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  • AAA Heroes Inmortales iPPV results (10/4): Alberto el Patron vs. Johnny Mundo, Rey Mysterio, Antonio Pena tribute match

    Submitted by Robert Bihari

    Myzteziz began the show coming out to a mixed reaction. He cut a sort of rudo promo on Rey Misterio Jr. & also La Sociedad. He specifically said he doesn’t want to join them and doesn’t need help winning his matches unlike wrestlers such as Fantasma & Pentagon. He left to more boo’s than cheers.

    AAA Reina De Reinas Champion Taya Valkyrie vs. Goya Kong vs La Hiedra vs Lady Shani vs Lady Maravilla

    This was Taya’s first title defense since winning the title 18 months ago at Triplemania. Both Lady Shani & Lady Maravilla were listed as surprises although Shani debuted 2 weeks ago in Monterrey so it was presumed she’d be one of the mystery women. Lady Maravilla is relatively unknown but has been working the Mexico City area & training under Gran Apache (who is the head AAA trainer). This was one fall instead of elimination and no tags needed so it was all action. Maravilla looked good in her debut & Goya Kong seemed extra motivated – both doing and taking lots of moves you wouldn’t expect someone her size to do.

    They did a dive train ending with Goya doing a somersault off the apron onto everyone. At one point Lady Maravilla did a great combo submission/German Suplex spot. Finish saw Taya use her Northern Lights Suplex/Double Stomp combo on Hiedra to keep her title. Match exceeded all expectations and was actually quite good.

    AAA Tag Team Champions Joe Lider/Pentagon Jr. (champs) vs Jack Evans/Angelico vs Steve Pain/Daga

    Even though they’ve been portrayed as not being on the same page on TV, Lider/Pentagon/Daga all came out wearing Perros Del Mal shirts which was confusing. Steve Pain must have not got the memo. This was the usual AAA multi-team match with everyone taking turns doing their big moves while other guys just watched from the outside. Angelico hit a big running somersault dive onto a pile at one point. Later Angelico picked up Daga in a fireman’s carry and Jack moonsaulted off Daga’s chest to the floor on Pentagon. The match was going well until Joe Lider brought out thumbtacks for no reason at all and took forever setting up a suplex off the top rope onto them.

    Daga hit a gorgeous somersault dive onto a pile and then brawled up onto the stage with Angelico where they were met by Myzteziz who superkicked Angelico. Myzteziz then hit the ringside area seemingly to help one of the rudo teams but instead dragged Pentagon outside the ring to break up a pin after a Package Piledriver and then crotched him on the ringpost as Joe Lider stood by watching and being confused. Steve Pain got a great nearfall on Jack Evans but then Jack pinned him with the bridging backslide to get the win. Very good match with some great moves & hopefully the end of Pentagon Jr. being wasted in the tag division.

    Drago/Fenix vs Brian Cage/Mesias

    The rudos took the advantage early on with Cage doing lots of his usual power moves on the tecnicos. They built up to the tecnico comeback which included a slingshot rana to the floor by Drago & a double stomp on the apron from Fenix to Mesias which looked absolutely brutal. Really good back and forth from that point on with the tecnicos doing all their great flying spots & the rudos throwing them around when they could catch them. Fenix assisted Drago into a huge corkscrew dive and then hit a Brillo Cometa (2nd rope step-up double corkscrew) which looked spectacular! They did lots of nearfalls which got great reactions.

    They teased problems with Cage/Mesias at one point but it went nowhere. At the end Fenix went for a springboard frankensteiner off the top rope but Mesias caught him and power bombed him at the same time as Cage hit his finisher on Drago for the win. After the match Mesias stole Fenix’s mask and a little child in a Fenix mask at ringside was shown looking very sad. This was another very good match that really was the perfect type of match that should have been on Triplemania two months ago when more eyes were on the product.

    The entire roster came out to honor Antonio Pena. Crowd was respectful & started a ‘Tono’ chant as Marisela Pena looked to be on the verge of tears.

    Copa Antonio Pena

    This was the yearly 10 man Royal Rumble style elimination match where participants entered every 30 seconds. The entrances are generally a formality which is why they breeze through them. Aero Star started with Hijo De Pirata Morgan. Aero took him out with a bullet tope suicida immediatly. Averno was next and brought a chair to attack Aero Star. Nino Hamburguesa followed and hit everyone with a somersault dive through the ropes. Electro Shock was next followed by La Parka. The buzzer then hit and the surprise luchador came out… TAURUS! A new charachter who appears to resemble a bull or if you’re a longtime AAA fan – surprise 2007 Triplemania wrestler The Animal. He was immediatly put over as a huge threat by eliminating Aero Star, Pirata & Nino Hamburguesa as Cibernetico, Blue Demon Jr. & Chessman hit the ring to round out the participants. Electro Shock was dumped by Averno & Chessman.

    In a complete stunner as Cibernetico & Demon were brawling near the ropes, Taurus walked over and ELIMINATED THEM BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! La Parka eliminated Chessman and then Averno soon afterwards setting the stage for him to win this match for a 4th time for no reason at all… except no! Parka got cocky and as his back was turned Taurus snuck up behind him and threw him over the top rope for the shocking win in his debut! Crowd was stunned. Taurus got his trophy and left as the announcers speculated who he was and what an impressive debut it was. Not much of a match in terms of quality but a great way to introduce a new charachter in a strong way & a memorable moment for sure.

    (Should note big Lucha Underground fan Casey who is @luchagringo on twitter noted there may be a Lucha Underground tie in to all this as there’s a scene in season 1 where Dario is in his office writing names down & one name happens to be TAURUS. Also, this Taurus charachter resembles a bull… the same type of bull Dario had on his desk throughout season 1 that was focused upon many times before scene cutaways.)

    Rey Misterio Jr./Psycho Clown/Garza Jr. vs Texano Jr./Hijo Del Fantasma/Myzteziz

    Garza Jr. was the surprise wrestler. He’s the ex-Hijo de Ninja from Monterrey and is part of the Garza extended family which is why he used this name. He is not Hector Gara’s son. Crowd didn’t really know him but they got into him because of his looks and he was doing a Hector Garza tribute act right down to tearing off the pants & doing his same style clothesline. Match started with Rey being presented flowers only for Myzteziz to destroy them. He ran from Rey early on but was dropkicked to the floor by Psycho Clown. The tecnicos hit a triple tope but soon afterwards the rudos took over. The storyline was Myzteziz was all over Rey but didn’t want to take part in any triple teaming by his teammates. Rey led the comeback with a rana off the apron to the floor.

    Garza Jr. did a moonsault dive to the floor. Psycho Clown went crazy with his belt and smacked everyone including Tirantes Jr. in the face. At one point Rey Jr. got assisted into a silla on the floor on Myzteziz which was a neat spot. Finish saw Psycho take out Texano with a somersault dive, Rey Jr. hit Fantasma with an asai moonsault dive & then Myzteziz caught Garza Jr. coming off the ropes with a backcracker and put him away with a Swanton Bomb. Crowd was 100% boo’ing Myzteziz by the end of the match. Rey Jr. cut a promo with the announcers afterwards saying you can’t win all the time but Myzteziz should realize he didn’t pin him and they’ll meet again soon.

    AAA Mega Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron vs Johnny Mundo

    Heavy on the Mexico vs USA theme. Mundo had Brian Cage with him, Alberto had Psycho Clown. Alberto hit a wild tope suicida early on. They set up a table on the floor. Mundo started running from Alberto including hurdling into the crowd and stealing chips from a vendor to throw at Alberto who was chasing him. Alberto eventually caught Johnny trying to sneak under the ring but Johnny found water and blinded Alberto to take the advantage. He put Alberto through one of the tables at ringside. Slowest paced match of the night so far. Alberto hit his tree-of-woe double stomp for a nearfall and the Guerrero Especial for another nearfall. Mundo hit his running knee for a nearfall. Mundo escaped the armbar at one point by grabbing the ropes. Mundo went for his kick off the ropes but both Alberto & referee Maya ducked to tease a ref bump… except one second later Maya did get taken out by Alberto by accident.

    Alberto had the match won but no referee so he signalled to send someone else out. Who else would come but Hijo De Tirantes! Everyone knew the usual AAA bullshit was coming. It looked like Mundo was gonna try to suplex Alberto over the top to the floor through another table but Alberto countered into the armbar. Mundo refused to give up and held on long enough for Cage to slid in a guitar (???) and Mundo smashed Alberto over the head with it. The crowd hated this because Tirantes didn’t call the DQ and they throught Alberto was about to get screwed for the 3rd straight time in his hometown. But as Mundo covered, Tirantes counted 1… paused… and then raised Alberto’s hand for the DQ win as confetti was shot all over. Kind of a flat finish but protects Mundo for the rematch & there was no time to be angry because Cage hit the ring and both Alberto/Psycho Clown were beat down.

    Rey Jr. ran out for save and hit a double 619 only for Myzteziz to hit the ring and take out Rey including stealing his mask. La Sociedad then hit the ring in a very eerie Triplemania-esque moment but there was no confusion here this time… they went right after Myzteziz and beat him down. Fantasma cut a promo on Myzteziz saying he should have listened to La Sociedad instead of opposing them. Cibernetico then broke a guitar over Myzteziz’s head. Alberto/Rey regrouped on the floor and never helped Myzteziz. Mundo cut a promo in half English/half Spanish on Alberto. Eventually Alberto/Rey hit the ring to chase off La Sociedad and stand tall. Alberto closed the show cutting a heavy pro-Mexico promo.

    Unlike Triplemania this show at least ended with the lines firmly drawn. Myzteziz is a loner with no friends or any loyalty to either tecnicos or rudos. He wants Rey and only Rey. La Soceidad are done trying to recruit Myzteziz & Fantasma is in place as the new leader. Alberto/Rey Jr./Psycho Clown are the top tecnicos opposing them.

    Notes/Opinion:

    AAA needed to deliver and certainly did. The feed was perfect the entire night with only a minor glitch or two reported from many folks watching on twitter. The show had two memorable debuts to freshen things up & the wrestling was top notch with all 6 matches ranging from good to great. The live crowd was into everything & it felt like a major show even with little build on TV.

    The most impressive part of the show was for the first time in MANY YEARS AAA managed to avoid the things they’ve been addicted to for the longest time. There was no stupid rudo referee nonsense & aside from Joe Lider pulling out thumbtacks for no reason there was not a single moment a match turned into amateur hour. Some could argue the main event finish was weak but it appears this is heading somewhere instead of just being a fuck finish for the sake of doing one.

    Pretty much this show was the anti-Triplemania. Unfortunately there were likely way more eyes on Triplemania but if AAA keeps doing shows like this hopefully they can win those fans back. First thing’s first though – hopefully the people running AAA read why people enjoyed this show & keep to this format rather than reverting back to the things that keep turning so many new fans off (read: Hijo de Tirantes).

  • WWE Portland, ME house show results 10-4: Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt

    Submitted by Kyle Poissonnier

    Cesaro Defeated the Miz. – Match took a while to begin with the Miz jumping out of the ring for 5 minutes or so.  Miz took a few moves very awkwardly and didnt make Cesaro look all that good.  Cesaro eventually hit the neutralizer for the win.  

    Fandango defeated Heath Slater.  Would have been a bathroom break if not for wanting to see Maine’s own Fandango.  Slater kept stalling to start, as soon as he jumped in the ring he tripped on the top rope and fandango pinned him, took a nice round of applause from the audience and left.  No match really.  

    Braun Strowman defeated Jack Swagger with his choke out submission.  Pretty good match they actually let Swagger get in some offense on Strowman who up until now has been booked as a superman.

    Lucha Dragons defeated Ascension and Los Matadores in a triple threat tag match.  Fun match, lots of action.  Just nothing too great here.  

    Natalya defeated Sasha Banks with the Sharp Shooter.  Portland loved both girls.  Great reactions. 

    R – Truth defeated Adam Rose.  Rose actually got a lot of cheers for his new gimmick.  He was rather funny and challenged Truth to a dance contest that ended when truth kicked Rose for the victory.  

    Dean Ambrose Defeated Luke Harper, Good lengthy match.  Ambrose looked great.  

    Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt in a NO DQ Match.  Good reaction for both men.  Funny at house shows how different the reaction is for reigns.  Strowman interrupted and then Ambrose came out for the save.  Match ended with Reigns putting Wyatt through a table with a power bomb and win. 

    Overall, decent house show but the attendance is definitely something that couldn’t be ignored.   

  • WWE Worcester, MA house show (10/4): John Cena vs. Seth Rollins street fight

    Submitted by Andrew Goss

    – Neville def. Stardust

    – Zack Ryder def. Brad Maddox

    – WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. The Dudley Boyz in a title match. Xavier got 3D’d through a table after the match. 

    – WWE I-C Champion Kevin Owens def. Dolph Ziggler and Rusev in a title match

    – Randy Orton def. Sheamus 

    – Mark Henry def. Bo Dallas. Big Show KO punched Bo after the match

    – Team PCB def. Team Bella. Paige walked out on her partners near the end of the match. 

    – WWE U.S. Champion John Cena def. WWE World Champion Seth Rollins in a U.S. title match/street fight. Corporate Kane made the match a  Worcester Street Fight. The Demon Kane appeared at the end of the match to prevent Rollins from fleeing. 

  • SUN UPDATE: TNA Bound for Glory, UFC 192, AAA Heroes Inmortales iPPV

    We’re looking for your thoughts on UFC 192, WWE in Madison Square Garden, TNA Bound for Glory and AAA Heroes Inmortales so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match at Dave Meltzer.

    We’re also looking for reports on these weekend shows:

    *WWE tonight in Worcester, MA (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins)

    *WWE tonight in Portland, ME (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt

    *NXT today in Louisville at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival

    TNA Bound for Glory PPV on Sunday at 8 p.m. from Concord, NC

    EC 3 vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title with Jeff Hardy as ref

    Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers for the TNA tag tilters

    Abyss, Aiden O’Shea, Chris Melendez, Jesse Godderz, Ken Anderson, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Eli Drake and Robbie E in a Gauntlet for a title shot

    Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title

    Tigre Uno puts up X title in an Ultimate X match

    Bobby Roode vs. Bobby Lashley for King of the Mountain title

    Kurt Angle vs Eric Young

    Check out our live coverage: TNA Bound for Glory 2015 live results: EC3 vs. Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy

    AAA Heroes Inmortales iPPV at 7 p.m. Eastern time at www.internetvluchalibreaaa.com from San Luis Potosi

    Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo for AAA Mega heavyweight title

    Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psycho Clown & ? vs. El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr. & Myzteziz

    Antonio Pena Cup tournament:  Aero Star, Blue Demon Jr., Nino Hamburguesa, La Parka, Averno, Chessman, Cibernetico, Electroshock, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan & ?

    Joe Lider & Pentagon Jr. defend AAA tag titles against Jack Evans & Angelico and Steve Pain & Daga

    Taya Valkyrie defends Queen or Queens title against Goya Kong, Hiedra and two mystery women

    Raw is Monday night at the TD Garden in Boston.  Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are at the show along with the usual cast of characters.  No Undertaker advertised.

    Tuesday has Smackdown/Main Event tapings in Philadelphia.  No John Cena here, with Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns being the biggest stars.

    NXT TAKEOVER WEDNESDAY FROM FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY IN WINTER PARK, FL at 8 p.m. on the WWE network

    Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the NXT title in a 30 minute Iron Woman match

    Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament semifinals & finals

    JJ Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Rhyno & Baron Corbin

    Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs. Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson

    Apollo Crews vs. Tyler Breeze

    Asuka vs. Dana Brooke

    ****

    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 a look back at how exactly WWE lost the WWF name. Forget the stories you’v heard, this detailsexactly what the World Wildlife Fund objected to, what WWE agreed to and why, what scandals worried the fund, and more.  On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.

    The recent Figure Four Weeklywith a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.

    Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.

    ****

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter

    If you saw the JBL interview with Eric Bischoff, or even if you didn’t, we have what is already one of the most talked about and praised issues of the Wrestling Observer this year up on the site right now.  The main theme is fact vs. fiction, covering both the WWE historical view of the Monday Night Wars and the Eric Bischoff version, going through every point and cutting through things like outright B.S., faulty memories and interesting truths.

    The new double issue also covers SummerSlam in Brooklyn, the real story behind the UFC announcing a show in Madison Square Garden, Jon Jones’ legal punishment and future, coverage of both of the New Japan PPV shows this past week as well as a look at their direction as they build toward King of Pro Wrestling and later, the Tokyo Dome show, UFC in Japan and a look at that business, the retirement of Rich Franklin, a Hall of Famer running for Mayor, the retirement show of Genichiro Tenryu, more concerning drug testing questions, SummerSlam PPV numbers and what we can learn from them, as well as the death of German legend Axel Dieter Sr.

    The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter:  October 6, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Analysis of Bischoff Network interview, Jones plea and tons more. 

    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

    You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    Rates are:

    For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

    If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

    The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

    We look at Eric Bischoff and his role, both good and bad, in what the pro wrestling industry has turned into.  We look at the WCW boom, the creation of Nitro, the early war, the NWO era, the peak and the fall of WCW.

    We look at the mistakes made, the fall of WCW, the emergence of Bill Goldberg, the real origination of the streak idea,   We look at the rapid decline of the company and why.  We look at how and when things went down, as well as why, how history shows the merger excuse doesn’t hold water, the complete b.s. of the WWE’s Monday Night War narrative.  We look at the dying days of WCW and Eric Bischoff’s plan he never got a chance to implement.

    We look at Eric Bischoff’s background, how he got into wrestling, his first meeting with Verne Gagne, his WWF tryout as an announcer, his connection with Japan, the unique case of Sonny Onoo, and the death of the AWA.

    We look at the sale of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon’s one-year run on TBS and problems with Ted Turner, where Bill Watts fit into the scene then, and the scene prior to the launch of Nitro.

    We look at WCW before Bischoff got power, what really happened with Jim Ross and WCW, , moves by Bill Watts, .  We look at the first Nitro, the real story behind Lex Luger, what Lex Luger really got, what really happened in WCW with HHH and Mick Foley, Foley getting into WWF, the story behind Bischoff’s firing of Steve Austin, the cruiserweight division and its double-edge sword, what was the point of no return, the Montreal screw job and why so many, even in wrestling, missed key points in that story, Mike Tyson at WrestleMania, Kevin Nash as a booker, DX invades Nitro and the Bischoff vs. McMahon challenge to a fist fight and the story behind the PPV that went 30 minutes over.

    In the UFC Madison Square Garden announcement, we look at the thought process behind the strategy.

    FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW CLICK HERE

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    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

    SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the latest news including TNA Bound for Glory, WWE in Madison Square Garden and taking questions that can be sent tomailbag@wrestlingobserver.com  Our show covering UFC 192 and last night’s Madison Square Garden show is already up.
    • WrestlingObserver.com’s coverage of UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson live results and coverage  and WWE Live from MSG live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show, John Cena vs. Seth Rollins cage match  Don’t forget to listen to Dave and Bryan talk about both on: Wrestling Observer Radio 10/4: UFC 192, WWE in Madison Square Garden, tons of news!
    • Nothing from WWE trended on Google and UFC 192 was No 3 behind the Miami Dolphins and Andrew Luck yesterday, but it was 200,000 searches, which wouldn’t indicate a big PPV number.  The only other things that made the list yesterday were Adrien Broner (No. 14) and Sage Northcutt (No. 15), both at 50,000.
    • The Ronda Rousey/Holly Holm  TV commercial that everyone has been talking about
    • The Earl Hebner Hall of Fame induction held last night in Salem, VA, at the TNA house show, was taped.  Fans who there were told it would be airing on the Bound for Glory broadcast tonight. 
    • TNA Bound for Glory airs for free on Ma Chaine Sport in France live at 2 a.m. on Canalsat 123 and Numericable 150 with Celian Varini and Gregory Deas on commentary.  There will be a replay in prime time on 10/11 at 8:30 p.m.
    • TNA Bound for Glory preview
    • Tickets for the next Madison Square Garden show, which will be 12/26, are available on a pre-sale with the code HOLIDAY.
    • Daniel Cormier believed he suffered a broken foot in the first round when a kick was checked.  The fight was a war with Alexander Gustafsson and a super gutsy performance put on by both.
    • No real indication whether Jon Jones will be back to face Cormier next or Cormier would face  Ryan Bader, if Jones isn’t in the picture.
    • The show where Dana White fought Sage Northcutt on a small show
    • Here is a “Getting to know” Sage Northcutt
    • Paul Heyman talks returning to Madison Square Garden as a performer
    • Not sure why CMLL didn’t air on Claro Sports in the U.S.  The broadcast did air, but it was geo blocked.  Some people with an app where it can make it appear their computer is located in Mexico, even when it wasn’t, were able to watch the show live.  The story  we got is that it may have been that they were also streaming a soccer game which had U.S. TV rights that had to be protected.
    • La Sombra vs. Atlantis in a mask vs. mask match from two weeks ago did air on Azteca America yesterday.
    • wXw from Friday in Oberhausen, Germany:  The tag matches are in a tag team tournament:  Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows b Di Leo & Fischer, Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack b Hakan Aslan & Tarkan Aslan, Jurn Simmons & Tyler Bate b Absolute Andy & Bad Bones John Klinger, Big Daddy Walter & Zack Sabre Jr. b Marius van Beethoven & Kevin Roadster, Tommaso Ciampa won over Player Dos, Bobby Fish and Jonathan Gresham, Kim Ray b Player Uno, Dieter & Mack b Jurn Simmons & Tyler Bate, Big Daddy Walter  Zack Sabre Jr. b Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
    • wXw from yesterday in Oberhuasen, Germany:  Tag matches are part of the tournament:  Jonathan Gresham & Chris Brookes b Bobby Gunns & Vincent the Beast, Julian Nero & Robert Dreissker b Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt, Sasa Keel b Kim Ray-DQ, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly b ACH & Tommaso Ciampa, Tommy End & Michael Dante b Evil Uno & Stu Grayson, Da Mack won over Tyler Bate, Bad Bones John Klinger and The Rotation, Ilja Darunov b Zack Sabre Jr. Jonathan Gresham & Chris Brookes b Julian Negro & Robert Dreissker-COR, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly b Tommy End & Michael Dante, . (thanks to Markus Gronemann)
    • Grado was in a car accident this morning on his way to the airport to come in for the third show in Oberhausen, so he will not be on the show as scheduled for his wXw title match with Karsten Beck.
    • A.J. Styles, who was in the U.K. for two shows with Revolution Pro this past weekend, faces Tommy End is on today’s show.
    • If Tony Arrelano of Northern California is reading this, or anyone knows him, have him please contact me at dave@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
    • Nick Bockwinkel as a guest on a 1968 Hollywood Squares game show 
    • Notes on a new movie featuring former WWE wrestler Nathan Jones
    • Former WWE wrestler Nick Busick battling cancer
    • A new Chikara app was added to the Roku marketplace this weekend.
    • A Harley Race vs. Gino Hernandez 2/3 fall match for the NWA title was added this past week to NWAClassics.com, the Houston Wrestling subscription service.
    • House of Hardcore on 11/13 in Philadelphia at the Arena now has:

    Tommy Dreamer & Tajiri vs. Ethan Carter III & Eric Young

    Rhino vs. Abyss

    Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries

    Chris Hero vs. Lance Hoyt

    Eddie Kingston vs. Tommaso Ciampa

    Tony Nese vs. Alex Reynolds vs. JT Dunn

    • For House of Hardcore on 11/14 in New York at the Elmcor Center

    Tommy Dreamer vs. Ethan Carter III street fight

    Roode & Aries vs. ?

    Tajiri vs. Chris Hero

    Jade vs. Thea Trinidad with Velvet Sky as ref.

    • Dory Funk’s BANG TV taping will be 10/24 in Reddick, FL at the People Power Festival, and no, John Laurinaitis is not on the show.  Dory Funk Jr. headlines an all cage match show.
    • Randy Couture appeared as his recurring character arsonist Jason Duclair on Hawaii Five-O Friday night. (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
    • WrestleMerica on 10/2 in Barnesville, GA before 400 fans (this is Doc Gallows’ promotion):  Fry Daddy b Simon Sermon, Salvatore Rinauro b CB Suave, MD 3 & PYB b Southside Trash, Iceberg b P-Dogg (Mike Posey), Tyson Dean & Glacier (original from WCW) & Micah (Camacho in WWE) & Tama Tonga b Andy Anderson & Murder One & Pain & Tommy Too Much, Al Getz b Amber Gallows in a lumberjack match (thanks to Kris Zellner)
    • Netflix just added a B-rated Sci-Fi move “3 Headed Shark Attack” starring Rob Van Dam, Jason Simmons and Danny Trejo (thanks to Daniel Beling)
    • Maryland Championship Wrestling from last night in Joppa, MD:  Drolix b Brandon Scott, Eddie Smooth b David Starr, Punk Rock All-Stars b Headbangers (former WWF team), The Bruiser b Ken Dixon, Bo Appalachian Outlaws b Fed Up (Ted DiBiase used the Million Dollar Dream on heel manager Col. Calihan and then Jake Roberts put the snake on him), Patrick Clark (Tough Enough) won 20 man Bunkhouse Battle Royal to earn a title shot, Patrick Clark & Lio Rush b Ecktourage and Hell Cats to win the tag titles, Mickie James & Fenix Fury b Amber Rodriguez & Chuck Lennox, John Hennigan (Mundo) b Shane Strickland.  Next show is 11/14 in Joppa, MD, with appearances by Ric Flair, JJ Dillon and Tully Blanchard.  They next MCW show is 10/16 with Matt Hardy, Mickie James and Road Warrior Animal.
    • I Believe in Wrestling from last night in Orlando, FL:  Braydon Knight b Rex Bacchus and Mike Reed, Chico Adams b Dalton Murphy, Brandon Scherer b Derick Jordan, Aaron Epic b Martin Stone, Mike Patrick b Leo Brien, Santana Garrett b Saraya Knight to retain NWA & Shine titles, Rhett Giddins & Josh Parker b Ace Andrews & Josh Hess.  Next show is 10/17 with Giddins vs. Patrick (thanks to Al Haft)
    • Lucha Xtreme TV from last night in Fresno:  Mortal b Marcus Eriks-DQ, Kevin El Divino b Jesse Poole-DQ, Jesse Poole & Marcus Eriks b Kevin El Divino & Prince Nagi-DQ.  Next show is 10/18 at the Big Fresno Fair.  Admission is free with a fair admission. (thanks to Jon Southerland) 
    • UWC on 10/10 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Bar and Banquet Hall.  They also run 10/24 in New Egypt, NJ at the Elks Lodge.
    • Premier Championship Wrestling from last night in Winnipeg:  Kenny Omega & Chris Stevens b Jay Walker & Alexander Prime, Zack Mercury won over Moses Luke and Shao Ming in a three-way, Chad Tatum b Mike Angels, Jay Walker b Alix Vanna, Shao Ming b Jay Wakler, Mentallo b Kenny Omega-DQ, Team Flex Appeal b London Dynasty, Jackie Lee b Antonio Scorpio.  The belief is that Lee may be the first legit Chinese champion in modern Canadian pro wrestling history.  Mike Angels retired on this show after a 15 year career. (thanks to Andrew Shallcross)

    ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

    1972 – Antonio Inoki beat Karl Gotch in Tokyo to win the “real world title,” which was the forerunner of the IWGP title

    1988 – Fuerza Guerrera beat Solar II in Mexico City to win the NWA welterweight title

    1995 – Koki Kitahara & Nobutaka Araya & Arashi beat Gedo & Jado & Hiromichi Fuyuki in Hamamatsu Hamamatsu to win the WAR six-man tag titles

    1997 – Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (John Laurinaitis) beat Steve Williams & Gary Albright in Nagoya to win the All Japan tag titles

    2004 – Masato Tanaka & Wataru Sakata beat Shinjiro Otani & Takao Omori in Morioka to win the NWA Zero-One IC tag titles

  • WWE: 8 mistakes that killed the #DivasRevolution

    By Will Cooling for WrestlingObserver.com

    Most people would agree that the WWE “Divas Revolution” has not been the success that the WWE was hoping for. Not only are the matches nowhere near the quality that many of the same women have been having in NXT but the characters simply haven’t been getting over to the audience. The failure to properly introduce performers that really could be money-drawing acts on the main roster demonstrates many of the things that are wrong with the WWE.

    Mistake #1: Telling Rather Than Showing

    Fuelled by the success of the women on NXT and the wider prominence given to female athletes in the wake of the rise of Ronda Rousey and success of the American women’s soccer team, WWE seemed to assume that fans were thirsting for women to be given greater prominence on the main roster. This was an odd assumption to make considering that not only have WWE fans long been conditioned to ignore women’s wrestling, and that even in MMA much of the hardcore fanbase were reluctant to embrace female fighting. The WWE should have realised that for the new division to work they needed to gradually win over fans rather than presenting them with a fati acompli.

    Mistake #2: Being Stuck In The Past

    The WWE used to understand that whenever you’re introducing something new you need to jettison something old. To bring in Hulk Hogan, they got rid of Bob Backlund. To bring in the New Generation they got rid of the Hulkamania veterans. To bring in the ‘Attitude Era’, they removed the cartoonish and childish tropes they had previously relied upon. Having decided that their old approach to women’s wrestling was no longer working, they needed to clearly show that this to the audience, many of whom never liked the pre-existing product. This should have involved ditching old terminology, phasing out existing wrestlers and revamping how feuds and matches were presented.

    Instead the WWE have tried to blend the old and the new, and as a consequence the new breed of women’s wrestlers look increasingly interchangeable from the old divas they’re meant to be replacing. Which of course, was exactly what happened when the then NXT Women’s Champion Paige joined the main roster back in 2013.

    Mistake #3: Having the Wrong Priorities

    Throughout its history, WCW was hamstrung by its membership of a larger conglomerate. The need to be sensitive to be the whims of its corporate overlords meant it could never move as nimbly as a WWF that was purely focused on making as much money from pro-wrestling as possible. Alas, today’s WWE resembles WCW more than it does WWF in this regard. Due to the need to please its broadcast partners and sponsors, the WWE only occassionally focuses on what is required to please its fans.

    The women’s division has fallen foul of these split priorities. The obvious move when introducing the NXT Women would be to remove the Bella Twins from the division due to how synonymous they are with their old approach towards women’s wrestling. Alas the WWE doesn’t want to do this because Total Divas is a rare example of a ‘successful’ spin-off and the Bellas have long been its star characters.

    Mistake #4: Not Understanding that Less is More

    Even during the peak of Trish Stratus’ career, fans often saw women’s matches as so unimportant that they used them as an excuse for a bathroom break. Any attempt to re-launch the division needed to break this habit. NXT achieved this by quickly promoting the women to be the co-main event, and on occasion, the main event.

    Regrettably WWE has not followed this model as rather than invest time in building up to a few key women’s matches every month, the WWE has decided to throw out two meaningless but lengthy matches on every edition of RAW. In many ways, nothing has changed except that the bathroom breaks have gotten longer.

    Mistake #5: Exposing Their Performers Limitations 

    The glut of women’s matches is an even bigger mistake when you consider the performers involved. All of the NXT women have relatively little experience inside the pro-wrestling ring. However, they have put on great matches due to their innate athleticism and willingness to obsessively plan and practice their matches. That of course is a good thing, pro-wrestling is about creating illusions, and if thorough preparation hides their weaknesses then that’s something to celebrate.

    However maintaining the illusion does impose limitations on the product. If the performers need to rehearse their matches, then they must be given adequate time beforehand to do so. This is something those booking NXT understood very well but WWE is so wedded to booking RAW the night before that they are incapable of learning from themselves.  

    Mistake #6: Putting a McMahon’s Ego First

    Ever since she started celebrating her friendship with Ronda Rousey, it’s become clear that Stephanie McMahon has alighted on advancing the position of women within the WWE as a cause that can burnish her real-world feminist credentials. That would be fine if she was content with focusing on making the women’s division a success and then taking credit away from television. Alas she’s demanded that it be focused around her on television. She was the person to get to engage with Rousey at Wrestlemania 31, she was the one to finally stand-up to the Bella Twins, she was the one to introduce the NXT women to RAW and she was the one to who made the telling intervention that finally allowed Charlotte to win the title. The result has been that on television the ‘Divas Revolution’ has come across as a top-down imposition from a heel authority figure that deep-down most fans realise has had a negative impact on the product in real life.

    Mistake #7: Pushing the Brand Rather Than a Superstar

    When UFC introduced a women’s division, they built the entire project around one person. They understood that if they could get Ronda Rousey over as a credible champion then fans would naturally start caring about her prospective challengers. To that end, for the first eighteen months of women’s UFC, every fight was broadcast in the context of developing new challengers for Rousey.

    WWE have shown no such focus. Rather than alighting on one of the NXT women and building the division around her, they’ve thrown three of them out onto the main roster at the same time. They’ve done this because they think that pushing a brand such as ‘Divas Revolution’ is more important than making fans care about individual wrestlers. This is an obvious misreading of their history. ‘Hulkamania’ was built around Hulk Hogan, ‘WWF Attitude’ was built around Stone Cold Steve Austin and today’s PG-Era is clearly built around John Cena. Fans gravitate to stars, not corporate buzz words.

    Mistake #8 Lack of Prior Planning  

    All these mistakes all add up to that most common WWE problem of all; not having a clear plan. The lack of a clear plan means that the WWE has not properly anticipated let alone address the very really challenges they would face in revamping their women’s division.

    That of course raises the question as to what such a plan should have looked like, something that I answer Monday in the final part of this look at the Divas Revolution.

    Will Cooling is a freelance writer who writes on combat sports for Fighting Spirit Magazine, pop culture for Geeky Monkey and politics at It Could Be Said!

  • On this date in pro wrestling history (10/4): Undertaker defeats CM Punk for WWE World title, Randy Orton tops John Cena for WWE championship

    1956 —

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Larry Hamilton and Sonny Myers beat Joe Dusek and Roy Shire 2 falls to 1

    1957 —

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – Ray Gunkel and Don McIntyre defeated Kurt Von Brawner & Fritz Von Brawner to win the International Tag Team Title

    1960 —

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:
    – Hard Boiled Haggerty & Len Montana defeated Murder Inc. (Tiny Mills & Stan Kowalski) to win the AWA World Tag Team Title 
    – Bob Geigel beat Guy Hill

    1968 —

    St. Joseph, Missouri:
    – Tommy Martin defeated Bob Brown to win the Central States Title

    1969 —

    St. Paul, Minnesota:
    – Flying Redheads Red Bastien & Billy Red Lyons beat AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon on a 3rd fall dq
    – Bill Watts beat Larry Hennig
    – Blackjack Lanza beat Rene Goulet 

    1972 —

    Tokyo, Japan:
    – Antonio Inoki defeated Karl Gotch for the New Japan Real World Heavyweight Title 

    1974 —

    Denver, Colorado:
    – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Horst Hoffman 
    – Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
    – Larry Heiniemi beat Larry Hennig

    1975 —

    Bayamon, Puerto Rico:
    – Tosh Togo defeated Jose Miguel Perez to win the WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Title

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:
    – In a Lumberjack Match, Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan  
    – Pampero Firpo no contest Jimmy Valiant
    – Billy Robinson beat Kim Duk

    1979 —

    Tokyo, Japan:
    – Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Ryuma Go to win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion 

    1981 —

    Charlotte, North Carolina:
    – Sgt. Slaughter won a one night tournament to win the United States Championship by defeating Ricky Steamboat in the finals (The title was vacated by Wahoo McDaniel when he was injured by Abdullah the Butcher

    Houston, Texas:
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Junkyard Dog dq
    – Gino Hernandez and Dos Caras went to a double count out
    – Manny Fernandez beat Ken Patera to win the Brass Knuckles Title

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:
    – Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell by countout
    – Sheik Adnan beat Baron Von Raschke
    – Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan
    – Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Billy Robinson & Tito Santana

    1985 — 

    Los Angeles, California:
    – Stan Hansen won battle royal
    – Sgt. Slaughter drew Boris Zhukov
    – Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Baron Von Raschke & Jerry Blackwell
    – Greg Gagne beat Jimmy Garvin
    – Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts) beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall

    1991 — 

    Dallas, Texas:
    – Eddie Gilbert defeated The Handsome Stranger (Marcus Bagwell) in a tournament final to win the Global Wrestling Federation Television Title 

    1993 —

    Columbus, Georgia:
    – Marcus Alexander Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio defeated The Nasty Boys to win the WCW World Tag Team Title 

    Jellico, Tennessee
    – Tim Horner defeated Juicy Johnny for the SMW “Beat The Champ” Television Title 
    – Chris Candido defeated Bobby Blaze for the SMW U.S. Junior Heavyweight Title

    2009 —

    Newark, New Jersey:
    – The Undertaker defeated CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell Match to win the WWE World Championship 
    – Randy Orton defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match

  • UFC 192 and WWE Live from MSG Feedback

    By Mike Omansky

    Return date announced: Saturday Dec. 26th, holiday tour.

    Tickets went on sale after the show at box office.

    Presale at Ticketmaster also.  Code:  HOLIDAY

     Crowd into show, but most alive for 3 big matches:

    — Owens-Jericho

    — Lesnar-Show (Lesnar most over wrestler of the night)

    –Cena-Rollins — really into it in last 10 minutes, after Cena put on STF and there were near escapes from the cage.

     Untelevised matches, prior to broadcast:

    1. ZACK RYDER W BO DALLAS, rough-Ryder and pin.

    2. MARK HENRY W BRAD MADDOX, squash, under a minute, slam and pin.

    No offense for Maddox.

    By Bryan Revello

    Cool notes/observations from the MSG show last night:

    Randy Orton was more over with the crowd than expected.

    The New York crowd still eats up Zack Ryder.

    There was a buzz in the building that Ric Flair would be on the show but it did not happen.

    Did anyone count the number of suplexes that Brock gave to Big Show? I lost count after 3.

    The women’s match had a worse reception than anticipated although I did hear one “I love you Becky” chant in my section.

    The crowd loved Brock Lesnar and popped hard.

    The New Day are just as amusing in person.

    Brad Maddox received quite a few “who are you?” chants.

    The Jericho-Owens match was a delight to see live.

    The steel cage came down as quickly as any steel cage I have ever seen live.

    If this event was advertised around Brock Lesnar, why did Brock-Big Show semi Main Event?

    Everybody in the crowd knew Kane was coming.

    The presale code for the upcoming December 26th event at MSG is holiday.

    —-

    Thumbs up, not a runaway good show but almost consistently good.  I expect to se e a lot of thumbs down for the slower pace, and the idiot Houston fans were quick to boo (what do you expect, they have to deal with the Astros and the Texans) but this was one of those solid cards that I just can’t complain about.

    Best fight – again, no FOTY candidates but it’s got to be Cormier/Gustuvson.  I don’t particularly like Cormier but I have to give him tons of credit for outstriking the striker and proving he deserves the title.  Alexander, on the other hand, fought a horrible strategy and how he got three rounds can only be explained by it being in Texas.  It’s a state law that you can’t put on an MMA show in Texas without a screwed up decision.

    Worst fight – no real glaring candidates but I have to go with Bader and Evans because I just kept thinking, the winner of THIS is going to get a title shot?   It just showed exactly how weak 205 is.

    Jordan and Magomedov was not good, but when you get an injury in the first round, all you can do is all you can do, so I can’t fault them for that.

    The only other comment I have is Sage Nothcutt.  If this kid has the talent to fight his way up the ranks, he’s going to be a mega-star and from what I hear, Dana White knows exactly what he’s got.  He oozes charisma like and early Rock and as my wife put it, “that is one good looking guy”.  I’m not going to say he’s going to be a male Ronda Rousey (although with the talent he could be) but he’s going to be a huge star.

    Mike DeGeorge

    UFC 192

    I missed the first prelim and most of the 2nd. (Lewis-Pesta & S. Pettis-Cariaso)

    Thumbs way up. Mostly lackluster on paper, almost all entertaining in reality, and the main was just epic.

    Best fight: Cormier-Gustaffson

    Worst fight: surprisingly, Benavidez-Bagautinov

    Best performance: Cormier, Gustaffson but plenty of standout performances

    Worst performance: Jouban

    KO: Martins, Tumenov

    Sub: Namajunas (default but would have won it most nights)

    Picked up watching with Chris Cariaso dominating Sergio Pettis for the last couple minutes of the fight, but Pettis had apparently won the 1st & 2nd very wide. Stunning UFC debut from heavily hyped Sage Northcutt, who looks like Action Figure Ken (as in Barbie), blowing away the smaller but weight-missing Francisco Trevino with a blitz of strikes, TDs and G&P.

    Rose Namajunas unsurprisingly far too skilled for Angela Hill and outstrikes her, takes her down, takes her back, sinks RNC and hooks as Hill rises, figure-4s the leg for good measure, and puts her to sleep standing. Brazilian veteran Adriano Martins catches previously unbeaten Russian Islam Makhachev coming in with a right hook and scores an upset one punch KO. Albert Tumenov just shreds Alan Jouban, doing a paint job from the opening bell and not letting Jouban even get started, or last long enough to pull his usual comeback, ending it with a clean KO. Texas ref on the case with the stoppage. Yair Rodriguez takes a competitive card sweep UD over Dan Hooker, with one sorta hometown 30-26, despite breaking a foot early in the fight.

    Julianna Pena just too big and strong for Jessica Eye, who for some reason chose to challenge Pena at her forte of grappling and performed well, but not well enough. Jess is just too small for bantam but they don’t have flyweight. Some weird reffing in the 2nd docking Eye a point for a first offense and then restarting them standing when Pena had been in top position at the foul, but didn’t change the outcome. 

    Joey Benavidez pretty much paintjobs Ali Bagautinov in a fight conducted almost entirely at long range for a UD with one 29-28. Crowd doesn’t like any of it but a couple of flash TDs were the extent of Ali’s effective offense.

    In a fight between totally opposite styles and physical types, tall rangy Russian Ruslan Magomedov methodically drills human bowling ball Shawn Jordan for three rounds with every strike in the book as Jordan lumbers in looking for a bomb or a TD. He’s only successful a couple of times and Magomedov does considerable damage the rest of the time for a UD with one 29-28. I gave him a 10-8 in the 3rd. Magomedov is like a HW Mousasi, who I believe I saw in his corner. Nobody’s going to be in a hurry to fight him. 

    Ryan Bader displaying recent acquisitions of hand speed and actual footwork does a 3R paint job over long inactive Rashad Evans, who looks great till the fight starts. He looks tiny next to Bader who beats him to the punch all night and takes hiom down whenever he wants to. Shad has very little offense. Have seen people call this ‘close’ and even giving it to Evans, neither of which are anywhere near reality in this or any other dimension. 30-27 X 3 was the only possible score.

    Tyron Woodley-Johny Hendricks scrapped when Hendricks got sick making weight. Tyron gets the WW title shot. Hendricks will be considered a MW from now on and will look like Sky Low Low up there.

    Daniel Cormier  defends the LHW title vs. Alexander Gustaffson and they blow the roof off the joint. Cormier takes the 1st with an early tiltawhirl slam and top control which was one expected scenario and I think everybody started thinking ‘oh well’

    Alex blasted back in the 2nd keeping long range, beating Cormier to the punch, busting him up and taking HIM down TWICE. Cormier comes back late in the round with damaging uppercuts from collar tie, and all the sudden this fight was even and belonged with both their fights with Jones. 

    The 3rd ventured into epic territory with Cormier dominating most of the round and busting Alex up, mostly with those inside uppercuts, but at the very end of the round Alex floors Cormier with a massive knee and left hook and has the ref looking VERY close. This was each guy earning a 10-8 round, so I scored it 10-10. 

    The 4th was also hard to score, as Alex has by now successfully turned it into a boxing match, but isn’t necessarily winning. Cormier is the aggressor, but Alex is doing most of the landing, but very little left on his punches. Alex starts figuring out the uppercuts. Cormier landed a big clean right late and I thought that would tip the round on the cards but personally I thought it was even also..

    Both were battered and exhausted in the 5th, but Cormier kept his pace up and Alex’ output dropped severely, so Cormier clearly won the round. So you had Cormier clearly winning two rounds, Alex one, and two could have gone either way or even. I had 49-48 Cormier but I score rounds even when I think they are. One judge split the swing rounds, one gave both to Cormier, and one gave both to Gustaffson, so it ended up a 48-47 split, 49-46 SD for Cormier, who afterward thanked Gustaffson on the mic for ‘making me a better fighter and a better man’. Can sure make a case for Alex having been involved in the two best LHW fights ever. Great fight.

    Crimson Mask

    Thumbs down

    Best match: Sheamus and Rusev v. Ziggler and Orton

    Worst match: Cena v. Rollins

    While the show had its moments, the good bits were sparse and mostly featured the mid-card.  On the plus side, the opening tag match featured some excellent wrestling and The New Day cut an entertaining, creative promo.

    Outside of that, the in-ring action was disappointing, particularly the main event.  Having a good main event is tough as it is, but it might be impossible for Rollins and Cena to work a good WWE cage match.

    Casey Goldman

    How you doin’ Dave,

    Thought it was an ok show. As the show was going on I was very much disappointed, as I didn’t expect it to be a show mainly consisting of house show matches, in some cases reduced house show matches, as this was not the case with Beast In The East, but I felt the main event was very good, and given time to digest and understand what they were presenting I thought it was fine.

    In fact I enjoyed Rollins-Cena more than their outings at Summerslam or Night of Champions, as I myself like a methodical pace to my wrestling with bursts of increased tempo as I find it more captivating and dramatic, and also providing timing is good it usually produces greater importance and emphasis on moves and sequences, as well provides more time for selling. On the other end of the scale I thought the New Day-Dudleys finish was incredibly lazy, as we just recently saw the exact same finish.

    Another thing to note is that I did have some technical problems. Whenever I watch a PPV on the network I always do so on a 15-20 minute delay, as I have found that it largely prevents freezing you sometimes get, which can be particularly irritating mid-match. However on this occasion the stream stuttered throughout which was far from ideal. Whether the two were connected or it was the fault of my internet or otherwise I do not know, but I thought it was worth mentioning.    

    Thumbs In The Middle

    Best Match: Cena vs. Rollins

    Worst Match: Dudleys vs. New Day

    Thanks Dave

    Tom Griffiths

    Hi Dave,
      Just wanted to give some feedback on the live WWE show from MSG. I gave the show a thumbs up, it was a fun show to watch and just the feel and vibe of watching a show from Madison Square Garden is always awesome. Too bad they don’t run regular television from MSG very often, apparently due to financial reasons charged by MSG? But awesome to see a show from the “Mecca of professional wrestling” as the late great Gorilla Monsoon would always say. I think the best match of the night would be tie between the main event cage match and the I/C title match and the worst match of the night probably the Divas tag match since this “feud” with Page and her teammates really has no direction and is confusing, but I digress! lol

    1. Shemus / Rusev VS Orton / Ziggler – Good opening tag match to get the crowd going, didn’t think it really mattered who won this match, but a good opener as Orton and Ziggler get the win.

    2. Stardust VS Neville – Awesome Neville match as always, good to see Neville get the win. Not really digging the comic book aspect of this feud, but understand it since it’s geared for a younger audience really and seems to be a way of promoting the new video game coming out this month.

    3. Team Bella VS Team PBC – Um. Ok. This whole angle between both teams is just confusing and seems to lack focus. They need to get back on track with the divas revolution and have great divas matches for the title, not waste time with confusing angles and soap opera drama. They can do better then this and they have the talent, but choosing an off direction. Let’s see, Paige turns on her teammates for no reason, but continues to team with them, and then the match ends with her teammates turning on her. Waste of time trying to figure this out. Just get back to focusing on great matches for the title, especially with Charlotte as champion who is extremely talented.

    4. Jericho VS Owens for the I/C title. Great match, both competitors awesome. Jericho always has great matches and Owens is just incredibly talented and has really impressed with every match I’ve seen with him so far. I hope they keep the I/C title on him for a long time. Good win by Owens, gives him credibility for beating Jericho, and Jericho does not look bad or hurt by the loss since Jericho at this point in his career still looks good regardless if he wins or loses.

    5. New Day VS Dudley’s – Good tag match with two great teams. I was very annoyed by the New Day gimmick when the first started and just hated it. But amazingly these 3 guys were able to turn a goofy gimmick into a positive and actually make it work. As goofy as the New Day gimmick is, they are actually getting it over and it’s been entertaining and fun to watch. The Dudley’s are always impressive and their return to WWE has just been awesome so far. Good match with Dudley’s winning by DQ. It continues the feud for both teams which is a good thing.

    6. Lesnar / Big Show – Basically a squash match for Lesnar beating the crap out of Big Show but very good as it worked just watching Lesnar and his crazy strength throwing Big Show around like a rag doll. Lesnar seemed to be in a very good mood for once and appeared to be having fun which is a good thing. Awesome feats of strength as I’m sure picking up the Big Show is not an easy thing. But the crowd was way into it and it worked.

    7. Cena / Rollins cage match – Very good main event and good cage match. Sometimes cage matches don’t work and take away from the match. But these two have good matches with each other and good chemistry. Cena seems to be stepping it up lately with having good matches starting with his Owens feud. I’ve hated just about every Cena match in existence and I’m just tired of seeing the guy and having forced down our throats for so many years on TV. But my opinion really changed after his matches with Owens and Cesaro. Good win, but makes the champ look weak and Rollins needs to look as strong as possible as the champion. They already portray Rollins as a crybaby world champion who constantly complains, which seems to be the wrong direction in my opinion. And with Cena taking time off soon you would think it would make sense for him to drop the US title. Make Rollins a duel champion again as that seemed to work. Not sure where the Rollins and Kane feud can go,
     since that’s not really a match I want to see or an angle that is very interesting.

     Anyway, it was a good live show and great production by the network. Awesome promos about MSG cut by both Paul Heyman and Chris Jericho. The only negative of the show would have to be the announcing. The new guy Rich Brennen was actually not that bad and seemed to be doing well. But I can’t say the same for JBL or Bryan Saxton. JBL just babbles with his 30 year old references and he seemed to be hazing the new guy Brenned and Saxton just sat there not really saying much of anything. Bad announcing and commentary really takes away from the matches and the program and this seems’ to be happening way too often. But otherwise a great show and very entertaining.

    Thanks,
    Jon Southerland
    Clovis, Ca.

    Two thumbs up. A good solid show and then the main event happened which was just fantastic.

    Best fight: Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson. Again, really great stuff here. Back and forth match, and until the last round where they both gassed out, the entire fight was non-stop action. I had Cormier winning and was happy to see that he did. Judging was a bit odd, with one of the judges giving the fight to Cormier 49-46 which seemed odd, but the right man won either way in my eyes.

    Worst fight: Joseph Benavidez vs. Ali Bagautinov. Nothing really at all interesting happened here. The Magomedov fight wasn’t amazing either, but I seemed to be more into that one because you at least had the broken rib story going on there. Neither guy really tried to do anything crazy. Very safe fight that left everyone bored and booing in the building. Benavidez won, but this didn’t make me want to see him face Johnson anymore, if that’s what Dana was hoping for.

    Brandon Marshal

    Thumbs up
    Best Fight: Cormier vs. Gustafsson

    About as good as you can hope for from a card with five straight decisions. I had Cormier 49-46 but it was close. The UFC 193 promo at the end walked a fine line between genius and super cheesy but it came off on the right side of that. It should be really effective if enough people see it.

    Mike Hiscoe

    Overall: Thumbs up. My main question going into this event was will the live special be presented more like a PPV or more like a house show. In some ways it resembled both. Honestly, I think it provided a template for what a three hour RAW could be. Let the stories be told and developed in the ring, let the wrestling take precedence over the backstage drama and book finishes that accomplish the goals at hand without leaving the fans disappointed.

    Best Match: Very enjoyable cage match between Rollins and Cena. The Kane factor developed the story without compromising the drama and story be told in the ring.

    Worst Match: The Diva’s Tag was lame.

    1. Sheamus and Rusev vs. Ziggler and Orton. Standard formula tag match that built nicely to a hot tag and peaked with a climatic finish. I enjoyed the body slam story during the heat. A looser Orton who is enjoying himself is a better version of Randy Orton.

    -I can do without the RAW recap. Especially, being it is the third time I have seen the same replay in a week.

    2. Stardust vs. Neville. The action was crisp, the template was basic, the crowd was tepid.

    -Top notch Heyman mic work. No matter main stream press, tv promo, or ppv interview, the guy knocks it out of the park.

    3. Team Bella vs. PCB. The bulk of the match was slow. This is not a problem if the heat builds anticipation for the hot tag and consequential uptick in pacing. The story in the match prevented this from being the case. As a result, the crowd waited a long time to be disappointed.

    4. IC title match: Jericho vs. Owens. Heartfelt and crowd engaging promo from Jericho to start. Good to descent action throughout with some nice transitions and near falls towards the end.  I appreciate Owen’s  breaking the rules to retain the title. He is a heel who is good enough to be competitive, but needs to cheat to win. Good match.

    5. Tag Team Title: The New Day vs. Dudley Boys. The action in the match was enjoyable, the finish was lame. With that said, 1 lame finish on the show is better than every Raw. Moreover, if they did not want to switch the belts on this occasion, they accomplished the goal and gave the crowd a little extra something to pop for. 

    6. Big Show vs. Lesnar. Simple and effective in story and execution. Make Lesnar look vulnerable at the beginning, ensure he looks invisible by the end.

    7. US Title Match: Rollins vs. Cena. Deliberate pacing almost to a fault at the onset. The longer the match lasted, the better the action was. By the end, the drama was at an appropriate level for main event title match inside a cage In MSG. Great effort by Rollins and Cena and a fitting capstone to the event. The Kane factor effected the finish, but did not compromise the enjoyment of the match.

    Derrick Hubbard

  • WWE Bangor, ME, house show results (10-3): Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt

    Submitted by Jon Alba, Sports Anchor for ABC7/Fox22

    Cesaro vs. Miz

    Cesaro and Miz kicked us off with Miz doing a schtick about not wanting to take his sunglasses off until the crowd shut up, delaying the match about 3-4 minutes. Cesaro even went and sat in the crowd waiting for Miz to take the sunglasses off. Eventually did, and they put on a decent starting match with them teasing the swing a few times. Cesaro got his hands on Miz’s glasses and wrestled with them on for a little bit, and ended up hitting the swing into the Neutralizer for the win. 8-10 minutes or so.

    Heath Slater vs. Fandango

    Heath Slater came out and Fandango followed him. Fandango wins with a quick roll-up about two minutes into the match, if that. Slater left in shock not believing he lost that quickly. Crowd didn’t care much for this.

    Jack Swagger vs. Braun Strowman

    Swagger was out next, and the lights went dark and Braun Strowman appeared in the ring. This one went about 3.5-4 minutes, with Strowman passing Swagger out. He did not hit his slam, instead going right to the sleeper.

    Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores vs. The Ascension in a triple-threat tag match

    The Ascension actually got a decent response from the locals, but Lucha Dragons were most over. OK match, with almost all the action centered around Lucha Dragons, and more specifically, Kalisto. The Matadores kept teasing El Torito wasn’t there and were egging on the crowd about it, because they apparently don’t like him anymore. Eventually, “Bad to the Bone” hit over the loudspeakers, and Torito came out to a big pop. He distracted the Matadores, and Kalisto picked up the pinfall win after his finisher over one of them. Crowd was into the finish, but match was really long (probably 11 minutes or longer). People are talking about reports of a Matadores getting in a scuffle with a fan, but I did not see such.

    Natalya vs. Sasha Banks

    Sasha getting a nice response. Natalya may have gotten the biggest pop of the night, and was SUPER over. She even posted about it on her Instagram after the show, seeming to be surprised by how big of a pop she received. They put on a good match, with Sasha playing the chicken-shit heel well. Nattie picked up the win with The Sharpshooter about 7-8 minutes in.

    Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper

    Good match between the two as expected, went probably about 10 minutes or so. Very physical, lots of false finishes. The two did a flexing showdown in the middle of the match, where they tried to see who had bigger muscles. A little strange for these two. Finish saw Ambrose pick up momentum after turning a superkick into a clothesline off the ropes, and then going off the ropes again and locking Harper in Dirty Deeds. Ambrose was very over as well.

    Adam Rose vs. R-Truth

    R-Truth came out next doing his thing, but Adam Rose interrupted with the Party Pooper gimmick. He had the most heat of anyone, though it seemed like a lot of the casual fans in the audience didn’t even know who he was until he announced himself as Adam Rose. He and the crowd shouted “You suck” at one another, and he did so in the tune of R-Truth’s theme song. They did a quick little sequence, before Rose rolled out and told Truth he could dance better than him. He started to dance, then R-Truth went to follow, but Rose attacked him as he started. This match went another minute or so, before Truth hit his finisher for the win. 

    King Barrett vs. Ryback

    Ryback and Barrett were out next, with Ryback getting a very big response from the audience as well (kid-friendly). This one went about 6-7 minutes, with Ryback picking up the win after Barrett missed The Bull-hammer. He did hit Wasteland, which Ryback kicked out of. Ryback hits the Meathook and Shell-Shocked for the win.

    Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt street fight

    Main event was a very physical one between Reigns and Wyatt (No DQ). A few minutes in, they broke out the singapore cane, which at some point in the far corner it seemed (out of my view), Wyatt’s hand got sliced open pretty hard. A lot of dirtsheets used tweets of mine that noted his head got busted open too, but I’m not sure if it was all that bad or if it was just his hand from my angle. His hand was gushing blood, definitely a very deep cut.

    They continued the match for a couple minutes, before Reigns went down and they stopped it so doctors could tend to Wyatt. The crowd began booing, and once he got taped up, Wyatt grabbed the microphone and belittled them for booing him while he was getting taped up. Strowman would eventually come out to assist Wyatt, before Ambrose hit the ring making the save. The two of them took out Strowman, before Reigns set up Wyatt for the spear for the win.

    All in all, decent show given most of the “A” crew was in NYC. Fans went home happy. 

  • TNA Salem, VA house show results (10-3): Ethan Carter, Matt Hardy, Drew Galloway

    Submitted by Chris Cawley

    – First match was gut check match between two “local” guys. Shawn Shultz went over on bigger guy didn’t catch his name. Not a great match and neither guy were local.

    – Mr Anderson over Tyrus: a lot of prematch shenanigans. Anderson tried to get heat by teasing the Funkasaurus and dancing. Finish came with a blatant low blow and sarcastic ref counting 3 super fast.

    – Gail Kim beat Awesome Kong via DQ. Solid stuff from these 2 as usual. Finish came when Kong grabbed ref by throat for chokeslam and Kong was DQ’d.

    – Earl Hebner HOF induction was next. It was really weird for this to be happening here. Earl is from Richmond and they made is seem like Richmond was “right down the road”. Billy Corgan came out for the presentation. Billy and Earl mentioned Dusty Rhodes a lot.

    – Bobby Roode over Eli Drake. Typical match. A lot of pre match mic work by Drake. Roode went over clean and afterwards shared a beer with Earl Hebner.

    – Kurt Angle over Eric Young. Nothing crazy or over the top. Good matchup. Angle went over clean with Angle slam.

    – The Wolves over Jesse Godderz and Andrew Everett. Probably longest match of the night. Only tag match on the card. Nothing too memorable. Wolves went over clean.

    – TNA Champion Ethan Carter went over Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway. Tyrus was at ringside for match. After match, EC3 got on mic and said those 2 weren’t going to make it to Bound For Glory and ordered Tyrus to help. Out came Jeff Hardy with a chair to even the odds. They laid EC3 on table, Galloway did a swanton, but the table didn’t break. They then laid him on the table again and Matt splashed EC3 through table to send the fans home happy.

    Submitted by Joshua Watkins

    Meet & Greet with Matt & Jeff Hardy before the show

    – Gut Check Dark Match:
    Shawn Shultz pins Eric Adams with a Tornado DDT (4:00)

    – Match #1:
    Mr. Anderson pins Tyrus with a blatant low blow and fast count from referee Brian Hebner (7:20)

    – Match #2: TNA Knockout’s Championship
    Gail Kim retains when Awesome Kong grabs referee Brian Stiffler for the DQ (4:00)
    Post-Match: Gail Kim lays out Awesome Kong with Eat Defeat

    – Earl Hebner Hall Of Fame Ceremony feat. Billy Corgan, Brian Hebner, Jeremy Borash, & the entire locker room. (Jeremy Borash made sure to mention that the TV cameras were there & that this will be shown on the Bound For Glory PPV)

    – Match #3: King Of The Mountain Championship
    TNA Hall Of Famer Earl Hebner counts 3 as Bobby Roode pins Eli Drake with the Roode Bomb to retain (15:00)

    *Best match of the night*
    – Match #4:
    Kurt Angle pins Eric Young with the Angle Slam (7:00)

    – Intermission –
    (I noticed people leaving at this point. Kurt Angle’s return was the main draw of this show.)

    – Match #5: TNA World Tag Team Championship
    The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) retain against Jessie Godderz & Andrew Everett
    Superkick/Suplex Tag Team Finish, Richards pins Everett (12:30)

    *Great match*

    – Match #6: Main Event: TNA World Heavyweight Championship Three-Way
    Drew Galloway vs Matt Hardy vs Ethan Carter III (c) w/ Tyrus
    Tyrus pulls the ref out of the ring, EC3 hits Matt Hardy with the Title Belt for the pin to retain. (10:20)
    Post-Match: EC3 & Tyrus beat down Matt Hardy & Drew Galloway until Jeff Hardy makes the save with a steel chair.

    The Hardy’s put EC3 on a table, Galloway attempted a swanton but the table didn’t break, then Matt Hardy splashes EC3 through the table.

  • WWE: Bray Wyatt injured at Bangor, ME, house show

    We are awaiting more details on this, but Bray Wyatt suffered a bad hand cut and a head cut in his WWE house show match Saturday night with Roman Reigns in Bangor, ME.

    The injuries took place during the match which was stopped while the trainer taped up his hand after it was nailed with a Kendo stick. The hand injury, which was said to be bleeding more than his head, seemed worse than the head injury. The match resumed and Reigns won the match as he does at all the house shows. Doctors came out to inspect both cuts.