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  • WWE Dublin, Ireland, live results (Thursday): Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns

    Submitted by Manus Cronin

    – Sin Cara beat Stardust with a top rope senton

    Kids were into chanting ‘Lucha’ and not much else. Decent match with no heat whatsoever beyond ‘Lucha’ chants.

    – Darren Young & Zack Ryder beat the Social Outcasts (Slater & Dallas)

    Ryder pinned Bo with the rough Ryder. Comedy tag match. Basic and short.

    – Cesaro beat Rusev

    This was a long match Cesaro won after a 10 rep swing and a sharpshooter. Lot of power moves as one would expect. Cesaro worked over Rusev’s leg Bret Hart style to set up for the sharpshooter. Probably the best match on the show.

    – WWE Tag Team Champions New Day beat Dudleys & Usos in a triple threat tag match to retain

    End came when the Dudleys hit a 3D and Xavier stole the pin. New Day and Dudleys were super over initially. Dudleys did the whole tease the table and don’t deliver gimmick to get heat. Usos were booed surprisingly.  

    > During the interval, Jo Jo and generic announcer were hyping the rest of the card. Massive boos at the mere mention of Roman Reigns which was contrary to what I expected but it might simply have been a reaction to the fact that he was facing Sheamus later and he is the home town guy.

    – Jack Swagger beat Tyler Breeze with the ankle lock in a short match

    Neither guy was particularly over save for when Tyler did ‘the worm’. That got a babyface pop. A dad who had brought his kids that was sitting behind me asked ‘Is that Scotty 2 Hotty?’ which may be an indictment on the degree to which older fans are keeping up to date with the product today.

    – WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte (w/ Ric Flair) def. Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks to retain

    Charlotte pinned Lynch with a rollup after a long match. Becky was over like crazy as the hometown girl. I was amazed that there was barely any pop for Flair but they didn’t announce him so that was probably a factor. Decent match but I had hoped for better. Lots of athletic spots from Charlotte (she really is a step above as far as being an athlete goes). Finish was Becky had Sasha in the disarmer, Ric grabbed Sasha, pulled her out of the ring and Charlotte rolled up Becky.  

    – WWE Champion Roman Reigns def. Sheamus

    Sheamus came out first to huge cheers. Roman came out to THUNDEROUS boos. I have no idea why they booked Roman against Sheamus in Dublin. It was guaranteed that he would not be cheered against the local boy (there was an audible ‘You’re from Cabra’ chant at one point during the match). Sheamus did a LONG promo trying to make himself the heel. He insulted the crowd over a myriad of things, including the fact that we haven’t had a government for 7 weeks (this actually got a few cheers).

    Eventually after a solid 5-7 minutes of Sheamus trying to make himself the heel, the crowd cottoned on and started to boo him but their heart wasn’t really in it. All it served to do was make the match a complete damp squib. A steady stream of people started to leave at about the 2 minute mark (which I’ve never seen at a WWE live event in Dublin before). The remaining crowd wasn’t really into either guy. I have no idea why they couldn’t just let Sheamus work babyface in Dublin. The crowd wanted to cheer him anyway and at least if they’d booked it that way, the match might have had some heat rather than a mass exodus of bored parents and children.

  • WWE Paris, France, live results: HHH & Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose & Sami Zayn

    Submitted by Pierre Froide from the Accors Hotel Arena

    – WWE Intercontinental Champion MIz (w/ Maryse) def. Dolph Ziggler 

    – Alberto Del Rio def. Damian Sando

    ADR won with the cross armbreaker in a squash. After the match, ADR asked for a better opponent and issued an open challenge. Well…

    – Fandango def. Alberto Del Rio via roll up in approximately 60 seconds

    – Natalya, Alicia Fox, Eva Marie and Paige def. Team BAD (Naomi and Tamina), Summer Rae and Lana

    End came when Paige got the pin on Tamina

    – AJ Styles def. Chris Jericho with the Styles Clash

    – Goldust def Curtis Axel

    Accompanying Axel tonight? “Honorary Social Outcast member” Viktor. After the match, Outcasts attacked Goldust. R-Truth made the save and offered a handshake to Goldust, who accepted it.

    – Big Show and Kane def. Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman

    Strowman recieved a double chokeslam after the match.

    – WWE US Champion Kalisto def. Ryback with the Salina del Sol

    – Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn def. Triple H & Kevin Owens

    Ambrose pinned Triple H.

    Biggest pops: 

    • Ambrose
    • Triple H
    • Big Show

    Biggest boos:

    • Miz
    • Del Rio
    • Eva Marie

  • Watch the McGregor-free UFC 200 press conference; news & notes

    It’s been that kind of week for the UFC, publicly dealing with one of their biggest stars retiring and then un-retiring, and announcing they were pulling him out of July’s UFC 200 event due to him not showing up for today’s press conference and other promotional events. (That’s Conor McGregor, by the way.)

    Without a main event and with Nate Diaz floating in the wind without an opponent, who knows what will be said at Friday’s UFC 200 press conference? Well, you will know if you watch the stream below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3gTwkCutlQ

    Emanating from Las Vegas, NV, you’ll see women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challengers Amanda Nunes, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrezejczyk and challenger Claudia Gadelha, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Eddie Alvarez, interim featherweight title contenders Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, and heavyweight opponents Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne.

    Action kicks off at 5 PM EST/2 PM EST. You never know what surprises are in store, especially during this week.

    Here’s some notes for those watching this late via Dave Meltzer:

    – The first major news is that White announced that Nate Diaz will fight on UFC 200 and have a new opponent. White said you have to show up for the press conferences and shoot the commercials, and said everyone here has better things to do. He said they gave McGregor every opportunity to be here. 

    – White said they don’t have an opponent yet for Diaz.

    – White brought up that Jose flew in the day his sister got married, stayed here, and fighters have done this, said appearing at the press conferences is part of the job.

    – Diaz said he came to fight McGregor and isn’t interested in anyone else.

    – White said the fight is three months away which is why they did this this early.  He said he wants Conor to fight but you can’t not show up.  White said he’s ruling out Conor at this point.

    – When the rumor of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. GSP at UFC 200 was brought up, White said as far as he knows that’s completely inaccurate.

    – Nate Diaz said that if he doesn’t get McGregor, he’s going on vacation.

    – Dana White said they’re spending $10 million on promotion and shooting a commercial and said the production crew has been shooting the commercial the last few days and McGregor didn’t come.

    – He said Aldo vs. Edgar will fight and the winner will fight Conor.

  • Daily pro wrestling history (04/22): AWA and NWA World Champions on same card; Dick the Bruiser wins WWA Title

    1936

    St. Louis, Missouri:
    – Ed “Strangler” Lewis beat Gus Sonnenberg 
    – Dorv Roche beat Abe Coleman 
    – Pat O’Shocker and Ray Steele drew 
    – Warren Bockwinkel beat Tommy Marvin  
    – Lou Plummer beat Pat Fraley 

    1946 

    Denver, Colorado:
    – Everett Marshall defeated The Swedish Angel for the Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Title 

    1947

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:
    – Cliff Gustafson defeated Sandor Szabo to win the Minneapolis World Heavyweight Title 

    1949

    Houston, Texas:
    – Sonny Myers defeated Danny McShain for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title 

    1952

    Albuquerque, New Mexico:
    – Pierre LaBelle and Juan Garcia defeated The Golden Terror and Danny Savic to the New Mexico Tag Team Titles

    1953

    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:
    – Danno MacDonald and David Johns defeated Paul DeGalles and Tarzan Potvin for the Northwest Tag Team Titles

    1958 

    Dallas, Texas:
    – Rip Rogers (Eddie Graham) and Johnny Valentine defeated Albert and Enrique Torres to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Titles

    1964

    Los Angeles, California:
    – Dick the Bruiser defeated Fred Blassie for the World Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title 

    Salem, Oregon:
    – Nick Bockwinkel and Nick Kozak defeated The Destoyer and Dan Manoukian (subbing for Art Michalik) for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag
    Team Titles

    1966

    Mexico City, Mexico:
    – Rayo de Jalisco and Santo defeated René Guajardo and Karloff Lagarde in a tournament final for the Mexican National Tag Team Titles

    1968

    Montreal, Quebec, Canada:
    – Johnny Rougeau defeated Ivan Koloff to win the IWA International Heavyweight Title 

    Fort Worth, Texas:
    – The Spoilers (Don Jardine and Smasher Sloan) defeated Billy Red Lyons and Fritz Von Erich for the NWA American Tag Team Titles

    1969 

    Portland, Oregon:
    – Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne defeated Karl and Kurt Von Steiger for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles

    1973

    Pensacola, Florida:
    – The Mighty Mongol defeated Bob Kelly to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title 

    1977 

    Dothan, Alabama:
    – The Wrestling Pro defeated Ken Mantell to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title 

    St. Louis, Missouri:

    – NWA Champion Harley Race defeated Ernie Ladd to retain the title
    – Missouri State Champion Jack Brisco defeated Lord Alfred Hayes 
    – The High Flyers defeated Bob Brown and Mitsu Hata
    – Dick the Bruiser & Pat O’Connor & Rocky Johnson beat Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff & Jimmy Valiant
    – Gino Hernandez beat Bennie Ramirez

    1979

    Greensboro, North Carolina:
    – NWA Champion Harley Race beat Dino Bravo
    – Jimmy Snuka beat Ric Flair COR
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Paul Orndorff
    – Ricky Steamboat beat NWA TV Champion Paul Jones (win came after the 15 minute mark so Jones retained his TV Title)
    – Moose Morowski & BJohn Studd beat Pedro Morales & Abe Jacobs
    – Leo Burke beat Mr X I
    – Nick Decarlo beat Tony Russo
    – Don Kernodle beat Dave Patterson

    1983

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
    – Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jesse Ventura & Ken Patera
    – Baron Von Raschke & Brad Rheingans beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
    – Jerry Lawler beat Bobby Heenan
    – Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter beat Judy Martin & Velvet McIntyre
    – Wahoo McDaniel beat Ed Boulder
    – Buck Zumhofe beat John Tolos

    Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Leo Burke
    – David Shultz & Bret Hart beat Cuban Assassin & Mike Miller
    – Jim Neidhart ddq Kerry Brown
    – Bruce Hart & Davey Boy Smith beat Goldie Rogers & Mike Hammer
    – Mr. Hito drew Keith Hart
    – Hubert Gallant beat Shunji Takano
    – Norman F. Charles III beat Athol Foley dq
    – David Morgan beat Don Kolov

    1988

    WWF Saturday Night Main Event: Springfield, Massachusetts:

    – Jim Duggan defeated Hercules by disqualification 
    – Brutus Beefcake defeated Danny Davis 
    – WWF Champion Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) pinned One Man Gang (with Slick) to retain the title
    – WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash (with Mr. Fuji)) defeated The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) by disqualification
    – Ted DiBiase pinned Don Muraco
    – Rick Rude pinned Koko B. Ware

    1989

    Portland, Oregon:
    – Carl Styles defeated The Grappler for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title 

    1996

    WWF Monday Night Raw: San Bernadino, California:
    – Goldust (with Marlena) pinned Savio Vega to win the held-up WWF Intercontinental Title
    – Vader (with Jim Cornette) pinned Fatu 
    – The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas (with Hillbilly Jim)) defeated Ken Paterson and Yoshihiro Tajiri
    – Mankind defeated Aldo Montoya 

    WCW Monday Nitro: Albany, Georgia:
    – The American Males (Mark Bagwell and Scott Riggs) defeated Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) by disqualification 
    – Chris Benoit pinned Eddie Guerrero 
    – Jim Duggan pinned Meng
    – WCW World Tag Team Champions – WCW World Television Champion Lex Luger and Sting defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair (with Miss Elizabeth and Woman) and The Giant (with Jimmy Hart) by disqualification 

    2000

    ECW Cyberslam: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
    – Rhino defeated ECW World Television Champion Yoshihiro Tajiri to win the title
    – Tommy Dreamer defeated ECW World Heavyweight Champion Tazz to win the title
    – Justin Credible defeated Tommy Dreamer to win the title

    Eldon, Missouri:
    – Trevor Rhodes defeated Meng to win the World League Wrestling Heavyweight Title

    2001

    Jeffersonville, Indiana:
    – The Disciples of Synn (Damian and Payne) defeated The Minnesota Stretching Crew (Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles

    2006 

    Midlothian, Illinois:
    – Darin Corbin defeated Arik Cannon to win the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title

  • TNA Impact Wrestling 5/3 taping results: Jeff Hardy, Lashley, new female debuts

    TNA Impact Wrestling ran a set of TV tapings Thursday Notes in Orlando, FL, for Pop TV that will begin airing on Tuesday, May 3rd:

    • Eddie Edwards beat Caleb Konley. This may have been a dark match.
    • James Storm cut a promo that he’s now a singles wrestler.
    • Jeff Hardy and Mike Bennett had a confrontation that led to a match that Hardy won by DQ when Bobby Lashley ran in and speared Hardy.
    • James Storm beat Abyss who was accompanied by the rest of Decay who had new looks. Abyss now has face paint.
    • Sienna (aka the debuting Allysin Kay, a 28-year-old vet of AIW, Shimmer, Shine, etc.) debuted and laid out Jade.
    • X-Division Champion Trevor Lee beat Mandrews
    • King of The Mountain Champion Bram retained the title in a match against Eli Drake, Jessie Godderz, Robbie E, and Andrew Everett. Drake attacked Bram post-match
    • Jeff Hardy wrestled Lashley.  Drew Galloway was ref.  Bennett interfered and they had a four-way brawl.  
    • In a cage match, EC3 defeated Rockstar Spud. Bennett was out supporting Spud.

  • WWE results, Brussels: Dean Ambrose pins Triple H again

    By Jurgen De Roover

    10-15 minutes before the matches started, Byron Saxton came out so people could vote on twitter which match they wanted to see a short version of from WM32. Taker vs Shane was voted on in favor over Ambrose vs Lesnar & Reigns vs Triple H. (in that order)

    1) The opening match was for the IC title. Miz came out with Maryse to some good heat. They got some good heat and both played heels very well throughout the match. Dolph Ziggler came out as the challenger. This was a good match which was perfect to open the show. Miz got the win by Skull Crushing Finale after a distraction by Maryse. Miz wanted to attack Dolph with the belt after the match but he ducked and gave him the Zig Zag to end this.

    2) A very short match between Del Rio and Sandow. Sandow was over with the crowd and only had to stick a finger up to get cheers while Del Rio got some good heat. Del Rio won with the cross armbreaker.

    3) Del Rio asked if there was anyone in the back who was man enough to face him. Fandango came out with people doing his dance. Fandango won via Roll-up after a short match.

    4) Kevin Owens came out to a good pop to face Sami Zayn who was cheered on by the crowd too. Fun match with Owens mocking Zayn’s dance with his hat on too. It was a bit shorter than I expected and hoped because I mostly went for these guys & AJ. Sami won with the blue thunder bomb.

    5) 8 man women’s match: Naomi, Tamina, Lana & Summer Rae vs Natalya, Alicia Fox, Eva Marie & Paige.  Big pop for paige. Good pop for Natalya. Boo’s for Eva. Couple of Lana chants too. Eva portraited her heel character though being on the face team. Paige got the hot tag in the end and won with the Rampaige on Tamina.

    6) Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles.  GREAT heel work by Jericho throughout. Lots and lots of AJ Styles chants. (It was maybe a coincidence with who I was standing at the merchandise stand, but it seemed like AJ easily sold the most shirts. Though I’m not sure how correct that information is.) A good match with AJ winning by Styles clash.

    7) Curtis Axel (w/ Victor) vs Goldust.  Goldust won via rollup after a quick match. Got attacked after the match and Truth came out for the save. Some fun what’s up chants by both. Golden Truth chants too.

    8) US Title match: Kalisto vs Ryback. Good david vs goliath match. The whole crowd did the “Lucha Lucha” chant a lot. Kalisto reversed Shell Shocked twice and won via Solida Del Sol.

    9) Rowan & Stroman vs Big Show & Kane. Big Show got possibly the loudest pop of the night. It was an amazing sight seeing Stroman and Big Show face to face. You really don’t realise how big they are until you see it live. The win came when Kane sent Stroman over the top, Big Show chokeslammed Rowan for the 1-2-3. Stroman came in to attack after and received a double chokeslam for good measure. Nice to see the veterans get much respect from the crowd.

    10) Dean Ambrose vs Triple H.  Big pops for both of them. Mixed crowd with mostly boo’s for Triple H though there were a lot of “Let’s go Ambrose – Triple H!” chants. The
    crowd really appriciated Triple H being there. Funny segment where Triple H poked Dean in the eyes behind the ref and then Dean just did it back three times in front of the ref and was like “whaaaat?”.
    Dean reversed the pedigree a couple of times. Triple H pulled the ref in the corner so he took a hit instead of himself. Triple H with a low blow to Ambrose. Pedigree reversed, low blow by Ambrose and then dirty deeds to get the win.

    Overall, very enjoyable show with all the heels doing great heel work. The crowd was into it from start until finish and the biggest pops were for Big Show, Kevin Owens, Paige & the main event.

  • Samoa Joe beats Finn Balor to win the NXT Title

    Samoa Joe pinned Finn Balor with a muscle buster to win the NXT title in the main event at today’s house show in Lowell, MA at the Memorial Auditorium.

    It was the first night of a three-show Northeastern tour.

    Not much more in the way of details are available but it was a rare house show title change.  Balor was selling an ankle injury after the match.  It’s unclear if this was storyline or not, as he was down for a long time and unlaced his boot in the ring.  Unlacing his boot would tend to mean its storyline. One way or another, it wasn’t an impromptu title change as talk of the impending switch had gone around all afternoon.

    Josh Nason is traveling back from Lowell and will have a live report up shortly.

    Balor had been champion since July 4, 2015, when he defeated Kevin Owens at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, and his 292 days as champion broke the record of 287 set by Adrian Neville’s 2014 run.

    The rest of the show results were:

    • Mojo Rawley pinned Riddick Moss
    • Bayley & Carmella beat Peyton Royce & Dana Brooke – This would be Brooke’s return after a long injury absence
    • Chris Girard pinned Tommaso Ciampa – This match tore down the house.
    • Austin Aries pinned Manny Andrade
    • Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Elias Samson
    • Chad Gable & Jason Jordan beat Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson to retain the NXT tag titles
    • Asuka beat Alexa Bliss to retain the women’s title

  • WON Preview: Conor McGregor and UFC 200, TNA sale imminent

    READ IT HERE: April 25, 2016 WON: Conor McGregor and the fate of UFC 200, and the possible sale of TNA

    In this week’s Observer the Conor McGregor/UFC issue as it relates to UFC 200, and the future and possible sale of TNA are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

    The top story runs down how the McGregor situation went down, how much money is at stake for the UFC if McGregor isn’t on the show, Dana White’s claims, a look at the most likely replacement fights and evaluating them, the possible UFC 200 momentum, as well as a rundown of UFC plans for what was expected to be the biggest weekend in its history.

    The second big story has to do with the potential sale of TNA to Aroluxe, the company looking at buying them, and the moves Dixie Carter has tried to make, where things stand, a look at the business of TNA and what is needed to turn it around, and more.

    There is also an update on the condition of Bray Wyatt, a look at the next WWE PPV show, Notes on the Total Bellas TV show, update on Total Divas and how badly this season declined in audience, more on the WWE drug test failuers, more on Undertaker pulling out of the European tour and HHH wrestling on it, an update on Steve Austin, an update on the Global cruiserweight tournament, Brock Lesnar’s next match, how WWE affects the USA Network overall, former major star honored in Chickasaw nation Hall of Fame, upcoming major NXT dates, Bret Hart talks current WWE, Ryback talks WrestleMania, and notes on the November European tour including why TV location is so notable.

    Also this issue has a rundown of all the WWE and NXT arena events of the past week as well as highlights and business notes on all of the shows.

    The Kumamoto earthquake caused the cancelation of a New Japan PPV. That changes some of the upcoming shows. This issue covers the new two big shows over the next few weeks, plans for English language broadcasts over the next few months, and early thoughts of the next Super Juniors tournament.

    This issuce has coverage of the UFC on FOX show, with all the things that went wrong before the show, business notes on the show, where different fighters are headed next, challenges made, plus business notes, match-by-match coverage, pay numbers and poll results.

    ROH is getting expanded TV coverage in Canada with The Fight Network, and other promotions. 

    I was at the 51st annual Cauliflower Alley Club banquet featuring Jerry Lawler, Lance Russell, J.J. Dillon, Arn Anderson, Trish Stratus, Ricky Steamboat, Paul Orndorff, John Layfield and others. In this issue, there is some history of the event, what happened that night, the decision to honor Stratus as the main award and other notes.

    Also in this issue is our monthly WWE & TNA business rundown so you can see how business is compared to recent years in attendance, ratings, on-line merch, DVD sales and what main events drew what kind of revenue.

    Details on the ratings for all the national shows over the past week, including who was watching, who tuned in, what groups tuned out or Raw the most, as well as John Cena’s new show, all in this issue.

    Finally, this issue contains results of the major league arena events held all over the world this past week, as well as notes on the various TV shows.

    You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

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    Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: March 8, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF faces backlash for being risque, WCW’s Renegade passes away, tons more  WWF faces backlash for being too risque, former WCW wrestler Renegade passes away, plus tons of news.

    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.

    Also in this issue:

    • A major shooting across the street from a television taping
    • New TV show gets moved to a bad time slot in Mexico
    • The craziness that is the Octagon and Octagon Jr. mess
    • Top woman star taking time off due to pregnancy
    • The debut of the new Team Trump stable in wrestling
    • Dragon Gate’s Dead or Alive show notes
    • Update on the All Japan Champion Carnival tournament
    • Tag team sets title defense record
    • Independent star gets major contract offer
    • Notes on this week’s New Japan shows
    • Famous Olympic wrestler in tabloid rumor about marrying new Japan star
    • Kota Ibushi debuts with a new promotion next month, but a surprise where that is
    • MysterioMania debut show
    • A surprise about talks of a potential six straight events U.S. Dome show series in a few years and the holdups
    • Some strange stories coming out of WrestleMania weekend
    • Notes on Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion
    • Notes on Kurt Angle’s next match
    • A very notable inside NWA letter from 1953 about the world title and who promoters favored and the irony of how it turned out
    • 2016 NWA Hall of fame notes
    • Former TNA wrestler wins bodybuilding contest
    • New Lucha Underground signee
    • Lineup for the next ROH PPV show
    • What ROH star is New Japan looking at
    • What great worker is likely to be an ROH regular several months from now
    • Another personality leaves TNA
    • Notes on the UFC debuting in Madison Square Garden
    • UFC plans for New York State
    • Why this week’s PPV show is so interesting
    • Thoughts on Georges St-Pierre and financial issues of his comeback
    • Legislation that may be introduced to change MMA
    • More on the next season of Ultimate Fighter
    • Urijah Faber’s unique build up to the Cruz fight
    • UFC fighter getting a TV show
    • More notes on the arrest of Diego Brandao
    • Notes on Bellator’s next major show
    • Notes on Bobby Lashley and the Bellator heavyweight division
    • Notes on the Rizin show with Sakuraba & Tokoro vs. Tamura & Wanderlei Silva in a tag team match
    • Other pro wrestlers and notables on the show

    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. 

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  • Daily pro wrestling history (04/21): AWA Starrcage; Hulk Hogan defeats Triple H to win WWF World Title

    1966 

    Kansas City, Missouri:
    – Bob Geigel & Bob Brown defeated The Mongolian Stomper & Jerry Kozak  in a 2 out of 3 falls match

    1967

    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
    – AWA World Tag Team Champions Harley Race and Larry Hennig defeated Verne Gagne and Don Leo Jonathon in a 2 out of 3 falls match to retain the titles
    – Mad Dog Vachon beat Doug Gilbert
    – Danny Hodge drew Bob Boyer 
    – Ernie Ladd beat The Alaskan
    – Stan The Moose Mykatowich beat Bob Tuck 

    1973

    Tokyo, Japan:
    – Giant Baba defeated Mark Lewin in the finals of the first ever  All Japan Pro Wrestling Champion Carnival tournament

    1975

    Tulsa, Oklahoma:
    – Ken Mantell beat Scandor Akbar
    – Bill Watts beat Cyclone Negro
    – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Jerry Miller
    – Dick Murdoch beat Grizzly Smith
    – Pork Chop Cash drew Buck Robley
    – Ted Heath beat Mitsu Hata
    – Stan Hansen & Frank Goodish beat Johnny Eagle & Jay Clayton

    1979 

    New Orleans, Louisiana:
    – Mike George defeated Jerry Stubbs in for the Mid-South Wrestling Louisiana Heavyweight Title

    1980

    Madison Square Garden, New York City: 
    – Ken Patera defeated Pat Patterson for the WWF Intercontinental Title 

    1984

    Greensboro, North Carolina:
    – Ricky Steamboat defeated Dick Slater for the United States Heavyweight Title 

    1985 

    AWA Starrcage: St. Paul, Minnesota:
    – Cage match: Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & King Tonga & Masked Superstar
    – AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig dq
    – Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
    – Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans beat Larry Zbyszko & Butch Reed
    – Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal
    – Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid beat Billy Robinson & Bobby Duncum
    – Steve Olsonoski & Tom Zenk beat The Alaskans

    2002

    WWE Backlash: Kansas City, Missouri:
    – Big Show defeated Steven Richards    
    – Tajiri (with Torrie Wilson) defeated Billy Kidman to win the WWF Cruiserweight Championship    
    – Scott Hall (with X-Pac) defeated Bradshaw 
    – Jazz defeated Trish Stratus to win retain the WWF Women’s Championship    
    – Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defeated Jeff Hardy 
    – Kurt Angle defeated Edge    
    – The Undertaker defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin
    – Billy and Chuck (with Rico) defeated Maven and Al Snow to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship
    – Hulk Hogan defeated Triple H to capture the Undisputed WWF World Heavyweight Title  
    – Eddie Guerrero defeated Rob Van Dam to win the Intercontinental Title

    2008

    Greenville, South Carolina:
    – William Regal defeated CM Punk to win the King of the Ring

  • Jimmy Jacobs’ eulogy for wrestler & best friend Christian Able

    The following was written by Jimmy Jacobs:

    Joshua Michael Burgess, known to the wrestling world as Christian Able passed away Wednesday, April 13, 2016.

    Christian Able was known for his charismatic presence, emotional promos, and in-ring strength. Josh was born January 11, 1985 in Berrien Center, Michigan. A life-long entertainer after graduating Coloma High School in 2004, Burgess attended Disney University in Orlando, FL, where he went on to perform as Pluto at various Disney parks.

    Josh began professional wrestling training in 2006 at Dan Severn’s Price of Glory Wrestling School in Coldwater, MI under Jimmy Jacobs and Josh Raymond. Burgess started his career working for various Midwest independent companies in a tag team with childhood friend Caden Ames under the team name Absolute Answer. Burgess later branched out to become a solo act for Ian Rotten’s IWA Mid-South and Detroit’s XICW. In 2008, Burgess continued training at the House of Truth Wrestling School under Truth Martini and the Can-Am Wrestling School under Scott D’Amore. Burgess’ most notable success was as a tag team with Josh Raymond managed by Truth Martini, under the team name the House of Truth.

    The team first stood out in Chicago independent company AAW and Scott D’Amore’s Can-Am Wrestling before debuting at Ring of Honor in 2009. The team was featured on Ring of Honor’s ROH on HDNet television show. The House of Truth had notable matches against the Briscoes, the Young Bucks, and Kevin Steen and El Generico. Roderick Strong was later added to the House of Truth in 2010. Burgess and Raymond would go on to assist Roderick Strong in winning the ROH World Title from Tyler Black on September 11, 2010 in the duo’s last appearance for ROH.

    Later that month, Burgess teamed with Josh Raymond to face Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black in Chicago in what would be Tyler Black’s final independent wrestling match before going to WWE to become Seth Rollins. Burgess continued to perform on and off for his remaining years, having his final match on April 2, 2016 in a dog collar match against his former tag team partner Caden Ames.

    Josh passed away unexpectedly in Michigan on April 13, 2016. He is survived by his parents Lynda (nne Burgess) and Kevin Smith, his brother Kyle Smith, as well family, friends, and brothers in professional wrestling. A tribute and ten bell salute was dedicated to Burgess on April 17 in Detroit, MI at XICW.