Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 73: Teixeira vs. Saint Preux weigh-ins from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee kicking off at 5 PM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on FOX Sports 1 at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 PM eastern time before moving over to FOX Sports 2 at 8 PM eastern time. This will be the third event held in the city of Nashville, and the first since UFC On FX 1 in January 2012.
The event is headlined by a five-round light heavyweight bout as former title challenger Glover Teixeira looks to end his two-fight losing skid when he meets former University Of Tennessee football player Ovince Saint Preux, winner of seven of his last eight bouts. In the co-main event, it is a lightweight battle between two men riding four-fight win streaks as Michael Johnson takes on Beneil Dariush. Also on the main card is an interesting bout in the women’s bantamweight division as former Olympian Sara McMann takes on Amanda Nunes.
Ray Borg weighed in .75 over and didn’t look too surprised. He did not try to make the weight and will forfeit 20% of his purse.
Sara McMann looked really surprised at her .5 pound over. She did not strip down as the men did before her. They did reference Gina Carano is the only woman who has before.
MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT):
Glover Teixeira (205.5) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (206) Michael Johnson (155.5) vs. Beneil Dariush (156) Derek Brunson (186) vs. Sam Alvey (186) Jared Rosholt (237) vs. Timothy Johnson (265) Sara McMann (136.5) vs. Amanda Nunes (136) Ray Borg (126.75!!!) vs. Geane Herrera (126)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 2- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT):
Uriah Hall (185.5) vs. Oluwale Bamgbose (184.5) Chris Camozzi (185.5) vs. Tom Watson (185) Dustin Ortiz (125.5) vs. Willie Gates (126 – 126.5 on first try) Frankie Saenz (136) vs. Sirwan Kakai (136 – 136.5 on first try. Had to remove the shorts!)
1941 – At Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Orville Brown beat Carl Von Herbert 2 falls to 0, Bobby Bruns beat Benny Rosen 2 falls to 0, Steve Brody and Earl Wampler went to a 30 minute draw and Jack Hader beat Abe Friedman
1965 – Larry Hennig & Harley Race defeated Crusher & Verne Gagne for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Also on the card, Danny Hodge beat Rene Goulet, Tex McKenzie beat Kurt von Brauner and Chris Markoff beat Larry Hennig.
1969 – In Kansas City, Kansas; Tarzan Tyler defeated The Viking, Dick Murdoch fought Ernie Ladd to a draw and Danny Little Bear & Big Luke defeated K.O. Cox & Stan the Mad Russian in three falls.
1982 – In Denver, Colorado; Hulk Hogan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq and Rick Martel beat Greg Gagne
1993 – Eddie Gilbert & The Dark Patriot defeated The Super Destroyers in a tournament final for the ECW Tag Team Titles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1995 – Billy Jack Haynes defeated Brad Armstrong for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. That same night, the Heavenly Bodies defeated PG-13 for the USWA Tag Team Titles.
2001 – Chris Kanyon & Diamond Dallas Page defeated The APA for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Los Angeles, California. On the same show, Kane & The Undertaker defeated Sean O’Haire & Chuck Palumbo for the WCW World Tag Team Title.
2002 – Ron “The Truth” Killings defeated Ken Shamrock for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at the NWA/TNA PPV in Nashville, Tennessee. On the same show, Low-Ki defeated AJ Styles for the NWA/TNA X Division Title.
2010 – At the Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, North Carolina; Phil Shatter defeated Davey Richards to win the Futures Legends Cup and Adam Pearce defeated Bryan Danielson to retain the NWA Championship.
2011 – At the Hardcore Justice PPV, Kurt Angle defeated Sting to win the TNA World title and Winter defeated Mickie James to win the TNA Knockouts Title.
Pollock: It’s headlined by yourself & Myzteziz. Now the term “dream match” is often thrown out there quite a lot. For anyone who has any concept of the history of Lucha Libre over the past 20 years you are 2 of the definitive stars. For the 2 of you this always seemed like a huge, logical match in WWE.
Mysterio: I definitely think this is something that not only we wanted but the fans demanded. I think it will define our legacy. We both have similarities in our styles, in our outfit… Over the years he has spoke highly about how he has admired my career for so long. I saw him wrestle in Mexico & many times on TV & he was the future of Mexican wrestling at the time. It’s definitely a dream match – without a doubt. I know we’re gonna go out there & put everything on the line & give the fans exactly what they deserve.
Pollock: How is Rey Mysterio’s health today now in 2015?
Mysterio: It’s incredible. I’ve had a lot of time to heal up & my body is actually thanking me now for getting that opportunity to rest – to strengthen up my quads from all the damage over the years on my left knee. My right knee – thank God, knock on wood – it’s in great condition. Now I’ve just gotta stay in shape & keep doing what I love but on my own terms – not like in the early 30’s.
Pollock: You’ve spoken about the stem cell treatment that you’ve got on your left knee. Who introduced you to that & has it been the ultimate game-changer for your knee?
Mysterio: The person who introduced me to that was former WWE wrestler Charlie Haas who’s a great friend of mine. He introduced me to this doctor who was doing the treatment at the time and I said I was willing to try anything to see if there’s any improvement on my knee whatsoever and sure enough it did help. It was temporary but – again – this is one of those treatments that you have to constantly be on top of it – at least 2 or 3 times a year. (Transcribed by Joseph Bernard)
The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling can be heard every Sunday night at 11pm ET on TSN 1050 Toronto, TSN 1410 Vancouver, SiriusXM 167 and online at www.liveaudiowrestling.com.
The show opened with Triple H on the video screen announcing Shawn Michaels as the Guest GM. HBK came out to a big reaction and announced that the Rollins vs Ambrose main event would be a cage match. (I actually came in late and missed this, but Michaels put up his entrance on periscope).
First match was Finn Balor vs Neville for the NXT title. I got in just as Finn was making his entrance, no war paint obviously but he was wearing a Devitt like jacket. Finn worked subtle heel, they had a good match with both guys doing dives to the outside. Finn hit the Coup De Grace to a kneeled over Neville for a two count. Neville missed on a Red Arrow, leading to the double stomp by Balor for the win. They shook hands after the match.
Second match was Adam Rose vs Fandango. Pretty standard house show match with comedy spots. Fandango won with the Falcon Arrow. Rose looked in better physical shape than last time I saw him live.
Third on the card was R-Truth vs Luke Harper. Lots of comedy in the match, as sick as I am of Truth on TV, he’s a really seasoned house show performer. He had the crowd chanting Whomp there it is, which he should bring to TV, cause it at least would be a new element to his act. Harper won with the clothesline.
Fourth on the card was Orton vs King Barrett. The King came out first and did a really good job of using England’s current dominance over Australia in The Ashes cricket series for cheap heat. Orton came out to a really big pop. Really good WWE main event style match. My favourite moment was when Orton took a little kid in the front row’s Cena cap, and put it on Barrett. Orton then did the You Can’t See Me hands before punching Barrett. Orton won with the RKO to a big pop.
After intermission Bo Dallas came out and did his normal promo. Before he could finish HBK came out. Bo did a good job taunting Michaels for being retired. Michaels then superkicked Bo to a giant pop.
In the women’s match, the Bellas came out as faces but worked the match as heels (except when Nikki led Yes chants for Brie doing the Bryan kicks). Emma and Natalya won when Emma rolled up Brie. Emma was wearing Australian flag gear.
Owens came out to a big pop but worked heel against Cesaro. Really good match which could have gone another five minutes. Cesaro won with the swing into the Neutraliser.
Main event was Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose in a cage match for the WWE title. My match of the night and it was about as good as I can imagine a modern WWE cage match being. I enjoyed it more than any of their PPV matches. Seth worked the knee and Dean sold it as a major weakness when he was trying to climb out. Lots of great spots, at one point Dean was hanging from the turnbuckle in tree of woe position and Seth did a double stomp onto Dean’s chest. Seth also did the Hogan heel spot of taking his belt off and whipping his opponent. Dean eventually got the belt off Seth to whip him back. They went to the top of the cage, leading to a superplex from the top of the cage for the matches big spot. Seth won by slamming Dean’s head with the door, leading to a Pedigree and Seth escaping out the door. After the match Seth beat up Ambrose. Seth brought a table out, setting up Ambrose for a splash through the table. Ambrose escaped, hit Seth with Dirty Deeds and then gave Seth an elbow through the table. Show ended with an Ambrose promo.
The Rod Laver Arena was pretty much completely sold out, the biggest WWE crowd I have personally been in. Overall it was the best house show I’ve ever seen in Australia. I really hope they look at doing a Beast in the East style Network special next year.
Best matches:
1. Ambrose vs Rollins 2. Cesaro vs Owens 3. Tie: Neville vs Balor/Orton vs Barrett
Cheers Dave, hope this is helpful
Kevin Chiat
Submitted by Alvin Lim
– Show was sold out with est. 13k-14k in attendance. Big mix of kids with parents and hardcore fans.
– Big pop for the Roddy Piper tribute video they aired before the show started.
– Jojo comes out to offer refunds for the first 20 minutes due to John Cena’s absence, but urges us to hear the announcement from the guest GM before deciding.
– HHH appears on screen to introduce HBK as guest GM. Michaels comes up to a huge pop and makes the main event a steel cage match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title and introduces the first match for the evening.
NXT Champion Finn Balor def. Neville with the Coup De Grace Double Foot Stomp
Neville is over with the younger members of the audience while Finn played the heel. Not being on the main roster yet may have affected Finn’s popularity with the general audience. His shirts were one of the least popular at the merchandise stand. An entertaining enough opener with the usual flips and dives from both which drew the audience in.
Fandango def. Adam Rose with the Falcon Arrow
Our Superstars match of the night. Rose has nothing without his entrance and entourage while Fandango strangely feels like a nostalgia act with the Fandangoing already. Both men need new gimmicks.
Luke Harper over R-Truth with the Discus Clothesline
Truth is great with crowd interactions, getting the arena to chant “Whoomp, there it is!” like it was the 90s again. His appeal to the live audience is evident although his TV exploits are tiresome. Lots of stalling at the start with Harper getting tired of Truth’s constant appeals to the crowd, even sitting down in a chair at ringside to protest. After a teased countout of 9 at one point, Truth falls to the Discus Clothesline but goes to the back with a nice applause from the crowd.
They played a nice video for Connor Michalek at this point and Jojo advertised that one could help the cause to fight paediatric cancer by buying Connor bracelets from WWEShop. Nice charity bit and the video was very touching.
Randy Orton def. King Barrett with RKO
Barrett came out to laugh at the Australian cricket team’s performance against England for easy heat. Many “You’re a wanker!” chants following this. Orton is the master of doing so much with so little. He is a true star and gets maximum mileage from all his moves. At one point, he took the cap off a fan at ringside and asked him why he was wearing Cena gear when Cena wasn’t there. He then proceeds to put the cap on Barrett and did the “You Can’t See Me” handsign before laying in a European Uppercut. He hits the RKO for the win to bring us to intermission.
Intermission was followed by Bo Dallas interrupting Jojo’s announcements before HBK superkicks him as Bo was running his mouth about HBK being old and a has-been for the big pop.
Emma and Natalya def. The Bella Twins when Emma school girls Brie Bella
Nice pop all around to all the Divas but this was my time to hit the merchandise stand, coming back only for the finish.
Cesaro def. Kevin Owens with the Neutralyzer
Nice pops for both men. Owens is a tremendous heel and plays the part fully. He stopped short of high-fiving a young fan at ringside and later flinged sweat at him instead. It’s these little things that he excels at, such as responding to chants for a table by slapping on a headlock and not giving the fans what they call for. Cesaro’s feat of strength of the night was performing his inverted olympic slam move on Owens. He gets the pin after a 9-revolution Giant Swing and a Neutralyzer.
WWE Champion Seth Rollins def. Dean Ambrose in a steel cage match
Long main event that the fans got into at the end with all the teased finishes, the highlight being Rollins dangling over the floor as Ambrose held him by his hair from the top of the cage. Both men are over and Dean possibly more than his TV push. Ambrose gets his knee worked on and sold it all the way through the match, even after it was done. The finish comes when Rollins slams the door into Ambrose’s head before hitting the Pedigree and crawling out the door. In a post-match brawl, Ambrose manages to put Rollins through a table to send the fans home happy.
Biggest Pops
1) Randy Orton
2) HBK
3) Dean Ambrose
A fun show, even without the initially advertised Hulk Hogan and Cena. The newer guys carried the 2 main events very well, which is a good sign of renewal in the company, even as they endeavour to find and groom the next big thing to replace Cena.
It’s never easy to say goodbye especially when it comes to a legend like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper who we learned had left for the big ring in the sky one week ago.
As I did with Dusty Rhodes in June, I asked for your favorite Piper matches and moments to compile them in one place. This is the second of three parts that span nearly his entire career with today’s post focusing heavily on the Gordon Solie/Don Muraco angle from 1983, as well as the Greg Valentine encounter at the first Starrcade.
And while you’ll see some consistencies in the matches and angles, I really liked the personal touch in the stories behind them. There’s also house show matches, video compilations, and all kinds of fun stuff here. Clearly, Piper meant a lot to a lot of people and it showed.
After looking at the amazing career of Roddy Piper, there are so many moments to choose from, but I definitely have a highlight.
In 1983, Piper was color commentator on Georgia Championship Wrestling with the quintessential announcer Gordon Solie. “The Magnificent” Don Muraco was coming on the scene as a heel and was set to fight fan favorite “Wildfire” Tommy Rich at the Omni in Atlanta. As part of the set-up, Muraco is set to do an interview with Solie complaining about the lack of talent in the area and how is running over them all. As Muraco names his potential opponents, he inches closer and closer to the legendary announcer Solie.
Piper, who was truly brilliant on the mic, better than anyone had ever seen, was friends who Muraco and encouraged him to back off of Solie. After several attempts, Muraco in a fit of rage, punches Piper and knocks him to the ground only to return his focus on Solie.
Piper springs up and attacks Muraco to the amazement and enjoyment of the studio audience and all viewers at home. It took the entire locker room to break the two wrestlers up. Solie returns from break thanking the “enigma” “Rod” Piper for his heroic actions and for saving his life. The night at the Omni, the sold-out crowd witnessed Don Muraco vs. Tommy Rich. Sometime in the middle of the match, the audience parts and Piper emerges to the ring.
Fans cheered at the “enigma” having witnessed Roddy’s heroic actions televised less than 24 hours before. Piper walked into the ring, Rich stayed in his corner and Muraco approached Piper, reaching out his hands to give the illusion that all was well with the two wrestlers and that bygones should be bygones, until Muraco attempts to sucker punch a prepared Piper who ducks and then lands a deadly shot to the face that sent “the Magnificent One” down for the count. Piper had apparently concealed a roll of quarters in his right hand that helped pack the deadly punch and then nonchalantly threw the coins into the adoring and excited sold out crowd.
Piper would continue his color commentary duties as Solie’s sidekick, but would eventually return to the Mid-Atlantic region to feud with “Sir” Oliver Humperdink and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and build on his legendary status. He would return to Georgia Championship Wrestling a year later to help friend Rich in his feud against “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer, but it was clear that he was destined for even brighter stardom. Shortly after, Piper joined the WWF and went on to become the legend he was always destined to become.
Years later when I was heading up communications for Bally Total Fitness, I met Roddy Piper on a book tour in the Chicago area when he was promoting “In The Pit With Piper.” He was the consummate professional and a very kind and humble person, exactly how I had hoped he would be.
I would eventually hire Roddy to make appearances at our clubs around the country, where he would meet thousands of members and fans. He always had time and a smile for all those who came to see him.
My thoughts and prayers are with wife Kitty and the Toombs family during this difficult time. Words will never describe what a great pleasure it was to meet and thank the man who had my late father Morty, brothers Stephen and Jason, friends and I cheer, laugh and cry weekly for more than two decades.
Thank you Roderick George “Roddy” Toombs. To quote Ric Flair, the world has just gotten a bit less rowdy.
Don Rioux
I grew up watching Piper on GCW in the early 80s and his face turn saving Gordon Solie from Don Muraco is an all timer for me. I remember literally screaming at my TV as Piper saved Solie from a likely beatdown at the hands of Muraco. Everything about this angle was fantastic.
Rich Baker
For my favorite moment, the Solie/Muraco angle. Omni highlight on TBS, Piper goes to the ring, Muraco was facing Tommy Rich, Piper takes off his sportcoat, Muraco faces off and Piper nails him with a roll of quarters. Muraco is knocked out, Piper throws quarters into the air, calmly puts sportcoat on, and leaves. Amazing for its simplicity and Piper’s calm intensity.
For my favorite match: Gordon Solie’s call of his dog collar win over Greg Valentine at Starrcade. ‘Roddy Piper did it! Roddy Piper did it!’
Gary Falkenhagen
My favorite Roddy Piper moment was pre-WWF when he saved announcer Gordon Solie from Don Muraco attacking Solie. Muraco was mad at Solie and Piper and Muraco started brawling at the announcer’s podium in the WTBS studios after Muraco pushed Piper twice. I think this was around 1982. I was a 10 year old kid and I thought it was awesome seeing these two going toe-to-toe before the locker room broke it up.
Mike Blakemore
My favorite Piper moment is a little obscure. I was about 12 years old and I was watching Georgia wrestling on TBS and they were showing some scenes from a card that happened at the Omni. Don Muraco was in the center of the ring, Piper comes out in a suit, walks into the ring, puts his suit coat across the top rope and proceeds to hit Muraco with a roll of quarters. Quarters went everywhere, then he puts on his coat and walks out of the ring. My little mind was fried. It turned me into a wrestling fan and he was my favorite for a long time.
John Almeida
My favorite Piper moment happened during Georgia Championship Wrestling when Piper was commentating with Gordon Solie. Don Muraco came out, cut a promo, then shoved Piper down and Muraco appeared to be heading for Solie. Piper saved Solie by jumping Muraco and did a babyface turn. It was more than 25 years ago and I still remember it vividly.
Daniel Chornomaz
When he was the color commentator on TBS Wrestling with Gordon Solie in the early 80s, he was the funniest, wittiest, most gifted talker I ever heard. He made every match a must see as you’ve never knew what he would say next! I thought this was Piper at his best.
Meeting Roddy
Mike McNulty
He was in my Holy Trinity of favorite pro wrestlers – him, Flair, and Bruno, in different orders depending on my mood. And I also put him in my Holy Trinity of all-time heels – him, Blassie, and The Sheik (Detroit’s original).
I got a chance to tell him that years ago. He was promoting his autobiography in San Francisco where I lived, and I got his autograph at the bookstore. I also told him that he was what really sold WrestleMania, not Hogan. (I mean, it’s not really that hard for a good guy to sell things, is it?) He was actually fairly shy and seemed a little embarrassed when I was complimenting him.
The one thing I always remembered about that was watching him with everyone as they went through the line to get his autograph at the table he was sitting at. When a man came up to him, he would stand up and shake his hand. When a woman came up, he would stand up, take off his hat, and shake her hand. Every single time! It was really cool to watch, and it told me how good a person at heart he genuinely was.
It’s weird how a the death of someone you don’t personally know can actually mean so much to you, isn’t it? “Just when you think you know all the answers, I change all the questions.”
Piper Promos
Anthony Miletic
I was watching the Piper dvd in his honor (WWE should do another one), and was watching disc 3 with the Piper’s Pits. Most people will say that they loved the Frankie Williams one and the Jimmy Snuka one, and they are both awesome, but I actually liked the ones with Sal Bellomo in NJ and the one with Bruno Sammartino better. Piper was very funny. Also, there was one with King Harley Race that I liked just because it had Race in it.
The promos that he cut on Hogan in WCW were great like the first one in which he told Hogan, “I’m the reason you don’t have hair so what are you going to do about it?” I liked the ICON t-shirts he wore there and what that stood for: ‘I cower over nobody’.
I don’t know if I have one favorite Piper match, but I did like the Starrcade ‘96 match with Hogan just because he beat Hogan clean in that match. It’s amusing that how WCW labeled that match the “fight of the decade” or something like that.
Piper vs. Iron Sheik – WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event, October 1986
Doug Doxtator
I had the pleasure of meeting Roddy at a convention in 2006, and he was truly genuine and kind. We chatted for about 5 minutes about old Maple Leaf Garden matches, as well as my favorite Piper match. I was just a young 10 year old who lived in a small town that didn’t have cable and missed the match! I was upset until the next day I found out my uncle (who had cable) taped the show and I got to see it the next day after all! It wasn’t much of a match, but it meant a lot to me. RIP Rowdy Roddy…I never will forget him.
Piper vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton – WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event, November 1986
As a huge Bret Hart fan, my favorite Rowdy Roddy Piper match should be WrestleMania 8. It’s a great match, but it’s not my favorite. I’m willing to bet no one else will give you this one as the best.
Piper wrestled Bob Orton on a Saturday Night’s Main Event that aired November 29, 1986. The match is nothing special though Piper does his Three Stooges eye poke that makes me laugh every time I see it. Piper wins with a schoolboy after Orton collided with Jimmy Hart on the apron, and the finish was nearly botched when Orton starts to turn around after hitting Jimmy and has to turn back around so Piper could roll him up.
So why is it my favorite?
Prior to the match, Piper gives an interview with Mean Gene that is hilarious, but actually still makes you believe he wants to get at Orton. After the match, he gives another one to Gene in the locker room that is just as funny, and even more poignant. He ends the first interview by saying, “I was rowdy before rowdy was cool” and the second with, “When I’m good, I’m good, but when I’m bad, I’m much better.” Between the two promos and the match, it is my favorite Piper moment, and I actually showed it to a friend of mine the day before Piper died. Really! Piper is funny, cool, and you still want to see him fight Don Muraco and Adrian Adonis.
Even on his rare WWE appearances, he’s always funny. It’s so hard for wrestlers today to be both funny and still be seen as serious, real, and threatening, and Piper always pulled it off in spades.
Piper vs. Bruno Sammartino steel cage match in Boston – 1986
Dan in Dumfries, VA
My favorite Roddy Piper match won’t get too much attention, but it meant a ton to me.
February 8, 1986 in the Boston Garden was a history making show I attended as a 14 year old kid. It is well known as the night that Randy Savage defeated Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Championship. That wasn’t the main event though, and neither were The Hart Foundation vs. The Killer Bees, Hillbilly Jim vs. Big John Studd in a bodyslam challenge match, or even Ricky Steamboat vs. Magnificent Muraco in a Hawaiian Death match. The main event was the blow-off of a series of matches in the Boston Garden between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bruno Sammartino. Since the previous two matches ended in controversy, the final match was a steel cage match. As a brash kid, I went to the match planning on cheering for Roddy.
However, note the date: February 1986. Just days earlier, the New England Patriots got humiliated in the Super Bowl to the Chicago Bears. Piper came out to the ring wearing a Bears jersey, and put up posters on the cage wall of William Perry and Jim McMahon. The heat he got for that was OFF THE CHARTS!!!! The Garden roared with boos (myself included).
As Gorilla Monsoon would say “the place literally went bananas!” when Bruno came down to the ring, and when he ripped the shirt off Piper’s back, and ripped down the posters balled them up and rubbed them in Piper’s face. Piper took a beating for the length of the 10 minute match that night, and it was a rare case of Piper doing the job in the WWF as he lost clean to Bruno that night. I look back on that night with a combination of laughs and amazement of how much heat Piper got from the Boston crowd that night. It really summed up just how great a villain Piper was.
Piper vs. Greg Valentine – Dog Collar Match – Starrcade ‘83
Emerson Witner
My favorite Piper match of all time would have to be the dog collar match at Starrcade 83 with Greg Valentine. I was either 8 or 9 years old when I first saw it and I couldn’t turn away from the tv. It was so violent, so bloody and so brutal that they had my attention from bell to bell. This was 1992 or 1993 when I first saw it, so it was completely different from everything that was on wrestling at the time that the whole match just stuck in my head. If you were to ask me today for my Top 25 matches of all time, this match would be there, no doubt.
My favorite Piper’s Pit would be the one with Andre. Piper was the cocky, smart ass heel who had done this routine with every guest where he spent two minutes insulting them and then beating them up. Andre just sat there with a smile on his face that read “I dare you to try and attack me”. Piper commented about how Andre had this giant body and a teeny tiny brain and it eventually led to Andre lifting him up by his shirt and shoving him away. Of course Piper being Piper, as soon as Andre walked off, he turns to the camera and shouts “You do not throw rocks at a man with a machine gun.”. You knew he wouldn’t dare try to attack Andre again, but he wasn’t left looking like a total geek, which is what would happen today.
J.C. Gethicker
No Piper “Best Of” talk can be complete without one of the most intense matches in the history of pro wrestling: Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine at Starrcade 83′ in the dog collar match for the US Title. This match showed the first-ever closed circuit audience what an intense, realistic, great pro wrestling brawl could be. This was a culmination of a masterful feud buildup and really stole the show at the inaugural Starrcade. Sure Flair-Race had historical significance, but Piper-Valentine had pure, unbridled intensity.
The opening of this match with both men scowling at each other and jostling that chain with their necks before the bell is one the most iconic visual moments in the history of the business. Piper and Valentine went out here, beat on each other, and basically had a fight. One of the best things about this match is its realistic tone. Both men beat and bloodied each other and the fans loved every minute of it. Put the match on now and still feels as fresh as it did back then. The match proved Piper was ready to deliver on the biggest stages…and he did.
Luke Aschbrenner
My favorite Roddy Piper match was him vs Greg Valentine (dog collar match) from Starrcade 1983. That match is one of the first I saw and thought “Holy sh*t.” One of the most vicious, bloody matches I’ve ever seen. The psychology and ruthlessness of that match set a standard that in my opinion has never been met since.
Roddy Piper was my first hero as a little boy. I could write a book about how much he impacted my life. He’s the first passing since Curt Hennig, that really hit me hard. Match was nothing too special to the naked eye, yet Roddy entertained as only he could, including ripping off Perfect’s singlet at one point. With Piper forcing Perfect to fight his way, Piper won by count-out, allowing Perfect to retain the title. A rare match between two favorites I’ll never forget.
Welcome to this morning’s coverage of the G1 Climax 25 tournament. Today we’re in Shizuoka, with the main events being Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi.
Tiger Mask is still out due to injury, so tonight he’ll be replaced by Jushin Thunder Liger in his undercard match.
Simple, solid match. They traded back and forth offense an looked pretty good, though this was short. White had him in a Boston crab at one point but he escaped. Komatsu put him in a half Boston crab of his own and submitted him.
Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano vs. Jay White and Tetsuya Naito
Nothing of note. Yoshi-Hashi and David Finlay had some great back and forth, but typical finish with Yoshi-Hashi laying him out with a lariat and pinning him with a swanton bomb.
Kota Ibushi, Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Bad Luck Fale, AJ Styles, Tama Tonga and Doc Gallows
Welcome to this morning’s coverage of the G1 Climax 25 tournament. Today we’re in Shizuoka, with the main events being Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi.
Tiger Mask is still out due to injury, so tonight he’ll be replaced by Jushin Thunder Liger in his undercard match.
Jay White vs. Yohei Komatsu
Simple, solid match. They traded back and forth offense an looked pretty good, though this was short. White had him in a Boston crab at one point but he escaped. Komatsu put him in a half Boston crab of his own and submitted him.
Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano vs. Jay White and Tetsuya Naito
Nothing of note. Yoshi-Hashi and David Finlay had some great back and forth, but typical finish with Yoshi-Hashi laying him out with a lariat and pinning him with a swanton bomb.
Kota Ibushi, Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Bad Luck Fale, AJ Styles, Tama Tonga and Doc Gallows
Usual eight man. Pairings for this match, since they’re due to face off soon, include Ibushi/Fale, Gallows and Makabe and Styles/Tenzan. As usual, Captain New Japan and Tama Tonga square off against one another and Tonga ends up pinning him with the waistlock DDT.
Solid six man match. Crowd was very much into it when Tanahashi and Shibata squared off. Dorada’s big move of the night was a huge Asai moonsault to Liger on the outside. The ending sequence had Taguchi and Dorada, who had some great back and forth and scored some nearfalls. Taguchi put the ankle lock on twice. Dorada tried to counter, but eventually couldn’t any longer and tapped out to it.
Yuji Nagata vs. Michael Elgin
Lots of stiff back and forth here. The crowd reacted to big spots, but it seemed like it lacked heat in the big picture until the end. Overall, a pretty good match, but nothing special. Elgin did his big deadlift falcon arrow spot for a nearfall. Nagata came back and gave him the belly to belly on the post. Elgin countered by lifting up Nagata and carrying him all the way to the other side of the ring for a buckle bomb, then pinned him with the powerbomb.
Tomoaki Honma vs. Karl Anderson
Fine match for the most part, but really picked up once the near falls started. Honma kicked out of a gun stun and made a comeback that got the crowd going, hitting several nearfalls and and a kokeshi, as well as avoiding Anderson’s other attempts at a gun stun. A brainbuster didn’t do it either. He goes for the top rope kokeshi, but Anderson gets up and in mid motion grabs Honma and hits another gun stun for the win. Last few minutes were really great.
Hirooki Goto vs. Satoshi Kojima
Good match, plenty of back and forth action, but nothing memorable. Goto hit a code red off the top rope, and Kojima came back with a brainbuster. Goto made a comeback, hit the spinning face slam then pinned Kojima with the shouten kai. Finish seemed to come out of nowhere.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Okay match, nothing special. Seemed much shorter than other matches tonight. Yujiro jumped him right as Nakamura was making his entrance. He worked over his injured arm, jamming it into the post and wrapping it around the barricade. Nakamura made a brief comeback but Yujiro cut him off. Nakamura came back and hit a boma ye for a near fall. Yujiro blocked a second and tried the Miami Shine but Nakamura escaped. Yujiro missed a charge in the corner then Nakamura pelted him with two more boma yes for the win.
Glory 23 took place Saturday, August 7th at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. It was the promotion’s debut in Vegas. The show was headlined by Nieky Holzken defeating Raymond Daniels in the third round by TKO due to a cut to win the vacant Glory Welterweight title. The show also featured a one-night, four-man middleweight tournament won by former UFC fighter Dustin Jacoby, who knocked out Ariel Sepulveda in 2:59 in the semi-finals and then stopped Casey Greene by TKO at 1:19 of the second round in the tournament finals. The show aired on Spike TV.
The main event between Holzken and Daniels was an exciting match. It was a rematch of the finals of a welterweight tournament at Glory 19 in February, which Daniels lost by TKO. This time Daniels looked much improved, particularly his boxing skill. The first two rounds saw Holzken back Daniels into corners, but Daniels would box his way out. Daniels is a 35-year-old karateka with some incredible spinning offense, but that he was able to improve his boxing to a level where he was competitive with Holzken, who is known as a good boxer, was impressive.
Daniels looked like he was winning the fight when he ate a hard knee above the eye, which opened up a disgusting cut. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight immediately once he saw the cut. It was too bad because it was a good fight that might have led to a win by Daniels, a flashy American who, although a bit old, has charisma. I would think the obvious thing to do here would be to do a rematch once Daniels is ready, although that might be hard to justify since Daniels already has two losses to Holzken.
With the tournament victory, Holzken won the Glory Welterweight title. The title was previous held by Joseph Valtellini, who had to vacate due to lingering post-concussion syndrome. Valtellini was at the event as a backstage interviewer and participated in commentary for the tournament finals. He hasn’t officially retired, though, so he might be back if his concussion problems subside.
Valtellini would make a natural challenger for Holzken’s title. Holzken already holds a win in Glory over Valtellini via third-round TKO at Glory 13 in Tokyo on December 21st, 2013. Valtellini could also face Daniels again at some point. Valtellini beat Daniels by knockout on that same card in Tokyo. Valtellini’s last fight was a win over Marc de Bonte at Glory 17 in Los Angeles on June 21st, 2014, which was the failed Glory pay per view.
In the co-main, Jacoby beat Greene by TKO in the second round in a middleweight tournament finals. Jacoby is a former UFC, WSOF, and Bellator veteran with a 10-5 MMA record. He had losses in both his UFC fights to Clifford Starks and Chris Camozzi, lost to David Branch in WSOF, and lost to Mo Lawal and John Salter in Bellator. He is 6-5 in kickboxing, but actually had a losing record going into the Glory 23 tournament. He has exciting fights, but is definitely not in the upper tier of skilled fighters either in MMA or kickboxing. He is 3-5 in Glory.
He beat Ariel Sepulveda in the first round of the Glory 23 tournament to meet Greene in the finals. Greene beat Quinton O’Brien by unanimous decision in the first round. Even though Jacoby is not one of the better kickboxers at middleweight, Greene had a hard time with Jacoby, and was nearly knocked out in the first round. In the second, Jacoby continued to pummel Greene until the fight was stopped with Greene taking tremendous damage.
By winning the tournament, Jacoby earns a spot in yet another tournament to determine the number one contender to the Glory Middleweight title. Tournament booking is beyond lazy matchmaking. Tournaments only work when they are used sparingly, like the early Pride Grand Prix tournaments. Those early Pride tournaments were fantastic because the idea that Pride had at the time was for the Grand Prix to be like an Olympic event that only came around once every few years and featured the best. The later Pride Grand Prix tournaments meant a lot less because they were held so frequently, and thus the appeal was diminished.
The problem with so many tournaments is that people forget who was in the tournament and who won which tournament. I also think the “wrong guy” wins more often in a tournament. If you have four fighters and you have one guy that is the preferred tournament winner because he is the most marketable, if he wins his first fight, but gets injured, or his cardio is weak, or gets roughed up and fights poorly in the finals, then he ends up losing and you’ve damaged his marketability. I think it is better for Glory to just do single fights with an eye on matchmaking to try and create new stars.
Also on the show, Xavier Vigney beat Daniel Sam by split-decision at heavyweight. The split-decision was a bad call because Vigney dominated the entire fight. Vigney won a heavyweight qualifier tournament at Glory 21 in San Diego back in May and that tournament win hasn’t really gone anywhere. I don’t think Glory really runs enough events to hold tournaments for guys to win places in better tournaments, anyway. Vigney looked good, but not great, in this fight, although he will make a competitive challenger against Glory Heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven if Glory chooses to make that match.
Production was good. The Hard Rock Hotel came across as such a small venue on television, but that is typical for many of the Glory shows that take place in the US. Even with the smaller venues, I think it is better for Glory to take place in the US and preferably air live if they are going to become a successful television product for Spike. Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros provided commentary, and were as good as they have ever been. Bill Goldberg appeared to hype the Dynamite show as a brand ambassador for Glory. If they could get Goldberg to fight in a superfight or something at heavyweight that would probably do a strong rating, as Bellator has done well with the freak show stuff (although that won’t last).
Georges St-Pierre, of all people, also participated in a bit of the hype for this show, although he wasn’t featured on the broadcast. He was in Las Vegas the week of the fights to promote a new kickboxing glove being marketed by Hayabusa, who is one of GSP’s sponsors. Hayabusa also sponsors Glory and Nieky Holzken. Holzken and GSP sparred. It would have been cool if during the Spike broadcast Glory aired a clip of Holzken sparring with GSP, with GSP talking about how great Glory is. I don’t know GSP’s contract status with UFC, but maybe because of that Glory couldn’t do it.
The show aired on Spike from 11pm ET to 1am ET. Perhaps that the event took place out west was the reason for the late start time, but it is hard to imagine ratings being strong for such a late showing. After the broadcast Spike also aired a hype show for the Antonio Tarver-Steve Cunningham PBC fight that takes place this Friday. The hype show aired from 1am ET to 2am. I don’t understand the point of putting shoulder programming on so late, since the idea with that kind of content is to get as many eyeballs on it as possible in order to build hype for the actual fight. Airing shoulder programming at 1am feels a bit pointless. Friday during prime time, Spike aired a marathon of Cops episodes.
Glory has aired outside of prime time for a couple of shows now, which isn’t a positive. Glory 22 took place June 5th from France and aired at 4pm ET on Spike. It only drew 152,000 viewers, the poorest Glory has drawn on Spike. The afternoon broadcast didn’t work. Maybe a late night broadcast will work better. Prior to Glory 22, Spike has aired eleven Glory events that have averaged 462,818 viewers per show.
The problem with airing Glory in the afternoon or late at night is that in the United States, people are used to seeing kickboxing as filler material on secondary sports channels. Kickboxing also isn’t a native sport in the US, as it is realistically a foreign sport with similarities to boxing, its more popular American cousin. Comparing kickboxing to boxing in terms of American popularity is a bit similar to comparing rugby to football or cricket to baseball in the US. It’s not exactly the same, but the point is that because kickboxing is a foreign sport that has been used as time filler in the US, Glory has to overcome the negative perception associated with kickboxing in the US in order to become a box office draw.
Airing outside of prime time does not help overcome that negative perception. Glory needs to air in prime time on Spike in order for the audience to become accustomed to the idea that kickboxing is a prime time sport and not something that airs at funny times in the afternoon or late at night. Glory has been on Spike since 2013 and Spike has broadcast numerous Glory events in prime time. Maybe 462,818 viewers per show isn’t cutting it for Spike on prime time. If that is the case, then Spike has a problem with their “Friday Night Lights Out” combat sports series, because although Bellator draws better, PBC boxing isn’t drawing much better than Glory.
Glory is back for the Dynamite event on September 19th at the SAP Center in San Jose that is being co-promoted by Glory & Bellator in a throwback to the old mega events in Japan. The idea here is to obviously take what would have otherwise been one of the major tent pole Bellator shows that draw well and add some Glory fights in order to increase Glory’s exposure. If that’s the case, then Spike should not have been airing Glory outside of prime time for the last couple of events. That feels like throwing in the towel too early on Glory, because if the Dynamite event succeeds by increasing Glory’s popularity, then Spike needs to continue airing Glory in prime time, otherwise Glory’s increased popularity will fade quickly.
Dynamite is headlined by Tito Ortiz challenging Liam McGeary for the Bellator Light-Heavyweight title. Ortiz is shot, but McGeary hasn’t faced someone with as big of a name on such an important show as this, so it will be an interesting test for him. On the Glory side, there are four fights. First is Saulo Cavalari vs. Zach Mwekassa for the Glory Light-Heavyweight title that was stripped off Gokhan Saki due to a contract dispute with Glory. Second is Gabriel Varga making his first defense of the Glory Featherweight title against Sergey Adamchuk. Third is Paul Daley against an opponent TBA, although Holzken has challenged Daley and they could make that for the Glory Welterweight title now that Holzken is champion. Last is a women’s flyweight match between Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez and an opponent TBA. Melendez is the spouse of Gilbert Melendez. Joe Schilling was also supposed to be on the show, but had to withdraw due to injury.
Glory has made some odd choices here. This is meant to showcase the best of Glory, since this event will surely get more viewers than Glory has ever had for a show in the US. But the company isn’t even highlighting their best fighters. I have no idea why they are having a women’s fight here when Glory has never aired women’s kickboxing on Spike before. Melendez signed with Bellator a few weeks ago, so maybe they feel she has star potential and want to give her a push by putting her in a showcase fight on the Glory side of this event. But Bellator doesn’t even have a proper women’s division, let alone a proper women’s flyweight division, and neither does Glory, so that makes zero sense.
I like the idea of Daley challenging Holzken for the Welterweight title, if that is what happens. It would give Holzken a chance to beat an MMA fighter with somewhat of a name in a high profile fight and maybe in turn increase Holzken’s profile. The two other title fights are okay, although I would have gone with a different title matches than the Light-Heavyweight and Featherweight titles, particularly since the fighters involved in those matches don’t have tremendous star potential. It would have been better if Glory had booked a heavyweight title match with champion Rico Verhoeven and maybe a middleweight title match with champion Artem Levin, with the idea of the middleweight title match being that it could build to a title defense against Joe Schilling on a later show. If Artem Levin retained his middleweight title, he would thus face Schilling in a rubber match, as they each hold one win over the other.
This is Glory’s best chance to get their product across to a wider audience and I think they are squandering it. Since it will mostly be MMA fans watching Dynamite, I think a better theme for Glory’s portion of the show would have been four Kickboxing vs. MMA fights, with four fighters from Glory facing four MMA stars under kickboxing rules. Glory could get fighters from Bellator, such as Daley, or use former UFC guys that also do kickboxing, like Jacoby or Pat Barry. The idea is that the MMA names would generate broader audience interest and most of the fights would be won by Glory guys, since they would be competing under kickboxing rules. It would be a chance to put over Glory kickboxers who otherwise wouldn’t have as much of a chance to get over with a wider audience.
Also, if Glory was ever going to do a kickboxing match featuring Bill Goldberg, the Dynamite event was obviously the time.
The truth is that Glory hasn’t been able to create a major new star, or even find a potential major new star, that they can use to headline an important show like Dynamite. Everything in combat sports is based on star creation. It is hard to create new stars. I have yet to see a single fighter on a Glory event that has major breakout star potential, but isn’t quite there yet. The closest would be Joe Schilling, but I don’t think he quite has the skill level to hang with the best and win regularly in order to maintain his star status. Tyrone Spong also has potential, but hasn’t fought for Glory in ages.
That’s what Dynamite would be good for, showcasing a fighter who Glory believes has the ability to carry the promotion to a higher level of popularity. Bellator has a few guys with potential. PBC has Deontay Wilder and possibly Keith Thurman, and a few others. I don’t know if Glory really has anyone. They have many great fighters, but being a great fighter is not the same thing as being a star (although typically a star needs to be a great fighter, too). Glory needs that one charismatic star that can draw interest from people who would not otherwise watch a Glory show, and right now I don’t know who that star could be.
Jeremy Wall can be contacted at jeremywall1984@gmail.com and found on Twitter @jeremydalewall.
