Loud pop for Neville and good heat Stardust. A good back and forth match finishing with Neville hitting the red arrow for the win.
Fandango & Damien Sandow vs. Adam Rose & Heath Slater
Another big pop for Fandango/Sandow and good heat Adam Rose pretty quiet for Heath Slater. Fandango wins with a roll-up on Slater.
King Barrett vs. Jack Swagger vs. WWE U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio
Barrett got really good heat. Lots of Rooney chants after Raw on Monday. Mix of boos and cheers for Swagger and similar for ADR although not as big a reaction. It’s a strange situation as no one seems to know who to get behind as although Barrett is in his home country he is definitely playing heel. Del Rio came out to his face music but was acting a mix of face and feel and Swagger was acting the face. All a bit confusing. ADR got the win with the arm bar on Swagger.
Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman vs. Usos and Ryback
Again a good back and forth match with the Wyatts breaking character to be more traditional classic heels Wyatts get the win with Strowman submissin after four good Uso superkicks.
Unfortunately the crowd weren’t too hot for this. The only reason I can think is that there won’t be many people are NXT in the U.K so might not be familiar of the history of Sasha, Bayley and Becky. The crowd picks up with the hot tag to Becky who wins with the arm bar.
Lucha Dragons vs. Ascension vs. Los Matadores
One of Los Matadores hit an Eddie Guerrero Three Amigos to Sin Cara followed by the shimmy and chest beating which sadly didn’t get a massive reaction as I don’t think it landed that it was 10 years since Eddie’s death. George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” hits and El Tortito enters and attacks Los Matadores causing confusion leading to Kalisto hitting the Salida del Sol to eliminate Ascension. Lucha Dragons get the win via another Eddie tribute with a Sin Cara frog splash.
No Holds barred: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
Reigns got the biggest pop of the night. A good match between both guys using the stairs, a kendo stick, 2 tables and chairs. Wyatt played a more classic heel role at one point shouting to the crowd, “Look at my muscles,” whilst he had Reigns in a rest hold. Both guys went though tables in good spots. Reigns eventually got the win after Bray a hit chair placed in corner between the ropes and then spear for the 123.
Notes:
– A good show unfortunately no proper mention of Eddie Guerrero just the couple of spots in the triple threat tag match.
I was at the Nottingham show in April and this was a much better show and much better crowd than last time. It was a full house and the show was announced by Eden. Pre-show, we had to vote to view a classic match on the TitanTron. We got Taker vs. Mankind at Survivor Series.
Ronda Rousey did a last minute PPV sell job by getting in Holly Holm’s face and saying that she sees through her fake nice girl persona.
While I’m sure they will announce 70,000 as the attendance, the real number will not be close. But Etihad Stadium will be full or very close to it. There were thousands of lower priced tickets left as of yesterday. The gate right now is $8.5 million in Australian dollars which is $6 million plus in U.S. dollars, so it’ll be among the biggest gates in UFC history but not close to the Toronto record or that of the recent WrestleManias.
If you go back five years, it is completely ridiculous that a show headlined by two women’s fights will legit draw more than 45,000 fans live and whether it does or doesn’t, it is entirely possible can do 1 million buys on PPV. The very concept of that would have been unheard of to the point it would be ridiculous.
I guess because of the Rousey vs. Correia numbers, this is the first time for a Rousey headlined show that I haven’t seen tons of stuff about how the show will bomb and how the UFC blew it with putting her on top because nobody is going to buy it. Remember all those WNBA analogies on why this was going to flop?
Joanna Jedrzejczyk whispered to Valerie Letourneau at a media event that she was going to end her career. Most figure that the fighters who have the biggest chances to make themselves stars are Joanna, Holm (if she wins, however great the odds are) and perhaps Robert Whittaker for the Australian market.
There were about 9,000 fans at today’s weigh-in, the second largest number in UFC history.
Nothing from the show is trending on Google, unlike Rousey’s last fight where she started trending days before the fight and did totally ridiculous numbers.
UFC has brought Julianna Pena to Australia, which seems to indicate they may want to have something set up with her and Rousey if Rousey wins. Right now the plan is for Rousey, if she wins, to headline UFC 200 in July next, as she’ll take time off for movie commitments.
We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE show in Nottingham, England, NXT in Orlando, ROH in Milwaukee (A.J. Styles & Young Bucks vs. Jay Lethal & Donovan Dijak & Joey Daddiego, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for tag titles plus Survivor of the Fittest matches with Mark Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Hanson vs. Kenny King, Jay Briscoe vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Ray Rowe vs. Rhett Titus, Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin vs. Moose, Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young vs. Adam Page and Roderick Strong vs. Cedric Alexander), NXT in Orlando and House of Hardcore in Philadelphia shows.
We’re also looking for reports on yesterday’s WWE shows in Newcastle, England and Bologna, Italy, yesterday’s NXT in Winter Haven, FL and Wednesday’s show in Rome at Dave Meltzer
We’ll be doing polls this weekend on both UFC 194 and the Tenryu retirement show.
WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV at 9 p.m.
Kenny Omega vs. Ryusuke Taguchi for IWGP jr. title
Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata for IWGP tag titles
These matches are from the 1/4 show at the Tokyo Dome.
Tajiri & Tommy Dreamer vs. Ethan Carter III & Eric Young
LEGACY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS TONIGHT AT 10 P.M. ON AXS TV
Brian Collete (206.6) vs. Manny Mancha (207) in a Legacy light heavyweight kickboxing tournament semifinal
Myron Dennis (208) vs. Andres Van Elgelen (206.7) in a Legacy light heavyweight kickboxing tournament semifinal
Trent Meaux (135) vs. Joel Scott (136)
Kolton Englund (159) vs. Gabe Duhon (163)
Sean Soriano (155) vs. Josh Quayhagen (156)
Ryan Spann (184.1) vs. Leonardo Cruz (184.6) for middleweight title
Winners of the light heavyweight tournament semifinals meet for championship in the main event
WWE finishes out the European tour on Saturday with shows in Minehead, England (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt) and Stuttgart, Germany (Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose for the IC title). We’re looking for reports on those shows, as well as the Lucha Underground tapings which begin tomorrow night in Boyle Heights, CA, ROH in Hopkins, MN featuring the finals of the Survival of the Fittest tournament with the six winners from Friday night’s qualifying matches doing a six-way match, as well as NXT in Sebring, FL and the House of Hardcore show in Queens, NY at the Elmcor Center.
UFC SATURDAY NIGHT FROM ETIHAD STADIUM IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRAILA
Fight Pass at 6:15 p.m. Eastern time
Ryan Benoit vs. Ben Nguyen
Steven Kennedy vs. Richard Walsh
Steve Montgomery vs. Daniel Kelly
James Moontasri vs. Brendan O’Reilly
FS 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Richie Vacuik vs. Danny Martinez
Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante
Kyle Noke vs. Pete Sobotta
Jake Matthews vs.
PPV AT 10 p.m. Eastern
Jared Rosholt vs. Stefan Struve
Uriah Hall vs. Robert Whittaker
Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Bigfoot Silva
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Valerie Letourneau for strawweight title
Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm for bantamweight title
TENRYU RETIREMENT SHOW FROM SUMO HALL IN TOKYO AT 1 A.M. EASTERN LATE SATURDAY/10 P.M. PACIFIC TIME
Suwama & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazuyuki Fujita
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kazuchika Okada
This show features world champions from three different offices, Big Japan (Okabayashi), NOAH (Suzuki) and New Japan (Okada).
Sunday has Insane Championship Wrestling in Glasgow, Scotland with Drew Galloway vs. Grado in what will be the most attended show from a UK based promotion in 33 years, as well as the second day of the Lucha Underground tapings in Boyle Heights, CA.
Raw will be live Monday night from Greenville, SC. The show will feature the quarterfinals of the WWE championship tournament. The quarterfinals have Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto, Kevin Owens vs. Neville and Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler. It’s possible all of these matches will be on Raw, or that some may be taped for Smackdown.
Exclusive news on WrestleMania, how SummerSlam has changed due to the Seth Rollins injury, updates on Rollins, notes on the WWE title tournament and what key stars besides Rollins and Randy Orton are now unlikely to wrestle at WrestleMania is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We also look at the different potential finishes of the WWE title tournament, how it looks to be progressing, a look at the Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock fight and look back 20 years to their two previous fights, lots of notes on the fight, and the back story.
We also look at WrestleMania tickets, the Wayne Rooney angle, Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista update, More on Alberto Del Rio’s outside business and his angle in Puerto Rico, Undertaker week, WWE make more network predictions, notes from the next Madison Square Garden show, notes on Raw this week, Ronda Rousey talks WWE Divas division, what WWE star is ready to return from surgery, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT arena events of the past week and business note.
We also have our monthly business rundown of WWE and TNA, to see how both groups are doing as compared to the same period last year, as well as a breakdown on how every different WWE main event is drawing over the past month.
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 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.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Eddie Guerrero.
As noted earlier today, the Royal Rumble is sold out. Tickets went on sale to the public today although there have been a couple of pre-sales dating back to August.
The largest crowd ever in the U.S. for a legitimate wrestling match will be tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, IA for the Iowa vs. Oklahoma State dual meet. There were 34,000 tickets sold to the event as of Wednesday afternoon, doubling the all-time collegiate dual meet record. With good weather and tons of people expected coming to town for the Iowa vs. Minnesota football game tomorrow night, they are hopeful of a good walkup with talks of 37,000 to 40,000. The show will air on tape delay on the Big 10 Network (DirecTV 610, Dish 405) ion Sunday at about 6:15 p.m. The previous dual meet record was 15,996 fans for the Penn State vs. Pitt meet on December 8, 2013.
Today’s Ben Askren vs. Luis Santos ONE welterweight title fight never happened because Santos weighed in at 172 pounds. Askren then told Santos he would fight him in a non-title match as long as Santos agreed to be weighed in going into the cage at less than 190 pounds. Santos showed up gigantic to Singapore. Santos refused. Victor Cui, the president of ONE, was furious at Santos for turning down the fight. Santos then called Askren a pussy for not accepting the fight under any weight, since the title wasn’t going to be at stake. “If the fight is not for the belt, why does it matter? At this point he’s just scared. I’m ready to fight him, but it looks like he’s not.” Way to dig the hole deeper, buddy
After being fired by WWE today, Billy Gunn was announced as appearing on 2/5 and 2/6 for Preston City Wrestling in the U.K.
There will be a web site get together on Friday, 4/1, for WrestleMania weekend, at the Texas de Brazil Steak house in Dallas at 5 p.m. We’ll have more on that as time approaches
WWE
Brad Maddox was identified on the Tonight Show on Wednesday night. It was at the very end of the show, long after the skit, when everyone on the show was being thanked, they used the name Brad Maddox, even though that’s not his real name.
WWE stock didn’t move today, staying even and closing the weekend at $16.38 per share.
UFC
The Fight Network will be airing UFC 157 (Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche), UFC 175 (Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida; Ronda Rousey vs. Alexis Davis) and UFC 190 (Ronda Rousey vs Bethe Correia) starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning until 7 p.m. to build to the Rousey vs. Holm fight.
UFC announced the launch of the UFC app on Amazon’s Appstore, available on all Amazon Fire streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick. It will have streaming access to all PPVs as well as Fight Pass.
Josh Nason talked with Michael Chiesa on this week’s PunchOut on the web site right now. They talked about his upcoming fight with Jim Miller.
The ESPN 30 for 30 special “The Prince of Pennsylvania,” which was great, is not airing on the U.S. version of Netflix (thanks to Shane Browne)
In the new episode of the Winter Palace podcast, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated talks about the sports media, including his podcast with Paul Heyman, wrestling podcasts and the Observer column in the National and Frank Deford’s appreciation of it. Deitsch and second guest Leonard F Chikarason each also talk about old school Howard Stern show memories.
Northeast Wrestling tonight in Waterbury, CT at Wilby High School featuring Bret Hart, Velvet Sky, Rey Mysterio, and the Hardys.
There is a Go Fund Me campaign I want to mention for longtime subscriber Patrick Jones. Last May, his body shut down including his arms, and his arms up to his elbows and legs below his knees needed to be amputated. He was just released from the hospital two weeks ago, and still has many more procedures in front of him. There will also be a nine pin bowling tournament to benefit him in Moline, IL at Highland Park Bowl on 12/5 with prizes awarded as a fund raiser. https://www.gofundme.com/patrick_davis
Maryland Championship Wrestling was announced a streaming service called MCWRageTV.com for $4.99 per month to watch footage of all the latest events and new original content.
Lots of people noted that there was a Bullet Club shirt shown at the Jets-Bills game last night.
La Sombra vs. Rush headlines Arena Mexico tonight. It may or may not air at www.ClaroSports.com You never know until showtime whether it’ll air won’t air, or will air and be blocked in the U.S.
CMLL results from Tuesday night in Guadalajara: Nube Roja & Yaqui b Mr. Apolo & Chakal, Espanto Negro & Metalico & Sangre Azteca b Oro Jr. & Soberano & Stigma, Kraneo & Olimpico & Ripper b Angel de Oro & Diamante Azul & Maximo Sexy-DQ, Rey Bucanero b La Mascara to retain the NWA historic light heavyweight title, Euforia & Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla b Atlantis & Mistico & Volador Jr. They set up a main event for this coming Tuesday in the same building with Volador Jr. defending the NWA historic welterweight title against Casas. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
Sunday will be the first time the NWA women’s championship was defended in Japan since the last time Moolah defended there (around 1969). Santana Garrett defends the title at Korakuen Hall against Holidead. (thanks to Al Haft)
Tanner Saraceno from Tough Enough will be fighting tomorrow against Tommy Metzger in a amateur middleweight title fight for UWFFC that will be streaming at GFL.TV
Mecca Pro Wrestling on 11/21 in Cornwall, ONT at the Agora Center featuring Al Snow and Tommy Dreamer.
Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 12/5 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds featuring Tommy Rich.
Vince Brent vs. Jordan Kage headlines Smoky Mountain Wrestling on 11/27 in Elziabethton, TN at the Evolution Sports Gym.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix tomorrow night in Council Bluffs, IA at the National Guard Armory.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1967 – Mick McManus beat Clayton Thompson in London to win the British middleweight title
1976 – Jan Wilkens beat Seiji Sakaguchi in Johannesburg to win the EWU Super heavyweight title
1979 – Verne Gagne beat Rusher Kimura in Niigata to win the IWE title
1984 – Marty Jones beat Fit Finlay in Dartford to win the World mid-heavyweight title
1994 – Perro Aguayo Sr. beat Konnan in Ciudad Juarez to win the AAA heavyweight title
1995 – Karula (Harley Saito under a mask) beat Eagle Sawai in Tokyo to win the LLPW title
1995 – Kensuke Sasaki beat Sting in Tokyo to win the U.S. title
1998 – Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr. beat Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Satanico in Mexico City to win the vacant CMLL tag titles
2004 – Alex Shane beat Doug Williams in Coventry to win the British heavyweight title
2005 – Dragon Kid beat Naruki Doi in Nagoya to win the Open the Brave Gate title
2006 – Jeff Hardy beat Johnny Nitro (Johnny Mundo) in Manchester to win the WWE IC title
2010 – Tama Tonga & El Terrible beat Atlantis & Diamante Azul in Mexico City to win the CMLL tag titles
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm weigh-ins from the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia kicking off at 5 PM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on pay-per-view at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:15 PM eastern time before moving over to FS1 at 8 PM eastern time. This will be the UFC’s third stadium show and the first visit to Melbourne, Australia.
The event is headlined by two title fights in each of the UFC’s womens’ divisions topped by dominant champions. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey looks to continue her reign as the best female fighter in the world as she puts her 12-0 record and title on the line against undefeated challenger Holly Holm. UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk looks to continue her dominance of the 115-pound division as she puts her title and undefeated record on the line against Valerie Letourneau, winner of four straight fights. Also on the card is a heavyweight bout that is a rematch of an all-time classic fight as Mark Hunt takes on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT): Ronda Rousey (134) vs. Holly Holm (134) – UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship Joanna Jedrzejczyk (114) vs. Valerie Letourneau (115) – UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship Mark Hunt (265) vs. Antonio Silva (263) Uriah Hall (185) vs. Robert Whittaker (185) Stefan Struve (265) vs. Jared Rosholt (239)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT): Jake Matthews (155) vs. Akbarh Arreola (155) Kyle Noke (169) vs. Peter Sobotta (169) Anthony Perosh (205) vs. Gian Villante (205) Richie Vaculik (125) vs. Danny Martinez (125)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 6:15 PM ET/3:15 PM PT): Dan Kelly (185) vs. Steve Montgomery (185) Richard Walsh (170) vs. Steve Kennedy (169) James Moontasri (170) vs. Anton Zafir (170) Ben Nguyen (126) vs. Ryan Benoit (125)
*Ronda calling Holly’s niceness all fake, and Ronda can see through her. Ronda is ready!
*Ronda gets right in her face. Holly didn’t back down. Awesome!
*Joanna pre-stared her down before even getting on the scale, Dana stepped in. Joanna said, “Her lucky day was yesterday…”
– (Non-Title) 3-on-2- Handicap Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods). Kofi ate a 3D through a table.
– Zack Ryder defeated Darren Young via roll-up.
– Cesaro defeated The Miz. Longest match, Cesaro positively over with all of Germany.
– WWE Divas Champion Charlotte (c) defeated Alicia Fox and Paige in a triple threat match. At first, Paige and Alicia worked together, but then they got into a fight. Charlotte pinned Alicia.
– In a street fight, “Demon” Kane defeated The Big Show via chokeslam through a table.
– Curtis Axel defeated Bo Dallas via roll-up. Dallas protests after the match, challenges anyone in the back to a match. R-Truth answers. Dallas quickly backtracked, and challenged Truth to a dance-off instead.
– R-Truth defeated Bo Dallas.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Tyler Breeze (w/ Summer Rae) via Zig Zag. Summer was ringside at first, but got caught interfering.
– Dean Ambrose defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens via DQ after a chair shot. After the match, Ziggler, Breeze, Cesaro, the New Day, and the Dudleyz all came out. Owens took finishers from all the babyfaces to end the show.
It’s the second straight weekend for a UFC event, and more chances to cash in if you play Draft Kings. UFC 193 comes our way on Saturday night from Melbourne, Australia, with two title fights and the two most dominant women in their respective weight classes defending their championships. Below are our studs, value plays, and fighters to avoid to help you fill out your UFC 193 DraftKings lineups:
STUDS
Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($11,300)
I could easily pick both Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk to occupy these two stud slots, but for the sake of the article, I’m only going one. I suggest you draft both, and it is possible to draft both and keep a solid team as I will show you later. I expect Rousey to win quickly, but she may have a much harder time, so I’m putting Jedrzejczyk as my top stud for this event. She has dynamic striking and lands a lot of significant strikes, and her opponent, Valerie Letourneau, leaves herself open to eat a lot of punches. Jedrzejczyk has underrated takedown ability as well, and she looks to finish every second of the fight. I sense both women getting early finishes, which grabs a lot of points. Jedrzejczyk’s significant striking ability will likely net more points for you, and that could make up a big difference. Do yourself a favor- draft both, or if you only wanna stick with one, I’d go Jedrzejczyk over Rousey, but only slightly.
Uriah Hall ($9,800)
Uriah Hall is coming off the biggest win of his career when he knocked out Gegard Mousasi in September. He took that fight on short notice and takes another short notice bout against Robert Whittaker on Saturday at UFC 193. He looks like he is finally living up to his potential, and he gets a stout test in Whittaker. Whittaker can be finished in his career, as evidenced to his February 2014 loss to Stephen Thompson. Hall is a similar striker to Thompson and could give Whittaker the same type of fits with his kicks. Hall is flashy and likes the spin kick, much like Thompson displayed against Whittaker. I hope that is a fight Hall watched over and over in preparation. Hall can be an enigma at times, as there have been moments when he hasn’t lived up to expectations. With the recent performance against Mousasi, he seems mentally into it and another big win could be coming his way on Saturday. He has a good chance at scoring a finish.
VALUE PICKS
Dan Kelly ($9,000)
I’ll admit there aren’t a lot of value plays on this card. I expect a lot of the favorites with high salaries to win here. There are a couple of solid value picks, and one of them is Dan Kelly. Yes, he was involved in arguably the worst fight in the UFC in 2015 against Patrick Walsh. Yes, he lost in under a minute in his last bout. However, he has scored seven wins by stoppage in his career, including a first-round submission win in his UFC debut. He fights Steve Montgomery, who is coming off being finished in the first round in his UFC debut. Kelly is worth taking a chance on, especially if you wanna go after some of the higher salary fighters on the card.
Anton Zafir ($8,800)
Anton Zafir is making his UFC debut on Saturday on short notice, being an injury fill-in and taking his debut fight against James Moontasri on eight days’ notice. Zafir was being targeted for the UFC roster in the near future and was headed to the event to meet with UFC officials on what he needed to do to get on the roster. Luckily for him, a spot opened up and his UFC signing came sooner than expected. He is inexperienced, having fought just eight times, but he has won seven of those, and six of the wins have come by stoppage. His opponent, Moontasri, is coming off being finished in the first round in his last fight. Plus, Moontasri is also taking the fight as an injury replacement, though he had adequate training time, but he is also moving up in weight for this fight. Zafir is another solid option for those wanting to spend on bigger names.
AVOID
Antonio Silva ($8,900)
I’m avoiding Antonio Silva as much as possible at this event. First of all, I don’t expect him to defeat Mark Hunt. Even if he is able to, I don’t see him finishing Hunt. I actually see Hunt finishing him, so selecting Hunt for your roster might not be a bad idea. Silva’s best shot at winning is taking the fight to the judges and staying out of striking range. He might not maximize your point-scoring abilities on this card, so I’m saying to just avoid “Bigfoot” this time around due to his tough opponent and bad chin.
Valerie Letourneau ($8,100) & Holly Holm ($8,000)
I’m grouping these two together. They’re fighting the two most dominant women in the sport. I actually think Holm has a decent chance if she has an excellent gameplan. That gameplan, though, means staying as far away from Ronda Rousey as possible, and thus not maximizing point-scoring ability. Letourneau almost feels like she is being led to a slaughter. I’m finding a way to have both Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk on my roster, and I think they score finishes over their opponents rather easily. That means avoid the challengers.
OUR LINE-UPS
RYAN FREDERICK: Ronda Rousey ($11,400), Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($11,300), Uriah Hall ($9,800), Anton Zafir ($8,800), Steve Kennedy ($8,600)
I found a way to get both dominant champions in my line-up, selecting Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. I see them getting the finishes in their title fights, and I don’t see either fight going past the second round. First-round wins won’t be surprising as well. I like Uriah Hall to continue to live up to his potential and get the finish win. The gameplan and blueprint for finishing Robert Whittaker is out there, Hall just has to execute. Anton Zafir is a sneaky play in his short-notice UFC debut, and he could make a big impression against James Moontasri, who can be finished. I rounded out my team with Steve Kennedy. Kennedy makes his second UFC appearance, but he has 22 professional wins in his career, with 17 by knockout or submission. His opponent, Richard Walsh, was brutally knocked out in his last bout. I give Kennedy a decent shot, and someone had to fill out my roster going with the two women.
PAUL FONTAINE: Joanna Jedrezejczyk ($11,300), Mark Hunt ($10,500), Richie Vaculik ($9,700), Robert Whittaker ($9,600), Steve Kennedy ($8,600)
This is a tough week for this. I really tried hard to figure out a way to get both Rousey and Joanna on my team but I cant’ find a combination that makes me happy so I’m let with this. I picked JJ over Ronda due to the fact that I think both will win by quick stoppage but Joanna will probably land more strikes in doing so and thus earn me more points. I also like Mark Hunt to rebound from his beating at the hands of Stipe Miocic to score a quick knockout over Bigfoot Silva. My third choice is Richie Vaculik. He should be motivated by the rabid home country crowd and his opponent Danny Martinez is on a 3 fight losing streak. My next two picks are also Australians with Robert Whittaker being next. The popular opinion is Uriah Hall but Whittaker shouldn’t be overlooked. He’s got a lot of power and again will be a huge favorite to these fans. Uriah Hall is either really bad or really good and we haven’t seen the bad one in awhile. With the short turnaround between fights and the long trip to Australia, it could be a recipe for disaster. My final pick is Steve Kennedy, who took his UFC debut fight on short notice. He’s had a proper training camp here and will hopefully rebound and score me some points.
PEACH MACHINE: Ronda Rousey ($11,400), Jake Matthews ($11,000), Robert Whittaker ($9,600), Ryan Benoit ($9,400), Steve Kennedy ($8,600)
Rousey is definitely worth the price tag. Automatic. Ryan Benoit is going to keep winning, especially against Ben Nguyen. Jake Matthews is a hometown hero. I saw him fight live in Australia and it was awesome. I expect him to roll through Arreola. I like Robert Whittaker moving up to 185. He’s a fast middleweight, but so is Hall. However, I’m expecting the uncertain, cautious Hall to come out here once he starts dealing with Whittaker’s complete game. Steven Kennedy is my sleeper pick… Because he was all I could afford, so I’m hoping he does something besides go to sleep!
Kansas City, Kansas: Attendance was 4,200 – MWA Title Match, Orville Brown drew Sonny Myers 1 fall each as Brown retained the title – Yukon Eric (as Eric Holmback) beat Terry McGinnis
1964
Denver, Colorado: – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Verne Gagne & Wilbur Snyder – Mad Dog Vachon beat Reggie Parks – Art Neilson vs Pat O’Connor
1965
Omaha, Nebraska: – Nebraska Champion Mad Russian Stan Pulaski beat Billy Red Cloud – Mitsu Arakawa & Haru Sasaki beat Danny Hodge & Reggie Parks to win Nebraska Tag Team title – Non Title: Mr Wrestling beat AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon – Bulldog Danny Plechas drew Bob Rader
1972
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Johnny Weaver & Art Nelson defeated Ole & Gene Anderson to win the Atlantic Coast Tag Team Titles
1981
Denver, Colorado: – Hulk Hogan & Andre The Giant beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell – Greg Gagne beat Pat Patterson – Tito Santana beat Sheik Adnan dq – Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell – Bobby Duncum beat Johnny Valiant
1992
Harlan, Kentucky: – The Rock N’ Roll Express defeated The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane & Tom Prichard) for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Title
1993
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Tommy Dreamer & Johnny Gunn defeated Johnny Hotbody & Tony Stetson to win the ECW Tag Team Title – Sabu & Road Warrior Hawk defeated Terry Funk & King Kong Bundy (Sabu won Funk’s ECW TV Title)
1995
Tokyo, Japan: – Kensuke Sasaki defeated Sting for the WCW United States Heavyweight Title
2002
Nashville, Tennessee: – Brian Lee & Slash defeated America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) for the NWA World Tag Team Title
2005
Eddie Guerrero passed away at the age of 38, found dead in a hotel room in Minneapolis, MN.
2006
Manchester, England: – Edge & Randy Orton defeated Ric Flair & Roddy Piper for the WWE Tag Team Titles
2011
Orlando, Florida: – Robbie E defeated Eric Young to win the TNA TV Title – Gail Kim defeated Velvet Sky to win the TNA Knockout Championship – Rob Van Dam defeated Christopher Daniels in a no DQ match – Bobby Roode defeated AJ Styles to retain the TNA World Title
Monty “Kip” Sopp, better known as Billy Gunn, was fired today as a trainer by WWE due to testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone in a powerlifting meet from July 25.
Gunn’s drug test at the meet came up with a 37-1 testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, well over the 4-1 limit, and he was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Billy Gunn, 52, had returned to WWE as a trainer in 2012 after several years away from the organization. He worked as an agent and a trainer, and had a New Age Outlaws nostalgia run in recent years, winning the tag team titles with Road Dogg in early 2014.
He had done occasional run-ins at the end of some NXT shows with he and the babyface wrestlers ending shows doing DX crotch chops. Most recently, he had appeared on television as one of the trainers on Tough Enough and Breaking Ground.
WWE officials were not aware of him competing as a powerlifter until a few weeks ago or his suspension from that sport.
The WWE has confirmed that all tickets are gone for the 2016 Royal Rumble, set for Sunday, January 24th at the Amway Arena in Orlando, FL.
After an Internet pre-sale in August and another pre-sale this past week, most of the arena was sold out for a configuration of 13,000. The on-sale to the public, which started this morning, sold out in less than 30 minutes.
The Rumble is traditionally the company’s second biggest event of the year. The winner of the Royal Rumble by stipulation is supposed to challenge for the WWE title at WrestleMania.
Some other fun facts:
– This is the second Rumble event in Orlando, and the first there since January 21, 1990 — the 3rd Rumble in company history. Hulk Hogan won the event that night, his first of back-to-back Rumble wins.
– This will be the fifth Rumble held in Florida, and the 29th overall.
– Roman Reigns will look to become the first back-to-back winner of the Rumble since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did it in 1997-98. If he does it, he joins Hogan, Austin, and Shawn Michaels as the only men to do it.
On Friday, EA Sports officially announced its second UFC video game, EA Sports UFC 2, that will be released in the spring. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, to no surprise, will be featured on the cover.
“EA Sports is a cultural barometer to know what’s going on in sports at the moment,” said Rousey in a press release. “As a gamer myself, it’s pretty surreal to be on the cover of the game and to have a woman on the cover of a UFC game shows a lot of progress. I’m really happy to be involved with it.”
Rousey was in the running to be on the cover of the first game, which was decided via fan vote. But due to the timing of the game and voting being around the time the Ultimate Fighter season she coached was on, she lost in the voting in a head-to-head matchup with Miesha Tate. Due to a surge of European voting, light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson got the nod.
The game will add a new Knockout Physics System and authentic gameplay features, and have the largest roster of fighters. It is being released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Other new game modes are KO Mode, UFC Ultimate Team and a new career mode that allows fans to create women fighters for the first time in a game, as was as Grapple Assist, for more ground game variations and submissions. Click here for more details on the game’s features.
Rousey defends her title against Holly Holm Saturday in the main event of UFC 193. Dave, Bryan and UFC star Filthy Tom Lawlor will break down the event for subscribers late Saturday night.
The future of a WWE Superstar, or any pro wrestler for that matter, is no certain thing. So many factors, some controllable, some not, can determine the fate of a wrestler’s career. Only the smallest percent of WWE talents make it to the absolute top: the Shawn Michaels, The Rocks, the Austins, The Undertakers, the John Cenas. In the current era, the majority float around the middle. Some get close to breaking through the glass ceiling and separating themselves from the mid-card pack, while others spiral down into obscurity.
What is it that creates the divide and that differentiates a major star from an enhancement talent? Is it one’s work rate? Look? Mic skills? Charisma? Who one is or is not in a relationship with behind the scenes? That elusive and abstract “it” factor? Plain old dumb luck? Some wrestlers come along who seem to be the complete package, but wind up floundering, while another guy who throws the worst punches known to man and can’t take a bump to save his life gets pushed to the moon and becomes the face of the company for an entire generation. Sometimes, it almost feels like the decision to push or not push a performer is made completely at random.
This unpredictability is especially relevant for the “rookies” of WWE’s NXT for whom the future holds many different paths. Some will never make it past the developmental phase. Some will be promoted to the main roster only to be sent back after failing to get over like they had in NXT. The fortunate will go on to have a successful WWE career. One NXT wrestler who looks destined for big things in the WWE is Chad Gable.
Gable is at an exciting point in his pro wrestling career. He’s currently one of NXT’s most over talents, and has (almost) all the tools needed to become major star. While getting over with the fastidious NXT audience is a worthy accomplishment, they are a comparatively small sample size compared with the larger WWE fanbase. We’ve already seen acts that have gone over like gangbusters in NXT, but fall flat with the larger audience when brought up to the main roster.
To Gable’s credit, he has got over in NXT with his charisma and ability alone, as opposed to some outlandish gimmick, that, while initially entertaining, comes with a limited shelf life. This is a positive sign that Gable will be (G)able to connect with the wider WWE fanbase when he’s brought up to the main roster.
With that said, getting over with the audience is only part of the battle. Fortunately, Gable is a natural when it comes to actual wrestling. Before his arrival at NXT, Gable had trained and competed in folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling. He particularly excelled in the latter, winning a number of national championships, and placing ninth at the 2012 London Olympics. Gable has impressively transitioned from amateur to professional wrestling, creating a beautiful blend of sports entertainment and amateur wrestling styles in the process.
He has also shown himself to be very competent on the microphone. Mic work is often the downfall of even the most skilled wrestlers, and the saving grace of some of the less naturally gifted athletes. Do you think the Miz would have ever won the WWE Championship if he wasn’t such a good talker? Gable’s charisma and comedic timing come through not only in his wrestling, but more importantly (in sports entertainment) on the microphone. He’s a naturally gifted wrestler, he can talk, he’s charismatic, and he connects with audience. Gable has just about everything one needs to be top star in the WWE. Well, almost everything.
The only thing, at this point, that might stop Gable from making it to the tippy top is the dreaded size aspect. Gable is billed at 5’8” (173cm). In most professions, that would be irrelevant, but in WWE, admitted or not, size matters. The number of WWE champions under six feet tall can be counted on one hand (with a few extra fingers left over). Guys like Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio have proven that smaller wrestlers can reach the top, but in both cases, they were never really considered the top guys of the company like Cena has been.
With any luck, and if there’s any justice in the world, Chad Gable’s aforementioned attributes will be enough to overcome his sole drawback.
Only the most pessimistic of pessimists would doubt that Gable will make something of himself in the WWE. The real argument is to what extent will he make it. Will he become a top guy, a mid carder, a comedy act, a tag team lifer? Gable draws comparisons to a range of WWE wrestlers, past and present, who fill(ed) those various roles. Gable’s destiny might be to emerge as the second coming, but of who?
The Next Kurt Angle?
Like Angle, Gable is a champion amateur wrestler. Like Angle, Gable represented his country in the Olympic Games, admittedly not faring quite as well despite not even having a broken frickin’ neck. Still, he wrestled in the Olympics. That’s probably, like, super hard to do. Like Angle, Gable transitioned into professional wrestling seemingly effortlessly. Like Angle, Gable’s a good talker with a knack for humour. It’s hard not to argue that Gable is Kurt Angle 2.0. The only real difference is height, and even there, the disparity is minor with Angle billed at 6-0”, four inches taller than Gable. Besides, don’t even try to tell me Gable couldn’t pull off an adorable little cowboy hat. Don’t. Even. Try.
The Next Daniel Bryan?
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Gable is a fan favourite at Full Sail Arena. Gable and tag partner Jason Jordan were the highlight of the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, getting some of the best reactions at NXT TakeOver: Respect despite failing to make the finals. Someone else who is (was?) good at getting the crowd behind him is Daniel Bryan. An argument could also be made for Gable becoming Bryan’s successor. They both have the distinction of being ”smaller guys” in the pro wrestling sense. Yet, it’s that smaller stature among the sea of ex-football playing, bodybuilding gladiators that helps make them such endearing underdogs. It might be the rabid support of the fans that ends up pushing Gable to that next level.
The Next Cesaro?
Of all Cesaro’s skills and attributes one could wish to share, like his amazing work in the ring and charming Swissness, Gable could end up sharing Cesaro’s one main undesirable attribute: being a super talented wrestler whom the fans clearly want to see succeed, but is never given any serious push because of the decision of one man based on vague, shaky reasons. Lamentably, that man is the one who decides who gets pushed and who gets to join the mid-card club. (Side note: nobody steal my Bullet Club Parody shirt #436: Mid Card Club.) Of course, if Chad Gable does become the next Cesaro, his first name will have to join Antonio, Adrian, and Wade up in first name heaven. First name heaven is, by the way, is conveniently located next to last name heaven, where Langston is currently residing.
The Next Santino Marella?
Here’s where that gift for great comedic timing and mic work might come back to bite Chad Gable in the behind. There’s nothing wrong with being the comedy guy. I love the comedy guy. Some of my best friends are comedy guys (I mean, they would be if I had friends). Sometimes you just want more for some wrestlers, especially one this early into his career. Having said that, WWE is missing that reliable comedy guy right now, and nobody, besides perhaps Damien Sandow, has really embraced that role since Santino’s departure from our TV screens. Gable does have a bit of a Les Kellett vibe about him in the ring. There are worse things than being the comedy guy; just ask Curtis Axel. Wait, on second thought…
If anything has been made clear from this exercise in comparisons, it’s that Chad Gable is a talented, well-rounded professional wrestler with the tools to make a name for himself in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. But wrestling is wrestling and nothing is guaranteed.
Gable could blow out his knee like Seth Rollins before getting called up to the main roster. He could get a concussion that puts him on the shelf indefinitely like Daniel Bryan. Or, he could go on to become the next Kurt Angle and have a HOF worthy career. As flattering as it may be to be compared to such talented peers like Bryan and Cesaro, I don’t really want Gable to become the somebody.
Instead, what I truly hope is Chad Gable becomes the first Chad Gable, and that he makes his own mark on the wrestling world. And there’s no better time than now. He’s ready, willing, and Gable, after all.
