Ryan “Ryback” Reeves released a lengthy statement on his Tumblr account Tuesday night that details his current situation and his current feelings on the wrestling business that are fueling his frustrations.
Reeves said that he requested to be taken off WWE TV until he and the company can get a new deal done, something he said has been in the works since his Intercontinental title run began. “I was told to head home until we agree or not agree to specific terms and contrary to reports it isn’t over money or a bus that stuff was settled a while ago.”
He then went into his main issue which is the discrepancy in pay between “the winners” and “the losers” and how in a pre-determined sport, it doesn’t make any sense to him why that is still the case.
“Why is it a guy who is told he is going to go out and lose and does everything he is told be paid not only less, but much less than said winner over a period of time. Every single performer for WWE sacrifices the same amount of time from home and their families and every single man or women goes out and does what they are told. Looking at this formula though losers turn into what fans like to call jobbers and their value decreases in the companies eyes and before you know it they get released. For what? For doing exactly as they are told!”
“Why not pay the talent equally? The winners have more MERCH as it is or are supposed to anyways so they get that extra perk, but why make the guy who is told to and agrees to lose earn less and sacrifice spots in big pay per view match ups etc. This is one of the major problems with wrestling and WWE today. Most guys take great satisfaction in helping making other talent, the bitching and the moaning we always hear about stems from the fact they know they are ultimately over time going to make less and live in fear of being released.”
He goes on to cite how merch and other factors are affected by losing, thus money is affected by losing. He’s got no issue with losing, but he is frustrated about the compensation level for doing so.
Reeves then ended with a few interesting lines:
“WWE may very well release me, which if it is the case so be it. If we can work things out a lot needs to change as I am not living in fear and creatively cannot continue to live a life that limits me creatively. I have many other interests and passions and have been very smart with my finances over the years.”
WWE announced today that Shane McMahon would “tell all” in a podcast hosted by Mick Foley on May 23rd, after Raw on the WWE Network.
It’s notable that this is the first time Foley has hosted a show of this type on the network, as the shows have usually been hosted by Steve Austin, Chris Jericho or John Layfield.
Podcasts with Vince McMahon and HHH have been the most-watched programs on the network with the exception of the pay-per-view shows or major live events.
Outside of vague on-screen storyline references, Shane McMahon has spoken very little about his departure from the company, and his return, nor his actual real-life role.
The first show of the so-called new era, with Shane and Stephanie McMahon running Raw led to a ratings increase to 3.43 million viewers, coming the day after Payback.
The number was up 10 percent from the seasonal record low of 3.12 million viewers set last week.
The good news is that while the first hour was up, as is often the case the day after the PPV, the viewership largely held with the second hour doing identical to the first, and the third hour drop being minimal as compared to most weeks, paced by a six-man tag match with Roman Reigns & The Usos vs. A.J. Styles & Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows.
This was done against strong competition, in particular the third hour holding steady against the Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio Thunder NBA game on TNT that did 5.20 million viewers. Another NBA game, Atlanta vs. Cleveland, did 3.64 million viewers against Raw, while a Washington vs. Pittsburgh NHL game on NBC Sports Network did 1.65 million viewers.
With the exception of the two NBA games and Raw, nothing topped 3 million viewers on cable.
Dancing with the Stars featuring UFC fighter Paige VanZant was once again the most watched show on television with 11.81 million viewers.
The three hours of Raw were:
8 p.m. 3.46 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.46 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.38 million viewers
Chicago, Illinois: – H.M. Dufur defeated James McLaughlin for the American Collar-and-Elbow Title
1951
Kansas City, Kansas: – Sonny Myers defeated Dennis Clary for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1956
– Joe Scarpello defeated The Mystery Man to win his third Midwest Wrestling Association Junior Heavyweight Title
1957
Atlanta, Georgia: – Don McIntyre defeated Kurt Von Brauner to win the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in
1961
Mobile, Alabama: – The Mysterious Medics defeated Jackie and Joey Fargo for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1963
Atlanta, Georgia: – Dick Steinborn defeated Tarzan Tyler to win the Georgia World Heavyweight Title
Dothan, Alabama: – Lee Fields and Joe Scarpa (Jay Strongbow) defeated Tiger Tomasso and Pancho Villa for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1967
San Antonio, Texas: – Paul DeMarco and Luis Hernandez defeated Jim Bernard and Tarzan Tyler to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Titles
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Ripper Collins and Curtis Iaukea defeated Johnny Barend and Hans Mortier to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Titles
1968
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Ron Etchison won the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title from Harley Race
1969
– Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeated Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
1974
Tampa, Florida: – Buddy Colt defeated Bill Watts for the Tri-State NWA North American Heavyweight Title
1975
Chicago, Illinois: – Superstar Billy Graham & Dusty Rhodes beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman
Melbourne, Australia: – Missouri Mauler & Steve Rackman beat Larry O’Dea & Ron Miller to win the Australian tag titles
– Giant Baba beat Gene Kiniski in the finals of the Champion Carnival tournament
1976
Memphis, Tennessee: – Big Bad John and Bill Dundee defeated Plowboy (Stan) Frazier and Jerry Lawler to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1979
Amarillo, Texas: – Mr. Sato and John Tolos defeated Akihisa Takachiho (The Great Kabuki) and Ricky Romero) to win the NWA Western States Tag Team Titles
1980
Detroit, Michigan: – The Sheik defeated Mighty Igor for the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title – Frankie Laine and George Steele won the Detroit NWA World Tag Team Titles from John Bonello and Randy Scott
1982
West Palm Beach, Florida: – Jimmy Garvin defeated Mr. Wrestling II for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title
1983
Regina, Saskatchewan: – Bret Hart defeated Leo Burke for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
1985
Denver, Colorado: – Jerry Blackwell & The Crusher & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga & Sheik Adnan in a steel cage match – AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin – Greg Gagne went to a time limit draw with Nick Bockwinkel
Houston, Texas: – Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) to win the Mid-South Tag Team Titles
1987
WCCW Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions: Irving, Texas: – Matt Borne and Steve Casey defeated Black Bart and Jack Victory – Cousin Junior defeated The Grappler – Steve Doll defeated Killer Tim Brooks – Spike Huber and Red River Jack defeated Abdullah the Butcher and Eli the Eliminator – Red River Jack defeated Gary Hart by countout – Mil Máscaras defeated Al Madril – Skip Young defeated Brian Adias in a lumberjack match – WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Von Erich fought Nord the Barbarian to a double-countout to retain the title – Steve Simpson and The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) defeated Eric Embry and The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) in a scaffold match – Bruiser Brody defeated Jeep Swenson – Candi Divine won a six-woman mudpit match
1990
Dallas, Texas: – John Tatum defeated Bill Dundee for the USWA Heavyweight Title
1991
Dallas, Texas: – Eric Embry defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the USWA Heavyweight Title
1992
Chicago, Illinois: – Michael Hayes defeated Diamond Dallas Page – WCW United States Tag Team Champion Greg Valentine defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell – Nikita Koloff defeated Big Van Vader (with Harley Race) by disqualification – Ron Simmons defeated WCW United States Tag Team Champion Terry Taylor – Johnny B. Badd defeated Tracy Smothers – Tom Zenk defeated Mr. Hughes – Dustin Rhodes and WCW World Television Champion Barry Windham defeated Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko – WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude defeated Ricky Steamboat by disqualification to retain the title – The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton in a steel cage match to win the title
1993
Memphis, Tennessee: – Papa Shango defeated Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title
1993
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku: Fukuoka, Japan: – Takayuki Iizuka, Akira Nogami and El Samurai defeated Satoshi Kojima, Osamu Nishimura and Hiroyoshi Yamamoto – Michiyoshi Ohara defeated Akitoshi Saito – Brutus Beefcake defeated Masa Saito – Masashi Aoyagi, The Great Kabuki, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Kengo Kimura and Shiro Koshinaka defeated Tatsutoshi Goto, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Hiro Saito and Super Strong Machine – Tiger Mask (Koji Kanemoto) defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger to win the title – Scott Norton fought Sting to a double-disqualification – Yoshiaki Fujiwara defeated Hiro Hase by submission – IWGP Tag Team Champions The Hellraisers (Hawk Warrior (Road Warrior Hawk) and Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki)) defeated Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto, when Power pinned Chono, to retain the title – WWF Champion Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta (Neither title was at stake) – Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki defeated Riki Choshu and Genichiro Tenryu
1995
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku: Fukuoka, Japan: – Yuji Nagata defeated Manabu Nakanishi – Takayuki Iizuka and El Samurai defeated Norio Honaga and Akira Nogami – Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) defeated 2 Cold Scorpio – Sabu defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Kanemoto to win the title – Junji Hirata defeated Hiro Saito – The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated Scott Norton and Road Warrior Hawk – Terry Funk and Shiro Koshinaka defeated Masahiro Chono and Hiromichi Fuyuki – Ric Flair defeated IWGP Tag Team Champion Hiroshi Hase by submission – Antonio Inoki and Koji Kitao defeated Riki Choshu and Genichiro Tenryu – Kensuke Sasaki defeated Hiroshi Tenzan – IWGP Tag Team Champion Keiji Mutoh defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto to win the title
1997
NJPW Strong Style Evolution: Osaka, Japan: – Koji Kanemoto, Hanzo Nakajima, Shinjiro Otani, Mens Teioh and Dick Togo defeated Gran Hamada, Norio Honoga, El Samurai, The Great Sasuke and Super Delfin in a best-of-three falls match, 2-0 – nWo Sting and WCW Cruiserweight Champion Syxx defeated Takashi Iizuka and Tadao Yasuda – Vicious and Delicious (Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton) defeated The Giant and Lex Luger – Masahiro Chono and WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) defeated Keiji Mutoh and The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) – Antonio Inoki and Tiger King defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara and J-Crown Champion Jushin Liger – Satoshi Kojima and Manabu Nakanishi defeated IWGP Tag Team Champions Riki Choshu and Kensuke Sasaki to win the title – IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto defeated Naoya Ogawa by submission to retain the title
1998
Savannah, Georgia: – Booker T defeated Chris Benoit for the WCW World Television Title
ECW Wrestlepalooza 98: Marietta, Georgia: – The Blue Meanie & Super Nova defeated Tracey Smothers & Little Guido – Justin Credible defeated Mikey Whipwreck with That’s Incredible (tombstone piledriver) – ECW World Tag Team Champions Chris Candido & Lance Storm defeated Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten – Bam Bam Bigelow defeated New Jack – Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman defeated D-Von & Bubba Ray Dudley – ECW World Television Champion Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu ended in a thirty minute draw – ECW World Champion Shane Douglas defeated Al Snow
2006
Louisville, Kentucky: – CM Punk defeated Brent Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Title
Fukuoka, Japan: – Koji Kanemoto defeated Tiger Mask for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
2010
Fukoda, Japan: – Togi Makabe beat Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP heavyweight title – Wataru Inoue & Yuji Nagata beat Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson to win the IWGP tag team titles
2012
NJPW Dontaku: Fukuoka, Japan: – YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Tomohiro Ishii beat Strong Man, Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga – TAKA Michinoku Kaientai Dojo & Taichi beat Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA – Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask beat Rocky Romero & Gedo – IWGP Tag Team Title: Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima to win the titles – Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata – Shinsuke Nakamura beat Karl Anderson – Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Masato Tanaka ZERO1 & Yujiro Takahashi – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada beat Hirooki Goto to retain the title
2013
Fukuoka, Japan: – A.J. Styles beat Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP heavyweight title – Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan won a four-way to win the IWGP tag title over Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer, Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka and Manabu Nakanishi & Strongman – Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov beat Alex Shelley & Kushida to win the IWGP jr tag titles
Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
This did not last long at all. Fale pinned Captain New Japan quickly with the grenade in under 3 minutes. I don’t know why Yoshitatsu let this guy in his Bullet Club Hunter club, he’s worthless in every way.
Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Jay White & David Finlay vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay & Gedo
Fun little match. Usual good eight man match you’d see on the first half of any New Japan show. Ospreay’s offense is so dynamic. He had a great dynamic with Finlay as they did some fun spots together. He did the Sasuke special at one point during the match, taking everyone out in the process. He ended up getting the win for his team after a springboard diamond cutter.
Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. IWGP Junior Tag Champs Matt Sydal & Ricochet
Really good match. I think they’ve had better, but this built up nicely and had some good near falls toward the end. RPG Vice had the heat early. Ricochet did this great move where he caught Baretta in mid air while he was executing a tornado DDT, countered into a northern lights suplex, floated over then gave him a brainbuster. Sydal gave Baretta a reverse rana, then aided Ricochet in laying out Romero with a double Benadryller. They followed with the stereo shooting star presses and pinned RPG Vice to regain the junior titles.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. NEVER Six-Man Tag Champ Kenny Omega & Young Bucks for Never
Good match, though like the previous match, their last bout was a bit better. Unlike their previous match, where they had crazy spots just about everywhere, they mostly kept this in the ring for most of the match. Elgin made a great comeback for his team. Tanahashi and Omega were in there when Omega went to use the hairspray but it hit Tiger Hattori instead. Elite acted like they were helping him, but then Omega low blowed him because he’s mean.
That’s when the weapons were brought out. Elgin powerbombed Matt Jackson into a ladder, but Omega came back and with the help of the Bucks, powerbombed Elgin through a table on the floor. They gave Yoshitatsu the triple kick, then Omega pinned Yoshitatsu with the One Winged Angel to win the titles.
Tanahashi cut a promo after the match, asking Kenny Omega for a rematch, saying he is the next Intercontinental champion. Kenny said no, but then took out the ladder and said if he wanted a ladder match, then he would say yes. They both climbed to the top of the ladder and shook hands, so it’s on.
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for IWGP tag team titles
Okay match, mostly picked up toward the end. Guerrillas of Destiny just lack something here. Makabe and Honma are great singles guys, and have had great matches but this program just doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. Tama Tonga and Makabe had some great back and forth that got the crowd into the bout. Tonga and Tanga took out Makabe on the outside as they cornered Honma. He tried to fight his way out of losing, but didn’t work as the brothers laid out Honma with their finish to retain the titles.
This year’s Best of the Super Junior lineups:
A Block: Kushida, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Sydal, Rocky Romero, Gedo, Bushi, Matt Jackson
B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Nick Jackson, Will Ospreay, Trent Beretta, Bobby Fish, Ricochet, Volador Jr.
No real surprises other than Volador Jr. He and Will Ospreay make the B block far more interesting. I’d really like to see how their singles match goes down.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata for Never title
Good match. Started off slow with some mat wrestling, then picked up from there. They had a better G1 match, but this was good stuff while it lasted. Shibata went for the penalty kick but Nagata grabbed him and gave him a big boot and backdrop driver. Shibata mounted a comeback but Nagata put him down on the ground, gave him a penalty kick and pinned him with the backdrop driver to win the title. Shinpei Nogami, the biggest fan of Yuji Nagata you’ll ever see, freaked out after the match and kept screaming “JUSTICE!”
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kushida vs. Jushin Liger
Really good match. Different than most junior heavyweight matches. Kushida is one of th best all around workers in wrestling today just by how he’s able to adjust to any style and have a great match no matter what.
This was a more traditional match, working on body parts and applying submissions. Liger worked on Kushida’s leg early in the bout and kept working on it throughout. Liger can’t fly like he did back in the day but as far as technical wrestling goes he’s really good. Liger hit the shotei once, then went for it again but Kushida blocked it and countered with the hoverboard lock. Liger took a while, but eventually submitted.
Kushida grabbed a mic and said that he’d like to see Liger wrestle for many years to come. Liger said if the champion thinks so, he might have to challenge again down the line.
Hirooki Goto vs. Evil
Another good match. Kinda short, but it was explosive as they went at right away. A lot of brawling, and a lot of back and forth stiff shots. Goto kicked out of a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster, but then Evil gave him the STO and pinned him clean in the middle, just like that. Pretty surprising.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Sanada
Really good match. Another match that had some good back and forth early. Sanada’s really good, definitely upper midcard/main event kind of character. Okada did the rainmaker pose but Sanada came back and put him in the Skull End submission. He missed the moonsault. Okada went to go for the rainmaker but Sanada kept dodging and trying for the Skull End. Sanada got him back down to the floor but Okada transitioned back to the tombstone, laid out Sanada with that then pinned him with the rainmaker. That’d probably put him in line for a rematch against Naito soon.
IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Awesome match, especially in the last ten minutes or so. Sure enough, Okada was out there with Ishii to second him, along with Gedo. They had a straightforward match for a while, pretty solid back and forth offering until Evil interfered, hitting Ishii with a steel chair. Ishii was working on Naito’s leg and had an ankle lock in as Chaos warded off Los Ingobernables.
Eventually they got free, but Ishii held his own until Okada made the save. Ishii hit the sliding D and went for a brainbuster but Naito countered with a DDT. Ishii countered the Destino and laid him out with an inverted brainbuster (that’s a new one!) for a nearfall. Finally, Ishii whipped Naito across the ropes but he came back with a forearm, then pinned him with Destino to retain the title.
Okada took shirt off and stared down Naito after the match. He didn’t respond at first, but eventually they had a staredown as Okada left. After all the ceremonies, Naito cut a promo asking Kidani to see the pop he’s getting in front of his crowd, and that he knows Okada wants a title shot but he has to “tranquillo”.
– This was a really good show. Everything was good for the most part, with the IWGP and Jr. title matches being really exceptional.
Several sources have noted that there is an issue with Ryan “Ryback” Reeves and WWE, originally scheduled for Monday’s RAW battle royal but absent, with reports of a contract dispute going around.
Ryback was in Dubai recently for a tour and flat out said he wasn’t happy with his role at WrestleMania and being in a preshow match. While privately people talk like that all the time, it’s not something considered good for your WWE career unless you are an untouchable level star.
At Sunday’s Payback in Chicago, Ryback did a C.M. Punk-esque ring entrance, likely mocking Punk who blamed Ryback for injuring him. In Punk’s infamous interviews on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, Ryback was one of the people he made fun of for carelessness with his body.
He also wore a weight belt Sunday with the wording “The Pre-Show Stopper” after being in the pre-show for a WWE event for the second straight month.
We will discuss this more tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Hulk Hogan aka Terry Bollea has filed a second lawsuit against Gawker, claiming the company was responsible for leaking the contents of a sealed document which led to the end of his relationship with WWE.
Bollea’s side has claimed that Gawker was responsible for leaking the contents of the tape of Hogan’s racist remarks to The National Enquirer, which published them. When the WWE was informed that the remarks were coming out, they immediately severed all ties with Hogan and tried to remove most of the mentions of Hogan from its web site, including his name from their Hall of Fame.
The lawsuit noted that Nick Denton, the CEO of Gawker, had written a blog piece predicting that Hogan’s real secret would soon be revealed.
The contents of the tapes were sealed. However, long before they were sealed, a web site, The Dirty.com had done a story discussing the tapes much earlier which for whatever reason, didn’t get the same media play, largely because there was a description of the remarks without the actual wording of the remarks.
Hogan is also suing Florida DJ Mike Calta, known as Cowhead, who he claimed sent at least one of the secretly recorded sex tapes to Gawker.
For reasons not exactly clear, law enforcement officials never filed charges against Calta or anyone involved in what was believed to have been stealing the tapes from Bubba the Love Sponge, who had recorded Hogan having sex with wife Heather.
The new lawsuit doesn’t list specific monetary damages.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Gene Kiniski beat Pat O’Connor to capture the British Empire Heavyweight title – John Barend and Jack Pasek drew – Art Nelson beat Sandor Kovacs – Prince Maivia beat Lee Henning
1963
Kansas City, Kansas: – World Tag Team Champions The Medics defeated Luther Lindsay & Joe Scarpello in three falls – Central States Heavyweight Champion Sonny Myers defeated Rock Hunter via DQ in three falls – Steve Bolus fought Ray Gordon to a draw – United States Heavyweight Champion Bob Geigel defeated Pat O’Connor via DQ in three falls – Steve Kovacs defeated Lee Henning via DQ
1964
Omaha, Nebraska: – Mad Dog Vachon won the AWA World title from Verne Gagne – Bill Miller beat Reggie Parks – Mongolian Stomper beat Harley Race – George Drake beat Frisco Montana
1981
Oakland, California: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan – The Crusher beat Jesse Ventura – Ray Stevens beat Adrian Adonis – Baron Von Raschke beat John Studd – Tito Santana beat Guy Lambert – Pepper Gomez beat Jerry Monti
1982
Atlanta, Georgia: – Buzz Sawyer defeated Tommy Rich for the Georgia National Heavyweight Title
1983
Beckley, West Virginia: – Tony Atlas defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification
1987
San Francisco, California: – Curt Hennig defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Title (Larry Zbyszko handed Hennig a roll of quarters to knock Bockwinkel out. Belt held up for one week as Hennig mulled an offer to go to the WWF. When Hennig agreed to stay in The AWA, the AWA said the title did change hands) – Russ Francis & Jimmy Snuka beat The Terrorist & The Mercenary – Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov – Midnight Rockers & Ray Stevens beat Buddy Wolff (sub Buddy Rose) & Doug Somers & Kevin Kelly – AWA Women’s Champion Sherri Martel beat Madusa Meceli – DJ Peterson drew Super Ninja – Sheik Adnan beat Buck Zumhofe
Chicago, Illinois: – WWF Intercontinental champion Ricky Steamboat defeated Randy Savage in a steel cage match
Boston, Massachusetts: – WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Harley Race
1994
Atlanta, Georgia: – Larry Zbyszko defeated Lord Steven Regal for the WCW Television Title – Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated Shanghai Pierce – WCW U.S. Champion Steve Austin defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell – Lord Steven Regal defeated Brad Armstrong – WCW U.S. Champion Steve Austin defeated Brian Armstrong – Ricky Steamboat defeated Bobby Eaton – Alex Wright defeated Tanaka-san (Pat Tanaka) – Dustin Rhodes & Johnny B. Badd defeated Pretty Wonderful, Paul Roma & Paul Orndorff
Harriman, Tennessee: – Jake Roberts defeated Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Title – SMW Beat the Champ TV Champion Kendo the Samurai defeated the Dirty White Boy via count-out – Ricky Morton (w/ Robert Gibson) defeated SMW Tag Team Champion Chris Candido (w/ Tammy Fytch & SMW Tag Team Champion Brian Lee) via disqualification
Memphis, Tennessee: – Doug Gilbert defeated Brian Christopher for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Wrestling Title – Brian Christopher teamed with Eddie Gilbert, to lose the USWA Tag Team Title to The Eliminators
1996
Orlando, Florida: – Dean Malenko defeated Shinjiro Ohtani to capture the WCW Cruiserweight championship
1998
Charleston, South Carolina: – Chris Benoit defeated Booker T for the WCW Television Title
2000
Richmond, Virginia: – Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit for the WWF Intercontinental Title
2002
NJPW 30th Anniversary: Tokyo, Japan: – Kintaro Kanemura defeated Daisuke Sekimoto – Katsuyori Shibata defeated Wataru Inoue – Tiger Mask 3 (Koji Kanemoto) & Tiger Mask 4 ( of Michinoku Pro) defeated Black Tiger & El Samurai – Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi defeated Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta – Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka defeated Jado & Gedo to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title – Shinya Hashimoto (Zero-One) & Naoya Ogawa (UFO) defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Scott Norton – Bas Rutten defeated Manabu Nakanishi – Don Frye defeated Tadao Yasuda – The Steiner Brothers defeated Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Tanakashi – Yuji Nagata defeated Yoshihiro Takayama (Noah) to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title – Masahiro Chono vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (Noah) ended in a thirty minute time limit draw
Eric “Enzo Amore” Arndt suffered a severe concussion according to those close to him.
Arndt was injured in the early moments of the Enzo & Cass vs. Vaudevillains tag team match. He was sliding under the bottom rope but he got caught in the ropes with his head hitting the middle rope and the back of his head hit the mat near the apron. He rolled to the floor. Simon Gotch grabbed him when he shouldn’t have but the match was quickly stopped and he was carried to the back on a stretcher and rushed to a local hospital where he underwent a CAT Scan.
He was able to remember everything before the match and able to move his extremeties.
He was discharged from the hospital before the show was over.
It is not clear how long he will be out of action but WWE doesn’t allow wrestlers diagnosed with a concussion to return until passing testing.
– Dalton Castle (with The Boys who weren’t the real Boys) defeated Kongo with a bridging German Suplex.
– Donovan Dijak (with Prince Nana) defeated Jay “Diesel” Daddiego (with Taeler Hendrix) with Feast Your Eyes. Solid performance by Dijak. Hendrix got on the apron and tried to get involved at the finish. With Dijak distracted, Diesel tried to attack him but he accidentally punched Hendrix to the floor.
– Lio Rush defeated Christopher Daniels by dq. A fan ringside was jawing with Daniels that got his attention during this bout. Kazarian ran out as Rush climbed to the top rope for the DQ. The Addiction continued to assault Rush, before Moose made the save. This led to…
– Moose (with Stokely Hathaway) & Lio Rush defeated The Addiction. Moose is a star and the crowd loved chanting “MOOSE” repeatedly, especially during his punch sequence. Moose hit the spear followed by a Rush frog splash for the win. Good tag team match. Post-match, Addiction attacked Rush & Moose and hit their new Meltzer Driver. This brought out the Young Bucks to make the save as Daniels and Kaz fled. Bucks pop was gigantic.
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal (with Taeler Hendrix) defeated Vinny Marseglia with the Lethal Injection. Lethal was good, but no one believed Vinny had a chance. Rightfully so. Vinny is tattooed with a physique similar to one CM Punk. Of course, the crowd realized the similarities which caused those annoying Punk chants. Post-match activities again with House of Truth teeing off on Marseglia until Dijak ran down and made a statement. Dijak ended up hitting Feast Your Eyes on Lethal to a massive pop, before standing over his nemesis and posing with the ROH World Title. Great segment!
Intermission
– Veda Scott defeated Mandy Leon and Jenny Rose. Veda looked impressive with Mandy coming along quite nicely.
– Silas Young defeated Delirious with his version of the TKO. Delirious was an unexpected surprise as was his verbal developments. Silas cut a very good promo before the match, running down the booking, Delirious, and Cheeseburger. Along the way, Delirious while on the outside went under the ring only to re-appear as Cheeseburger with a mask. Crowd loved that.
– The Young Bucks defeated The All Night Express with the Meltzer Driver. Match of the night. The Bucks looked great as did their broom they brought to ringside. Superkick Party led to the finish. Post-match, The Addiction hit the ring and double teamed The Bucks with ANX. Moose made the save, joined the Superkick Party, cleaned house, ending with him and The Bucks super kicking Kazarian.
– ACH defeated Kamaitachi with the 450 splash. I may sound greedy, but I expected a little more out of this. Nonetheless, this was a very good match. Kamaitachi hit his top rope senton to the outside on a standing ACH, along with another high risk spot that I could not quite see. Appeared to be a double foot stomp, but I could be wrong.
– The Briscoes defeated Motor City Machine Guns and reDRagon in a three-way. Briscoes with the win set up their chance to regain the Tag Titles vs War Machine (absent from this show as they were overseas). Sabin looked good.
ROH returns to New England Friday 9/30 for the All Star Extravaganza PPV and 10/1 for TV tapings featuring New Japan! These shows will run approximately 90 minutes north of West Warwick, RI at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
