
– 4 of the last 5 Friday night regular shows have done between 650,000 and 669,000 viewers, so that seems to be what their steady audience is, going up a couple hundred thousand viewers for a tentpole show. It’s only when they bring in a name that would mean something to very casual fans (like Ortiz, Shamrock or Slice) that they are able to get to the 1 million threshold and beyond.
– Bellator has three shows upcoming in January and February with the big one being Bellator 149 on February 19th. That show will feature Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie and Slice vs Dada 5000. It should break the company’s viewership record if those two fights take place as scheduled.
Tokyo Sports announced its 2015 pro wrestling awards:
The MVP was Kazuchika Okada who won on the first ballot, and became only the fifth wrestler in history to be a three-time winner.
Okada vs. Genichiro Tenryu on 11/15 was named Match of the Year.
In a weird one, Atsushi Onita & Chigusa Nagayo were named tag team of the year.
Minoru Suzuki was award the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
Tomoaki Honma was named Best Technical Wrestler.
Io Shirai was named Woman’s wrestling MVP.
Genichiro Tenryu got the Distinguished Service Award.
Also honored were Eri Tosaka, Saori Yoshida and Kaori Icho, who captured world championships in amateur wrestling.
Submitted by Brian Shaw
– Neville def. Heath Slater
Fun match. Scary moment early when Slater tipped Neville over the top rope and he landed on his head on the apron. Neville hit the springboard moonsault to the outside and won with the Red Arrow, which the crowd loved.
– Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan def. Curtis Axel & Damien Sandow
Crowd was into Wyatt Family, doing firefly entrance. Wyatts came out to nothing but spooky low wind sounds, no music. Crowd cheered some for Sandow but not Axel. Strowman got his submission on Axel for an instant tapout.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Tyler Breeze w/ Summer Rae
Match of the night. One weird thing: Delphi’s hair was dry and therefore looked strange. Dolph & Summer did a very long, very funny version of her scream spot. Summer was ejected for hitting Dolph with her shoe. Lots of near falls; Dolph kicked out of a Beauty Shot and an Unprettier and Breeze kicked out of multiple superkick/fameasser combos.
– The Primetime Players def. Los Matadores
Basic tag match, centered early around Titus throwing big open hand slaps to the chest. One matador took 4-5 slaps and the other took a walk when he tried to make the tag. After some brawling, Darren & Titus both hit their moves and the ref counted two pins simultaneously.
– Becky Lynch & NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. Sasha Banks & Naomi w/ Tamina
Bayley had her air dancers, and as such was the only person on this show with a special entrance. Sasha, Becky, Bayley, & NXT all got chants during this match. A guy in the front row was dressed as Izzy, so Sasha snatched the the streamers from his arms and used them to mock Bayley’s entrance from the apron. She’s just so great at the little things. Match was fun, basic stuff; Becky beat Naomi with the DisarmHer after Tamina’s distraction went awry. After the match, Bayley took time to individually wave to everyone she could see with a Hugger shirt.
– Kane def. Bray Wyatt
Good reactions but nothing special to the match. Both guys did their spots and Kane won with a chokeslam.
– Ryback def. Rusev w/ Lana
Rusev had his personalized Bulgarian flag. Lana still in a dress/braid instead of the power suit/bun. She cut a promo before the match about her love for Rusev, then sang him “You Are My Sunshine,” which got loud boos. Crowd was really into Ryback, lots of spontaneous “Feed Me More” chants as he fired up. They had a good match; Ryback got out of the Accolade and hit Shellshocked for the win.
– Dean Ambrose def. WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens via DQ
Good reaction for both guys. Ambrose’s was all cheers and Owens’ was mixed, but both loud. Match was good but not spectacular; Owens was DQ’d for using a chair, which he hilariously argued was too minor an offense for a DQ. Owens then ate a Dirty Deeds on the chair after the match.
Crowd was energetic all night, much better than the previous show I saw in Greensboro. Granted, this was a better lineup with something for everyone.
We’re looking for reports on Raw tonight from North Charleston, SC with Superstars matches, dark matches and anything else that wouldn’t be evident on the live Raw tonight, as well as reports from the WWE weekend shows in Augusta, Fayetteville and Florence, SC to Dave Meltzer
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio tonight talking Raw, the big weekend upcoming and taking your e-mail questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
Smackdown and Tribute to the Troops will be taped on Tuesday in Jacksonville.
The finals of the New Japan tag team tournament will be late Tuesday/early Wednesday from Sendai at 4:30 a.m. Eastern and 1:30 a.m. Pacific
Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
Jay White vs. Mascara Dorada
Jushin Liger & Kushida vs. Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale & Cody Hall
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil for the 2015 World Tag League tournament final
Figure Four Weekly
Figure Four Weekly (11/23/15): Lots of Updates in Hulk Hogan-Gawker case
Lots of news including a win for Gawker, the new police report, the remaining mysteries of the case, what Bubba the Love Sponge is saying, and more.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Mick Foley’s talk on WWE creative and a look at all the new moves WWE tried this week on television is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at the changes WWE attempted after a week of record low ratings, as well as the fan questionnaire sent out, what can be learned from it, and why they are asking exactly the wrong people.
We also look at the strengths and weaknesses of the current WWE business, as well as why the ratings may be important, but other factors are probably more important,when it comes to WWE’s next television deal. We look at the different potential changes in the landscape look at what aspects of business are and aren’t improving, as well as WWE’s business in the big picture.
He also update the situation with A.J. Styles, and the New Japan tag team tournament with standings and notes on the tournament matches over the past week.
We also look at the TLC PPV update, more on La Sombra in WWE, questions about all the shoulder injuries, WWE security at live shows, Cena movie release, Brad Maddox firing, Maddox’s WWE history, talents WWE has shown interest in, WWE overseas tour lineup and WWE weekend live event notes and business.
We have a look at the debut of the new Rizin promotion, major announcements for the first weekend of shows, the tournament, just how big Bob Sapp vs Akebono was the first time.
We also have a story on the domestic abuse claims by the girlfriend of Tomoaki Honma, and his response.
We look at the realities of the free agency of Benson Henderson, judging of the key fights, as well as full rundown of UFC’s debut in South Korea this past week.
We’ve got notes of TNA’s canceled tour of India, notes on the death of Tommy Gilbert and El Bello Greco, along with a feature on Stan Holek, a member of two of the most decorated tag teams of the 50s and 60s, the Lisowski Brothers with Crusher and the Neilson Brothers with Art Neilson. We look at the unique reason why all of his success was as a tag team wrestler, his biggest rivals, and his 13 runs as world tag team champion.
We’ve got a feature on the retirement of Act Yasukawa and the sad reason it happened.
We’ve also got the awards ballot for the 2015 awards and information on how well Hell in a Cell did this year on PPV.
PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: December 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE attempts to right the ship, New Japan tag league update, more
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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE
The annual Tokyo Sports pro wrestling awards will be announced late tonight. Minoru Suzuki and Kazuchika Okada are the favorites for MVP.
WWE has pulled its Stampede Wrestling footage from the Network today over a rights issue that has to be resolved between Vince McMahon and Bret
Hart, who owns all of his Stampede footage.
Bubba Ray Dudley on Twitter yesterday saying “Just got off the phone with an Extreme Brother. Do not miss Raw tomorrow night.”
Jimmy Snuka was scheduled in court for a pretrial hearing today in the Nancy Argentino case. The hearing is in regard to the prosecution turning over evidence to the defense.
WWE announced the hiring of John Brody as Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Partnerships. He has performed similar positions with the NFL, Major League Baseball and the Boston Celtics. He will work directly under Michelle Wilson, the Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer as a new member of the senior management team.
Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal released its 50 most influential people in sports in 2015 list. No Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta or Vince McMahon in the top 50. White & Fertitta have been on the list in years past. Eric Shanks of Fox Sports was No. 10. Bob Bowman of Major League Baseball, who was formerly on the WWE Board of Directors before resigning, was No. 24. Al Haymon, the boxing promoter, was the only combat sports person on the list at No. 46.
WWE
UFC/MMA
MISCELLANEOUS
Here is today’s FULL Daily Pro Wrestling History including International history: Daily pro wrestling history (12/07): Williams & Gordy win All Japan Tag Team Titles
Want to again praise some good work in the wrestling community in recent weeks:
The holiday season is here…and independent wrestling helps the public for the holidays with a wide variety of charity events.
Here’s all the good work that has happened so far:
* 3XWrestling presented Holiday Havoc 6 on December 4th, and the 3XW annual Toys for Tots Drive.
* 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.
* 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 for Toys for Tots, and food donations to Philabundance being collected.
* Charity Wrestling Show comes to Kingston Gospel Temple, Kingston, ON, Canada on December 5 with a 7:00 pm belltime. with proceeds will go to Hands of Hope, a charity that provides groceries over the holiday season to families in need.
* 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.
* 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.
* WAR Wrestling returns to Lima, OH on December 5 for United or Divided in a fundraiser for the Veterans Food Pantry. raised 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.
* Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling returns to Warren, MI on December 6 for Hardcore With A Heart at The Ritz, collecting hundreds of cans of food for the homeless of metro Detroit.
Here are the events still scheduled:
* Grumpy’s Bail Bonds Operation Christmas sponsors a show in Portland, TN at the Richland Park Gym on December 11 with Ricky Morton, Bill Dundee, and TNA’s Crimson.
* Texas Wrestling Association returns 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.
* Pro Wrestling All Stars proudly presents “Christmas Classic” LIVE Friday night December 11th from The Play Atlantis in Melvindale, Michigan. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 730pm. Tickets are Only $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 & under. Bring in a New / unopened toy donation for “Toys 4 Tots” and receive a FREE TICKET to our January 1 show.
In your Double Main, PWAS CruiserCore Champion, El Mano del Diablo puts the PWAS CruiserCore Championship on the line as he battles, Hardcore wrestling legend and former PWAS CruiserCore champion, The Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Sabu. In tag team action, the odd couple of The Mysterious Movado and his tag team partner, “The Oldtimer” Jeff King make their first title defense against “The State of Corruption’s” Frank Issac Anderson aka F.I.A and his partner & current PWAS Heavyweight Champion, ” Officer” Rod Street. In a #1 Contender Challenge, “Inmate” Jack Thriller takes on Johnny Guh with the winner getting a future PWAS Heavyweight Championship match.
* Brew City Wrestling will run its annual Headlock for Hunger on December 11 at the Knight of Columbus Hall in West Allis, WI. The show features a food drive for the Hunger Task Force of Greater Milwaukee. Fans are asked to bring two non-perishable food items.
* Chaotic Wrestling will do its second Toys for Tots show of the year on December 11th at the Woburn, MA at the Elks Lodge, 295 Washington St, Woburn, MA.
* Join Game Changer Wrestling in Howell, NJ on December 12. On that night we will be giving back! Not only via our Toys for Tots fundraiser, but to a pioneer of our industry, as we honor “Reckless Youth” Tom Carter for his contributions to the sport of Pro Wrestling. Not only that, but #WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele and the lovely Terri Runnels will be in the house. For this special celebration to kick off the holiday season with Santa and his elves, get your tickets, NOW by calling the GCW Ticket line at 201-257- 8621.
* Chaotic Wrestling is joining forces once again with The United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots Program on December 12. In Lowell, MA, we will be collecting NEW, UNWRAPPED TOYS to help provide a happier holiday for families in need.
* All Star Wrestling presents Bodyslams For Toys on December 12 at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, 6050 176 St, Surrey, BC, Canada. Bring a new unwrapped toy with at least a $10 value and get in FREE.
* Combat Zone Wrestling presents its annual Toys for Tots collection (in conjunction with the Marine Corps Reserve) to take place for the eleventh year in a row with Combat Zone Wrestling’s 17th annual Cage of Death on December 12 at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. Cage of Death is part of an all day CZW event. Featured is the annual Cage of Death match, and the CZW return of Sami Callihan
The afternoon features a Combat Zone Wrestling DOJO WARS afternoon student show, with an admission of $5 or one new, unwrapped toy. Toys for Tots will be collected all day.
* GALLI Lucha Libre presents its annual GALLI Toy Drive Navidad event in Villa Park, IL on December 13.
* 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 belltime.
* 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 on December 18 with an 6:00 pm belltime.
* 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 in 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
* Wrestling for a Cause will run The Fight for Haylie on December 12 in Pryor, OK (7:00 pm belltime) . 100% of the show’s proceeds go to the family of a child with cancer.
* Keystone Championship Wrestling will hold its yearly Toys for Tots show, tentatively scheduled for December 19.
* 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!
* 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.
* Great Canadian Wrestling presents Season’s Beatings ’15 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.
Between all of these over the years, 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.