Kansas City, Missouri: – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jim Londos beat Everette Marshall by a third fall DQ – Charlie Fischer beat Joe Wilson – Johnny Shoop defeated Joe Ferguson
1951
Kansas City, Kansas: – Gorgeous George beat Heart of America Heavyweight Champion Dennis Clary by DQ – Ray Eckert and Ronnie Etchison went to a 45 minute time limit draw
1956
Amarillo, Texas: – Dizzy Davs and Sonny Myers defeated Art Nelson and Rip Rogers for the NWA Southwest Tag Team Titles
1960
Osaka, Japan: – Rikidozan and Toyonobori defeated Dan Miller and Frank Valois to win the JWA All Asia Tag Team Titles
1962
Amarillo, Texas: – Dory Funk, Sr. won the NWA North American Heavyweight Title (Amarillo version) by defeating Fritz Von Erich
Chattanooga, Tennessee: – Joe Lanza defeated Taro Sakuro for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title
1966
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada: – Edouard Carpentier defeated Hans Schmidt to win the International Wrestling Association International Heavyweight Title
1969
San Antonio, Texas: – Jose Lothario defeated Johnny Valentine to win the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
San Francisco, California: – Ray Stevens defeated King Curtis Iaukea for the San Francisco version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
1972
Mobile, Alabama: – Gorgeous George, Jr. defeated Bob Kelly to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1976
Fukuyama, Japan: – Rip Tyler and Eddie Sullivan defeated The Great Kusatsu and Mighty Inoue to win the International Wrestling Enterprise (International Wrestling Alliance) World Tag Team Titles
1978
Raleigh, North Carolina: – Paul Jones defeated Baron Von Raschke for the NWA TV Title
1979
Tokyo, Japan: – Antonio Inoki pinned Stan Hansen in the finals of the New Japan MSG League
1980
San Francisco, California: – Ed Wiskoski defeated George Wells for the San Francisco version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
1981
Roanoke, Virginia: – Terry Taylor defeated Les Thornton for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bob Sweetan defeated Buzz Tyler to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1982
Greenville, South Carolina: – Sgt. Slaughter defeated Wahoo McDaniel to win the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
1983
Croydon, England: – Marty Jones defeated Dave Finlay to win the World Mid-Heavyweight Title
1984
Bayamon, Puerto Rico: – The Medics defeated Invader III and Toru Tanaka for the vacant WWC North American Tag Team Titles
1987
Orlando, Florida: – Mike Rotunda defeated Dory Funk, Jr. to win the held up NWA Florida Heavyweight Title
1990
Tokyo, Japan: – El Hijo del Santo defeated Fuerza Guerrera for the World Wrestling Association World Welterweight Title
1991
Dallas, Texas: – Tom Prichard defeated Bill Dundee to win the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1993
Cumberland, Kentucky: – Bobby Blaze defeated Tony Anthony for the vacant SMW Television Title
1994
Loudon, Tennessee: – Tracy Smothers defeated Kendo the Samurai to win the SMW Television Title
1996
Sapporo, Japan: – Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado won the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Titles by defeating Youji Anjoh, Yoshihiro Takayama and Kenichi Yamamoto
1997
ECW Wrestlepalooza: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Taz defeated Shane Douglas to win the ECW Television Title
1998
Chihuahua, Mexico: – Perro Aguayo, Sr. and Perro Aguayo, Jr. defeated Fuerza Guerrera and Mosco de la Merced for the Mexico National Tag Team Titles
2003
Cayey, Puerto Rico: – Chris Candido defeated Fidel Sierra to win the WWC Television Title – Dominican Boy defeated Eddie Colon for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title – Broncos II and III won the WWC World Tag Team Title by defeating Thunder and Lightning
2009
WWE Extreme Rules | New Orleans, Louisiana: – Chris Jericho defeated Rey Mysterio to win the WWE Intercontinental Title – Tommy Dreamer won the ECW Title by defeating Jack Swagger and Christian in an extreme rules match – Batista defeated Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship in a steel cage match – Jeff Hardy defeated World Champion Edge in a Ladder Match to win the title – CM Punk cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated Jeff Hardy to win the World title
Despite a promising opening half hour, Monday night’s edition of RAW ultimately flattered to deceive. Here are the weekly sparse hits and myriad misses from this week’s Money in the Bank build-up show:
— The Hits —
The comedy-laden opening segment
Given the scriptwriting standard we’re accustomed to, six men reciting lines at each other in the ring should have been a disaster. Instead, highlighted by Owens’ interruptions and Jericho’s obnoxiousness, Monday night’s opening segment was consistently amusing.
The other members of the MITB ladder match finally challenging Jericho on his record in the match he created was wonderful. Jericho maintaining that he won “the first one….the sixth one!” in “Apple…..Appleton…..Stupididiotville!” was hilarious, as was Chris responding to Cesaro’s “your hometown?” rejoindre with: I’m from Winnipeg, idiot!”. That of course led to the crowd chanting “stupid idiot” for the second consecutive week, to which Jericho delightfully responded: “I know you are, but what am I?”.
While I could do without wacky Dean Ambrose talking about fighting polar bears, at least we also had Owens’ “Ooh, Spanish!” as soon as Alberto Del Rio opened his mouth. It was nice to see Teddy Long too, despite his flubs, if only to hear the on-fire Jericho insult him. Great stuff.
Backstage segments
Further credit must be directed towards the writing staff for the quality of this week’s backstage segments. From Del Rio cutting a strong heel promo on Zayn in the locker room to Long dancing along to his theme on his smartphone to Ambrose finally getting serious in response to Owens, they all worked really well.
Big Cass’ intensity
I wasn’t crazy about Enzo & Cass’ Ali-laden tribute promo, but I really liked the idea of using Aiden English’s attempt to repeat the events of Payback to fire up Cass. Cass showed signs of being able to exhibit believable aggression during his short-lived recent singles run, and that was on display here again as he dismantled the Vaudevillains. I didn’t even mind the cheap DQ finish for not responding to the referee’s instructions.
— The Misses —
Meaningless matches
It was very difficult to care about any of the seven matches on this show, particularly the three matches involving the MITB participants. All six men are already in a key match at the PPV, and nothing is going to change regardless of the results of their singles bouts. Why, therefore, am I supposed to get invested? At least all three matches were fine, with those who most needed credibility picking up the victories.
Repetition, repetition, repetition
There was so much on this show that I’ve seen before, with much of it as recent as last week. Rusev’s match against Swagger was a repeat from last week’s Smackdown as was the Life Lessons promo. Enzo & Cass fought the Vaudevillains on last week’s Main Event too, while Ambrose vs. Owens is a match that I really never need to see again for a very long time. News of another Ambrose vs. Jericho bout on this week’s Smackdown only increases my jadedness.
Reigns/Rollins “History Revisited”
Although last week’s WWE 24 documentary on the returning Seth Rollins was a fantastic piece of television, airing clips of it here only underlines how utterly boneheaded it was to bring “The Future of the WWE” back as a heel. If this two-part video package was intended to get the crowd to boo him and cheer Roman, it failed as anyone who saw it would surely be inclined to get behind Seth.
Getting Rollins to call Reigns a “placeholder” and reminding us of his Wrestlemania cash-in is unlikely to build sympathy for a champion that few like.
The Cena/Styles follow-up
The feud that the company is billing as a “Wrestlemania match” did not have a great sophomore outing this week. Their promo was as meta as a bad episode of Community with Cena’s jorts self-awareness and AJ’s talk of getting the shovels. The explanation that Styles recruited the Club to help him best Cena out of fear of getting “buried” is weak sauce in the extreme. Very disappointing.
Stephanie’s characterisation
So apparently Stephanie McMahon is an all-out heel this week, in Shane’s absence, abusing the doddery Long and stealing his ideas. She did deliver one piece of big news however, informing us that she will be the head honcho of Smackdown when it goes live on Tuesday nights. Hands up who laughed heartily at the laundry list of the qualities she supposedly possesses: “intelligent, young, vivacious, smart, has business acumen, and can usher in the New Era!” That’s a no-hitter for you there Steph, I’m afraid.
The Golden Truth follow-up
One Smackdown repeat I would have liked to see was the karaoke version of R-Truth’s new song, complete with a bobbing Goldust head to help you sing along. If the company was willing to spend months filming vignettes for these two, it might be an idea to get out of the way and let them get themselves over. Not only were the lyrics not on-screen, but Michael Cole talked over the song for the second week running too!
Here are the results for the Best of the Super Juniors 2016 finals, held live this morning in Sendai. A lot of tags fill this card, but there was also some pretty good build towards Dominion, plus we had a stellar main event. Here are the results:
Jay White vs. David Finlay
This was different than their other matches as it had an air of intensity that’s sometimes has lacked in their other bouts. Went by pretty fast. Finlay laid out White with a European uppercut and went to grab him but White caught him in a small package and pinned him.
Yoshitatsu and Captain New Japan vs. Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi
Match was better than you’d think considering who was in here. The crowd helped a lot. Yujiro picked up the win with the Miami Shine. I’m pretty sure this is the first win for Yujiro in 2016.
Katsuyori Shibata and Juice Robinson vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Of course, the focus here was on Nagata and Shibata. Pretty solid action from everyone. Nakanishi actually moved pretty well for once, all things considering. He’s even been doing a crossbody off the top rope as of late. Didn’t do wonders for him here though as he was pinned with the penalty kick.
reDragon and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Roppongi Vice and Tomohiro Ishii
Crowd popped whenever Ishii and Tenzan were in the ring. RPG Vice tried to help out Ishii but Tenzan is still a bit too strong for them. Solid, quick match with reDragon getting the win with the Chasing the Dragon.
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Volador Jr vs. Matt Sydal, Ricochet and Kushida
This was really great towards the end. Lots of high flying and cool dives by everyone. Kushida did a dive that wiped out people on the floor, and even Liger and Tiger Mask did crossbodies off the top rope to the floor. Volador and Ricochet did some great looking back and forth in the ring. Ricochet laid him out with a kick and hit the 630 for the win. Quite the spectacle in the last few minutes.
reDragon came to the ring. Fish mentions they never lost the Jr. tag team titles. O’Reilly said they want to challenge for the belts. Roppongi Vice follow suit and challenge. Beretta has a contract and mentions that the contract states that they get a rematch. Ricochet says that they’ll accept both challenges for Dominion in a triple threat match. I guess it’s a newer version of the triple threat tag matches they like to do, so why not? Everything seemed to be settled when RPG Vice jump the champions to boos. reDragon make the save, but the champions come back and do stereo moonsaults that wipe out both challengers.
Satoshi Kojima and Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale and Kenny Omega
Omega brought the broom but discarded it quickly and worked on Elgin for the heat, with Fale working the match as well to keep control. Omega did a great tope con hilo to wipe out Elgin and introduced a ladder for…well, I don’t know what reason but both her and Elgin climbed it. Elgin have Omega a suplex off the ladder. Chase Owens was also out there to distract, and while he did Omega smashed Elgin with the ladder.
Omega tried to go for the One Winged Angel but Elgin countered and powerbombed him through the ladder. The referee saw this but just stood here, no DQ as Elgin gave him another powerbomb for the win. Fun match but mostly just an angle to build towards the Dominion show.
Elgin grabbed the title after the match and motioned for Omega to come get it. Omega got a mic and said the challenge Elgin issue has been accepted. Elgin said the belt would be his as he made his exit.
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Sanada and Bushi
Another wild brawl to start things off. Sanada bring a bat to the ring, which he used here while they brawled on the outside. Mostly a pretty good back and forth match, not as long as the other matches on this tour. Bushi scored another win with the codebreaker off the top rope.
Los Ingobernables try and clear house after the match but Ishii comes for the save. If fails as Bushi mists him. Okada attacks him and tombstones him, pointing at Naito.
Best of the Super Junior Finals: Will Ospreay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
This was of course awesome, one of the best matches in the tournament in terms of drama and selling. Taguchi has a dumb gimmick but is also a very good big match guy and excelled here. Ospreay is already awesome at this stage of the game and will really be something in a few years as he gains more in ring experience.The first few minutes had them feeling things out, a few taunts between one another, etc. Taguchi starts working over Ospreay’s leg to ground him.Ospreay tried for a rainmaker but Taguchi countered into an ankle lock.
Taguchi remained in control, giving Ospreay hip attacks and a giant flying senton to the floor. It’s funny because even though Taguchi is a hometown guy and even carried a flag to the ring representing his hometown a lot of people were rooting for Ospreay. He made a comeback with a hurricanrana and was going for the springboard stunner when Taguchi countered with an ankle lock. They did a long, great sell here and it even included a dodon nearfall. Ospreay finally back back and superkicked Taguchi to the floor. He hit an inverted 450 splash and followed that with the springboard stunner to win the tournament.
After being given the trophy, Ospreay called out Kushida, who was doing commentary. He made it clear he wanted a title match and challenged Kushida for the title. Kushida says sure, he is a champion and wants to see who is the strongest between them. He exits the ring as Ospreay thanks his family and his fans as the streamers go off and he celebrates.
At 23, Will Ospreay becomes the youngest Best of the Super Juniors winner, the first English winner and the fifth gaijin to win the tournament. He has a very bright future ahead of him, that’s for sure!
As part of the business relationship with UFC and WWE, the WWE is interested in bringing in Paige VanZant to SummerSlam.
PW Insider and Fox Sports have both reported the news.
Mike Roberts, the manager of VanZant, confirmed to Fox Sports earlier today that WWE has reached out to inquire about VanZant to appear “in some capacity” on the 8/21 SummerSlam show. A WWE source confirmed the news to us that the company was looking for a role for her at the show.
VanZant gained a good deal of national exposure on “Dancing With The Stars,” where she placed second, after winning the actual dancing end of the competition. She came off strong throughout the show, which was viewed by 11 to 12 million viewers every Monday night.
VanZant was originally slated to fight on the undercard of UFC 200, but the decision was made to hold her off because of the limited amount of training time she’d have after DWTS ended.
VanZant already got a movie role in the “Kickboxer Retaliation” movie with former WWE star Dave Bautista as well as a number of former MMA fighters including Gina Carano and Georges St-Pierre.
In a statement released tonight by UFC, the ban on Ariel Helwani and others at MMAFighting.com is no more.
“Following a conversation with with the editorial team at SB Nation, UFC willl not prevent MMAFighting.com from receving media credentials to cover live UFC events. We respect the role the media plays in our sport and beyond, including MMAFighting’s ability to report news. However, in our opinion, we believe the recurring tactics used by its lead reporter extended beyond the purpose of journalism. We feel confident our position has now been adequatly communicated to the SB Nation editorial team.
UFC’s goal as the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion is to cultivate interest in its world-class athletes and events, and deliver for the fans. We will continue to introduce this sport and its athletes to new fans across the world, and we will do so by working alongside media across all platforms.”
MMA star and YouTube street fighting sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson has passed away at the age of 42 Monday, reportedly due to heart failure.
TMZ reported on Monday evening that Ferguson had been rushed to the hospital and was in a dire situation, and social media reports started to file in later that he had passed away. American Top Team, where Ferguson trained, confirmed the news on their Twitter account.
— American Top Team (@AmericanTopTeam) June 7, 2016
Ferguson rose to stardom on YouTube as a street fight legend, and parlayed that into an MMA career. He fought on the first-ever MMA event broadcast on network television — EliteXC: Primetime in May 2008 — where he defeated James Thompson. He famously lost to Seth Petruzelli later in 2008 in EliteXC’s final event. He went on to appear on UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter and fought Roy Nelson in the most watched fight aired on cable during that TUF season.
He went on to have a 1-1 record inside the Octagon, being released following a loss to Matt Mitrione.
Ferguson moved onto professional boxing and compiled a 7-0 record before returning to MMA with Bellator MMA. He defeated Ken Shamrock at Bellator 138 in June 2015, and followed that up with a second straight win in the infamous February bout against Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris in February where Harris claimed he died during the fight and was hospitalized for several days following due to renal failure.
Ferguson failed a drug test afterward failing for nandralone and elevated testosterone levels. He was suspended for 90 days, far from the standard suspensions found in most states. Ferguson was booked to rematch Thompson at the upcoming Bellator 158 event on July 16 in London, England.
A statement from Bellator’s Scott Coker:
We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family.
One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended the sport.
Outside of the cage he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man. His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo’s friends, fans, and teammates.
A statement from UFC:
UFC is saddened to learn of the passing of Kevin Ferguson, known to fans around the world as Kimbo Slice.
Slice will forever be a part of UFC history as a contestant on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter in 2009, and for having fought twice inside the Octagon at The Ultimate Fighter Finale and UFC 113. He carried himself as a true professional during his time in our organization.
While he will never be forgotten for his fighting style and transcendent image, Slice will also be remembered for his warm personality and commitment to his family and friends.
UFC offers its sincere condolences to Slice’s family, friends and teammates at American Top Team.
Taya pinned Santana after hitting her with a Northern Lights suplex and a kick to the head in about 7 minutes.
Hugo speculates to Josh about TNA hosting the World Cup next year.
Victoria Trophy
The 4 losing teams from Night 1 are placed in a modified battle royale. One member of each team enters the ring, and when someone is eliminated by going over the top rope, his teammate enters the match, and the match continues until there are 2 participants at which point it becomes a singles match.
First entrants are Eli Drake for Team TNA, Blue Demon Jr for Team AAA Legends, Akebono for Team Japan-Odo/Zero-One, and Rockstar Spud for Team Rest of the World
Drake is eliminated after being knocked over in a superplex attempt. Tyrus throws EC3 into the ring. Rockstar Spud does some comedy sumo spots with Akebono, and then pulls a Mil Mascaras. Apolo replaces him. EC3 knocks Blue Demon Jr off the apron. Canek replaces. Canek eliminates Apolo, Mil Muertes enters as final member of Team Rest of the World.
Akebono gets eliminated and in a scary moment, has his leg stuck in the ropes and dangles. Doctors were tending to him, and Tanaka replaces him. EC3 calls Tyrus into the ring for extra muscle, and gets thrown out by Tyrus as Hugo wonders “Is this legal?” and Josh replies “No.” After a few more eliminations, the final 2 were Mil Muertes and Tyrus with Muertes pinning Tyrus after a Flatliner. Rockstar Spud celebrates in the ring as Mil and Apolo blow him off.
Men’s Semifinal 1: Team AAA vs Team Japan-NOAH
Crowd was pretty hot, Psycho Clown pins Taniguchi with a frog splash in 6 or 7 minutes.
Men’s Semifinal 2 – Team LU vs Team AAA International
Dario comes out with Team LU and spends the match standing behind the tournament judges staring and wondering “Why did I put Chavo on my team”. Dr Wagner gets a promo in, but at least this time the clock wasn’t running like on Night 1. Easily the first match worth trying to catch if you missed it. Last 2 minutes were incredibly intense and ended with Brian Cage pinning Dragon Azteca Jr in 9:58 after reversing a tilt-a-whirl DDT into a Drill Claw.
Women’s 1st place match- Team Japan vs Team Mexico
Aja Kong waffles all of the Apaches with a garbage can in the last 25 seconds as the ref is distracted. No pinfall attempts made. First match to meet overtime. Aja Kong vs Faby Apache is first OT and goes the limit. Yuki Miyazaki vs Mary Apache is second OT. Josh learns the etymology of Hurricanrana after Miyazaki busts one out on Apache. Close nearfalls with Apache powerbombs and superplexes. Miyzaki kickouts at 2.9 for both moves. Ref was Marty Elias of LU, which drew massive heat. Mary Apache pins Miyazaki after a Michinoku driver. Only the final OT really had some great heat and a good story. Marty might need to have pulled a Hebner if Team Japan won that, but it built heat for the AAA/LU final.
Men’s 3rd place match – Team Japan-NOAH vs Team AAA International
They’re skipping the 10 minute regulation and going straight to sudden death.
OT1 – Marifuji vs Dr. Wagner Jr – No Wagner promo. Submission holds traded, ends with Wagner locking Marifuji in a small package as time expired.
OT2 – Taniguchi vs Dragon Azteca Jr – Not too many pinfalls, it ends with an Azteca cannonball plancha with 14 seconds left.
OT3 – Ishimori vs Rey Mysterio Jr – Rey went for a 619 early but it was caught by Ishimori and reversed into a gutbuster. Eventually Ishimori ended in the ropes again, and ended up eating a 619 and the frog splash for a pin with about 55 seconds left on the clock.
Men’s 1st place match – Team AAA vs Team LU
AAA is attacked by LU as they enter. Great action, Chavo appears to be hurt. Pentagon Jr counters an End of the World by Mundo and hits a package piledriver, but runs out of time before he can get a pinfall.
OT1 – Chavo vs Texano
Story of this OT is that Chavo is working hurt. Not sure if the injury is legit, but he gets a bit of offense in and is cut off by Texano. Pattern repeats until Chavo tries a Frankensteiner, which is reversed into a top rope power bomb with 15 seconds to go. Texano can’t move after the landing and time expires.
OT2 – Cage vs Psycho Clown
In the final minute, Psycho Clown has a pinfall cover but Mundo distracts the ref by grabbing his leg and Cage kicks out. Cage goes for a power bomb, but Clown reverses into a Canadian Destroyer. Visual pinfall, but ref doesn’t get into the ring with less 10 seconds left and time expires.
OT3 – Mundo vs Pentagon Jr
With about a minute left, Pentagon cinches in the armbreaker, but Cage pulls the ref out. Chavo blasts Pentagon with a chair, Mundo hits the End of the World and gets the pinfall. Disappointing end and beers start flying.
Dario gets on the mic as Team LU retreats up the ramp. Dario is pelted with garbage and joins them. Now we know why Mexico hates Chavo. Team AAA cuts a babyface promo against LU’s antics.
Award ceremony starts
Johnny Mundo wins best flying move
Best match is awarded to LU vs AAA International.
Best female wrestler is Mary Apache
Best male wrestler is Pentagon Jr. Pentagon stares at Team LU and slowly backs down the ramp.
One would think that the numbers that Lesnar is bringing in and whatever WWE is getting financially or in trade value or however the deal they made it worth the risk since the deal got done. Lesnar described it as business when it comes to WWE’s position on Lesnar fighting.
Just to clarify something talked about, Laz Benitez of the New York State Athletic Commission told Live Audio Wrestling that “Potential participation by Mr. Lesnar in an August WWE event would depend on his medical fitness and physical condition at the time of the professional wrestling show. No person is allowed to participate in a professional wrestling exhibition in New York State until he or she is cleared medically fit to do so by a New York State licensed physician.” That doesn’t answer the question regarding if there is a Nevada commission suspension for a knockout, provided one happens, and whether New York would allow a fighter suspended from sparring and fighting to do a pro wrestling match. Really, it should all be on a case-by-case basis and depend on if there is a medical suspension. The full story.
Pro wrestling is regulated in the state of New York but there is no precedent regarding medical suspensions, which states are supposed to enforce, from MMA and them being recognized when it comes to pro wrestling. That could be significant if Lesnar gets hurt against Mark Hunt in relation to SummerSlam. It’s just another risk.
Paul Heyman will have an interview on his Heymanhustle.com site at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight with Brock Lesnar.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Saturday night’s UFC 199, Sunday’s Lucha World Cup and today and tomorrowmorning’s New Japan shows, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
*WWE today in Lawton, OK (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo, Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)
Raw is tonight in Oklahoma City. We’re looking for reports on this show as well with dark matches and Superstars matches. John Cena, Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are all booked on the show along with the usual regulars.
NEW JAPAN WORLD TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)
Jay White vs. David Finlay
Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta
Kushida & Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Volador Jr. & Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger
Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima vs. Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay for the Best of the Super Juniors championship
NXT TAKEOVER THE END ON WEDNESDAY AT 8 P.M. FROM FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY IN WINTER PARK, FL
Andrade Cien Almas vs. Tye Dillinger
Asuka vs. Nia Jax for women’s title
Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder for tag titles
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries
Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor cage match for the NXT title
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Wichita. John Cena is not scheduled but Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are scheduled.
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Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.
A huge double issue of the Observer is out this week, including the real catalyst behind the WWE brand split, a breakdown of the roster, justice denied again in the Jimmy Snuka case, Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay and the Super Juniors tournament plus a full rundown, the story behind Bill Goldberg and the WWE video game and the Brock Lesnar tease, famous boxer vs. pro wrestler fights, WWE schedule and injury rates, business rundowns from the past two months for WWE & TNA, updates on cable stations that carry wrestling and MMA, and one of the greatest territorial business runs in history in the life and career of Cowboy Frankie Laine.
Our lead story looks at the WWE brand split, why it happened, what is known that isn’t a secret, ads out post brand split, plans for the split two months ago and what the ad department was told then, what different arenas have been told this week, thoughts behind decisions having too be made, plus a roster rundown on what positions WWE is strong and weak in, and where NXT talent should fit in and who is ready, or who can fill a slot.
There is also an update on the Jimmy Snuka situation, with a realistic view if there will be a trial and what the time frame is and what happens next.
This issue also looks at the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match, Vader’s reaction, Super Juniors standings and rundowns of the shows plus looking at where things are going.
Updates on Money in the Bank, stars returning to television soon, how the NBA & NHL playoffs coincide with wrestling the next two weeks, an update on NXT, lots of WWE performers off TV for the next several weeks, notes from lawsuit depositions that are eye opening, Cena getting a gigantic endorsement deal, Rollins return news, injury updates, lots of Dwayne Johnson news, WrestleMania in the future notes, notes on how little talent gets told in advance about things, who watches what on WWE network, plus we’ve got rundowns of every WWE & NXT events over the past week and business notes on the shows, all included in in this issue.
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UFC needs to have a zero tolerance policy regarding its fighters using any kind of racial, ethnic or sexual slurs going forward and needs to publicly address it since the news of Michael Bisping using a gay slur has broken in a number of places. This took place either just seconds after we’d left the press conference, or it was said and we couldn’t hear it just as the press conference was breaking up. I saw the two going back-and-forth verbally after the press conference was over but couldn’t hear what was said and didn’t know until much later. Bisping used a gay slur in arguing with Rockhold, did immediately figure out he made a mistake and asked that it be deleted. Bisping needs to apologize quickly for that remark even though from reading the verbiage, it appeared he was sorry and admitted his error immediately.
Bray Wyatt has been medically cleared and is expected to debut imminently, as in as soon as tonight, but if not, very shortly. If he is to debut, he’s likely to be slotted into Money in the Bank in some form. Wyatt was a babyface and the Wyatt family were being turned to face the League of Nations when he got hurt. Now there are no more League of Nations and WWE is still at the top, weaker on the heel side.
WWE
Just because of all the questions regarding NXT Takeover and UFC 202 going head-to-head, right now the Barclays Center is still listing the Takeover show on 8/20. As noted last week, the WWE web site had removed the show from the schedule but as they told me, it was put back on and listed for a 7:30 p.m. start time. If they start the network show at 8 p.m., the show would end very shortly into the start of the PPV which starts at 10 p.m. It should be noted that Jeremy Botter at Flo Wrestling has reported that C.M. Punk vs. Mickey Gall will be on that show. I can’t confirm that but Gall has said the fight will take place at the end of the summer and based on other news I’d heard over the weekend regarding that fight, that would indicate if that fight was on PPV, that UFC 202 or 203 would make the most sense.
Elias Samson suffered a broken left ankle according to WWE.com in his injury on Friday night in Nashville at the NXT show in the match with Andrade Almas. Dr. Chris Amann told wwe.com that he will be put in a case and crutches but is expected to make a full recovery.
Julia Jensen was announced today as the new Vice President of the Brand Department. She will report directly to Stephanie McMahon. She will work across business units to help drive revenue and enhance the company’s brand reputation with advertisers business partners, media and investors. She came from Mattell where she spent 15 years as Vice President of Global Brands Communications.
Paul Levesque will be holding a pre-Takeover press conference tomorrow morning.
The story of Vince McMahon as told by Vince McMahon
Results from Amarillo yesterday: R-Truth b Tyler Breeze, Cesaro b Primo, Karl Anderson b Jey Uso, Dolph Ziggler b Baron Corbin via DQ, Charlotte b Natalya to retain the women’s title, Rusev b Sin Cara to retain the U.S. title, Roman Reigns retained the WWE title over Seth Rollins, Sheamus and A.J. Styles in a match with great crowd heat. (thanks to Kale Steed)
It should be noted that Styles was booed heavily at all the weekend shows so there was no issue with fans going with the turn.
The second season of Swerved will be available in its entirely after the conclusion of Raw tonight.
The stock closed up 12 cents today to $17.80 per share.
MISCELLANEOUS
Mike Tenay on his podcast talked about his meetings with Muhammad Ali as he and his wife through a mutual connection were able to meet him several times in Las Vegas and he did his magic tricks for them.
PCW from Saturday night in Los Angeles: Joe Graves b Alexander Hammerstone, Luster the Legend & Adam Thornstowe b Zokre & Phoenix Star, Kevin Martenson b Timothy Thatcher, Almighty Sheik b Douglas James, Scorpio Sky b Ryan Taylor, Willie Mack won three-way over Jeff Cobb and JR Kratos. Main event was said to be really strong and then Teddy Hart showed up and took the focus away from the match. Then he left and came back with his cat. Essentially he stole focus off the ring. Hart was originally set for a singles match with Mack and when they didn’t know if he would be appearing, they moved Mack into a three-way main event.
Brittany Fetkin, the former Devin Taylor in NXT, did her first show since being released on Saturday’s PCW show doing interviews for www.pacificcoastwrestling.com
Ric Flair’s podcast host Conrad Thompson is doing a fund raiser for LLS, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at www.ConradCares.com
Zach Gowen will be apppearing on the TV show “America’s Ninja Warrior next week (thanks to Danny Jackpot)
Wrestlezone Scotland before 1,300 fans in Aberdeen, Scotland from Saturday night: Blue Thunder b Lord Mr. Malice, Alan Sterling & Damien & William Sterling b Johnny Lions & Mr. P & Kaden Garrick, Lewis Girvan & Viper b Aspen Faith & Sammii Jayne, Bingo Ballance b Stevie Xavier, Tatanka b Big Damo, Bryan Tucker b Shawn Johnson, Carlito & Bull Dempsey & Hurricane b Chris Archer & Mikkey Vago & Lou King, Scotty Swift b Crusher Craib to keep the Wrestlezone title.
Congratulations to Alex Marvez on the birth of daughter Natalya Alexis.
Al Snow on Cody Rhodes and Mick Foley HERE and HERE
EVENTS
June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
June 11 – ECCW Port Coquitlam, BC at the Elks Hall #49.
June 11 – Lex Luger will appear in Gray, TN at the Daniel Boone High School for the Fountain of Life Bible Church’s Car and Bike show at 6 p.m. The show is free. There will be a wrestling card in conjunction with the show.
June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
June 17 – Absolute Intense Wrestling at Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH at Tequila Jaxx with Joey Janela vs. Facade, Shayna Baszler vs. Veda Scott, Laredo Kid, B.J. Whitmer and more.
June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title
June 24 – Isao Kobayashi vs. Justin Lawrence will appear on Spike.com as the top prelim fight Bellator Dynamite show in St. Louis. This will be a combination MMA and kickboxing show.
June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
July 2 – Stars of Wrestling from Alameda, CA at the Alameda Point Gym has Bobby Lashley, Carlito and The Boogeyman appearing.
July 2 – NWA Cajun Heat in Morgan City, LA at the Municipal Auditorium with Jax Dane vs. Mustang Mike for the NWA title, Rob Conway vs. Rodney Mack and an appearance by Kevin Nash.
July 9 – Smash Wrestling in Fort Erie, ONT at the Native Friendship Center. Chris Hero will headline this fund raising event to raise money for the Godson of Jeremy Elliott, who Hero will wrestle. Elliott’s Godson is a patient at the CPRI Treatment Center.
July 17 – Premier Wrestling at the IFDES Lodge and Portuguese Hall in Gilroy, CA with Joe Graves (5-1-1) vs. Gabriel Gallo (5-0-1) for the Premier title plus the Premier Women Athletes title with Raze (3-2) vs. Shayna Baszler (1-0), Jeff Cobb (6-6-1) vs. JR Kratos (9-3-1), Nicole Savoy (3-3) vs Desi de Rata (0-0) and Alexander Hammerstone (2-0) vs. Douglas James (1-0). Tickets are available at www.premierwrestle.com
July 22 – Rachel Ellering appears for Ignite Wrestling in Fort Pierce, FL at the National Guard Armory on a show with Lince Dorado, Mr. 450 Hammet, Lio Rush, Martin Stone, Los Ben Dejos, and more.
July 24 – Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr. headlines for Lucha Libre New York at Club LaBoom in Queens, NY.
August 13 – Rey Mysterio Jr. will headline a show at Montgomery High School in San Diego, his alma mater, for Viva La Lucha promotions. Also appearing are Konnan, Psicosis, Johnny Mundo, Teddy Hart and TJ Perkins.
After the events of UFC 199 that saw veteran journalist and MMA personality Ariel Helwani, as well as Casey Leydon and Esther Lin, have their UFC credentials pulled because Helwani broke the news that Brock Lesnar was returning to the Octagon, the Canadian reporter was a guest on several high-profile sports shows Monday giving his side of things.
The day began on The Dan Patrick Showwhere he addressed the incident that occurred between he and UFC officials, specifically Dana White. Here are the bullet points from the interview that went about 15 minutes or so:
Dan Patrick, when leading into the interview, said UFC was reached for comment and refused. Dana just said that Ariel was “too negative”
Helwani said that he first reported that Conor-Nate was finalized and was told that he had jumped the gun. A couple hours later, they made the announcement. He says that he’s batting 1.000 on breaking stories
He then reported that Brock was coming back at 5 pm pacific (about 3 hours prior to UFC announcing it during the PPV)
He was approached right before the main event and told that Dana White wanted to see him. He first refused to go. Then someone else came and told him that he had to come now. He brought his videographer with him and they went and saw White. Dana told him “get out of here, you’re done. Go cover Bellator or something, you’re done here” “you’re too negative and Lorenzo Fertita is not a fan of yours and he made the call to kick you out of here”. A PR person told Ariel that he should’ve asked UFC for a comment before running with the story
Ariel thanked Dana for everything he’d done and hoped he’d reconsider at some point. At that point, he and his co-workers were escorted from the building.
He said that Dana was “very upset” and that his face was red. He also speculated that perhaps White didn’t really want to do this. On multiple occasions, he said that this was Lorenzo’s call and that he is finished and will never cover this organization again
Patrick asked Helwani about getting dropped from FOX. Ariel said that it’s “100% fact” that he was dropped because UFC told them to. Over the last few months of his time at FOX, he was criticized for “out-scooping” UFC on stories.
He brought up the fact that other journalists have had to go through this but didn’t mention their names
Dan Patrick offered to apply for a credential for the next UFC show and then hire Ariel to be his MMA correspondent. Ariel kind of chuckled that one off. He speculated that UFC would probably deny the request anyway
He said that he needs to get the word out about what journalists are having to go through when dealing with UFC.
Patrick finished the segment by saying that they reached out to UFC but they never got back to the show producer
Then, it was time for The MMA Hour where he went for two hours explaining a sordid and confusing relationship with the UFC and Fox that included praise, physical assault, and revelations:
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discuss the Brock Lesnar story in a breaking news audio update, available now for subscribers. Lesnar’s opponent at UFC 200 will be Mark Hunt, as announced today on ESPN Sportscentre. The bout will take place July 9th at the T-Mobile Arena as part of International Fight Week, the same week as this website’s annual convention.
Here we are, one day before the Best of the Super Juniors winner is determined. A lot of questions still remain, the most important one being…who will win their block? We’ll find out tonight as we’re live in Sendai featuring action in both blocks.
Baretta vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Quick match, but fine while it lasted. Liger was the latest example of the New Japan dopey babyface falling for a handshake. It’s funny how no one ever learns. Baretta kicked out of a Liger bomb at one point. They had some solid back and forth while it lasted, with Baretta getting the win with the Dudebuster.
Bobby Fish vs. Tiger Mask
Another good back and forth match. Fish is good at striking, Tiger Mask does well with it too and the two meshed pretty well here. Tiger Mask kicked out a falcon arrow but Fish sinked in the leg lock for the submission.
Ricochet vs. Chase Owens
Yujiro accompanied Owens to ringside, and sure enough interfered freely throughout the match. Ricochet finally did a great senton dive to the floor that wiped him out. Ricochet busted out a Regalplex and a 450 splash but Yujiro pulled out Tiger Hattori out of the ring. Hattori sent him to the back as Owens got a rollup attempt out of the way. Owens introduced a chair, Ricochet grabbed it but as the ref was taking it away from him Owens pulled something out of his trunks and hit Ricochet for another nearfall. Owens kicked out a benadryller and a brainbuster. Ricochet went to the top rope but Yujiro came out and distracted again. He wiped out Yujiro and went for a phoenix splash but Owens countered, rolled him up with the O’Connor roll and with Yujiro’s help pinned Ricochet to put him out of the tournament. This was really fun.
Will Ospreay vs. Volador Jr.
The winner here goes to the finals tomorrow. This is actually really spectacular booking as they’ve been teasing the match between these two since the start of the tour. Lots of great high flying moves from both guys. Volador wiped out Ospreay on the outside with an asai moonsault; Ospreay hopped over Volador, flipped and hit a great looking DDT for a near fall. Great match with a really awesome finish. Volador went for the Spanish fly but Ospreay landed on his feet, jumped to the middle rope and hit the springboard stunner for the win. Will Ospreay wins the B Block and advances to the finals tomorrow.
Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto vs. Sanada, Evil and Tetsuya Naito
Naito fist bumped with Steve Corino before the match. He then focused his attention to Milano, who pretended to read his notes when Okada jumped him. Wild brawl out of the ring to start. Everyone you’d think that would work together did. Really good match, one of the better ones they’ve had on this tour. Some really great, fast paced action toward the end. Yoshi-Hashi nearly falls prey to the skull end but Goto saves the match. Sanada finally gets the pinfall with a moonsault.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rocky Romero
Romero flew off with a great knee to O’Reilly after smashing his leg on the turnbuckle. O’Reilly busted out the second Regalplex of the night for a cool nearfall. Romero was planted with a brainbuster, Rocky kicked out but was immediately put in the armbar. He fought hard and managed to get to the ropes. They did a great sequence with Rocky finishing it off with a sliced bread for a close nearfall. He hits a knee strike and pins O’Reilly, putting him out of the tournament. This was really great.
David Finlay vs. Matt Sydal
Good action. Sydal worked over Finlay a lot but Finally did get some offense in. Sydal caught him with a hurricanrana off the top rope and tried for a shooting star press but Finlay moved out of the way. Sydal fought back with a kick to the temple, then pinned Finlay with the shooting star press. Sydal, Kushida and Taguchi are all still alive at this point.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Gedo
Taguchi comes out wearing a bandana in the same style of Gedo, which of course Gedo is not a fan of. They brawl to the outside where Gedo blatantly uses the bell hammer to attack Taguchi. I guess we’re just doing ECW rules at this point in New Japan. Taguchi makes a comeback with some hip attacks, including a flying one to the outside. Taguchi goes for the rainmaker (I guess to taunt Okada, who is at ringside) but Gedo manages to dodge but gets smacked with a kick. Gedo hit the Complete Shot but when going for the Gedo clutch, Taguchi manages to reverse it, bridge Gedo and gets the win. That puts Sydal out. If Kushida wins, he advances, if not Taguchi wins.
Kushida vs. Bushi
Bushi jumped Kushida early and spiked him with a DDT on the apron. After a countout tease (there’s been a LOT of these in this tournament) Kushida comes back and we have a nice back and forth contest going here. Kushida fought for the armbar but Bushi escaped, bumped the ref, misted Kushida and hit the codebreaker but Kushida kicked out after all that. A second codebreaker clinches the win for Bushi.
That makes it Will Ospreay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi tomorrow in the Best of the Super Juniors final.
Bushi misted the title and threw it at Kushida after the match, saying he wants the title. That’s a natural title program somewhere down the line. Lots of challengers between him, whoever wins BOTSJ and whoever wins the Super J Cup.
Really good show, by the way. Lots of fun action and the evolving standings throughout added drama to a lot of the matches.
FINAL POINT TALLIES:
Block A:
Ryusuke Taguchi – 10
Matt Sydal – 10
Kyle O’Reilly – 8
Kushida – 8
Rocky Romero – 8
Bushi – 8
Gedo – 2
David Finlay – 2
Block B:
Will Ospreay- 8
Ricochet – 8
Volador Jr. – 8
Bobby Fish – 8
Jushin Thunder Liger – 6
Tiger Mask – 6
Baretta – 6
Chase Owens – 4
Tomorrow’s lineup starting at 5:30 a.m.:
Jay White vs. David Finlay
Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky
Romero & Trent Baretta
Kushida & Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Volador
Jr.
Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale
