Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known that on this, the 9th day of September in the year of our Lord 2015, we have gathered here on F4WOnline.com! We gather on this page not for Ring of Honor or Impact, but for NXT!
Join me at 8pm for our weekly live review of a taped show! Tonight on the Dusty Rhodes Classic, it is Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs Lucha Dragons. Plus Bull Dempsey teams with Prince Pretty to face Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano!
Since last Wednesday night four more first round matches have taken place in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. If you go to WWE.com you can see highlights of all the matches. Here are the current brackets and up to date brackets:
Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs Lucha Dragons Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady beat Angelo Dawkins & Sawyer Fulton
Dash & Dawson beat Tucker Knight & Elias Sampson Blake & Murphy beat The Vaudevillains
Hype Bros beat Noah Kekoa (replacing Marcus Louis) & Alexander Wole Jason Jordan & Chad Gable defeating Neville & Solomon Crowe
Rhyno & Baron Corbin defeating The Ascension Tyler Breeze & Bull Dempsey vs Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano
NXT at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network features has Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons plus Johnny Gargano andTommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey in Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic bouts.
UFC Tonight airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Impact Wrestling at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Destination America features Matt Hardy and Rockstar Spud vs. Ethan Carter III and Tyrus, Drew Galloway vs. Chris Mordetzky, Brooke vs. Gail Kim. and more.
UFC Unleashed airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 with a new episode featuring European fighters.
The Ultimate Fighter at 10:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 is the two hour season premiere with the elimination fights to see which lightweight fighters qualify for Conor McGregor’s Team Europe and Urijah Faber’s Team USA.
ROH at 11:00 p.m. ET on Destination America is a loaded episode with The Addiction (c) vs. The Young Bucks for the ROH Tag Team Championship and Jay Lethal (c) vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship.
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring plenty of details on the Jimmy Snuka murder indictment including how the media covered his domestic abuse arrest and Nancy Argentino’s death back in 1993, just how on the ball Irv Muchnick was in writing about the case, the contradictions of the investigator, Snuka’s claims about his finances vs. the reality, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recnt FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
It’s a gigantic news week in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the main feature story on everything that led to the indictment of Jimmy Snuka after 32 years, plus Irv Muchnick, who has reported on the story for years gives his views on the proceedings, and we also look at Hulk Hogan’s attempt at redemption of his character, the full story behind the shooting at the Performance Center, notes from Battle of Los Angeles, the retirement of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hayabusa walks to the ring, Bram gets arrested, WWE fires Zahra Schreiber, UFC brings back Travis Browne, a rundown of the PPV business in WWE in 2015 and the latest monthly business report from WWE & TNA.
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 Meltzer
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For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
Our lead story goes back to 1983 with an in-depth look at the death of Nancy Argentino, how the media caused the case to be reopened, a look at the charges against Jimmy Snuka, the different statements on the subject by Snuka, Snuka’s lawyer speaks, notes on documentation and testimony from the time, lots of notes regarding evidence, where Jimmy Snuka stood in the wrestling business in 1983, how Buddy Rogers fits into this story, what Snuka told police the morning after Argentino died as well as testimony from those who treated Argentino before her death.
We also look at the autopsy report, the police report from that time, the strange question that was never answered regarding the case being dropped, what Snuka has said to different people, the brawl in Syracuse before Argentino’s death, how the pro wrestling business in 1983 is so completely different from today and the previous legal action regarding this case.
Irv Muchnick also does a piece on the indictment talking about several points from the indictment.
We also look at Hulk Hogan appearing on Good Morning America and Nightline in a way to get his job back and repair his public image. We look at the WWE reaction, what Hogan said, what does and doesn’t hold up, the timeline issues with his various stories, neighbors of his growing up contradict his story and more.
We also look at the story of the man who was shot in front of the Performance Center, the circumstances of the shooting, and the different things he had done in recent months regarding his obsession with wrestling.
We also look at Battle of Los Angeles, how the tournament went, highlights from the weekend and celebrities at the shows.
We also look back at the career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, including his new job with UFC, his becoming the top heavyweight in the sport at one time, his background, his debut in RINGS, his move to Pride, his fight with Bob Sapp, his three fight series with Fedor and his UFC run.
We look at the arrest of Thomas “Bram” Latimer of TNA, police details of what happened, TNA’s response and what is next for him.
We’ve got a story on Hayabusa, one of the best high flyers from 15-20 years ago and his attempted recovery from near paralysis.
We’ve got a look at Travis Browne and his reinstatement in UFC.
We look at the firing of Zahra Schreiber, the girlfriend of Seth Rollins, by WWE.
We also look at WWE & TNA business when it comes to house shows, merchandise, ratings and other categories for the past month.
We also have a PPV chart with how all the shows in the first seven months of the year have been, and compared them with the last few years.
We also look at WWE signing one of the major international women stars and why she’s not going to be wrestling in NXT, the return of Dr. Wagner Jr. & L.A. Park to Arena Mexico and how it got over, top pro wrestling star gets a reality show gig, and some major title changes.
We also look at maneuvering for the 2017 and 2018 WrestleMania, and the favorites, the 10/3 Madison Square Garden WWE live special, notes on lots of indie stars on WWE’s radar, ticket sales for NXT in the U.K., a new WWE movie, Update on Wade Barrett, action figure sales, announcing changes, SummerSlam edits, lots of notes on various WWE lawsuits, Dean Ambrose talks Renee Young, Fan tries to attack Ambrose, Sara Lee in NXT, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week.
We also look at a number of top stars who worked recently in Bolivia, the last AAA TV taping and AAA wrestlers in a bodybuilding contest.
We update Wrestle-1 and the three generations of green mist stars trios match.
We also look at the Dragon Gate summer tag team tournament and its big show in Fukuoka and what came out of it.
We look at All Japan’s last major show and its current singles tournament.
We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major show, including a title match that was set up in the U.S., a well as the bracketing in the upcoming junior heavyweight tag team tournament.
We look at the weekend IGF show, a record that will be set at the next Tokyo Dome show, and the NWA title change.
We also look at U.S. stars who usually don’t tour Japan that are going shortly.
We’ve got more on the planned bio movie on Chris Benoit, Angelo Mosca getting his number retired, the weekend GFW shows and angles, Preston City Wrestling’s weekend show, former TNA star retires and a unique main event, plus early notes on this year’s WWC Anniversary show.
We also update the TNA TV situation, the Lucha Underground TV situation, the next ROH PPV show, new roles for people in ROH and notes from the weekend show.
We also look at changes in UFC main events, can UFC sell 70,000 tickets to its November show with Ronda Rousey, Rousey talks when she expects to retire, Cyborg, the date with the marine and notes about live shows on Fight Pass this month. We also look at this week’s PPV show, talks about the Jan. 2 Las Vegas card, a star fighter retires, Chad Mendes wants a rematch with McGregor, what happened recently with Jose Aldo, Rousey T-shirt sales, plus lots of more fights.
We also have a look at Bellator’s next major show, including the updated card, as well as plans for the big November show. We look at the Fan Fest with Fedor and Sakuraba, as well as notes on last week’s show.
We also look at the arrest of Chris Leben, and new restrictions on weight cutting that is being tried out for in California.
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.
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Wednesday Daily Update
— Ronda Rousey has been tapped to take over the Patrick Swayze role as the lead in a remaeke of “Road House.” Swayze played a well-educated bouncer who protected a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Terry Funk has a role in the original, which used to air all the time on TBS when WCW was still around. In fact, the movie helped get over the surprise of Funk attacking Ric Flair at Wrestle War ’89: It was less than two weeks away from release at the time, so fans “knew” Funk had retired to become an actor.
— Nhooph Al-Areebi is, thanks to Reddit, the latest NXT talent (or in the case of Jessicka Havok, NXT hopeful) to be outed as having posted various racially insensitive things on social media in the past. In her case, she was a teenager when she tweeted a few variations of the N-word among other things, including calling a black male wrestler her slave. She’s since deleted her Twitter account. If the lesson hasn’t been learned by now, don’t say this stuff, and if you did, clean it up when you’re trying to get into WWE.
— Nick Diaz (marijuana test failure), Rousimar Palhares (holding submission too long after rpated eye raking), and Jake Shuelds (threw a punch off his back at Palhares right after the fight ended) will all be on the docket for hearings at the next Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting this Monday.
— From Kris Zellner’s Lucha Report (full, illustrated version here): L.A. Park has been removed from all EMLL bookings for the immediate future after he used foul language after his match at Arena Mexico last Friday night. The promotion announced that Park’s actions didn’t meet the standards of their company and they can’t allow that lack of respect towards the fans. Park accepted his punishment and apologized to them so the promotion said that they left on good terms as well as saying that maybe down the road he may come back. Park will be replaced by Valiente on this Friday at Arena Mexico and Shocker on the 82nd Anniversario Show next Friday.
— Tommy Dreamer announced that House of Hardcore’s New York City debut will be November 14th at the ELMCOR Center in Corona, Queens. That’s the same day as the Big Event fan convention in Elmhurst and the Jersey All Pro Wrestling anniversary show in Rahway, New Jersey. On the HOH card will be Yoshihiro Tajiri, Ethan Carter III, Rhino, Bobby Roode, Tommy Dreamer, Austin Aries, Chris Hero, Eric Young, Guido Maritato & Tony Mamaluke (The FBI), Thea Trinidad, Justin Roberts and more.
— John Dodson is not happy with MMA fans blaming his loss to Demetrious Johnson on the bierh of his daughter.
— PWG has released the first Battle of Los Angeles 2015 DVD trailer.
—Newsday has an article about 50 NFL players who became pro wrestlers. Some of these aren’t entirely accurate.
— CWE Canada has a “Girls, Girls, Girls” card Friday Sept 25th- Steinbach, MB. Location: Steinbach Legion Community Hall (294 Lumber Ave.). Time: Doors Open 6:30pm, Bell time 7pm. Tickets: VIP First Access Ticket $20, General Admission $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Advance Tickets Available At: The Edge Bar & Nightclub (Inside The Frantz Inn, 1000 Main St.) Purchase tickets online at diyobo.com. Main Event is an 8 Women Over The Top Rope Battle Royal, Intergender Tag Team Match features Kat Von Heez & “The German Juggernaut” Moses Luke vs. Violet & “The Rebel” Bobby Collins, Bambi Hall vs. Roni Nicole, Sahara Se7en vs. Aja Perera , Ashley Frost vs. Gisele Shaw. Plus “The Coach” Kelly Russell hosts and much more!
Former WWE tag team champion Rico Constantino was on the ‘Pancakes & Powerslams’ show and had a bit of a rant on current WWE roster member Bubba Ray Dudley. Here’s a link to the whole show.
Excerpts:
“If you’re listening, Bubba, come here to Vegas and I’ll tell it to your frickin face. You are a spoiled brat. If you don’t get your way, you hurt people, and you do it on purpose.”
“He ripped my hamstring three times in Chicago. I told him I tore, and he kept going. He suplexed me, and tore it again. And when he pinned me, he threw my legs over my head, and put his legs on the second turnbuckle, and tore it again.”
“Yes, Devon is OK. Bubba, is a brat. You’re a spoiled, little baby. And I knew that when we went to Italy. Charlie and I had the tag team belts, and Bubba is there, Devon, we’re gonna wrestle in Italy. And out of respect, when they put the match up, I said, ‘OK. What would you like to do, Bubba?’ You know, cuz he’s been in the business longer than I have, so has Devon, and Charlie and I were giving them respect, ‘What would you like to do?’”
“Bubba popped off, ‘I’m tired of making the matches! You guys are the champions! Why don’t you make up the match!’ He was throwing a fit, in Italy! I said, what the hell? Like we win these titles; they give them to us! You want to win a title, go win Gladiators, you fat pig. That’s what I’m thinking. He [cried] and moaned. I looked at Dean Malenko and said, ‘Hey. Here.’ Threw him the belt and said, ‘Bubba wants the belt, give it to him. I’m not going out.’ ‘What’ [said Malenko]? I said, ‘I’m not going out. That’s it. Forget it. I don’t want the titles!’ And I left.”
“25-30 minutes later, Dean came up, that fat, little spoiled brat apologized, and we went out and had a match. Yep, Bubba’s famous for that. I’ll tell it to his face, and I live is Las Vegas, Bubba. Come over here, and I will tell ya.”
Kansas City, Kansas: – Mongolian Stomper beat Bob Geigel 2 falls to 1 – The Ox (Ox Baker) beat Bob Brown – Sonny Myers beat Bulldog Plechas by dq – Jerry Miller drew Thor Hagen
1967
Boston, Massachusetts: – WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Gorilla Monsoon in a Texas Death match at the Boston Garden
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Dr. X beat The Crusher dq – Ramon Torres beat Harley Race – Larry Hennig beat Al Kashey – Rock Rogowski (Ole Anderson) beat Big K – Chris Markoff beat Steve Druk – Eddie Sharkey beat Paul Caruso
1972
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Dr X & Mad Dog Vachon
1975 Omaha, Nebraska: – Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson in 2 out of 3 falls – Pampero Firpo no contest Nick Bockwinkel – Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell – Kim Duk beat Bull Bullinski
1976
Kansas City, Kansas: – The Super Intern defeated Ox Baker in a Texas Death Match – Skip Young & Rick Gibson fought Black Gordman & Great Goliath to a double-DQ – Harley Race defeated Bob Brown to retain the Central States Title
1977
– Georgia Championship Wrestling held a one night tournament for the Georgia Tag Team Titles. Tony Atlas and Tommy Rich defeated Pak Song and the Executioner to win the Titles.
1980
Allentown, Pennsylvania: – The Samoans defeated Tony Garea & Rene Goulet in a tournament final for the WWWF World Tag Team Title
1984
St. Paul, Minnesota (3000 attendance): – AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Brad Rheingans – AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Steve O & Jim Brunzell – Fabulous Ones & Blackjack Lanza beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito & Bobby Heenan in a Weasel Suit Match – Curt Hennig beat Harley Race dq – Larry Zbyzsko beat Tom Zenk – Billy Robinson beat Steve Regal
1986
Columbia, South Carolina: – Dusty Rhodes defeated Arn Anderson for the NWA Television Title
1993
– Shane Douglas won the ECW Heavyweight Title via forfeit from Tito Santana.
2000
– Rhino defeated Kid Kash in Mississauga, Ontario, to become the last ECW Television Champion
2012
TNA No Surrender: – Jeff Hardy beat Samoa Joe – Bully Ray defeated James Storm – TNA Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher defeated Tara – X Division Champion Zema Ion defeated Sonjay Dutt – Rob Van Dam defeated Magnus – TNA Tag Team Champions Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels defeated AJ Styles & Kurt Angle – Jeff Hardy defeated Bully Ray
Premier Boxing Champions debuted their weekly series on Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday, September 8th with a main event of Austin Trout knocking out Joey Hernandez in the sixth round at middleweight. The broadcast began at 9pm ET and also featured a co-main event with Jorge Lara going to a technical draw with Jesus Rojas at featherweight.
Trout, 29, outclassed Hernandez, 30, in every round before scoring the knockout with a series of body punches in the sixth. Hernandez was getting frustrated early in the fight. In the fourth round, he actually tossed Trout with a pro wrestling bodyslam, which resulted in point deduction.
The score at the time of the knockout was 50-44 for Trout on all three cards.
Trout improved to 30-2 (17 KOs). His two losses were both in 2013 by unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara, respectively. Trout also holds a unanimous decision win over Miguel Cotto in 2012. Hernandez fell to 24-4-1 (14 KOs).
Hernandez isn’t a terrible journeyman, but he was clearly brought in as a B-side opponent to showcase Trout for PBC’s debut on FS1. Trout is a former WBA Super Welterweight champion. He lost the title to Canelo. He moved up to middleweight in December 2014 and is now 3-0 since the move.
“We got a good win with a knockout. I’m happy to be here. I want to thank the fans for showing up. If you didn’t come for me this time, you will next time,” Trout said in his post-fight interview.
“From the first round, I had no legs. I was conditioned, but the day of the weigh-in I had to lose nine pounds. It is hard to come back from that,” Hernandez said in the post-fight press release. Hernandez weighed in at 156 pounds, but hydrated nearly 20 pounds up to 175 pounds the day of the fight. Trout also weighed in at 156.
The announcers kept pushing the idea of a feud between Trout and Julian “J-Rock” Williams, as they have a beef on Twitter. Williams fought Hernandez in the latter’s last fight back in April. Williams won via unanimous decision. The idea was that now Trout beat the same guy, but knocked him out in the sixth round instead of only winning a decision. Williams (20-0-1, 12 KOs) is scheduled to fight Luciano Cuello (35-3, 17 KOs) on the third PBC on FS1 broadcast, which airs September 22nd.
The three major middleweight stars in boxing, however, are Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, and Gennady Golovkin. They are all signed to promotions that work with HBO and not PBC. Plus, Trout has already lost to Canelo and Cotto anyway. So, it’s not like Trout can really be built into a situation where he is the opponent for a major name at middleweight.
A fight with Williams, however, would be an interesting TV bout. A couple of other possibilities for Trout are matches with WBO Middleweight champion Andy Lee and WBA “regular” champion Daniel Jacobs (the WBA “super” champion is Golovkin, who is generally regarded as the real WBA champ at middleweight). Lee beat Peter Quillin to retain his title on a NBC broadcast in May. Jacobs successfully defended his title against Caleb Truax on Spike TV in April and Sergio Mora on ESPN in August. None of these would be major fights, but they could be something used in a network TV co-main.
Also airing on FS1, Jorge Lara, 24, went to a draw with Jesus Rojas, 28. Lara’s left eye was cut in the third round and his right eye cut in the fifth from accidental headbutts. After the sixth round he was unable to continue fighting due to the cuts. The fight went to the scorecards. All three judges had it 57-57. Lara’s record fell to 21-1-2 (15 KOs) and Rojas’ record fell to 27-0-2 (19 KOs).
The card also included unaired prelims featuring wins by notable prospects such as Eddie Ramirez (10-0, 17 KOs, 23 yo, super lightweight), Ahmed Elbiali (12-0, 11 KOs, 24 yo, light-heavyweight), and Kevin Watts (9-0, 3 KOs, 23 yo, super lightweight), among others.
The fights took place at the Hollywood Palladium, which has a capacity of 3,700. Production was scaled back dramatically. If not for the PBC graphics at commercial breaks, it would be impossible to tell this was a PBC broadcast. The broadcast completely lacked the expensive hallmarks associated with the PBC brand. The arena was dark. The FS1 series is obviously going to be the inexpensive weekly broadcast to showcase prospects, perhaps generating a bit of interest in them before moving them along to fights on NBC, CBS, or ESPN.
The debut of PBC on FS1 had been rumoured for months, but officially announced by Fox in August. Fox was the last major network (besides The CW) not to be working with PBC in some capacity, as NBC and CBS have both broadcast multiple PBC shows and ABC has aired PBC on ESPN. It is unknown whether Fox’s deal with PBC includes broadcasts on the Fox Network, or if the deal pertains only to FS1. PBC’s deal with Fox includes 21 shows running through June 2016. The broadcasts are simulcast on Fox Deportes.
Nothing has been announced regarding PBC airing on Big Fox. With UFC as Fox’s broadcasting partner, it will be interesting the effect that PBC airing on FS1 has on UFC’s contract renewal negotiations with Fox in a couple of years (assuming any effect at all). I had figured Fox sat out of making a deal with PBC when all the other networks were lining up to work with Al Haymon because Fox already had UFC. They also aired Golden Boy, but they never drew great ratings on FS1.
PBC replaced Golden Boy as the boxing content provider for FS1. It was a major blow to Golden Boy, since their FS1 shows were the main way the promotion exposed rising stars to a wider audience. Golden Boy had their final boxing card on FS1 on June 30th, although they’ve continued to air “Golden Boy Classics” on Fox Deportes.
After losing the FS1 deal, Golden Boy announced a three-year deal with Estrella TV. Estrella is a Spanish language network that covers more than 85-percent of Hispanic TV households in the US and is popular in Los Angeles, but only reaches about 33 million homes in total. FS1, by comparison, reaches about 84.8 million homes. Fox Deportes reaches about 21.8 million homes. Estrella, however, isn’t a sports specific station, but a generalized Spanish-language broadcast network.
The final Golden Boy broadcast on FS1 aired on June 26th. It drew 129,000 viewers in the 10pm-12am ET slot. PBC on FS1 received a slightly better timeslot, so we will see what kind of ratings PBC brings compared to Golden Boy.
The new PBC on FS1 series is being packaged as “Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays”. This is not to be confused with Spike’s “Friday Night Lights Out” or TruTV’s “Friday Night Knockout”.
The list of channels that have aired PBC boxing now include NBC, CBS, Spike, ESPN, Fox Sports 1, Bounce TV, NBC Sports, and CBS Sports. At some point PBC will probably also air on ABC. Showtime also airs cards that are de facto PBC cards, although they aren’t officially promoted as such.
The show was hosted by Brian Kenney. Commentary was provided by Gus Hunter and Paulie Malignaggi, the latter being the regular colour analyst for most PBC broadcasts at this point. There was a wide variety of television commercials, which is notable because when PBC debuted earlier this year on NBC and CBS, there were almost no TV commercials because PBC was still trying to sell ad time. PBC shows on those networks now have a variety of commercials, but didn’t debut that way. The FS1 broadcast, however, debuted with ad space already sold ahead of time, which makes it unclear whether this is a time buy, or if it is a time buy and PBC is now having an easier time selling ad space.
The debut on FS1 didn’t receive much media attention. Most of the boxing press in the past couple of days has been focusing on the announcement that Timothy Bradley will fight Brandon Rios later in the year. Also, there has been a lot of press written on how poor ticket sales have been for Mayweather-Berto in Las Vegas this weekend. I’m in Vegas for the fight and I feel no sense of hype in town whatsoever, although that could change since we’re still a few days out and media for fight week just got started Tuesday afternoon with the fighter arrivals at the MGM Grand hotel lobby.
PBC on FS1 returns next Tuesday with Sammy Vasquez (19-0, 13 KOs) vs. Jose Lopez (25-3-1, 15 KOs) at welterweight.
PBC also has shows this week on September 11th on Spike and an afternoon show September 12th on NBC. TruTV also has a Top Rank show September 11th, airing against the Spike show, the latter of which has Adonis Stevenson debuting in Toronto. The week ends with the Mayweather-Berto spectacle on September 12th on pay per view and live at the MGM Grand.
Jeremy Wall can be contacted at jeremywall1984@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @jeremydalewall.
– The show opened with the Wyatt Family doing a promo, mostly just showing the clip from Raw where they took out Randy Orton.
– Cesaro b The Miz with the sharpshooter.
– Renee Young spoke with Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns and third man Jimmy Uso.
– Paige NC Sasha Banks. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Tamina, and Naomi were booted from ringside. Paige and Banks were brawling and two referees were trying to break them up. Naomi and Tamina ran back out and attacked Paige. This brought Charlotte and Lynch back out and they were brawling until the referees tried to break them up.
– WWE Champion/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins did a backstage interview about Sting destroying the chocolate statue. Sheamus came out and they argued as well.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (all three) vs. Reigns & Ambrose & Uso looked to be a non-finish. The Wyatts destroyed Uso on the stage. Reigns and Ambrose tried to save him but the lights went out, Uso was laid out, and the Wyatts were gone.
– The Ascension b Lucha Dragons due to distraction from Stardust and the fall of man. They were beating down the Lucha Dragons until Neville made the save
– Renee Young interviewed Team Bella. Charlotte came in and said she would win the Divas title on Monday.
– WWE Champion/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins b I-C Champion Ryback in a lumberjack match. Big Show interfered and attacked Ryback. Mark Henry then attacked Show. The Lucha Dragons did some dives and Neville did a moonsault out of the ring on the heel lumberjacks. Rollins then got the pin after the pedigree.
Former WWE and TNA Champion Kurt Angle was on Mark Madden’s Pittsburgh radio show Tuesday night, and said that he would not be signing a new deal with TNA Wrestling.
His contract expires at the end of 2015, and said he would be taking a break from pro wrestling at that point. He noted that he will be at Bound for Glory on 10/4.
Total Divas at 9:00 p.m. ET on E! is titled “Gone with the Wine” and features Nikki Bella vacationing in Napa; Trinity/Naomi taking her family on a camping trip that nobody actually wants to go on, and Eva Marie having to choose between her career and her husband for some reason.
SmackDown and Main Event will be taped tonight in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Please send reports to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com,
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Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring plenty of details on the Jimmy Snuka murder indictment including how the media covered his domestic abuse arrest and Nancy Argentino’s death back in 1993, just how on the ball Irv Muchnick was in writing about the case, the contradictions of the investigator, Snuka’s claims about his finances vs. the reality, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recnt FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
It’s a gigantic news week in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the main feature story on everything that led to the indictment of Jimmy Snuka after 32 years, plus Irv Muchnick, who has reported on the story for years gives his views on the proceedings, and we also look at Hulk Hogan’s attempt at redemption of his character, the full story behind the shooting at the Performance Center, notes from Battle of Los Angeles, the retirement of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hayabusa walks to the ring, Bram gets arrested, WWE fires Zahra Schreiber, UFC brings back Travis Browne, a rundown of the PPV business in WWE in 2015 and the latest monthly business report from WWE & TNA.
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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
Our lead story goes back to 1983 with an in-depth look at the death of Nancy Argentino, how the media caused the case to be reopened, a look at the charges against Jimmy Snuka, the different statements on the subject by Snuka, Snuka’s lawyer speaks, notes on documentation and testimony from the time, lots of notes regarding evidence, where Jimmy Snuka stood in the wrestling business in 1983, how Buddy Rogers fits into this story, what Snuka told police the morning after Argentino died as well as testimony from those who treated Argentino before her death.
We also look at the autopsy report, the police report from that time, the strange question that was never answered regarding the case being dropped, what Snuka has said to different people, the brawl in Syracuse before Argentino’s death, how the pro wrestling business in 1983 is so completely different from today and the previous legal action regarding this case.
Irv Muchnick also does a piece on the indictment talking about several points from the indictment.
We also look at Hulk Hogan appearing on Good Morning America and Nightline in a way to get his job back and repair his public image. We look at the WWE reaction, what Hogan said, what does and doesn’t hold up, the timeline issues with his various stories, neighbors of his growing up contradict his story and more.
We also look at the story of the man who was shot in front of the Performance Center, the circumstances of the shooting, and the different things he had done in recent months regarding his obsession with wrestling.
We also look at Battle of Los Angeles, how the tournament went, highlights from the weekend and celebrities at the shows.
We also look back at the career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, including his new job with UFC, his becoming the top heavyweight in the sport at one time, his background, his debut in RINGS, his move to Pride, his fight with Bob Sapp, his three fight series with Fedor and his UFC run.
We look at the arrest of Thomas “Bram” Latimer of TNA, police details of what happened, TNA’s response and what is next for him.
We’ve got a story on Hayabusa, one of the best high flyers from 15-20 years ago and his attempted recovery from near paralysis.
We’ve got a look at Travis Browne and his reinstatement in UFC.
We look at the firing of Zahra Schreiber, the girlfriend of Seth Rollins, by WWE.
We also look at WWE & TNA business when it comes to house shows, merchandise, ratings and other categories for the past month.
We also have a PPV chart with how all the shows in the first seven months of the year have been, and compared them with the last few years.
We also look at WWE signing one of the major international women stars and why she’s not going to be wrestling in NXT, the return of Dr. Wagner Jr. & L.A. Park to Arena Mexico and how it got over, top pro wrestling star gets a reality show gig, and some major title changes.
We also look at maneuvering for the 2017 and 2018 WrestleMania, and the favorites, the 10/3 Madison Square Garden WWE live special, notes on lots of indie stars on WWE’s radar, ticket sales for NXT in the U.K., a new WWE movie, Update on Wade Barrett, action figure sales, announcing changes, SummerSlam edits, lots of notes on various WWE lawsuits, Dean Ambrose talks Renee Young, Fan tries to attack Ambrose, Sara Lee in NXT, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week.
We also look at a number of top stars who worked recently in Bolivia, the last AAA TV taping and AAA wrestlers in a bodybuilding contest.
We update Wrestle-1 and the three generations of green mist stars trios match.
We also look at the Dragon Gate summer tag team tournament and its big show in Fukuoka and what came out of it.
We look at All Japan’s last major show and its current singles tournament.
We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major show, including a title match that was set up in the U.S., a well as the bracketing in the upcoming junior heavyweight tag team tournament.
We look at the weekend IGF show, a record that will be set at the next Tokyo Dome show, and the NWA title change.
We also look at U.S. stars who usually don’t tour Japan that are going shortly.
We’ve got more on the planned bio movie on Chris Benoit, Angelo Mosca getting his number retired, the weekend GFW shows and angles, Preston City Wrestling’s weekend show, former TNA star retires and a unique main event, plus early notes on this year’s WWC Anniversary show.
We also update the TNA TV situation, the Lucha Underground TV situation, the next ROH PPV show, new roles for people in ROH and notes from the weekend show.
We also look at changes in UFC main events, can UFC sell 70,000 tickets to its November show with Ronda Rousey, Rousey talks when she expects to retire, Cyborg, the date with the marine and notes about live shows on Fight Pass this month. We also look at this week’s PPV show, talks about the Jan. 2 Las Vegas card, a star fighter retires, Chad Mendes wants a rematch with McGregor, what happened recently with Jose Aldo, Rousey T-shirt sales, plus lots of more fights.
We also have a look at Bellator’s next major show, including the updated card, as well as plans for the big November show. We look at the Fan Fest with Fedor and Sakuraba, as well as notes on last week’s show.
We also look at the arrest of Chris Leben, and new restrictions on weight cutting that is being tried out for in California.
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.
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Tuesday Daily Update
— TMZ has a story about Paige and Alicia Fox getting int an altercation with a bar patron at a steakhouse last night in Baltimore. Apparently, the woman started agressively taking photos and videos of them, drinks went flying, and employees threw all three out.
— From a reader: I attended the Raw in Tampa a few weeks ago. WWE sent me a survey today asking all kinds of questions about what I liked and didn’t like, and what I like and don’t like about the Network. But one question they asked was intriguing – it asked which PPV start time I would prefer out of 1PM, 5PM, 7PM and 8PM. Thought it was interesting.
— Kotaku has an amusing article about game developer Jon Jones, who’s @JonJones on Twitter and…well, you can guess where it goes from there.
— Marc Raimondi is reporting at MMAFighting.com that the controversial unregulated Xplode Fight Series will start using th UMMAF (the American MMA sanctioning arm of the same organization that includes the IMMAF and KICK for kickboxing) as a third party sanctioning body. The UMMAF, which includes recognizable referees such as Steve Mazzagatti, Kim Winslow, and Frank Trigg, typically does amateur cards but sees XFS as part of their mission since they run mixed amateur/pro events. Xplode has come under fire for booking extreme mismatches to help fighters (especially those from San Diego Combat Academy’s Team Hurricane Awesome and the now defunct Reign Training Center) pad their records, with many of the designated jobbers looking like they’re completely untrained.
— Main event fight announcement from Bellator: After his explosive Bellator MMA debut, Hisaki Kato (5-1) will return to action on November 20 at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, OK., to main event “Bellator 146” against Melvin Manhoef (29-12-1, 2 NC).The middleweight contest will serve as the main event of “Bellator 146: Kato vs. Manhoef,” which airs live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream on Spike.com at 6 p.m. CT.
— WWE’s nw Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role set is out on DVD and Blu-Ray today. Also, Bob Backlund’s book is now in stock at and shipping early from Amazon.
— WrestlingDVDNetwork.com has revealed the following matches so far as being part of WWE’s upcoming “Owen: Hart of Gold” DVD set:
* Blue Blazer vs. Mr. Perfect – Meadowlands • May 8, 1989
* Owen Hart vs. Mark Kyle – World Championship Wrestling • March 16, 1991
* WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels Wrestling Spotlight • August 28, 1993
* Exhibition Match: Owen Hart vs. Nick Barberri – WrestleMania XI Public Workout; Times Square, NYC • March 28, 1995
* North American Heavyweight Championship Match: Owen Hart vs. Makhin Singh – Stampede Wrestling • May 1988
* Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – WrestleMania X • March 20, 1994
* King of the Ring Finals: Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon – King of the Ring • June 19, 1994
* Lumberjack Match for the WWE Championship: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – Portland, ME • August 17, 1994
* WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. The Allied Powers – In Your House • July 23, 1995
* # 1 Contender for the WWE Championship: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – In Your House • February 18, 1996
— NWAClassics.com added a new Magnum T.A. vs. Ernie Ladd match today for subscribers.
— On the latest Between the Sheets podcast, Barbed Wire City director John Philapavage joins Kris Zellner and myself to discuss all of the wrestling news from September 1-7, 1995 including the premiere of WCW Monday Nitro with Lex Luger’s surprise appearance.
— Great North Wrestling has a benefit show for the Canadian Cancer Society this Saturday, September 12th, at 1:30 pm at Hawkesbury Ford in Hawkesbury, Ontario. Former WWE manager Frenchy Martin will manage Hannibal in the main event when he takes on Myzery Barbarian. Carl Leduc, Jeremy Prophet, Sexy Eddy and other GNW regulars will be on the event. Greatnorthwrestling.ca
— Empire Wrestling Federation results from Knights of Columbus Hall September 4th 2015 Covina, CA: “The Sunset Blvd Bad Boy” Richie Slade def “The OC Assassin” RJ Ruiz, The Viking Warrior def Sergio Santana, EWF American Championship: “The Incredible” Anthony Idol (w/Walt Wizeone Zeman) def “The Baby Bull” Vance Garayt to become the NEW EWF American Champion, “Big Money” Tyshaun Prince def “The Definition of Pain” Terex, “Russian Chain Match” Gatson def “The SuperTsar” Sasha Darevko, EWF Tag Team Championship:
“Uptown” Andy Brown & Adrian Quest def The Congregation of Pain” (Friar Juan Roman & Archimedes) to become the NEW EWF Tag Team Champions, EWF Heavyweight Championship: The Man in Black (w/Gary Yap) def Misterioso Jr to retain the EWF Heavyweight Championship
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with tons of thoughts on Raw last night, the build to Night of Champions, ROH’s next PPV line-up, your questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
