Preshow: Engranaje Jack defeats Límite with a roll up while he has the legs in ropes. Both are local wrestlers. It was fine.
Hugo does a promo, thanks the crowd and says the event is possible because two guys from Antofagasta (city of the north of Chile) contacted him.
Santana Garrett defeats Taya with a small package for became the first women’s champion in Wrestling SuperStar. Good match. Taya was heel and was with a wrestler of Argentina for gain heat.
Robbie E makes a promo saying that he is Mister Saco Wea (is a chilean way to say some like bag of rocks). He is super over. Robbie has to participate in a 20 man battle royal with chileanwrestlers for a cup. The winner was Twiggy eliminating last Robbie E. Mister Saco Wea was almost the whole match out of the ring making a really fun show. The winner of cup can cash it for a chance for the Chile’s Championshisp. It was fine, but some long.
Gladiator Angel and HellSpawn (both from Chile) defeats the tag team champions, Eddie Edwards and Pentagón Jr. when Angel pinned Edwards after a death valley driver of HellSpawn and a diving splash. Pentagón was the replace of Davey Richards. Pentagón hits really hard and they make much better work than the chileans.
Apocalipsis defeats León Apolo when Apolo take out the mask of Apocalipsis and retain the LCW Championshisp. Worst match of the night. Boring match.
They announced next show on August 7 with Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Ivelisse, Drago, Mr. Anderson, Mr. 450 and others. The crowd is very happy with the announce, in special with Jeff Hardy.
Alex Hero vs Carlito ended in doble count out. Carlito was over and the chilean Hero was booed. Hero is tiny and the crowd don’t bought his attacks. Second worst match. Twiggy appears with the cup, but challenges Hero for August.
Konnan appears and Hugo give an award for his career. Very short segment.
Matt Hardy defeats Johnny Mundo with Twist of Fate. Moments before the referee was knocked and can’t make the count for Mundo, when he applies the End of the World. Hardy invites his wife and son to ring. It was good, but they can do some much better.
In main event Bobby Lashley and Rey Mysterio defeats MVP and Ricky Banderas. Mysterio hits the 619 in the heels and a splash in Banderas, meanwhile Lashley uses the Spear on MVP. MVP was a good heel. Mysterio was super over.
It was an ok show, but nothing outstanding happens in the matches. The booking was so-so, Hugo has to improve in that. The crowd was very active, big pops for Robbie E, Carlito, Hardy and Mysterio.
The show opened with a pre-taped recording of Kevin Owens on the screen trash talking Sami Zayn before being interrupted by R-Truth, who did his usual ‘my bad’ routine for some laughs. Owens sold the interruption well and refused to do the rest of the promos.
U.S. Champion Kalisto def. Ryback to retain
An okay match to start the show, with Kalisto being overpowered for most of it before coming back with high flying offense and a nice reversal out of the ShellShock into Salida del Sol for the win. The ‘lucha’ chant is really over with the kids, and I saw a handful wearing the (£60!!) replica mask.
R-Truth def. Bo Dallas (w/Heath Slater)
Truth won a short match with a roll-up after several breaks for crowd interactions, including a Bo-lieve vs What’s Up battle and Bo’s lap around the ring. Slater got on the mic after the match and trash-talked before he and Bo attacked Truth, which brought Goldust out to make the save. There was a Golden Truth chant and Truth even got Goldust to dance with him for a while.
Fandango def. Damien Sandow
Sandow came out first to a decent pop and thanked the fans for their appreciation despite him not being on TV. He said that having fans chanting his name while he was getting off the bus meant more than any championship ever could. Switching seamlessly into the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses, he lamented the “certifiable, card-carrying idiots” of the UK that enjoyed Fandangoing. Sandow got back on the mic mid-match during a beatdown of Fandango to ask if this is who we really idolised, which led to him being rolled up while still holding the mic. Funny. He genuinely looked emotional during his thank you speech at the start.
AJ Styles and Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio
Huge pops for the babyface team. I hadn’t checked the card before the event, so I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The kids were really excited to see AJ, which is a nod to WWE’s booking of him so far as you have to assume that not many of them know him from NJPW or TNA. There was an improvised spot on the outside where Owens grabbed a Styles sign and almost took the kid holding it over the barrier with him.
The crowd was hot for Owens v Zayn, but the match was effectively over when Del Rio collided with Owens on the apron. Moments later, KO refused a tag and walked out, leaving Del Rio to eat a Helluva Kick, a Phenomenal Forearm and the pin.
Paige, Natalya, Eva Marie and Alicia Fox def. Tamina, Naomi, Summer Rae and Lana
Huge home country pop for Paige and the obligatory boos for Eva. All 8 women worked the match well (including relative newcomers Eva and Lana) with a nice Tower of Doom spot that was well executed. I thought it was over when Paige locked in the PTO on Summer Rae but it was broken up. After some chaos, Paige got the pin after a Rampaige on Tamina. Nattie managed to start a small Eva chant amongst some of the fans down the front, but they were really playing up the divide between her and the rest of the Total Divas babyfaces.
Big Show def. Los Matadores (2-on-1 handicap match)
This ended up being a comedy match, with Diego y Fernando taking it in turns to get shoved to the other side of the ring by Show. After some slaps in the corner and the giant paying homage to the New Day with a booty dance, Diego sat on Fernando’s shoulders and patted Show on the head. Another slap and a double chokeslam ended the bout, with Show staying behind for a good few minutes to sign autographs, pose for pics with the crowd.
WWE I-C Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) def. Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose to retain
Miz came out with Maryse who told the crowd that real men like Miz have women like her, while other men have women like that, pointing to someone in the crowd which drew some heat. Miz showed the audience how to kiss a woman properly, prompting an interruption from Ziggler. Ambrose was out next to the loudest pop of the night. The match was decent, with Miz staying on the outside to start and breaking up pinfalls.
After about 10 minutes, a distraction from Maryse allowed Miz to roll up Ambrose and grab the ropes for the 3 count. Afterwards, Miz called upon Superman in the front row to use his X-Ray vision to confirm that the Miz hadn’t cheated. Ambrose was having none of the Miz’s offer of a handshake and told him that Ziggler had something to say. That something was a superkick, and Ambrose nailed Dirty Deeds to send the crowd home happy.
A really enjoyable first live event for me, despite New Day and three of the four horsewomen being in Nottingham instead of Leeds. AJ and Sami were ridiculously over, along with Big Show and obviously Paige. Some more mic time for guys like Bo Dallas and KO would have been nice, but nobody was walking out of the arena disappointed.
Albany, New York: – Ed Don George defeated Steve Casey for the Boston AWA World Heavyweight Title
1958
Atlanta, Georgia: – Karl Heinkler and Kurt Von Brauner defeated Don Lee and The Mighty Yankee to win the Georgia NWA International Tag Team Titles
1962
Mobile, Alabama: – Tex Riley and Gus Taylor won the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Titles from The Mysterious Medics
1966
Los Angeles, California: – Buddy Austin and El Mongol defeated Thunderbolt Patterson and Alberto Torres to win the World Wrestling Association World Tag Team Titles
1969
Atlanta, Georgia: – El Mongol defeated Assassin #1 for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Bud and Ray Osborne defeated Bob and Fred Sweetan to win the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
1972
Tampa, Florida: – Paul Jones defeated Johnny Walker to win the vacant NWA Florida Television Title in a one night, 8 man tournament
Costa Mesa, California: – Dory Dixon and Raúl Mata defeated Goliath and Kinji Shibuya for the NWA Americas Tag Team Titles
1973
Yaizu, Japan: – Killer Karl Krupp and Fritz Von Erich defeated Kintaro Ohki and Umanosuke Ueda to win the NWA International Tag Team Titles
Nashville, Tennessee: – Jackie Fargo and Jerry Jarrett won the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles defeating Jerry Lawler and Jim White
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Wahoo McDaniel beat Superstar Billy Graham COR – Ken Patera beat Dusty Rhodes COR – Ed Francis drew Sam Steamboat – Ray Stevens drew Don Muraco – Tony Borne beat Jimmy Snuka dq – Neff Maiava beat Wild Bill Howard
1974
Dallas, Texas: – Fritz Von Erich defeated The Texan (Blackjack Mulligan) for the NWA American Heavyweight Title
1977
Memphis, Tennessee: – Bill Dundee and Tommy Rich defeated Karl and Kurt Von Steiger to win the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Titles
1978
Portland, Oregon: – The Iron Sheik and Bull Ramos defeated Jerry Oates and Jesse Ventura for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
Warner Robbins, Georgia: – Mr Wrestling II beat Georgia Champion Stan Hansen dq – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tommy Rich – Rocky Johnson beat Helmut Schmidt (sub Lars Anderson) – Wolfgang Schmidt & Helmut Schmidt beat Adrian Adonis & Pierre Lefebvre – Paul Ellering beat John Ruggers
1981
Mid-South Wrestling: New Orleans, Louisiana: – The Grappler and Super Destoyer defeated Junkyard Dog and Dick Murdoch to win the vacant Mid-South Tag Team Titles in a one night, 9 team tournament
Portland, Oregon: – Brett and Buzz Sawyer defeated The Destoyer and Rip Oliver to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – No dq match: The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Jerry Blackwell & John Studd – Jim Brunzell beat Jesse Ventura – Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens (sub Bobby Heenan) beat Greg Gagne & Buck Zumhofe – Tito Santana drew Adrian Adonis – Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
1982
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Hulk Hogan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq – Cage match: AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan – Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke COR – Bobby Heenan beat Tito Santana dq – Bobby Duncum drew Brad Rheingans – Buck Zumhofe beat Sonny Rogers – Sgt. Goulet beat Tony Leone
1984
Akita, Japan: – Genichiro Tenryu & Shohei Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr beat Jos Leduc & Bulldog Bob Brown & Goro Tsurumi – Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody drew Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell – AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat David Sammartino – Kerry Von Erich beat Magic Dragon – Takahashi Ishikawa & Ashura Hara drew Akio Sato & Masa Fuchi – Mighty Inoue beat Rocky Hata dq
1987
Portland, Oregon: – Rip Oliver won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title defeating Ricky Santana
San Juan, Puerto Rico: – Invader I defeated Jason the Terrible for the WWC Television Title – Frankie Lancaster defeated Super Medic to win the held up WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title
1989
Tokyo, Japan: – NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta defeated NWA United National Heavyweight and PWF Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen to unify all the titles and become the first AJPW Triple Crown Champion
1991
Tokyo, Japan: – Stan Hansen and Dan Spivey defeated Terry Gordy and Steve Williams for the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Titles
1992
Tokyo, Japan: – Chris Walker pinned Tetsuya Yamanaka – Shinji Takano pinned Kendo Nagasaki – Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Ishinriki defeated Tatsumi Kitahara and Shinichi Nakano – Satánico defeated The Dragon by countout – Samson Fuyuki and Takashi Ishikawa defeated The Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake) – SWS Light Heavyweight Champion Naoki Sano pinned Chavo Guerrero to retain the title – Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated SWS Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) to win the title – Genichiro Tenryu defeated Ric Flair in a best-of-three falls match
Cloverdale, British Columbia, Canada: – Moondog Moretti defeated Ole Olsen for the West Coast Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title
1997
Mexico City, Mexico: – Steel (Val Venis) defeated Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. to win the CMLL World Heavyweight Title
1998
Tokyo, Japan: – Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Jun Akiyama to win AJPW’s annual Champion’s Carnival tournament
1999
Mexico City, Mexico: – Los Juniors (Perro Aguayo, Jr., Blue Demon, Jr., La Parka, Jr. and Mascara Sagrada, Jr.) defeated Los Vatos Locos (May Flowers, Charly Manson, Nygma and Picudo) in Zapopan to win the Mexican National Atómicos Title
2001
Oldcastle, Ontario, Canada: – Scott D’Amore defeated Tommy Dreamer to win the Border City Wrestling Can-Am Heavyweight Title – Scott D’Amore lost the title to Mikey Whipwreck
2004
WWE Backlash: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: – Shelton Benjamin pinned World Tag Team Champion Ric Flair – Jonathan Coachman pinned Tajiri – Chris Jericho defeated Christian and Trish Stratus in a handicap match – WWE Women’s Champion Victoria pinned Lita to retain the title – WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton pinned Cactus Jack in a hardcore match to retain the title – The Hurricane and Rosey defeated La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier) – Edge pinned Kane – World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit defeated Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a triple threat match to retain the title
2005
New York City: – MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro (with Melina)) defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio to win the titles
2010
St. Charles, Missouri: TNA Lockdown: – Rob Van Dam defeated James Storm – Homicide defeated Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin and Brian Kendrick in an escape match to join the TNA X Division Championship match – Kevin Nash defeated Eric Young – The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky) (with Lacey Von Erich) defeated Angelina Love and Tara in a Steel Cage match for the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship and TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship – Kazarian defeated Shannon Moore and Homicide to win the vacant TNA X Division Championship – Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) defeated The Band (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) in a St. Louis Street Fight Steel Cage match – Kurt Angle defeated Mr. Anderson – A.J. Styles defeated D’Angelo Dinero to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship – Team Hogan (Abyss, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Hardy) defeated Team Flair (Sting, James Storm, Robert Roode and Desmand Wolfe) Lethal Lockdown match
Dave Meltzer revealed today in a breaking news audio update that the company that Impact Wrestling/TNA has been negotiating with is Aroluxe, a company that former wrestlers Ron and Don Harris are involved with. The Harris brothers were mid-level stars in both the WWF and WCW in the late 90s and were brought in to TNA by former owner Jeff Jarrett when the company started.
Negotiations are still ongoing. TNA president Dixie Carter was hopeful of securing a deal whereby an investor would purchase 49% interest in the company, allowing her to maintain a majority interest. Whether she finds a company willing to do that or not, the company is in a crunch position as they are essentially out of money and will require a cash influx to get them through their next set of TV tapings scheduled for later this week.
If Carter is not able to find an investor willing to let her maintain control of the company there will obviously be a shakeup in the company and details of that are likely to come out in the next week or so.
Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling started in late 2002 as a weekly pay per view product owned and operated by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett. Father Jerry pulled out of the partnership early and Jeff went to Panda Energy for financing to keep the company afloat. They remained as a weekly PPV property until late 2004, when they secured a broadcast contract with Fox Sports Network and used that platform to move to the more traditional monthly PPV model.
They were at times in their history profitable but ever since spending big money to acquire free agents Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam and others in 2010 the promotion has been a money loser. They started on SPIKE TV in 2005 and at times garnered audiences upwards of 1.5 million. By late 2014, they were down under a million and on top of the declining ratings, the promotion was secretly employing Vince Russo as a consultant despite the fact that SPIKE executives had made it clear they did not want the company to have any dealings with Russo.
They moved to Destination America in 2015 and it quickly became clear that it would not be a good fit. Destination America announced midway through the first year that they would not be renewing them for a second season, despite announcing a “multi-year” contract at the start of the relationship. In late 2015 the company announced that they would start the following year on POP TV, the former TV Guide channel. While no terms were announced at the time, it was believed to be an ad revenue sharing deal.
POP TV president Brad Schwartz announced that they hoped that the promotion would return to the 1.3 million audience level with the move to POP. This despite the fact that the show averaged less than half of that number during it’s year on Destination America. With the move to POP, ratings declined even further, settling in around 300,000 despite being available in 80 million homes in the United States.
On Monday, Ring of Honor and The Fight Network announced a new deal that would give ROH weekly exposure throughout Canada.
The Canadian based combat sports network will begin airing ROH starting on Tuesday, April 26 at 11 PM EST with repeat showings throughout the week. ROH will be part of a Tuesday night wrestling block with TNA Impact at 9 PM EST, ROH at 11 PM EST, and AAA at midnight EST.
The Fight Network is carried nationally on all major cable, satellite and telecom systems in Canada.
The shows will air before they go up on the ROH website on Thursdays, but after they debut during the weekend on U.S.-based Sinclair affiliates, some of which are picked up in Canada, most notably the Buffalo station that is carried in Ontario.
The deal gives ROH television penetration in other key Canadian markets that they previously didn’t have broadcast access in.
“Ring of Honor has long been touted as a worldwide leader in professional wrestling and we’re thrilled with the opportunity to finally bring a weekly series to Canadian fans,” said Chad Midgley, VP of The Fight Network. “Over the past decade, ROH has staged plenty of five-star matches that will go down in history as some of the best. Its focus on in-ring quality, attention to detail and talent development is outstanding, making it the perfect fit for our stacked professional wrestling block on Tuesday nights.”
Due to the series of earthquakes in Kumamoto, New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the cancellation of its 4/29 Wrestling Hinokuni PPV.
The show, scheduled at Grand Messe Kumamoto, was one of the two big shows on the current tour and featured three title matches. Whether this will result in changes to the 5/3 show in Fukuoka to get at least those matches on the card has not yet been released.
The city was hit by a series of earthquakes over the last few days: a 6.2 on Thursday night, a 6.0 earthquake three hours later just after midnight, a 7.0 earthquake on Saturday at 1:25 a.m, and another aftershock last night. The earthquakes have left at least 41 dead and 968 injured, destroyed 90 homes and have led to the evacuation of more than 91,700 people in the city.
However, the other shows that weekend on the island of Kyushu are still on the schedule.
New Japan is expected to run a major show in the city when things have calmed down, and several Japanese promotions are likely to do benefit shows.
The show’s original lineup was:
Jay White vs. David Finlay
Juice Robinson & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Kazushi Sakuraba
Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Yoshitatsu vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga
Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet for the IWGP jr. tag titles
Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata for the Never Open weight title
Kimbo Slice’s championship aspirations have never been at the top of the list for Bellator MMA, but interesting fights certainly are. Sunday night, the MMA world found out what his next foray into the cage will be.
In a rematch of one of the most watched MMA fights of all time, the 42-year-old Slice (6-2) will rematch James “Colossus” Thompson (20-16-1) on Saturday, July 16th at the O2 Arena in London, England. Bellator president Scott Coker made the announcement during a quick segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter on ESPNews.
Slice will ride into the fight on a two fight win streak, having dispatched Ken Shamrock and Dhafir “DADA 5000” Harris in February, the last fight notable mainly because Harris nearly died during the fight due to a terribly planned weight cut, and that Slice tested positive for banned substances. He was suspended for all of 90 days by the Texas Athletic Commission.
After winning four straight, the 37-year-old Thompson has lost his last two fights by TKO. He and Slice fought back in May 2008 for EliteXC, a fight Slice won by 3rd round TKO when Thompson’s cauliflower ear exploded after Slice punched it. The show aired on CBS and did huge ratings.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Bellator is looking at England native Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck II in the co-main event — a rematch of their infamous May 2010 UFC fight where Daley punched Koscheck after the fight ended, causing his immediate firing by UFC brass. Ever since Bellator signed both guys, the fight has been inevitable.
The fight announcement wasn’t lost on UFC VP of Public Relations Dave Sholler who had a simple tweet after the announcement. Even with a busy July, UFC has no shows planned for that date. They have run the O2 Arena six times, always drawing well there.
Good reaction for Cesaro. Good heat for Rusev after taking a young child’s ‘Cesaro section’ sign. “Let’s go Rusev/Rusev sucks” chant breaks out. Rusev works over Cesaro’s shoulder for most of the match. Cesaro makes his comeback with the multiple uppercuts. Rusev goes for the Accolade, but Cesaro reverses it into the sharpshooter. Cesaro does the giant swing to a loud pop and then immediately puts Rusev in the sharpshooter again. Rusev taps immediately.
Sin Cara def. Tyler Breeze
Match opens with breeze taking down Cara and doing his turnbuckle pose. Cara then takes down Breeze, and does the same. Suicide dive to the outside by Cara. Comedy spot in the middle of the match where Breeze went up to the top rope and Cara would keep rolling to the opposite corner. Breeze did this 5 or 6 times. Cara then quickly hits the Swanton bomb for the win.
Jack Swagger def. Tyler Breeze
Breeze then gets the mic and says he came here to stand in the middle of the ring and take a victory selfie. He demands another match and out comes Swagger waving the Union Jack flag. Really quick match with Breeze tapping out to the Patriot Lock.
Kane def. Stardust
No reaction for Stardust but quite a good pop for Kane. Another comedy match of sorts. Kane & Stardust playing to the crowd. Stardust drinks a bottle of water from ringside and tries giving it to Kane as peace offering then spits water at Kane. Basic match otherwise nothing special. Kane wins with a chokeslam. Stardust sells the chokeslam post match and makes two referees help him up.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) def. The Dudley Boyz
Lots of New Day antics pre match as always. Bubba gets the mic and says he and D-von are fed up hearing people chant “New Day rocks”. “New Day Rocks” & “Get The Tables” chant breaks out and Bubba again gets the mic asking if the fans want tables. D-Von pulls a table out, but bubba says the fans don’t deserve it. Nothing special in the match itself. Dudleys messed up the reverse 3D when D-Von went quicker than Bubba. New Day hit the Midnight Hour on D-Von for the win.
WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) def. Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks in a three-way match
Good pop for Sasha and a lot of Whoooos for Charlotte and Ric. Really good back and forth match. Sasha hits the corner knee drop to Charlotte and Becky. Charlotte with a double DDT and double Natural Selection. Sasha gets the Bank Statement on Charlotte, and then Becky breaks it up and puts Sasha in the Disarmer. Charlotte hits the Natural Selection on Becky to break the submission and pins Becky for a 2 count. After interference from Ric, Charlotte rolls up Becky and uses her feet on the rope for the 3 count.
The Usos def. Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman
No reaction for The Wyatts. Good initial reaction for the Usos, and then some boos mixed in. Basic match with the usual spots. Usos take out Strowman on the outside with a dive, and then hit Rowan with a superkick and uso splash for the win.
WWE Champion Roman Reigns def. Sheamus
Sheamus cuts a pre match promo bashing England and saying how the League Of Nations is stronger than ever and the weak link was an Englishmen. Reigns comes out to a mostly positive reaction but loud boos a couple of times. Good back and forth match with Sheamus beating down on Reigns. Mixed booss and cheers for Reigns when he makes his comeback. The ending saw Sheamus kick out of the Superman punch, and then Reigns kicks out of the Brogue kick. Sheamus argues with the referee, and then Reigns hits him with another Superman punch and the spear for 3. Loud pop when Reigns won. Post match, Reigns goes round ringside having photos taken with fans and signing posters.
Kansas City, Kansas: – Lee Wyckoff defeated Orville Brown in 2 out of 3 falls to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title – Jay Steele beat Al Lafoon – Mysterious Mr. S beat Dobie Osborne – Abe Coleman and Rudy Strongberg drew (30:00)
1952
Chattanooga, Tennessee: – Golden Hawk and Johnny Kostas defeated Henry Harrell and Rex Mobley for the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1959
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Gene Kiniski defeated Whipper Billy Watson for the Toronto NWA British Empire Heavyweight Title
Atlanta, Georgia: – Dick Gunkel (Dick Steinborn) defeated Fred Blassie to win the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1965
San Francisco, California: – Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens defeated The Destroyer and Billy Red Lyons to win the American Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Titles
1969
Jacksonville, Florida: – Boris Malenko defeated The Gladiator (Rick Hunter) for the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Title
Hattiesburg, Mississippi: – Mitsu Sito defeated Bob Kelly to win the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title
1970
Atlanta, Georgia: – Nick Bockwinkel defeated Assassin #1 (Tom Renesto) for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title
1972
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jackie Fargo and Jerry Jarrett defeated The Interns in a hair vs. title match to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title
Portland, Oregon: – Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title from The Royal Kangaroos (Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles)
1974
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – Gene Kiniski and Mr. X (Guy Mitchell) defeated Flash Gordon (George Gordienko) and Leo Madril to win the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles
Nashville, Tennessee: – Mr. Kamikaze and Tojo Yamamoto defeated Nick DeCarlo and Frank Monte for the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Titles
1976
Caguas, Puerto Rico: – Carlos Colón defeated Bob Ellis to win the WWC North American Heavyweight Title
St. Petersburg, Florida: – Jack Brisco defeated Pak Song for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title
Wichita, Kansas: – Mike George defeated Bob Brown for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1978
Augusta, Georgia: – Dusty Rhodes ddq Abdullah the Butcher – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mr. Wrestling II – Stan Hansen beat Tommy Rich – Helmut Schmidt & Wolfgang Schmidt beat Raymond Rougeau & Pez Whatley – Paul Ellering beat Ken Dillinger
1979
Raleigh, North Carolina: – US Champion Ric Flair beat Dino Bravo – Non Title Match: Ricky Steamboat beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel – Pedro Morales & Jay Youngblood beat Moose Morowski & Kim Duk dq – John Studd beat Skip Young – Leo Burke beat Mr X I
– Chris Colt, Dennis Condrey and Tojo Yamamoto defeated Bobby Eaton, George Gulas and Mexican Angel for the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Titles.
1980
Kansas City, Kansas: – Takachiho (Great Kabuki) & Pak Song defeated Bulldog Bob Brown & Dick Murdoch to win Central States Tag Team Titles
1983
Nagasaki, Japan: – Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta won the NWA International Tag Team Title from Ron Bass and Stan Hansen
1984
Allentown, Pennsylvania: – The North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch) defeated Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson to win the WWF Tag Team Titles
Tokyo, Japan: – Gran Hamada defeated Perro Aguayo for the WWF World Light Heavyweight Title
1985
Barron, Wisconsin: – Savannah Jack and Ed Roberts defeated The Terminators (Rigs and Wolf) to win the Pro Wrestling America Tag Team Titles
1987
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Owen Hart defeated Mahkan Singh (Mike Shaw) to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title
Daytona Beach, Florida: – Mike Graham and Steve Keirn defeated The MOD Squad (Basher and Spike) to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Titles
Kansas City, Kansas: – Porkchops Cash & Ken Timbs beat AWA Tag Team Champions Midnight Rockers dq – Lights Out Match: Earthquake Ferris beat Bulldog Bob Brown COR – Rufus Jones beat Warlord dq – Rip Rogers beat Stoney Burke
1992
Yokohama, Japan: – The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated George and Shunji Takano for the Super World of Sports Tag Team Titles
Tokyo, Japan: – Stan Hansen defeated Mitsuharu Misawa to win the annual AJPW’s Champion’s Carnival tournament
1994
WCW Spring Stampede: Chicago, Illinois: – Johnny B. Badd pinned Diamond Dallas Page (with The Diamond Doll) – WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal (with Sir William) fought Brian Pillman to a 15-minute time-limit draw to retain the title – WCW World Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne in a Chicago Street Fight to retain the title. – WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Steve Austin (with Col. Robert Parker) defeated The Great Muta by disqualification to retain the title – Sting pinned WCW International World Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude to win the title – Vader (with Harley Race) pinned The Boss – WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat fought to a no-contest due to a double-pin (title was vacated due to the finish)
1995
Memphis, Tennessee: – Brian Lee defeated Brian Christopher to win the USWA Heavyweight Title
1999
Buffalo, New York: – D-Von Dudley defeated ECW World Tag Team and Television Champion Rob Van Dam to win RVD and Sabu’s ECW World Tag Team Title for he and Bubba Ray Dudley
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico: – Ray González defeated Pierroth, Jr. for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler defeated Derrick King and Kid Wikkid in a handicap match to win the PPW Tag Team Title for he and Bill Dundee, who no-showed the event
Newport, Delaware: – Mark Schrader and Christian York won the ECWA Tag Team Title from Ace Darling and Devon Storm
2000
State College, Pennsylvania: – Chris Jericho pinned WWF Champion Triple H to win the title – Scotty 2 Hotty pinned WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko to win the title
Osan, South Korea: – Big Bubba Bain and L.A. Stephens defeat The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles
2001
Nashville, Tennessee: – Kane and The Undertaker defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian in a no-disqualification match to win the titles
2004
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Rockin’ Rebel and Jack Victory defeated The Blue Meanie and Roadkill – Mike Kruel defeated Monsta Mack – Ruckus defeated Damian Adams – Jerry Lynn defeated Sabu – Joey Matthews defeated 3PW Heavyweight Champion Raven to win the title
2005
Belleville, Michigan: – Petey Williams defeated champion Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley in a three-way match to win the Border City Wrestling Can-Am Television Title
2007
Milan, Italy: – Deuce and Domino defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Brian Kendrick and Paul London to win the titles
2009
ROH Caged Collision: Chicago, Illinois: – Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kevin Steen – Necro Butcher & Jerry Lynn defeated The Age of the Fall’s Delirious and Brodie Lee – Tyler Black defeated Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Jacobs, Austin Aries – ROH champ Nigel McGuinness defeated El Generico to win the title – Steel Cage Warfare: Brent Albright & Ace Steel & Erick Stevens & Roderick Strong & Jay Briscoe defeated Sweet N Sour Inc
2011
TNA Lockdown: Cincinnati, Ohio: – Brother Devon defeated Anarquia in a Steel Cage match – Max Buck defeated Amazing Red, Brian Kendrick, Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal, Jeremy Buck, Robbie E (with Cookie) and Suicide in an escape match – Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore) defeated The British Invasion (Douglas Williams and Magnus), Crimson and Scott Steiner and Eric Young and Orlando Jordan in a four-way tornado tag team steel cage match – Mickie James defeated Madison Rayne in win the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship – Samoa Joe defeated D’Angelo Dinero – Matt Morgan defeated Hernandez (with Anarquia, Sarita and Rosita) – Jeff Jarrett (with Karen Jarrett) defeated Kurt Angle “Ultra Male Rules” Two out of Three Falls Steel Cage match – Sting defeated Rob Van Dam and Mr. Anderson in a three-way Steel Cage match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship – Fortune (Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Robert Roode and James Storm) defeated Immortal (Ric Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray and Matt Hardy) in a Lethal Lockdown match
Last night’s UFC on FOX event did 2.13 million viewers based on the overnight ratings, but led FOX to winning a weak night overall in the 18-49 demo.
The number is about as good as you’d hope for considering it was an April show where two of the top three fights changed late in the game.
The 0.8 in the overnights beat ABC’s 0.6 with rerun programming, beat CBS’ 0.5 with rerun programming and NBC’s 0.3 with live Premier Boxing.
Because of viewership mostly with older viewers, when it came to overall viewers, ABC and CBS all beat FOX. NBC did not as the boxing only did 1.24 million viewers, which is a terrible prime time number, even for Saturday, for first-run programming.
It should be noted that the final number will be up somewhat for NBC and FOX because the number measures viewership for FOX stations from 8-10 p.m. on the West Coast, when they were airing other programming since UFC aired from 5-7 p.m.
The growth will be less than usual because the main event ended right around 10 p.m. due to Glover Teixeira knocking out Rashad Evans in just 1:48. Usually the final rating growth includes both the West Coast viewership and the post-10 p.m. viewership which is always the largest rated portion of the show. That’s why five round main events are so valuable when it comes to ratings and why they stalled to have the main event start past 9:50 p.m., hoping for it to go long.
The original card featured a top three fights of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, but Ferguson was injured and Nurmagomedov instead beat unknown Darrell Horcher; Teixiera vs. Evans and Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida, the ladder canceled when Machida was provisionally suspended on a PED violation for admitting use of a supplement that contained banned DHEA.
Last year’s show in April headlined by Machida vs. Luke Rockhold, which was a much stronger match at the time, did 2.43 million on the overnights and ended up with the West Coast at 2,745,000 viewers.
For this show, a final number of 2.35 million or greater should be considered okay.
