Part 3 of our look back Wrestling Dontaku 2015, which took place on July 5, 2015, features two big title matches.
IWGP Jr. Champion Kushida vs. Kenny Omega
I forgot just how great this match was. Omega’s work on Kushida’s leg was great. Kushida made such a great comeback. Both of these guys are just simply phenomenal and showed that here. It’s worth going back and watching these title matches again as NJPW title matches are ALWAYS a big deal and this match came off as something important. Crowd heat was awesome towards the end too. Omega went for the One Winged Angel but Kushida went for the hoverboard lock and eventually got it, securing the submission.
Omega says that Kushida has now made the title garbage. Omega says he’ll clean him up. Kushida says lots of things have changed in the last year. He used to think the title was too far away for him, but now he wants to make sure it never leaves his grasp.
Hirooki Goto is interviewed this week. He mentions that before, he only went to Osaka Jo Hall for concerts. He doesn’t want to comment on the match but he would have loved to be in the main event.
Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Jim Ross made a good comparison at the start of this bout, comparing Nakamura and Goto to Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. It doesn’t fit perfectly, but there are some aspects here that work. This was a really great match. Everything just seamlessly clicked and these two were on a roll. Nakamura did everything well and got some cool nearfalls, including one where he straight up hit the boma ye and Goto kicked out. Finishes are so protected here that when people actually kick out of them, it’s a surprise. Goto powered back, hit his neckbreaker and walloped Nakamura with the shouten kai to retain the Intercontinental title. Another one of those matches where if you rewatch again, you kind of forget just how awesome it actually was.
Nakamura in the post match interview said you should be interviewing the champion. He says there is magic to that belt. Goto cuts a rather short promo to the fans after winning, simply saying “cheers”. Backstage, he feels things have calmed down. He destroyed his path, and that’s something to take pride in. There’s only one thing left, and that’s the G1. He’ll take it with his own hands.
Reflective interview: Goto says in the end, he broke Nakamura’s pattern, but there was still G1. He wants to fight in that tournament like they are all title matches.
Great show this week. If you’ve been missing out and want to check out just one show, check this one out. It’s really strong in two great title matches.
Bellator MMA had it’s first overseas show Saturday from Torino Italy. The show took place at 3 pm eastern and aired on tape delay on SpikeTV with a late 10 pm start time. In terms of star power, it was one of the weaker shows that Bellator has put on since the MTV 2 days but in many ways, the promotion looked more “big league” than ever before.
The show took place in front of a hot crowd in a bigger building than they usually run. The fighters that they were hoping to showcase did what they were supposed to, particularly Alessio Sakara scoring an impressive TKO win in front of his home country. All of the walkouts aired in their entirety, which was a nice change from UFC.
Perhaps the best thing on the show was the opening video montage that was more of a promo for Spike Sports than Bellator MMA specifically but featured mainly Bellator fighters. The tag line of Fighters First was all over the video. Particularly memorable was a Josh Koscheck quote “I can say what I want and I can wear what I want”. This video is worth going out of your way to see although I’m sure it will air before all MMA, Kickboxing and Boxing events on Spike for the next while.
It wasn’t all good news. In the first three fights, the losers looked they belonged nowhere near a professional MMA cage, let alone on national TV. And the main event was a terrible fight with referee John McCarthy even stopping the fight midway through the second while both fighters were standing, warning them that they had to fight. Not sure what he would’ve done if they hadn’t picked it up a bit but they did….only slightly.
The show kicked off with two local fighters making their Bellator debuts. Daniele Scatizzi scored a first round TKO win over Daniele Miceli in a welterweight fight. Scatizzi looked okay but we’ll probably never see either of these guys in a Bellator cage again unless they come back to Italy.
In the second fight, Anastasia Yankova, who they’ve been promoting pretty heavily and could be the face of the new female flyweight division in Bellator dominated Anjela Pink, who was making her pro debut. It was her third submission win in her three fight career.
AJ McKee had a very impressive performance in dominating Italian fighter Danilo Belluardo on his way to a first round TKO win. It was his fourth straight first round finish with all four of his career fights going a combined 10 minutes. He had a great promo after the fight, basically putting the entire division on notice and saying he’s coming for the belt. McKee is the son of MMA vet Antonio McKee and Bellator has high hopes for his future and he did not disappoint on this night.
In what really should’ve been the main event of the show, especially with the benefit of hindsight, Alessio Sakara came out to the biggest pop of the night by far. He was fighting in his home country for the first time in over a decade and did not disappoint. After a first round which he may have lost, he came out strong in the second and stopped Bellator vet Brian Rogers with punches to score a TKO win. The win probably ensures him a few more Bellator fights and the promotion should really have him headline the next show if they ever return to Italy.
The main event was a terrible fight which Bellator mainstay Patricky “Pitbull” Freire won by unanimous decision over the debuting Kevin Souza, who was recently cut from UFC despite a 3-1 record there. Several times referee John McCarthy warned the fighters to pick up the action while on their feet and midway through the second round, he stopped the fight and warned the fighters they had to keep fighting. The fight was very close, despite Freire scoring 30-27 on all 3 judges scorecards, but neither guy impressed at all. Souza took the fight on short notice and Freire is a lifer in Bellator so they’ll probably both be back but after a long day of MMA after the UFC on FOX show, that was a hard fight to sit through.
Overall, I’d say the show was a minor success and something that Bellator should definitely do again. It came across much differently than the normal Friday night shows they run in casinos and more shows like this would make the promotion seem like a viable alternative to UFC in the world of MMA.
Bellator returns to Spike TV on Friday night with Bellator 153. Benson Henderson makes his promotional debut and challenges Andrey Koreshkov in the show’s main event.
The WWE announced today that The Undertaker would not be appearing on the U.K. tour after all.
The Undertaker’s status has changed constantly over the past week, but the announcements yesterday that HHH and Shane McMahon would be appearing on the tour is because both were going in place of Undertaker.
Undertaker was originally going to do the entire tour, then his schedule was cut to three dates, then to two, then to zero.
The show in Newcastle on Wednesday, which was going to be his only house show, was announced as having a HHH vs. Dean Ambrose main event, plus A.J. Styles vs. Chris Jericho and Kalisto vs. Ryback vs. Alberto Del Rio for the U.S. title.
The web site is also listing Kane, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens, King Barrett, Big Show, Paige, Natalya, Goldust, Eva Marie, Damien Sandow, The Miz, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Naomi, Tamina, R-Truth, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, and Fandango for the show.
Rose is obviously also off the show due to his being on a 60 day suspension for a Wellness policy violation.
Results from today’s show in Birmingham, England:
Cesaro beat Stardust Sin Cara beat Tyler Breeze Jack Swagger beat Tyler Breeze Kane beat Rusev New Day beat Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman to retain the tag titles Charlotte won over Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to keep the women’s title Usos beat Dudleys Roman Reigns beat Sheamus to retain the WWE title
Kalisto def. Heath Slater w/ Social Outcasts by pinfall
The obligatory terrible pre-match promo centres around Bo calling Kalisto “sugar face”. Yeah, I have no earthly idea why that’s supposed to be funny either.
Rich Brennan mentions that Kalisto was “banged up” on RAW, but apparently it’s feasible to recover from “minor whiplash” in 24 hours. The match was about what you’d expect from these two; exciting when Kalisto was on offence and stultifyingly dull during the heat.
Kalisto hit his usual comeback sequence, before finishing a needlessly long 11 minute match with a Salida Del Sol. The US Champion used an interfering Curtis Axel for leverage in a repeat of the finish from his match against Bo Dallas on last week’s Superstars. Way to go, creative.
– We return from the second commercial break with the defeated Outcasts still in the ring, squabbling amongst themselves. Bo breaks it up by recommending that they take their frustration out on the next man that walks to the ring. That man is Apollo Crews.
Apollo Crews def. Bo Dallas by pinfall
Crews enters to one of CFO$’ better recent entrance theme efforts, a tune that seems to fit his buoyant personality perfectly. I was tempted to say it fits his character perfectly, but he doesn’t really have one; hence the nickname ‘Smiley Black Man’ that he enjoys in this household, which helpfully marks out his only three defining characteristics.
Crews, like Kalisto, is another athletic babyface that is doomed to cycle through the Social Outcasts at the minute. He adds to his recent victories over Axel and Adam Rose by putting away Bo Dallas in a three minute squash here, finishing him with the spinning sitout powerbomb deal.
Kevin Owens def. Dolph Ziggler by pinfall
Well now, this was something to behold; unquestionably the best match that this show has produced since I started covering it last year. Owens put on a heel clinic here, with the majority of the bout focused on burnishing his new self-gifted “headlock master” moniker.
A string of Owens side headlocks kicked us off, with the former IC champion desperate to convince the referee that Dolph was conceding defeat: “He said yes, I heard him!”. Owens’ attention then turned to the old reliable reverse chinlock, with one application of the hold engaged after running the ropes to fool the fans into expecting action (Owens: “This is my new thing!”).
Ziggler eventually fought up from one of these with a back suplex (Owens: “He broke my headlock!”), before commencing a hot comeback that the crowd very much went with. Owens cut him off with a boot to the chin, before hitting a massive frog splash from the top rope for two. The former Mr. Steen roared at Jerry Lawler to tell the ref that was three, to which The King shouted back: “I agree!”.
Owens signaled for his finish, but Ziggler leaped over his shoulders instead and planted him with a superkick for an excellent nearfall that everybody (including me) bit on. This prompted the lesser-heard “This is awesome!” chant from the watching San Diego crowd.
That led us into the finish, with Owens kicking out of a schoolboy before catching a frantic Ziggler on the rebound with the Pop-Up Powerbomb for the win.
After the bell, the always insecure bully heel ran to the announce desk to shout the odds at Rich Brennan, before stealing his phone to teach him a lesson! Hilarious.
Final Thoughts
What an absolutely amazing heel performer this company possesses in Kevin Owens. The fact that they prefer to use their anointed top babyface as a tweener rather than feature the best natural bad guy at their disposal makes no sense to me. Every heel in the business should sit down and watch what this guy did with restholds for 16 minutes here. And the little nuances he adds to his character – like the need for praise from babyface announcers – are something that very few others can bring to the table either. Watch this match and skip the Social Outcasts tripe.
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Orville Brown beat Abe (King Kong) Kashey – Jimmy Coffield drew Ronnie Etchison – Sailor Fred Blassie drew Al Getz – Wild Bill Dusen beat Bad Boy Brown (dq)
1959
Kansas City, Kansas: – Lou Thesz beat Dick Hutton – Bob Ellis and Roy McClarity beat The Australian Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) – Farmer Don Marlin beat Lee Henning (DQ) – Otto Von Krupp beat Tommy O’Toole – Jim LaRock beat “Wild” Red Berry
1960
– Jerry & Eddie Graham defeated Red & Lou Bastien to win the NWA Northeast United States Tag Team Titles
1964
Moline, Illinois: – AWA World Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher defeated Verne Gagne & Wilbur Snyder
1970
Kansas City, Kansas: – K.O. Cox defeated Tor Kamata – Rufus R. Jones defeated Killer Cox – Baron Von Raschke defeated Gino Caruso – Harley Race & Roger Kirby fought Danny Little Bear & Tommy Martin to a double-CO in three falls – World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk, Jr. fought The Stomper to a draw in three falls (60:00)
1977
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – Verne Gagne & the Crusher beat AWA Tag Team Champions Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum (Bob Backlund was special referee, No title change, illegal man being pinned) – Bill Francis & Russ Francis & Greg Gagne beat Jimmy Valiant & Lord Alfred Hayes & Roger Kirby – Bobby Heenan beat Ray Stevens dq – Billy Robinson beat Moose Morowski – Frank Hill beat George Gadaski
1978
Macon, Georgia: – Dusty Rhodes beat Stan Hansen – Mr Wrestling II beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq – Ole Anderson & Lars Anderson beat Rocky Johnson & Adrian Adonis (sub Wahoo McDaniel) – Abdullah The Butcher beat Tommy Rich – Jacques Goulet beat Pierre Lefebvre – Paul Ellering beat Ken Dillinger
Atlanta, Georgia: – Dusty Rhodes beat Superstar Billy Graham – Thunderbolt Patterson & Rocky Johnson beat Ole Anderson & Ernie Ladd – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mr. Wrestling II – Georgia Champion Stan Hansen beat Ric Flair – Abdullah The Butcher beat Tommy Rich – Raymond Rougeau & Pez Whatley beat Wolfgang Schmidt & Helmut Schmidt – Adrian Adonis beat John Ruggers
1981
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel via reverse decision – Baron Von Raschke & The Crusher no contest Jerry Blackwell & John Studd – Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis – Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal – Brad Rheingans drew Tito Santana – Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe
1983
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler – Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura & Bobby Heenan – Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell dq – Wahoo McDaniel beat Sheik Adnan – Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter beat Judy Martin & Velvet McIntyre – Rick Martel beat John Tolos – Brad Rheingans beat Rocky Stone
1983
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Roddy Piper defeated Greg Valentine to win the NWA United States Championship
1994
Tokyo, Japan: – Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) defeated Great Sasuke to win the Super J Cup
2000
WCW Spring Stampede: Chicago, Illinois: – Chris Candido defeated The Artist, Juventud Guerrera, Shannon Moore, Lash Leroux and Crowbar to win the vacant WCW Cruiserweight Title – Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell defeated Ric Flair & Lex Luger to win the vacant WCW Tag Title – Scott Steiner defeated Sting to win the vacant U.S. Title – Jeff Jarrett defeated Diamond Dallas Page to win the vacant WCW World Title
After our panel took a beating at UFC 196, we’ve taken a month and a bit to regroup and we’re back for the UFC’s return to big FOX. This card looks a lot different than it did when it was originally scheduled and really may be the weakest overall card in FOX history in terms of star power. But it’s UFC and with a sporadic schedule the last six weeks, I know that I at least am jonesing for some UFC action.
At least two fights on the card should have title implications in the next year or so with the Tecia Torres-Rose Namajunas fight probably determining the next strawweight contender and the Beneil Dariush and Mike Chiesa fight sending one of them into the top 5. The main event is two men on the downsides of their careers but still top contenders. A title fight for either of Rashad Evans or Glover Teixeira would be a tough sell but an impressive performance from one of them, particularly Evans, could spark some interest in a title program, should they need a challenger on short notice. The remaining two fights we’ll be picking from are between top 15 contenders in both the featherweight and women’s bantamweight divisions.
Here’s our panel with the 2016 records in parenthesis. We’ve also added a running tally of the records of the favorites going into the fights and the panel consensus picks
John Pollock (20-10; .667) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
Mike Sawyer (18-12; .600) – Tough Talk MMA
Josh Nason (18-12; .600) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
Mike Sempervive (17-13; .567) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
David Bixenspan (17-13; .567) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
Consensus picks (15-13; .536)
Ryan Frederick (16-14; .533) – WrestlingObserver.com UFC reporter, WON Twitter guy
Favorites (16-14; .533)
Dave Meltzer (15-15; .500)– Wrestling Observer founder
Steve Juon (15-15; .500) – MMA Mania/Wrestling Observer writer. Angry Marks founder
Front Row Brian (13-17; .433) – MMA newsbreaker, Beloved internet personality, Podcast host
Paul Fontaine (12-18; .400) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer
Main Event – Light Heavyweights Rashad Evans (19-4-1) vs Glover Teixeira (21-4)
Evans has only been stopped one time in his long career, having been knocked out in a title loss versus Lyoto Machida in 2009. He’s coming off a decision loss against Ryan Bader which snapped a two fight win streak for the former champion and TUF Season 2 winner. Glover Teixeira took this fight on just a couple week’s notice and agreed to a five round stipulation. He’s hoping it won’t go that long as 11 of his last 12 wins have been by stoppage. It seems likely that Evans will ether outpoint his way to a decision win or Glover will hand Rashad the second stoppage loss of his career.
Strawweights Tecia Torres (7-0) vs Rose Namajunas (4-2)
This is a rematch of a 2013 fight in Invicta that Torres won by decision. Despite that and also despite Torres still being unbeaten in her career, Namajunas comes in as the higher ranked fighter. Torres did have two losses in the TUF 20 strawweight tournament but those were not considered official fights and are not counted against her record. It’s interesting to note that all of her career fights have gone the distance. By contrast, “Thug” Rose has submissions in every one of her pro wins. She had a star-making performance last time out against Paige VanZant in the main event of a Fight Pass show in December. This fight was bumped to the co-main position after Lyoto Machida was pulled from his fight with Dan Henderson after a violation of the UFC’s drug policy.
Featherweights Cub Swanson (21-7) vs Hacran Dias (23-3-1)
Since a 2011 loss to Ricardo Lamas, Swanson has only lost twice and both were to top 5 fighters Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. Along the way, he’s beaten the likes of Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver, Ross Pearson and Dustin Poirier, among others. But he did take a beating at the hands of Edgar and how he fares in this fight could show just how much that took out of him. Against lesser competition than Swanson has face, Dias is just 3-2 in UFC but he is on a two fight win streak. He scored a split decision win over Levan Makashvili in his last fight, which followed a dreadfully boring decision win over Darren Elkins.
Lightweights Mike Chiesa (13-2) vs Beneil Dariush (12-1)
This might be the most interesting fight on the card. Both are rising contenders just under the elite in the stacked 155 lb division. Both have recent wins over veteran Jim Miller, a tough out for anyone. Chiesa has a little more UFC experience and is a former TUF winner but Dariush has faced a higher level of competition in his 7 UFC fights. He most recently beat top 5 contender (at the time) Michael Johnson. The winner here should move into the top 5 or at the very least get a top 5 opponent next time out. Dariush is a training partner of the lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos and is on record as saying he won’t fight him.
Women’s Bantamweights Bethe Correia (9-1) vs Raquel Pennington (6-5)
Just looking at the records here, you’d almost think this was a mismatch and it might be…just in the other direction. Correia worked her way through Ronda Rousey’s 4 Horsewomen and talked her way into a title shot but was dismantled by the former champion in vicious fashion. Pennington, meanwhile, took Holly Holm to the limit in a fight many feel she actually won. That loss looks a lot better with hindsight. She followed that up with a submission victory over Jessica Andrade last September to cement her top 10 status in the division. This is an important fight for both as they are just outside the fringe of title contention.
The WWE announced this morning that Ray Leppan (Adam Rose) and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) have both been suspended for 60 days for a second Wellness program violation.
The suspension is effective immediately.
All violations are supposed to be announced publicly.
Both men were not on the current tour but did work the television tapings earlier in the week. The Ascension lost in the tag team tournament taped Tuesday in a first round match to Enzo & Big Cass.
WWE has in the past delayed suspensions to tie up booking issues and in the case of these two there wouldn’t have been the need for much of a delay.
Parmeter (Konnor) was suspended on a Wellness policy violation the first time in 2006 and Leppan (Rose) was suspended on a Wellness policy violation the first time in 2013.
Rose is part of the Social Outcasts group, but only Heath Slater and Bo Dallas were sent to Dubai. It is possible that Los Matadores, who haven’t been used of late and are already doing vignettes for a new gimmick without masks, were on that same tour as replacements because The Ascension would have fit into that spot.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez will discuss this on tonight’s new edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Yet another fight was eliminated from what has become a snake-bit UFC show on FOX tomorrow.
The Islam Makhachev vs. Drew Dober fight is off because shortly after weigh-ins, UFC was informed by USADA that Makhachev had a potential anti-doping violation involving Meldonium, which is listed as of this year as a banned performance enhancing agent.
Meldonium was developed clinically for heart ailments like angina, but like insulin, was discovered to have performance enhancing properties. Like Insulin, it has been listed since the start of the year as a banned Metabolic Modulator. It is the same drug the tennis star Maria Sharapova was recently suspended for.
This marks the second fight on the show in the last three days to be canceled due to the anti-doping policy, the other being the Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson fight, as Machida was suspended for admitting usage of a substance that he didn’t realize was on the banned list which contained DHEA.
Last week the scheduled main event with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson full through due to a training injury suffered by Ferguson.
The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting and confirmed by a UFC release tonight.
Today WWE announced qualifying matches for their Global Cruiserweight series.
Announced for the Evolve show on 5/7 in Queens, NY, with Drew Gulak vs. Tracy Williams and Fred Yehi vs. TJ Perkins. Gulak and Williams are the current Evolve tag team champions. The show takes place at La Boom in Queens, NY and will air on iPPV at www.WWNlive.com
Also, announced for the PROGRESS on Sunday April 24th in Camden Town, London, Zach Sabre Jr. will face Flash Morgan Webster. Jack Gallagher will go up against “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne.
The names WWE has announced thus far for the tournament are Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Noam Dar, Akira Tozawa, Ho Ho Lun and Lince Dorado. Swann, Ciampa and Gargano are already under contract to WWE. Dar is an independent wrestler from the U.K., Tozawa is a star with Dragon Gate, Lun is from Hong Kong and Dorado is a Florida-based Lucha style independent wrestler.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Stainslaus Zbyszko defeated Wayne Munn to win the World Heavyweight Title – Johnny Meyers defeated Len Talaber for the World Middleweight Title
1933
Brisbane, Australia: – Billy Meeske defeated Joe Dawson to win the Australian Heavyweight Title
1943
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: – John Katan defeated Yvon Robért for the Montreal World Heavyweight Title
1946
Hollywood, California; – Danny McShain defeated Ernie Piluso win the World Light Heavyweight Title
1958
Dallas, Texas: – Fritz Von Erich defeated Bull Curry for the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title – Omaya Kato won the NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Title from Larry Chene
1959
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Joe Blanchard and Lord James Blears defeated Koukichi Endo and Rikidozan to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Titles
1960
Atlanta, Georgia: – Fred Blassie defeated Dick Gunkel (subbing for Ray Gunkel) for the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Oattem Fisher and Luther Lindsay defeated John Foti and Don Kindred for the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
1961
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Luigi Macera defeated Sam Steamboat to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title
1963
– NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz defeated “Jersey” Joe Walcott in the fifth round of a wrestler vs. boxer match
1968
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – The Assassins (Jody Hamilton and Tom Renesto) defeated Don Leo Jonathan and Sky Hi Jones (Grizzly Smith) for the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles
1969
Tampa, Florida: – Ciclón Negro defeated Hans Mortier to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title
1971
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bob Orton defeated Ronnie Etchison – Baron Von Heisinger defeated Bobby Whitlock – The Great Sakaguchi fought Pat O’Connor to a draw – North American Tag Team Champions Bob Geigel & The Stomper defeated Harley Race & Baron Von Raschke via CO in three falls – Texas Death Match: Danny Little Bear defeated Dory Funk, Sr.
1972
Chicago, Illinois: – Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan beat the Crusher & Bill Watts – Billy Robinson no contest Ivan Koloff – Dusty Rhodes beat Bull Bullinski – Wilbur Snyder beat Big K – Moose Cholak beat Chris Markoff – Paul Christy beat Treach Phillips
1974
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler defeated Tommy Gilbert for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title
Shreveport, Louisiana: – Siegfried Steinke and Bob Sweetan defeated Bob Kelly and Rocket Monroe for the Gulf Coast NWA United States Tag Team Titles
1977
Huntsville, Alabama: – The Executioner defeated Ken Lucas for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
1983
St. Louis, Missouri: – Jerry Blackwell defeated Kerry Von Erich to win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title
Austin, Texas: – Adrian Adonis defeated Bob Sweetan for the Southwest Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title
1985
Nagasaki, Japan: – Takashi Ishikawa and Akio Sato defeated Animal Hamaguchi and Masanobu Kurisu to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
1985
Memphis, Tennessee: – The PYT Express (Norvell Austin and Koko Ware) won the AWA Southern Tag Team Title by defeating The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane)
1989
San Juan, Puerto Rico: – Invader I defeated Abdullah the Butcher for the WWC North American Heavyweight Title
Portland, Oregon: – The Grappler (Len Denton) defeated Carl Styles to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title
1991
WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event: Omaha, Nebraska: – The Ultimate Warrior defeated Sgt. Slaughter by disqualification – WWF Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) to retain the title – Ted DiBiase (with Sensational Sherri) and Bret Hart fought to a double-countout – The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) pinned Tito Santana – WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect won a 20-man battle royal
1995
ECW Hostile City Showdown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Mikey Whipwreck pinned Stevie Richards (with Raven) – Tsubo Genjin pinned Tony Stetson – Ian Rotten pinned Axl Rotten in a Bad Breed Death match – Tommy Dreamer fought Raven (with Beulah McGillicutty and Stevie Richards) to a no-contest – ECW World Television Champion Eddie Guerrero fought Dean Malenko to a 30-minute time-limit draw to retain the title – The Sandman pinned ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas (with Woman) to win the title
1995
Tokyo, Japan: – Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Akira Taue to win the annual AJPW Champion’s Carnival
Mexico City, Mexico: – Rey Misterio, Jr., Super Muñeco and Octagón defeated Tony Arce, Rocco Valente and Vulcano to win the Mexican National Trios Title
1996
San Bernardino, California: – Savio Vega defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust (with Marlena) to win the title (WWF President Gorilla Monsoon held up the title and scheduled a rematch the following week)
Memphis, Tennessee: – Samantha defeated Miss Texas (Jackie Moore) to win the USWA Women’s Title
2001
Tokyo, Japan: – Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Yoshihiro Takayama in the finals of a 16-man tournament to become Pro Wrestling NOAH’s first GHC Heavyweight Champion
2006
Cleveland, Virginia: – Tracy Smothers defeated Stan Lee to win the NWA All-Star Wrestling Heavyweight Title
Carolina, Puerto Rico: – Romeo Roselli defeated El Bronco for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title
Bayamón, Puerto Rico: – Mr. Big and Cruzz defeated Thunder and Lightning to win the IWA World Tag Team Titles
2007
TNA Lockdown: St. Charles, Missouri: – Team 3D defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions The Latin American Exchange to win the title – TNA X Division Champion Chris Sabin defeated Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal (with Kevin Nash), Shark Boy and Alex Shelley in an Escape match to retain the title – Robert Roode (with Ms. Brooks and Eric Young) pinned Petey Williams – Gail Kim pinned Jackie Moore – Senshi pinned Austin Starr – James Storm pinned Chris Harris in a blindfold match – Christopher Daniels pinned Jerry Lynn – Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino, Samoa Joe and Sting) defeated Team Cage (NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage, Abyss (with James Mitchell), Scott Steiner, A.J. Styles and Tomko) in a Lethal Lockdown match
2012
TNA Lockdown: Nashville, Tennessee: – Lethal Lockdown Match: Garett Bischoff & AJ Styles & Rob Van Dam & Mr. Anderson & TNA X-Division champ Austin Aries defeated Eric Bischoff & Gunner & Bully Ray & Kazarian & Christopher Daniels – TNA Tag Team champions Samoa Joe & Magnus defeated The Motor City Machineguns to retain the titles – TNA TV champion Devon defeated Robbie E to retain the title – TNA Knockouts champion Gail Kim defeated Velvet Sky to retain the title – Crimson defeated Matt Morgan – Jeff Hardy defeated Kurt Angle – TNA champion Bobby Roode defeated James Storm to retain the title
