Cesaro lifted this show to a whole other (better) level with inventive and fun moves, beating Heath Slater. The Lucha Dragons went 100mph to steal one against The Ascension. Again.
Show Recap:
Cesaro beat Heath Slater (5:00)
Cesaro sections are out in droves and yet he’s here on this show. Well, all the better for me. And Heath Slater, actually, who he made look good here. They start out with wrist lock exchanges and Cesaro gets out of Slater’s by using a series of forward rolls round the ring. The crowd cheers on command. Cesaro just has to raise an eyebrow and people respond. So, Cesaro puts Slater in his own wrist lock and of course Slater tries the same, but gets cut off and thrown down to the mat. Then Cesaro puts him in a body scissors and then turns him over and over making Slater dizzy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone does this.
He waits behind the woozy Slater and then pounces on him with a European uppercut and covers him for two. Slater then rolls on the apron and shoulder barges Cesaro through the ropes to the gut and then chokes him with ropes. He comes back in and hits Cesaro with a super kick and covers him for two. Slater is annoyed and so starts to use forearm clubs to Cesaro’s neck and then puts him in a rear chin lock.
Cesaro gets out and starts to just dominate Slater with European uppercuts: running uppercuts, standing ones, drving ones, until he raises his finger to go for one more and Slater blocks it. Cesaro recovers and puts Slater into the Giant Swing for 30 reps and then locks in the Sharpshooter to make Slater tap.
The Ascension beat The Lucha Dragons (6:46)
I’m a little bit sick of this match now, there was a period where this was literally the main on this show every single week. We’ve had a reprieve but now its back. The Lucha Dragons are fine and can be really fun to watch but The Ascension slow everything down and make it fairly dull.
Konnor and Kalisto square off. Kalisto chases around the big guy and Konnor gets tired off this and so tags in Viktor. He gets hurricanrana’d, and then Sin Cara comes in and hits Viktor with a seated senton followed by a missile drop kick from Kalisto. Viktor kicks out of the cover and tags in Konnor who works over Sin Cara. Sin Cara hits two springboard cross bodies but on the second Viktor blind tags himself in and cuts off Sin Cara’s heat as we head to a break.
When we return, Viktor dumps Sin Cara outside and then goes out to slap and pummel him. Konnor tags in and puts on a rear chin lock. Kalisto meanwhile is cheerleading, desperate for the hot tag. Viktor comes in and they double-team Sin Cara with a Stinger Splash from Konnor into a drop kick from Viktor. Sin Cara finally dodges a charge and Viktor gets posted. Sin Cara goes for the tag but Konnor has snuck round and pulls Kalisto off the apron.
Finally, Kalisto gets the heat and comes in and hits Viktor with the Salida del Sol. Then he hits a cross body on Konnor, followed by an enzugiri. Konnor rolls outside and they set up for Sin Cara to dive through the ropes on to him. Konnor doesn’t catch him and I mean is barely near to him. It looks like it sucks for poor Sin Cara. In the ring, Viktor gets sunset flip powerbombed by Kalisto who hooks the leg to snatch a three count for the win. Good little match in the end.
You still have time to catch a preview of tonight’s UFC 192 with yours truly and SI.com and the Washington Post’s Jeff Wagenheim with this week’s Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, free this week for non-subscribers!
*****
I gotta say it: Rashad Evans is one of the most underrated and underappreciated fighters in UFC history.
When he was more active, Evans was one of those guys who got more boos than cheers and didn’t carry the fanbase that many other top fighters at the time did. I never understood that. He dresses well, is a great talker, knocks people out, and generally has that NFL quarterback swagger that we love in our athletes.
He fought the best of the best in Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, the infamous rivalry with both Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson, and more. And he’s won. A lot, only losing three times over a span over an 18-fight UFC career that started 10 years ago. He’s won a UFC light heavyweight title, lost the title, and fought for it again.
Maybe him being overlooked is because he’s also been part of a few stinkers in recent years, notably a dreadful loss against Lil’ Nogueira, and a blah affair against Dan Henderson. It could be because he was so aggressively KO’d by Machida and never got that immediate validation rematch in a time when the belt was trading waists quite frequently. Unfortunately, it also could be because of Evans’ skin color. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above.
He returns tonight after a two year absence due to multiple knee injuries, and we don’t know exactly where the 36-year-old fits in the grand scheme of things. Even with a win, he may be waiting in line for a title shot depending on when Jones is ready to return. The age is a concern. The knee is a concern. The excitement level in his fights is a concern.
But what shouldn’t be a concern is Evans’ place in history. His accomplishments deserve a lot more recognition than what they’re getting. Hopefully Saturday night is the beginning of a few more sweet ones for ‘Suga’.
*****
Our panel:
– Jack Encarnacao (87-35 | .713): Sherdog Rewind host, The Lapsed Fan podcast co-chair
– Josh Nason (72-50 | .590): Wrestling Observer digital media and content guy, WON Twitter enabler
*****
Note that because Tyron Woodley vs. Johny Hendricks was canceled due to Hendricks’ unfortunate weight cut issues, we’re doing just four picks on the main card tonight. Joe Benavidez is a fairly big favorite, so it didn’t seem that interesting to throw that in there for everyone to pick Benavidez.
*****
> UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Champion Daniel Cormier (16-1) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (16-3)
We talk a lot about this fight on the JNPO show with Jeff, but this fight is a lot closer than even myself originally gave it credit for. Gustafsson’s takedown defense is great (86.67% takedowns defended) and if Cormier can’t get this to the ground and the big Swede finds his range, we could have a new champion. I’m assuming this is going to be our most competitive 205-pound title fight since Jon Jones vs. Gus.
> Ryan Bader (19-4) vs. Rashad Evans (19-3-1) Light Heavyweights
With four straight wins, the 32-year-old Bader earned a title shot but his fighting style (all straight decisions) puts him in the co-main event slot instead. Evans returns for the first time in two years after several knee injuries kept him on the shelf, and there’s a lot of questions about who we’ll see on Saturday. There’s a really good chance this is a 15-minute grinder that have the fans booing.
> Shawn Jordan (18-6) vs. Ruslan Magomedov (13-1) Heavyweights
The 30-year-old Jordan is back on a roll, and has picked up three straight wins — all by T/KO. He’s coming off a June 2nd round beatdown of Derrick Lewis, and is doing just fine beating up the dregs of the division. Magomedov is riding an eight-fight win streak, and is 2-0 in the UFC with a pair of forgettable decisions.
> Julianna Pena (6-2) vs. Jessica Eye (11-3-0-1) Bantamweights
For the love of God, I hope they don’t rush Pena into a Ronda Rousey buzzsaw title match if she wins. Pena is talented, but needs a few more wins before getting into the Rousey conversation. She returned after a near two-year absence and dusted Milana Dudieva in four minutes. She faces Eye, a loser in two of her last three. She’s coming off a decision loss to Miesha Tate in July, and I think people believe she could get a title shot with a win.
An informal Twitter poll today on this weekend and what people are watching reveals these tendencies.
62 percent said they were watching UFC 192 64 percent said they were watching WWE in Madison Square Garden.
This was the second poll as an earlier one also had both almost identical with UFC in a slight lead. Essentially two different polls were almost identical and those watching the two shows from our readership looks to be almost identical.
The first poll led to a second poll, as there were a lot of people asking for the Lucas Matthysse vs. Viktor Postol boxing match on HBO, TNA Bound For Glory for tomorrow as well as the Adrien Broner vs. Khabib Alliakhverdiev fight from Cincinnati on Showtime.
So in the poll, 10 percent said they were watching Bound for Glory, 20 percent listed Matthyse vs. Postol and only four percent said they were watching Broner vs. Alliakhverdiev.
As far as the crossover between different events:
Those watching UFC 192 & TNA Bound for Glory 4 percent Those watching UFC 192 and WWE from Madison Square Garden 40 percent Those watching UFC 192 and Matthyse vs. Postol 14 percent Those watching WWE & TNA Bound for Glory 10 percent Those watching WWE and Matthyse vs. Postol 18 percent
Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading, England 3/10/15
Tetsuya Naito beat Kushida and Martin Kirby Lord Gideon Grey beat Gedo Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima beat Joel Redman and Mark Haskins Shinsuke Nakamura beat Marty Scurll Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows beat Sha Samuels and James Castle by DQ Kazuchika Okada beat Will Ospreay Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Big Damo AJ Styles beat Jushin Thunder Liger to retain the RPW British Heavyweight Title
Not as good of a show as last night with the different venue and a quieter crowd but still a solid show. Okada vs Ospreay was match of the night, very good indeed. Nakamura-Scurll and the 3 way opener were good as well, Naito’s heel gimmick is just great. Gedo and Kojima had fun playing to the crowd in their respective matches, and Styles-Liger was a satisfyingly good first time ever dream match up.
Show notes for tonight and the rest of a ridiculously busy weekend:
UFC 192 from the Toyota Center in Houston:
Main Card on pay-per-view at 10:00 p.m. ET: Daniel Cormier [c] (205) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (204) in a five round fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Ryan Bader (206) vs. Rashad Evans (205) Shawn Jordan (265) vs. Ruslan Magomedov (236) Joseph Benavidez (126) vs. Ali Bagautinov (125) Jessica Eye (136) vs. Julianna Pena (135)
Prelims on Fox Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET: Yair Rodriguez (145) vs. Dan Hooker (146) Alan Jouban (170) vs. Albert Tumenov (170) Adriano Martins (156) vs. Islam Makhachev (156) Rose Namajunas (115) vs. Angela Hill (115)
Prelims on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET: Francisco Trevino (160) vs. Sage Northcutt (156) Chris Cariaso (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (126) Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Viktor Pesta (237)
Even with the original semi-main event of Johny Hendricks vs. Tyron Woodleybeing cancelled due to Hendricks being hospitalized during his weight cut, this is a really deep card for good fights. That’s pretty impressive given the sheer size of this card and the UFC roster. The odds for the main event have been surprisingly wide all things considered, unless you think Gustafsson has benefitted immensely from Jon Jones’ bad training camp in their fight and it’s boosted his career. Even if that’s the case, and that’s questionable, he’s still, at worst, just behind the top guys and a very tough stylistic matchup for Cormier. Make sure to check out the Fox Sports 1 prelims as the top contenders for Fight of the Night are on there, espcially Tumenov vs. Jouban.
WWE at Madison Square Garden as part of the Brock Lesnar Go to Hell Tour live on WWE Network at 8:00 p.m. ET: Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show John Cena vs. Seth Rollins in a cage match New Day vs. Dudleys for tag titles Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for IC title Randy Orton vs. Sheamus Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
Shine 30 IPPV live on WWNLive.com at 9:00 p.m. ET Santana vs. Evie for Shine Championship Allysin Kay vs. Sweet Saraya Knight anything goes Jessicka Havok vs. Kay Lee Ray Madison Eagles vs. Su Yung Leah Von Dutch vs. Malia Hosaka Kimber Lee vs. Taylor Made Leva Bates (Blue Pants) & Mia Yim (Jade) vs. Rhia O’Reilly & Sammi Baynz Ivelisse vs. Thunderkitty Jayme Jameson vs. Shazza McKenzie vs. Kellyanne vs. Liberty
Tonight we’re looking for reports from:
* WWE in Bangor, ME (Ryback, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Wyatt Family)
* TNA in Salem, VA (Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title, Kurt Angle vs Eric Young, Bobby Roode vs. Andrew Everett for King of the Mountain title, Wolves vs. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz for tag title, Ken Anderson vs Tyrus and Earl Hebner Hall of Fame Ceremony)
* NXT’s matinee in Louisville, Kentucky at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival
On Sunday night…
TNA Bound for Glory PPV on Sunday at 8 p.m. from Concord, NC Ethan Carter III (c) vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Jeff Hardy the special guest referee Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards (c) vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers for the TNA Tag Team Championship 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 (c) vs. Awesome Kong for the TNA Knockouts’ Championship Tigre Uno defends the TNA X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match Bobby Roode (c) vs. Bobby Lashley for King of the Mountain title Kurt Angle vs Eric Young in Angle’s first match back from his tumor surgery
AAA Heroes Inmortales iPPV at 7:00 p.m. ET on InternetTVLuchaLibreAAA.com from San Luis Potosi Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo for AAA Mega Heavyweight Championship 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, & TBA 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
Also on Sunday, we’re looking for reports from:
* WWE house show in Worcester, MA (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler, New Day vs. Dudleys).
* WWE house show in Portland, ME (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Ryback, The Wyatt Family).
* Another NXT matinee in Louisville at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival.
Raw on Monday night will be at the TD Garden in Boston. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are advertised.
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com: for major shows, best match/worst match/thumbs up or down or in the middle poll responses should be sent to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
****
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.
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 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.
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.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. 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.
Saturday Daily Update
On Thursday, the judge in the Hulk Hogan/Gawker lawsuit effectively ruled against the latest motions to unseal a number of filings in the case, though one filing (it’s not clear what) did get unsealed. While Hogan’s FBI casefile has gotten the most attention, there are are numerous other sealed filings in the case, including material that’s already public like internet and magazine articles. Hogan’s side also got the judge to approve a third party forensic investigqation of Gawker’s computers stemming from the allegations that they leaked Hogan’s racist comments to the National Enquirer and Radar Online. Gawker’s lawyers claimed they didn’t have that evidence (which sounds off) and actually accused Hogan’s side of the leak, which was not a great look. Gawker could lose the equivilent of a summary judgment if found to be behind the leak.
Gawker issued this statement:
Given the obvious public interest in this case, it is truly unfortunate that a large number of records remain hidden, and that the public is prevented from seeing both sides’ arguments and the basis for many of the court’s most significant rulings, The public should be able to know what happens in its court system.
Anyone checking out the screenings of The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts in and around New York? Talked to a friend who went to last night’s screening in Yonkers and was told it was excellent. The post-screeing Q&A was only about 10 minutes long and covered their interactions with WWE. They were asked about how they got so much WWE footage and it was explained that WWE had turned them down (too much swearing in the movie, apparently), but their lawyer told them that they were covered by the fair use exemptions pertaining to documentaries.
Bill Apter’s book is now available at Amazon as both a paperback and Kindle download. It’s “officially” out a week from Tuesday, but ECW Press books always tend to be available early. This is the the first time I can recall the Kindle version being available before the street date, though. From what I’ve read of it so far, I highly recommend it. It’s designed to be a “bathroom read,” with chapters not in chronological order so you can just jump around at your leisure. Lots of great stories and Bill covers everything you’d hope to read about, from his role in the Jerry Lawler/Andy Kaufman angle to his departure from the Pro Wrestling Illustrated family for WOW Magazine to all of the things you’ve wondered about the magazines he was the face of.
Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling presents its 15 year anniversary event as the longest running wrestling promotion in Detroit history (XICW 200) tonight (7:00 p.m.belltime) at The Imperial House in Clinton Township, Michigan ft. Midwest Champion Rhino vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis, Xtreme Intense Champion Hakim Zane w/ Truth Martini vs Orlando Christopher in a Steel Cage, Silas Young vs Jake Something, Taeler Hendrix vs Ashley America, DBA and MM3 vs Tag Team Champions The Scarboni’s in a Fans Bring The Weapons Match, Zach Gowen vs Amazing N8, plus more! For the complete card and ticket info, visit XICWDetroit.com
WWE’s next home video release is Sting: Into the Light on DVD and Blu-Ray, which comes out a week from Tuesday and is available for pre-order. The Blu-Ray version of WWE’s “Owen: Hart of Gold” Owen Hart DVD set is now available for pre-order, joining the DVD aftr it had been listed on its own for a week or so. The most recent release is SummerSlam 2015, which came out on Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray. The next archival/specialized release is Sting: Into the Light, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 13th. They also have a special collectible “coffin edition” of “Undertaker: The Streak” coming out on November 17th.
1957 Kansas City, Kansas: – Richard Brown, Bobby Bruns and Sonny Myers beat Wild Red Berry, Ernie Dusek and Joe Dusek 2 falls to 1 – Thor Hagen beat Tommy O’Toole
1962 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Gene Kiniski beat Bill Miller – AWA Champion Verne Gagne drew Hard Boiled Haggerty – Hercules Cortez beat Tiny Mills
1963 Amarillo, Texas: – The Sheik beat Dory Funk Jr by countout – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Dale Lewis 2 out of 3 falls – Sputnik Monroe drew Ricky Romero
1964 St. Paul, Minnesota: – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Rene Goulet & Reggie Parks in 2 out of 3 falls – Moose Cholak beat Jack Lanza – Eddie Sharkey beat Bob Green – Rocky Hamilton defeated Butch Levy
1967 Dallas, Texas: – Brute Bernard & Mike Paidousis defeated Fritz & Waldo Von Erich to win the NWA American Tag Team Title
1968 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – Bill Watts & Verne Gagne & The Crusher beat Dr. X & Larry Hennig & Harley Race – Chris Markoff beat Luke Brown – Billy Red Lyons beat Angelo Poffo – Frankie Laine beat Big K
1969 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon beat Dick the Bruiser & Moose Cholak – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Bill Watts dq
1974 Greensboro, North Carolina: – Mid-Atlantic champion Johnny Valentine pinned Wahoo McDaniel – Mid-Atlantic TV champion Paul Jones pinned Ivan Koloff – Swede Hanson & Tiger Conway Jr. defeated Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions Rip Hawk & Ric Flair by DQ
1975 Atlanta, Georgia: – Mr. Wrestling II defeated Nikolai Volkoff to win the Georgia Heavyweight Title
1980 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan beat Greg Gagne & Super Destroyer Mark II – AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon
1981 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Sheik Adnan – Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Ed Boulder (sub Jesse Ventura) & Adrian Adonis – Tito Santana drew Billy Robinson – Buck Zumhofe beat Ed Boulder dq
1982 Atlanta, Georgia: – Paul Orndorff defeated the Super Destroyer to win the National Heavyweight Title
1983 – Austin Idol defeated Stan Hansen for the AWA International Heavyweight Title
1988 Memphis, Tennessee: – Ronnie Garvin beat AWA Champion Jerry Lawler dq – Bill Dundee no contest Buddy Landell – Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden beat Jeff Jarrett & Brickhouse Brown – Jimmy Valiant beat Tommy Rich dq – Bill Dundee & Todd Morton beat RPMs – CWA Champion Phil Hickerson beat Scott Steiner
1988 Birmingham, Alabama: – Tom Prichard defeated Tony Anthony in a tournament final to become to the CWF Champion
2003 Ontario, Canada: – WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam pinned Randy Orton to retain the title – WWE Raw Tag Team Champions the Dudley Boyz defeated Rob Conway & Rene Dupree in a tables match
2004 – John Cena defeated Booker T in the final match of a best of five series to win the United States Title – JBL defeated The Undertaker in a Last Ride Match to retain the WWE Title
2010 – Daniel Bryan retained the US Title in a submissions match over John Morrison and The Miz – Randy Orton retained the WWE Title in a Hell in a Cell match over Sheamus – Kane retained the WWE Title over the Undertaker
It’s time to go into the bookers office as we settle in for an epic episode of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling with the legendary man behind much of the success of Memphis Wrestling, the one and only Jerry Jarrett. Chad and John set fourth to dig deep into the business and creative side of how Jerry Jarrett impacted pro wrestling from giving Jerry Lalwer his first break to being the man that Vince McMahon trusted running WWE while he was on trial during the mid 90s. It is a fascinating look into a man that has done it all.
Elvis Presley attending matches at the Mid South Coliseum:
I knew he was there. Elvis was a huge, huge wrestling fan and one of his staff was a guy named “Red” who came to me and said Elvis loves to watch ya’ll wrestle and would like to come see live matches. So the Ellis Audotorium is one of those arenas that had the big arena and then the stage. On the other side of the stage was like a theatre stage so we were able to block out that side and let Elvis go over there so he can see the ring and see the matches. He came three or four times.
Jerry Lawler becoming “The King”:
Lawyer named himself the King. One day he and I were in a conversation and on the news they were talking about Elvis saying he was the King and Jerry said “hell why do they call him the king, I’ve sold out the Coliseum a hundred times more then he has. So I said that was a great idea and that he ought to tell Lance on Saturday that “I am the real king of Memphis” and he did.
Being the last place Andy Kaufman could go with his “Inter-Gender Angle”:
I was Andy’s last hope. He had called Verne Gagne, he had called the New York office with Vince and he just said that I would like to be a wrestler. I watched him on Taxi, you are not a wrestler and he said in my nightclub act I wrestle women and I am the inter-gender champion of the world. He said, I really think I could beat any woman and I said that we had women down here in Memphis that he can’t beat. He put up $5,000 of his own money to any woman that coul beat him. Well, that was too good to pass up so I said come on in. He had two or three matches, had great interviews and then one night there was a woman that was about to win his $5,000, so I sent Jerry (Lawler) down to the ring and said stop that woman from beating him. So he did and Andy was saying that he was going to sue and that we are interferring and then we did the program with him and Lawler and that got a lot of National attention.
Working with Randy Savage secretly to “invade” Memphis:
They (ICW) thought that was just a part of the act. So finally after everyone had lost all their money, Randy called me and said “you’ve been a real gentleman in this wrestling war and it was not personal it was just business and we are closing up the tents”. I said “Randy why don’t we make some money out of it”. Why don’t we not tell anybody except you and I knowing. You don’t tell the rest of your company and I don’t tell any of my men. Show up at Memphis TV and say our whole promotion is cowards and so they did and after they were there I told Lawler and whispered in his ear and said it’s all a big work go out and challenge him. So Jerry went out and then we booked it and they were sellouts for several months.
Working for Vince McMahon in the mid 90s while Vince was on trial:
Vince became my Sunday telephone buddy. He would call me every Sunday and we would talk literally for two hours and he knew that I was really close to his father. It was a bad time, bad publicity with Pat Patterson was out and on the heels of that, the government was charging him with steroid distribution. Vince does nothing by accident, he is a brilliant man but because I was so close to his Dad he finally told me one day that he was really worried that if “I had to go to jail, I have great people but nobody knows how to find all the pieces of the wrestling business and is there any way I can talk you into coming up here”. Of course at first I said no, but four or five Sundays later I said Yes.
Jerry Jarrett talks all about his journey into the wrestling industry, having more of a passion for booking over in ring competition, receiving paychecks from WWF and WCW at the same time, his heat with his son Jeff, founding TNA and so many more stories from the career of a lifetime.
Jon Jones is free from the clutches of “The Man” which has thrown a monkey wrench into UFC booking, or so says conventional wisdom. The theory is that the Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson fight at UFC 192 no longer will draw as a championship fight because fans don’t believe in the championship.
Jones was the dominant champion in Cormier & Gustafsson’s weight class (having previously beaten both men in championship fights, even) until he was stripped of the belt for reasons that had nothing to do with fighting. Since Jones can now officially return whenever he likes, the UFC 192 main event is meaningless, at least according to conventional wisdom.
The reality is that Jones’s return to the UFC’s good graces is not a problem for UFC 192’s business prospects Saturday. Actually, it could even help.
UFC 192 was a business problem before Jones ever copped a plea. As of this writing, tickets are still readily available, but that is just the problem with the live gate. As Paul Fontaine pointed out three months ago on this site, UFC pay-per-view business is heavily dependent on stars and grudge matches. Both Gustafsson and Cormier aren’t stars and this isn’t a grudge match. And while the size of Cormier and Gustafsson works to their advantage, it wouldn’t have been enough to make UFC 192 a big success even if Jones were behind bars.
Essentially, the weak ticket sales illustrates that what the public had already decided was the same as many MMA observers, including myself, felt: Jon Jones is the real UFC light heavyweight champion, and promoting any other two fighters in a light heavyweight championship fight is a turnoff.
The real uncertainty is not whether Jones’s re-introduction to UFC will hurt UFC 192 business. The real uncertainty it whether Jon Jones being back can help UFC 192 business.
A long successful pro wrestling angle has been to have a third party at ringside while two feuding wrestlers have a match. My favorite example — and an example that mirror’s UFC’s light heavyweight situation to a degree — was at WWF: In Your House in December 1996. “Sycho” Sid Vicious (yet another example of Vince McMahon thinking that his audience is dumb, assuming that fans might pronounce Psycho, “puh-sai-ko”) had recently won the WWF World title from Shawn Michaels by cheating (Sid hit Michaels with a video camera after a ref bump at Survivor Series ’96), and now Sid was to face Bret Hart at the following pay-per-view (In Your House: It’s Time because original booking plans were for Vader to win the title, not Sid).
What on paper was a bland match between Sid and Bret was spiced up significantly by having Michaels at ringside to commentate. In relation to UFC 192, Cormier is Sid, the unworthy champion. Gustafsson is Bret, the man pursuing a championship while really wanting to a rematch against someone else (Bret was gone from WWF television for most of 1996 after losing the title to Shawn at WrestleMania) and Jones is Michaels, the champion who lost his title under nefarious circumstances (and, coincidentally, the guy who I think is the greatest of all time at his sport/business).
The circumstances are right for Jones to attend UFC 192 Saturday night, sit at cageside, and spark some interest in an otherwise lagging pay-per-view.
There are obvious differences between a wrestling angle where a third party sits ringside and a UFC fight where a third party sits cageside. In wrestling, fans expect the ringside wrestler to interfere in the match somehow, while in UFC that would be frowned upon. (Though, that’s not entirely impossible. Who can possibly forget Chuck Liddell’s cageside antics during the first Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin fight in Anaheim [which, believe it or not, had in-building heat rivaling Steve Austin at his peak & Cain Velasquez’s UFC heavyweight title win over Brock Lesnar]?)
Still, UFC could — with some precise PR magic by their PR wizard Dave Sholler and others — spike UFC 192 business by convincing UFC marks that business will pick up with Jones at cageside tonight. Obviously, UFC can’t state explicitly that Jones interfere in the match or fight the winner of DC vs. Gus that night, but UFC can imply that fireworks might go off.
If UFC is going to run their business like pro wrestling or boxing instead of a structured sport — and all signs point to them continuing in that direction indefinitely — then they might as well go all the way. Sure, rewarding Jon Jones’s bad behavior by upping his profile and making him the centerpiece of a pay-per-view he’s not even fighting at sends the wrong message.
But UFC has crossed that bridge, chopped the bridge up into tiny little pieces, ground up those pieces, and smoked them in Keith Richards’s peace pipe. Sending the wrong message no longer matters, but popping a buyrate for this woebegone UFC 192 main event does.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass with Carmella over Chad Gable and Jason Jordan with the rocket launcher. Enzo got in virtually zero offense. Lots of creative ways to prevent Enzo from tagging Cass. Standard hot tag comeback from Cass before pinning Gable.
Elias Sampson comes out with guitar to sing a song for Nashville about how much it sucks.
Bull Dempsey over Elias Sampson via diving seated senton. Long heat segment on Bull that bored the crowd.
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Bayley over Alexa Bliss and Emma after Bayley hits her suplex on Emma and Bliss. Typical heels team up on babyface triple threat until Emma and Bliss turn on eachother. Emma gains control with Bayley on the outside, locks in the Emma Lock on Bliss after a modified Super Dragon style Curbstomp, but Bayley breaks it up and suplexes Emma, who rolls out of the ring, and then hits it on Bliss for the pin.
Samoa Joe over Baron Corbin after Corbin falls into the Coquina Clutch. Fourth match in a row with an extremely long wait for the face to quickly comeback and win. So far this has been a fun but mostly nothing show, as expected.
Apollo Crews over Tye Dillinger. Nothing match. Same pattern as every other one on the show so far. Non-stop babyface in peril spots have officially bored the life out of me. Crowd is still into it, but have come down since the first half of the show for sure.
Eva Marie over Carmella via botch. Drake threw the x immediately after the pin with ringside doctor immediately attending to Carmella. Eva kicked Carmella in the head and it happened so quick I thought I missed how it happened. Drake kept patting the back of his head while looking towards the back. Carmella got up looking okay but shaken.
WWE NXT Tag Team Champions Vaudevillians over the Mechanics after a long and competitive match. Other than the last match which had to break the pattern due to unfortunate circumstances, this is the only real match of the night to feature any real sense of back and forth action. Vaudevillians won with their finish.
WWE NXT Champion Finn Balór over Tyler Breeze. Match of the night. Had a different feel, and Balór carries himself differently than anyone else on the show. A clear and obvious choice for champion and face of the brand. Tons of back and forth offense from both sides. Tyler Breeze did the RVD leg scissors rollup into a single leg Crab in one of the most over moves of the night. A bunch of great near falls, Finn crotch chopping the crowd to riotous applause, and at no point felt like it dragged. Great match, but maybe just in relation to the rest of the show.
Overall a fun show that suffered from feeling too familiar at points. While more fun than the WWE house show I went to a couple weeks ago in Jonesboro, I can’t say it was necessarily better.
UFC 192 comes your way on Saturday night from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Headlined by the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on the line when Daniel Cormier defends against Alexander Gustafsson, the show brings a stacked card, but went through a last-minute change. Hopefully that didn’t make too much of a difference to those drafting their teams on DraftKings for this week. Let’s take a look at some studs, duds and value plays as you set up your team for Saturday night.
First off, let’s briefly recap last week. We had our studs as Diego Brandao and Takeya Mizugaki. Brandao won quick by knockout in the first round, and he had the highest point total. Mizugaki won a decision, scoring a solid amount of points. Our value plays were Roy Nelson and Yusuke Kasuya, both of whom lost, but Nelson did score a good amount of points as his fight went five rounds. We told you to avoid Gegard Mousasi and Katsunori Kikuno, and we hope you did because they scored the two lowest point totals last week.
STUDS
Rose Namajunas ($10,600)
I like Rose Namajunas in her bout against Angela Hill. While Namajunas is just 2-2 in her career and has lost two straight fights, she meets someone who she actually has the experience edge over in Hill. Hill is just 2-1 in her career and is coming off a loss to Tecia Torres where she didn’t look all that impressive (neither did Torres for that matter). You can attribute that to the altitude of Mexico, but Hill has been suspect to submissions in her short career, as seen on TUF 20 when she lost to Carla Esparza. Namajunas has excellent submission skills, and I expect her to be able to score a finish on a fight card that may not see a lot of them.
Sage Northcutt ($10,500)
Sage Northcutt is getting a lot of hype coming into the UFC as a 19-year-old, but he has the skills to back it up. He is getting a bout against a tough opponent in Francisco Trevino, but one who is near the bottom of the list when you rank all of the lightweights. It is a showcase to see if Northcutt is the real deal, or if this is all coming too quick for him. He has finished all five of his opponents, and only one fight has gone past the first round. Trevino only has one loss in his 13 professional fights, so he is no easy match-up. I do expect Northcutt to finish him though. Also, Trevino missed weight on Friday by a large margain.
VALUES
Alan Jouban ($9,100)
Alan Jouban is relatively cheap on this card, and a good look for an underdog. He has a tough fight against Albert Tumenov, who has shown solid striking and good wrestling. Jouban has power and is good on the feet, and the betting odds are a lot longer than I expected. That made the salaries of the two a greater distance than I expected, so Jouban shot to the top of my list of value plays. He has a solid chance at finishing Tumenov with the power in his hands.
Jessica Eye ($8,700)
Jessica Eye has something to prove when she meets Julianna Pena on Saturday night, and she wants to get that win and that finish. She is a big underdog to Pena, who is only 6-2 in her career, and lost two fights to lesser competition before she joined the UFC. Eye has fought tougher competition and is hungry to get back into the win column. Pena is too big of a favorite here, and she gets a tough opponent. This fight likely goes the distance, but with Eye’s boxing, you have the chance to score a lot of points with significant strikes. She is worth a play at the price tag.
AVOID
Viktor Pesta ($10,000)
I’m avoid Viktor Pesta in his bout with Derrick Lewis. It is a heavyweight bout and those guys hit hard, but Lewis hits extremely hard. Pesta has good finishing abilities, or at least he did before joining the UFC. He hasn’t shown that power in his two UFC bouts, whereas Lewis always shows that power. I actually expect Lewis to score a finish in the fight, and it gives me all the reason to avoid Pesta.
Ryan Bader ($9,300)
Ryan Bader hasn’t finished an opponent since submitting Vladimir Matyushenko in January 2013. He has won four straight fights, but all have been lackluster decision wins. His fight against Rashad Evans will likely go the distance. I think Evans wins the fight too. Evans may have missed two years of action, but he is still a top-level fighter unless those days are behind him after the knee injuries. Bader likely will not be able to finish him, unless we see a completely different Ryan Bader. I’m not counting on it.
OUR LINEUPS
RYAN FREDERICK- Daniel Cormier ($11,000), Sage Northcutt ($10,500), Yair Rodriguez ($10,400), Alan Jouban ($9,100), Jessica Eye ($8,700)
I like Northcutt, Jouban and Eye for the reasons stated above. I like Cormier to finish Gustafsson in the middle rounds, and with Gustafsson leaving himself open to eat punches, I see Cormier scoring some solid points on significant strikes. I like Rodriguez to score a finish as well as he has excellent skills and a good submission game. I do like Northcutt and Jouban to score finishes as well, and Eye to land a lot of volume on an opponent who likes to eat punches.
PAUL FONTAINE- Sage Northcutt ($10,500), Albert Tumenov ($10,300), Rashad Evans ($10,100), Adriano Martins ($9,700), Derrick Lewis ($9,400)
Martins is one of the most underrated fighters in the division, who’s only lost to Donald Cerrone in his UFC career. He’s also a finisher. Lewis is likely to score a knockout and pick me up some big bonus points. He’s a bit of a front runner, so fighting against a fighter ranked lower than him is probably a recipe for an early KO. Tumenov has two first round KO’s in his four UFC fights and the other two went to the judges but he landed a lot of strikes so he should be good to rack up some points and likely to win against Alan Jouban. Sage Northcutt is a future star and a finishing machine and I think he’ll make an auspicious debut against an overmatched Francisco Trevino. Rashad is likely grind out a decision win over Ryan Bader and probably land a lot of strikes in the process.
PEACH MACHINE- Daniel Cormier ($11,000), Joseph Benavidez ($10,900), Rashad Evans ($10,100), Chris Cariaso ($9,200), Jessica Eye ($8,700)
You have to take the champ. This is going to be a frustrating night for the Mauler, and with this expected to last five rounds, that’s a lot of points. A volume striker vs. a plodder, Benavidez should pay off big points with his high speed combos. I love Rashad. I even named my one of my dogs after him. (My dogs names are Hendo, Shogun, Sugar, and Rowdy.) This is more a pick with my heart. Normally I would not touch a potential boring wrestling match up, but Sugar fell within my salary cap, so I had to pick him. I thought Cariaso looked good against Cejudo, a superior opponent. I expect him to get back on a win streak. Eye looked good in round one against Tate, another superior opponent. I like the fast turn around here because she has something to prove. I expect her to come out strong and get a first round finish. I think she hits harder than Pena. I don’t like picking one round knock out fights in the heavyweight division. You either win big, or get nothing, and it’s basically a coin toss. My strategy is to score in every pick, even if it’s not the max. Just get in the money (which I failed to do last time). Luckily, living in the great state of Tennessee, DraftKings won’t let me sign up because we have antiquated laws here.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS RYAN- 279.00 PAUL- 266.00 PEACH- 212.50
