WWE Main Event from Cincinnati featured Team Bella against Team BAD in a tag team match. Also, Adam Rose sang acapella while introducing himself on the way to being mauled. Likewise, the Cosmic Connection continue to drift in the universe as they collide with the remnants of a once popular dance craze.
Stardust (with The Ascension) beat Fandango
Before the wrestling began, a brief dance-off broke out for a few moments. No decisive winner in that contest but they started the match nonetheless. Stardust kept resorting to devious methods. Nevertheless, Fandango kept gaining the momentum throughout the match until Stardust sent Fandango sailing through the ropes and out to the floor. The Ascension at ringside started to close in on Fandango and Stardust went jumping over the ropes to the outside. Fandango somehow managed to escape and roll back in the ring where he started Fandangoing to taunt the villains before a commercial.
After the break, Fandango and Stardust slugged it out for several moments then quickened the pace. Ascension caused a distraction at ringside, allowing Stardust to gain an underhanded advantage. The dastardly Stardust began to pummel and work over a downed Fandango. After snapping Stardust on the top rope, Fandango started a comeback and fired up. Fandango jumped off the top for an attempted legdrop but missed. Stardust executed a disaster kick followed by the Queen’s Crossbow for the pinfall.
Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Team Bella. Brie basically said despite all the new divas trying to take the Bellas’ spot, the Team Bella is stronger than ever. Her and Alicia Fox mocked Team PCB. Fozzy called them “Team PMS” and a “hot mess.” Brie agreed but added all the divas were a hot mess as she brought up Team BAD. Nikki chimed in to say the new divas were spoiled brats. She also warned Charlotte about reclaiming her title at Hell in a Cell. Nikki concluded by saying it wasn’t a divas revolution, it was the Bellas evolution.
Ryback beat Adam Rose
Since the split from the Rosebuds, Rose sported trunks, a vest and eyeglasses as sang his name acapella repeatedly while doing his own introduction. It was as if he was attempting to sing his name in scales. The “Feed Me More” theme song and the Ryback entrance interrupted Rose’s singing act. In the match, Ryback basically mauled him. Rose cut him off briefly only to get mauled some more.
At one point, Rose attempted to sneak up on Ryback then begged off when his plot was foiled. Rose bailed out and starting running around the ring. Ryback gave chase and was cut off trying to get back in the ring. That delayed the mauling briefly yet Ryback hoisted Rose up for a delayed vertical suplex. Jimmy Uso on commentary said Rose should “just run,” which was probably solid advice judging by the story of the match up to that point. However, the tide changed after Ryback crashed into a ring post.
Rose began to kick and stomp at Ryback then delivered a missile dropkick off the middle rope. Rose dove off the top rope with an elbow smash for a two count. When Rose was applying a sleeper hold, Ryback led the crowd in chants of “feed me more” as he jacked Rose’s jaw. Ryback pounded his chest and signaled for his finisher. Following a meathook clothesline, Ryback used the Shell Shock for the pin.
Team Bella (Brie and Nikki Bella with Alicia Fox) beat Team BAD (Naomi & Tamina with Sasha Banks)
With Jimmy Uso on commentary with Byron Saxton and Tom Phillips, Uso openly cheered for his wife. They also put over Sasha Banks and her iron man match from Takeover. The crowd chanted “we want Sasha.” Brie and Tamina started the match but Brie quickly tagged out after being overpowered. Nikki was also overpowered by Tamina. Naomi tagged in and moments later did a tilt-a-whirl headscissors that sent Nikki to the outside. Nikki was crawling back to the ring before a commercial.
Following the break, Naomi was on offense until Nikki cut her off and snapped her arm on the top rope. Nikki distracted the referee as Brie stomped Naomi’s hand on the apron. Brie tagged in and began to work the arm of Naomi. The Bellas got heat on Naomi. She got a hope spot when she knocked Nikki down with a kick. Brie ran across the ring to knock Tamina off the apron and break up the attempted tag. Jimmy Uso referred to the Bellas as veterans. A handheld camera picked up Brie calling a spot with a running knee strike.
Eventually, Naomi made a hot tag to Tamina and she ran wild. Nikki jumped in to break up a pin attempt and she also elbowed Naomi, who rolled to the outside. Nikki walked into a superkick from Tamina. Uso called it a “superkick party.” Nevertheless, Brie gave Tamina the X-factor a moment later for the pinfall.
We’re looking for reports on these shows for this weekend at Dave Meltzer.
*WWE Friday night in Merida, Yucatan
*WWE last night in Lubbock, TX
*WWE last night in Mexico City
*WWE tonight in Monterrey, Mexico (Undertaker, Kane, Ric Flair, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho Sheamus, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt)
*WWE tonight in Abilene, TX (John Cena vs.. Seth Rollins in a 30 minute Iron man match)
Evolve on iPPV at 8 p.m. Eastern Sunday from The Deer Park, NY Sportatorium at www.WWNLive.com
Timothy Thatcher vs. Trevor Lee for the Evolve title
Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley
Willie Mack vs. Drew Gulak
TJ Perkins vs. Tracy Williams
Matt Riddle vs. Chris Dickinson
Andrew Everett vs. Peter Kassa
Ethan Page vs. Matt Cage
Monday has Raw from Dallas, TX with the go-home show for Hell in a Cell, with Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin all in town, plus the Austin podcast with Brock Lesnar.
Tuesday has Smackdown tapings in Austin, TX with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt and Sheamus as the headliners.
****
Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring details on all facets of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, including a better understanding of Gawker’s defense, what else the judge has sealed to protect Hogan, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news.
****
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
A complete look at Mistico/Myzteziz/Original Sin Cara and his leaving AAA, and what it means to the Mexican scene, and his history including WWE is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also look at NXT Takeover, full details behind the new Rizing Fighting Championships in Japan including what role pro wrestling will play and the Hall of Famer scheduled to headline, New Japan’s going forward with notes on upcoming shows and King of Pro Wrestling, Rusev & Lana and the TNA title tournament. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
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.
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 Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 for 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
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If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back for Wrestling Observer Radio tonight talking weekend news, previewing this coming week as well as taking e-mail questions. Because there was no major show this weekend, we will have more time than usual for questions so you can send them to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
Due to the appearance of Sami Zayn, Evolve set its all-time attendance record last night in Brooklyn. Zayn did his interview after the event ended. He said that he was a pro wrestler with Evolve and has an indy-sized hold in his heart, and thanked everyone for supporting the promotion and said this was the ground floor of something very big, and then put over Johnny Gargano as a future Evolve champion. They used Gargano being on NXT to promote a match with Ethan Page where if Gargano lost, he would leave Evolve. However, Gargano won.
Evolve Results: Andrew Everett won four-way over Matt Cage, Anthony Nese and Peter Kaasa, Matt Riddle b Jonathan Gresham, Chris Dickinson b Tracy Williams, Trevor Lee b Drew Gulak to win a shot at the Evole title tonight, Tony Nese & Caleb Konley b Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers), Willie Mack b Earl Cooter, Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta b Timothy Thatcher & TJ Perkins, Johnny Gargano b Ethan Page in an I quit match to stay in Evolve.
Nick Newell, the WSOF fighter who garnered a lot of publicity because he was born with one arm, announced his retirement last night after a decision over Tom Marcellino. He announced it while the TV show was on a commercial break, said the sport was getting too hard and it’s time to pass on his wisdom.
Adam Rose, who was taken out on a stretcher at Friday night’s show in Merida, didn’t work last night in Mexico City. It was described to us that he had his bell rung and was okay. He took a kick from Fandango and there was concern of a concussion.
Even with all the big names advertised locally, including Steve Austin, as of Friday there were still 3,000 tickets remaining for Raw tomorrow night.
I don’t know when he will officially start on TV, other than it is supposed to be really soon, but Tyler Breeze is now considered on the main roster. He could start this week although I was told it could be bumped a week or two.
Golovkin vs. Lemieux was the fifth most searched term (behind other sports terms) yesterday with 200,000. That would be an early indication of a PPV number in the range or a normal UFC show, but not a big one.
In last night’s John Cena vs. Seth Rollins Iron Man Match, Cena won three out of five falls in the 30 minutes in Lubbock.
Rycklon Stephens, who was Big Ryck in Lucha Underground and Ezekiel Jackson in WWF, told promoters in Germany, where he worked today, that today was his last pro wrestling match. (thanks to Markus Gronemann)
Patrick Clark of Tough Enough, who has signed a WWE developmental deal, starts tomorrow at the Performance Center.
TNA’s Jessie Godderz is playing the role of a pro wrestler in an FX movie called “Snowfall.” The movie is directed by John Singleton, who also directed 2 Fast 2 Furious. The movie will air sometime next year.
Stardom drew 200 fans on Friday in Covina, CA: Act Yasukawa & Kyoko Kimura & Kris Wolf b Shayna Baszler & Brittany Wonder & Datura when Kimura used the sleeper on Wonder in 12:32, Mayu Iwatani b Nicole Savoy in 6:53 with a dragon sleeper, Kellie Skater & Hiroyo Matsumoto b Kairi Hojo & Kahmora at 13:16 when Matsumoto pinned Hiroyo in 13:16 after a back drop drive, Perez & Santana Garrett b Hudson Envy & Thunder Rosa in 16:19 when Garrett pined Rosa with a springboard moonsault in 16:19, Io Shirai b Mia Yim to retain the Wonder of Stardom title after a moonsault in 13:44.
Perez wrestling in place of Cheerleader Melissa was just Melissa as President of Stardom USA making the ruling as Perez had been billed as a referee. Melissa faces Baszler on today’s show in Baldwin Park. A few UFC fighters were there including Josh Barnett and Jessamyn Duke. We were told it was an amazing show with no bad matches and the crowd into everything (thanks to Chris Horcasitas and Sonny Gutierrez)
The German tag team tournament covered in the recent Observer that included both New Japan champions, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, as well as Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish, is available
Kurt Angle will be appearing this coming Saturday for an autograph signing at Frank & Son’s Collectibles in the City of Industry, CA.
Zane Ashley, the grandson of Bill Watts, was named defensive player of the month in Gwinnett County in Georgia. He’s a junior at Peachtree Ridge High School.
Lou DiBella of Lou DiBella entertainment sent us this update on Prichard Colon, the boxer who is in rough shape from a fight in Fairfax, VA on a DiBella card yesterday afternoon. He suffered a brain bleed as a result of the fight and underwent immediate surgery to relieve the pressure on the brain and is in critical condition.
Terry Funk did a crazy concession stand brawl at last night’s AIW show in Cleveland. Funk has his first match in a long time this coming Saturday night in Jackson, TN, against Jerry Lawler at Oman Arena. Lance Russell will be there as well.
29 years ago today, WWF & Jim Crockett Promotions both ran shows on the same night in Philadelphia. The JCP show sold out the Civic Center with Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and The Road Warriors, while WWF drew 15,986 at the Spectrum for Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff
Maryland Championship Wrestling from Friday night in Felton, DE: Chuck Lennox b Shawn Patrick, Oakley Woods b Funky White Boy, G-Fed b Sonny Deeds-DQ, Drolix b Brandon Scott, Hot Lanta Hustlers b Joe Kerr & Travis Banks, The Ecktourage of Kevin Eck b Sudden Impact (Lio Rush was there, Patrick Clark wasn’t) to win the tag titles, Shane Strickland b David Starr, Mickie James won four-way over Amber Rodriguez, Kimber Lee and Kennadi Brink, The Bruiser & Matt Hardy b King McBride & Ken Dixon.
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL before a sellout 350 fans: Bubba Troll won over Jimmy D and Daniel Gunner, Sean Vincent & Keith Smith Jr. b Curtis Wylde & Ax Allwardt, Chaz Wesson b Barackus, Brandon Espinosa b Bobby D, Chris Hargas b Shane Rich, Kahagas b Brent Myers, Flash Flanagan b Ron Powers-DQ. Bill Apter was a special guest at the show. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer and Larry Matysik)
60 years ago yesterday, a 21-year-old Ray Stevens beat Chris Zaharias in 2/3 falls in what was advertised as the first day time pro wrestling show airing live from the WFLA Studio in Tampa.
To show how things were even as late as 1963, on October, 17, 1963 in Jacksonville, a semi-main event was billed as “Two World Famous Colored Men Wrestlers” as Bobo Brazil beat Roosevelt Hampton in two straight falls.
Lucha Xtreme TV from last night in Fresno: Kikyo b Johnny Dynamo in an intergender match, Buddy Royal & Levi Shapiro b Prince Nagi & Super Tiger, Johnny Plinko b Al Azar. Next taping is today at the Big Fresno Fair and is free with a fair admission (thanks to Jon Southerland).
Smash Wrestling from Friday night in Toronto: 3.0 b Goat Brigade, Courtney Rush b Penelope Ford, Franky the Mobster b Dalton Castle, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven b Overdogs, Brent Banks b Sonjay Dutt, Tarik & Gulak b Checkmate, Scotty O’Shea b Chuck Taylor.
Results from Friday night at Arena Neza: Golden Bull & Ricky Gonzalez & Motocross b Bryan el Stripper & Chamaco Davila & Rey Neza, Lady Maravilla & Reina Dorada b Felina Metalica & Stefany Valker, Nino Hamburguesa & Goya Kong b Carta Brava Jr. & Taya Valkyrie, Psycho Circus b Daga & Joe Lider & Parka Negra, Dr. Wagner Jr. (sub for Myzteziz) & La Parka b Averno & Cibernetico-DQ (thanks to Kris Zellner)
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Shocker headlines for the FMLL light heavyweight title on Sunday in El Monte, CA at Florentine Gardens.
Rush & La Sombra vs. Volador Jr. & Mr Aguila headline this coming Saturday night in El Pas at the Southwest Universotu Event Center.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1970 – Stan Stasiak beat King Curtis Iaukea in Sydney to win the IWA title
1978 – Abdullah the Butcher beat Billy Robinson in Utsunomiya to win the PWF title
1994 – Chris Benoit & Shinjiro Otani beat Great Sasuke & Black Tiger (Eddy Guerrero) in Okayama to win the New Japan SG jr. tag team tournament
2009 – Team 3-D beat Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams, Bobby Roode & James Storm and Booker T & Scott Steiner in Irvine, CA to win the IWGP tag team titles
2013 – La Mascara & Rush beat Tama Tonga & Rey Bucanero in Mexico City to win the CMLL tag team titles
2013 – L.A. Park won the Antonio Pena Cup at Heroes Inmortales in Puebla
2014 – Doug Williams beat Joe Coffey in Motherwell, Scotland to win the Scottish heavyweight title
1923 St. Louis, Missouri: Joe Stecher beat John Freberg
1956 Kansas City, Kansas: World Tag Team Champions, Ernie Dusek and Joe Dusek beat Larry Hamilton and Sonny Myers to retain the titles
1969 St. Paul, Minnesota: – Non Title Death Match: Flying Redheads, Red Bastien & Billy Red Lyons beat AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon – Bill Watts beat Blackjack Lanza dq – Bodyslam Challenge Match: Man Mountain Mike beat Luke Graham – Larry Hennig beat Billy Howard
1973 Kansas City, Kansas: – Jim Brunzell defeated Vic Nichols – In an Elimination Match: Mike George & Man Mountain Mike & Ronnie Etchison defeated Bob Brown & Tokyo Joe & Bob Orton – Danny Little Bear defeated Baron Scicluna via DQ – World Tag Team Champions Lord Alfred Hayes & Roger Kirby fought Harley Race & Black Angus to a double count out
1974 Denver, Colorado: – Larry Hennig & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan – AWA Tag Team Champions Billy Robinson & the Crusher beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff – Geoff Portz beat Paul Perschmann (Buddy Rose)
1976 West Palm Beach, Florida: – Andre The Giant beat Missouri Mauler – Texas Death Match: Jack Brisco beat Bob Roop – Bob Backlund & Jerry Brisco beat Bob Roop & Bob Orton Jr – Non title: AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Don Serrano
1978 Honolulu, Hawaii: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Don Muraco – Billy & Benny McGuire beat Mr. Fuji & Karl Von Steiger – Ripper Collins beat Bill Francis – Larry Sharpe beat Steve Strong – Pampero Firpo beat Whipper Watson Jr
1978 Utsunomiya, Japan – Abdullah The Butcher defeated Billy Robinson to win the Pacific Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title (now part of the All Japan Triple Crown)
1982 Memphis, Tennessee: – Piledriver Legal: Southern Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler – Fabulous Ones Steve Keirn & Stan Lane beat New York Dolls Dream Machine & Rick McGraw – Southern Tag Team Champions Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar beat Terry Taylor & Jacques Rougeau – Sheepherders beat Steve Regal & Spike Huber – Mid American Champion Dutch Mantel beat Crusher Broomfield (One Man Gang) – Robert Gibson & Bobby Fulton & Buddy Landell beat The Spoiler & Carl Fergie & The Angel
1983 Portland, Oregon: – Billy Jack defeated Scott Ferris – Al Madril fought Curt Hennig to a time limit draw – The Assassin and Dynamite Kid defeated Brian Adidas and Jules Strongbow – Rip Oliver defeated Ali Hassan – NWA World champion Harley Race defeated Buddy Rose
1987 Jackson, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler beat Steve Keirn – AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee beat Don Bass & Carl Fergie – Jeff Jarrett & Billy Travis beat RPMS dq – Hector Guerrero beat John Paul – Tracy Smothers & Billy Travis beat Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka – Bobby Jaggers & Dr. D beat Nasty Boys
1994 Louisville, Kentucky: – The Phantoms defeated PG-13 to win the USWA Tag Team Title
1997 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – The FBI (Little Guido, & Tracy Smothers) defeated John Kronus & New Jack to win the ECW World Tag Team Title
1998 Chicago, Illinois: – X-Pac defeated D’Lo Brown to win the WWF European Title – Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock defeated Mankind to retain the title
1999 – Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Harlem Heat to win the WCW World Tag Team Titles
– Hardcore & Crash Holly defeated The Rock & Mankind to win the WWF World Tag Team Titles
2011 Orlando, Florida: – James Storm defeated Kurt Angle to win the TNA World Title
The MLB actual World Series is slated to contain either the Royals or the Blue Jays, and that’s going to suck, but THIS “World Series” with a main of event of Jon Fitch vs. Yushin Okami? This should be called the Little League World Series of Fighting. Actually, that’s an insult to 11 year olds that play each summer in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. They at least hit.
Changes to today’s event…
No real changes other than the name on the top of the column. This is the first time I’ll be using my True Ten system to examine a WSOF show. This show did not come on until 9pm Eastern in my area so I only saw the reading of the results of the flyweight title match, which all three judges scored 50-45 for Bibulatov.
Next up was a match that must have been made via Royal Rumble style tumbler random drawing with Vinny Magalhaes submitting Matt Hamill with a knee bar in round one. Who could have possibly thought that was a good idea?
On with the show…
Lightweight: Tom Marcellino vs. Nick Newell
Well that was a weird fight. Nick Newell is the one armed fighter, and in this fight, he was the guy working all the submission attempts and controlling the grappling.
At the end of the second round, Miragliotta thought they rang the bell but it was just the 10 second “sound” and it did indeed sound like a bell clang, but it was right as Marcellino had dropped Newel with a punch. He didn’t argue but Marecellino could have finished. His corner should have been irate. Round two only lasted 4:50. After the break it was explained that the official timekeeper hit the bell instead of the blocks with ten seconds remaining. Maybe they had the same timekeeper as the guy in the Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker match at Summer Slam.
Official Results: Unanimous decision for Nick Newell (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Analysis: Seriously, Marcellino could have finished at the end of the second. I think this fight was a draw. Newell controlled more but did almost zero damage and in my world where draws are allowed, this is definitely a draw. The one benefit of it not being is draw is that we don’t have to see a rematch, because had this not been a fight with a one armed man, it would have been incredibly boring. The SEC battle of the field goals between Georgia and Mizzou is more exciting.
Heavyweights: Blagoi Ivanov vs. Derrick Mehmen
I’m not going to even prep for this next fight on this card. No way it’s lasting all five rounds… Good news. The Eunuch from Game of Thrones, Varys, is refereeing this one. The quality of the Alien Ware logo in the center of the ring is similar to something my snowboarding buddies and I would paint on my basement wall in high school… Ivanov by KO in round 2.
Jon Fitch vs. Yushin Okami
A wise man (@findevan) once told me, “Don’t bet on a boring fight.” This, my friends, has all the makings of such. A lot is being made of Okami cutting to 170. He looks fine. On the other hand, Jon Fitch looks drawn and totally dehydrated. Sunken eyes and no charisma. I mean, even less charisma… Can Chael go a whole round without putting himself over? The winner of this match faces Jake Shields. My god. Are we being punished? I feel like a sportscaster assigned to cover the WNBA.
Official Result: Unanimous Decision for Jon Fitch (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Analysis: I don’t know why this was not scheduled for five, but I’m very glad it only went three. I can forgive Chael for the heavy comedy in this match, because nothing was happening. At least they are doing a one-night tourney on Nov 25 to create a contender to the Lightweight title because the Welterweight title is dead.
Overall Analysis: One, has anyone actually bought a body systems punching bag by Bas Rutten? If so, just mail me the rest of your money. Two, has anyone cut a less convincing promo than Jon Fitch? “Uh, nothing means more to me, than uh, winning that uh, World Series of uh, Fighting, uh belt. Ya.” Three, watching the “highlight package” that consists of still photos set to music because the WSOF doesn’t own the rights to any footage, sucks, and makes WSOF look super Indy. How is this promotion still alive? It’s the TNA of MMA. So Shields, the super-boring guy who LOST to Palhares, will face Who ever books for WSOF should be fired.
WSOF 24 took place Saturday night on NBC Sports Network. The 11 fight card was headlined by a welterweight title eliminator bout between Jon Fitch and Yushin Okami and featured two WSOF title fights on the undercard. The first 6 bouts aired on wsof.com.
Chael Sonnen provided commentary for the whole show and while entertaining at times was reminiscent of Matt Stryker in his commentating style. So you’re either going to like it or really hate it and it ventured toward the latter for me.
In the main event, Jon Fitch (26-7-1) won a boring decision over Yushin Okami. He clearly won the last two rounds and the first was close. I had it for Okami, as did one of the judges. But Fitch clearly won the fight and will face Jake Shields for the vacant Welterweight title early next year.
In a Heavyweight title fight, Champion Blagoi Ivanov (13-1) KO’d Derrick Mehmen in the 2nd round in what was probably the best fight of the night. These two looked like an indy wrestling version of Rusev and Jack Swagger. Ivanov dominated the fight, finishing him with a brutal punch to an already cut eye that may have broken an orbital bone as Mehmen went down like he’d been shot.
Nick Newell (13-1) won a unanimous decision over Tommy Marcellino on 29-28 scores across the board. There wasn’t really any other score possible, although Marcellino was acting like he’d won after the fight and berated Newell, saying “you know you f’n lost”. Newell responded by telling him to be a better sport. In a post-fight interview that couldn’t be heard due to technical difficulties on the part of NBC Sports Network, Newell retired from fighting. Interestingly enough, the last fighter that Marcellino fought in WSOF, Frankie Perez, retired in-ring earlier this year on a UFC show.
Two fighters making their WSOF debut had a sloppy fight in the second match on the show, with Vinny Magalhaes (13-7) submitted Matt Hamill in the latter’s first fight in several years. At 39 years old, that was probably it for him with the first round loss. Magalhaes was informed after the fight that he’ll fight Thiago Silva in a #1 contender’s fight for a shot at Dave Branch’s tile. Branch did commentary for most of the undercard and the top 2 main card fights but wasn’t here for this announcement.
The show kicked off with a Flyweight title fight, the first in the promotion’s existence. In fact it may have been the first 125 lb fight on a main card for the promotion. Debuting Magomed Bibulatov (10-0) won a unanimous decision on scores of 50-45 across the board, the same score I had, over Donavon Frelow. Bibulatov took him down at will through the whole fight but his striking games needs a lot of work. In terms of quality, this was a low-level UFC flyweight fight, the kind that you’d see on Fight Pass.
The prelims were full of mostly boring decisions, although the top 2 fights were had entertaining finishes. Rick Glenn (16-3) had a 2nd round KO win over Adam Ward. He knocked him out with two hammer fists on the ground and stopped punching before the ref even had a chance to stop it because he knew Ward was out. Alexandre de Almeida (17-5) got a first round sub with a rear naked choke of Saul Almeida. It was announced that he’d be the next challenge for Rick Palmer’s 145 lb title.
In the other bouts:
Colton Smith (6-4) won by unanimous decision on scores of 30-26 across the board. There was a penalty point deducted in the 2nd round and despite that, both Chael Sonnen and Renzo Gracie scored the fight 30-27 for Smith. I had it 30-25 with a 10-8 2nd before the penalty point.
Pat Walsh (7-2) had a unanimous decision win over Tyler King on 30-27 scores across the board. Really boring fight, typical for Pat Walsh.
Rex Harris (8-2) had a split decision win over Justin Torrey on scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. I scored it 29-28 for Torrey as did the fan poll and all the MMA media members on MMADecisions.com. Torrey is a training partner of friend of the site and sometime radio guest Antonio “the Promise” Thomas.
Bruce Boyington (11-8) won a split decision over Rodrigo Almeida in the opener. This fight wasn’t terrible but entirely forgettable. Scores were 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. I scored it for Almeida but the 2nd round was very close and could’ve gone either way. Chael Sonnen actually scored it 30-27 for Almeida, Gracie had the same score as I did and the fan voting was 29-28 Boyington.
The show is not at all worth going out of your way to see but for a weekend with no UFC or Bellator, it was the best we had.
Saturday has WWE at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City (Undertaker, Ric Flair, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Kane, Chris Jericho, Bray Wyatt) and Lubbock, TX (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins 30 minute Iron Man match for U.S. title, plus Dolph Ziggler, Rusev, Ryback, Kevin Owens).
World Series of Fighting on Saturday night at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports Network
Magomed Bibulatov vs Donovan Frelow for flyweight title
Matt Hamill vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Tom Marcellino vs. Nick Newell
Blagio Ivanov vs. Derrick Mehmen for heavyweight title
Jon Fitch vs. Yushin Okami
Evolve on iPPV at 7 p.m. Eastern Saturday from LaBoom in Woodside, Queens, New York
Johnny Gargano vs. Ethan Page I Quit match, if Gargano loses, he leaves the promotion (which if that happens, would signal he’s headed to WWE)
Drew Gulak vs. Trevor Lee – winner faces Thatcher for the title the next night
Anthony Nese vs. Andrew Everett vs. Matt Cage vs. Peter Kassa
Tracy Williams vs. Willie Mack
Matt Riddle vs. Jonathan Gresham
Sunday has WWE at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico (Undertaker, Ric Flair, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Kane, Chris Jericho, Bray Wyatt) and Abilene, TX (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins 30 minute Iron Man match plus Dolph Ziggler, Rusev, Ryback, Kevin Owens).
Evolve on iPPV at 8 p.m. Eastern Sunday from The Deer Park, NY Sportatorium
Timothy Thatcher vs. winner Drew Gulak or Trevor Lee on Saturday
Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley
Willie Mack vs. loser of Gulak vs. Lee from Saturday
TJ Perkins vs. Tracy Williams
Matt Riddle vs. Chris Dickinson
Andrew Everett vs. Peter Kassa
Ethan Page vs. Matt Cage
Monday has Raw from Dallas, TX with the go-home show for Hell in a Cell, with Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin all in town, plus the Austin podcast with Brock Lesnar.
Tuesday has Smackdown tapings in Austin, TX with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt and Sheamus as the headliners.
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Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring details on all facets of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, including a better understanding of Gawker’s defense, what else the judge has sealed to protect Hogan, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
A complete look at Mistico/Myzteziz/Original Sin Cara and his leaving AAA, and what it means to the Mexican scene, and his history including WWE is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also look at NXT Takeover, full details behind the new Rizing Fighting Championships in Japan including what role pro wrestling will play and the Hall of Famer scheduled to headline, New Japan’s going forward with notes on upcoming shows and King of Pro Wrestling, Rusev & Lana and the TNA title tournament. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
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.
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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
SATURDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Lana has been posting some interesting notes on Twitter in light of the doom of the Rusev/Lana/Summer/Dolph storyline, including this note: “Power is in having your own voice. Not being pushed around. Fighting for what you believe in & not being a copy cat to receive affirmation”. We’re told Monday may be an interesting day for Rusev on Raw.
Although it’s a slow news weekend, Bryan should be back tonight with a recap show talking Smackdown, Ring of Honor TV from Wednesday and more. Bryan and Dave will also return Sunday night for Wrestling Observer Radio talking all of the news.
Sami Zayn will be doing a meet-and-greet at the EVOLVE shows tonight in Queens, NY, and tomorrow in Long Island. He won’t be wrestling, obviously, but he “will interact with EVOLVE talent”, so they’ll be doing some sort of non-physical angle or promo. This is a pretty big deal as it’s been well over a decade since WWE had a working agreement with an indy promotion to where they were willingly sending talent to interact (there was a deal with Christian and TNA very briefly but that was hardly done willingly).
Tonight’s EVOLVE main event is Ethan Page vs. Johnny Gargano in an I Quit match where if Gargano loses he has to leave EVOLVE forever. I suppose this could be an angle to set up him heading to NXT full-time, but if WWE and EVOLVE have a working agreement, the Sami Zayn deal shows there shouldn’t be an issue with guys appearing in both places. And if he does go to NXT and isn’t allowed to work EVOLVE shows any longer, that would indicate that WWE is fine with people appearing for both groups but not wrestling for both.
Tomorrow’s main event is Timothy Thatcher vs. the winner of the Drew Gulak vs. Trevor Lee winner tonight.
Since Zayn is not allowed to appear on the iPPV, EVOLVE has noted, “If Zayn’s in ring appearance happens in the middle of an event, the iPPV audience will get to watch an exclusive main event quality match from the China tour.”
Former MMA star Matt Riddle also debuts for EVOLVE tonight.
As noted on the front page, they did an Eva Marie vs. Bayley match at the NXT house show Friday in Tampa. Eva is apparently back from her ME TIME in Paris, France. It was said to be OK with Eva largely holding her own but Bayley obviously carrying the entire match. Cameron of former Funkadactyl fame is also reporting for duty in NXT and didn’t get good reviews with people saying she looked like she didn’t want to be there.
UFC
MMA Junkie is reporting that UFC has done an extensive round of fighter cuts, including Marcus Brimage, Eddie Gordon, Cristos Giagos, Matt Van Buren, Roger Narvaez and Chris Clements. Supposedly there are more cuts on the way. Gordon may be the most notable of these cuts, having won the TUF 19 middleweight tournament. Since beating Dhiego Lima in the finals of that show, he’s lost all 3 of his UFC fights, two of them by finish.
Further to this, MMAMania says that as many as fifty fighters will be cut over the next several days.
UFC Fight Pass will air the latest Shooto Brazil show on Sunday at Sunday at 4 pm eastern. No big names on the show and it’s headlined by a Women’s Bantamweight title fight between Priscila de Souza (9-7) and Luciana Pereira (5-4-1). Luis Ramos, who fought Matt Brown and Erick Silva in UFC, is probably the biggest name on the undercard.
The Fight Network in Canada (and parts of the US) will air next weekend’s Fight Pass exclusive show from Dublin, headlined by Joe Duffy vs Dustin Poirier. The four main card fights will air on the station. They are also airing a preview hosted by the UFC’s European commentating team of Dan Hardy and John Gooden throughout the week. The main card fights will also re-air several times over the course of next weekend.
Charles Rosa vs Jimy Hettes has been added to the loaded FS 1 show on Jan 17th in Boston, headlined by TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz. Rosa is a Boston native and badly wanted on this show.
Jordan Rinaldi 2nd round sub win over Clay Harvison
Dave Vitkay 2nd round KO win over Wesly Barnes
CJ Hamilton 2nd round KO win over Brantley Furr
Josh Blyden 1st round sub win over Nick Sprayberry
Jamie Pickett 2nd round KO win over Doug Usher
Chazz Walton 1st round sub win over Josh Millwood (Walton is 3-0 with all wins coming by first round stoppage, might be someone to keep an eye on)
Jared Gooden 3rd round sub win over Brad Taylor
OTHER WRESTLING
ROH is selling a pink ribbon t-shirt at www.rohwrestling.com with 100% of the proceeds going to fight breast cancer research through “Breast Cancer Research Foundation”.
The Big Takeaway – A wild brawl and awesome angle headline a fun show as ROH is starting to set the table for their year-end PPV, Final Battle.
The Addiction (“Almighty” Christopher Daniels/”The Heavy Metal Rebel” Frankie Kazarian) w/Chris Sabin vs The All Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus)
A battle of former tag champs kicks off the show and Kevin Kelly points out that neither team was actually beaten for their titles. ANX was stripped when Kenny King left the company and the Addiction lost in a 3 way without losing the fall.
The teams surprisingly adhere to the Code of Honor. Sabin gets involved early but Kenny King backdrops Kazarian out of the ring on top of him and Sabin ends up getting ejected by the ref coming off of it. ANX gets the early advantage with some double-teaming on Kazarian. Kazarian gets the tag after a couple of minutes but Daniels gets more of the same. Daniels turns it around after some interference from Frankie before we go to break.
Leading into the break we get a backstage promo from Jay Briscoe building up his main event tonight with Adam Page. He calls him “green boy” and says he has no idea what he’s getting into. At the end of it, he’ll be a better man for the experience but it isn’t going to be fun for him. No doubt.
Back from break and the Addiction are double-teaming and Daniels hits the BME on Titus and then does the one foot cover with the General pose but Titus kicks out. Fans are chanting ALL NIGHT and LETS GO TITUS. Titus fights back but Daniels uses an eye poke to stop his momentum. Titus is fighting to get to the corner but Daniels uses the old school heel tactic of hitting King with a cheap shot, causing him to try and get into the action. The ref holds him back, allowed double-teaming from the Addiction.
Titus finally gets the hot tag to King and the place explodes. Eventually all four men in the ring and Titus is still selling the effects of the extended beating. The Addiction take out King with a Total Elimination and then Frankie hits Titus with a flying knee from the top while Daniels holds him and then covers but that only gets a two. King recovers and it able to fight them off but eventually all four men are down.
The all recover at roughly the same time and Daniels ends up hitting King with a Brainbuster and then Titus with a Uranage. This brings out a masked KRD guy, which distracts Daniels. As Daniels is chasing him, Titus hits Daniels with a dropkick and then picks him up for a powerbomb while King comes off the top rope for a lariat and that gets the fall for ANX.
WINNERS – THE ALL NIGHT EXPRESS
After A commercial break, the Kingdom’s music is playing and they are out, dressed to the nines, for an in-ring interview. Maria, in particular, is almost unrecognizable as you rarely see her in a dress. Highlights of the KRD member interfering at the PPV, helping the Kingdom win the belts, are shown.
Bennett tells some story about a farmer and a snake while the fans chant BORING. The moral of the story is that the snake bit the farmer and the farmer shouldn’t have trusted him. The Kingdom are the snakes in this story. We get more highlights from the PPV when Adam Cole turned on Kyle O’Reilly in the main event.
Maria gets the mic next and introduces herself as Maria Kanellis-Bennett, the manager of the greatest faction in the world. She may work in a male-dominated industry but she doesn’t play by a man’s rules. She hands off to Taven. They formed a year ago, not out of necessity but out of greatness and you measure greatness by gold and they are the greatest tag team in the world today because they hold the gold. They will not sleep until Adam Cole gets back what is his, the ROH World Championship.
Cole is next. He turned on Kyle O’Reilly because O’Reilly doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near the ROH World title. He was sick when Kyle O’Reilly was listed as one of the top contenders and not him. He mocked Michael Elgin who he says had such a “great run” in the US that he had to go to Japan to become relevant again. “Way to go, Little Mike”, he says. He gets his “Adam Cole baby” line in and the fans do not chant along as they usually do, so the turn is working.
ReDRagon are out but being held back by security. The Kingdome taunt them with the belts in the ring. Bobby Fish gets a mic and warns Adam Cole that he has no idea what’s he’s done. He also tells Taven that they will be taking the titles back. Cole says he’s love to see the two of them take on the three of us. This brings out Michael Elgin to even the odds with a new “#BIGMIKE” shirt. Ya, I won’t be buying that. Elgin clears the ring of the Kingdom and gets his hands on Maria but the Kingdom pull her to safety. BIG MIKE chants from the crowd. Elgin challenges the Kingdom to six-man match but they retreat to the back.
Inside ROH with Mandy Leon is up next. This week she looks at the rivalry between Silas Young and Dalton Castle. Highlights from the last PPV when Young beat Castle to get control of the boys are shown. Then we get the angle from last week when Young and the Beer City Bruiser beat on the boys for a few minutes in a “match”, which was their first lesson in becoming men. This will lead into next week, when Dalton Castle is back on ROH TV without his boys for the first time.
Adam Cole gets a backstage promo hyping up a match in two weeks with #1 contender AJ Styles. He promises to drop AJ on his head in the match. After a teaser for Final Battle, the Briscoes are there. Mark keeps interrupting Jay and all of this was just to tell us that “we’ll be back after this commercial break”. My description doesn’t do this justice but this was awesome.
Main Event – No Holds Barred
Adam Page w/BJ Whitmer vs Jay Briscoe
Whitmer joins Kelly and Corino on commentary. If history is any indication, this won’t last long as Corino always loses his cool when Whitmer is around. Kelly announces that Nigel McGuiness has signed a six-main main event for next week with the Kingdom vs ReDRagon and Michael Elgin.
Fans serenade Page with “Jay is gonna kill you”. Page extends his hand for the Code of Honor but slaps Briscoe when he goes to shake it. Briscoe all over him after that and they immediately go the outside. Page’s shoulder is all taped up and Briscoe is concentrating his offence on it. Page lays out Briscoe with a hard chair shot to take control. Page sets up a table but this gives Briscoe time to recover and he lays out Page with a chair shot.
They end up back in the ring and Page sets up a chair in the centre. Whitmer goes to hand Page his crutch but this brings out Mark from the back, who intercepts it. Mark hobbles to the back with the crutch, while Jay is in the ring peppering Page with punches. Briscoes teases a Jay Driller into the chair but Page escapes and ends up hitting a DDT to get control as we go to break.
Back from break and Page is in control. He’s screaming “SAY MY NAME” at Briscoe, as Briscoe all along has been acting like he had no idea who Page is. Page charges at him in the corner and Briscoe gets out of the way, which causes Page to end up on the outside table. Briscoe puts him through the table with a double foot-stomp from the apron. ROH chants from the crowd after that.
Back in the ring and Briscoe methodically beating on Page. HE hits a couple of neckbreakers and then grabs the chair. He puts it around the neck and hits another neckbreaker as the fans explode. MAN UP chants. Briscoe goes to the outside and gets another table from under the ring. He sets it up in the corner and sets Page up to be driven through it. The time to set it up allows Page time to recover though and he ends up hitting a pump handle slam on Briscoe to put him through the table. That only gets a two-count though.
Fans chanting YOU CANT BEAT HIM as we go to break again. Back from break and Briscoe in control as they fight in the apron. There’s another table set up at ringside and Jay teases putting Page through it. Corino and Whitmer are jawing at each other on commentary. Page ends up getting control on Briscoe while the fans chant YOU STILL SUCK at him. Page gets yet another table and sets it outside, while Jay is recovering.
They end up back in the ring but battling on the apron. Briscoe flattens Page with a slingshot lariat. He teases a Jay Driller off the apron onto the table. Page escapes and teases the Rite of Passage on the apron but Jay escapes and gabs a chair that was laying on the mat. He flattens Page with a chair shot and then lays him out with the Jay Driller through the table. Fans going nuts with ROH chants and YOU JUST KILLED HIM. Back in the ring for the pin but Page kicks out at two.
Briscoe can’t believe the kickout as Whitmer is celebrating on commentary. Briscoe standing over him, screaming “Come on Boy”. Page gets to his knees and then spits in Briscoe’s face. Briscoe loses it and starts wailing on him after that. Briscoe takes his head off with a clothesline, while Whitmer and Corino are really going at in on commentary after Whitmer was making cracks about Corino’s family. Whitmer hits the Jay Driller for the pin.
WINNER – JAY BRISCOE by pinfall
Kelly berates Whitmer after the match saying that he was arguing with Corino when Page needed his help. Corino mocking him as well. Fans chanting THAT WAS AWESOME and Whitmer gets in the ring with his crutch. He beats on Briscoe with it and this brings Corino into the ring. He takes off his suit jacket and grabs a roll of coins from his pocket and lays out Whitmer with one punch after Whitmer taunts him. CORINO chants from the crowd. He leaves the ring, huge Kelly and then goes to the back as he knows he’s going to be suspended from commentary after that.
1947 St. Joseph, Missouri: – Ronnie Etchison beat Sonny Myers 2 falls to 1 to capture the St. Joe Heavyweight Title
1961 Nashville, Tennessee: – Jackie Fargo & Lester Welch defeated Great Mephisto & Dante to win the Southern Tag Team Title
1961 Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Mr. M defeated Hard Boiled Haggerty to win the AWA United States Heavyweight Title – Karl Krauser beat Ernie Dusek – Dale Lewis & Pat Kennedy beat Bob Geigel & Frank Marconi
Kansas City, Missouri: – Johnny Weaver & Sonny Myers defeated Art Neilson & Stan Neilson – Dick the Bruiser defeated Wilbur Snyder in three falls
1963 Kansas City, Missouri: – In a Texas Death Match; Mongolian Stomper beat Enrique Torres 5 falls to 2 – Ronnie Etchison beat Rock Hunter by dq – Pat O’Connor beat Johnny Kace – Bob Geigel and Bulldog Plechas drew Larry Hamilton and Jack Allen
1964 St. Paul, Minnesota: – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Bob Boyer & Reggie Parks in 2 of 3 falls – Mad Dog Vachon beat Jack Lanza – Eddie Sharkey beat Tony Nero
1966 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Killer Kowalski beat Don Leo Jonathan – AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon beat Doug Gilbert – Larry Hennig & Harley Race drew Reggie Parks & Jack Lanza – Jack Pesek drew Lorne Corlette
1981 St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura – Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell by countout – Wilbur Snyder beat Sgt. Goulet – Bobo Brazil no contest Blackjack Mulligan – Billy Robinson beat Bobby Heenan
1982 Calgary, Alberto, Canada: – Bret Hart defeated Bad News Allen to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
1982 Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Jimmy Valiant defeated Ivan Koloff to win the NWA Television Title
1985 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Sherri Martel defeated Candi Devine to win the AWA Women’s World Title
1988 Memphis, Tennessee: – AWA Champion Jerry Lawler beat Tatsumi Fujinami dq – Jeff Jarrett beat Robert Fuller – Jimmy Golden beat Brickhouse Brown dq – Eddie Marlin beat Frank Dusek – CWA Champion Phil Hickerson beat Dutch Mantel – RPMs beat Bill Dundee & Todd Morton – Nature’s Best beat Gary Young & Cactus Jack – Scott Steiner beat Terry Garvin
1991 Tokyo, Japan: – Tatsumi Fujinami & Big Van Vader defeated Riki Choshu & Masa Saito to win the Super Grade Tag League tournament
1992 Cleveland, Ohio: – Todd Champion defeated Butch Reed for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title
1999 Cleveland, Ohio: – Chyna defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Good Housekeeping match to win the Intercontinental Title – The Fabulous Moolah defeated Ivory to win the WWF Women’s Title – WWF World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated Steve Austin in an Anything Goes match
2000 Louisville, Kentucky: – BJ Payne & Flash Flanagan defeated the Disciples Of Synn (Slash & Damian) to win the OVW Tag Team Title
Tonight’s show is part 2 of Tokyo Dome coverage, this time featuring heavyweight matches. Both matches aired in full.
First up we have Tetsuya Naito taking on AJ Styles. This seems so weird as it really isn’t too long ago that Tetsuya Naito was a babyface New Japan wrestler. Now he’s a total heel and really excelling at that role, so much this version of Naito seems like ages ago.
This match was very, very good. Obviously not the best match on the show, as we’ll see in the next few weeks, but I forgot just how good it was. AJ working the leg to eventually get to the calf killer was great. Well build match with everything clicking on all fronts. New Japan matches sometime take a while to get used to because they work slow at the start then go all out at the end. But this was consistently good throughout. I also love the big time Styles Clash off the top rope that led to the finish. Great match that you should rewatch when considering Observer Awards in a couple of months. Not because this match is among the best of the year, which it isn’t, but when you think about it WrestleKingdom 9 had a whole had a bunch of terrific matches and this was one of them.
AJ Styles is interviewed. Says that he used Naito as a stepping stone towards becoming the IWGP champion again. You get laid out with the Styles Clash, you’re finished. No matter what counter you have, he has the counter for it. He’s the best wrestler in the world today, and he is a part of the best unit in pro wrestling, the Bullet Club.
Togi Makabe is interviewed, looking back at his NEVER title match against Tomohiro Ishii. Says that the NEVER title is one of the newer titles in New Japan, so he wanted to give the title prestige and value by holding it. He considered Tomohiro Ishii similar to him. They both debuted in 1996 and have their resemblances in terms of in-ring style.
Tomohiro Ishii then took on Togi Makabe for the NEVER openweight championship. I know what kind of match this is, and it’s not going to be a fun one physically for both men. As I see Tomohiro Ishii walk to the ring, though, it kind of seems like a given that in ten or twenty years he’s going to have major problems moving around. The last few years of him having all of these great matches is great for us, the viewer, but they have taken a major toll on his body and it’s already obvious.
Anyway, I’ve seen these two have at least four matches this year over the NEVER title; it’s been a year long program. It’s never been a bad program, and they’ve had some really great matches, as evidenced by this one. But it’s getting to the point where I’ve kind of seen it all with them. It doesn’t help that it’s been a year long feud over the same title that’s never really evolved past what we saw here. Makabe won with a king kong knee drop to the back of the head of Ishii, which probably wasn’t fun. It’s one hell of a brawl, and probably one of the better matches that they’ve had.
Togi Makabe says after the match that he’s shown his skills many times, just like tonight. He says that the NEVER title can be defended in different ways, so if you wanted a clean match tonight, he apologizes. It’s not the same as the other titles so it can be defended that way. When asked what kind of matches we’ll see from him as NEVER champion, he says his style of real pro wrestling will rule. He takes on title matches because he likes the idea of two men fighting for a title. He goes on to talk about Riki Choshu, who trained him and Ishii, and says that you get a certain type of match when he competed, and Makabe felt the same in his match tonight against Ishii. You rarely find wrestlers like him and Ishii because they aren’t good looking, but the kind of reactions they get from the fans are from the heart and that’s what matters.
In his reflective interview he says that he was going to go for the Intercontinental title, and if he won all titles he’d be invincible! But then he got the influenza virus and was stripped of the NEVER title (that’s what led to Ishii vs. Honma, which is a surefire contender for match of the year), so he had to go win it back. He says that only he and Ishii can have the kind of matches they have. While his flower has bloomed, Makabe says, Ishii’s potential has only blossomed in the last couple of years. But as time goes on, Ishii’s flower will continue to bloom.
Good episode this week. The Styles/Naito match was way better than I remember it being. But then again, WrestleKingdom 10 was a stacked show, and you can only remember so much from a show that aired at 3 in the morning. Makabe/Ishii has been run so many times this year I found this match to be a bit stale looking at it now, but it’s not a bad match by any means. If you haven’t seen these two go at it, I highly recommend that you give this show a look.
Typical house show match, Harper & Kane started, Harper took a powder or two, when Kane gained a clear advantage a few minutes in he gave the tag to Taker, Taker did his punches in the corner spot including scaring the ref, hit old-school at the second attempt, Strowman came in, Taker took his first of two bumps during the match off a running shoulder block from Strowman, sold for a minute or two on the mat and in the corners, hit his leaping clothesline on Harper for the transition, tagged in Kane, Kane took the long straight heat, teased the hot tag twice and got it at the third attempt, Taker house of fire, Harper fed him, punch, bump, punch, bump, snake eyes, running boot, leg drop, choke slam, double choke slam attempt on Strowman, broke the grip, Strowman dumped to the outside by both, Kane follows, discuss clothesline on Taker, Harper goes to follow-up, Hell’s Gate for the finish.
Seen worse, Taker moved well, Strowman didn’t do much nor did he bump IIRC. Assume will be the same on the other show.
Adam Rose went out on a stretcher today and his match with Fandango was stopped abruptly. We are told Rose is now fine now, and it was described as him getting his bell rung.
