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  • WWE Smackdown July 16 spoilers: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus & Big Show

    Here’s some notes and spoilers from Tuesday’s WWE Smackdown spoilers in Birmingham, AL, taped for Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in the U.S.

    – Roman Reigns opened the show.  Bray Wyatt was on the screen and they went back-and-forth to build Sunday’s match.

    – New Day b Lucha Dragons.  New Day cut a promo about the Prime Time Players after the match.

    – King Barrett b Jack Swagger with the bull hammer. R-Truth came out to cut a promo on Barrett for their match on Sunday.

    – Cesaro b Rusev in a very good match.

    – Neville b Stardust

    – They aired footage from Raw. Tamina Snuka & Naomi & Sasha Banks did a promo together and announced they were Team BAD: Best at Domination.

    – Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose b Sheamus & Big Show via DQ. Wyatt interfered for the finish.

  • WWE Tough Enough episode 4 (July 14) results & recap

    By Kenneth Nida for WrestlingObserver.com

    Last week saw the contestants work on their characters, a fight between Patrick and Tanner, and Dianna leaving the show because she wanted to be with her fiancé. We also saw the elimination of Daria, who struggled to show off her character. This week will see King Barrett make an appearance, which will probably be just as brief as Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

    Today’s episode opens up with Renee and Chris Jericho talking to the judges about last week’s elimination before running down the rules of the show. We then go to the barracks after the elimination. Chelsea Green, who was eliminated during the initial tryout camp, has been re-added to the competition since Dianna walked away. Amanda and Gabi get into an argument about Amanda’s boobs, which she announces were re-done six months ago, after Gabi says she confided in her that she had a problem with them.

    The next day the competitors view a video of various WWE Superstars cutting promos, such as Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, and The Rock. King Barrett is introduced to the cast. He speaks to them briefly about the importance of promos and challenges each person to cut a promo declaring why the competitor will be the next King of the Ring. They only show 3-5 seconds of each person, and Barrett critiques several of them.

    We then go to a local improv comedy club for the challenge. Chris Jericho introduces the challenge, which is pairing the competitors up to cut promos on each other. Patrick and Tanner are paired up, and Patrick takes out his frustrations about Tanner knowing nothing of wrestling, pointing out that MMA fighters not named Brock Lesnar don’t do too well in the WWE.

    Chris Jericho tells Sara Lee that it pisses him off that she’s still in the competition. She just apologizes that he feels that way. You can tell Jericho is just trying to light a fire under her and get her to show some passion and challenge him, but she continues to be passive. He questions whether she has it in her to show some spark. Finally she declares that she does, and she’s going to show it. We go back to the judges, and Paige is not impressed, saying she should go home. Patrick ends up winning for the men, and Giorgia wins for the women. Josh confronts Patrick, saying he only won because he sucked up to the crowd. They get in each other’s faces before Josh throws a drink in Patrick’s face. The two have to be pulled apart. Mada comes off really poorly just yelling at Patrick, declaring he’s a monster while standing behind Josh. The two get into another shoving match before Patrick leaves.

    All the remaining girls are together, and Gabi’s failures when it comes to the challenges are brought up. Tanner flirts with Chelsea. He mentions that Sara Lee turned him down, so he’s “On to the next one”. Which is strange, because I don’t think they ever showed Sara Lee turn him down. He ends up kissing her when she gives him a hug. We go back to the judges, who declare Tanner has no game.

    The next challenge involves learning how to pick your opponent up for a bodyslam. Some of the girls have trust issues, so it’s hard for them to allow their partner’s to pick them up. Chelsea ends up winning for the girls, while Josh wins for the men. Sara Lee struggles with the challenge, and some of the other girls give her a little pep talk afterward to cheer her up.

    They go through the contestants before the elimination and voting. The judges drill the competitors. Paige calls out Sara Lee for failing to step up, and failing at the second challenge. Paige gets into a shouting match with her after she fights back a bit. Hogan takes offense to Patrick saying the days of the big men ruling wrestling were over, saying Patrick is only coming off as a smart mark. The bottom 3 are chosen, with Paige choosing Sara Lee (again), Daniel Bryan choosing Gabi, and Hulk Hogan choosing Tanner. They give the competitors 30 seconds to cut a promo on the judge that chose them for the bottom 3. Sara Lee is the only one who truly cuts a promo on the judge, with Gabi practically just repeating her promo from earlier about wanting to be the first Brazilian Diva.

    They speak to the other competitors about who they think should go home. Everyone chooses Gabi. Each judge declines to use their save. Sara Lee gets 63% of the vote, Tanner gets 26% of the vote, and Gabi is eliminated with 11% of the vote. Daniel Bryan has picked the person to go home every week now. They gave Sara Lee so many opportunities to open up and show some passion. She finally managed to do so when it meant the most, just before the voting began. Gabi says she’s glad she was eliminated, and says she hopes Sara Lee wins the competition.

  • WWE news: Raw ratings

    Raw on Monday did 3.54 million viewers, the second lowest number in the last 17 years not on a holiday or during football season.

    The number was expected to be down due to Home Run Derby, which did 7,126,000 viewers.

    The Raw numbers did increase by the hour, so that was a good sign.

    8 p.m. 3.43 million viewers

    9 p.m. 3.51 million viewers

    10 p.m. 3.65 million viewers

  • TUES. UPDATE: WWE announces next quarterly report, CM Punk on striking, and more

    by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix

    TV/major show notes notes for tonight:

    Tough Enough airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on USA Network. Ten competitors remain, as WWE Tough Enough returns for week 4, tonight on USA Network. After Dianna’s departure, the barracks receive a shakeup in the form of her replacement, Chelsea Green. Then, the hopefuls are visited by royalty when WWE Superstar King Barrett® makes a special appearance to demonstrate the importance of connecting with the audience through the art of the “interview”.  The competitors then have a chance to develop their microphone skills with a trip to Orlando Improv. For a look at this week’s episode, click here.

    Total Divas airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on E! Total Divas, continues with an inside look at WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania®. The Divas have an action-packed week leading up to the big event, and it’s off to a rocky start. In her attempt to start a family, Brie Bella® is fearful that she and her husband, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan®, may be facing fertility issues. WWE Diva Natalya™ is still worried about her father’s health and Paige™ discovers she’s unprepared to get into the ring at WrestleMania. For a sneak peek at tonight’s episode, click here.

    SmackDown and Main Event will be taped on tonight in Birmingham. If you’re attending and would like to write in a spoiler report, please send it to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

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    The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with an extensive look at the new NWA Classics streaming service, the Houston Wrestling library, and Houston’s place in wrestling history. Among the topics covered are:

    * What made Houston Wrestling unique and how the town evolved.

    * What’s on the NWA Classics service so far and why it’s awesome.

    * What other libraries are still around?

    And much more. Plus, as always, we have  all of the usual reviews and international news.

    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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    We’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, highlighted by part two of our look at the career and life of Dusty Rhodes.  This focuses on his babyface turn in Florida, his quest for the title, his rise to national prominence, and his feuds with Terry Funk, Superstar Billy Graham and Ole Anderson.  Plus, we look at this year’s G-1 Climax tournament, New Japan Dominion, lots of injury notes regarding some of WWE and TNA’s biggest stars, WWE lawsuit, Beast in the East and much more.

    The Latest Wrestling Observer:  July 13, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Dusty Rhodes bio part 2, back to back major shows in Japan

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

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    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 this week looks at the babyface heyday of Dusty Rhodes as a touring attraction.  We look at how the business was in the 70s, the changes in the business in the Southeast and why, the rise of pro wrestling on cable television, his departure from World Championship Wrestling, and his first babyface run that people have forgotten.

    We look at the heyday of Championship Wrestling from Florida, the work of Gordon Solie, Eddie Graham, and Rhodes arrival in Florida in 1973.  We look at the angle that changed Rhodes’ career, the transition from Jack Brisco to Dusty Rhodes as the big star in Florida and how that changed the business, the Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk I Quit match, the relationship between Rhodes and Funk, Dusty Rhodes’ first two NWA title runs, how the NWA title changed during the 70s and why and Rhodes’ quest for the title.  We also look at who Rhodes worked with, and his travels around the globe during his heyday, including some unique matches and opponents that most Americans don’t realize ever took place.

    We look at his Madison Square Garden feud with Superstar Billy Graham, pro wrestling at the Omni in Atlanta, Dusty Rhodes on TBS and the role pro wrestling made in the early history of cable television, as well as the famous angle where Ole Anderson & Ivan Koloff kicked off their feud with Rhodes that set cable records.

    We look at the famous Ole Anderson interview after turning on Dusty Rhodes and why their angle is so fondly remembered, The last Tangle in Tampa, the night that cable television changed the history of pro wrestling, the end of Roy Shire’s promotion, and the second world title run.

    We also have a look at the G-1 Climax tournament for this year, including the favorites, all the matches, as well as full coverage of the Dominion show from Osaka with Kazuchika Okada beating A.J. Styles for the IWGP title.

    We’ve got a look at WWE’s latest legal action, including filing suit against four wrestlers in Connecticut.  We also look at the cases of wrestlers who are suing WWE.

    We’ve also got complete coverage of Beast from the East, how the show came together, why Brock Lesnar was on the show, and match-by-match rundowns with star ratings and poll results.

    We also have more on the NXT show in Brooklyn before SummerSlam, how it will be promoted, a scary note on how bad the Tyson Kidd injury could have been, Battleground update, Dolph Ziggler storyline notes, more WWE injury notes, thoughts on Cesaro, Big Show talks about his demotion to OVW, Thoughts on the memo from five years ago with the notes for WWE announcers and how things have changed since then, Brie Bella talks NXT women coming up as well as vague notes on Daniel Bryan’s injury, thoughts on Bryan’s future as well as an update on Bruno Sammartino after back surgery.

    We also look at the Sports Illustrated article on pro wrestling this week, social media numbers, Ambrose movie release, why Regal was in Japan, WWE’s Japan tryouts, Piper leaving Podcast One, Austin talking Piper leaving Podcast One, longtime WWE writer takes new job, notes on Randy Orton, USA Network take on Tough Enough, Jamie Noble and Becky Lynch injury updates, WWE stock, movies with WWE talent, lots of Tough Enough news, as well as notes from all the weekend live events, business notes and highlights from all the shows.

    The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.

    We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.

    Also in this week’s issue:

    –CMLL running a free live stream this week

    –Notes from the latest shows at Arena Mexico

    –Controversy coming from a womens’ hair vs. hair match

    –Notes from this past week’s AAA TV taping

    –A look at the monthly Dragon Gate show at Korakuen Hall

    –A look at the next two Dragon Gate iPPV shows

    –A look at the last Pro Wrestling NOAH show at Korakuen Hall

    –Notes on Tetsuya Naito’s apparent heel turn

    –New Japan’s last Korakuen Hall show

    –Zero-One Fire Festival notes

    –Notes on the heyday of OVW

    –A look at the upcoming GFW shows

    –Hulk Hogan lawsuit news

    –A look at the careers and lives of who are believed to be the two oldest living pro wrestlers

    –A look at a former WWE star who will star in a reality show piggy backing off Total Divas

    –Former AAA star has a major accident

    –Notes on the next PWG show

    –Wrestling returns to Royal Albert Hall in London

    –Update on Lucha Underground

    –NXT and ROH go head-to-head in Brooklyn and what ROH is running

    –Notes on return of Austin Aries to ROH nest week

    –Notes on Andy Barton leaving TNA

    –Update on Kurt Angle

    –Thoughts on the GFW deal

    –Notes on Gilbert Melendez failing his drug test

    –Dana White talks about how much Aldo would have made if he had fought McGregor

    –Update on Jon Jones

    –Notes on all the UFC shows this week

    –Notes on the IV ban

    –UFC fighter retires

    –Crazy street fight story involving a former UFC fighter and a current one

    –Notes on charges against the husband of Britney Palmer

    –Notes on fighters cut from UFC

    –Jose Aldo drug test note

    –Sonnen pranks Mendes just before the fight

    –Notes on Jacare Souza

    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.

    Our most requested issues in our history are:

    *November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)

    *December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you’ll know exactly what was said–the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)

    *August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)

    *March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)a

    *October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)

    *July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)

    *February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)

    *May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our history)

    *January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)

    *February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)

    *March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)

    *April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk Hogan)

    *May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)

    *June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)

    *June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)

    *July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)

    *August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)

    *September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s, Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)

    *October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)

    *January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)

    *February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)

    *February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy’s win over Brock Lesnar)

    *March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)

    *March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and Wrestlemania history books)

    *July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair’s book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)

    *July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair’s book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)

    *August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)

    *August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez–this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)

    *October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)

    *November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the history of TNA)

    *January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)

    *March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their Hall of Fame)

    *May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)

    *June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and behind the scenes of both shows)

    *July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings, Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

    *August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)

    *September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)

    *October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)

    *November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

    *December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)

    *January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year’s Eve 2005 coverage)

    *January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)

    *April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller Derby–many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)

    *April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame week)

    *July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling–the most unreal story ever in wrestling)

    *September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)

    *October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him tick as his real objectives)

    *November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff’s book and how the industry was changed forever)

    *November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro, Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania planned celebrity away)

    *November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and why it didn’t click)

    *December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride’s offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)

    *January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

    *February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bigelow)

    *March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)

    *March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)

    *March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)

    *April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage–which many are calling one of the best issues in history)

    *July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)

    *August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)

    *October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler Lewis)

    *November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women’s wrestling) .

    *December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)

    *January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

    *March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)

    *March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)

    *April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair’s meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

    *August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)

    * September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)

    * September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)

    * September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)

    You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North America or $5 overseas.

    We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods..

    To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.

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    Tuesday Daily Update

    — WWE announced that they will report their second quarter 2015 financials on Thursday, July 30th. Vince McMahon and George Barrios will host the usualconference call that day at 11:00 a.m. ET to go over everything.

    — Statement from Clutch City Productions on Alberto El Patron no-showing their card in Pasadena, Texas over the weekend without notice:

    We have received word from Alberto’s camp and were provided with information as to why he did not appear at the “Bustin for Autism” event last night in Houston (Pasadena) TX. Although we have documentation that will clearly define the situation in full we are choosing to keep this a private matter at this time. However, we are anticipating that Alberto’s camp will release a statement and take action to rectify the situation.

    AAA told Mediotiempo yesterday that Alberto is at home and doing fine.

    — At a media scrum over the weekend, CM Punk said that Duke Roufus is telling him his best area right now is his striking. Which may say what a lot of people figured about his jiu jitsu.

    — UFC announced Joseph Benavidez vs. Henry Cejudo at UFC 191 on September 5th in Las Vegas. Presumably, the winner gets a title shot against the winner of the upcomimg Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson vs. John Dodson II fight for the flyweight title. Big, big step up in competition for Cejudo, but if he wins, then he’s absolutely ready for a title shot, as only Johnson and Dominick Cruz have defeated Benavidez in his entire career.

    — Bruce Tharpe posted on Facebook that the NWA Classics Roku channel is now in the testing stage and should be ready before long.

    — At the UFC Fan Expo, there was a Metro PCS-sponsored booth where fans could send a video message to Ronda Rousey. Cris Cyborg decided to make use of it. That’s actually pretty amusing.

    — The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast talked to Sam Shaw about just about everything you’d want to hear: His TNA release, TNA pay issues, the original of the Samuel Shaw gimmick, and much more. Quote on how the Samuel Shaw gimmick kind of slowly fizzled out:

    I was pitching ideas left and right. I feel that maybe coming in and having such a strong presence as the character I was portraying it may have put me up against the wall from a creative sense, I was known as the “creepy bastard” and just the “creepy guy”. What was he going to do just creep on the knockouts and move on to the next one? It’s basically what a psycho does just repeats the same thing over and over again but I think there were so many different directions the character could have gone and I feel like there was so much longevity to the character and in a lot of ways the writers did too and that’s why they kept me around for so long.  They just didn’t have anything at the moment and they kept signing new guys and new talent was coming in and they were ready to move forward with other guys and I was sort of sitting at home not doing anything but was ready, willing and able to do something.

    — On the newest episode of our friend Kris Zellner’s Exile on Badstreet podcast, Kris is joined by Graham Cawthon (The History of WWE) & Parv (Titans of Wrestling) to discuss the Battles of Bob Backlund from 1980-83 where we go over his opponents in depth.

    WWE Network Schedule Wednesday, July 15,2015  (Thanks Bert Duckwall)

    12:00 AM ET
    WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.

    12:30 AM ET
    THE WWE LIST Not everything can be found on Google. Shocking Title Changes gives rank to some of the most OMG Title Matches of all time!

    1:00 AM ET
    MONDAY NIGHT WAR Mick Foley’s unorthodox style makes him an unlikely success story and a unique weapon for WWE in their war with WCW.

    2:00 AM ET
    TUESDAY NIGHT TITANS Vince McMahon hosts Tuesday Night Titans with Lord Alfred Hayes. Guests include Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bob Orton.

    3:00 AM ET
    TUESDAY NIGHT TITANS Vince McMahon hosts Tuesday Night Titans with Lord Alfred Hayes. Guests include Mr. Fuji, Jim Neidhart, Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo.

    4:00 AM ET
    PRIME TIME WRESTLING Join Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan for Prime Time Wrestling featuring Adrian Adonis, the Honky Tonk Man, and more in action!

    6:00 AM ET
    MONDAY NIGHT WAR Mick Foley’s unorthodox style makes him an unlikely success story and a unique weapon for WWE in their war with WCW.

    7:00 AM ET
    WWE TOUGH TALK WWE Tough Talk from Full Sail University in Orlando, FL. Host, The Miz, is joined by Daniel Bryan, Paige, and Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan.

    7:30 AM ET
    THE WWE LIST Not everything can be found on Google. Shocking Title Changes gives rank to some of the most OMG Title Matches of all time!

    8:00 AM ET
    LEGENDS HOUSE The Legends head to Sin City and the hijinks begin! After some ‘manscaping,’ they partake in a Chippendales show you have to see to believe!

    9:00 AM ET
    MONDAY NIGHT WAR Mick Foley’s unorthodox style makes him an unlikely success story and a unique weapon for WWE in their war with WCW.

    10:00 AM ET
    WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.

    10:30 AM ET
    THE WWE LIST Not everything can be found on Google. Shocking Title Changes gives rank to some of the most OMG Title Matches of all time!

    11:00 AM ET
    LEGENDS HOUSE The Legends head to Sin City and the hijinks begin! After some ‘manscaping,’ they partake in a Chippendales show you have to see to believe!

    12:00 PM ET
    MONDAY NIGHT WAR Mick Foley’s unorthodox style makes him an unlikely success story and a unique weapon for WWE in their war with WCW.

    1:00 PM ET
    WWE TOUGH TALK Join The Miz as he recaps all of the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.

    1:30 PM ET
    THE WWE LIST Not everything can be found on Google. Shocking Title Changes gives rank to some of the most OMG Title Matches of all time!

    2:00 PM ET
    LEGENDS HOUSE The Legends head to Sin City and the hijinks begin! After some ‘manscaping,’ they partake in a Chippendales show you have to see to believe!

    3:00 PM ET
    WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Mysterious Superstars of all time!

    4:00 PM ET
    WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG Renee Young gets her superhero on. Join the Unfiltered host as she hangs out with star Paul Rudd and the cast of Marvel’s Ant Man!

    4:15 PM ET
    TOTAL DIVAS Brie regrets quarreling with her husband when he delivers devastating news. Nikki’s secret has John fearing the end of their relationship.

    5:00 PM ET
    TOTAL DIVAS Brie and Bryan’s wrestling careers are in jeopardy, and Brie’s attempt to save their future puts Nikki in a tough spot with John

    6:00 PM ET
    SWERVED R-Truth gets a lesson in gym safety, a frisky granny invades Axxess and Kofi locks the champ out of Extreme Rules.

    6:30 PM ET
    SWERVED R-Truth is a Bad Ass Elephant, Fandango treats Heath Slater and The Ascension to lunch and Kofi and Xavier get into an all out prank war.

    7:00 PM ET
    WWE BEYOND THE RING He’s the greatest manager in the history of sports entertainment. Relive The Brain’s magnificent career in Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan.

    8:00 PM ET
    WWE NXT The future is here. Witness the entertainers, the leading men and women, the Superstars of tomorrow – this is NXT!

    9:00 PM ET
    WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG Renee Young gets her superhero on. Join the Unfiltered host as she hangs out with star Paul Rudd and the cast of Marvel’s Ant Man! 

    9:15 PM ET
    TOTAL DIVAS Brie regrets quarreling with her husband when he delivers devastating news. Nikki’s secret has John fearing the end of their relationship.

    10:00 PM ET
    TOTAL DIVAS Brie and Bryan’s wrestling careers are in jeopardy, and Brie’s attempt to save their future puts Nikki in a tough spot with John

    11:00 PM ET
    WWE NXT The future is here. Witness the entertainers, the leading men and women, the Superstars of tomorrow – this is NXT!

  • UFC Fight Night 71: Mir vs. Duffee weigh-in results and live video

    Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 71: Mir vs. Duffee weigh-ins from the Valley View Casino Arena in San Diego, California kicking off at 7 PM eastern time. The event airs on Wednesday on FOX Sports 1 at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 7 PM eastern time before moving over to FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM eastern time. This marks the UFC’s third event in less than a week and their first event in San Diego since UFC Live 2 in August 2010.

    The event will be headlined by a five-round heavyweight bout as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir goes for his second straight win when he takes on Todd Duffee, winner of three straight fights. The co-main event is a lightweight contest between top-ten ranked fighters as Josh Thomson battles Tony Ferguson. Also on the main card is a pivotal bout in the women’s bantamweight division as undefeated Holly Holm takes on Marion Reneau.

    MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT):

    Frank Mir (262) vs. Todd Duffee (241)
    Josh Thomson (155.5) vs. Tony Ferguson (156)
    Holly Holm (135) vs. Marion Reneau (134.5)
    Scott Jorgensen (135) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (135)
    Kevin Lee (156) vs. James Moontasri (155)
    Alan Jouban (170.5) vs. Matt Dwyer (169)

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT):

    Sam Sicilia (146) vs. Yaotzin Meza (145.5)
    Jessica Andrade (134.5) vs. Sarah Moras (135.5)
    Rani Yahya (135.5) vs. Masanori Kanehara (136)
    Igor Araujo (171) vs. Sean Strickland (171)

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 7 PM ET/4 PM PT):

    Kevin Casey (185.5) vs. Ildemar Alcantara (185.5)
    Andrew Craig (170.5) vs. Lyman Good (170) 

  • Observer Exclusive: Nick “Magnus” Aldis on why he left TNA for GFW

    Photo: TNAWrestling.com

    By Brian Rzeppa for WrestlingObserver.com

    At 28 years old, Nick Aldis has more experience than many of the ring-hardened veterans that you will see on your TV screen every week. Before signing with TNA in 2008, Aldis had already been on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom for over five years.

    While he experienced great success with TNA, he set his sights on a new opportunity once his contract with the company came to a close earlier this year. He is now one of the major building blocks of Jeff Jarrett’s new promotion Global Force Wrestling and he looks to help GFW become one of the go-to companies for professional wrestling.

    He has taken a bit of an uncommon route to get to this point in his career and it all started with some wrestling action figures.

    In an interview with Wrestling Observer, Aldis stated that his wrestling fandom didn’t begin with any work actually in the ring, “My first memories of wrestling were not watching it, but just being exposed to the WWF through their toys and merchandise. I grew up in England and we didn’t have satellite TV or SkySports, so the only time I saw it was when I was at my friends’ house. I was still completely familiar with everyone though, which is a credit to WWF’s marketing. Eventually I ended up getting VHS tapes and just became completely immersed with it.”

    As he got older, he began to watch the product more frequently and was naturally attracted to some of the bigger names that the wrestling business has ever seen.

    “Without a doubt I idolized Bret Hart more than anyone in the early days, then as a rebellious teen I was into Kevin Nash, Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels; along with those guys, I always awestruck by The Undertaker. I never really got into Hulk Hogan when he was at his peak because I didn’t really understand him, but I eventually started watching things like ‘The Best of Hulkamania’ and became a big fan later on.”

    Aside from his interest in wrestling, he was a standout athlete throughout high school in multiple sports. While he could have pursued those interests further, there was one person that convinced him that wrestling was the business that he ultimately wanted to be a part of.

    “Growing up I played all kinds of sports and was pretty good at them. I was invited to compete nationally in swimming and tennis and I held a couple of records in track. I always craved individual attention rather than team stuff, so there was a part of me that wanted to be an entertainer and that’s how wrestling kind of came to be for me. Wrestling came around and was peaking at the right time and I saw The Rock and he embodied all of things that I wanted to be as far as an entertainer and his success kind of just motivated me to follow that lead.”

    Once he realized that wrestling was going to be the career path he wanted to go down, he began training with the Knight family in England, who are better known as WWE Diva Paige’s parents.

    “My first actual appearance was in a battle royal, which is usually the right way to break rookies in. On the night of my first battle royal, Jake the Snake was on the card and I couldn’t believe how big he was. Back then he wasn’t portrayed as a big guy, but when I met him I just thought that he was a giant and I wondered how I would become a wrestler. I’m 6’4 and I saw him and thought that he was a monster.”

    After a few battle royals and multi-man tag matches, Aldis finally had his chance to go it alone in the ring and have his first singles match. As he reflects on that first match around a decade later, he realized how lucky he was to start off with the opponent that he did.

    “Throughout my first singles bout I was nervous, but I had a bit of comfort given that I had done some work prior to that. My first match was with Doug Williams, who had done training at our school. He came up to our instructor and said there’s this one kid who’s 18-years old and a good athlete and you should take a look at him, so the instructor told him that he wanted Doug to work with me. During the match, he basically held my hand through four or five rounds and it was a big help for me in getting booked on the UK scene.”

    After a few years of getting independent bookings scattered throughout a few different promotions, Aldis wanted to take the next step in his career. After multiple people had told him to reach out to All-Star Wrestling promoter Brian Dixon, he finally gave him a call.

    “I realized I had to figure out that the way that you progress quickly is that you have to work for Brian Dixon. I gave him a call and I started working six days a week for him doing pretty much everything; wrestling, putting up the ring and taking it down, traveling and everything like that. It was pretty much my life for two years, along with some independent bookings that I took when I could.”

    He had completely given himself to wrestling, but with his impressive physique he was given opportunities outside of the ring. He had appeared on a few TV shows, when a director of one of them informed him that Gladiators would be returning to TV and he would be a perfect fit.

    “I auditioned for Gladiators and made it and that was really the big break for me. On the show, they mentioned in my bio that I was a wrestler and I became really popular because I would give all of these wrestling-style promos, which caught the attention of TNA.”

    Playing a character by the name of Oblivion, he had caught the eye of TNA management, as well as one of the wrestlers with potentially the most pull in the company.

    “The story goes that after a show that he worked, Kurt Angle watched the TV in his room and saw me cut a promo and said that I had to be a wrestler. He called Dixie and said she had to watch this British kid, that I talked too well not to be a wrestler. She responded, ‘is it Oblivion? We just talked to him and we’re going to sign him.”

    One month after his signing, TNA began airing vignettes for his debut. He had become a popular character on Gladiators because of his personality, but he quickly realized that he wasn’t going to have the chance to display that off the bat with TNA.

    “It was my understanding that Dixie [Carter] made the decision to hire me, and Terry Taylor handled the details. Vince Russo got this brief synopsis of me, but had never seen Gladiators the show and thought it was different than the American one because he must have been under the impression that I had played a Roman gladiator. They didn’t realize that I had gotten over on Gladiators because I had been acting like a wrestler.”

    Aldis continued, “I showed up to TNA and I read over the stuff and it sounded very stoic and serious and I suggested that they check out the tapes so the UK viewers would be familiar with me, but they didn’t end up doing that so I showed up and was very boring. I was 22 though and wasn’t in any position to tell them to change anything.”

    After a few months of being “Brutus Magnus”, Aldis had a character shift that did wonders for career.

    “Obviously the Brutus Magnus character didn’t work at all and I was so green that I couldn’t make it work. Thankfully Jeff Jarrett, who teamed me up with Doug Williams and Rob Terry, saved me. That’s when I was able to bring my personality out.”

    After five years with the company, Magnus was finally given the chance to be the top dog, defeating Jeff Hardy to become the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. It was a long road to get to that point and one that at times seemed like it wasn’t ever going to have a good ending for him.

    “Winning the title was a great feeling because I had been there through loads of ups and downs and various regime changes. I felt like whenever I was getting anywhere, someone would be replaced and I would have to start all over again. All of the boys were saying that I was finally starting to get somewhere and even the insiders were, but every time a new boss came in it was like they’d never seen the show and I had to start all over again.”

    Given Aldis’ background as an actor, many of the new leaders that came in had figured that was his primary interest, not wrestling.

     “I had been a real student of the game and it seemed like they had just thought I was a guy who had come from a TV show. I eat, sleep and breathe this business and I told them that they were hiring guys who were older than me and were billing them as a new up and comer and was acting like I was old news. I had wrestled more in my first year than they had in their lives.”

    The opportunity to become champion was a great one, but it is one that Aldis feels could have been magnified had it been put off for just a few more weeks.

    “To finally get the title and to know that everyone was on the same page was a good feeling, unfortunately the way it panned out after that was out of my control and I certainly think there were some missed opportunities. I never understood why I won the title in December when I could’ve waited a month and won it England. They made such a big deal of me being the first British champion and it could have been the biggest moment in their history if I had just won it when we were over there.”

    He may not have been happy with the way that TNA handled some things creatively, but the chance to work with so many talented wrestlers is something that Aldis cherishes immensely.
    “Everything I got to do with Samoa Joe as a tag team partner and as an opponent was so great. It was so much fun and so easy because we had so much great ammunition offensively. We had such great momentum everywhere that we went; everyone just seemed to love us everywhere that we went. Anytime I got to work with Jeff Hardy was fantastic, too, he was probably my favorite opponent because our styles mix so well. I like being a ground-based wrestler and Jeff could fly around and we could always just tell such a great story.”

    Aldis proceeded, “We had a match in North Carolina not long after I had lost the title and I thought I was going to show them why it should have been a title match; it was probably the best match I’ve ever had. I have to also mention Sting; the way that he went out endorsing me both internally and at Bound For Glory is not something to take lightly and it’s probably the greatest thing that anyone has ever done for me in my wrestling career.”

    After losing to James Storm at Slammiversary on June 28th, it was announced on June 29th that Aldis would be joining the upstart Global Force Wrestling promotion. He considers it a great opportunity to grow as a wrestler and as a person, which is something that TNA didn’t offer.

    “It wasn’t really about the decision to sign with GFW as much as it was to leave TNA. I had to just go with my gut instinct and it’s my gut instinct that things aren’t going right there anymore. As a talent I had done everything that I could do and there was nothing left to do that would be satisfying. In this business, it’s either about cash or creative and I had stayed once before for the money and I made a promise to myself that even though they paid me very well I would get out of my comfort zone and make a difference elsewhere. I sent them a notice before my deal was up and told them I didn’t want to discuss another contract.”

    With Jeff Jarrett’s recent appearances on Destination America for TNA, it has led many to speculate that there will be a working relationship between the two companies. Aldis, however, doesn’t believe that will be the case.

    “I think it’s just Jeff getting some closure and getting the credit for his business. TNA, with the exception of what I think have been a disastrous last couple of years, is Jeff’s company. The TNA that will be remembered as being the breeding ground for talent like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and the X Division, as well as the second go-around for guys like Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle; that was Jeff Jarrett. He never really got the chance to be acknowledged for that as the guy who was founder. He’s more than happy to let GFW be on it’s own.”

    At 28, he was a free agent for the first time since he had become a major fixture in the American wrestling scene. Given that he signed with GFW so shortly after his contract with TNA had come to a close, it was clear that the offer with them was one he couldn’t pass up.

    “I think that people don’t realize this, but Jeff Jarrett was a big advocate for me in TNA. When new management came in, they didn’t know about me because I wasn’t in WWE and they hadn’t watched our product even though they were going to be running it. Jeff would step up and tell them that I was going to be a great talent, and then they understood I was a long-term investment and that’s why I stayed loyal.”

    He had seen Jarrett’s work first-hand in the past and that’s what convinced him that GFW was the right promotion for him.

    “I saw Jeff Jarrett when he assembled a team in Ring Ka King and I realized he knew talent in the ring and behind the scenes. Ring Ka King was such a huge success when it had just had no business being one. Somehow Jeff was able to put it together and make it a really good TV product. Through that, I realized that he’s a boss, a leader, someone who gets the business and someone I could get behind. I’ve always had that in the back of my mind and I remembered it when my contract was up. In TNA, it always seemed like they were choosing the wrong guys for the wrong reasons and I know that won’t happen with Jeff, he’s going to pick the right guys for the right reasons.”

    Beyond wrestling, Aldis hopes to play an active role in helping develop the GFW brand.
    “I want to deliver as a talent but I also want to contribute on a deeper level. My abilities go beyond wrestling and Jeff is affording me a lot of opportunities to show that. He’s letting me expand my own entrepreneurial endeavors and helping me broaden my horizons outside of wrestling. I always wanted to do it things like that in TNA, but it kept getting put off. Overall, I think it’s going to be a very cool opportunity because Jeff realizes I have a lot to offer and I’m doing everything I can to help Global Force Wrestling grow.”

    Along with his work for Global Force Wrestling, Aldis also has a book being released. Check it out at superstarbodybook.com or on Amazon.

  • On this day in pro wrestling history (July 14): Bruiser & Crusher vs. Stevens & Bockwinkel, Gagne vs. Superstar, Lex Luger wins WCW title, Snuka wins ECW title, Sting wins TNA belt

    By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

    1966 – The Viking & Jack Donovan defeated Bob Ellis & The Stomper in Kansas City, Kansas to win the NWA North American Tag Team Title.

    1972 – In Rockford, Illinois; Billy Robinson beat Ivan Koloff dq, Wahoo McDaniel beat Don Muraco, Larry Hennig beat Ramon Torres and Hans Herrmann beat Bull Bullinski

    1973 – In Chicago, Illinois; In a Non Title Human Cage match; Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens (it was scheduled as a cage match, but the cage did not arrive so they came up with a human cage match or lumberjack match). Also, Bob Ellis no contest Ivan Koloff, Ken Patera beat Vic Rossitani, Pepper Gomez beat Rene Goulet, Bob Bruggers beat George Gadaski and Greg Gagne beat Bill Crouch; In Milwaukee, Wisconsin; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Superstar Billy Graham by dq, Wahoo McDaniel & Billy Robinson beat Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan in 2 out of 3 falls, Larry Heiniemi beat Bill Watts by dq, Geoff Portz beat Joe Scarpello and Reggie Parks beat Billy Red Cloud. Attendance was 6,093.

    1978 – Dick The Bruiser defeated Dick Murdoch in St. Louis, Missouri to win back the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title; In Minneapolis, Minnesota; Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell by dq, Bob Orton Jr beat Mighty Igor Vodik by countout, Lord Alfred Hayes & Super Destroyer Mark II beat Evan Johnson & Dr. X and Steve Olsonoski beat Frank Hill

    1983 – In Winnipeg; in a Non Title match, Mad Dog Vachon & Verne Gagne beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell, Wahoo McDaniel & Baron Von Raschke beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Heenan, Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan and David Schultz defeated Brad Rheingans.

    1984 – Ted DiBiase defeated The Spoiler in Macon, Georgia to win the NWA National Heavyweight Title; In Indianapolis, Indiana; Jim Brunzell beat King Kong Brody by dq, Road Warriors beat Steve O & Curt Hennig, AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel, Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Larry Zbyszko and Tony Atlas beat Chris Markoff

    1985 – In St. Paul, Minnesota; Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens by dq, AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes by dq, AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin (The Long Riders), Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko and Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe. Attendance was 2,500; In Asheville, NC; NWA U.S. Champion Magnum TA defeated Nikita Koloff, NWA TV Champion Dusty Rhodes defeated Buddy Landell.

    1986 –  Harley Race defeated Pedro Morales to win the King Of The Ring tournament in Foxboro, Mass.

    1990 – In St. Louis, Missouri; Sid Vicious defeated Tom Zenk, NWA U..S Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane defeated The Southern Boys, Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong and Sting & Lex Luger defeated Harley Race (substituting for an injured Ric Flair) & Barry Windham via disqualification.

    1991 –  Lex Luger defeated Barry Windham in a steel cage to win the vacant WCW World Title in Baltimore, Maryland. Also, Nikita Koloff defeated Sting in a Russian chain match.

    1992 – Jimmy Snuka pinned ECW Champion Johnny Hot Body to win the title in Philadelphia, PA.

    1997 – Steve Austin & Dude Love (Mick Foley) defeated Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith in a tournament final for the WWF World Tag Team Title in San Antonio, Texas.

    1998 – D’Lo Brown defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the WWF European Heavyweight title in Binghamton, New York,

    2011 – Sting captured the TNA championship from Ken Anderson.

  • ROH announces WrestleMania weekend shows

    Ring of Honor announced that they will be running two shows in Dallas next year over WrestleMania weekend, instead of the one show they did in Redwood City this past year.

    They will be running at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Ballroom in Dallas, which is the building that Wrestlecon will be in.

    The shows will be Friday, 4/1 at 7:30 p.m. local time, and Saturday 4/2 at 2:30 p.m. local time.

  • WWE News: Notes on tickets to Survivor Series

    The 2015 Survivor Series will take place on 11/22 in Atlanta at the Phillips Arena, the site of tonight’s Raw show.  The presale is going on right now using the code word ATLANTA.

  • MON. UPDATE: Raw, Alberto MIA, UFC numbers, Battleground bout, Cena movie news, Jarrett taping lineup

    By Dave Meltzer

    We’re looking for your thoughts on Saturday night’s UFC 189 show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    We’re looking for live reports from Raw in Atlanta with dark matches, Superstars matches and anything else not evident from the live show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    We’re also looking for reports from the WWE show yesterday in Knoxville and the GFW show in Erie, PA.

    Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Birmingham.

    We’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, highlighted by part two of our look at the career and life of Dusty Rhodes.  This focuses on his babyface turn in Florida, his quest for the title, his rise to national prominence, and his feuds with Terry Funk, Superstar Billy Graham and Ole Anderson.  Plus, we look at this year’s G-1 Climax tournament, New Japan Dominion, lots of injury notes regarding some of WWE and TNA’s biggest stars, WWE lawsuit, Beast in the East and much more.

    The Latest Wrestling Observer:  July 13, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Dusty Rhodes bio part 2, back to back major shows in Japan

    Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site are at  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

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

    Rates are:

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

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

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

    Our lead story this week looks at the babyface heyday of Dusty Rhodes as a touring attraction.  We look at how the business was in the 70s, the changes in the business in the Southeast and why, the rise of pro wrestling on cable television, his departure from World Championship Wrestling, and his first babyface run that people have forgotten.

    We look at the heyday of Championship Wrestling from Florida, the work of Gordon Solie, Eddie Graham, and Rhodes arrival in Florida in 1973.  We look at the angle that changed Rhodes’ career, the transition from Jack Brisco to Dusty Rhodes as the big star in Florida and how that changed the business, the Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk I Quit match, the relationship between Rhodes and Funk, Dusty Rhodes’ first two NWA title runs, how the NWA title changed during the 70s and why and Rhodes’ quest for the title.  We also look at who Rhodes worked with, and his travels around the globe during his heyday, including some unique matches and opponents that most Americans don’t realize ever took place.

    We look at his Madison Square Garden feud with Superstar Billy Graham, pro wrestling at the Omni in Atlanta, Dusty Rhodes on TBS and the role pro wrestling made in the early history of cable television, as well as the famous angle where Ole Anderson & Ivan Koloff kicked off their feud with Rhodes that set cable records.

    We look at the famous Ole Anderson interview after turning on Dusty Rhodes and why their angle is so fondly remembered, The last Tangle in Tampa, the night that cable television changed the history of pro wrestling, the end of Roy Shire’s promotion, and the second world title run.

    We also have a look at the G-1 Climax tournament for this year, including the favorites, all the matches, as well as full coverage of the Dominion show from Osaka with Kazuchika Okada beating A.J. Styles for the IWGP title. 

    We’ve got a look at WWE’s latest legal action, including filing suit against four wrestlers in Connecticut.  We also look at the cases of wrestlers who are suing WWE.

    We’ve also got complete coverage of Beast from the East, how the show came together, why Brock Lesnar was on the show, and match-by-match rundowns with star ratings and poll results.

    We also have more on the NXT show in Brooklyn before SummerSlam, how it will be promoted, a scary note on how bad the Tyson Kidd injury could have been, Battleground update, Dolph Ziggler storyline notes, more WWE injury notes, thoughts on Cesaro, Big Show talks about his demotion to OVW, Thoughts on the memo from five years ago with the notes for WWE announcers and how things have changed since then, Brie Bella talks NXT women coming up as well as vague notes on Daniel Bryan’s injury, thoughts on Bryan’s future as well as an update on Bruno Sammartino after back surgery.

    We also look at the Sports Illustrated article on pro wrestling this week, social media numbers, Ambrose movie release, why Regal was in Japan, WWE’s Japan tryouts, Piper leaving Podcast One, Austin talking Piper leaving Podcast One, longtime WWE writer takes new job, notes on Randy Orton, USA Network take on Tough Enough, Jamie Noble and Becky Lynch injury updates, WWE stock, movies with WWE talent, lots of Tough Enough news, as well as notes from all the weekend live events, business notes and highlights from all the shows.

    The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.

    We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.

    Also in this week’s issue:

    –CMLL running a free live stream this week

    –Notes from the latest shows at Arena Mexico

    –Controversy coming from a womens’ hair vs. hair match

    –Notes from this past week’s AAA TV taping

    –A look at the monthly Dragon Gate show at Korakuen Hall

    –A look at the next two Dragon Gate iPPV shows

    –A look at the last Pro Wrestling NOAH show at Korakuen Hall

    –Notes on Tetsuya Naito’s apparent heel turn

    –New Japan’s last Korakuen Hall show

    –Zero-One Fire Festival notes

    –Notes on the heyday of OVW

    –A look at the upcoming GFW shows 

    –Hulk Hogan lawsuit news

    –A look at the careers and lives of who are believed to be the two oldest living pro wrestlers

    –A look at a former WWE star who will star in a reality show piggy backing off Total Divas

    –Former AAA star has a major accident

    –Notes on the next PWG show

    –Wrestling returns to Royal Albert Hall in London

    –Update on Lucha Underground

    –NXT and ROH go head-to-head in Brooklyn and what ROH is running

    –Notes on return of Austin Aries to ROH nest week

    –Notes on Andy Barton leaving TNA

    –Update on Kurt Angle

    –Thoughts on the GFW deal

    –Notes on Gilbert Melendez failing his drug test

    –Dana White talks about how much Aldo would have made if he had fought McGregor

    –Update on Jon Jones

    –Notes on all the UFC shows this week

    –Notes on the IV ban

    –UFC fighter retires

    –Crazy street fight story involving a former UFC fighter and a current one

    –Notes on charges against the husband of Britney Palmer

    –Notes on fighters cut from UFC

    –Jose Aldo drug test note

    –Sonnen pranks Mendes just before the fight

    –Notes on Jacare Souza

    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.

    MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    • Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw, UFC and taking your e-mail questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
    • Alberto el Patron has apparently gone AWOL.  He was supposed to be at last night’s Lone Star Championship Wrestling show, a Bustin 4 Autism charity show, in Pasadena, TX, and didn’t appear.  He gave no word ahead of time that he wouldn’t be there.  A number of people at the show had his number and called him and couldn’t get in touch with him.  The promotion today released a statement that they still haven’t heard from him.  Clutch City Productions made the deal with Alberto.  In their release, they asked him to return the deposit paid him and the travel money lost by the charity for his flight he didn’t board.    
    • For Google searches, Conor McGregor with 1 million searches was No. 1 on Saturday, ahead of Roger Federer and Serena Williams at 500,000.  Robbie Lawler was No. 6 among individuals with 100,000 and Keith Thurman was No. 12 among individuals.  On twitter, UFC 189 (4.28 million unique tweeting) was behind the Wimbledon men’s finals (5.16 million) and women’s finals (5.83) million as the top subjects in sports and TV for the weekend.  The UFC 189 numbers were below that of UFC 182, which was the Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier show.
    • Charlotte and Sasha Banks are backstage at Raw.  This is the Battleground go-home show.  The rating will be impacted in some form by baseball’s Home Run Derby tonight.  The cast of Tough Enough with Lita are also backstage, having taken a bus ride from Orlando to Atlanta.
    • Randy Orton vs. Sheamus is official for Battleground on Sunday.
    • The baseball All-Star game probably won’t help the rating for Tough Enough and Total Divas tomorrow, although due to the difference in audience makeup, it really shouldn’t hurt Total Divas much.  
    • The movie “Trainwreck,” where John Cena has a cameo as the muscular boyfriend of Amy Shumer (the star of the movie about her relationships) comes out on Friday.  Cena has good buzz for this role.
    • The Daniel Bryan autobiography, which is very good, will be out a week from tomorrow.  He will be doing some book signings and media to back up the release.
    • New Japan World is free for the next week, to build up an audience for G-1 which starts a week from today.  The free period ends on the 19th.
    • A.J. Styles has signed a deal with Figures Toy Company for an action figure for a new line that includes The Young Bucks, Doc Gallows, Amber Gallows and Kenny Omega. (thanks to Chris DePetrillo)
    • George Murdoch, using his TV name of Tyrus, was on Fox News talking about the Ariana Grande apology and the Confederate flag being lowered in South Carolina.  It was  total comedy segment.
    • Matches announced for the GFW tapings on 7/24 in Las Vegas are Brian Myers vs. Chris Mordetzsky, Kongo Kong vs. Nick Aldis and a Bobby Roode match in the heavyweight title tournament, Chris Sabin & Kushida vs. Reno SCUM in the tag title tournament, PJ Black vs. Seiya Sanada and Jigsaw vs. Sonjay Dutt in the NEX GEN title tournament and Christina Von Eerie vs. Mickie James vs. Lei’D Tapa in the women’s tournament,.  Also announced is a six way Lucha Libre match with Bestia 666 vs. Blood Eagle vs. Steve Pain vs. Zokre vs. Phoenix Star vs. Misterioso Jr.
    • The WWE succeeded in getting the California lawsuits filed against them by Russ McCullough, Ryan Sakods and Matt Wiese moved out of the state and to Connecticut.
    • Steve Amell of Green Arrow fame was at the San Diego Comic Con and was constantly talking about WWE.  He has wanted to do something with the promotion.  He said he would probably be doing something with WWE, but doesn’t know if that means a match.  He also cut what he called a WWE promo that was taped.  The Miz made a remark about the promo saying he’s green but he’ll get there someday. 
    • On the CTV news in Vancouver on Friday, a sumo, Brodi Henderson, was featured in talking about him becoming a rising star in Japan.  They mentioned how he’s following in the footsteps of the like John Tenta, a British Columbia native who was a star in sumo before going into pro wrestling (thanks to Ed Ludwig)
    • Pro Wrestiing Eclipse from yesterday in Oshawa, ONT:  John Atlas b Crimson X, Tyler Tirva b Joshua James, Cody Deaner b Catalyst, Bee Machine b Jim Nye, Jennifer Blake b Kaitlin Diemnod with Xandra Bale as heel ref, Tyler Tirva won the Champions Cup over Jim Nye, John Atlas and Cody Deaner.  Next show is 8/16 at the Oshawa Legion with Tirva vs. Atlas and Diemond & Jewel Malone vs. Blake & Bale, plus Roderick Strong and Johnny Devine appear.
    • Roddy Piper headlines for Maryland Championship Wrestling on Saturday night for the 15th annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup tournament.  Past winners of this tournament have included Christian York, Sami Callihan, Joey Mercury, Adam Cole and Luke Hawx.  The show takes place at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD.  The lineup includes a live Piper’s Pit, plus Kai Katana vs. Lio Rush, Brandon Scott vs. Chuck Lennox, Matt Cross vs. Bo Nekoda, Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards vs. Punk Rock All-Stars, Shane Strickland vs. Eddie Smooth, Velvet Sky & Angelina Love & Madison Rayne (Beautiful People reuniting) vs. Amber Rodriguez & Kimber Lee & Veda Scott, Hell Cats vs. Napalm & Solo, Bruiser vs. King McBride and the winners of the first five matches (the singles matches and whoever scores the fall in the tag match) meet in a six-way for the Shamrock Cup.  There will be a meet and greet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with Piper, Wolves and Beautiful People.
    • Preston City Wrestling had a free outdoor Tribute to the Troops show in Preston, England on Saturday:  Dave Mastiff b Chris Masters to win PCW title, Bubblegum b Rockstar Spud, Sha Samuels b Ken Anderson, Martin Kirby won a Money in the bank match over Lionheart, Joey Hayes, Dean Allmark, Charlie Garrett and El Ligero, Noam Dar b Ryan Smile and Team 3-D b Team single in a tables match.  After the match Bully Ray & Devon climbed on a tank.  Velvet Sky & Viper b Toni Storm & April Davids.  There was a huge crowd there  (thanks to Steve Maginnis)
    • Legacy Fighting Championships on AXS TV on 7/24 at the Bayou Music Center. 
    • Magic Mike XXL was No. 3 in its debut in Australia over the weekend.  It was No. 6 in the U.S. this past weekend at $9.64 million. (thanks to James Stanios)
    • Gavin Sterritt, who was scheduled to face Brennan Ward on Friday’s Bellator show at the Mohegan Sun Casino, pulled out of the fight and was cut by the promotion.  Roger Carroll, who has a 16-11 record, will be the replacement.  Sean Grande starts as the play-by-play voice of Bellator with this show.
    • Next year’s Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame weekend will be July 14 to July 16 in Waterloo, IA.  All access passes that usually cost $100 will be $80 if ordered by 8/1.  The Cauliflower Alley Club presented the Hall of Fame a check for $1,000 as a donation by J.J. Dillon.  Kurt Angle, coming out of surgery, was there over the weekend.  Honored were Greg Wojciechowski, Jim Londos (whose daughter attended), Brian Blair, Beth Phoenix, Wade Keller and Matt Lindland, all of whom also appeared, as did Bill Tragos, the son of George Tragos, and Charlie Thesz, the wife of Lou Thesz.  
    • ODB interview talking about her career and such

    TODAY’S WWE VIDEOS 

    INDY TV SHOWS

    West Virginia Championship Wrestling TV (Episode 236)

    Covey Pro Wrestling TV (Episode 213)

    Powerbomb Championship Wrestling TV (Episode 33)

    7/11/15 NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling TV

    WWE/NXT

    WWE Fury:  33 Stinging Singapore Cane Strikes

    WWE Top Ten:  Vehicular Demolitions

    7/10/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  The Competitors Get Big News

    7/10/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  The Barracks Plays Heads Up!

    7/11/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  Step Inside The Ring With Billy Gunn

    7/12/15 WWE Tough Enough Digital Extra:  Patrick Fails To Heat Up With Giorgia

    WWE Network:  Swerved (Episode 1)

    7/10/15 Kevin Owens Comments On His First Mattel Action Figure At San Diego Comic-Con

    7/10/15 Charlotte Is Overwhelmed While Describing Her First Mattel Action Figure

    7/10/15 Finn Balor Discusses His San Diego Comic-Con International Experience

    7/10/15 Sami Reflects On NXT Amazing Growth At San Diego Comic-Con

    7/9/15 Top 10 Smackdown Moments

    MISC. STUFF

    7/10/15 CHIKARA Event Center

    Top 40 Moves Of Chuck Taylor