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  • SAT UPDATE: Hulk Hogan gets a win in court, WWE 2K16 career mode, and more

    Show notes for tonight:

    UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson airs live from Saitama Japan:

    Main Card on Fox Sports 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET
    Josh Barnett (239) vs. Roy Nelson (261) in the five round main event
    Gegard Mousasi (186) vs. Uriah Hall (186)
    Kyoji Horiguchi (126) vs. Chico Camus (126)
    Takeya Mizugaki (136) vs. George Roop (135)
    Katsunori Kikuno (145) vs. Diego Brandao (146)
    Mizuto Hirota (146) vs. Teruto Ishihara (146)

    Prelims on Fox Sports 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET:
    Keita Nakamura (170) vs. Li Jingliang (171)
    Nick Hein (155) vs. Yusuke Kasuya (156)
    Naoyuki Kotani (156) vs. Kajan Johnson (156)
    Shinsho Anzai (170) vs. Roger Zapata (171)

    No Fight Pass Prelim due to the cancellation of Kid Yamamoto vs. Matt Hobar bumping up Kikuno vs. Brandao to the main card and Anzai vs. Zapata to Fox Sports 2.

    While the main card is fun on paper, this feels like a noticeable step from the other recent Japan cards, even last year’s “Fight Pass Mania.” The lack of fighters like Mark Hunt, Takanori Gomi, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and now Kid Yamamoto make it feel like less of a special event.

    New Japan Destruction in Kobe airs live tonight at 3:00 a.m. ET on New Japan World
    Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Jay White & David Finlay
    Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson
    Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Baretta
    Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Matt Sydal vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Kenny Omega
    Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito
    Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. A.J. Styles & Tama Tonga & Cody Hall
    Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida for IWGP jr. tag titles
    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale for the Tokyo Dome title sho
    Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the IC title

    Sunday has WWE in Syracuse, NY (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins; Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens) and Erie PA (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt; Randy Orton vs. Sheamus).

    Shooto Brazil airs live on UFC Fight Pass Sunday night at 6 p.m. Eastern time

    Raw will be live from Buffalo on Monday night.  Brock Lesnar has not been advertised for the show even with th MSG special being next week.

    SmackDown will be taped Tuesday in Albany, NY.

    Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com:

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

    We’ve got a double issue of the Observer this week because of coverage of so many big shows and all the stuff that has come out of the past week with WWE. Sept. 28, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Sting, Night of Champions, Bellator Dynamite, more

    Our lead story covers the Sting injury, the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Hell in a Cell match and the interesting back story and questions it brings up, lots of long-term looking at where WWE is headed as well as full coverage of the Night of Champions show.  We also cover the second season news for Lucha Underground, the Atlantis vs. La Sombra mask vs. mask match, Akira Hokuto’s announcement about her breast cancer, Bellator’s Dynamite show and what went right and wrong, New Japan’s Destruction in Okayama, ROH’s All-Star Extravaganza, the Pro Wrestling NOAH angle where they tease the end of the company, USADA responds to Thomas Hauser, Josh Gross’ story on the Vitor Belfort drug test and why it’s not nearly as simple as people are making it out to be, AAA’s next major show and record low ratings.

    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

    Our lead story covers the WWE weekend, notably the Sting injury and Undertaker-Lesnar announcement.

    We go through the injury, including Sting’s interview comments after the fact and his description of Seth Rollins and the injury, as well as his current thoughts on if he will wrestle again.  We also talk about what he does and doesn’t know, what he’s said publicly about the injury, why the match wasn’t stopped, and what we can learn from it.

    We also look at how the Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match changes WrestleMania, and look at those potential changes.  We look at the different directions they can go with the key talent for next year’s show.  We also look at the rest of Hell in a Cell as far as what is on the books and what name isn’t listed yet in the top matches.  We look at the problem in the arena at the end of Night of Champions.

    We’ve got complete Night of Champions coverage, with records, business, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings.

    FOR A FULL OBSERVER PREVIEW CLICK HERE

    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

    — Hulk Hogan dodged a bullet yesterday as Judge Pamela Campbell, who’s presiding over his lawsuit against Gawker, denied a third party motion from the Associated Press and other news organizations to unseal the contents of his FBI case file. Gawker had successfully sued the FBI for the release of the case file, but Judge Campbell immediately sealed it all when they filed everything in the Hogan case. The motion had been filed just a day earlier and the ruling wasn’t a surprise given Cambell’s history in the case.

    — On that note, Bubba th Love Sponge Clem has been accused of ratings tampering. 

    — WWE and 2K Sports have released a trailer for the overhauled My Career mode in WWE 2K16. My Career will only be available in the Playstation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, which coms out on October 27th and available for pre-order now.

    — Kemonito got a puppy last night at Arena Mexico. Must-watch.

    — Paragon Pro Wrestling sent out a press release because their TV show is moving from 6:00 a.m. ET to 8:00 a.m. ET every Saturday morning on Pop.

    — AL.com has a nice article about Ray “Glacier” Lloyd. He talks about being a high school gym teacher before and after his WCW tenure but doesn’t mention his post-Glacier WCW gimmick of Coach Buzz Stern.

    — Tom Prichard talks to Devon Nicholson about the murder of Bruiser Brody.

    — WWE is working with the Florida Gators on their new charitable endeavor.

    — Brian Fritz als talked to Titus O’Neill about the “Gator Good” campaign.

    — Two Cold Scorpio has been added to tomorrow LuchaTo card in Whitby, Ontario.

    — Preston City Wrestling results for last night from Keith Harris: Bubblegum retained the PCW Cruiserweight title over Xander Cooper, Dean Allmark & Ashton Smith. Ashton growing in confidence. Dean and Bubblegum great as usual. Iestyn Rees pinned Charlie “Good News” Garrett with a powerbomb. T-Bone pinned Dave Rayne with a suplex dropped into a Tombstone piledriver. Quick squash. El Ligero pinned Tomasso Ciampa with a tornado DDT. Sha Samuels choked out Lionheart with a scarf in a no-DQ match. Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby beat The Wards. Joey stole the pin. Drew Galloway pinned Noam Dar after an eye poke and two Tornado DDTs. Wild brawl all over the club before the bell rung. Pull apart brawl after the match. PCW Heavyweight Champion Dave Mastiff pinned Bobby Lashley clean with a cannonball in the corner. After the match, Team Single and Lashley beat down Mastiff. Martin Kirby attempted to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase, but was stopped by Joey Hayes. In the end, Kirby, Hayes & Mastiff ran off the heels. Show wasn’t sold out, unlike many PCW events. Crowd laughed when Joanna Rose called Lashly a former TNA champio

    — 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.

  • Interview: Seth Rollins talks about his workout and The Shield.

    From a third party:

    WWE World Champion Seth Rollins joined the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show this week to discuss “Night of Champions,” facing both Sting and John Cena in one night, his CrossFit regimen, winning the WWE Championship, reconnecting with The Shield and more.

    On working CrossFit into his workout:

    “I mean it’s the one thing that I do really that nobody else does and I’m doing a lot of things in the ring that nobody else does,so for me I feel like those two things kind of go hand in hand.  I couldn’t do traditional bodybuilding and keep this schedule, it just wouldn’t work for me,  I don’t think it works really for our generation of guys.  More and more you’re seeing guys transfer over into functional fitness as opposed to training for aesthetics.  The side effect of training functionally with high intensity, which is what CrossFit is that you also happen to look pretty decent as well.  For me it serves two purposes, I get the job done in the ring, I look the part, and I stay super healthy all the time.”

    On The Shield:

    “We get to fire up the band in other incarnations.  We always laugh about it now when we do these tag matches and six mans and I’m on the other side of the ring and they’re like partnered up with Randy Orton or something like that.  It’s just funny because you can put the components in all the different places, but it’s still comes out gold every time.  The two of those guys, myself, I feel like paved the way for a different kind of work ethic than what we had been seeing in WWE over the past five years, maybe before that.  That’s something I know the three of us are real proud of and every time we go out there we’re going out there to have the best match and steal the show weather working against each other, with each other it doesn’t matter, and that’s just kind of the attitude we came in with and we stuck to our guns this entire time and it’s cool to be able to share that with two other guys.  The time we had with The Shield, who knows if it will ever come back around but if it doesn’t no one will ever be able to take that run away from us either.”

    On  Joey Mercury:

    “Joey is responsible for first of all getting me signed in WWE, second of all he was responsible for getting Ambrose signed, he played a huge hand in training Roman Reigns from the ground up.   You look at those three things but it’s more than that,  I mean Joey as a performer is one of the best ever as far as just in the ring, the smoothness with which he moves inside the ring is pretty unparalleled and his mind for the industry is really incredible. He’s a guy that I love to death, someone I consider a mentor, a brother, and honestly the WWE you see today wouldn’t exist without him.  He’s such a huge cog in the machine in the back. he’s responsible for helping us out, putting matches together, booking the live events, he’s got a lot on his plate, and he does an incredible job.”

    Check out the full interview here.

  • On this day in pro wrestling history: Triple H wins the vacant WWF World Title

    1940

    Kansas City, Kansas:

    Orville Brown defeated Don McIntyre 2 falls to 0. (referee was  James J. Braddock)

    1949 

    Tampa, Florida:

    – Danny Dusek defeated Pedro Godoy in a tournament final to win the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title

    1952 

    – El Santo defeated Bobby Bonales to win the NWA World Welterweight Title

    1964

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:

    – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Mitsu Arakawa 

    – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Larry Chene & Jack Lanza in 2 out of 3 falls

    – Moose Cholak beat Johnny Carr 

    1973

    Dallas, Texas:

    – Johnny Valentine beat Mil Mascaras by DQ

    – Fritz Von Erich & Jose Lothario beat Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk, special referee Bearcat Wright (substituting for Pat O’Connor)

    1973

    Honolulu, Hawaii:

    – Red Bastien (sub The Crusher) & Ken Patera beat Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff

    – North American Champion Billy Robinson beat Nick Bockwinkel

    – Sam Steamboat & Neff Maiava beat Ripper Collins & Ed Francis

    1974

    Kansas City, Kansas:

    – Bobby Whitlock defeated Bob Orton via DQ

    – Pat O’Connor fought Jerry Oates to a draw 

    – Ken Mantell defeated Lord Alfred Hayes in three falls

    – Mike George & The Viking defeated The Interns via DQ

    – Bob Brown fought Killer Karl Krupp to a double countout in three falls

    1981

    Sioux City, Iowa:

    – Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell dq

    – Billy Robinson drew Jerry Blackwell

    – Handicap match: Hulk Hogan beat Dizzy Ed Boulder & George Gadaski

    – Tito Santana beat Sheik Adnan

    1982 

    Mexico City, Mexico:

    – El Canek defeated Riki Choshu to win the UWA World Heavyweight Title

    Orlando, Florida:

    – Mike Graham & Kevin Sullivan & Terry Allen (Magnum TA) beat Jim Garvin & the Texan & Vic Rossitani

    – Barry Windham beat Jake Roberts

    – WWF Champion Bob Backlund beat King Kong Tonga

    – Butch Reed & Ron Bass battled John Studd & Angelo Mosca to a double countout

    – Dusty Rhodes beat Terry Funk in a lights out Texas Barbed Wire Cage Match

    1984 

    Shreveport, Louisiana:

    – Adrian Street defeated Terry Taylor to win the Mid-South Wrestling Television Title

    1986

    Memphis, Tennessee:

    – Jerry Jarrett beat Tojo Yamamoto

    – Tracy Smothers pinned The Ninja (Tom Burton) to win the Mid-America Title

    – CWA International Tag Champs Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto beat Giant Hillbilly & Paul Diamond

    – Fire & Flame won a tag team battle royal

    – Jerry Lawler & Tommy Rich beat Fire & Flame in a “losers leave town vs. masks” match; Fire and Flame were unmasked as Dirty Rhodes & Don Bass

    1995 

    Tokyo, Japan:

    The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) defeated Hayabusa in the finals of a tournament to crown a new FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion 

    1999 

    Charlotte, North Carolina:

    – Triple H defeated The Rock, Mankind, Big Show, Davey Boy Smith and Kane to win the vacant WWF World Title 

    – D’Lo Brown defeated Mark Henry to win the WWF European Title

    2009

    New York City:

    – The American Wolves defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico in Ladder War II to retain the ROH World Tag Team Title

    – Austin Aries defeated Petey Williams by countout to retain the ROH World Title

    – Daniel Bryan defeated Nigel McGuiness

    – The Young Bucks defeated The Briscoe Brothers

  • UFC Fight Night Japan: Observer Main Card Picks & Preview

    By Josh Nason, WrestlingObserver.com

    This past week saw more noteworthy news out of the cage than in it, lowlighted by the revelation that the UFC may have been a little less than aggressive when investigating Vitor Belfort’s testosterone levels prior to his light heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones at UFC 152 two years ago, as well as the continued fallout from the Nevada Athletic Commission’s 5-year ban of Nick Diaz just over a week ago.

    While the MMA faithful are bothered by what’s going on, you don’t feel like these wrongs and issues are being addressed by those in power. Why? Because the most powerful sports media entity in the world — ESPN — frankly doesn’t give a damn about MMA.

    With similar scandals involving the NFL or Major League Baseball (like anything with the word ‘gate’ attached to it), we hear about it non-stop which creates a public outcry to get resolution. As of Saturday morning, we still haven’t heard anything from the UFC on the Belfort situation.

    Why haven’t we? Because they don’t feel the need to answer the call of MMA media that doesn’t collectively carry the stroke that ESPN does. Because when ESPN makes something important, especially a scandal, and when sponsors that are indirectly involved to a scandal feel the heat, the public gets the answers they both want and need.

    And part of that is something that we all know deep down in our hearts: that the business of fighting isn’t the most reputable one in the world. There’s lying and corruption and dollars being made off the back of people making dimes, but that’s how it’s been since long before we were all around. Fighting is a spectacle and while many great people have done their part in covering MMA like a true sport deserves, it’s ESPN that really matters. That’s why Dana White appears on SportsCenter, not MMAFighting.com, to make a big announcement. The casual sports fan matters, not the lot of us excited to see Josh Barnett vs. Roy Nelson on Saturday.

    If a potential cover-up doesn’t get ESPN excited, nothing will. Then again, perhaps if Deadspin has published the Josh Gross story in the summer when football season wasn’t in full swing or found a way to tie Vitor Belfort into SpyGate, maybe ESPN then would have taken a look.

    Before we get to this week’s UFC Japan picks, hear a preview of the show with yours truly and MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi on the 13th episode of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out.

    *****
    Our panel:

    – Jack Encarnacao (84-33 | .714) Sherdog Rewind host, The Lapsed Fan podcast co-chair, Steve Austin impersonator
    – Steve Juon (78-39| .660) AngryMarks founder, MMA Mania writer
    – John Pollock (75-42 | .633) Fight Network personality, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, The MMA Report host
    – Mike Sempervive (75-42 | .633) Wrestling Observer Live co-host | Big Audio Nightmare
    – Front Row Brian (74-43 | .625) MMA newsbreaker, Twitter personality, podcast host
    – David Bixenspan (73-44 | .616) Figure Four Weekly writer, Observer Daily Update writer, podcast host
    – Dave Meltzer (70-47 | .589) Wrestling Observer founder & writer, smoke dectector battery expert
    – Mike Sawyer (69-48 | .589) Tough Talk MMA, 2014 picks panel champion
    – Josh Nason (68-49 | .571) Wrestling Observer digital media and content guy, WON Twitter enabler

    *****

    Josh Barnett (33-7) vs. Roy Nelson (20-11)
    Heavyweights

    I wish that Barnett fought more often, but as I mentioned on this week’s JNPO, he’s got so many outside interests that fighting is just one part of the Wheel O’Barnett. This bout makes it into ‘Interesting Fight’ territory given the location and opponent. Barnett last laced ‘em up in December 2013 where he lost in 60 seconds to Travis Browne’s elbow, snapping a two-fight win streak. I doubt he’ll ever get another crack at the UFC heavyweight title, but in the current landscape of the division, he could get a shot at UFC 200 — it’s that tumultuous. 

    The 39-year-old Nelson has really hit the career skids, dropping four of his last five. Three of those losses were decisions, and there’s no doubting his ability to take punishment. However, there is a lot of doubt in his ability to get a ‘W’ against anyone of note.

    Barnett (favorite): Nason, Juon, Encarnacao, Meltzer, Sempervive, Bix, Pollock, 
    Nelson: FRB, Sawyer

    Gegard Mousasi (37-5-2) vs. Uriah Hall (11-5)
    Middleweights

    This is an interesting fight as Hall replaces the injured Roan Carneiro. After a listless defeat to Jacare Souza a year ago, the emotionally listless Mousasi has back-to-back victories over Dan Henderson and Costas Phillipou. If he can pick up another two or three wins, he should find himself in line for a title shot at this time next year. Sometimes listless, sometimes violent, but always head scratching to watch, Hall is coming off a first round destruction of Oluwale Bamgbose. If there was ever a time for Hall to unleash the potential, it’s tonight.

    Mousasi (big favorite): Nason, FRB, Juon, Sawyer, Encarnacao, Meltzer, Sempervive, Bix, Pollock

    Chico Camus vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (15-2)
    Flyweights

    The 25-year-old Horiguchi got a title shot against Demetrious Johnson way too soon in his career and managed to last nearly 25 minutes before submitting with just one second remaining in the fight. That loss snapped a nine-fight win streak and a 4-0 mark in the Octagon. The always game Camus is a tough fight, but is just 2-3-0-1 since 2013. He’s coming off a close decision loss to Henry Cejudo in June.

    Horiguchi (favorite): Nason, BRB, Juon, Sawyer, Encarnacao, Meltzer, Sempervive, Bix, Pollock

    Takeya Mizugaki (20-9-2) vs. George Roop (15-11-1)
    Bantamweights

    The 33-year-old Roop has been on the shelf for more than a year, but he wasn’t lighting the world on fire before that, going 3-2 in his return to bantamweight. His last three defeats have all come the way of T/KO, so he’s showing an increased propensity for seeing the lights at the end of the fight. After a nice five fight win streak, the 31-year-old Mizugaki has suffered back to back defeats at the hands of Dominick Cruz and Aljamain Sterling.

    Mizugaki (favorite): Nason, FRB, Juon, Sawyer, Encarnacao, Meltzer, Sempervive, Bix, Pollock

    Katsunori Kikuno (23-7-2) vs. Diego Brandao (19-10)
    Featherweights

    The 33-year-old Kikuno is 2-2 in the UFC, and has been knocked out in the first round in both of his defeats. The 28-year-old Brandao’s career hasn’t taken off like many thought following his TUF 14 season victory. He’s 5-3 in the Octagon and has lost two of his last three. He is coming off a first round TKO (doctor’s stoppage) win over Jimy Hettes in April, so maybe there’s hope for him yet. His last KO win came in 2011, so I think Kikuno is safe…for now.

    Kikuno: Encarnacao
    Brandao (favorite): Nason, FRB, Juon, Sawyer, Meltzer, Sempervive, Bix, Pollock

  • NJPW on AXS TV results (9-25): Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Katsyuori Shibata

    Tonight’s matches are from November 8, 2014 in the Bodymaker Colosseum from the Power Struggle PPV.

    The first match to air was the NEVER championship match with champion Tomohiro Ishii taking on Hirooki Goto. This was an excellent match live as they just beat the crap out of each other for about 17 minutes and the crowd were into this ass kicking the entire time. Some people don’t like the brutality, and I can see why; during commentary Ranallo specifically mentioned the Frye/Takayama comparisons in this bout, and neither match is for the weak of heart. But it was an amazing bout to witness live. This was clipped due to time constraints, but the highlights were great. Watch this on New Japan World…if you dare.

    Fun fact: the NEVER title is actually an acronym for “New Blood”, “Evolution”, “Valiantly”, “Eternal”, and “Radical”. Okay! It’s also a openweight title that Makabe thinks Ishii is a joke and will punch him out. Ishii says that he’ll show him the true style of pro wrestling. Apparently a year later they’re still feuding over this title. The more things change, the more they stay the same…

    Next up we have a tag team match pitting the two WrestleKingdom 9 participants in a tag match as Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi take on Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi. This was a good, solid tag team match, but nothing that would stand out in the grand scheme of things. This was pretty much a build towards WrestleKingdom since they’re the two headliners. Ibushi pinned Yoshi-Hashi after a phoenix splash. Tanahashi and Okada had a staredown after the match.

    Nakamura is interviewed about his match against Katsuyori Shibata, who headlines tonight’s card. He felt like he had to get him back after Shibata beat him during the G1. He forgot what it was like to fight him. His goal was to try and fight against his strengths, as his Tokyo Dome aspirations would crumble without coming up with some plan to retain his title.

    The match aired. I gave this ***¾ when reviewing it for Voices of Wrestling last year. Really, really good match, but not to that level of being a stupendous match or a match of the year. They had a good back and forth match. There were stiff shots, but not like you’d see in a normal Shibata match, and it was nothing like the NEVER title match where they just destroyed one another forever. They went seventeen minutes here and had a good main event by New Japan standards. I’m kind of surprised they didn’t protect Shibata’s GTS more. That looks like a move that has to finish an opponent, especially with someone known as being stiff like Shibata. Nakamura kicked out of that, blocked a penalty kick attempt, and fired off two boma yes for the win.

    Kota Ibushi immediately runs in once Nakamura starts cutting a victory promo and gives him a snap German suplex. I never thought that was a suplex that could be snapped. He gets a mic and says he wants to be the one to boil his excitement. Nakamura gets up, and after asking the crowd what they think, Nakamura says of course and says yeaoh.

    Backstage, he says the Shibata rivalry is over- it started in Osaka, and ended there as well. Nakamura says Shibata might be looking for change, but he isn’t interested in change. He says Ibushi is crazy, and it’ll be a crazy match.

    Looking back, Nakamura says he had no plans entering the G1. But for his matches in November, he had to adapt, or something similar to adapting. When it comes to Ibushi running in and giving him a snap German, he just credits it as something crazy Kota Ibushi did to get his energy up, which it did.

    Fun episode this week. I wish the opener was shown in full as that was the highlight of Power Struggle last year. But these shows have a format, and the IC title match was the main event, so it all makes sense.

  • WWE 9-25 House Show Results Toronto: John Cena vs Seth Rollins

    Xavier Woods and Big E def. PTP when Kofi interfered and hit trouble in Paradise on Titus.

    Braun Strowman def Damien Sandow in a squash. Sandow has new music

    Curtis Axel and El Torito def. Los Matadores. It started as a handicap match as Axel Vs Matadores but then El Torito came out to “Bad To The Bone” and became Axel’s partner.

    Chris Jericho def Luke Harper with the codebreaker.

    Ryback def. Kevin Owens by dq when Owens raked the eyes. Ryback hit shell shock after the match

    Ambrose def. Bray Wyatt. No holds barred match, Harper came out and attacked Ambrose and set up a table, then the Dudley’s put Harper through the table. Strowman came and beat up the Dudley’s and then ryback came out and beat up Strowman with Ambrose. Ambrose hit dirty deeds for the win. Wyatt tripped taking the move so it looked soft

    Charlotte and Becky def. The Bella’s with Alicia fox at ringside.

    Big Show def. Cesaro with a chokeslam. Crowd was chanting for Show to retire, so he took the mic and said “no”.

    Cena def. Rollins to retain US title with an AA off the top. Pretty much the same match as their NOC match except the finish. 

  • ROH 9-25 House Show Results California, PA Briscoes vs Addiction

    By Janmie Peklicz

    Taeler Hendrix pinned Mandy Leon. After the match, B.J. Whitmer came out and insulted both women and introduced Kelly Klein as the newest member of Decade.

    The Addiction (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels) defeated Will Ferrara and Watanabe. After the match, The Addiction continued the attack until The Briscoes ran out for the save. Main Event announced as Briscoes vs. Addiction later in night.

    ACH pinned Caprice Coleman.

    Adam Cole challenged Kyle O’Reilly to a fight. O’Reilly is in Japan so Cheeseburger came out. Cole pinned Cheeseburger and attacked him after the match until Matt Jackson made the save with a Superkick. Nick Jackson is a no-show due to his wife going in to labor.

    Moose & War Machine defeated House Of Truth (Jay Lethal, Jay Diesel &Donovan Dijak w/Truth Martini and Taeler Hendrix) after Hanson pinned Diesel.

    “Brutal” Bob Evans pins Shaheem Ali.

    The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett w/Maria Kanellis) defeated The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) in a Proving Ground Match after Adam Cole interfered and Bennett pinned Titus after the Hail Mary. After the match, Matt Jackson gave Cole two more Superkicks leading to Cole challenging Jackson to a match.

    Adam Cole pinned Matt Jackson. After the match, Jackson gave Cole one final Superkick.

    Michael Elgin pinned Roderick Strong after an Elgin Bomb.

    The Briscoes defeated The Addiction after Mark Briscoe pinned Christopher Daniels after a Froggy ‘Bow.

  • WWE NXT 9-25 House Show Results Largo, FL:  Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin

    By Jacob Tillman

    NXT Largo, FL – 9-25-15

    Tucker Knight and Solomon Crowe vs Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton
    Fulton pinned Crowe with a clothesline that flipped Crowe over.

    Elias Sampson vs Bull Dempsey
    Dempsey won with the top rope sit down splash.

    Tyler Breeze vs Apollo Crews
    Crews won with the press slam into backflip splash.

    Billie Kay and Peyton Royce vs Dana Brooke and Emma
    Emma and Dana Brooke won when Peyton tapped out to the Emma Lock.

    Tye Dillinger vs Finn Balor
    Balor won with Coup de Gras

    Bayley vs Gionna
    Bayley won with the Bayley to Belly.

    Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder vs Hype Bros
    Dawson and Wilder won with the assisted codebreaker.

    Baron Corbin vs Samoa Joe
    Joe won with the Coquina Clutch

  • Bellator: Bobby Lashley vs James Thompson rematch set for November 6th

    Bellator just announced on tonight’s broadcast that TNA’s Bobby Lashley(13-2) will face James Thompson (20-14,. 1 no contest) on 11/6 at the at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

    Lashley vs. Thompson will be on Bellator’s final major event this year, a show that features two championship matches.

    Patricio Pitbull Freire vs. Daniel Straus for the featherweight title will headline the show, along With Will Brooks vs. Marcin Held for the lightweight title.

    Thompson was interviewed on tonight’s show from Hidalgo, TX, and told Lashley to stick to pretend fighting.

    Thompson defeated Lashley via decision on May 6, 2012, in India.  Lashleyvs. Thompson has been scheduled twice this year, in February and again in June.  Lashley pulled out of the first fight with a hand injury and Thompson pulled out of the second fight due to injury. 

  • UFC Fight Night 75: Barnett vs. Nelson weigh-in results and live video

    Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 75: Barnett vs. Nelson weigh-ins from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan kicking off at 11 PM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on FOX Sports 1 at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on FOX Sports 2 at 8 PM eastern time. This is the UFC’s fourth straight year making a trip to Japan to host an event.

    The event will be headlined by a five-round battle in the heavyweight division as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett returns from a near two-year layoff to take on former TUF winner Roy Nelson, who has lost four of his last five fights. In the night’s co-main event, former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi looks to inch closer towards a title shot in the middleweight division as he takes on late-notice replacement Uriah Hall, who is looking for the biggest win of his career as a big underdog.

    Chico Camus originally missed weight, coming in at 126.5 pounds. He came back later and made the official limit for his bout at 126 pounds.

    MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT):
    Josh Barnett (239) vs. Roy Nelson (261)
    Gegard Mousasi (186) vs. Uriah Hall (186)
    Kyoji Horiguchi (126) vs. Chico Camus (126)
    Takeya Mizugaki (136) vs. George Roop (135)
    Katsunori Kikuno (145) vs. Diego Brandao (146)
    Mizuto Hirota (146) vs. Teruto Ishihara (146)

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 2- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT):
    Keita Nakamura (170) vs. Li Jingliang (171)
    Nick Hein (155) vs. Yusuke Kasuya (156)
    Naoyuki Kotani (156) vs. Kajan Johnson (156)
    Shinsho Anzai (170) vs. Roger Zapata (171)