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  • NXT TakeOver & BOSJ reader feedback

    NXT Takeover: Thumbs Up

    • Best Match: Nakamura vs. Aries
    • Worst Match: Asuka vs. Nia Jax (by default as nothing was bad)

    Another very good NXT show and they keep doing what WWE main roster can’t do which is to be consistent.  Granted NXT isn’t over exposed and the same guys don’t wrestle each other a hundred times a week on TV before they meet on the ppv events.  NXT just does things in a way that really works well. 

    Andrade Almas vs. Tye Dillinger kicks the show off and it was a fun match and a nice debut for Cien.  Dillinger has a lot of crowd support for a guy who they don’t do anything with, but he has something and they should try to make him more than what he is.  Crowd was more into Dillinger than Almas.

    Tag Title match was very good.  I really enjoyed this and again they way they put it together makes me feel like I am really watching a tag team match and not what WWE does on Raw and Smackdown.  These guys take me back to what I used to watch as far as tag teams go when you felt like it was actually different from a singles match.  Really surprised at the finish of having the Revival regain the titles since American Alpha barely had them.  Maybe they be on the main roster sooner than later especially with the brand split coming.  Those big guys seemed a little green, but those are the kind of big guys that Vince likes to push.  Surprised to see Paul Ellering too. 

    Shinsuke Nakumara vs. Austin Aries was another great match.  Nakumara just has it. Hope when he gets to the main roster they just go with it and don’t try to change things.  He needs to be pushed to the top.  His entire presentation is great and the music really works.

    Women’s Championship was good, but having to judge it against the rest of the show it would come in last.  Jax will probably be a monster on the main roster at some point, but right now I’m glad that Asuka retained.  Maybe Bayley gets her rematch now.

    Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor was great as well.  Again NXT doesn’t overuse the gimmicks and the cage match felt important and not just a gimmick because it was a certain time of the year that called for it.  Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar really should be a WrestleMania main event. 

    Just a an enjoyable show from beginning to end.

    – Robb Block

    **********

    NJPW

    I would give the show a Thumbs Up overall.

    The matches they slated were really good loved how the feud between Elgin and Omega is heating up. Should make a great match at Dominion especially after the match they had at the house show NJPW had not too long ago. 

    Best bout was the Taguchi vs. Ospreay hands down. I went in there with high hopes low expectations for Taguchi at least and he blew that out of the water really enjoyed his performance. Though I have issues with Ospreay’s over verbal selling he does a wonderful job modifying maneuvers to accomidate his match injuries. Ospreay was really good in the match The sky is the limit for him. 

    Worst was the second bout Capt. NJ and Yoshi Tatsu v. Chase and Yujiro. Just didn’t do anything for me was hoping for more out of Chase and Yoshi and didn’t get it. 

    NXT

    I would give this show a thumbs middle overall.

    It blew me away on paper and didn’t deliver the quality I would have hoped for but wasn’t by any means bad. 

    Best bout was Tag Team match loved how it was crafted. Great Tandem moves by AA from the onset was really nice to see. I had been saying among my inner circle for weeks the best move for The Revival was to put the straps back on them to give them a little more time in NXT give them and heal heat. I think AA is main roster ready. 

    Worst bout was Cien debut. He didn’t wow me. I would have like to see some form of a showcase. The finish wasn’t great either. 

    – R.Ryan Sterling

    **********

    Thumbs in the middle

    • Best bout goes to Nakamura/Aries
    • Worst goes to Asuka/Jax

    This Tye Dillinger guy really does nothing for me so far.  Tag match was good but nothing new.  Nakamura/Aries was as good of a match as you would think but it felt like they were working the same level they would at a house show.  The Nia Jax matches are such a step down from what was previously taking place in this division that I can’t help but resent her for it.  The Joe/Balor feud is getting long in the tooth.  Even after watching the match (or maybe especially after) I can’t see why a cage match was where they went here.  The amount of hype on social media for this takeover seemed to be a lot higher than usual.  The increased advertising combined with the weak card makes me wonder about the future of NXT going into the brand split.  I realize now what a big part of these shows the women’s matches were towards making me enjoy NXT so much.  The advertising seemed to imply this show would consist of feud ending matches which was misleading and added to much of my disappointment.

    – Jeff Caldwell

    **********

    THUMBS –  DEFINITELY UP

    A very strong show from top to bottom.  As I found myself enjoying this show, and not really caring about Raw at all, it occurs to me this exemplifies the problem with WWE right now: too much content.  Less than monthly special events, which are very good, and a 1 hour per week TV show that you can miss is just about right.  Not to mention the simple booking that you can relate to.  But I think the problem has already been diagnosed, with no solution in sight.

    BEST MATCH: Revival v. Gable & Jordan.  An excellent match, with I believe the right result.  The opening video package seems to indicate that call-ups are coming, and Jordan & Gable deserve a call-up.  Actually, I’m not sure the Revival doesn’t as well.  Their matches are routinely better than any matches on Raw.

    WORST MATCH:  The Andrade match didn’t feel very special, but hopefully this guy will grow into something.  Dillinger did a nice job making the match look competitive, but the finishing sequence was pretty flat.

    I’m not a fan of cage matches, but if you are going to have them in the modern world, you cannot have escaping out the door be an option.  It is just too ridiculous to have Finn Balor standing by the door with his opponent down, but choosing to do a move instead.  A great effort by both guys, and the result indicates that Balor might get called up.

    The Shinsuke-Aries match was surely good, and had some good sequences, but not as good as Shinsuke-Zayn.  I was surprised to see Shinsuke taking that big bump on the apron.

    I think Shinsuke & Finn Balor deserve to be called up as well, but there doesn’t seem to be long term integrated planning on the big stage. Even the Nia Jax match was decent.  A great effort by everyone on the card.

    – Richard Orloski

    **********
    New Japan Super J Cup Finals

    • Thumbs Up

    Finals match told a tremendous story. Thought Ospreay sold much better and overall just came across as such a huge deal and a revolutionary talent. 

    NXT

    Thumbs Up

    Awesome show. 

    Cien vs. Dillinger. Good opener. Did what it was suppose to.

    NXT Tag Title Match American Alpha vs. The Revival. Tremendous. Not sure there is a more complete team in the world then American Alpha. They have the big guy/small guy thing, amazing moves, energy and realness to them. Understand The Revival winning and they don’t get the credit they deserve. After the match was a terrific angle and surprise to see Paul Ellering. Authors of Pain have a very solid look to them. 

    Nakamura vs. Aries. Great match. Really showcased both men. Loved the story that Aries had an answer for almost everything while at the same time showing how hard it is to defeat Nakamura. Nakamura’s charisma is just off the charts. 

    Asuka vs. Jax Women’s Title. Much better then I hoped. Jax has improved. 

    NXT Title Cage Match Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor. Very good. I actually enjoyed the camera angles. Thought it was a fresh take on it and made it seem more brutal. Great last few minutes. Both guys deserve to be on the Main Roster but may be holding off on Joe to do him vs. Nakamura at Takeover Brooklyn. 

    Excellent show top to bottom. Match of the night I would go with Alpha vs. Revival but it is tough.

    – Mike Flyn

    ******

    I gotta say the show tonight definitely lived up to the hype so I got to give it a thumbs up. The best bout of the night to me was the main event, both guys told a great story and the super muscle buster off the ropes was pulled off flawlessly, I guess if I had to pick the “worst” match by default was the opening contest with La Sombra and Tye Dillinger, only because ever other match on the card delivered in a major way.

    – Michael Thomas

  • WWE Buffalo, NY, live results: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus & Wade Barrett

    Submitted by Brandon Thurston (also a past JNPO guest)

    – AJ Styles beat Tyler Breeze

    Styles won with the springboard forearm. Fine match. Styles was over.

    – Mark Henry beat The Ascension in a handicap match

    Henry pinned Konnor after the World’s Strongest Slam. Henry seemed to take his time soaking in the cheers afterward, almost as if he was nearing the end of his run.

    – Fandango, Damien Sandow & Darren Young beat Stardust, Heath Slater & Adam Rose

    Decent comedy match that was given some time. Stardust had Eden tell the crowd that he would beat them all up one-by-one if they didn’t stop chanting “Cody”. This got a lot of heat. Stardust teased not getting along with Slater and Rose before ultimately hugging but eating a comeback from the babyfaces. Fandango pinned Stardust with a Falcon Arrow.

    – Luke Harper beat Zack Ryder

    Harper got the win with the spinning lariat.

    – WWE Tag Team Champions New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E) beat Dudleyz and Usos in a three-way match

    Woods pinned one of the Usos after Dudleys hit a 3D and Woods got rid of Bubba with a roaring elbow. New Day worked as tweeners, playing face against the Dudleys but heel against the Usos.

    – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte beat Natalya

    Charlotte got the pin with a schoolboy with her feet on the ropes. Good reaction for Natalya as she rose to her feet after the match.

    – Chris Jericho beat Jack Swagger

    Jericho won with the Codebreaker. He did a long promo beforehand, mostly cheap heat, burying the town, much like he did in Toronto, but it got over strongly. After the match, he put Swagger in the Walls of Jericho. Styles ran out to make the save. Styles had Jericho setup for the springboard forearm, but Jericho bailed out.

    – Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat Sheamus & Barrett

    Reigns pinned Sheamus after the Spear. Reigns again did not enter through the crowd, just a normal entrance through the curtain. I heard this was the case in Syracuse the night before too. I wonder if he’ll be done with that entrance on TV too. Reigns was very over (here’s his entrance) and the most over wrestler on the show. Only very few boos which obviously was much different from anything on TV. Here’s the finish.

  • PWG live results: Roderick Strong vs. Drew Galloway; Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Trevor Lee

    From the American Legion Hall in Reseda, CA (2/12) courtesy of So Cal Uncensored

    – Chuck Taylor over Dalton Castle via rollup

    – Chris Hero over Trent? after a tombstone

    – Jack Evans over Sami Callihan via schoolboy rollup

    – Adam Cole over Andrew Everett

    – Zack Sabre Jr. over Trevor Lee via submission

    – “Speedball” Mike Bailey over Player “Evil” Uno with a kick to the head

    – PWG Champion Roderick Strong over Drew Galloway to retain

    Notes:

    – After the main event Strong and Cole beat down Galloway, but Sabre came out for the save. Strong and Sabre will meet on All Star Weekend night 1 on March 4th.

    – WWE’s Becky Lynch was in attendance.

  • WWE Mannheim, Germany, live results: Charlotte vs. Paige, Roman Reigns vs. ADR

    Submitted by Max Schwager of WrestlingInfos.de from the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany (2/12)

    – WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Rusev (w/ Lana) via Dirty Deeds in 15:00.

    – Cesaro and german musician Eko Fresh were in the ring. Cesaro announced tonight’s main event: Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio in a street fight.

    – Jack Swagger defeated Tyler Breeze via Patriot Lock in 10:00.

    – Goldust defeated Bo Dallas in 01:00. Dallas protests after the match, challenges anyone in the back to a match. R-Truth answers.

    – R-Truth defeated Bo Dallas via Lie Detector in 00:10. After the match, Truth and Goldust had an dance battle. No winner was announced. 

    – The Big Show & The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) defeated WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) via chokeslam from Big Show to Big E in 10:00. Usos facepaint was in black-red-gold.

    – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte (c) (w/ Ric Flair) defeated Paige via roll-up in 10:00 in a non-title match with Summer Rae as special ref.

    – Dolph Ziggler defeated Kevin Owens via superkick into the ZigZag in 12:00.

    – Roman Reigns defeated Alberto Del Rio via spear through a table in a street fight.

  • NXT Bartow, FL, live results: Hype Bros vs. The Vaudevillains 2/3 Falls; intergender match

    – They are expecting about 150 here tonight at the Bartow Armory in Bartow, FL.

    Josh Woods beat Steve Cutler with a spinning kick.

    A lot of heel work and jaw jacking by Cutler as he wore down Woods with head locks and holds. Woods took control, fighting back with strikes and hit a nice spinning kick for the win. 

    – Tom Phillips introduced King Constantine and Tom Kingdon for an interview. They proclaimed to be what real men should look like and they push the most weights in the gym. They even said the tag titles would not fit on them. They jokingly slapped Tom on the back which he sold with a face plant and the crowd followed up with a “You killed Tom!” chant. They were interrupted by Kenneth Crawford and Caesar who challenged them to a match.

    King Constantine and Tom Kingdon beat Caesar and Kenneth Crawford via submission in a short match.

    Kingdon got Crawford on his shoulder for a rack type submission. 

    Alex Riley beat Angelo Dawkins in a hard hitting match

    They had dueling crowd reactions with Riley getting much larger cheers when he stood on the turnbuckles. Dawkins did a lot of crowd taunting and Riley shut him up and scored the pin.

    Manny Andrade beat Chris Girard with the running knees

    A lot of violent and aggressive action from Girard to try and keep Manny grounded. Big finish saw Manny armdrag Chris in to the corner and follow up with the running knees. Good match, Manny is winning over the local crowds.

    Apollo Crews beat Elias Samson with the Too Easy standing moonsault

    This was a tune up for Takeover Dallas. Elias put down Bartow, and did a lot of headlocks to wear down Crews. Samson was able to counter the moonsault once but not the second time. 

    – Tom Phillips announced that our main event would be a 2/3 Falls tag match between The Hype Bros and The Vaudevillains.

    Hugo Knox, Tucker Knight, and Aliyah beat Tino Sabbateli, Riddick Moss, and Mandy in what was billed as an intergender match

    Tino and Moss worked over Knight most of the match with some limited and safe interaction between the two women. Knox took the hot tag and scored the win for his team. 

    Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan via submission

    Royce won with some sort of hold from behind with her legs and arms involved. Haven’t seen it before and looked good. 

    The Hype Bros beat The Vaudevillains two falls to one

    The crowd was very in to the Hype Bros and the Vauds were acting completely heelish tonight even using their old ominous music from the last time they were heels. Hypes took fall one, Vauds fall two, then had a good final fall of Mojo getting a hot tag, running wild and nailing the Hype Ryder for the win with Zack off the top for the pin.

  • WWE Los Angeles, CA results: Brock Lesnar battles Alberto Del Rio for the U.S. title

    By Guy Bogard

    Dolph Ziggler pinned the Miz.

    Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Brie Bella beat team bad. All the girls came out with Santa hats on.

    Ryback pinned Rusev with the shellshock.  An older guy was the special ring announcer because he won it by donating at a charity event. First thing he did was grab the mic and yell “WHOOOO!” He then announced like a 70’s or 80’s ring announcer and was pretty good. After the match he was shaking hands with fans and did the Flair deal where you pull your hand away and run it through your hair.

    Brock Lesnar beat Del Rio via DQ when Rusev ran in. A short match with Lesnar hitting multiple german suplexes and Del Rio kept going for the armbar. Nothing special really. After the match he F’5d both guys. Lesnar was the biggest star on the show.

    Kane, Dreamer and Dudleys beat the Wyatts after Kane chokeslammed Rowan. Ok match.

    Ambrose pinned Owens to retain IC title. Very good match. Very light PWG chant for Owens.

    Reigns pinned Sheamus to retain the WWE World Title. Reigns was pretty much cheered coming out but during the match there was the dueling “Lets go Roman!” and “Roman sucks!” chants just like Cena with women and kids cheering and adult males booing. Not as fervent though. Good match. After Roman mentioned it was his first title defense and wished everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

  • WWE house show results Lewiston, ME 12/12: Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus

    By Brandon Patrick

    New Day def. Lucha Dragons and The Usos

    R-Truth def. Tyler Breeze 

    Goldust def. Bo Dallas

    Charlotte and Becky Lynch def. Naomi and Sasha Banks

    Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens (non title match)

    Alberto del Rio def. Jack Swagger (US Title match)

    Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley and Ryback def. Braun Strowman, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan

    Roman Reigns def. Sheamus via DQ 

  • Weekend feedback: UFC Fight Night, 194, more

    Hi I’m a UK fan . Names Chris Phelps (hulkamania78 – Twitter ) 

    Always hated Macgregor and he’s said some stupid comments about the UK as he from Southern Ireland and usually when somebody talks that much smack their up for a fall
    but he’s totally winning fights with mind games. Aldo looked gone before the bell wouldn’t do eye contact and seemed really small to me compared to Connor . But after TUF22 I like him it’s all smart comments to get under people’s skin and as someone from his part of the world it’s a very UK sense of humour . Anyway he backed up his words and gave Aldo his first KO lose . 

    Weidman looked like he’d not done enough  training seemed to believe by beating Silva it guranteed a win but he was really outclassed and outworked . Rockhold deserved it all brilliant performance . 

    The rest of the card was ok Romero started great Spinning back fist but it died on its Arse that fight and other than a lucky KO if the fight the next level in the division they both aren’t elite . 

    My view from a WWF/E/ UFC fan since Shamrock and Severin transitioned in the late 90’s and been an MMA fan since . Wrestling fan since late 80’s (I’m 37) as a lot of the first PPV weren’t shown in the UK. 

    Thanks 

    Chris Phelps 
    Manchester , England

    Hi Dave,

    I gave the show a thumbs up

    Best Fight: Weidman vs Rockhold

    Best Performances: Damian Maia, Luke Rockhold

    This card sets up lots of interesting matchups for 2016.

    Although the main event was over in seconds, I think the Aldo vs McGregor rematch should be made, and there is no better opportunity now for UFC to try to pull off the stadium show in Ireland. That would be an insane atmosphere if they could get council to bend the rules for the one day. It would be crazy for them not to for the economic impact to the area. I don’t think Holloway is ready for the title shot but at least he called them out.

    Herb Dean gave Weidman a lot of lee way in the end of the 2nd to let him absorb that much punishment. Rockhold looked great and never let up after that missed wheel kick. Both looked solid up to that point but Rockhold’s kicks had a lot more power behind them.

    Easy to match up Rockhold vs Romero and Weidman vs Jacare next with the winners facing off again.

    Maia looked like a machine vs Nelson who is no pushover. Matching him with the winner of Lawler vs Condit makes sense after this domination.

    I was expecting more fireworks from the Stephens vs Holloway fight but both looked a bit tentative here and were fighting not to lose until the end when desperation set in.

    Faber looked good and his elbows were devastating however I  am not sure how Faber would fare against the Frankie Edgar that took apart Chad Mendes the night before. The Dillashaw vs Faber fight would make a better story with the grudge aspect.

    Looking forward to the FOX fights. Huge Cowboy fan. Main card looks like it has amazing potential.

    Observer readers…Check out my current ebay auctions featuring some great wrestling memorabilia including some fantastic Stampede wrestling programs which feature Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Bad News Allen, Keichi Yamada, Shinya Hashimoto, Hiro Hase and so many more. Seller name is grantsindex. Email me if interested in multiple items and we can make a deal to save you some dollars.

    Email me for some recent Wrestling Observer specials including  Starrcade, Halloween Havoc, Observer Hall of Fame, Summerslam & more.

    grantsindex@nexicom.net

    Grant Zwarych

    Wrestling Observer Index

    UFC 194 & Weekend shows

    Fight Pass (The Barbie and Ken show)

    Thumbs Up: Main card only. Good show for what it was. Note to UFC: never again put Northcutt, Paige or even Namajunas on anything but a PPV or featured prelim match on FS1/Fox.  

    Best Fight: Namajunas vs Van Zant mostly because of Paige’s escape tricks. 

    FS1: Only watched the main event; Edgar looked good.

    UFC 194 

    Thumbs Up: Faber fight plus PPV portion only. Great show! If UFC was struggling pro-wrestling promotion the results on this show would have been the perfect booking to shake things up and create new stars. Instead they are a shoot sport and still create better storylines than all the worked organizations. 

    Best Fight: Rockhold vs Weidman

    Best KO: McGregor, (13 seconds > 10+ years) 

    Worst Fight: Romero vs Souza. Jacare didn’t do anything, he just waited for an opening for a one-punch KO and the fight went by, Romero won by default. Worst, in the last round when Romero gassed out Jacare decided to take him down instead of finishing on his feet; whoever came with that battle plan should be fire!

    Leonardo Mendes Toledo

    FN 80

    Thumbs very up. Highly entertaining card.

    Best fight: Chiesa vs. Miller

    Worst fight: Carlos Jr. vs. Casey. For a fight that actually happened, Tukhugov vs. Nover

    Best performance: Rose

    Worst performance: Coy I guess

    KO: Pozinibbio & Means both had 1-punchers

    Sub: Rose

    Emily Kagan comes up with her best performance but Kailin Curran slips in RNC for the tap late in the 2nd. Reverse of Curran’s last two fights where she started fast then got caught. She’s a potential star. Zubaira Tukhugov takes a 30-27 x 2, 28-29 SD over Phillipe Nover in basically a sloppy kickboxing match. Late sub Danny Roberts uses strikes from bottom to set up triangle then transitions to arm bar to tap Nathan Coy, who apparently never heard Thomas Hearns’ advice to never cut your hair right before a fight. (It was like a foot long yesterday and shaved tonight.) BZs get over ATT. Santiago Ponzinibbio paintjobs long-inactive Andreas Stahl and finishes with a clean 1 punch right cross KO late in the 1st and does a equally good job not letting Jonny Pipik get his usual stupid questions in. 

    Aljamian Sterling shuts down also long-inactive Johnny Eduardo, finishing late in the 2nd with Guillotine. Antonio Carlos Jr. accidentally pokes Kevin Casey in the eye and it’s over in 11s. According to Buffer, ‘the referee stops it on the advice of the referee’. The referee then raises both guy’s hands, which makes no sense to do on a No Contest. See, if there’s no ‘contest’, there’s no ‘winners’. Total clusterfuck. Sergio Moraes, down 2 rounds, staggers and drops a tiring Omari Akhmedov and finishes him with a ground strike. Tim Means knocks John Howard cold with a left check hook early in the 2nd after losing a competitive 1st. First left hook all night Stann HASN’T called a ‘check hook’.

    Thiago Santos, supposedly lacking cardio, comes on as the fight progresses and removes Elias Theodorou from the unbeaten ranks (and from any face modeling gigs for awhile) via 29-28, 29-27 X 2 UD.

    Ken Doll, uh Sage Northcutt, aided by a bogus standup in the 1st, chokes out Cody Pfister early in the 2nd, then proceeds to put over Dana, the Fertittas, Fight Pass and John 3:16 in one sentence. This guy makes John Cena look like Aleister Crowley.

    In by far the best competitive fight of the night, Michael Chiesa checkmates Jim Miller by escaping a leglock into back mount into RNC in the 2nd after back and forth grappling the entire fight.

    Rose Namajunas cuts off all her hair and takes it out on Paige Vanzant, putting a terrible beating on her in the 1st. Lights her up standing, takes her down at will, pounds her bloody and threatens with RNC. At LEAST 10-8. I’d go 10-7.

    The 2nd is as dominant but not as damaging, but still a 10-8. Paige’s offense is zero.

    Jonny Pipik says Paige has the advantage in landed strikes. That’s the stupidest statement I’ve ever heard. I haven’t seen her land one strike. Rose dominating again in the 3rd. Rose jumps her back and sinks the RNC and somehow Paige escapes. That was like 10-0. I gotta go 10-7 again.

    Rose still all over her in the 4th. Paige somehow escapes an armbar. She’s like Ben Henderson. And DOES IT AGAIN. Pretty amazing really. Rose is GOOD at subs, too. Rose just always ends up on top in every scramble. 10-7. You could really call all these rounds 10-0. Paige’s only work has been defense and you don’t score that.

    Neither breathing hard going into the 5th. Paige trying but Rose just dumps her again. Rose finally sinks the RNC and stays palm to palm and Paige taps. Rose was just Zen here especially considering she was a late sub and only had 5 weeks to train. Paige is the World’s Toughest Barbie. I said a few months back I could imagine them fighting multiple times in the next few years.

    TUF 22 FINALE

    Thumbs 3/4 up. Couple stinkers.

    Best fight: Ferguson vs. Barboza (of all 3 cards)

    Worst fight: Gonzaga vs. It Doesn’t Matter What His Name Is, possibly ever

    Best performance: Ferguson

    Worst performance: It Doesn’t Matter What His Name Is

    KO: Frankie

    Sub: Ferguson

     Decent opener. Chris Gruetzemacher, badly outsized, outstrikes Abner Lloveras for the 29-28 UD. Geane Herrera in for the second time as a late sub having all kinds of problems with the movement of Joby Sanchez, but puts him out with a perfect left hook and followup punches on the ground late in the 2nd and might be a guy to watch in the FlyW division. Ryan LaFlare paintjobs 2 years inactive Mike Pierce pretty much the whole fight. The wrestling cancels out. Pierce stages a last second burst but not much lands but it might steal the round if the judges are as dumb as usual. Should be 30-27 but is only on one card so 2 dumb judges. Pierce acts like he got robbed. Riiight. HWs stink out the joint. Possibly the least amount of action in 3 rounds in history. Gabriel Gonzaga did what work there was and should win 30-28, since the 2nd was so dead there was no way to give it to anybody. One judge actually gets it right, the other two go 30-27. The other guy’s name so you can avoid watching him is Konstantin Erokhin.

    Julian Erosa finishes strong to edge Marcin Wrzosek via 29-28 SD in a very close fight.

    Tatsuya Kawajiri does his usual top control squash job on late sub Jason Knight. 30-27 only possible score. Not much fun.

    Joe Lauzon-Evan Dunham is a major letdown, because Dunham does such a total paint job and never lets Lauzon into the fight, and Lauzon seems to accept it. Even to the point that 2 judges gave a 10-8 round.

    Tony Ferguson-Edson Barboza more than makes up for it. Just off the chart. Barboza takes a 10-8 in the 1st as Ferguson loses a point for a blatant head kick on the ground. Ferguson snags his TM D’Arce in the 2nd for the tap. Have to wonder if Barboza really recovered from the illegal kick but Ferguson is a serious title threat.

    Artem Lobov vs. Ryan Hall  in the LW Final is sorta interesting in a trivia sense—both guys were actually eliminated then brought back. Lobov is Conor’s guy and he KOed everybody on the show but has an 11-10 record outside it which kind of makes you wonder how bad the guys on the show were. Hall is undersized and really good at JJ. They became friends and were actually training together when Hall got the call that he would be a sub in this fight. Both pretty much one trick ponies. Hall puts a total drubbing on Lobov. Beats him to the punch till he can get the fight to the ground, which he does at will, and goes from sub to sub to sub. It almost looked over in the first minute, but Lobov did manage not to get hooked, but his offense was exactly nothing. Correct score would be 30-0. Does get two 30-26s. See why Lobov is a .500 guy.

    Not much to say about the main. Chad Mendes was doing damage with low kicks, then Frankie Edgar dropped him with a left hook and finished him with a ground strike and cemented his #1 contender staus to the Aldo-Conor winner.

    UFC 194

    Another 3/4 up. Very stacked on paper, uneven in action. Too many stinkers and squashes.

    Best fight: Faber vs. Saenz

    Worst fight: Medeiros vs. Makdessi

    Best performance: Rockfish, Conor, HM to Santos & Maia

    Worst performance: Aldo

    KO: Conor

    Sub: Warlley

    Court McGee back after 2 years off dominates physically vs. Marcio Alexandre Jr. as expected for the 30-27, 29-28 X 2 UD. John Makdessi and  Yancy Medeiros stink out the joint with great lack of force. Goldy mentions both were Junior Tyke Juan Dough champions or something and that’s what this looks like, a game of tag. A fight almost breaks out in the last few seconds and Medeiros scores a flash KD with a left hook so I give him the fight by a score of 1-0, so I guess that makes 30-29. Decision taking an eternity. 29-28 split Medeiros. Rogan pissing and moaning for some reason.  Magomed Mustafaev squashes Joe Proctor in -2m via TKO. Was like a guy with 6 baseball bats (didn’t throw any elbows) against a guy with none.

    Leonardo Santos, undefeated for 6 years, takes much younger Kevin Lee to school. Gets the better of the striking, takes Lee down when Lee gets goofy, then catches him coming in with an overhand right, drops him, and pounds him out midway through the 1st and goes for a Jose Aldo victory lap around the arena. Rattner snivels about how he could get fined for it. In an 0 Must Go, Colby Covington  eats a Warlley Alves body kick and decides to shoot. Warlley snags a Guillotine, Colby tries to slam out of it which just lets Warlley sink it and it’s over in 1:26. Tecia Torres just a step ahead of the much bigger Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger all the way in a fight that features fighting at all ranges. 30-27 only possible score. Urijah Faber probably wins all three rounds, but Frankie Saenz almost completely neutralizes his wrestling until the final minute of the fight, almost holds his own striking with low kicks, and survives when badly stunned early in the 2nd. Urijah seems to tire from the effort. He gets a second wind, but Urijah tiring in a 3 round fight is a really bad sign. I’m not seeing him competitive with the upper echelon any more. 30-27, 29-28 x 2 UD, Urijah still short of breath on his promo. This is the guy who used to have the best cardio in the business.

    Goldy quotes Rockfish saying ‘I train with champions and he trains with jabronis,’ and adds, ‘We’ll find out what that means.’ He had no clue. I’m not making that up. We sure found out what it meant, though.

    Fairly easy win for Max Holloway over Jeremy Stephens as expected. Stephens used Holloway as sparring for Pettis and this sort of felt like a sparring session. Holloway obviously learned more from it than Stephens did. One judge somehow gives Stephens a round.

    Demian Maia just wrecks Gunnar Nelson in a grappling with ground strikes match. Takes him down early every round and just flows from pounding to subs at will. Nelson by the end content to survive. Total strikes was something like 200-5. Correct score 30-0. If this is 30-27 it’s a joke. 26 and 2 25s which is still too close but acceptable. Maia very correctly trashes the ratings system on his promo.

    I think Jacare vs. Yoel Romero is a draw. Romero drops Jacare in the 1st with a SBF and pounds the hell out of him. It’s a 10-8 for sure. Jacare comes out groggy and Romero gets a TD reversal taken away in the 2nd from a fence grab and Jacare may edge the round with late body shots. Romero is gassed in the 3rd and Jacare is all over him but not more than a 10-9. That makes 28-28 by me and apparently most people with functioning brain cells. 29-27 Romero, 29-28 Jacare which makes no sense as R1 was a definite 10-8, 29-28 Romero and he takes a dubious SD. His cardio will not stand up in a 5R fight.

    MW champ Chris Weidman and challenger Luke Rockhold both look a little tense early and Weidman in control and takes back standing. Rockhold gets a Guillotine position and holds it till a standup but gets relaxed and puts on a little burst late. Weidman 10-9. In the 2nd Rockhold is loose and has the range with his left kicks to all targets. Drops Weidman for a flash KD with a right hook early. Weidman lands a good body kick late. Rockhold wide 10-9. Rockhold, usually a cardio machine with an extra high gear in late rounds, seems gassed early in the 3rd and Weidman landing the body kicks. Weidman missed a wheel kick badly midround and Rockhold takes his back, mounts, and pounds him bloody. Should have been stopped, 10-7 Rockhold. Weidman with a blatant fence grab early in the 4th but Rockhold ragdolls him down. Rockhold dropping bombs on him. Weidman is a mess. Rockhold pounds from half guard. Weidman is turtled up. Dean steps in. New champ. On the postfight, turns out Rockhold was fighting sick and on antibiotics.

    The main is just bizarre as Conor McGregor KOs Jose Aldo in an oddly similar manner to how Edgar KOed Mendes the night before, but it’s only 13s into the fight, and unifies the FW title. They both threw left hooks and Conor had the perfect angle and got there first. Wacky, iconic moment. Aldo’s actually landed after he was unconscious. Conor vs. Frankie is probably the next fight. Aldo looking like a very old 29. Conor did an out of character interview on the fs1 postfight show and didn’t come off like a dick at all. 

    Crimson Mask

    Hey Dave
    Show was a massive thumbs up for what I saw. 
    I live in New York City and had trouble finding the show, either due to maximum capacity of bars or lack of the show being shown. Eventually I was able to get into an Irish Pub just at the beginning of the Weidman/ Rockhold Match. Rockhold completely dominated the rounds to the point where Herb Dean should have stopped it at the end of the 3rd. The bar crowd wasn’t into either men despite having Weidman be from Long Island. The bar came unglued for every second Connor was on screen. Chanting and Singing. I don’t think it really clicked with the crowd when Aldo started going down. Nobody actually knew what happened until Big John stopped the fight. It was incredible. It was a moment I’ll never forget. Tonight Connor solidified himself as a real Star. It would be a crime not to book Connor/Aldo 2 and Ronda/Holly 2 at UFC 200.

    Lee Pavlakos

    Thumbs up show

    Best Fight: Luke Rockhold vs Chris Wiedman

    Worst Fight: Tecia Torres vs Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger

    Was watching the PPV at a friends house, when Conor knocked out Jose I was the only one jumping up and down celebrating meanwhile everyone’s jaw dropped to the floor in stunned silence.

    Thank goodness for the last 2 finishes because that saved the show. If they name Yoel Romero the next contender at the Middleweight Championship, he better drop some muscle mass quick, or else he won’t make it out of the 3rd round. They also gotta do something about him dumping water on his body to buy more time in between rounds.

    Hopefully next year for the UFC 200 show and the year end show they just do only 2 nights of fights instead of 3 straight. I’m just saying, it’s alot of writing for Dave Meltzer to do for the Observer newsletter.

    Thanks,

    Eric  Poon

    Thumbs Up

    Best fight: Romero vs. Jacare

    Worst Fight: None

    Wow! While normally I would resent paying $60 for a 13 second fight, this was an amazing night. Would love to see Rockhold-Weidman II and McGregor-Aldo II on the same card. And how powerful is Aldo that he can open a cut on McGregor while knocked out?! By the way, thanks to you and Bryan for creating a UFC fan with your preview for Silva-Weidman I while I was listening strictly for WWE a few years back!

    Kevin Finger

    Hey Dave,

    This was my first time ordering a UFC ppv and I’m pretty disappointed. I ordered it based on the amount of press the event was receiving on your site and many others. I’m a WWE fan and figured I’d give it a try after hearing interviews hyping the fight with Conor. I understand that anything can happen in MMA, but I am really disappointed in how short the main event went, I thought it would be a closer match with some drama–I’m really wishing I had that $55 back right now. Was not worth the cost. I don’t know that I’ll ever order one again at this point—

    Dan (please don’t use my last name) 

  • WWE house show results, Johnson City, TN 12/4: Reigns vs. Sheamus

    By Johnathan Thacker

    Opening match was Big Show over Ascension in handicap match. Show tied for 3rd loudest Face response of night, although some of that was the First Match response. Ascension didn’t do much, and he pinned both of them at the same time.

    Adam Rose & Bo Dallas vs the Hype Bros. – the crowd didn’t seem to care much about any of these guys or any thing that happened here. The group with me were vocal in responding to Bo Dallas, who seemed to be the only one trying to do more than sleepwalk through this, but we seemed to be about the only ones.

    Miz beat Fandango next. Miz seemed to have some heat, but when he started to talk, people started filing out to the concessions/restrooms, so it may not be the kind of heat they’re going for. Several of the people with me popped for Fandango, mostly out of shock that he was still on the active roster. I liked the guy in NXT a lot…damn shame about the gimmick. Miz went over decisively and it wasn’t long. 

    Post match, Miz demanded real competition. Jack Swagger emerged to a loud pop, and promptly mopped the floor with Miz in a brief ultra squash. Swagger’s “We the people” mouth along may have gotten the single loudest mouth-along moment from the crowd of the night.

    Miz recovered, got mic and said he would defeat anyone else. Mark Henry’s music hit to a shockingly loud and very sustained ovation. This was probably the 2nd loudest face pop of night…which , considering how poorly Henry has been booked in the last few years, I was very surprised by. Miz then said he wasn’t allowed to finish and said he would defeat anyone in a Dance contest. He put on Irish music and river danced. Mark Henry seemed stoic, as if he was about to pummel Miz, but instead gestured for the announcer to hand him some things. Lights went down, he put on a hat and glove and started dancing to Billie Jean . Crowd absolutely loved this. Miz laid into him after about 30 seconds, while his back was turned, mid dance. Then Mark Henry briefly dominated Miz, before landing a Word’s strongest slam, and leaving to another loud ovation. 

    Goldust vs Stardust was next. Goldust got a decent pop. Starudst didn’t get much. My hopes were high when I saw it would be these two. They didn’t deliver. Goldust seemed less active than in recent years. Maybe he’s still not totally recovered from the injury he just returned from, or maybe at his age he goes easier at non-televised events. Whatever teh case, this wasn’t exactly awful, but if this is what they’ve been working around the loop, then I can see why WWE was reluctant to let them have a prolonged feud on tv, let alone work a WM in a 1 on 1. It  also felt much longer than it needed to be.

    New Day vs Lucha Dragons vs Dudleys. New Day probably got the best Heel response of the night. Xavier was working the trombone and E had more energy than a sentient bag of cocaine. E did not stop moving the entire time , from squatting and strutting on the apron when not in, to  patrolling it, facing outward and individually berating fans. Both Luchas also brought their A game, and probably got the loudest pops from their spots of anyone all night. the idiots in attendance chanted for tables the entire time that the dudleys were in, but there were no tables ringside and none anywhere near by to be broken. D-von looked to be having a real off night. a highlight was a fan ringside who had a New Day sign. Kofi went over to him, and like  a great heel, promptly berated him for its poor quality, saying it looked like he forced a small child to make it. a nearby Xavier irritatingly chimed in “SMALL CHILD!”. New Day and Lucha’s put on the match of the night, by far, when they were in the ring together. Which was thankfully the majority of it.  This match alone made it all worth while. New Day and Cesaro have been the only dependable highlights for awhile, with the other guys who I really enjoy usually getting booked in such a downright depressing manner (Neville, Ambrose, ADR, Barrett, Rusev, Titus, Ziggler), that it gets hard to sit through after awhile. and it’s been a long while. 

    On a related note, me and 2 other friends went to buy New Day shirts. Of the 2 Merch tables, only 1 had them, and we were told they were all out of anything bigger than a Large . We were going to pick up two 1 XL’s and one 2 XL, to save on the shipping, while we were there. But they seemed suspiciously low in supply. This was 35 minutes before start time. There was tons of Reigns, Charlotte and Rollins merch in supply though, and not much of it seemed to be moving. 

    Intermission

    Charlotte vs Paige. Paige got loud response and it seemed to be 60/40 face. Charlotte’s response was almost as loud, but it seemed surprisingly closer to 70/30 heel. Which we found surprising, but hilarious. Paige also became the 2nd person of the night, following Stardust, to knock a sign out of the hands of the same guy in a red hat at ringside, who seemed like a plant. He ludicrously over-reacted to various things throughout the night, seemed to be constantly getting told things by some guy in a black wwe shirt, and he had a high dollar camera with him. Paige seemed to be more into the match than Charlotte. Not sure if her getting so much heat, threw off some of her plans, but Charlotte was clearly having an off night. I hope her and D-von Dudley had  a high dollar wager going in the back about who got botch more spots, otherwise, the two of them were really having a bad time of it. Charlotte went over. and engaged in a prolonged lap around the rail slapping hands post-match. a 9-ish looking year old boy near aisle leaned up and screamed out “YOU SUCK CHARLOTTE!” at her with all the lung power he could muster, to which she replied “that’s not nice” before finally  exiting.

    R-Truth vs Harper. Truth rapped more of his song than usual. Then he got a pre-match promo about various things, such as Little Jimmy’s upcoming Christmas, and how greatfuly he was to be getting a WWE title shot here tonight. Announcer came over and leaned into his ear, “explaining” to him that he did not have a title match. which was the cue for Harper’s music. This match was very good, probably second best of the night. R-Truth got to show more of his offense than he usually gets to while getting treated like a jobber during his increasingly rare television appearances. Harper got to really get his Brody on too, and when he went on the offense, he was savage. Harper went over and while hooking the leg during the pin, he untied Truth’s shoe. It was subtle, but noticeable if you were looking. Not sure why that happened though.

    Sheamus vs Reigns was next. Sheamus got loud heat, but not quite as much as New Day. He did try to up it though, by grabbing the mic and talking about how much this “no-account village full of hillbillies sucked and should be grateful for his presence”, which was a nice touch. Reigns, unfortunately, did get the loudest pop of the night, for which he repaid the crowd with the worst worked main event I have seen in over two decades of attending live wrestling shows. Shaemus, who I enjoyed tremendously as a cowardly bully hill in 2010-2011, and thought was a fairly good face up until 2014, seemed to be better here than he has lately. I thought Shaemus and Cesaro had a GREAT match about a month ago, but for most of 2015, Shaemus has kind of sucked. His best heel work seems to be as  a bully/coward Heel, not as a Bad-Ass heel. Since Reigns has gotten the worst over-push since 98 Goldberg, Shaemus is almost forced to once again backpeddle, because god forbid someone not make Roman Reigns look like he could kick the entire planet’s ass in a handicap shoot. So, I give Shaemus a ton of credit for doing all he could here, but like Regal said of his match with Goldberg “I can only do so much out there myself, I cant start kicking myself in the head”. Reigns didn’t even break out the entire full 5 different offense spots he seems to know, and instead  spent all night just clotheslining and punching. Clothesline, punch, clothesline, clothesline, punch. punch punch repeat. go on defense and sell. punch pun punch. spear. then Sheamus went for a chair to get DQed because god forbid Roman not get “protected” at a spot show in a nowhere town. post match, he hit the spear, which Shaemus sold like a he had been shelled by the Schwerer Gustav. Reigns then pranced about making goofy faces. the end.

  • Five great upcoming UFC fights that have flown under the radar

    You better watch out, you better not cry.  Better not pout, I’m telling you why… UFC is coming to town! I’ve made a list and checked it twice, and I’m going to tell you what five fights are shaping up to be pretty nice…  

    This Thursday, we start down possibly the biggest stretch in terms of both business and quality of fights that the UFC has ever made. Kicking off the fun is a Fight Pass exclusive show on Thursday, Dec 10th, aka the “Paige and Sage” show. Friday night brings the TUF 22 Finale with a killer main event of Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes. The next night is of course UFC 194 featuring a double main event of Weidman vs. Rockhold in a middleweight championship bout, and Aldo vs. McGregor in a featherweight championship unification bout. Finally, a week after that, UFC returns to FOX with a lightweight championship bout between Rafael Dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone.

    Everyone knows about these fights and every UFC and MMA fan out there has been eagerly anticipating them for months. However, after examining these cards a little closer, I’ve found five fights that have flown under the radar, which should be also be awesome.

    Fight Night 80 on Thursday —

    This show is a Fight Pass exclusive and if seeing the new darlings of MMA isn’t enough for you, maybe you need to check out what should be a war at 155 with perennial contender Jim Miller going up against TUF 15 winner Michael Chiesa. Miller is a bulldog who always has exciting fights as evidenced by his seven post-fight performance bonuses. Chiesa is trying to break into the top 15 and will have to go through gatekeeper Miller to do it. With all the attention on the young guns, look for these two veterans to steal the show.

    TUF 22 Finale on Friday —

    Maybe you’ve been following the show all season and are going to be looking forward to the tournament finale. Obviously if you’re reading this, you are well aware of the main event of former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar going up against three time featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes, in an attempt to find the next contender at 145. Well, you may want to pay attention to another lightweight fight between Tony Ferguson and Edson Barboza.

    Ferguson is another TUF winner, having won season 13 of the UFC reality show. He is on a six fight win streak in the ultra-tough 155 lb division, including four stoppages. In fact, he’s only lost once in his UFC career, a decision loss against Michael Johnson. Barboza was once thought to be the future of the division and burst onto the scene with his highlight reel headkick KO of Terry Etim that has been replayed thousands of times. He is still just 29 and a top 10 fighter who has won three of his last four. The winner here is probably just one fight away from challenging the Cerrone-Dos Anjos winner.

    UFC 194 on Saturday — As if the two big title fights on the top of the card weren’t enough to make you part with your $60 and buy the PPV (or pay 10 times that to see it in person) how about the middleweight bout between Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza? Yes, the #1 and #2 in the world are fighting for the title and the #3 and #4 fighters square off just underneath, likely to determine the next contender. Romero has scary power and was an Olympic level wrestler, a combination that has helped him tear through the division. Souza is a submission specialist who can trap anyone at any time. This fight was originally scheduled for February of this year on the undercard of UFC 184, but fight fans will finally get to see it here.

    Also on Saturday’s PPV broadcast is another awesome featherweight bout. Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens should kick off the card in dynamic fashion. Holloway is the only fighter that Conor McGregor has not finished in his UFC run, losing by decision. He is coming off his first UFC main event where he beat Charles Oliveira by TKO in August. Jeremy Stephens was last seen scoring a stunning KO of Dennis Bermudez at UFC 189. The long time UFC vet has been entering the Octagon since 2007 and has been in many fights of the night. If history is any indication, this fight should kick off the card with a bang.

    UFC on FOX 17 on Dec 19th —

    The big one on this card is the lightweight title fight between Cerrone and Dos Anjos. It is rare that we get a free title fight on TV. Most fans are also looking forward to the return of former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos going up against former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem. Somewhat lost in the shuffle is the lightweight fight between Nate Diaz and Michael Johnson. Diaz is always worth checking out because you never know what he is going to say or do. He never gives up so going against a steamroller like Michael Johnson will be quite the test. Johnson had a four fight win streak snapped with a split decision loss to Beneil Dariush, and will need a win here if he ever wants a title shot.

    UFC is giving fight fans an early Christmas present in 2015, maybe as a thank you for their biggest business year in history. Anything can happen in MMA, but what is a virtual guarantee is that the four cards over the next two weeks have a little something for everyone, so be good for goodness sake!