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  • Wrestling Observer Live 9/11: Hulk Hogan new gig, TNA updates, WWE and Twitter, more!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including thoughts on Hulk Hogan’s new gig, WWE trainees and Twitter, TNA updates and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • FRI UPDATE: Floyd Mayweather, Orton, Ambrose, UFC 194, NXT, Greatest female athlete of all-time

    By Dave Meltzer

    We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Edmonton (Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns plus Sheamus and Kevin Owens) and ROH show in Dearborn, MI (Jay Lethal  vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Dalton Castle vs. Cedric Alexander, Matt Taven & Michael Bennett vs. Young Bucks, ACH vs. Matt Sydal, Jay Briscoe vs. Takaaki Watanabe, Kyle O’Reilly vs. Silas Young) at Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>

    Invicta FC live on UFC Fight Pass tomorrow at 8 p.m. Eastern time

    Amanda Cooper vs. Aspen Ladd

    J.J. Aldrich vs. Daniela Kortmann

    Jinh Yu Frey vs. Liz McCarthy

    Sharon Jacobson vs. Jamie Moyle

    Cindy Dandois vs. Megan Anderson

    Andrea Lee vs. Rachel Ostovich

    Roxanne Modafferi vs. Mariana Morais

    DeAnna Bennett vs. Katja Kankaanpaa

    Tonya Evinger vs. Pannie Kianzad for the bantamweight title

    CMLL live at 9:30 p.m. Eastern from Arena Mexico with free streaming at www.clarosports.com/en-vivo/

    Flyer & Robin vs. Artillero & Super Comando

    Electrico & Shockercito & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Demus 3:16 & Pequeno Violencia & Pierrothito

    Angel de Oro & Blue Panther & Rey Cometa vs. Dragon Rojo & Polvora & Virus

    La Mascara & Stuka Jr. & Titan vs. Barbaro Cavernario & Negro Casas & Rey Hechicero

    Super Parka & Valiente & Volador Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rush & Marco Corleone

    Atlantis & Euforia & Ultimo Guerrero vs. La Sombra & Rey Escorpion & Thunder

    New Japan on AXS at 9 p.m.

    A.J. Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from last year’s Seibu Dome show

    Legacy Fighting Championships at 10 p.m. on AXS

    Emmanuel Rivera vs. Wes Sharp

    Kathian Catron vs. Kaline Medeiros

    Canaan Grigsby vs. Bilal Williams

    Derrick Adkins vs. Jesse Chaffin

    Caio Rocha vs. James Warren

    J.C. Cottrell vs Ed Cline

    We’re looking for reports on WWE shows Saturday in Calgary (Rollins vs. Ambrose, Wyatt vs. Reigns, Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens) and Huntsville, AL (Randy Orton vs. Sheamus, Ryback vs. Big Show plus Dolph Ziggler and Neville), NXT in Gainesville, FL and ROH in Chicago (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Young Bucks, Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish, Jay Briscoe vs. Cedric Alexander, Dalton Castle vs. Beer City Bruiser, Mark Briscoe vs. Adam Page, ACH vs,. Matt Sydal).

    Sunday has WWE in Jonesboro, AR (Rollins vs. Ambrose, Wyatt vs. Reigns) and Tupelo, MS (Orton vs. Sheamus, Ryback vs. Show).

    The World wrestling championship finals from Las Vegas will be airing Sunday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2.  

    Raw will be live on Monday from Memphis

    Smackdown and Main Event will be taped Tuesday in Little Rock.

    A look at next weekend, which is one of the biggest weekends of the year with Bellator and CMLL having their biggest shows, plus a WWE PPV show and an ROH PPV, is one of the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We also have a look at the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot, tons more on the Jimmy Snuka case, An update on TNA and the future of Kurt Angle, a letter UFC sent to all its fighters about unionization, plus full coverage of UFC 191 and Battle of Los Angeles, and thoughts behind Raw & Smackdown doing record low numbers.

    The latest issue of the Wrestling Observer: September 14, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Huge Weekend Preview, WWE/CMLL/ROH/Bellator

    Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site.  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month! 

    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 Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>

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

    Rates are:

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

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

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

    We look at next week’s big shows, including a preview of  CMLL’s main event, why L.A. Park is already gone from the promotion, and a preview of  both Raw and Night of Champions.

    We’ve got more on the Jimmy Snuka case, with a background of WWE in 1983, Vince McMahon purchasing the company from his father, what was and wasn’t known in wrestling at the time, the first Snuka arrest, the decision made on Hulk Hogan being the face of the company’s expansion, the role Snuka’s autobiography played in his indictment, the corner saying why he felt there was no indictment and his quotes on the subject, new evidence, Buddy Rogers before his death talks about the subject, another coroner weighs in, a lawyer who investigated the case in 1983 weighs in, how Snuka handled his finances fro that point on, Snuka’s run in New Japan, the famous Brody & Snuka walking out on the tag tournament finals, what Vince McMahon was doing to protect Snuka, key Allentown officials talk cover-up rumors, WWE talks those rumors and more.

    We also update the Kurt Angle TNA situation and why Angle said he was leaving the company when his contract expires in January.  We look at the situation with Destination America, what talent knows and how WWE fits into all this right now.

    We look at the letter sent by UFC to all of its fighters regarding unionization and our thoughts on the subject.

    We’ve got a look at the 2005 Hall of Fame ballot, a look at the new candidates and their credentials, candidates for the future, understanding of the process, as well as how everyone on this year’s ballot fared last year.

    We also look back at research into the biggest draws of all-time on the ballot, as well how the candidates have done in various awards, in drawing power for their era, as well as match quality, how difficult it is to be voted in, and notes on a lot of this year’s modern candidates.

    We have an update on Ronda Rousey and WrestleMania, an upcoming WWE wedding, John Cena injury notes, WWE asks fans about PPV start times and thoughts, update on Amanda from Tough Enough and what appears to be her new deal, WWE pulling out all stops for next months tour of Mexico and why, Dean Ambrose talks acting, Nikki Bella as Divas champion, Eric Bischoff appearing on WWE Network, Undertaker’s future, the signing of Kana and she talks coming to WWE, Zahra Schreiber talks her firing, some NXT matches, a WWE wrestler on a sabbatical, as well as the WWE business notes from the past week and highlights from all the house hows.

    We also look at Hulk Hogan’s overseas talk shows, the death of Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics, Dave Brown retires from WMC TV and how it was celebrated locally, Axl Rotten’s future goals, CHIKARA King of Trios, Jeff Jarrett TV talks and the final GFW ballpark shows of the year and what is left on the schedule, Bob Backlund’s autobiography, update on Batista, the death of Jerry Prater, an instrumental figure in Florida wrestling in the 70s and the heyday of wrestling programs and magazines, the Carlos Maynez tribute show this past week featuring legends from the past, a Roddy Piper movie not released and the Darrell Dawkins connection with pro wrestling.

    We also update things on Lucha Underground.

    We look at next week’s ROH matches.

    We look at a TNA wedding, lineups for the upcoming TNA shows, U.K. TNA ratings and updating Impact.

    We also have Conor McGregor talking his future, McGregor vs. Faber and why it didn’t happen, key UFC announcements over the pat week including new shows, new main events and new title matches, the retirement of Sam Stout, Rousey doing “Road House,” next UFC TV events, update on Charles Oliveira, UFC’s most popular markets, how much Rousey and McGregor are carrying things right now and former UFC star buys $2.75 million mansion from a rock star.

    We also look at Alexander Shlemenko’s attempt to get his steroid punishment over turned and his arguments, plus a new Bellator show was announced.

    We also update Fedor Emelianenko and his situation, as well as a former WWE star debuts this week as an MMA announcer and top pro wrestling stars attending.  We also look at the results of the latest medical study on injuries suffered in boxing vs. MMA and where each is more and less dangerous than the other.  

    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

    FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • Somewhat quiet weekend with no major PPV shows, although next week more than makes up for it.  The biggest event is the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto fight, which Mayweather is claiming is his retirement fight, but nobody is buying it.  Right now, things aren’t looking good as there were more than 2,000 tickets unsold, all the closed-circuit airings in Las Vegas were quietly canceled and there is a lot of question regarding how the PPV will do.
    • For what it’s worth, I was doing an economics class this morning at Kansas State University and when instructor Daniel Kuester asked the class, and this is not a sports class at all, how many people saw Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, about half the class raised their hand.  When he asked how many people are watching Mayweather vs. Berto tomorrow, not one person raised their hand.  He also asked how many people knew who Conor McGregor was and about one-third raised their hand.
    • PW Insider is reporting that Monday’s Randy Orton angle was not for him to be on the Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose team at Night of Champions, but it was to write him off for a few weeks with an injury.  For what that is worth, Orton is advertised as the top star on one of the weekend tours, as well as for both Raw on Monday and Smackdown on Tuesday.  It’s not like WWE doesn’t regularly change its minds, nor that its advertising isn’t always accurate either, however WWE did officially tell us that Orton would be working the weekend shows and the Memphis and Little Rock tapings Monday and Tuesday.  It is possible he could only be working dark matches.
    • The public ticket sale for UFC 194, the Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero vs. Jacare Souza, Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens,. Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz, Demian Maia vs. Gunner Nelson, Tecia Torres vs. Michelle Waterson and more show in Las Vegas started today.  Most of the tickets were already sold in pre-sale.  Tickets are priced at $178, $278, $403, $603, $853 and $1.253, so they are looking for another gate record out of this.     
    • FanPicks.com, a Fantasy League sports site, has signed an endorsement deal with Hulk Hogan to be the site’s official spokesperson and Brand Ambassador.  The site said, “We all make mistakes and deserve second chances.  Hulk Hogan is an admired athlete and Global Icon.  For 3-plus decade, he has been inspiring fans around the world.  He spends a good amount of his time doing so much for numerous charities and causes.  He’s a perfect partner for us and together we will be making contributions to the Make-A-Wish Foundation on behalf of Hulk Hogan.”
    • For NXT Takeover on 10/7, after last night’s show, they put tickets on sale to the fans in the building, and with only 400 seats, most were sold in a line that was about two hours long.  the remaining tickets were put on the Internet and sold out in six minutes.  The TV tapings the next night are also sold out.
    • Spike will be airing two shows tonight building next Saturday’s Belllator show.  Spike airs PBC boxing in prime time.  After boxing, at about 11:15 p.m., they will air “Road to Dynamite.”  It’s possible I’ll be on that show because I spent an afternoon filming with Scott Coker a few weeks back going through his history.  At 12:15 a.m., they will air a Tito Ortiz special showing his training for his fight with Liam McGeary.
    • 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown starts its very limited theatrical release this weekend.  I saw the trailer and Dean Ambrose came across real good.  looked
    • So this is scary.  The ESPN poll for the greatest female athlete of all-time is coming down to Ronda Rousey vs. Serena Williams.  Williams in the bracketing of fan voting beat Cheryl Miller (86-14), Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor (74-26), Babe Didrikson (67-33) and Steffi Graf (63-37).  Rousey beat Missy Franklin (63-37), Jackie JoyneKersee (53-47), Diana Taurasi (55-45) and Florence Griffith Joyner (57-43).
    • Andrei Arlovski told Submission radio today that his right hand was not broken in Saturday’s fight with Frank Mir, only bruised.  He said he would be ready to fight again in December or January.
    • Coming to the Evolve shows on 10/17 and 10/18 in New York are Rocky Romero, Willie Mack and Peter Kassa.  Romero will be teaming with Trent Baretta as Roppongi Vice.  Also on the shows are Timothy Thatcher, Caleb Konley, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, Tracy Williams, TJ Perkins, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, Ethan Page and Matt Cage.
    • Northeast Wrestling announced that its show scheduled for tomorrow at Susquehanna Bank Park in Williamsport, PA has been moveed to 9/27 at 4 p.m. due to weather issues. The meet and greet has been moved to 4 p.m.   For more info you can go to NortheastWrestling.com
    • John Cena will be appearing as a guset host on the Today Show on Wednesday for the third time in recent weeks.
    • Grand Slam Wrestling on Saturday night in Moosic, PA at the Youth Center.
    • Bellator announced that Kimbo Slice will be coming to Saturday’s show.  Slice will be at the SAP Center at 3 p.m. for autographs and photos.
    • Aggression Wrestling tonight in Lenoir, NC at the Caldwell County Fairgrounds with Mikal Judas, Washington Bullets, Slim J and more.
    • My friend Jeff Bukantz related to me that he loved Bob Backlund’s autobiography.  He said it was great to relive the history of his title run in exact order, and it was interesting to read his constant paranoia over being double-crossed in the ring when it never happened and was never going to happen. 
    • CMLL on Tuesday night in Guadalajara:  Jocker & Sadico b Frezzer & Nautilus, Omar Brunetti & Magnus & Molotov b Arkangel de la Muerte & El Hijo del Signo & Metalico, Dark Angel & Marcela & Silueta b Amapola & Dallys & Zeuxis, Angel de Oro & Blue Panther & Brazo de Plata b Euforia & Gran Guerrero & Niebla Roja, Negro Casas & Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero b Atlantis & La Mascara & Volador Jr., Marco Corleone b Mr. Niebla
    • AAA talent on Tuesday night in Pachuca:  Diosa Atenea & Zuzu Divine b Princesa Mohicana & Xena, Bart & Homero Simpson (yes, really) b Los Minion Morada I & II, Gotita de Plata & Nino Hamburguesa & Goya Kong b Concord & Machine Rocker & Taya Valkyrie-DQ, Psycho Circus b Electroshock & El Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Parka Negra, Averno & Pentagon Jr. b Fenix & Myzteziz.  Myzteziz turned on Fenix and hit him with a chair shot to cause him to get pinned for the finish.
    • Elegido & Laredo Kid vs. Difunto I & Psicosis headlines 10/8 in Laredo at the Coliseum.
    • Lucha Libre VIP on Sunday in Pico Rivera, CA at the Sports Arena with Dragon Lee & Valiente & Zokre vs. Dr. Maldad & Misterioso Jr. & Shumu Jr. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
    • What is billed as Blue Demon Jr’s 30th anniversary match, and didn’t they just do that at TripleMania, takes place on Wednesday night at Arena Lopez Mateos in Tlalnepantla with Demon Jr. & Canek vs. Pirata Morgan & Villano IV.
    • All Pro Wrestling tonight in Daly City, CA at the Bayshore Community Center at 450 Martin St. (right near the Cow Palace) has JR Kratos vs. Chris Masters for the Universal title, Boyce LeGrande vs. Will Cuevas for the TV title, Reno Scum vs. The Freaks for the tag title, MVP vs. Dylan Drake, Timothy Thatcher vs Gangrel, Joey Ryan vs. Marcus Lewis vs. Juventud Guerrera, Idris Jackson vs. Sione Finau and more including Jeff Cobb and Joey Kristofferson.
    • Big West Wrestling tomorrow night at the Lake City Cowling & Billiards in Kelowna, BC. 
    • All Star Wrestling on 9/25 in Surrey, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds with Gangrel vs. Adam Ryder as the main event.
    • Maryland Championship Wrestling tonight in White Marsh, MD with Fan Appreciation tonight at Della Rose’s Avenue Tavern with The Bruiser & Jim Duggan & Patrick Clark (from Tough Enough) & Lio Rush vs. Ryan McBride & Ken Dixon & Dixon Line Security, plus Mickie James defends the MCW womens’ title against Amber Rodriguez.
    • Jake Roberts vs. Steve Casey is the new match on today’s NWAClassics.com web site, with Jim Ross and Paul Boesch doing the announcing.

  • Mayweather faces Berto in his final fight, except nobody believes that

    by Jeremy Wall

    On Saturday, September 12th, Floyd Mayweather Jr. engages in what he is claiming will be the final fight of his career when he faces Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

    The problem is that almost no one believes Mayweather will retire. And almost no one cares.

    Mayweather’s selection of Berto as an opponent has proven to be a misfire. I’m in Las Vegas for the fight (I’ve been here since before UFC 191 on Saturday) and there is no feeling of hype or excitement in town. Articles published on a variety of web sites earlier this week noted that there were more than 2,100 seats still available.

    On StubHub, a secondary marketplace owned by eBay for ticket resellers, tickets for the fight could be had for as little as $166 as of Thursday night. That is down from over $300 for tickets in the cheap seats a week ago.

    MGM Grand also apparently isn’t showing the fight on closed circuit due to the amount of disinterest in the fight. I’ve been keep tabs on the Facebook pages of popular sports bars on the Las Vegas Strip to see if any of them are having viewing parties. Again, as of Thursday night I haven’t come across a single bar that is advertising a Mayweather viewing party (although there are nightclubs advertising after parties, which isn’t the same thing). Most are advertising NFL parties instead.

    I talked to lots of different UFC fans over the weekend that came to Vegas for UFC 191. Many of the people I talked to were boxing fans from the UK and Europe. I think a disproportionate amount of foreigners go to the UFC press events to try and snap photos with fighters because if you’re going to travel that far for the UFC, you may as well get your money’s worth. But even these admitted boxing fans weren’t sticking around for the Mayweather fight, with the feeling it was an afterthought.

    Promotion for the bout has been strange. Months ago Floyd told the press that the two frontrunners for the honour of being trounced by him in September were Karim Mayfield and Andre Berto. People thought he was joking. He wasn’t.

    Mayfield is a 34-year-old journeyman with a 19-2-1 record. The highest title he ever earned was the WBO NABO Welterweight title. He had lost two of his last three fights and hadn’t fought since November.

    Berto, 32, has a career record of 30-3 with 23 knockouts. He is a former WBC and IBF Welterweight champion and currently holds the interim WBA Welterweight title (which is about as meaningless as a title belt can get in boxing these days). But he has lost three of his last six bouts, with his two recent wins coming over unknown fighters Josesito Lopez and Steve Upsher Chambers. In 2012, Berto tested positive for norandrosterone.

    Most people will say that the reason Berto was selected as the opponent for Mayweather’s 49th professional fight was to give Mayweather the easy win to tie Rocky Marciano’s record. Apparently among Mayweather’s people there was also the belief that Berto is an action fighter and they didn’t want a repeat of the criticism that Mayweather endured for the Pacquiao fight being so boring.

    The reaction of the general public to the quality of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was interesting. A lot of people watching that fight probably had never seen boxing before, except maybe in a Stallone movie. When the pay per view broadcast showed the graphic that the majority of fans thought Pacquiao would win the fight, it became obvious there was a tremendous amount of super casual fans watching the bout. Insiders with knowledge of both fighters had Mayweather as a heavy favourite.

    Many fans turned on the bout, due to the enormous retail price of $100 and how dull the fight was. It was the most expensive fight in history, but the price didn’t deter people from buying it. I would have priced the fight the same way if I was Al Haymon or whoever it was that made that decision, because the fight grew into something more than just a fight and became a cultural event that people had to see no matter the cost. No one wanted to be left out when it came to saying that you saw the biggest fight of all time.

    But that meant all of the extra people that ordered the fight were people that never watch boxing. People who don’t watch boxing expect boxing to be a fistfight, which it isn’t. I think if you polled many of the viewers of Mayweather-Pacquiao and asked them to name a famous a boxer, probably most would say Mike Tyson or Rocky Balboa. Some might say Muhammad Ali, but have probably never seen an Ali fight.

    Of course, this is all speculation on my part, but based on poll results on who would win between Mayweather and Pacquiao and the public reaction to the fight afterwards, my speculation is probably true.

    Mayweather-Pacquiao wasn’t a boring fight. It was a typical Mayweather fight. I watch boxing every weekend and I see far duller fights regularly. It was boring if you weren’t a boxing fan, though, and most of the people that bought that pay per view weren’t boxing fans.

    So, I think the idea to bring in an action fighter like Berto to face Mayweather was an overreaction to public criticism of the Pacquiao fight.

    I don’t necessarily think that Mayweather needs to face a top young opponent at this point in his career. I expect Mayweather to only do things at this point that protect his legacy. But Berto has no name value. His last fight was in March on the debut PBC on Spike show as the co-main event against Lopez. There was no talk at the time of Berto facing Mayweather after Pacquiao. Such talk would have been unbelievable.

    If Mayweather were to put someone over on the way out, the choice would probably be Keith Thurman, although Danny Garcia and Amir Khan would also be discussed. He could also do a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, but politically that wouldn’t happen with Mayweather in Haymon’s camp and Alvarez signed to Golden Boy. But again, I only expect Mayweather to do things to protect his own legacy and not create a new star on the way out (like De La Hoya did in losing both to him and also to Pacquiao).

    With that in mind, the opponent I would have selected for Mayweather is Shawn Porter. Porter is the anti-Mayweather in a lot of ways. Porter is a devout Christian, a seemingly honest fighter with a clean personal history. His father Kenny is his trainer and is also a devout Christian. Porter has a nice smile, has done colour commentary for PBC, and although he lacks charisma he speaks well and is likeable. A few weeks ago I wrote an article comparing Porter to Ricky Steamboat or Christy Mathewson, the latter being a baseball pitcher who played for the New York Giants from 1900-1916 who was known as “The Christian Gentleman”.

    Porter is an ultra babyface, bland but likeable. Mayweather is charismatic and unlikeable. Mayweather is the greatest drawing heel in history. The only people that like Mayweather seem to be people obsessed with his lavish lifestyle and who adorn themselves in “TMT” brand clothing. Mayweather was on a recent All Access show shadowboxing with a huge wad of money in his hand. He calls himself “TBE” and constantly talks about Muhammad Ali and why Ali doesn’t stack up. He has a criminal record for domestic violence, which is a whole other ball of wax.

    Mayweather versus Porter would have been a great face-heel matchup. Porter could be sold to a wider audience as a young upstart with wholesome values who is going to get a chance to fight the cocky self-proclaimed best ever.

    It’s not a great fight, but it has selling points that are stronger than a fight against Berto. I think Mayweather would beat Porter, but I think Porter is a more lucrative opponent than Berto (who will also lose to Mayweather).

    There are two main selling points to the fight against Berto and both are weak. First, Mayweather selecting Berto as an opponent is like a promise that this fight will be more action-oriented than the Pacquiao bout. That’s a weird stance. Imagine going to a restaurant and to get you to return the waiter promises your next meal won’t suck so much and will be less expensive.

    What was even weirder was the way this fight was being hyped by Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas during the ESPN broadcast of the Santa Cruz-Mares fight a couple weeks back. Tessitore actually said that the Santa Cruz fight was a makeup bout for all the people who bought the Mayweather-Pacquiao and weren’t happy with that fight. That blew my mind. This was WCW level stupidity. This would be like WCW doing a Ric Flair-Hulk Hogan pay per view in 1998 and then doing Rey Mysterio vs. Ultimo Dragon on Nitro six months later and Tony Schiavone saying that the Nitro match was there to make up for all the people who thought the Hogan-Flair match was awful. And they do this just a week before Hogan is wrestling Kevin Nash or someone on pay per view.

    It is incredible that a PBC broadcast team would actually admit that Mayweather’s last fight was terrible just a couple of weeks before Mayweather was scheduled to fight again on pay per view.

    The second point is that Mayweather will retire after this fight. I also have a pro wrestling analogy using Hogan and Flair to illustrate why the second selling point of Mayweather-Berto doesn’t work. No one believes it. It is a pro wrestling retirement stipulation. This is once again like WCW in 1994 when they would say that Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair (or both) were retiring after their bout and no one believed that the retirement stipulation would be adhered to.

    Pacquiao will be ready to fight next year and a rematch between him and Mayweather will draw money based on the idea that Pacquiao will be fighting injury free. It won’t draw as well as the first one, but will draw better than anything boxing can sell otherwise in 2016.

    Also, Las Vegas Arena is set to open next summer. Dana White claims he is getting the first date for a sports event with UFC 200, but who knows. If I owned the new arena, I would want to open it with Mayweather-Pacquiao II.

    Mayweather stands to make a ton of money fighting again next year. Does anyone actually believe he will pass all that money up? I mean, the guy’s nickname is actually “Money”. How can you get any more obvious?

    There is also the matter of breaking the Marciano record by hitting 50-0, which is a nice fat number to retire on. I don’t know how much that means to Mayweather, but it’s there as a selling point for another fight next year.

    I don’t know how to estimate a buy rate for this fight. Will it beat Ronda’s buy rate from August? If it doesn’t, that will certainly give Ronda another talking point in the media about how she outdrew Floyd Mayweather. If that’s the case, I can’t imagine that would please Mayweather and might motivate him to try to milk the box office for one more fight with Pacquiao.

    I think there is also some degree of burnout by the general public on Mayweather, in a way that it doesn’t really matter who Mayweather faces. I get the sense that maybe the public is tired of him. The public seemed to think (for whatever reason) that Pacquiao was the man to beat Mayweather, and when Mayweather beat him handily, the public might feel that no one will ever beat Mayweather, or that Mayweather has so much power in picking his opponents that he will never face someone who stands a chance of winning. 

    What I find especially bizarre is PBC’s poor use of their network television slots to create an opponent for Mayweather. One would think that PBC would have Berto fight on NBC instead of on Spike in order to get as many people familiarized with his name as possible. It is obvious that when Berto fought on Spike earlier this year that no one was counting on him as even a possible opponent for Mayweather after the Pacquiao fight. Another advantage to having Porter fight Mayweather is that Porter earned a high profile win over Adrian Broner on NBC a couple of months ago.

    Errors like this make PBC look like such a waste of money. They have a massive amount of television time they can use to create new stars and build pay per views and they are completely squandering it. The whole thing with PBC is to use network and cable TV time to build new stars and then have these stars fight on pay per view. But they didn’t even build a new star for Mayweather’s opponent in September, which would have been so easy to do given how many millions of people watch PBC.

    If this is the best PBC can do, there is a problem.

    All I can say is that the fight will likely draw poorly on pay per view, but what constitutes poorly for Mayweather after the Pacquiao fight is anyone’s guess.

    Besides the negative press regarding the fight being a box office bomb at the MGM Grand, there has also been the matter of the Thomas Hauser article published by SB Nation (http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/9/9/9271811/can-boxing-trust-usada) regarding the USADA and how Floyd gets preferential treatment. Hauser writes with great clarity, which is probably the nicest thing someone can say about a writer. In his article both Floyd and the USADA come off terribly and if there is ever a BALCO type investigation into the USADA and Mayweather, then Floyd’s image could be irreparably damaged even years after his retirement.

    No matter what happens in the next eighteen months or so, even if the Berto fight draws poorly, Floyd is the greatest drawing heel in history. But unless a federal investigation into the USADA or something of that sort happens and tarnishes Mayweather’s image, years from now I think the general public’s attitude towards both Floyd and the Pacquiao fight will change.

    History is kind to people and fights that the public decide are legendary. Here’s a pair of examples. Mayweather was convicted of domestic violence and served time in jail. He’s a reprehensible human being and plays that role up as much as possible in order to build hype for his fights.  Years from now, unless the general public are smacked in the face with evidence of doping (as in the case of Lance Armstrong), he will be loved, not because he’s a good guy, but because he’s a legend.

    Few people care about Mayweather’s history battering women. Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist and now he has a cartoon. Tyson was a bigger draw after he got out of prison than he was before, even though it is generally agreed that Tyson was already past his prime before he went to jail. Tyson is a household name. People don’t mind that he is probably a psychopath.

    What could damage Floyd’s image isn’t beating up women, but the general public finding out he beat up women while on steroids. It seems to make no sense, but these are the priorities of the general public. If I were Mayweather’s people and I could dictate to the USADA how drug testing works, I would want to make sure any frozen samples from Mayweather were destroyed. It’s obviously unethical, but based on what Hauser published about Mayweather and the USADA, what they are doing is obviously unethical anyway. Being caught cheating is the main thing that will destroy Mayweather’s career and get people to go from paying to see get beat up to just wanting to see him go away, like Lance Armstrong or half of the people that played baseball in the ‘90s.

    I also think history will be kind to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. The Ali-Inoki fight in Japan was a debacle when it occurred, but subsequent history in Japan treats it like the first real major mixed fight in history. Even if you ask American fans about that match, the people who are aware of it wouldn’t be able to accurately describe what happened, but would probably talk about it in terms of being a legendary match.

    History tends to be kind to fights that people don’t actually have to watch, but just have to hear about how legendary they were. Mayweather-Pacquiao is like that and it will be interesting to see how history treats both Mayweather and that fight.

    What history won’t treat well is Mayweather’s forgettable bout this Saturday against Andre Berto. We’ll see if the box office treats it any better.

    Jeremy Wall can be contacted at jeremywall1984@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @jeremydalewall.

  • Wednesday Night Wars (9/9): TNA has big night on Destination America

    Ratings for Wednesday on Destination America:

    – Impact at 9 p.m. drew 353,000 viewers, its best number in two months, which is a positive sign for the GFW turn angle

    – Despite two title matches, ROH at 11 p.m. did 138,000 viewers, its lowest number since switching to the new time slot.

    – Impact at midnight did 96,000 viewers, also its best total in two months.

  • UFC News: Eddie Alvarez confirms Anthony Pettis fight, date TBD

    Former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez officially confirmed on Twitter Friday that his rumored fight with Anthony Pettis is a go, and will be taking place in Boston.

    While not announced officially, the belief is that the fight will be on the UFC Fox Sports 1 show set for January 17th at Boston’s TD GArden, headlined by Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz.

    One can make the case that with just those two fights alone, it is the biggest show the company has put on FS1 in their history.

  • TNA may be airing on Oct. 7 on Destination America

    While nothing has been stated to talent and employees regarding the future of TNA on Destination America as of yesterday, TNA is still listing the show for 9 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday, 10/7.

    The last taped episode of Impact was scheduled for 9/30. The Discovery Network had sent a memo to employees in May stating that they were going to exercise their option to cancel the show at the end of September.

    According to one company source, the belief is that a lot of matches that were taped during the early part of the tapings that were not taped as part of an Impact show will be able to be put together for international programming to fill the commitments, and that could be done for domestic commitments as well.

    Right now, the company has not scheduled any future television tapings, but there is a deal being negotiated for tapings to be done in late November in India.

  • On this day in pro wrestling history: Wahoo beats Flair for NWA gold, Funk Wrestlefest, Roddy Strong wins ROH title

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1959

    Guadalajara, Mexico:

    – Rey Mendoza defeated Dory Dixon for the EMLL NWA Light Heavyweight Title

    1965

    Minneapolis, Minnesota (5018 attendance): 

    – AWA Champion The Crusher beat Larry Hennig
    – Harley Race beat Tex McKenzie
    – Chris Markoff beat Santiago Acosta
    – Reggie Parks beat Guy Taylor

    1967

    Fort Worth, Texas:

    – Fritz & Waldo Von Erich defeated Brute Bernard & Mike Paidousis to win the NWA American Tag Team Title

    1968

    Duluth, Minnesota:

    – The Crusher beat Dr X in a Saloon Match
    – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Luke Brown & Bill Watts
    – Chris Markoff beat Mike Boyer
    – Billy Red Lyons beat Blackjack Daniels

    1969

    Kansas City, Kansas: 
    – The Viking defeated Masao Komura
    – Joe Scarpello defeated Jack Armstrong
    – K.O. Cox defeated Ronnie Paul
    – Stan the Mad Russian defeated Big Luke via DQ
    – Tarzan Tyler defeated Dick the Bruiser in three falls

    1973

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 
    – Professor Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji defeated Tony Garea & Haystacks Calhoun for the WWWF World Tag Team Title

    Honolulu, Hawaii: 

    – The Crusher beat Superstar Billy Graham
    – Ed Francis beat Sam Steamboat to win Hawaiian Title
    – Neff Maiava & Tosh Togo beat Tony Borne & Ripper Collins
    – Nick Bockwinkel beat Ken Patera

    1975

    Kansas City, Kansas: 
    – Prince Tapu & Don Wayt defeated Dan Burdick & Jesse Ventura
    – Jerry Oates fought Terry Funk to a no contest
    – Central States Heavyweight Champion Ed Wiskowski (Colonel DeBeers) fought Dick the Bruiser to a double-DQ in three falls

    1976

    Greenville, North Carolina:
    – Wahoo McDaniel defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA Mid Atlantic Heavyweight Title

    1977

    Orlando, Florida:
    Dusty Rhodes & Don Muraco defeated WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff

    1981

    Denver, Colorado:
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel ddq Tito Santana
    – Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell by countout
    – Greg Gagne & Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan
    – Adrian Adonis beat Ed Boulder (Ed Leslie/Brutus Beefcake)

    1988

    Greensboro, North Carolina:
    – Sting defeated NWA US Champion Barry Windham by dq
    – NWA World & U.S. Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers)
    – Lex Luger defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair by dq

    1990

    Dayton, Ohio:
    – NWA US Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated the Samoan Swat Team.
    – Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk.
    – NWA World Champion Sting pinned Ric Flair.

    1992

    Chicago, Illinois:
    – Brad Armstrong pinned Brian Pillman
    – WCW World TV Champion Ricky Steamboat defeated Steve Austin.
    – Sting & Nikita Koloff defeated Jake Roberts & the Super Invader.
    – WCW World Champion Ron Simmons defeated WCW U.S. Champion Rick Rude.

    1993

    Morristown, Tennessee:
    – Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson defeated SMW Tag Team Champions the Bruise Brothers to win the titles

    1995

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Brian Christopher defeated Billy Jack Haynes for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title

    1997

    Louisville, Kentucky:
    – Tracy Smothers defeated Bull Pain for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title.

    1997

    Wrestlefest – 50 Years Of Funk – a card put together by Terry Funk in Amarillo, Texas to celebrate fifty years of the Funk family wrestling in Texas, was held at the Amarillo Fairgrounds Coliseum, drawing almost
    4,000 fans.  

    – WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Terry Funk in the main event.
    – ECW World Television Champion Taz defeated Chris Candido
    – ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas defeated Tommy Dreamer.
    – Dory Funk Jr. defeated Rob Van Dam

    2004

    Elizabeth, New Jersey:
    – Bryan Danielson defeated Alex Shelley
    – ROH champion Samoa Joe pinned Doug Williams

    2005

    – Austin Aries defeated Roderick Strong
    – AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe to win the TNA X Division Title.

    2010

    New York City: 
    – Colt Cabana & El Generico defeated Steve Corino & Kevin Steen in a double chain match
    – ROH Tag Team champions The Kings of Wrestling defeated Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin
    – ROH TV champion Eddie Edwards defeated Shawn Daivari
    – Christopher Daniels defeated Austin Aries
    – Roderick Strong defeated Tyler Black to win the ROH championship

    2011

    Orlando, Florida:
    – Winter defeated Mickie James to win the TNA Knockouts Title
    – Austin Aries defeated Brian Kendrick to win the TNA X Division Title
    – Matt Morgan defeated Samoa Joe
    – Kurt Angle defeated Sting and Mr. Anderson to retain the TNA World Title

    2014

    Winter Park, Florida:
    – Kalisto and Sin Cara defeated Konnor and Viktor for the NXT Tag Team Titles
    – Charlotte defeated Bayley to retain the NXT Womens’ Title
    – Adrian Neville defeated Tyler Breeze, Tyson Kidd and Sami Zayn to retain the NXT Title

  • NJPW Road to Destruction live results 9-11-15: Goto and Honma vs. Nakamura and Ishii

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Yohei Komatsu vs. David Finlay

    This only lasted roughly around ten minutes, but this was a fine back and forth match. They traded offense and submissions, including Finlay’s stretch muffler which is always a fun move to see in pro wrestling. Komatsu made a comeback and put him in the half crab, and Finlay submitted.

    Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger vs. Jay White & Sho Tanaka

    It was what you’d expect out of a veterans vs. young lions match. Lions made a comeback at one point and Tanaka nearly had Tiger Mask submitted with an awesome looking figure four. Liger was able to make the comeback for his team, then Tiger Mask isolated Tanaka with what looked like a half chickenwing.

    Liger cut a promo after the match mentioning how Tiger Mask has a NWA Jr. Heavyweight title match coming at at Destruction. He goes with the Mick Foley routine, telling him to win it so he can challenge him at Korakuen. That got a pop, of course.

    Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada & Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo & Rocky Romero & Baretta

    Toru Yano came out with a new song from the CHAOS album. It was…rather interesting. He was introduced as the producer of the album. Typical ten man tag with some good moments. Taguchi and RPG Vice were in there for a while and did some comedy spots. Nagata was in there briefly and beat both of RPG Vice up. It boiled down to Juice Robinson and Yoshi-Hashi. He looked better here than last week, but still feels like he’s a step below the other heavyweights. We’ll find out how he does in time. They had some fine back and forth with Yoshi-Hashi hitting his neckbreaker and pinning Robinson with the swanton bomb.

    Kazuchika Okada & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Tama Tonga & Cody Hall

    Another simple match. Not bad, but there was a familiar story. Tonga and Hall had the heat on Sakuraba for a long time. Okada made the hot tag and cleared house. Hall made a comeback and soon both heels were on Okada. Sakuraba came in for the save and took Tonga down as Hall was submitted with the Red Ink by Okada. That’s the first time in a long while someone submitted to that; would be a good idea to use it on guys like Hall in the future to get it over as a finish.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Kushida vs. Bad Luck Fale & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Kenny Omega

    Good match. This wasn’t like a typical ten man tag where everyone just works against their future opponent; they all worked with one another (though there was focus on their opponents during certian points of the mtach) and the action was good. At one point Doc Gallows had Kojima choked out with a chair and was dragging him backstage. The crowd was also getting into it near the end. Kojima was making his comeback on Anderson but Gallows was involved and was able to take him out with the magic killer, allowing Anderson to score the win for his team. 

    Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito

    Of course the stories here are between Shibata/Naito and Makabe/Ibushi. Shibata did the spot he’s done in other tags against Naito by giving him a huge boot to the face that sends him to the floor. Fans were super into the interactions between Naito and Shibata. Naito’s heel mannerisms are top notch and it’s getting big reactions from the fans. Shibata actually submitted him with a sleeper, which seems to be the theme of the night with getting a lot of submissions over. Shibata destroyed Naito’s Los Ingobernales hat to boot. Ibushi and Makabe brawled after the match and had to be separated a few times before doing so. 

    Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii

    This was a match where the crowd made it better than it was. This was actually a very good match but the crowd made it seem like this awesome main event. I wouldn’t put it at that level but it was very fun. It was what you’d expect, with the four rivals pairing off with one another. Good offense, but it just felt familiar. The fans ate it up regardless . Finish had Honma and Ishii dishing out punishment. Ishii pelted Honma with headbutts but he was no selling them until Ishii headbutted him in the throat and got a nearfall with a lariat. My least favorite place to be headbutted would probably in fact be the throat, ouch. Ishii hit a brainbuster and pinned him.

    I’d say watch the two top matches as they built up Destruction really well with those. Overall, a pretty solid card that served its purpose. 

  • WWE NXT TV tapings spoilers 9/10: Tyler Breeze vs. Tomasso Ciampa, Kana, Apollo Crews, Bayley

    From Chris H.:

    – Friday, October 7th was officially announced as the date for the next TakeOver show at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. Three shows were taped Thursday night to lead up to the live Network special.

    Presumed dark match:

    – Hype Bros def. Elias Samson and Riddick Moss. Zack Ryder pinned Samson after a Rough Ryder while Mojo held him up.

    Wednesday, Sept. 16 show:

    – Tyler Breeze vs Adam Rose never happened. Bull Dempsey came out, and he and Breeze went at it on the mic over their loss last week. Bull tried to get the match from Rose, which turned into a mini brawl with Bull getting the best of it.

    – Tye Dillinger def. ? with a shinbuster type move that resembled a one legged Codebreaker.

    – Apollo Crews def. Solomon Crowe in a good but short match.

    – Dusty Rhodes Classic quarterfinal: Rhyno & Baron Corbin def. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa. Tons of heat in this match. Corbin pinned Gargano with the End of Days after a lot of back and forth action.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. ? in a quick match with the Belly-to-Bayley. Bayley celebrated before the match in the crowd and brought fan Izzy into the ring to pose with the belt. After the match, Sasha Banks came out. They both put over the Brooklyn match, but Banks said she wanted to prove she was the best women’s wrestler. William Regal came out and announced the main event of the next TakeOver show is Bayley vs. Banks in a 30 minute IronWoman Match. The crowd is filled with glee over this news.

    Wednesday, Sept. 23 show:

    – Jason Jordan and Chad Gable def. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson.

    – Eva Marie def. Carmella by countout.  Match was fine, but very lame finish. Crowd was all over Eva with “that’s a kickout” and “botch queen” chants.

    – Tyler Breeze beat Bull Dempsey using a roll-up and the ropes as leverage.

    – Regal came out to announce the signing of Kana, who is now Asuka (pronounced Ask-uh).  She was interrupted by Dana Brooks and Emma, who said they were the welcoming committee and it was time for Asuka to leave the ring.  She reluctantly did. Odd.

    – NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillains retained over Blake and Murphy with the Whirling Dervish. Blue Pants came out early on and chased Alexa Bliss away. Good near fall late when Blake got the knees up on a swanton attempt and Murphy hit a top rope knee drop.

    Wednesday, Sept. 30 show:

    – Apollo Crews def. Johnny Gargano. Similar in length and quality to the Crowe match. Crowd lost a little steam by the end since it was their 2nd time out.

    – Dana Brooke and Emma def. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. Dana pinned Peyton after Emma grabbed Peyton’s foot when they were both in the ropes.

    – Tyler Breeze beat Tomasso Ciampa with the Killswitch. Good match.

    – Dusty Rhodes Classic match: NXT Champion Finn Balor and Samoa Joe def. Enzo and Cass when both guys hit their finishers.  Balor came out to a new BALOR CLUB logo on the big screen and white lights instead of his usual red fog.

    – Nothing else was announced for TakeOver besides Banks vs. Bayley and the Dusty Rhodes Classic final.

  • WWE NXT News: Kana takes ring name of Hall of Famer

    Recent signee Kana was at the WWE NXT TV tapings Thursday for her debut, and was given the new ring name “Asuka”.

    Lioness Asuka was probably the second most popular woman pro wrestler ever in Japan, part of the 80s tag team The Crush Gals during the era when women’s pro wrestling did television ratings equivalent to what the NFL was doing at the same time in the United States.