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  • Bellator 153 Andrey Koreshkov vs Benson Henderson live coverage and results

    Bellator 153 : Koreshkov vs Henderson is on Spike TV Friday night at 8 pm eastern from Connecticut. The show airs one hour earlier than usual and features  the Bellator debut of former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Benson “Smooth” Henderson. He challenges Bellator welterweight champion Andrei Koreshkov in the main event. Bellator mainstay Patricio “Pitbull” Freire fights in the co-main and the show also features the return of “MVP” Michael Venom Page. Mr Cyborg even makes an appearance!

    Show opens with a video package with clips of various MMA media talking about the signing of Benson Henderson, including Ariel Helwani, Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice. They made the signing feel very important. This led to footage of Andrey Koreshkov just destroying dudes. Really good opening that made the main event of tonight’s show feel like a big deal.

    Like last week’s show, they are airing the fighter walkouts, which is a nice  touch that separates Bellator from UFC. Sean Grande even talks about the MVP “character” but also puts over his fighting ability and style, saying that he vows to do something that fans have never seen before.

    Welterweights Michael Page (9-0) vs Jeremie Holloway (7-1) (John McCarthy – ref)

    Page has a huge height and reach advantage, as he usually does a 6 ft 3 welterweight. Holloway rushes MVP and gets floored with a punch flush on the face but he recovers quickly. Page with his hands down at his knees and throwing wild punches while Grande says he’s part Anderson Silva and part Bugs Bunny, which gets a chuckle from Jimmy Smith. Holloway clinches up on the cage and the fans boo so Big John breaks them up. Actually it was a low blow by Holloway during the clinch. MVP with a huge  right and then throws Holloway to the floor. MVP with a reverse ankle lock and gets the quick tap. He then gets in Holloway’s face trash talking him after he releases the hold.

    WINNER – MICHAEL PAGE (10-0) by submission (toe hold) at 2:15

    Page gets some interview time after the fight. Says he’s working on his all around game. Jimmy Smith announces that it will be MVP vs Fernando Gonzalez on July 16th in London, which is the undercard of the Kimbo Slice/James Thompson fight. 

    Lightweights Brent Primus (6-0) vs Gleristone Santos (27-5) (Bryan Miner – ref)

    No walkouts aired for these two. Ref Miner bears a slght resemblance to Scott Coker. Santos gets a couple early knockdowns and Primus seems to want to keep it on the ground but Santos stands up to get it back to the feet. Primus has 3 first round subs in Bellator so that would explain it. Primus does get it to the ground at 1:15 and working for a sub from his back. Santos to his feet and landing kicks to the body so Primus gets up as well. Santos is defintely landing more on the feet. Primus misses a takedown attempt badly at 2:30. Santos already tired 4:00 in as he’s been throwing a lot of punches. Primus starting to connect with leg kicks. 10-9 Santos but close

    SAntos controlling the cage to start the round and still more active early. Primus hit with a low blow 2:30 in but doesn’t seem to  want to stop fighting. Ref warns Santos and they start fighting again right away. Both guys throwing a ton of shots on the restart. Primus with a takedown attempt but defended well by Santos at 4:00. Primus with a nice punch combo, his best of the fight, at 4:15. Santos with a nice combo right before the bell. That was almost a 10-10 round but I’d give the slight edge to Primus so 19-19 after 2

    Jimmy Smith has Santos up two rounds. Primus pulls guard early in round 3. Santos stands up and Primus tries to grab his foot but Santos gets away and they’re both standing again. Primus starting to land more punches and connects with a spin kick. Santos with a punch combo of his own at 1:45 that staggers Primus. Primus stuffed on another takedown attempt at 2:45. Santos lands a couple hard rights followed by a body kick and Primus is stumbling. Santos lets up, giving Primus time to recover and Primus gets a takedown at 3:45 and Primus takes his back. Santos rolls out but Primus still in his guard. Primus landing punches and elbows. Santos with a heel hook attempt but Primus escapes and postures up and then lands a hammer fist before going back into Santos’ guard. Primus ends the round on top to take the round definitively. 10-9 Primus, 29-28 overall but either guy could take it.

    WINNER – BRENT PRIMUS (7-0) by split decision (29-28 x 2; 28-29)

    Jimmy Smith scored all 3 rounds for Santos, which is questionable. Primus gets some mic time and asks for a top 10 fighter to help him move up in the rankings. He thanks God and Scott Coker for believing in him and letting him fight on the main card. Charisma isn’t exactly his strong suit.

    Good pre-fight video package for the next fight. Ward is promising a quick explosive fight in front of his hometown fans. Bellator is back in this venue in October and Ward will get a title shot with a win tonight. 

    Welterweights Brennan Ward (13-3) vs Evangelista Santos (20-16) (Todd Anderson – ref)

    These guys are big enough stars to get televised walkouts. Santos is better known as Mr Cyborg and is the ex-husband of Cristiano Justino aka Cris Cyborg. He is a former Strikeforce fighter making his Bellator debut and he once fought Nick Diaz. He’s also fought in Pride. Ward is a big star to the locals and comes out to Irish folk music with Irish flags everywhere like he’s on a Conor McGregor undercard. When Bellator did their UK vs USA tentpole show last year, he was on the UK “team” before turning American in his post-fight interview. This should end quickly as between the two of them, they’ve got 28 stoppages  in 33 career wins, most of those coming in the first round.

    Ward catches a Santos kick and takes him down right away. Cyborg with a heel hook and gets the quick tap.

    WINNER – EVANGELISTA SANTOS (21-16) by verbal submission at 30 seconds (heel hook)

    Cyborg says he’s after the belt and not much more in his post fight promo.

    The “Fighters First” promo from last week aired again and it’s still great. Matt Mitrione’s debut was announced for Dynamite 2 in June against a Samoan fighter that I’ve never heard of. They are running tentpole shows in each of the next 3 months with regular shows mixed in as well so it’s going to be a big few months of fights for Bellator as well as UFC.

    Featherweights Patricio Freire (24-3) vs Henry Corrales (12-2) (Kevin MacDonald – ref)

    Both guys get walkouts with Pitbull getting AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” as his song, preceded by barking pitbulls. Pitbull controlling the cage early. Corrales landing single punches from distance but neither guy doing much through 2 minutes. Pitbull with a takedown attempt at 2:15 and ends up taking the back of Corrales standing. He completes it at 2:30 and into mount quickly. Pitbull working for an arm triangle but gives it up quickly. Corrales works him back into guard but  eats some elbows. Corrales to his feet at 3:45. Crowd booing heavily at 4:30 as neither guy has done a thing since they stood up. They have a quick punch exchange right before the bell. 10-9 Pitbull

    Carl Seumanatafa is the name of Mitrione’s opponent in June. Announcers saying that Pitbull may have suffered a rib injury in the first round. He does seem to be very tentative. Nice punch combo from Corrales at 1:30. Crowd booing again at 1:45. Pitbull with cage control but neither guy doing much of anything, much like the main event of last week’s show, although this one has slightly more action. Pitbull connects with a flying knee at 3:00. Pitbull with a nice punch combo at 3:15 and then gets a takedown. Pitbull landing light punches to the body from the top but then stands up and locks in a standing guillotine and gets the quick tap.

    WINNER – PATRICIO FREIRE (25-3) by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:09 of the 2nd round

    In his post-fight interview, Pitbull says he was a “little hurt” after round 1 but he took his corner’s advice and submitted his opponent in Round 2. Says he’s the most complete fighter in the division and vows to take his belt back from Daniel Straus. 

    A prelim fight between Djamil Chan and Richard Patishnock aired next. Chan moves to 13-2 with a first round KO and looked really good. 

    Main Event for the Bellator Welterweight Championship – Champion Andrei Koreshkov (18-1) vs Benson Henderson (23-5) (John McCarthy – ref)

    Henderson got to take his “Awesome God” entrance music with him from UFC and Koreshkov is out to the Russian national anthem followed by what sounded like the Imperial Death March. It would’ve been a great entrance song for Rusev when he was a Russian sympathizer. After bringing in Road Warrior Hawk a couple years ago, I was very disappointed that Nikolai Volkoff was nowhere to be found. Henderson is the huge crowd favorite and his “notable wins” record is the best lineup I’ve ever seen in Bellator.

    Henderson giving up a lot of size here, although it’s not as bad as when he fought Brandon Thatch last year. Henderson staying on the outside, landing body kicks from distance. Koreshkov pushing the pace early. Henderson connecting with leg kicks as well. Koreshkov catches a kick and pushes Henderson to the ground at 2:15 but lets him back up. Koreshkov lands a hard body kick right after that. Koreshkov with a punch combo that backs Henderson up at 3:15. Henderson misses badly on a takedown attempt. Henderson continuing to connect with leg kicks, which could come into play later. Koreshkov knocks Henderson down with 10 seconds left and all over him with punches as the round ends. 10-9 Koreshkov

    Koreshkov advancing again and Henderson with his back to the cage early. Koreshkov lands a spinning head kick and Henderson misses on another takedown attempt. Flying knee by Koreshkov and then a punch combo but Henderson weathers it. Another weak takedown attempt by Henderson. Henderson continuing to land leg kicks, but that’s all he’s connecting with. Another failed takedown attempt from Henderson at 3:15. That one was closer. Henderson missing wildly on his punches as well. Henderson with a body punch that seemed to hurt Koreshkov a bit and he gains cage control for a short bit. Body kick by Koreshkov staggers Henderson at 4:30. Cage clinch with 10 seconds left and Koreshkov landing punches to the body and head. 10-9 Koreshkov, 20-18 overall

    LETS GO BENSON chants from the crowd to start round 3. Left hook staggers Henderson and he shoots for a takedown. Koreshkov landing elbows and punches to the head but Henderson won’t let go of his waist. Koreshkov with his back on the cage and Henderson just holding him there, not landing anything. Henderson with a couple of elbows to the head that connect. Koreshkov sprawls and landing hard knees to the body. They separate at 3:30. Koreshkov landing hard leg kicks as the crowd starts a USA chant. Spinning head kick from Koreshkov with 10 seconds left. Another round for Koreshkov, 30-27.

    Koreshkov advancing to start again and landing leg kicks early. Henderson with a takedown attempt and Koreshkov sprawls out. Henderson ends up on his back and just misses with a hard upkick and Koreshkov backs off, forcing Henderson to his feet. Henderson wtih a takedown attempt that ends up in a cage clinch at 2:00. Henderson landing a lot of leg kicks from the clinch. Koreshkov gets seperation at 3:00. Koreshkov continuing to advance. Koreshkov knocks Henderson down with a punch but stays on his feet, landing punches while Henderson is sitting on the canvas. Koreshkov with a standing guillotine at 4:30 and drags him to the canvas but lets go quickly. Henderson to his feet at 4:45. 10-9 Koreshkov, 40-36

    Benson’s corner told him “we’re down a lot” between rounds. Henderson with leg kicks to open and connects with a head kick. Henderson landing more this round as he has to go for it. Koreshkov looks as fresh as he did in the first and lands another spinning head kick. Henderson with a takedown attempt and Koreshkov sprawls out again. Koreshkov with a massive body kick as Henderson was shooting for a takedown. Henderson stayed down but Koreshkov backed off, forcing him to his feet. Henderson with another weak takedown attempt. Henderson landed a couple of kicks from his back and Koreshkov backed off. Henderson misses wildly with a punch and then drops to his back but Koreshkov having none of it and backs off. Koreshkov still advancing at 4:00 and lands a spinning back fist. Koreshkov drops Henderson with a punch but doesn’t go to the ground with him. Henderson connects with an upkick but Koreshkov in with a vicious knee to the body with 10 seconds left. Koreshkov with a guillotine right before the final bell. 10-9 Koreshkov, 50-45

    WINNER – ANDREY KORESHKOV (19-1) by unanimous decision (50-45 x 3)

    Both guys get interview time. Koreshkov says that his coach told him that he would win every round and he did. Henderson says he’s sad cause he doesn’t like losing. When asked what’s next, he was supposed to say he’s going back to 155 but instead said “I dunno, whatever the bosses say”. Announcers were pushing potential fights with Josh Thomson and Michael Chandler. Koreshkov will probably get the Koscheck-Daley winner next. 

  • WWE RAW “live” results: Shane McMahon, Vaudevillians vs Usos

    Tonight’s Raw from London will once again have Shane McMahon in charge. At this rate, he will surpass Bud Selig’s record as longest interim authority figure in history. However, the string of good Raws will likely continue. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will continue their program, and so will Chris Jericho-Dean Ambrose. The semifinals of the #1 Contenders tag team tournament feature the Usos vs. the Vaudevillians and  Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. the Dudley Boyz, which has been teased ever since WrestleMania. The WWE website is also teasing a potential Emma vs. Becky Lynch program.

    Our coverage starts at 8 ET. 

    The Big Takeaway: A show that dragged at points that was full of wrestling. The #1 contender tag team tournament will feature the Vaudevillains vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass in an NXT final. Only storyline news was the acknowledgement of a relationship between A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows from New Japan Pro Wrestling (simply referred to as New Japan on the broadcast, because we can’t be having pro wrestling mentioned on our pro wrestling show). Anderson and Gallows jumped Roman Reigns after Styles confronted Reigns in an another interview segment where Reigns was heavily booed. Styles denied any knowledge that Anderson and Gallows were going to jump him, but Reigns didn’t believe it. 

    Show Recap: 

    Dean Ambrose came out for the first full-length edition of the Ambrose Asylum. He told a joke about a large monster being discovered in the Thames River and said he didn’t know Braun Strowman could swim. CBS late night talk show host James Corden’s parents were at ringside, who Ambrose introduce a nice response. Then he brought out Shane McMahon to a big reaction. He told Shane to have a seat, but since the set didn’t include chairs, they stood. 

    They replayed the clip of Shane jumping off the Hell in a Cell onto the table against the Undertaker. They showed an angle that showed how gimmicked the table really was. Ambrose still put over the stunt as something even he wondered “What was Shane thinking?” Ambrose asked Shane what his agenda was. Shane said the fans were on his mind because he was giving stars a chance who, ordinarily, would never get a chance. He mentioned Sami Zayn, A.J. Styles and Sasha Banks. 

    Kevin Owens interrupted him. Owens said he’s been watching the same old crap he’s seen for years: a McMahon filled with power with a vendetta against him. Shane denied that. Owens asked why did he remove him from the building last week? Shane said because he threatened to go after Zayn before his match with Styles. Owens said he was being honest and Zayn didn’t deserve to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. 

    Zayn came out with the crowd singing his theme song before he could start his promo. Zayn said Owens was riding his coattails because he was signed by the WWE before Owens. That’s why Owens attacked him in NXT. But they both knew Owens would have never ended up in the WWE without him. Crowd had a mixed reaction for that. 

    Then Chris Jericho showed up. So do the 20-minute opening segment. Jericho told Zayn there were bigger issues than his emotions. Jericho told Shane he was drunk with power, and he never liked Shane. Jericho told Shane to remember he was the best in the world at what he does, which included hosting the greatest WWE talk show of all time “The Highlight Reel.” Shane said the new generation was about new opportunities, which is why they had the Highlight Reel. Shane got in a plug for the WWE Network. They all started arguing, and Ambrose yelled at everyone to be careful around his plant. Shane ordered Jericho to face Ambrose at Payback, along with Owens vs. Zayn. Shane left the ring and Ambrose handed him the plant. It wound up as a four-way brawl where Zayn and Ambrose cleaned house quickly. 

    It was announced that Shane had ordered Ambrose vs. Owens as the main event. 

    Chris Jericho defeated Sami Zayn (12:47)

    Jericho won after thumbing Zayn in the eye while referee Charles Robinson tried to break them up in the corner, followed by a codebreaker. Good match. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho, but Zayn made the ropes. Zayn later did his spot where he dove through two sets of ropes into a tornado DDT on the floor. Zayn hit his Blue Thunder bomb for a near fall. Consecutive jobs for Zayn isn’t helping him burst out of the gates early. 

    Mauro Ranallo made his Raw debut doing a backstage interview with Styles. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows showed up and Styles greeted them like they were old pals. It was stange to see Anderson and Gallows treated like babyfaces when they basically made a heel debut last week attacking the Usos. Anderson said he had been trying to get in the WWE for years. They laughed together and left to catch up on old times. Michael Cole mentioned that Styles, Anderson and Gallows were old friends from New Japan. 

    Enzo Amore and Big Cass came out. Fans chanted Amore’s name to the tune of “Seven Nation Army” again. Amore had a riddle. There is “hell” in “hello.” There is “end” in “friend.” And there is “Dud” in “Dudley.” Amore said the Dudleyz were a couple of duds. Amore says he and Cass were A cups because they were real whether anyone liked them or not. 

    Enzo & Cass defeated the Dudley Boyz to advance to the finals of the WWE #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament (8:33)

    Enzo pinned Bubba Ray Dudley after a Rocket Launcher. Bubba Ray accidentally hit Devon Dudley with a forearm before the finish after Cass got the hot tag. Cass hit the Empire Elbow and big boot after the hot tag. Match was fine and the announcers put over Enzo & Cass winning as a major one. 

    Roman Reigns came out. The crowd reactions just get worse. They weren’t chanting “Lou,” they were booing. And Reigns did the exact same opening line he’s given over the past two weeks about being “the guy.” Reigns put over Styles, who got a minor chant. Reigns said this was the era of the Roman Empire, which got jeers and boring chants. 

    Styles came out. Crowd liked him, but it wasn’t an overwhelming reaction or anything. They sure like him better than Reigns, without a doubt. Styles put over Reigns as being “one heck of a champion.” He had power, explosiveness and quickness. Styles admitted he would have to have the match of his life in order to beat Reigns, but having the match of his life is what he does. Having the match of his life is what’s made him a champion everywhere he’s been, and it’s what is going to make him champion at Payback. 

    Reigns said he had the match of his life at WrestleMania. He admits the whole world like Styles, but they won’t like it when he beats Styles at Payback. But they will respect him. Reigns said he would rather be respected as WWE champion and that liked without it. Styles said he wants to be liked and respected, because that’s what is going to make him a phenomenal WWE Champion. 

    Styles left, but Anderson and Gallows ran out of the crowd to jump Reigns. Placed popped big when Gallows kicked Reigns while he was on Anderson’s shoulders. Styles watched on and looked disappointed when his friends jumped Reigns.  

    First thing we saw after the break was Regins walking backstage, not selling a thng. Styles told Reigns he didn’t know that was going to happen. Reigns didn’t buy any of that, reminding Styles that Anderson and Gallows’ jumped his cousins, the Usos, next week. Reigns told Styles to bring all of his friends, because he would withstand them all. He muttered one vs. all. 

    Baron Corbin defeated Fandango (1:21) 

    Baron Corbin won with the End of Days in a squash. Dolph Ziggler was at ringside doing commentary. Corbin threw Fandango into Ziggler before the finish. Ziggler jumped Corbin afterwards, only to have Corbin give him the End of Days on the floor. 

    Maryse and the Miz walked backstage. Maryze found spilt coffee on their way and demanded a stage manager place his jacket over it so they could walk over the stain. 

    Another Greetings of Puerto Rico vignette from whatever the Primo and Epico will be called in this new gimmick. They put over Puerto Rico beaches.

    MizTV started with the photo of Prince Charles, saying you would never know it’s royalty. Miz said his baby was like royalty. They started making out when Cesaro came out. Lots of Cesaro Section signs to be seen as Cesaro said the only royalty Miz knew was how to be a royal pain in the ass. Miz said he was the one with a starring role but Cesaro was just as supporting actor. Crowd chanted “boring.” Miz claimed he prepared a monologue taken from the movie “Taken.” It was orginally delivered by Liam Nesson. Miz got on his cell phone and acted out a scene that was supposed to be in Cesaro’s words, and sounded like it was taken straight from every one of Neeson’s films over the past 10 years. 

    Cesaro put his hands over Miz’s mouth and said “When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut.” Cesaro said he would becoming the Intercontinental Champion at Payback, and since Miz likes movie quotes, he quoted Roddy Piper from “They Live.” Cesaro mentioned it was Piper’s birthday last week. He gave the famous “I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum” line. Miz teased a fight with Cesaro, but Miz said Cesaro had a match with Rusev. 

    Cesaro said he talked with Shane earlier in the day and said there wouldn’t be a singles match. Instead, it would be the League of Nations and Miz vs. Cesaro. Then Cesaro stripped off his suit to reveal a New Day t-shirt, and the New Day came out for the 8-man tag. 

    The New Day & Cesaro defeated the League of Nations & the Miz (13:27)

    If you looked at this match for 30 seconds, you might have thought the hot blonde at ringside was Lana. But it was Maryse. Anyway, Cesaro pinned Sheamus after the Gotch Neutralizer after the usual spots where guys did their finishers on each other. Cesaro teased the Cesaro Swing on Sheamus, but Alberto Del Rio stopped him. Xavier Woods got the heat. Crowd lost interest about midway through. 

    Charlotte did an interview with Ranallo. They showed a replay from last week where Ric Flair helped Charlotte retain the title against Natalya. This led to Natalya walking in and saying Shane had granted her a rematch against Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship, and she would have Bret Hart in her corner. Charlotte and Ric didn’t look happy at all over that. 

    They announced that E! would start airing a Total Divas spinoff called Total Bellas, featuring Nikki and Brie Bella, Daniel Bryan, John Cena and John Laurinaitis. 

    Natalya, Paige, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch defeated Naomi, Summer Rae, Tamina and Charlotte via submission ( 10:25)

    Natalya made Charlotte tap out to the sharpshooter. Classic New Japan booking where the challenger wins over the champion in a tag match before the title match. Becky Lynch was kicked hard on the floor by Tamina to set up the hot tag. Crowd liked the match, which dragged at points. Well executed hot tag sequence by Natalya on Summer Rae, which included a slingshot atmoic drop, then stepping over Rae’s back into a seated drop kick. 

    Styles was shown talking to Anderson and Gallows. Since there was no audio, you couldn’t tell what he was saying. It was vague because he didn’t look 

    More from the Puerto Rico guys. They’re surrounded by history and they walked past Ponce De Leon’s house. Is walking past the Fountain of Youth supposed to get them heat? 

    The Vaudevillains defeated the Usos in the semifinals of the WWE #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament (3:25) 

    Simon Gotch pinned Jey Uso after the Whirling Dervish. They were doing hot tags within two minutes, which was just as well because the crowd was dead. Jey had his right shoulder taped selling the beating by Anderson and Gallows from last week. He did a tope on Gotch, but starting selling his shoulder. Aiden English rammed Jey’s shoulder into the post. Fans weren’t into the Vaudevillains at all, so the decision on who goes over in the tournament final should be easy. 

    Apollo Crews defeated Heath Slater (4:29)

    There was actually a stipulation to this match. If Apollo Crews won, he had to join Social Outcasts. They did a skit on the Raw preshow where Heath Slater, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas tried to get him to join their group. There was no Adam Rose, nor any mention of him. Slater actually got a near fall reversing a crossbody before Crews won with the Spin-Out Powerbomb. 

    On his way to the back, Crews crossed paths with Owens. They shared a brief glare before Crews went to gorilla. 

    Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens (17:15)

    The highlight of the show. Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds after Owens got Ambrose’s knees to the gut going for the frog splash, then missed a cannonball. Early on, the match was a brawl. Each man threw the other into the announcer’s table. Highlights after the commercial break included Owens giving Ambrose a frog splash off the apron to the floor, followed by a successful cannonball. Ambrose attempted his elbow off the top rope, but Owens rolled out of the ring, so Ambrose hit Owens with a plancha. The two fought on the top rope before Owens caught the Super Fisherman’s Buster for a really good near fall, which got the crowd to chant “This is Awesome.” 

    Afterwards, Jericho ran in and gave Ambrose a codebreaker. 

    SUMMARY: Your usual taped Raw. Beginning and the end were very good. There was a lull in the middle. Only real takeaway as far as how Reigns is concerned is to compare with how Daniel Bryan was booked two years ago. Of course, Reigns is far from over in the fans’ eyes, but at least he’s booked as being smart. He’s suspicious of Styles after being jumped by two of Styles’ friends. In the months after winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Bryan was constantly being outsmarted by Kane, looking every bit as dumb as any Friday the 13th victim that got beheaded by Jason Vorhees. It goes to show you when Vince McMahon has his heart behind someone, he’s going full throttle. If he isn’t, even the most promising of prospects job to HHH for no reason.  

  • Ongoing WWE RAW Spoilers, London, ENG: New feud rumors and results

    There is talk that the feud between HHH and Stephanie McMahon vs. Shane McMahon will kick off on tonight’s Raw show from London’s O2 Arena.

    Even though Shane McMahon lost the match, he is now official as in charge for the third straight week.  HHH and Stephanie were scheduled to return to Raw this week as well and a feud between the two sides was on the books.

    There has been talk the past few days that Finn Balor will debut, which given the location, makes sense for a debut.  This has not been officially confirmed.

    What is confirmed for today’s show are the semifinals of the tag team tournament for a title shot at the Payback show, with the Usos vs. Vaudevillains and Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Dudleys, as well as a singles match with Emma vs. Becky Lynch.

    As it turns out, a lot was changed beacuse the singles match ended up as an eight-person match.

    Thanks to Chris Fox:

    Superstars results

    Big Show beat Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas

    The live crowd booed Show even though he was the face.  Show won after choke slamming both at the same time.

    Kalisto beat Tyler Breeze.  Breeze got good heat.  Salida del Sol for the finish,

    Raw opened with Dean Ambrose out with them trying to put over the fans as the Ambrose Asylum.  He made a joke about Braun Strowman, points out James Corden’s parents in the front row and then introduced Shane McMahon.  Shane put over that the WWE fans deserve better than what they’ve been getting.  Kevin Owens came out and said this new Shane McMahon era is hte same old crap and how Shane has been punishing him for being an honest man in saying  Sami Zayn never deserved to be put in the world title picture.  Sami Zayn came out and said he was signed by WWE before Owens and if it wasn’t for him, Owens would have never made it to WWE.  Chris Jericho came out and said that Shane was drunk with power for taking the Highlight Reel segment away from him.

    Shane announced Jericho vs. Zayn for Raw.

    Chris Jericho beat Sami Zayn clean with the codebreaker.

    A.J. Styles hugged with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.  They acknowledged their past.

    Enzo & Cass beat The Dudleys to advance in the tournament clean with the rocket launcher.

    Roman Reigns came out and was heavily booed.  He put over A.J. Styles who came out.  Styles said he’ll need to have the match of his life to beat Reigns.  Gallows and Anderson came out to attack Reigns and left without Styles.

    Backstage, Styles told Reigns that he had no idea Gallows & Andeson were going to attack him.  Reigns told Styles that it won’t matter how many friends Styles brings, he’s not winning the title.

    Baron Corbin beat Fandango with the End of Days.

    Dolph Ziggler was on commentary.  Fandango was really over in London.  Corbin threw Fandago onto Ziggler which led to a brawl between the two.  Corbin then hit the End of Days on Ziggler outside the ring.

    Next was Miz TV with Maryse.  Miz made fun of Prince George, calling him plain and generic, and said his baby, referring to his IC title belt, is pristine.  Cesaro came out and called Miz a royal pain in the ass.  This segment drew “boring” chants and Miz said that the crowd was jealous because they could never get a woman who looked like Maryse, and he also couldn’t understand what they were chanting.  He tried to do a scene from “Taken” and Cesaro cut a line from “They Live.”  This led to an eight-man tag.’

    New Day & Cesaro beat Alberto Del Rio &  Rusev & Sheamus & Miz.  Cesaro pinned Sheamus using the Neutralizer.

    Charlotte and Natalya were talking.  It was annnounced that Bret Hart would be in Nataya’s corner in the match at Payback, to counter Ric Flair, so they are doing the same scenario as their NXT match.

    Paige & Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch & Natalya beat Naomi & Tamina & Summer Rae & Charlotte when Natalya made Charlotte tap to the sharpshooter.

    Vaudevillains beat Usos.  Vaudevillains didn’t get much of a reaction.  They won with the whirling dervish.

    The Social Outcasts, or at least the three left, tried to add Apollo Crews to their stable.  He said he would join if one of them could beat him.

    Apollo Crews beat Heath Slater with the spinning power bomb.

    Kevin Owens pushed that he’d be back tomorrow for Smackdown tapings to big cheers.

    Dean Ambrose pinned Kevin Owens with Dirty Deeds.  After the match, Jericho laid out Ambrose with the codebreaker.  Styles then made the save.

    They did a dark match where Styles & Ambrose beat Jericho & Owens.

    So no Authority and no  Finn Balor this week, no big feud, no big anything.

  • UFC On FOX 19 Tampa live results: Glover Teixeira vs. Rashad Evans

    Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC On FOX 19: Teixeira vs. Evans from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The event is headlined by a five-round bout in the light heavyweight division as #4-ranked Glover Teixeira takes on former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. Also on the main card is the return of undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Numagomedov, who has been out of action for two years, plus a rematch between Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres in strawweight action. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 4:30 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.

    UFC On FOX 19 Weigh-In Results
    UFC On FOX 19 DFS Playbook
    UFC On FOX 19 Observer Picks & Preview

    Coverage provided by Dave Meltzer

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 4:30 PM ET/1:30 PM PT)

    WELTERWEIGHTS- ELIZEU ZALESKI DOS SANTOS (14-5, 0-1 UFC) VS. OMARI AKHMEDOV (15-3, 3-2 UFC)

    First round:  Right by Akhmedov.,  Akhmedov shot in with a double leg takedown.  Dos Santos used a heel hook attempt to sweep to the top.  Akhmedov working for a Kimura.  He reversed to the top and now both on their feet.   Low kick by Dos Santos.  Left by Akhmedov and right by Dos Santos.  Right by Akhmedov.  Dos Santos with a body kick.  Very close round.  10-9 Akhmedov.

    Second round:  Low kick by Dos Santos.  Good right by Dos Santos.  Akhmedov then took him down.  Akhmedov with a lot of punches as Dos Santos got up.  Left by Akhmedov.  Low kick by Dos Santos.  Good right by Akhmedov.  Now Dos Santos back with a knee.  Knee by Dos Santos.  Another takedown by Akhmedov.  Dos Santos went for a heel hook and got to his feet.  Dos Santos went for a kneebar and now he’s on top.  Spinning backfist by Akhmedov.  Body kick by Dos Santos.  Left by Akhmedov.  Dos Santos went for a takedown but couldn’t get it.  Both swinging and not landing.  Another close round.  20-18 Akhmedov.

    Third round:  Akhmedov went for a takedown by Dos Santos blocked it.  Dos Santos with kicks and hard punches.  He hurt Akhmedov.  Knee by Dos Santos.  Traded knees.  Hard right by Dos Santos.  Akehmedov couldn’t get the takedown.  Hard right by  Dos Santos.  Both swinging wildly.   Knees by Dos Santos.  Body shots and head shots by Dos Santos. Knee by Dos Santos.  Dos Santos pounding him.  Knee by  Dos Santos  and one knee after another before Dan Miragliotta stopped it. 

    MIDDLEWEIGHTS- OLUWALE BAMGBOSE (6-1, 1-1 UFC) VS. CEZAR FERREIRA (8-5, 4-3 UFC)

    First round:  Left by Ferreira.  Low kick by Ferriera.  Bamgbose  with a low kick and landed some punches.  Bamgbose dropped him with a right and landing hard punches on the ground.  Bamgbose landing more punches from the top.  Ferriera got back up.  Ferriera with a double leg takedown and on top.  Bamgbose may have blown his wad on that attempt to finish.  Ferriera slipped avoiding a punch and was on his back as the round ended.  Bamgbose 10-9

    Second round:  This is the first time Bamgbose has ever gone into the second round  Ferreira with a knee to the body.  Ferriera with a takedown.  Bamgbose bleeding.  Bamgbose with punches from the bottom.  Ferreira landing elbows from the top.  Another elbow by Ferreira.  Ferriera with more elbows.  Now he’s landing punches.  More elbows by Ferriera.  Bamgbose back to his feet.  10-8 Ferreira so 19-18 after two.  Not sure many judges would go 10-8 here though.

    Third round:  Bamgbose has a nasty hematoma on his forehead.  Bamgbose with  a right.  Ferriera took him down but Bamgbose back up.  Ferriera took him down.  A few punches by Ferriera.  Bamgbose got up.  Ferreria’s round so should win 29-27.

    Scores:  29-28, 29-28 and 29-27 for Ferreira

    BANTAMWEIGHTS- (#3 FLW) JOHN DODSON (17-7, 6-2 UFC) VS. MANVEL GAMBURYAN (15-8 1 NC, 6-6 1 NC UFC)Manvel Gamburyan (18-9, 1 no contest) vs,  John  Dodson (18-7), bw

    First round:   James Warring referee, one of the few guys ever to do pro boxing, kickboxing, MMA and pro wrestling.  He was ranked in boxing and kickboxing as well.  Dodosn landing a ton of lefts and finished Gamburyan in seconds.  He hurt him on the first left and followed it up with about a 16 or so more in seconds.  :47   

    Dodson said you’re looking at the new bantamweight champion. 

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX- 6 PM ET/3 PM PT)

    WELTERWEIGHTS- RANDY BROWN (7-0, 1-0 UFC) VS. MICHAEL GRAVES (5-0, 1-0 UFC)

    First round:   Graves moved in to attempt a takedown.  Brown went for a trip but Graves back up.  Both throwing knees that are borderline.  Big elbow by Graves.  Brown has some good balance.  Another knee by Brown.  Ref Dan Miragliotta speared them.  Wild action with Brown punching and he threw a kick, Graves caught him and took him down.  Graves with some punches from the top.  Brown went for a triangle late.  Graves 10-9.

    Second round:  Graves took him down again.  Graves landing elbows.  Graves got his back.  Graves got the choke and it’s over.   

    WELTERWEIGHTS- COURT MCGEE (17-4, 6-3 UFC) VS. SANTIAGO PONZINIBBIO (21-3, 3-2 UFC)

    First round:  McGee moved in right away.  Nice right by McGee.  McGee landed  another.  He failed on a takedown attempt.  Santiago with a low kick.  Santiago landed a right.  McGee back with a right.  Right by Santiago.  Another right by Santiago.  Santiago landing shots.  Low kick by Santiago.  McGee landed a right.  McGee landing.  Right by  McGee.  Santiago dropped him with a right and  Santiago landing punches and kicks.  Santiago landing more punches and the fight was stopped.  Very exciting while it lasted.

    WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHTS- (#8) BETHE CORREIA (9-1, 3-1 UFC) VS. (#12) RAQUEL PENNINGTON (6-5, 3-2 UFC)

    First round:  Slow open.  Pennington landed a right and pushed her against the fence.  Left by Pennington.  Pennington with a low kick.  Nice left by Correia.  Body kick by Correia.  Right by Pennington.  Right by Pennington.  Correia landing punches.  Pennington 10-9.

    Second round:  Both landing punches.  Nice left by Correia.  Pennington went for a takedown and it was easily blocked.  Pennington with a knee.  Correia starting to land.  Both landing shots.  Pennington landed a right.  Correia moved in with punches.  Both trading punches. Both continue to trade elbows.  Low kick and left by Correia.  Elbow and knee by Pennington.  Pennington again trying for a takedown but not getting it.  Knee by Pennington.  Elbow by Pennington.  Close round.  Correia’s round, so tied 19-19.

    Third round:  Left and rihg by Correia.  Body kick by Correia.  Nice right by Pennington.  Elbow by Pennington.  Both landing punches.  Correia with a big right.  Low kick by Correia.  Correia going for a takedown but Pennington blocking it.  Left by Pennignton.  Left by Pennignton.   Correia landing  shots.  Pennington trying for a takedown.  Pennington landed several shots.  Really good fight.  29-28 Correia but this could go either way.

    Scores:   29-28 Pennington 29-28 Correia 29-28 Pennington

    LIGHTWEIGHTS- (#7) BENEIL DARIUSH (12-1, 6-1 UFC) VS. (#14) MICHAEL CHIESA (13-2, 6-2 UFC)

    First round:   Nice low kick by Dariush.  Body kick by Chissa.  Great low kick by Dariush.  Left by Dariush.  Dariush landing more.  Cheisa with a left.  Low kick by Chiesa.  Low kick by Dariush.  Another low kick by Dariush.  Right by Dariush.  Another low kick by Dariush.  Dariush went for a takedown but couldn’t get it.  Chiesa landed some punches.  Dariush again going for a takedown and Chiesa blocked it again.  Chiesa with knees to the body.  Dariush landing elbows.  Dariush finally got a takedown late in the round and had his back.  10-9 Dariush.

    Second round:  Two hard low kicks by Dariush.  Dariush shot for a takedown.  Chiesa got the takedown and got Dariush’s back and he’s going for the choke.  He’s not under the neck.  Chiesa is squeezing and Dariush tapped out to a facelock.   This was the first time Dariush had tapped in MMA.

    Chiesa issued a challenge to Tony Ferguson after the match.  Joe Rogan then asked him what he wanted next.

    MAIN CARD (FOX- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)

    FEATHERWEIGHTS- (#6) CUB SWANSON (21-7, 6-3 UFC) VS. (#10) HACRAN DIAS (23-3-1, 3-2 UFC)

    First round:  Low kick by Dias.  Low kick by Swanson.  Low kick by Dias.  Low kick by Swanson.  Right by Dias.  Body kick by Dias.  Low kick by Swanson.  Swanson with a body kick.  Low kick by Dias.  Both missing.  Dias with a low kick.   10-9 Dias.

    Second round:  Swanson put him down with a left hook.  Swanson throwing big punches on the ground.   Swanson wth a left hook.  Low kick by Swanson.  Left by Dias.  Nice right by Dias.  Swanson put him down more like a trip.  Nice scramble and Dias landed a hard right.  Dias with a knee.  Swanson with a body kick.  Swanson’s round so 19-19 after two.

    Third round:    Dias with a left.  Left to the body by Swanson.  Left by Dias.  Dias with a right.  Spin kick by Swanson but didn’t land it clean.  Nice right by Swanson. Nice uppercut by Swanson and dropped him with a left head kick right after getting up.  Swanson all over him.  Swanson landing punches on the ground.  Knee to the butt.  Swanson on top.  Swanson standing and kicking the legs of Dias who is laying on his back.  Swanson with hard shots on the ground.  Swanson’s round 29-28, could be 30-27 but Swanson has to win.

    Scores:   All three had it 29-28 for Swanson.

    160-POUND CATCHWEIGHT- (#2 LW) KHABIB NURMAGOMED

    First round:  Horcher landed a left.  Another left by Horcher.  Low kick by Horcher.  Another left by Horcher.  Khabib with a running Stampede.  Nurmagomedov moved to side control and landing elbows. Now he’s throwing punches.  Nurmagomedov spun to the back, now moved to full mount.  Now he’s got Horcher’s back and throwing hard punches.  10-8 Nurmagomedov.

    Second round:  Horcher bleeding from the back of he head.  Judo takedown by Khabib into side control.  Khabib landing punches.  More punches by Khabib.  Now Khabib is pounding on him. Khabib landing punches.  Now he’s got Horcher’s back.  He’s throwing punches.  James Warring stopped it a little late.

    WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHTS- (#3) ROSE NAMAJUNAS (4-2, 2-1 UFC) VS. (#4) TECIA TORRES (7-0, 3-0 UFC)

    First round:  Namajunas staying on the outside and landing.  Torres landed several punches when she got inside.  Both landing as Torres moved in.  Torres landing a lot of punches on the inside.  Torres trying to muscle a takedown but not getting it.  Namajunas got the hip toss.  Good round.  10-9 Torres.

    Second round:  Low kick by Torres.  Front kick by Namajunas.  She’s going Diaz with her mannerisms.  Nice punch by Torres and Namajunas back with a counter.  Namajunas landed a left.  Namajunas landed a left again.  Left by Namajunas.  Front kick by Namajunas.  Namajunas with a front kick  Namajunas slipped and went down but got back up.  Torres moving forward and landed.  Nice left by Namajunas and another.  Namajunas’ round so 19-19 after two.  Good action.

    Third round:   Overhand right by Namajunas.  Left by Namajunas.  Another left land by Namajuans as Torres jumped in.  Torres landed a combo.  Namajunas with a body kick.  Namjunas got the takedown.  Close round 29-28 Namajunas.

    Scores:  All three had it 29-28 Namajunas

    LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS- (#4) GLOVER TEIXEIRA (24-4, 7-2 UFC) VS. (#7) RASHAD EVANS (19-4-1, 14-4-1 UFC)

    First round:    Teixiera landed some punches.  Body kick by Teixeira.  Teixiera landed a left and followed with a right and it’s over.  The left hurt him and the right put his lights out.  Good stoppage.

    Teixeira challenged Rumble Johnson, saying since Cormier is fighting Jon Jones, let’s make some money, let’s do business.  It’s the fight that makes sense.

  • WWE RAW Live results: Lots of debuts tonight and Cesaro returns

    It’s the first Raw after WrestleMania season tonight in Los Angeles, but it promises to be an intriguing show on several levels. With the debut of Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin, along with the return of Cesaro, how will their second week be handled? Specifically, can the debut of Enzo and Cass be sustained, or was it a one-week sensation in front of the world’s largest gathering of insider fans in Dallas last week? Tonight’s show will also start the build towards Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In particular, how Styles will be treated as a will be interesting. Will he be the latest person to have his weaknesses exploited by the company? Or will he built as a worthy challenger?  The Miz, after retaining the Intercontinental Championship against Zack Ryder on SmackDown, will also appear, along with the returning Maryse.

    Our coverage begins at 8 ET. Please join us. 

    The Big News: 2nd straight show that was very good. With the best workrate roster the WWE has had in years,  they focused on having good wrestling matches and delivered Sami Zayn vs. A.J. Styles & Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens, both of which were 4 stars or better. While Roman Reigns was booed once again, they did have creative booking for an intriguing main event for Bray Wyatt teamed with Reigns to defeat the League of Nations’ team of Alberto del Rio and Sheamus. Also, Karl Anderson and Drew Gallows made their debut with a run-in to attack the Usos. There’s a tag team tournament to crown the number one contenders to face the New Day at Payback, which included the Usos and the Dudley Boyz advancing tonight. They’re already teasing the Dudleys vs. Enzo and Big Cass in the semifinals. 

    Show Recap:

    The show was dedicated to Blackjack Mulligan. 

    Shane McMahon came out and was given control for last night’s show because of increased social media activity. He sounded odd like he was nursing an injured jaw or some sort of intestinal injury. He announced Natalya would face Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship, there would be a tournament for a new #1 contender to face the WWE World Tag Team Championship, and he congratulated A.J. Styles on winning the Fatal Fourway last way to face Roman Reigns. But Shane said Sami Zayn didn’t get a chance to fight in the fourway, so Zayn would wrestle Styles tonight. If Zayn wins, then the Styles vs. Reigns match would become a Three Way Championship match. 

    This brought out Kevin Owens, who said if Shane thinks Zayn deserves that opportunity, he must have knocked a few screws loose jumping off of the Hell in a Cell. Shane said Owens has had opportunities and lost them, like when he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Zack Ryder. Owens complained about not getting a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship and demanded it right now. Shane said Owens had to earn that shot against Cesaro, and the winner gets the Miz for the I-C belt. 

    Cesaro defeated Kevin Owens to become the new #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship (14:47)

    Excellent match where Cesaro pinned Owens with a Neutralizer. Owens hit a frog splash for a two count. Cesaro’s left shoulder was taped, and the match revolved around Owens’ offense onto that arm. Later, Cesaro tried the Cesaro Swing, but could only do three rotations because of the injured shoulder. Owens tried the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Cesaro escaped over Owens, rolled him into a Sunset Flip into the finish. Cesaro’s ring entrance is now a takeoff of James Bond, where he comes out in a three-piece suit with target hairs following up in the background, then he strips off the suit to reveal his wrestling trunks. Really good opener. 

    Charlotte talked to Ric Flair backstage upset she was having to defend her title tonight against Natalya. Flair said it was all Shane’s fault. It led to Dr. Phil making his first apperance. The crowd booed Dr. Phil, who told Charlotte he was disgusted that she had to rely on her father’s cheating in order to win and to stand on her own two feet. Charlotte didn’t want to hear that and walked off. Flair acted incredulous and started to shout “Whooo!” into Phil’s face. But Phil screamed “Whoo” at Flair, stunning the Nature Boy. This was so well scripted, fans were with Phil by the end.

    Owens confronted Shane backstage and threatened to go after Zayn again. Shane said Owens would be escorted out of the building by security in order to keep it from happening again.

    The New Day came out. Xavier Woods said the WWE tag team division was on fire like a game of NBA Jam. Big E. said the tag team tournament would be sponsored by Booty-Os.  

    The Dudley Boyz defeated Lucha Dragons to advance int he WWE Tag Team #1 Contenders Tournament (3:15)

    Bubba Ray Dudley pinned Sin Cara after a 3-D. Kalisto got injured legitimately when he took a terrible bump over the top rope and appeared to injure his shoulder. Trainers were by his side the whole way. It looked like one of those bad roller derby bumps from the 70s when a skater didn’t catch themselves going over the rail. 

    Enzo and Big Cass came out to confront the Dudleys. Good response for Enzo and Cass as the fans knew who they were, but it wasn’t nearly on the level of last week. Devon Dudley told them they owed their creation to the Dudley boyz. Enzo shot back they owed their creation when his mother and father got it on. Cass gave the Saft catchphrase.  

    Owens was shown being escorted out of the building by security. 

    Reigns came out to a big-time negative reception. He got mostly cheered in San Diego in December, but this crowd was nowhere near as generous. He let the boos sink in for awhile and gave the exact same line about being “The guy” he gave last week. Reigns mention of Styles got cheered. Regins said he had respect for Styles and Zayn, but neither one of them had ever won THE championship. 

    The League of Nations came out. Sheamus wondered how confident Reigns would be if he had to face a member of the League of Nations at Payback. Sheamus talked about being stronger than ever after they kicked King Barrett out of the League of Nations, and they weren’t happy about being left out of the number one contender’s match last week. Rusev said he was better looking than Reigns and he should be the face of the WWE. Reigns said Rusev just proved he was the ass of the WWE. Alberto Del Rio started talking and cheered. Reigns challenged them to all come down and get their asses kicked. 

    The heels all jumped on Reigns, but the Wyatt Family appeared. Bray Wyatt, Erick Roawn and Braun Strowman cleared the ring quickly. Reigns looked uncertain to see the Wyatts in the ring. Shane came out and ordered a match between two members of the League of Nations against Wyatt and Reigns in a tag team match. 

    Another vignette from Primo and Epico, or whatever they will be named underr this new gimmick. They sniffed hibiscus, the official flower of Puerto Rico. They said you can’t grow flowers like hibiscus anywhere in America, so come visit Puerto Rico. From Los Boricuas to Los Matadores to Carlito and Santino Morella, failing to get Puerto Rico tag teams over has been a time-honored WWE tradition for 20 years now. And the next chapter is before us. 

    Natalya defeated Charlotte (C) by DQ, so Charlotte retains the WWE Women’s Championship (10:55)

    Dr. Phil was at ringside. Another good match with Charlotte that had heat. Fans want to see her lose, which means her father’s lessons of being a heat-magnet heel for 40 years is rubbing off. Natalya nearly made Charlotte tap out with a Sharpshooter, but Flair pulled the referee out of the ring, just as Charlotte was tapping. The referee disqualified Charlotte. Earlier, Charlotte put Natalya into the sharpshooter, leading to a rope break. Phil was interviewed by Byron Saxton afterwards, saying he was disappointed that Charlotte had to rely on her father again to retain the championship. He tried putting over the women’s division, but it was clear he was just reeling off lines that were fed to him beforehand as he couldn’t name one other women’s wrestler on the roster aside from the one he was involved in the skit with. 

    Zayn did a promo with Renee Young. He got in that lame “Underdog from the Underground” line again. He said he’s been trying to get to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship all his career and he didn’t come this far to lose. Styles walked in. He looked four inches shorter than Zayn. Styles told Zayn he’s the only number one contender and he plans on keeping it that way. 

    The Usos defeated Social Outcasts to advance in the WWE Tag Team #1 Contenders Tournament (4:16)

    Jimmy Uso pinned Curtis Axel after a schoolboy cradle after Axel started doing the Bo Train with Heath Slater, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose. 

    Postmatch, Karl Anderson and Luke (not Doc) Gallows ran out of the crowd and gave Jimmy Uso the Magic Killer. They threw Jimmy Uso around 

    Maryse dressed down a stage manager who gave her and the Miz a bowl of M&Ms. Miz’s contract called for no blue M&Ms. That’s a takeoff of the old Van Halen backstage tale about having a contract that included a clause about not being served brown M&Ms before or after concerts. David Lee Roth once said he included that clause in the contact just to see if anyone read those contracts. Maryse also scolded the manager for included domestic bottled water instead of French water. Meanwhile, Miz was sitting back with cucumber slices on his eyes. Jojo came in to ask Miz about a possible rematch with Ryder. Miz said he drives to work in an Audi 5000 while Ryder goes on the Long Island subway on his father’s pass. As for Cesaro, he said he had the Swiss Superman’s Kryptonite. He tried that line in a deeper voice twice, with Maryse reeling off the take numbers. Then Cesaro showed up and said he would roll out the red carpet for all the uppercuts he would throw on the Miz at Payback. Miz and Maryse are really a great tandem. 

    A.J. Styles defeated Sami Zayn to keep the main event at Payback a singles match (16:44)

    Another terrific match. Styles won with the Phenonemal Forearm after Zayn failed to hit the Helluva Kick. Zayn hit the Blue Thunder bomb for a near fall that got the crowd involved after a bit of a lull. Fans did dueling chants as they exchanged the early holds. Styles clamped on the calf crusher but Zayn made the ropes. I guess the mindset here was to get Styles strong for the main event at Payback. Zayn had so much offense he wasn’t hurt doing the job. 

    WWE regular Seth Green was at ringside. 

    Styles and Zayn talked backstage when Shane walked in putting over both men for the previous match. Styles and Zayn slapped hands. 

    Chris Jericho hosted the latest edition of the Highlight Reel. Jericho said his guest tonight was the biggest star in WWE history…it was him. Fans would learn more about Jericho than they would ever had before. He started interviewing himself about how he became so successful. He offered fans the Gift of Jericho and offered them a chance to drink it in. He posed with his arms open. Jericho talked about being the first undisputed world champion after beating the Rock and Steve Austin in one night. Jericho’s reply mentioned beating Styles at WrestleMania, and said there was no one on the roster who could touch him right now. 

    Dean Ambrose interrupted him and came out with a potted plant and looked for a place to put it. Ambrose said it was his show now. Jericho didn’t know what he was talking about, but Ambrose pulled out a memo from Shane. Jericho said it was a speeding ticket. Ambrose took the paper back and handed him another memo. Jericho read the Highlight Reel has been cancelled and replaced by the Ambrose Asylum. Ambrose put on a clip-on tie, hung a posterboard sign over the Jeritron 5000 and introduced Jericho. Ambrose wanted to know what was up with Jericho’s scarf. Jericho got into his Javier Bardem voice, said the scarf cost $750 and said he doesn’t play by anybody’s rules but his own. Jericho said Ambrose should be smart or he would bury him. Jericho told Ambrose to get out of his ring. Ambrose said “So you aren’t going to tell us about the scarf?” Jericho slapped the microphone out of Ambrose’s hands. Ambrose gave Jericho Dirty Deeds. So the postponed Jericho-Ambrose program is on. Hopefully it will have a point, because in retrospect I have no clue what the point of the Ambrose-Brock Lesnar feud was. 

    It was announced that Goldust and R-Truth would team together for the resumption of the tag team tournament on Smackdown. Goldust confronted Truth saying Truth told him that were going to Los Angeles for an audition. Truth explained the tag team tournament was the audition. Goldust said they weren’t a tag team. Truth said he took someone’s advice, then looked over to Dr. Phil, who stated to say something. But Goldust’s outfit left him speechless and he just walked away. 

    Apollo Crews defeated Adam Rose (3:30)

    Apollo Crews pinned Rose after a Spin Out Power Bomb. Crews really needs a good promo or else he’ll be another smiling babyface. 

    Another promo from the Puerto Rico boys, the Shining Star of the Carribbean appears to be the tag team name. 

    Wyatt did a promo saying that even though he despises everything that Reigns stands for, they appear to have an unbreakable bond. Wyatt, with a eerie smile, said Reigns could trust him. 

    Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt defeated Alberto del Rio and Sheamus (11:05)

    Wyatt pinned Del Rio with Sister Abigail. It was clear the fans in L.A. wanted to turn Del Rio face. They also cheered whenever the heels got offense on Reigns. Fans were really into Wyatt as a babyface, who got the comeback after Reigns sold the majority of the match. When Reigns was setting up for the hot tag, Wyatt did a great tease of turning on Reigns, only to stick his hand out for the tag. Rowan and Strowman came out to brawl with Rusev near the end. Fans had no idea how to react to Rowan and Strowman at all. With Wyatt’s pending face turn, it appears Strowman has gone from being a potential Undertaker opponent to being the dancing hillbilly everyone thought he would eventually become. An interesting match from a booking standpoint and another good one. 

    Reigns and Wyatt engaged in a staredown as the screen faded to black as Wyatt grinned and Reigns looked concerned. 

    SUMMARY: 

    A strong show. Best top-to-bottom match quality show in quite sometime. It’s odd that the least over person on the roster holds the World Championship. The good news is the company’s depth has improved drastically since the start of the year, and it’s truly apparent now with Styles, Zayn, Cesaro, Crews, Owens and enough good tag teams to make up a tournament to face the New Day. 

  • UFC Fight Night 86 Zagreb live results: Ben Rothwell vs. Junior Dos Santos

    Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 86: Rothwell vs. Dos Santos from Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia. The event is headlined by a five-round bout in the heavyweight division as #4-ranked Ben Rothwell puts his 4-fight win streak on the line when he takes on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos. In the co-main event, it is another heavyweight battle as Derrick Lewis takes on Gabriel Gonzaga. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 10:30 AM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.

    UFC Fight Night 86 DFS Playbook

    Coverage provided by Ryan Frederick

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 10:30 AM ET/7:30 AM PT)

    WELTERWEIGHTS- ALESSIO DI CHIRICO (9-0, 0-0 UFC) VS. BOJAN VELICKOVIC (13-3, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Both men are making their UFC debuts. They trade punches and both looking to establish their range. Di Chirico misses a kick but lands a left hand. Di Chirico with a leg kick. Not much happening two minutes in. Velickovic lands a leg kick. Di Chirico with an overhand right and then lands a left. Di Chirico misses a big right hand but lands an inside leg kick. Velickovic with a leg kick and then lands another and then lands a left hand. Velickovic with another leg kick left hand combo. They trade punches. Velickovic just misses a head kick. He lands one then a right hook. 10-9 Velickovic.

    ROUND 2- Each man landed a nice punch. Velickovic lands a left hand but Di Chirico lands a counter left hook. Di Chirico lands a left hand. Di Chirico lands a nice combo. Velickovic lands an inside leg kick. Di Chirico lands a right hand. Velickovic goes for a takedown and finishes it against the fence. Di Chirico gets right back up and they clinch against the fence. They break. Velickovic lands an inside leg kick but Di Chirico is eating him up with some punches. Di Chirico with a high kick. Velickovic misses a spinning head kick and Di Chirico lands a counter punch. Both men are landing punches but no power shots. Di Chirico gets a nicely timed takedown. Velickovic swwpes over and is looking for a kimura. Time runs out on the round though but Di Chirico was in trouble. 10-9 Di Chirico, 19-19.

    ROUND 3- Di Chirico with a leg kick. He lands a kick to the body. Velickovic with an inside leg kick but Di Chirico checks. Velickovic grabs a leg looking for a takedown but it is defended. Di Chirico lands a left jab. Velickovic gets a brief takedown but they get right back up. Di Chirico scrambles up and lands a punch. Di Chirico lands a right hand. Velickovic lands a nice punch and goes for a takedown. They clinch and Velickovic lands some knees before they break. They trade punches. Velickovic looks for a takedown but it is defended. Di Chirico lands a big straight left hand. Velickovic with a leg kick. Di Chirico gets a late takedown and stands up and lands a big right hand. Di Chirico with a leg kick. Velickovic gets back up and both men are swinging at the end of the fight. Close fight. 10-9 Velickovic, 29-28 Velickovic.

    Official Result- Bojan Velickovic def. Alessio Di Chirico by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

    HEAVYWEIGHTS- JARED CANNONIER (7-1, 0-1 UFC) VS. CYRIL ASKER (7-1, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Asker is making his UFC debut. First of five heavyweight fights on this card. Cannonier with a leg kick. Asker goes for a takedown but it is defended and they clinch against the fence. They break and both are swinging big. Both men land big punches. Cannonier with a body kick and then a leg kick. Cannonier lands a left hand. Cannonier drops Asker with a big left hand and then some elbows from the top and this is over! Asker is down and bloodied and Cannonier gets the big finish.

    Official Result- Jared Cannonier def. Cyril Asker by knockout (strikes) at 2:44 of Round 1

    FEATHERWEIGHTS- ROBERT WHITEFORD (12-3, 2-2 UFC) VS. LUCAS MARTINS (15-3, 3-3 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Whiteford lands first with a right hook. Whiteford lands a nice combo. They trade punches and Martins misses a head kick. Whiteford with an inside leg kick. They are both looking to land something big. Martins with a body kick. Whiteford lands a nice combo but Martins counters with a right hand. Martins misses a head kick. Whiteford with a leg kick. Whiteford misses a left hook and Martins rocks him with a right hand. They clinch against the fence and Whiteford looking for a takedown. Whiteford with some knees to keep busy but they are separated. 10-9 Martins.

    ROUND 2- Whiteford starts with a combo. Martins with a high kick. Whiteford with a leg kick. Martins lands a body kick and Whiteford rocks him with a right hook. Body shot from Whiteford and Martins lands a left hook. Whiteford grabs a leg and both men punch each other. Martins with a leg kick. They trade leg kicks and Whiteford tries a clinch but Martins pushes him off. Whiteford lands a left hand. They trade punches as Martins lands a counter right hand. They trade and Martins lands a flying knee against the cage. Martins with a big right hand. Whiteford gets a big takedown but they get back up. Whiteford landed a lot of punches on the way up though. Whiteford with some knees in the clinch before they break. 10-9 Martins, 20-18 Martins.

    ROUND 3- They trade and Whiteford is kicking the lead leg of Martins. They trade punches and Whiteford lands a right hand. Whiteford misses a left hand as Martins lands a right hand. Whiteford misses a leg kick and Martins lands a big one. Not a lot going on as both men look tired. Martins with another big leg kick. Whiteford misses a left hook. Whiteford goes for a takedown but it is defended as they clinch against the fence. Whiteford with some left hands in the clinch. Martins misses a jumping front kick. Martins with a leg kick. 10-9 Martins, 30-27 Martins.

    Official Result- Lucas Martins def. Robert Whiteford by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 12 PM ET/9 AM PT)

    BANTAMWEIGHTS- DAMIAN STASIAK (8-3, 0-1 UFC) VS. FILIP PEJIC (10-1-1, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Stasiak gets a quick takedown at the start but Pejic gets right back to his feet against the fence. Stasiak with a trip and he ends up on top in the half-guard. Stasiak moves to side control and looks to pass to mount. Stasiak takes the back and looks for the hooks. Stasiak with a big right hand from the top and he has the back looking for the choke. Stasiak has the choke in and looking for the finish and he gets it. Pejic taps out and Stasiak gets the win by submission.

    Official Result- Damian Stasiak def. Filip Pejic by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:16 of Round 1

    LIGHTWEIGHTS- MAIRBEK TAISUMOV (24-5, 4-1 UFC) VS. DAMIR HADZOVIC (10-2, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Taisumov with a leg kick to start. Taisumov with a head kick then another leg kick. Taisumov with a jab and a leg kick. Hadzvoic with a left hand. Taisumov with a head kick. Taisumov with a right hand and then another and then a leg kick. They trade solid punches. Hadzovic lands a right hand. Taisumov lands an overhand right. Taisumov lands a right hand that hurts Hadzovic and then lands another big right hand. Taisumov then lands a big uppercut and Hadzovic is down and the referees stops the fight. Taisumov with the walk-off knockout win and that is four straight knockout wins for him.

    Official Result- Mairbek Taisumov def. Damir Hadzovic by TKO (punch) at 3:44 of Round 1

    BANTAMWEIGHTS- IAN ENTWISTLE (9-2, 1-1 UFC) VS. ALEJANDRO PEREZ (16-6, 2-1 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Entwistle goes for a sweep to start off and it allows Perez to get on top. Entwistle still looking for a leg lock but they scramble up. Entwistle complains that Perez is greased but the referee clears him and they get back to action. Entwistle with a big right hand. Entwistle still looking to grab a leg and Perez drops him with a big right hand. Entwistle is able to tie Perez up on the mat and is still looking for a heel hook. Perez rolls and Entwistle still looking for a heel hook. Perez escapes again. Entwistle ends up on top and still looking for a leg lock. Perez is able to get on top and is landing right hands. Perez with big punches from the top as he is escaping the leg locks. Entwistle still has the leg and isn’t covering up the punches. Perez with a bunch of punches from the top. Entwistle in a lot of trouble. Perez with more punches and the referee stops the fight. Perez with the TKO win from the top. Entwistle still complaing after the fight that Perez’ legs were greased. It is announced during the decision that Perez actually won by verbal submission.

    Official Result- Alejandro Perez def. Ian Entwistle by verbal submission (punches) at 4:04 of Round 1

    WELTERWEIGHTS- NICOLAS DALBY (14-0-1, 1-0-1 UFC) VS. ZAK CUMMINGS (18-4, 3-1 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Dalby starts with a head kick and is going right after Cummings. Dalby just misses a head kick but lands a body kick. Cummings lands a left hand. Cummings with a left hand. Dalby with a leg kick. Cummings with a combo that drops Dalby. Cummings with some standing leg kicks and he gets to side control. Dalby looking to scramble out from the bottom. Cummings working for a D’arce choke. Cummings with a guillotine but Darby escapes and they get back to their feet. Dalby with a head kick and then lands a left hand. Dalby with a side kick to the face of Cummings. Cummings with another left hand and then another. Cummings with a leg kick. They each land a left hand. Dalby lands a left hand. 10-9 Cummings.

    ROUND 2- Dalby comes out with a front kick to the body and both men are swinging. Cummings with a nice combination. Both men land punches. Cummings with a leg kick. Dalby with a body punch. Cummings with another solid combo. Dalby with a head kick. We have an eye poke as Cummings got Dalby. Cummings with a double jab and then follows with a left hand. Dalby just misses a big head kick. They trade left hands. Dalby with a body kick and then a side kick to the body. Dalby with a leg kick. Cummings with a body kick and Dalby lands one. 10-9 Cummings, 20-18 Cummings.

    ROUND 3- Cummings lands some solid punches and looks for a takedown against the fence. Dalby defends well. Dalby tries to trip but it leads to a separation. Cummings lands a left hand. Dalby with a big head kick. Dalby lands another and then a side kick. Dalby just misses a head kick and Cummings lands a body punch. Dalby with a leg kick and then slips to the mat. Cummings with a standing leg kick to the downed Dalby. Cummings goes into Dalby’s guard. Cummings passes to side control. Dalby with some backward knees to the body. Dalby scrambles out to their feet. Dalby with some big right hands and then a couple of knees. They are clinch and Cummings pushes Dalby against the fence. Dalby with a knee and they fall to the mat with Cummings in half-guard. Both men with body punches and Cummings lands from top as fight ends. 10-9 Cummings, 30-27 Cummings.

    Official Result- Zak Cummings def. Nicolas Dalby by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

    MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 2 PM ET/11 AM PT)

    WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHTS- (#9) MARYNA MOROZ (6-1, 1-1 UFC) VS. CRISTINA STANCIU (5-0, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Stanciu with a flying knee and a right hand that pushes Moroz against the fence. Stanciu has the advantage against the cage. Stanciu with a knee. Moroz reverses and Stanciu grabs the neck and pulls guard looking for a guillotine. Stanciu loses position. Moroz ends up on top and lands some punches. Stanciu looking for a leg lock but Moroz gets out. Stanciu with some upkicks. Moroz gets on top and lands punches to the body. Moroz gets in the guard and lands some right hands. They get to their feet. Moroz with a nice combo. Moroz with a left hook and they clinch. Moroz with a takedown and is on top. Moroz with elbows to the body. Moroz gets the back and is looking for a choke. Moroz unable to get it but ends in dominant position. 10-9 Moroz.

    ROUND 2- They trade punches after Stanciu misses a head kick. Stanciu lands a head kick after not much action. Pace has really slowed as Stanciu looks a little tired and Moroz isn’t capitalizing. Moroz with a combo but Stanciu fires back with some punches. Moroz with a combo. Stanciu tries a kick but Moroz grabs the leg and they go to the mat. Stanciu tries a leg lock but Moroz gets out. Moroz takes the back and is working for a choke. Moroz with some punches from the back. Moroz with an elbow from the top. She gets another. Stanciu scrambles out and they get to their feet. Moroz with a left hand. 10-9 Moroz, 20-18 Moroz.

    ROUND 3- They come out trading punches. Moroz with a body kick. Stanciu with a leg kick. They trade punches again and Moroz landed nicely. Moroz goes for a trip but Stanciu reverses and ends up on top. Moroz throws her legs up looking for an armbar. Moroz has the arm and is looking to extend it but Stanciu is defending well. Moroz is going to run out of time as Stanciu was able to survive until the end. 10-9 Moroz, 30-27 Moroz.

    Official Result- Maryna Moroz def. Cristina Stanciu by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

    LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS- IGOR POKRAJAC (28-12 1 NC, 4-7 1 NC UFC) VS. JAN BLACHOWICZ (18-5, 1-2 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Pokrajac is back in the UFC after being cut. Both men come out swinging and landing and Blachowicz scores a takedown and is in the guard. Blachowicz with some body punches. Blachowicz with more body punches as he pushes Pokrajac against the fence. Blachowicz postures up and gets into half-guard. Pokrajac rolls and gives up his back and Blachowicz takes advantage. Pokrajac shakes him off and ends up on top. Porkajac with an elbow. Another couple of elbows from Pokrajac. Blachowicz with an armbar attempt but Pokrajac gets out. Pokrajac with more punches from the top. Pokrajac gets to the half-guard. Blachowicz looking to scramble out but the fence is in the way. Pokrajac with some body punches and looks for a choke but its escaped as the round ends. 10-9 Pokrajac.

    ROUND 2- They come out trading punches. Pokrajac lands a right hand and Blachowicz lands an uppercut and Pokrajac goes for a takedown but it is defended. They break and Blachowicz lands a right hand. Pokrajac goes for another takedown and they clinch and Blachowicz reverses. Blachowicz with some body punches. Big combo from Blachowicz and they swing wildly. Blachowicz with a big uppercut and then another and he has Pokrajac rocked. They clinch and Blachowicz is unloading. Pokrajac counters back and rocks Blachowicz who is bleeding from above the eye. Blachowicz with a takedown. He moves to the back and is landing. They get to their feet. Pokrajac with a left hand and he rocks Blachowicz but Blachowicz gets a takedown. Both men are tired. Blachowicz working with punches from the top. Blachowicz gets to his feet and goes back to the side and Pokrajac gives up his back. They get to their feet. They trade punches. They clinch and each land body shots. Blachowicz with a knee. Pokrajac with an uppercut and they tee off again. Great round. 10-9 Blachowicz, 19-19.

    ROUND 3- Both men are tired headed to a crucial final round. They trade punches. Blachowicz with a left hook and misses a flying knee. They clinch against the fence. Blachowicz with a big uppercut as they break. Pokrajac lands a combo and Blachowicz counters with a takedown. Blachowicz with punches from the top as he looks to transition to side control. Blachowicz with elbows and punches from the top and doing enough to keep the fight on the mat. Blachowicz with more punches from the top. Blachowicz remains on top and should get this round and we have the fight for him. Good fight. 10-9 Blachowicz, 29-28 Blachowicz.

    Official Result- Jan Blachowicz def. Igor Pokrajac by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

    HEAVYWEIGHTS- TIMOTHY JOHNSON (9-2, 1-1 UFC) VS. MARCIN TYBURA (13-1, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- The first of four heavyweight fights to close out the card. Tybura with a body kick. They trade punches. They trade punches. Tybura with a body punch. They clinch and Johnson lands some body punches and they tie up against the fence. They trade body punches and Johnson lands some knees. They are broken up by the referee. They trade punches. Tybura with a right hand. Johnson lands a right hand. They trade punches and both looking for a big punch. Johnson misses a big left hook. They each miss on a punch. Not an eventful round. 10-9 Johnson.

    ROUND 2- They trade punches. Tybura lands a nice jab. Johnson with a left hand. They trade big punches. Tybura is bleeding but lands a right hand. They clinch and work up against the fence. Each man working for underhooks. Tybura with some knees to the legs. Tybura working for a takedown but Johnson landing body punches and defending. They break. They trade punches. Tybura with a jab and a body kick. Not much happening in this fight. Tybura with a right hand. They miss on punches. Tybura with a front kick to the body. Johnson with some punches that hurt Tybura as he looks to finish the round strong. 10-9 Johnson, 20-18 Johnson.

    ROUND 3- Johnson misses a lunging right hand. Tybura with a body kick. Tybura gets a takedown and moves to the back of Johnson. Johnson is able to get out and they get back to their feet. They clinch against the fence. Both men are very tired and not a lot is happening. Tybura with short punches. They break a clinch. Tybura with a big kick that hurts Johnson and Tybura going for a finish. They clinch as Johnson slows him down. They break and Tybura lands a front kick. Tybura with a head kick and lands a right hand. Not a great fight at all. 10-9 Tybura, 29-28 Johnson.

    Official Result- Tim Johnson def. Marcin Tybura by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

    HEAVYWEIGHTS- FRANCIS NGANNOU (6-1, 1-0 UFC) VS. CURTIS BLAYDES (5-0, 0-0 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Blaydes lands a quick jab that stuns Ngannou. Blaydes looks for a takedown but it is defended. They clinch against the fence but break. Blaydes with a leg kick. Ngannou with a left hand. Ngannou just misses an uppercut. Ngannou with a big left hand and Blaydes wobbles. Ngannou drops Blaydes with a big left hand but Blaydes recovers quickly and clinches. Ngannou with a foot stomp and body punches before they break. Blaydes with a big takedown but not doing much with it. He keeps Ngannou down. They get to their feet. Ngannou lands a combo and then a left hand at the end of the round. 10-9 Ngannou.

    ROUND 2- Blaydes lands a left hand. Ngannou with a combo. Blaydes fires back with a left hand. Both land and Ngannou hurts Blaydes with a left hand. Blaydes is bleeding from his right eye. Ngannou defends a takedown attempt from Blaydes and lands a left hand. Blaydes gets a takedown and is in side control. Ngannou gets the fight back to the feet and has the back of Blaydes. Ngannou with some uppercuts from the clinch and they break. Ngannou with a right hand. Blaydes’ right eye is completely shut. Ngannou with an uppercut and then a right hand. Ngannou with a right hand. He lands another. Ngannou with an inside leg kick. He defends a takedown attempt from Blaydes. 10-9 Ngannou, 20-18 Ngannou.

    The fight was stopped in between rounds as Blaydes couldn’t see. Blaydes wanted to continue but the doctor could tell that he was having trouble seeing. Blaydes is hugely disappointed but it was the right call.

    Official Result- Francis Ngannou def. Curtis Blaydes by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2

    HEAVYWEIGHTS- DERRICK LEWIS (14-4 1 NC, 5-2 UFC) VS. GABRIEL GONZAGA (17-10, 12-9 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Lewis with a head kick and Gonzaga initiates a clinch. Gonzaga gets a takedown and is in side control. Lewis tries to scramble out but gives up his back in the process. They get to their feet but Gonzaga has his arms around Lewis’ back. Lewis reverses and they are clinched against the fence. Lewis with an elbow as Gonzaga looks for a takedown. Not much happening as Gonzaga is stalling and they are split by the referee. Gonzaga with a right hand and he clinches again. The crowd is booing as Gonzaga is doing nothing. They are broken up. Lewis then rocks Gonzaga with a combo ending with a big right hand and Gonzaga is out! Lewis with a big knockout win over Gonzaga.

    Official Result- Derrick Lewis def. Gabriel Gonzaga by knockout (punches) at 4:48 of Round 1

    HEAVYWEIGHTS- (#4) BEN ROTHWELL (36-9, 6-3 UFC) VS. (#5) JUNIOR DOS SANTOS (17-4, 11-3 UFC)

    ROUND 1- Dos Santos definitely looks different from when he was champion so let’s see if he’s a different fighter still. Not much happening in the first round. Dos Santos lands a left hook. Rothwell with a big right hand and Dos Santos circles away. They each land a punch. Dos Santos with a right hand to the body and follows with a body shot. Rothwell with a leg kick. Rothwell with an overhand right. Rothwell lands another. Dos Santos with a right hand. They exchange in the pocket. Dos Santos with a left hand to the body. Rothwell lands a big right hand. Dos Santos with more punches to the body. Rothwell with a leg kick. 10-9 Dos Santos.

    ROUND 2- Rothwell with a right hand and he slips for a moment but gets right back up. They are trading punches but Rothwell isn’t changing stances. Rothwell’s right eye is starting to swell. Dos Santos with a Superman punch. He lands a straight right hand. Rothwell with a leg kick. Dos Santos with a right hand to the body. Rothwell pokes Dos Santos in the eye and we have a break in action. Back to fighting and Rothwell lands some leg kicks. Dos Santos with a right hand. Dos Santos with a left hand and then lands a right hand. Dos Santos with a big right hand and then a front kick to the body drops Rothwell but the round ends. 10-9 Dos Santos, 20-18 Dos Santos.

    ROUND 3- Dos Santos with more body punches and he lands a nice combo. Rothwell misses a head kick. Dos Santos with a body punch. Rothwell with a nice combination. Dos Santos lands a straight right hand. Dos Santos with a jab to the body. Rothwell with a right hand. Dos Santos is starting to land a lot more right now. Dos Santos with a spinning kick to the body and then more punches to the body of Rothwell. Dos Santos with a right hand. Rothwell is missing on his punches. Dos Santos with another spinning kick to the body and he just misses a right hand. Rothwell barely lands a right hand. 10-9 Dos Santos, 30-27 Dos Santos.

    ROUND 4- Dos Santos going back after the body and he lands a left hook. Dos Santos with a right hand. They trade side kicks to the body. Dos Santos with a right hand and then another. Rothwell is in a lot of trouble. Dos Santos goes back after the body with punches. Dos Santos continuing after the body with punches. Rothwell is just unable to land anything and is eating a lot of shots. Rothwell then lands a big right hand and just misses a head kick. Dos Santos with some jabs and then a right hand to the body. Rothwell misses a right hand.  Dos Santos with more body punches and he is controlling this fight big. 10-9 Dos Santos, 40-36 Dos Santos.

    ROUND 5- Rothwell needs a finish. Dos Santos with the jab. Rothwell tries to land a right hand but Dos Santos is circling away well. Rothwell with a body punch. Dos Santos lands a left hand. Dos Santos with more attacks to the body. Rothwell just misses a head kick. Dos Santos lands a knee and then goes back to the body. Dos Santos with more body punches. This is the best he has looked in many years. Dos Santos with a straight left hand and then a right hand. Rothwell lands a left hand but has been unable to do much else. Rothwell lands a left hook but then stumbles into the cage. Dos Santos with more left hands to the body and then an overhand right. Dos Santos with a spinning wheel kick that lands. Dos Santos with a front kick and then a combo to end the fight. Great performance from Dos Santos. 10-9 Dos Santos, 50-45 Dos Santos.

    Official Result- Junior Dos Santos def. Ben Rothwell by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

  • NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship

    This morning’s Invasion Attack iPPV, live from Sumo Hall in Japan, is the second big New Japan event of the year following January’s WrestleKingdom 10.

    Kazuchika Okada faces Tetsuya Naito in the main event. The Los Ingobernables de Japon founder won the New Japan Cup last month, putting him in the top spot. It’ll be interesting to see if Okada, who has held the title since July, can successfully defend against Naito, who continues to gain momentum since his heel turn last year.

    We’ll also see the Japan debut of Will Ospreay, who has also built a ton of momentum in the last year, both in the UK and United States. He’ll face Kushida for the IWGP Jr. title in what should be a fantastic bout. We’ll also see a return, as Yoshi Tatsu will return to action after being out over a full year due to a bad bump after taking the Styles Clash.

    RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & JUICE ROBINSON VS. BAD LUCK FALE & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI

    This wasn’t much at all.  A short match ending when Fale pinned Robinson with the Bad Luck Fall.  Takahashi looked bad and then it was over.

    KAZUSHI SAKURABA & TORU YANO & YOSHI-HASHI VS. JUSHIN LIGER & SATOSHII KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA

    This was better, particularly Nagata.  Another short match but all action and fun all the way.  Nagata pinned Yoshi-Hashi after a back suplex.  It was Nagata’s second try with the move.  The first time Yoshi-Hashi reversed into a small package.  

    HIROOKI GOTO & TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. EVIL & BUSHI

    This was really good.  Goto & Ishii and Evil were physical as hell with each other.  They were really pushing a Goto vs. Evil feud as they did a post-match pull-apart.  The finish saw Goto use the neckbreaker over the knee on Bushi and Ishii followed with a sliding lariat for the pin.  

    RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL VS. ROCKY ROMERO & TRENT BARETTA FOR IWGP JR. TAG TITLES

    Great match.  Baretta pinned Ricochet with Strong Zero, which is the Dudebuster (Omori driver) by Baretta with Romero using a missile dropkick.  The title change and who got pinned tells you all you need to know.  All four looked great with so many smooth moves.  Baretta worked with jacked up ribs but you probably couldn’t tell it by his work.  Ricochet & Sydal are such a fantastic team.  Ricochet did a tope on Romero and followed with a running flip dive on Baretta.  Lots of great near falls. 

    KUSHIDA VS. WILL OSPREAY FOR IWGP JR. TITLE

    I’d say it took Ospreay all of two minutes to get over by doing all the Steve Wright nip ups.  Super match and a star making performance.  Ospreay was wearing trunks with I love Kris Travis.   Most of the match was Kushida working the left arm.  There was an incredible move where Ospreay was on the top rope and Kushida jumped to the top for a flying armbar.  The finish was Kushida with the hoverboard lock and rolling Ospreay to the center just when it looked like he’d make the ropes.  At one point Ospreay did a rainmaker tease.  Kushida did a flip dive and Ospreay did a Fosbury Flop dive.     

    Liger came out to challenge Kushida after the match.  The crowd went nuts when Liger came out to challenge for his belt.   He said he wants to be a 12 time champion.   Kushida accepted it and they shook hands.

    G-1 starts on 7-18 in Hokkaido and finishes 8-12 through 8/14 at Sumo Hall.  No names announced.

    YOUNG BUCKS & KENNY OMEGA VS. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & MICHAEL ELGIN & YOSHITATSU FOR NEVER TRIOS TITLE

    Another strong match.  The story of the match was Yoshitatsu returning after 18 months.  Omega kept going for the Styles clash on him but his teammates kept saving.  They also teaed a Meltzer driver on Tatsu but Elgin jumped in and caught Nick and threw him over the top rope.  We had another title change as  Elgin pinned Nick afer a super power bomb  A lot of comedy  mixed in with hot moves.  Nick did a flip dive off the balcony of Korakuen Hall onto everyone.  Cody Hall was stretchered out at this point.  Omega before the match said that everyone wasted their money last week because he was the real star.  Nick challenged the New  Day again.   

    After the match they set up Omega vs. Elgin for the IC title.  Both put their belts on the ground.  After it seemed like it was over, Fale attacked Tanahashi laid him out with a grenade so this is Tanahashi’s new program.

    KATSUYORI SHIBATA VS. HIROYOSHI TENZAN FOR NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE

    Nagata, Nakanishi and Kojima were in Tenzan’s corner and Masahiro Chono was doing commentary.   Good match as people were into the story of Tenzan past his prime going for a title.  Tenzan mostly did head-butts.  His timing was good but some of the klunking head-butts were used by Tenzan which is not good.  Shibata did most of his trademark stuff and won with a rear naked choke, let it go and finished Tenzan with a penalty kick for the pin.  

    Shibata sucker kicked Nagata after the match.  Clearly setting up Shibata vs Nagata.  They had to hold Nagata back.  People wer really hot for Shibata vs. Nagata.   

    TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA VS. TAMA TONGA & TANGA ROA FOR IWGP TAG TITLES

    New champions again.  Tonga & Roa are called the Guerillas of Detiny.  Very good stuff with Honma doing all the kokeshi’s but he missed the diving head-butt.  They won with two combination power bombs and revese DDTs and Tonga pinned Honma to take the title.

    KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS. TETSUYA NAITO FOR IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

    Naito won the title thanks to interference by Evil, Bushi and newcomer Seiya Sanada.  The crowd was wanting Naito to win.  Naito won with the Destino in a long good match.  Bushi blew the mist at Oakada after and Sanda used the dragon sleeper.  Ishii and Goto cmae in.  Okada had the match in control after hitting the dropkick when the new guy in a mask showed up and gave Okada neckbreaker and a moonsault.  Naito tried to finish him with Destino, but Okada got out and used a German suplex.  He went for the rainmaker but Naito ducked and hit Destino for the pin.  

    Ishii will be getting the next title shot as they had a square off after the match.  Naito attacked and dropkicked Red Shoes when he was given the belt.  Naito thanked the fans for supporting him.  Fans were chanting Naito’s name.  Good to see Sanada put in a good position.  Naito said Los Ingobenables have taken over New Japan.  Everyone chanted “Los Ingobernables del Japon” with him.  Naito then threw the belt in the air and walked off without the belt.

  • WWE RAW live results: Post WrestleMania, Roman Reigns champ once again

    Tonight is the most anticipated Raw of the year, the famed Night After WrestleMania show where the fans who traveled in often take over the program, leading to a wild evening of live television. Now the question is, after building up to WrestleMania for three months, where does the company go from here and who do they trust? It’s a given that Roman Reigns will get a profoundly negative reception after his victory over HHH to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the third time. In regards to the Authority, the usual pattern is the night after they lose in a blowoff match, they get their heat back immediately. Perhaps Stephanie McMahon will return with her WrestleMania haircut as Aunty Entity from Mad Max Beyond Thuderdome as an added bonus. 

    Our coverage starts tonight at 8 ET. 

    The Big News: More than just a night after WrestleMania show, this felt like a milestone program where new stars debuted. And playing in front of a crowd that instantly got acts over, it made for as good a 3-hour Raw as possible. There were negatives, namely in the first hour. Shane McMahon was given “control” of the show by Vince McMahon, which is exactly what Vince was fighting against for weeks. There was no trace of the Authority. After winning the Intercontinental Championship last night, Zack Ryder dropped the title to the Miz after Maryse returned to distract Ryder. Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Enzo and Big Cass all debuted from NXT. Of that group, Enzo and Cass made a huge sensation and felt like guys who could be top faces. A.J. Styles will be the next challenger for Roman Reigns after winning an excellent four-way match against Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and the returning Cesaro, who also came off like a potential star if the company will only let him. 

    Michael Cole said right at the top that the fans would be different from the standard Raw crowds, with JBL and Byron Saxton saying they were having fun. 

    Roman Reigns came out for his victory speech. No…..Vince McMahon came out. The fans even sang his theme song. Vince gloated over the Undertaker’s victory over Shane McMahon, but admitted when Shane climbed to the top of the Hell in a Cell, Vince thought to himself “Don’t do it.” He had no idea Shane would risk he life to achieve his goals, but it also reminded him of how foolish Shane was. Vince said this Raw would be one the fans never forgot. 

    Before Vince could leae, Shane came out. He was carried out on a stretcher last night and he gradually walked out. Vince thought Shane would be in a hospital bed. Crowd chanted “Thank you, Shane.” Shane, who had a scare on his left eye, said he was the only man in the family, he came out to shake his hand like a man and admit his father won. Shane thanked the fans and started to tear up. Fans chanted “You still got it.” Vince chastized the fans, saying it was because of them that Shane got the hell beat out of him. Shane then said goodbye. 

    Vince got mad and accused Shane of upstaging him. Vince said he thought of how crazy it would be for Shane to run Monday Night Raw. Fans chanted “Let him run it.” Vince said, to prove his point, he told Shane to run the show tonight. And with that, the point of last night’s match, in addition to five weeks worth of buildup, was largely rendered pointless. 

    The New Day came out next and the fans chanted along with Big E’s introduction routine. Big E. admitted that not everything went according to plan last night for them, but Kofi Kingston acknowledged getting to twerk with Shawn Michaels. Kingston also admitted Xavier Woods got stunned by Steve Austin. They held up the last flake of the giant box of “Booty-O’s,” and Woods held it up and sang in tongues last he was Indiana Jones holding the prized grail from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Fans knew the catchphrases before Big E. could even say them, and everyone looked elated at the response they got. Came off like they were the modern day New Age Outlaws or Edge and Christian. 

    The New Day (C) defeated King Barrett and Sheamus to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles (8:45)

    Kingston pinned King Barrett after the Midnight Hour. Barrett collided with Sheamus before the finish. As will be the case all night long, the match was a backdrop for the crowd, who started doing the wave and chanted “We are Awesome” only a half hour into the show. Woods had to get on the PA mic and say the wave meant the fans liked Sheamus. That stopped the wave dead in its tracks. 

    Postmatch, Sheamus said the League of Nations are a group of elite athletes that should be champions, but aren’t. He said it was time to identify the weak link. Rusev and Alberto Del Rio held up Barrett, and Sheamus gave Barrett the Brogue Kick, then kicked him out of the ring. Fans chanted goodbye at Barrett. 

    Then, for whatever reason, Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Erick Rowman showed up and started brawling with the remaining League of Nations members, ending with Wyatt giving Sheamus Sister Abigail. 

    Vince left in a limo. He told Renee Young that he didn’t want to stay around a witness a disaster. Why the hell did he stay around last summer? He said Shane being in charge of Raw was only temporary. 

    Summer Rae did a prematch promo saying if she had been in charge of the Bad n’ Blond team, they would have won. She started running down Sasha Banks, who came out. Banks said she was still the boss and slapped Rae. 

    Sasha Banks defeated Summer Rae via submission (1:40)

    Banks beat Rae with the Bank Statement. Even at 1:40, Rae was exposed.  

    Apollo Crews will make his debut tonight, and he and Shane shook hands bacstage. So how did Shane know his father would put him in charge before the show, allowing Crews to be booked? I know these shows are frequently booked with very little time in advance, but still.

    They showed the mainstream media articles from various outlets that WrestleMania received. Every time Roman Reigns was shown, loud boos could be heard.  

    Apollo Crews defeated Tyler Breeze (1:54)

    A standard debut squash where Crews pinned Tyler Breeze with a Spinout Power Bomb. Crews got a good response, but he’s not going to fly with the standard interview procedure. 

    Reigns and Charlotte were shown on the Today show. 

    Reigns came out to get booed out of the building. I mean, when Hulk Hogan got booed on Nitro in 1995, at least there was a vocal minority cheering him. This was an unanimous negative reception. There were “Reigns is Booty” signs. Reigns, who knew it was coming, said “I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a good guy. I’m THE guy.” That only made things worse. He challenged anyone from the back to fight him for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Jericho came out and tried to turn the crowd against him. He might as well have been the Philadelphia 76ers facing  the 1997 Chicago Bulls with this crew.  

    Jericho shouted down the fans, saying they weren’t going to hijack the show on his watch. He bragged about beating the “Internet favorite” A.J. Styles at WrestleMania and challenged Reigns. Then Styles came out, followed immediately by Kevin Owens (selling injuries from last night’s ladder match). Sami Zayn (not selling injuries from last night’s match). Fans sang Zayn’s theme song, which Reigns got a kick out of. Zayn got in the ring, and he and Owens immediately started brawling. Styles and Jericho also fought while Reigns hanged out by himself. Zayn did a flip tope on Owens. Jericho threw Styles out of the ring. Reigns gave Jericho a spear and got booed some more. 

    Backstage, Shane told Reigns that tonight’s main event would be a Fatal Fourway between Owens, Jericho, Styles and Zayn, with the winner becoming number one contender. 

    Baron Corbin debuted after winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Corbin stood in front of the Andre trophy and said he’s carved a path of devastation and destroyed dreams to get to Raw, and devastation awaits anyone who gets in his way. 

    Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler battled to a double countout (8:32)

    Strange way to book Corbin in his debut. They have a whole crew of Social Outcasts back there waiting, but they put a solid midcarder in Dolph Ziggler in there with him. And Corbin doesn’t even get the win. Instead, he sells for half the match, which he doesn’t do well. Ziggler kicked out of his backup finisher, the Deep Six. Then they brawl into the crowd for a countout. Corbin looked like he had never heard of a countout and screamed “You’re the cause of this” to the referee. He gave Ziggler the End of Days on the floor, which is basically Sister Abigail with a deeper dip. Crews had a simple and standard debut. Corbin had a debut where the fans chanted for a beach ball, then got mad when it was taken away. 

    Titus O’Neal, in a commercial taped before he was suspended, invited fans to register for a contest where the prize is a trip to Disneyland where they would spend the day with his family. 

    Zack Ryder came out to a nice reception. Crowd chanted “You deserve it, Wo Wo Wo.” Ryder showed a photo of him as a child where he was with Razor Ramon holding his Intercontinental Championship. Last night, he had a chance to take a picture with Ramon, this time with Ryder’s Intercontinental Championship. He thanked his father, who looks like he could make bicep curls with Vince. Seriously, if he becomes a regular character like John Cena’s father in 2009, USADA may pay a visit while he’s in the garage changing oil. The Miz came out and said Ryder was lucky to win the match last night, and said if Ryder wanted to put his name alongside Shawn Michaels, Ramon and Miz, he would put the title right now. Ryder declined, but Miz said Ryder was just all hype. That got the match started. 

    The Miz defeated Zack Ryder (C) to win the Intercontintal Championship (10:26)

    Miz won is a sequence where Maryse made her return. Miz started arguing with Ryder’s father, who shoved him down. This led to Maryse walking out of the crowd and confronting Ryder’s dad, and then slapping him. Ryder was distracted by all this, and Miz gave him the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin. Sad to see Ryder drop the title so soon, and it further devalutes the championship when it winds up back around Miz’s waist. 

    Owens did an interview blaming Zayn for him losing the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, but Zayn wouldn’t cost him a chance for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He said the road to KOMania 2 begins tonight. 

    The Vaudevillains will debut on this week’s edition of SmackDown. This team getting called up to the roster so soon smeels like a total Ascension job. 

    Lita was in the ring with all of the women’s wrestlers in the company. She put over the effort they put in their matches at WrestleMania, then formally introduced the first WWE Women’s Championship belt. Charlotte and Ric Flair (who, no doubt, had to be pulled away from the National Championship game, where his beloved UNC Tar Heels were playing) came down. Fans chanted for Bayley, which Cole acknowledged as saying “She isn’t here.” Fans sang soccer songs over her interview, as she was trying to put over her fellow wrestlers. She held up the title and said this was the future. Fans chanted “Women’s wrestling,” which made everyone in the ring smile. Charlotte said she wouldn’t have gone down in the history books as the new women’s champion without her father. She thanked everyone in the audience, whose energy fueled her to victory. 

    Charlotte said some of the wrestlers had been there 7 or 8 years, but she hasn’t even been here 1 year and she’s still champion. Charlotte turned her attention to Becky Lynch and Banks, saying they did it, but she did it. Lynch walked out, as did Paige, Tamina, Brooklyn, Eva Marie (not acknowledged), and everyone else. Then Nataliya told Charlotte she needs to learn something about humility. Natalya said she had given Charlotte some of her most difficult matches. Charlotte talked down to her and spoke badly of the entire Hart family. Natalya shot a double leg and briefly put her in the sharpshooter until Flair pulled Charlotte out. 

    Styles was interviewed by Young. He said this is a day of new beginnings. Shane is running Raw, Regins wants to face all challengers as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and he came to the company not to lose one match at WrestleMania. He came to be WWE World Heavyweight Champion. 

    Another debut, this time a vignette with the artists formerly known as Los Matadores. This time, they had sans masks, outfitted in dress shirts and shorts putting over how great it was to live in Puerto Rico “unlike where you live.” No name was given for the act. 

    The Dudley Boyz defeated the Usos in a tables match (8:53)

    There was a mix-up at the finish. Jimmy and Jey Uso were ready to perform simultaneous splashes to the Dudleys on each table, but Bubba Ray Dudley and Devon Dudley moved and the Usos crashed through the wood. The bell sounded, but it wasn’t supposed to. Bubba Ray then threw Jey threw a table stationed in the corner for the official finish, and Bubba yelled at the timekeeper for the screwup. Standard spots you see in every tables match, including where the Dudleys give Jimmy a double suplex, but Jey moved the table. 

    Zayn did a promo where Young actually asked him if he had ever been in a four-way match before. I could hear Gabe Sapolsky groaning from here. Zayn said tonight was bigger for him than WrestleMania. He said he was known as the Underdog from the Underground. Owens jumped Zayn from behind and power bombed him through a table backstage. 

    The Dudleys were still out there when Enzo Amore and Big Cass made their debut to a huge ovation. Enzo Amore did his whole routine and he was over instantly. Enzo called the Dudleys a couple of haters, then said Hate was nothing but love disguised as jealousy. Enzo cut down Devon saying he would put his lazy eye back to work. He said Bubba better think twice, it would be two more thoughts than he had all day. Fans started chanting “Enzo Amore” to the tune of “Seven Nation Army.” Cass challenged them to come down to the ring. Dudleys went to the ring, then retreated.  Cass did his “Sawft” catchphrase and the fans knew it by heart. This debut couldn’t have gone any better for Enzo and Cass. 

    They’re back to doing guest stars. Next week, Dr. Phil will be featured. 

    It was announced by Cole that Zayn was out of the main event after getting attacked by Owens. Instead, Lillian Garcia announced Shane had appointed a replacement: Cesaro, who came out dressed like Bautista, then stripped down to his trunks. 

    A.J. Styles pinned Chris Jericho to win a four way for the number one contendership for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Fourway that also included Cesaro and Kevin Owens (16:44) 

    This was a Raw match on the caliber of some of those John Cena U.S. Championship Series bouts last year. An excellent match where Styles won after hitting the Styles Clash on Jericho. Cesaro had his moments to shine, as well, and did the crowd ever love him. He threw forearm uppercupts to opposite corners with the fans eating up every one. There was a Tower of Doom spot where Styles took a bump off the top rope, which had to feel like hell after his back injury from earlier this year. Styles did a 450 Springboard Splash on Jericho. Later, Jericho attempted the Walls on Cesaro, who made the ropes. Excellent stuff. 

    SUMMARY: It felt like a new company. New faces abound with guys that are fresh acts who are already over. There was a great main event. No Authority, which seemed to make a difference in the fact that the show wasn’t built around who controls the company. It’s simply about who can get the championship from Reigns. This is a fresh start that a lot of fans have wanted for quite sometime. Can they sustain this? Or will the laziness of prior years take over, as it has done so often? We’ll see. 

  • WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony 2016 live coverage

    WWE’s annual hall of fame ceremony is upon us, with a mix of all-time greats, memorable acts, celebrities, and the debut of the Legacy Award. This year sees Sting and the Fabulous Freebird act as headliners, while Stan Hansen adds credibility, The Big Bossman finally joins the hall of fame, while The Godfather adds levity, Jacqueline provides the female entrant, and Snoop Dogg enters the celebrity wing. Something called the Legacy Award will also make its debut here, while Joan Lunden will be honored with the Warrior Award for her fight with breast cancer. The pre-show features a slew of interviews, and concluded with a touching tribute to Dusty Rhodes before the end of it. Byron also wore a ridiculous suit. Booker T is a smart man and says that his wife makes him wish that every night was a hall of fame night.

    The hall of fame broadcast begins with a video package recapping how all-time greats are in the hall of fame…and also Jacqueline and Godfather. Jerry Lawler is the emcee, and says that this is favorite night of the year – and he truly means it. Like he does when that’s used for WrestleMania, or Tribute to the Troops. Godfather is the opening act, and he was now “a conductor of a train”. We see Godfather’s IC Title win and Ice T intro to show the heights that the character reached. The APA induct The Godfather and put him over as one of the toughest guys in history. JBL says that Godfather had to dumb his character down for TV and they say they still have the munchies from riding with him. They do an amusing  bit where they can’t tell their whole stories on a family show, and then tell their wives that they actually don’t know him and are making this up on the fly. Godfather comes out looking trim and brings out one more ho train. Godfather gives a shout-out to his kids and has his grandson get a round of applause. Godfather says he’s not really a pimp…but he ran Cheetah’s, so he’ll leave that alone. Godfather tells the young guys to have fun, enjoy the time you have now, and go visit him and “chop it up”. I’m sure he’s just a really big salad fan.

    Stan Hansen follows up Godfather, and we finally get to see his full hall of fame video recapping his career. Seeing Stan with bleach blonde hair in the ’70s is bizarre. Paul Heyman tells us that as a kid, he didn’t fear Godzilla or the boogeyman – he feared Stan Hansen for breaking Bruno’s neck. Stan’s highlight reel is amazing – even focusing just on his mannerisms and promos. Vader comes out and says he met Stan in a “small regional company called the AWA” – well, it was certainly down from its peak, but it wasn’t small in ’86. Vader admires Stan Hansen almost as much as Mr. T loves his mama. Vader talks about Stan breaking his nose before the match with Stan where his eye came out. After what might have been several decades, Stan comes out after Vader puts on googly eye glasses.

    Stan looks pretty much the same as he ever did, but with grey hair instead of brunette. Stan thanks God for giving him a strong set of legs, and forgives him for getting shortchanged when it came to looks. He thanks JBL for keeping his name alive in the modern era and talks about Brody telling him if you have two ugly guys like them, if you find pretty ladies that love you, you’ve got it made. He’s proud of his kids for paving their own way in life, and thanks Terry Funk for breaking him into wrestling. Hansen puts over Bob Backlund as the best athlete in wreslting history, and talks about how they each had to sleep in their cars at times. Stan puts over Red Bastien and Frtz Von Erich for helping him out a lot in Texas. He enjoyed working against Rick Martel a lot as well and shares a memory of Rick Martel beating him in 9 seconds – and then gets in a little jab at himself for that being proof he’s done a few jobs. Stan talks about how much he admires Bruno for that rivalry and gets a big grin on his face.

    Stan says he got caught in the middle of a wrestling war and left New Japan for All Japan – but worked for 26 years for Baba in All Japan on a handshake deal. He loved hooking up with Brody, and says that no one could keep up with them. He assures us he isn’t bragging, but hey, maybe he is with a bit of a wink. He loved working Jumbo and Tenryu, as well as the younger guys like Kobashi and Misawa. Stan thanks “the carpenters” in pro wrestling who built a foundation for him to stand on a main eventer. He thanks Texas and lets out one big “YOU!” with the horns. Stan’s speech was outstanding, even if Vader’s did drag on. Taker-Shane video package serves as an ad break.

    Jacqueline is up next, and we get a career retrospective of her winning in the USWA, and then being a “trailblazer” in WCW by having a match with Disco. She joined WWE in ’98 and became the first African-American women’s champion. She is put over more in the video as being a pioneer and someone who opened doors for future generations. Bubba and Devon come out to induct her and Bubba says that they were excited to induct her because it was her choice and she chose them immediately. Bubba and Devon have one of the best parts of the show so far, with Devon starting to talk and Bubba saying “nah, just say testify” and Devon telling him to get his own damn tables. Devon talks about how Jackie would feign falling asleep to avoid a toll, and then “forgetting her wallet” when it came to pay her share of the rental car. Devon told a great story about Jackie “dabbing”, failing, but accepting a bet to do that tonight. She does it while coming out just to get it over with. The thanks Skandar Akbar for training her, talks briefly about going in the USWA, skips over WCW, and runs down her WWE career in Wikipedia-like fashion. She thanks Lita, Trish, Sable, and Terri – we see Nidia for a second here when Lita was shown.

    The legacy award members of the hall of fame are introduced. Pat O’Connor, Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Mildred Burke, “Sailor” Art Thomas, Ed “The Strangler” Lewis, and Lou Thesz each get a video package showcasing some beautiful photos of each person’s career. It’s a shame that at least Gotch, Thesz, and O’Connor couldn’t go into the hall of fame formally – but at least they’re in somewhat, and it adds a small amount of on-paper credibility to things. The Fabulous Freebirds Hall of Fame video airs, and shows a slew of Von Erich stuff alongside “Freebird” playing. WWE did right by actually paying for the song, and the clips they showed allowed you to see how big a deal they were. New Day comes out in some amazing suits.

    They get in some amazing lines about the Freebirds being a well-oiled machine working as a unit, while Big E talks about his unit being oiled while Woods loves blowing on his girl Franchesca II. Big E talks about the Freebirds paint showing that they were big…fans of the USA!  In a perfect move once again, we get “Freebird” once again playing the Birds out to a sold-out arena in Texas. Hayes and Garvin come out looking ridiculous in a glorious way. Garvin is out looking like a high school chemistry teacher dancing to “Freebird” while Michael is out in a glittery pimp suit , a white and red “Badstreet USA” shirt, and a fanny pack while also sporting his Freebirds-era beard. Hayes is slightly blown up, while Garvin joked about needing oxygen and may in fact need it because he cannot say three words without breathing hard.

    Garvin thanks Chief Jay Strongbow for training him, and then talks about drinking moonshine with Hayes and Tommy Rich at a barbecue. Garvin says that the attendance records will be smashed tomorrow, and Hayes says that “speaking of smashed, Buddy, Terry, Jimmy and I got an apartment…”. They can’t find the key, so Terry just kicks it down and they all just prop the door up and party. Terry tosses a table up through the ceiling, and then they got pissed at Buddy because they always did – so he took a big bump through it and said “well, we never drank coffee anyway”. Michael brings out Ray Gordy and Buddy Roberts Jr. Ray says he always joked that as a kid, his favorite wrestler was always Kevin Von Erich. He thanks WWE for this honor. Buddy Jr. thanks WWE for this and Ray says he’d sure love to hear more Freebirds stories. Garvin says it’s a family show, so they’re a bit restricted – but they’ll push the limit because the worst that can happen is Hayes getting fired. Jimmy Garvin says he was taking a shower and was given a golden shower by Buddy Jack. Hayes talks about getting some good advice on a strip club, but he knows that him going to a strip club wouldn’t be a good idea to avoid getting in trouble. David, Kerry, and Terry force him to go into the club. It’s not your average strip club – it’s a place where you’ll hear “Here’s Aunt Rosie after her third kid!”.

    Michael Hayes was just minding his business playing Pac-Man before a biker talks smack to Michael, so Terry smacks him and they beat him up. Terry tells him “Michael…he’s got a wodden leg”, and Michael says he doesn’t care about that, he’s more concerned with leaving without getting stabbed. They try to make a deal with the bikers, but as one gets up, they see him reaching into his vest and they haul ass – but get to a back door that is locked. They go to the front door and the guy shoots, but luckily they got a head start since the guy’s got a wodden leg. He missed them and Terry laughs. Michael asks what the hell he was laughing at and he says “CUZ HE MISSED!” This got a huge roar of approval from the crowd and was eaily the best part of the show so far.

    Garvin talks about renting an apartment to the rest of them and Percy, and Percy almost burning it down by throwing a fire-lit chair into the pool. Garvin talks about loving being valet for the day for Kevin, then facing Chris Adams and loving Patty – his wife of 47 years. Garvin thanks her, their kids, and grandkids. He says he was honored to be a Freebird before officially being in it, and without them, he wouldn’t have had the ability to be what he was in wrestling. Or be able to party with Michael, Buddy, and Terry – and he’ll cherish those memories forever. Hayes makes sure that the WCCW roster gets some love, with Garvin being shown in his WCW getup during this portion. Hayes thanks his mom, even though when he was a kid, he was trying to mack on a girl and she killed it by asking for dungarees in the husky department. “Hollywood” John Tatum gets a pop, and a caemo while Hayes thanks the writers of WWE – who get huge boos. Hayes says he was disgusted when he first heard “smiles on faces”, but he went to a house show, and realized just how true it was. Hayes says to prove how crazy he is, he thanks his ex-wives. Claire believed in him, while Lory gave him some of the craziest times he could’ve ever had. Michael thanks the McMahons for helping him out in dark times, and says that Linda is the only one who isn’t crazy – but she did only let him sing one song at Hunter and Steph’s wedding, and almost accidentally peed on her on a plane. Hayes says that if you don’t believe in yourself, you should because he never thought he’d be standing on-stage as a WWE hall of famer. Michael gives a tribute to his dog Jojo, who he lost two years ago. Hayes talks about being told years ago that you should cherish the time you have, and not worry about the time you’ve wasted.

    He brings Kevin Von Erich out and says that the Freebirds were brothers because they loved each other, but calls New Day the “New Gay Guys” in an amusing little bit. He talks about loving and missing his brothers. He now has his sons Marshall and Ross, and after they got a chance to steal the show at Slammiversary, they get a nice cameo at the Hall of Fame too. He said they had a lot of fun beating each other up, it made for great TV, and God bless Texas. Hayes gives a shoutout to Badstreet USA and we hear that classic theme one more time on WWE TV before Hayes dances and then sings the song. Oh my God, this is glorious. Hayes is out to steal the show and keep his job at the same time. WWE gave Hayes 15 more minutes of fame tonight, and he took 90 – God bless him.

    The Big Bossman hall of fame video features some great clips of him in the WWF while Miz talks about how fans in the Attitude era paid to see his hardcore matches. And I guess that Austin fella helped a bit too. Slick rattled off a slew of cliches about Bossman and said that his pockets are full of green thanks to him. He says that while his family lost a father and husband, heaven gained a Guardian Angel. Bossman’s theme hits and his family comes out to accept the award in his honor. One of his daughters says that it was a bit tough watching him wrestle when he was getting beaten up by Rikishi and having his face shoved into his backside. Al Snow gets a brief shoutout as “some dude” – which seems like the punchline to a Mick Foley standup joke. Angela, Ray’s wife shows the night stick and says that Ray loved his family before tearing up. She gets in a great line with “When you have Rick Steiner as your roommate for a few years, you learn a lot!”

    Snoop Dogg highlight video sets up him going into the hall of fame. John Cena comes out to induct Snoop and gets a chorus of boos. He says that saying hi to Snoop doesn’t always mean hello. Cena says that Snoop’s WWE career began two years than his did, and he made more WM appearances than 10 of the wrestlers tomorrow. Cena says that WWE is Snoop’s home, which means that there could be some interesting results for tomorrow’s drug tests. He talks about calling himself the Doctor of Thuganomics years ago, and Snoop invited him into his studio and he got to make music with him. Snoop come sout looking amazing and saying he’s got to keep it hood and get a selfie with the crowd. Snoop says that “WWE is the number one sport in the world – not just America, but the world!” and puts over Cena for letting him live the WWE life when he visits. Snoop gives his cousin Sasha Banks a nice shoutout. He took her to WrestleMania in 2008 and she lit up. I bet he did too. Snoop was overjoyed to see her face on the side of AT&T Stadium. Her journey is something else, and he grew up seeing Gorilla and Andre live, and tells the crowd to give themselves a round of applause for being fans. Tony Atlas was an inspiration for Snoop, as were Rocky Johnson, JYD, Dusty Rhodes, and Ric Flair. Snoops raps about the hall of fame while reading lyrics off of his iPhone.

    D

    We get a rundown of Joan Lunden’s broadcasting career and battle with cancer, alongside her current role as a breast cancer advocate. Dana Warrior talks about how much she’s learned about life since losing Warrior two years ago. She cuts a great promo in this speech on how Real Housewives just copied WWE with table-flipping. Joan is put over as a mother, grandmother, and ultimate badass fighter for beating cancer and going into “Warrior Mode” to beat cancer. Joan says that due to cancer, she learned about how to become a warrior and overcome odds. She says that “there are no fans like the WWE fans”, which I’m sure was meant as a compliment, but could be misconstrued. Ditto “there is no other company like WWE!” She says that WWE has its Rock, but she has hers – it isn’t Don Muraco, but her husband.

    Sting’s TV hall of fame video is shown again for the show – kind of a shame it wasn’t expanded upon for the full show since he is the main eventer on it. Ric pays tribute to Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes before tearing up, then composing himself to get Dusty’s wife to stand up. Ric puts over Charlotte as carrying the family tradition, and chats about Sting for a bit too before cutting a promo on Stan Hansen for losing to Rick Martel in 9 seconds, but he wouldn’t even sell for him – and Brody wouldn’t either! Flair told Sting to go to WWE years ago and rattles off his Sting-Flair formula. When he was asked to change it up, he said why – it works, and it sure did. It was a great formula for Flair and Bobby Roode replicated it perfectly in TNA. He puts over HHH as being one of the best ever, and loves HBK for carrying him at WrestleMania XXIV – and gets in a little dig at HBK for saying “just shut up and listen to me” for his WWE retirement match. Ric talks about Steamboat and says they’re each 0-4 for marriages, while DDP is only 0-2. He’s glad Sting finally got a chance to come to WWE because it’s the place to be. Ric says that he was sure Sting would get blown up at WrestleMania last year, but he didn’t – but HHH beat him then too.

    Sting says he made his WWE debut on Raw in this very building, and how he didn’t know anything about wrestling until he saw Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, the British Bulldogs, and it was pandemonium when he saw them. Sting talks about not knowing what Waffle House was when he was just getting in, and Warrior having a crazy breakfast with tons of stuff just on top of other things. They pretty much lived in his ’83 T-bird and he promised God that he’d give back if he was able to make it in pro wrestling. Sting says that at one time, over 400 companies were making products with his likeness on there. He wonders if anyone still has a Sting air freshener. I bet a Snoop air freshener would sell quickly. He talks about the Seth match and Seth apologizing to him, but Sting telling them to let him talk – and he told him that he dressed as Sting for Halloween and “he had a shootin’ look on his face too!”. He rattles off some great lines. “One of the highlights of my career was teaming with Robocop and Leon, remember the White Castle of Fear – boy this WWE Network has a lot of good stuff on me…” He shares a tale of an NWO beating resulting in Kevin Nash spooning with him. He talks about Surfer Sting, Crow Sting, and asks if he should mention Joker Sting and does. Sting says that he was a chameleon, and it hurt him because he didn’t stand for anything and would fall for anything.

    He made bad choices, and while people saw the Sting persona at its peak, in his real life, everything slipped through his fingers. In August of 1998, he was pinned by God. Since that point, his life has been back in order and he’s now with the fans, his wife, kids, mother, and daughter. He says he got bragging rights by appearing at WrestleMania and facing a great like HHH. He is proud to be a WWE Hall of Famer and thanks Jim Hellwig. A “one more match” chant breaks out and then an even louder “Undertaker” one happens. He thanks 2K for some advice, and thanks his trainers for getting him in shape for both WrestleMania and Night of Champions. He thanks Jim Ross for his advice over the year, and Michael Hayes.

    Sting shows us his family, including his parents, who look fantastic for their age. He thanks his children and stepson for becoming the young men and women they’ve become. Sting says that without the fans, there wouldn’t be a Sting, Stone Cold, or Bruno. He enjoyed entertaining the fans for all the years he has. He announces his official retirement from wrestling tonight – and while it was something that was expected since September, it was still sad. He at least went out in the ring giving everything he had, and main eventing a WWE pay-per-view that wound up doing very well. He puts on some shades, grabs his bat and says “it’s not goodbye – just see you later”. Sting’s speech was excellent, and one of the better ones on the show. It’s a shame he didn’t mention Lex Luger in his speech – and a little surprising. Whle Michael Hayes stole the show, Sting’s speech felt genuine and was something to be remembered. Ditto for Stan Hansen’s. Snoop’s speech could be edited for a Sasha Banks video and make her a star in one night on Raw – it was that good.

    To see all the screens for the show, just click here.

  • NXT TakeOver Dallas live results: Nakamura debuts; Finn Balor & Bayley defend their gold

    Friday’s NXT TakeOver: Dallas show on the WWE Network is one of the biggest the brand has produced up to this point with three big main events that sound great on paper, and should be great in execution.

    If given time, the top three matches have a chance of being some of the best matches this weekend will provide:

    – Reigning champion Finn Balor will defend the NXT title against Samoa Joe, a rematch from TakeOver: London event.

    – Women’s champion Bayley defends against Asuka, who has a ton of momentum since debuting.

    – Sami Zayn, who is making what will most likely be his last appearance on the NXT brand, will square off against a debuting Shinsuke Nakamura, who stunned the world by signing a WWE contract a few months ago after having a great run in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

    – Austin Aries will take on the man who attacked him in his debut, Baron Corbin

    – Apollo Crews faces off against “The Drifter” Elias Sampson

    – NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash and Dawson) defend against American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan).

    Join us at 10 PM EST for our coverage!

    Apparently, the Apollo Crews/Drifer match was bumped to dark match status. Apollo won in what was said to not be a very good match.

    In case you were wondering, no, we didn’t have Triple H open this broadcast.

    NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival (Dash and Dawson) (c) vs. American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable)

    Crowd was really hot for this. Gable worked a lot of the match, and was the one being worked on as Jordan was waiting for a tag. They worked on him forever, though there were a few clever spots like Dash going through the ring and taking out Jordan just as Gable was going for a tag. They completely messed up a spot where the Revival were going for a powerbomb/clothesline off the top rope combo but didn’t get Gable up all the way and it looked really bad, and on top of that Dash went for a cover when he wasn’t the legal man and they just stood there for a few seconds, lost. “Botchamania” chants after that one. It picked right back up after that as Jordan was tagged and they went for a bunch of fun near falls that the crowd ate up. Gable had a bunch of clever nearfalls, he’s such a terrific athlete. They did a phantom tag as Gable had Dawson in the corner. Jordan surprised him with a spear, Gable tagged back in and hit their drop/suplex bridge finisher to win the titles. Good match despite the botch with some great heat.

    Jim Ross, Michelle Beadle, Funaki and, most interestingly, Kota Ibushi were shown in the crowd. Announcers specifically mentioned the cruiserweight tournament when talking about Ibushi.

    Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries

    Corbin has a cool new jacket. I know Aries is on the small side anyway but Corbin absolutely dwarfed him in comparison. Aries started off hot but Corbin cut him off and got the heat on him. He’s really found himself in terms of agressiveness which I think he didn’t have even going back a few months ago, he continue to improve well. Aries made a comeback but Corbin laid him out with the deep six (spinning side slam) on the outside. He went for the End of Days but Aries countered with a roll up into a bridge and got the win. Right finish as it protected Corbin and Aries got the needed win in his debut. Pretty good match.

    Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Crowd went ballistic the minute Nakamura came out. Song, entrance, everything fit him and was instantly over. Crowd is SUPER into this, far beyond anything else on this card so far. Good back and forth between both throughout. Nakamura was extremely comfortable doing his own thing and did all of his trademark spots. He’s one of the best in the world in terms of charisma and presence and it was completely represented here Zayn did the big running senton to the floor. Great back and forth sequence. Nakamura’s nose was busted open. “We want strong style” chant. More back and forth until Nakamura hit the spinning clothesline, like from the G1 final from a few years ago. He transisitoned into a triangle. Zayn tried to counter but Nakamura escaped. Zayn got in the koji clutch but Nakamura countered out of it. Zayn went for the helluva kick but Nakamura  escaped and hit the reverse exploder and went for the boma ye but Zayn countered. Just great back and forth and the heat was incredible. Nakamura hit the knee strike to the back of the head then pinned Zayn with a high knee strike to the face for the win. Absolutely incredible match that is a surefire match of the year candidate. I think Nakamura’s going to be just fine in WWE.

    Nakamura and Zayn shook hands after the match. Zayn stood in the ring as people were chanting “Ole” and “Thank You Sami”. He left to his own music to a big reaction. 

     NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Asuka

    Both women worked really well with one another and everything looked right on the money. A lot of back and forth. Asuka went for a kick but Bayley immediately latched on a kneebar in a cool submission. She worked on both Asuka’s knees. Asuka came back with the flying armbar and went into the seated position but Bayley countered with a roll up. Asuka latched on the Asuka lock, taking her to the floor. Bayley fought and fought, but eventually passed out and Asuka got the win, becoming the new Women’s champion. Crowd was stunned by this but ultimately cheered Asuka. Tough to follow the previous match but this was really good.

    Bayley looked dejected after the match. Asuka left the ring, stared at Bayley, then headed up the ramp, posing with the title.

    They showed Bobby Roode in the audience, so at the very least he’s on the radar.

    NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) vs. Samoa Joe

    Balor came out with a chainsaw, I guess since it’s in Texas. Maybe he borrowed it from Dean Ambrose and will give it back after the match. Balor did a flying senton to the floor and Joe’s eye was immediately busted open big time, blood everywhere. It was actually from a headbutt sequence at the start of the match. Joe did a sick suicide dive to the outside. They had to stop the match several times as Joe’s eye was still bleeding, which the crowd didn’t like, chanting “Bulls***” and “F*** PG”. I don’t think it’s a PG issue but rather a a medical/commission issue. Some good back and forth once that was all cleared up. Balor went for the coupe de grace but Joe cut him off and hit the muscle buster for a nearfall.  Balor got back up and hit the coupe de grace then tried to follow with the Bloody Sunday DDT but Joe came back with the kokina clutch. They did the Piper/Bret finish from Wrestlemania 8 where Balor used the turnbuckle as leverage and bridged himself over Joe on the floor, pinning him. Heat and intensity was there, and it wasn’t bad but the constant stoppages hurt it from being really great.

    Joe looked both stunned and angry after the match, and simply left with Balor celebrating in the ring as the show ended. Another great NXT Takeover event, watch the Zayn/Nakamura match above everything else but each match was good to great in it’s own right.