Submitted by Craig Russell from Chicago, IL (Friday)
– Veda Scott vs Nixon Newell
Good opener. Nixon is pretty good and Veda is solid at this point. Veda earns extra heel points by sucking up to referee Andy Long, who the fans still boo because of the last Shimmer weekend. Scott wins with a Northern Lights/German Suplex.
– Shayna Baszler vs Rhia O’Reilly
Baszler wins with a TKO on O’Reilly for the pin. Baszler is already decent in the ring and holds her own. O’Reilly worked the crowd over by taunting Baszler whenever she would get Baszler in a wrestling hold.
– Vanessa Kraven vs Shazza McKenzie vs LuFisto vs Kellie Skater
Kraven and LuFisto fight to the back, and Skater pins McKenzie after a neck breaker/kick to the head combo (Skate and Destroy finisher). Kraven and LuFisto at one point in the match play a game of “one up” on Skater and McKenzie with chops and running cannonballs.
– Viper vs Jessica Havok
Viper pins Havoc with a slam. It might have been a running powerslam, but she did not get far with the running part. This was a good match with the girls taking each other’s moves and coming back with their own response. Viper is indeed already over in the states with the same crowd support as she got at Shine 35.
– Yumi Ohka and Melanie Cruise vs Mia Yim and Kay Lee Ray
Yim and Ray’s tag team is called FlyingHighWDSS (a nod to Pokemon). Ohka and Cruise work really well together. This was a very good match in which everyone hit everything. At the end, Ohka tried to use her Cat O’ Nine Tails Whip to interfere, but then Cruise missed a top rope splash. Ray then hits her senton on Cruise, followed by Yim hitting Cruise with a 450 Splash for the pin. Again, outstanding match.
– Arisa Nakajima vs Nicole Matthews
Nakajima has her JWP title belt with her. Another good match. Nicole is a pro and can work with anyone at this point. Nakajima has a good selection of kicks which she put to good use. Finish came as Nakajima pinned Matthews with a bridging German suplex.
– KC Spinelli vs Ruo Mizunami
Good hard hitting match. KC is very good at getting the crowd into the match and she did it here. Mizunami has a new outfit that is more Lucha inspired (complete with a mask). Mizunami over Spinelli with a top rope leg drop.
– Heart of Shimmer Champion Nicole Savoy vs Crazy Mary Dobson
Solid match. Dobson played the aggressor to Savoy’s moves, which then Savoy would counter would a different one. End came with Savoy pinning Dobson with a Tiger Suplex.
– Shimmer Tag Team Champions The Kimber Bombs (Kimber Lee and Cherry Bomb) vs Team Slap Happy (Evie and Heidi Lovelace)
Possibly match of the night along with Ohka/Cruise vs Yim/KLR. Lots of action and double team moves. The Kimber Bombs were the obvious heels in this match. Cherry Bomb’s voice is as high pitched and squeaky as ever. Finish came as Team Slap Happy were setting up for their finisher (Lovelace does a frog splash off of Evie’ shoulders), but Cherry Bomb interferes, sending Evie to the floor. Cherry Bomb then throws Kimber Lee a title belt which she used to hit Lovelace with. Kimber Lee then pins Lovelace.
– Shimmer Champion Madison Eagles vs Courtney “Rosemary” Rush
During the match, Eagles and Rush fight on the floor and Eagles gets the upper hand. She then runs back into the ring where she produces two cans of salt which she used to make a “barrier” around the ring apron. Courtney is a “demon” and therefore cannot break a salt barrier. She almost gets counted out but she drags the referee over the salt line to break it so she can get back into the ring. Eagles also tried to tape two forks together and use it as a cross to ward off Rush (screaming “the power of Christ compels you” line from “The Exorcist” while doing so).
All antics aside, this was a very good match for the belt. At one point, Rush had Eagles on the floor again (all happening in front of the Empire’s own Ed in San Antonio I might add!) in which Courtney throws Eagles into the barricade at least 5 times. Eagles eventually pins Rush with the Hellbound (shoulder bomb onto the knee) and retains the title.
After this match, Arisa Nakajima comes out to challenge Eagles for Saturday. They hold up each other’s title belts to each other and the show concludes.
The show opened with Tommy Dreamer welcoming the crowd and thanking everyone for coming. He was interrupted by Muhammed Ali Vaez who wanted a match with Dreamer. He declined and introduced the surprise guest of Hurricane Helms which had a huge reaction and led to a match.
– Hurricane Helms vs. Muhammed Ali Vaez
Decent opening match with a lot of comedy spots. The crowd was doing the Sesame Street Count’s “Ha ha ha” after every near fall, something that occurred sporadically throughout the night. After about 10 minutes, Hurricane won with the chokeslam.
– Syd Parker vs Adam Brooks
This was the match of the night. Parker came out in green face paint with a Mohawk which led to one fan chanting ‘Sheamus’ very loudly for most of the match. Very hard hitting contest with several great spots, turnbuckle suplexes, double stomp from the top rope and a ton of near falls leading to the first “This is awesome” chant. Match ended with the referee turning from the action to tie his shoe, and Parker used green mist on Brooks to set up a double arm ddt for the win.
– The Estate (Cousin Ali, Emanuelle, Gabriel Wolfe, Slade Mercer) vs JXT, Dowie James, Mike Burr, Josh Shooter and Mr Juicy
Fun 10 man tag that was done under lucha like rules with no tags and competitors coming in and out of the ring as one was knocked out. Both teams cleared the ring with by doing multiple uppercuts and splashes in the corners which led to everyone diving one by one from the top rope to the outside. Once the chaos settled down, JXT and Dowie gained control, leading to a german suplex top rope splash combo for the win.
– Bull James (the former Bull Dempsey) vs Mark Silva
Very typical big man match. The crowd got the most out of doing the Bull ShiI chant for his entrance and the same fan who was chanting ‘Sheamus’ earlier was trying to get noticed by Silva by chanting his real last name ‘Commetti’ as his dad is a popular sports commentator in Australia. Neither guy was able to knock the other down until Silva did a variation of the world’s strongest slam on James which was fairly impressive for the win.
– OCW Champion Maddog vs. Cletus Blood
The crowd was really hot for both competitors but more so for Cletus who was smaller and plays an underdog character. Match opened with some basic wrestling which devolved into a brawl. Major spot was a huge super frankensteiner by Cletus with both competitors standing on the top rope in the corner. Once they recovered, Maddog grabbed a chair and lighter fluid, and lit the chair on fire but was countered by Cletus who hit Maddog with the chair.
Maddog recovered by hitting him with a flaming elbow (a piece of material on his elbow caught on fire) and then the flame moved onto a patch on his leg so he hit a flaming leg drop off the top rope. The crowd was very hot for this segment (pardon the pun). Cletus kicked out and made a comeback and getting a roll up for the win and becoming the new OCW champion.
– Mickie James vs Victoria
Decent women’s match with both women playing to the crowd by using their sex appeal (ie. Grabbing their breasts, James winking before clamping on the Last Chancery). Victoria went to hit a standing moonsault and appeared to hurt her leg. It all ended up being part of the show as she hit Mickie from behind. The match ended with James getting the win and Victoria, upset with the referee, hit the Widow’s Peak on the ref after a second attempt as her hands slipped and the ref fell forward the first time.
– Hardcore Match: Tommy Dreamer vs Andy Phoenix vs Krackerjack vs Carlito
Big reactions to start the match for Carlito and Dreamer then a chant for Krackerjack once the match was underway. Andy and Krackerjack squared off with some arm wringing and Tommy and Carlito went to do the same but Carlito ducked out of the ring to start. The match very quickly became a plunder match with each competitor grabbing a weapon: Andy with a chair, Tommy with a cane, Krackerjack with a stapler and Carlito with an apple.
Tommy attacked Andy with the cane and was blocked with the chair, and then Andy went to hit Carlito and he spit the apple in Andy’s face. Krackerjack went to use the stapler and it was reversed and he was stapled himself, then fell out of the ring. When he came back, his face was covered in blood. Dreamer grabbed a ladder and they did several spots in the corner with everyone being run into the ladder.
The match ended with Dreamer being crotched on the ladder laid across the middle rope and Carlito hitting the backstabber from that position for the win. Carlito is the number one contender for the OCW title.
Other Notes:
– MVP and Magnus were unable to gain entry visas to Australia so were unable to attend the show.
– The title match was originally scheduled as a ladder match but the ceiling was too low to stand on top of a ladder.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today with tons to talk about including Ring of Honor’s PPV from Friday night, a pretty great show, the NXT tapings and how it plays into the Draft, updates on Kurt Angle and Prince Puma, CM Punk’s fight, Paige VanZant off SummerSlam, Bellator from Friday night and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
I’m here at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL, for NXT’s tv tapings.
– Dark Match: Tye Dillinger beat Kai Katana
Over the knee neckbreaker by Dillinger for the win.
– Bayley beat Alexa Bliss
Bayley wins via Belly to Bayley in a great match. Her post match promo was interrupted by Nia Jax as the build to their eventual rematch has begun.
– Blake & Murphy vs Hype Bros never happened as Rhyno returned to destroy them all
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha in a two-of-three falls match
First fall went well over ten minutes with Jason Jordan catching Dash Wilder with an ankle Lock for the submission. Second fall happened rather quickly thereafter with Scott Dawson catching Jordan in a leg lock submission of his own. Third fall had some amazing nearfall attempts early on. Finally, The Revival hit an apron shatter machine on Gable for the win.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe/s in-ring promo is interrupted by Rhyno. Joe backs away.
– Austin Aries beat Patrick Clark
Aries won with the Last Chancery submission. Post-match, No Way Jose ran down and attacked Aries.
– Andrade cien Almas beat Angelo Dawkins
Running knees in the corner followed by a moonsault for the win for ACA.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka beat Eva Marie
Eva made Dasha Fuentes read a custom ring introduction for her, and it was amazing. The champ wins with the Asuka Lock. Crowd was actualy all over the place for this one.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe beat Rhyno
Physical match to set up Joe vs. the winner of Finn v Nakamura. Joe clamped on the Coquina Clutch for the win after a mean guy match.
– The Authors Of Pain beat American Alpha
– AOP jump American Alpha as they made their way to the ring. They brawled in the ring with Alpha getting the upper hand. All four men were in the ring and a ref called for the bell to start the match. Great action early on with Gable and Jordan suplexing the much larger men all over the place. Dive to the outside by Jordan, to get the place going. Authors took control and hit their double team assisted lariat finisher to win it.
– Bayley beat Nia Jax
Physical match. Bayley took a lot of punishment early on before getting fired up and finally hitting the middle rope Belly To Bayley for the win.
– Shinsuke Nakamura beat Finn Balor
Spotlight introductions. Crowd loves both so a mix of cheers, chants, and even respectful silence early on. Finn showed up Nakamura by Too Sweeting him in the face on a break. Incredible match with all of the key spots. It went a good twenty minutes and Shinsuke won it with the Kinshasa. Post match, they celebrated together, and Finn went around the ring telling fans thank you for their support. This seems like this finally might be it for Balor in NXT.
H returns to traditional PPV Friday night for Best In The World, the seventh such event in company history. The event emanates from Concord, NC, the first time BITW has been held there.
Headlining the show is ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe, a rematch from last year’s BITW event where Lethal downed Briscoe for the belt in a winner takes all match.
KYLE O’REILLY VS. KAMAITACHI
O’Reilly won with a brainbuster and armbar. Very good technically. The crowd reacted but didn’t go wild. Kamaitachi reufsed to shake hands and left. The crowd isn’t mic’d well as you can see them reactingbut dont’ hear it that well. Kamaitachi didn’t look as impressive as he usually does. But his role was to put O’Reilly over as the whole thing they pushed was how O’Reilly gets a shot at the winner of the main event tomorrow.
SILAS YOUNG VS. ACH
Yeah, we’ve got the same problem with the bad crowd micing whicnh hurts the matches. You can see people are into it and hear it lightly. This was a good match. ACH did a great springobard flip dive. Young missed a springboard move, and ACH won with jumping double knees, a brainbuster and a 450 splash.
They just introudced Jay White at ringside. He looks like a teenager in the crowd.
Mark Briscoe was hilarious on his pre-match interview.
MARK BRISCOE VS. RODERICK STRONG
With Strong leaving, Mark got the pin after a brainbuster and fisherman buster in a really good match. Strong was excellent here and Mark hung with him. Mark has shaved his head but came out with a wig to surprise Strong. Both worked at a hard pace, with Mark doing all kinds of cool stuff and Strong solid with everything he did. Mark survived the sick kick and gutbuster. Mark used a sick kick on Strong. I think if the crowd was mic’d this would have come across as excellent. Fans were chanting “Thank you Roddy” and he was shaking hands on the way out.
WAR MACHINE & MOOSE VS. YOUNG BUCKS & ADAM COLE IN A TORNADO MATCH
Excellent match. Non stop action and the crowd was pretty hot. Finish saw them use the Meltzer driver on Moose and all three kissed each other after winning. We’ll update this later because it was a crazy match with all kinds of big spots and a ton of superkicks. Once again it was hurt by the crowd micing. Hanson in particular did crazy stuff for a guy his size.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN VS. CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY FOR THE TAG TITLES
Another good match. Actually this at first had a hard time following the previous match. Kamaitachi came out and attacked Jay White at ringside. They were brawling and distracted ref Paul Turner and Daniels hit Shelley with a low blow and he was out of commission. Daniels & Kazarian then pinned Sabin after the Best Meltzer ever. You’d think at this point I was the booker and had an ego twice the size of Dusty Rhodes. Daniels & Kazarian & Kamaitachi left together so they are forming a group.
STEVE CORINO VS. B.J. WHITMER IN AN UNSACNTIONED FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR
Corino came out to Shinya Hashimoto’s theme music. Corino bleached his hair blond. The commentators said this is a match that nobody wanted to see happen. This match was crazy. It came from another era as Whitmer went to hardway him. Corino bled like crazy. Whitmer juiced and it was a bloodbath. The crowd loved it. Whitmer put Corino through a table with an exploder suplex. They beat each other with broken pieces of the table. The lights went out and Kevin Sullivan showed up, teased hitting Whitmer with the spike but instead spiked Corino and Whitmer pinned him. Because nobody does this kind of match, it really worked. They saved things like tables, never do blood like this and used rolls of quarters but didn’t over do the foreign objects like in TNA where the shots meant nothing.
BOBBY FISH VS. DALTON CASTLE FOR THE TV TITLE
Another good match. Castle dominated. Castle suplexed Fish on his head and they teased Fish being hurt, but he then went for the bang a rang and Fish turned it into a front rolling cradle for the pin.
The All Night Express and Caprice Coleman came out. They came out to Presidential music. Coleman noted they were never defeated for the titles. He claimed they had to pay for this segment. Said each watched each others back and said all three are underrated and underpaid and now they are uniting and are now the group is called The Cabinet. Coleman is the Minister of Information. Rhett Titus said this whole show has been young punks flip flying around and nobody looks like pro wrestlers, said guys need to do bench presses and squats, how the tag champs have no abs and how the Young Bucks skip leg day and keep doing superkicks. Said there is an Olympic gold medalist is selling T-shirts to make wrestling great again. The Cabinet will will make wrestling great, won’t skip leg day and will win all the gold.
JAY LETHAL VS. JAY BRISCOE FOR THE ROH TITLE
Great match. Shorter than you’d think but time got out of control. The crowd loved it, chanting “That was awesome” after the finish. Lethal retained with a diamond cutter and Lethal iinjection. So right after the match ended, they turned up the crowd mic and you could hear how loud they were. If they’d done that during the show every match would have come across better. Both shook hands after the match. Briscoe nearly go the pin earlier with the Lethal injection and Jay driller. Lethal did two tope’s in a row and Briscoe came back with two of his own and a running flip dive. A lot of near falls. Crowd may have been hottest in this match.
With the WWE brand split imminent, there has been talk of doing individual Raw and Smackdown Pay Per Views/WWE Network Special Events similar to what they did during the last time they split brands. Until now, that was purely speculation. The PPV schedule that has been going around is legit. So there are apparently nine more PPV/WWE Network Special Events remaining in 2016. Battleground, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series will remain dual branded. These are the dates and names of the remaining events:
7/24 Battleground from Washington, DC
8/21 SummerSlam from Brooklyn
9/11 Backlash form Richmond, VA (Smackdown brand show)
9/25 Clash of Champions from Indianapolis (Raw)
10/9 No Mercy from Sacramento (Smackdown)
10/30 Hell in a Cell from Boston (Raw)
11/20 Survivor Series from Toronto
12/4 TLC from Dallas (Smackdown)
12/18 Roadblock from Pittsburgh (Raw)
We’re doing one poll this weekend for tonight’s ROH show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.
BELLATOR DYNAMITE DOUBLEHEADER TONIGHT STARTING AT 8 P.M. FROM THE SCOTTRADE ARENA IN ST. LOUIS LIVE ON SPIKE TV
This will be a combined MMA and kickboxing show. MMA will start at 8 p.m. and kickboxing matches will follow, although there will be kickboxing matches during the MMA portion of the show as well:
Main show
Ilima MacFalane (3-0, 126) vs. Rebecca Ruth (6-1, 124.9)
Kickboxing: Denise Kielholtz (44-2, 124.1) vs. Gloria Peritore (10-1-1, 122.6)
Kickboxing: Kevin Ross (31-9, 145) vs. Justin Houghton (7-2, 145.6)
Carl Seumanutafa (10-6, 254.7) vs. Matt Mitrione (9-5, 255.9)
Michael Chandler (14-3, 154.7) vs. Patricky Pitbull Freire (16-7, 155) for vacant lightweight title
Rampage Jackson (36-11, 225) vs. Satoshi Ishii (14-5-1, 222.8)
Kickboxing that follows
Joe Schilling (27-8, 185) vs. Hisaki Kato (0-0, 184.9) but Kato beat Schilling in MMA
Raymond Daniels (11-3, 170.5) vs. Stefano Bruno (23-2-1, 171)
Kerri Taylor-Melendez (3-1, 120) vs. Sarah Howell (0-0, 120)
ROH BEST IN THE WORLD PPV AT 9 P.M. FROM CONCORD, NC AT THE CABARRUS ARENA
Kamaitachi vs. Kyle O’Reilly
ACH vs. Silas Young
Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong
Moose & Ray Rowe & Hanson vs. Young Bucks & Adam Cole in a tornado match
Steve Corino vs. B.J. Whitmer street fight
Bobby Fish vs. Dalton Castle for TV title
Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for ROH title
Kevin Sullivan will be there in attendance.
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS AT 8 P.M. ON AXS TV
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Michael Elgin
Satoshi Kojima vs. Karl Anderson
Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada
The Ishii-Elgin and Nakamura-Okada matches are tremendous.
AXS FIGHTS TONIGHT FROM DALLAS AT THE BOMB FACTOR PROMOTED BY LEGACY FIGHTING AT 10 P.M. EASTERN
Miles Johns (3-0, 145.6) vs. Eliazar Rodriguez (7-5, 146.0)
Bilal Williams (5-2, 170.1) vs. Sean Holden (4-1, 169.2)
J.C Cottrell (16-3, 146.6) vs. Cody Walker (7-3, 146.2)
Levi Mowles (3-1, 135.5) vs. Edwin Figueroa (6-4, 137.5)
Ryan Holis (11-9, 133.6) vs. Jason Sampson (13-1, 135.1)
Steven Peterson (13-4, 134.8) vs. Manny Vazquez (8-1, 134.1) for the bantamweight title
We’re looking for reports on WWE’s house show on Saturday night in Boston (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Rusev, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio, Usos, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson) and Saturday’s ROH TV tapings in Concord, NC (Kyle O’Reilly challenges for the ROH title, Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser challenge for the tag titles, Briscoes vs. Young Bucks in a battle of the IWGP tag team champions vs. IWGP jr. tag team champions, Jay White vs. Kamaitachi and Roderick Strong vs. Dalton Castle) to NewsTIps@WrestlingObserver.com.
Sunday has two WWE shows, with one crew in Orlando (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Usos, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Austin Aries) and the other in Jacksonville (Big Show, Kane, Rusev, Charlotte, Natalya, Enzo, Cass, Kalisto, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, New Day). Ultima Lucha 3 is a being taped in Los Angeles on Sunday with Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma title vs. career as the main event, Fenix vs. Marty the Moth mask vs. hair and a ladder match for the Gift of the Gods title with Son of Havoc vs. Pentagon Jr.
NEW JAPAN FROM KORAKUEN HALL LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME MONDAY MORNING
Satoshi Kojima & Matt Sydal & Yoshitatsu vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page & Chase Owens
Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson
Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Seiya Sanada & Evil
Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi
This is a big show because the G-1 Climax members and main event matches will be announced during intermission.
Raw is Monday night in Tampa and is the only show of the week with John Cena scheduled.
Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday night in Tampa, with a skeleton crew because a number of wrestlers are laving after Raw for Honolulu.
There will be a tour of Japan and Hawaii that starts Wednesday night in Honolulu (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Usos, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, A.J. Styles, Chris Jericho).
The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas takes place during UFC’s International Fight Week from July 7 – 11.Ed in San Antonio has information on Facebook, or you can email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com. It’s always a fun time, so hurry up and make your plans to join Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez, Vinny, Granny, Ed, Peach, Dez, Dr. Lucha, Rodney, Sr. Jaialai, “Filthy” Tom, and the rest of the group in beautiful Las Vegas this July. Plus… some extra secret surprises.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
Figure Four Weekly
READ IT HERE: Figure Four Weekly 6/20/2016: Never trust Nigerian investors– Growing up as a way-too-hardcore-for-my-age wrestling fan, I looked forward to watching whatever flavor of wrestling from the Dallas Sportatorium was on ESPN and in syndication at the time. The ESPN show was perfect for kids who loved pro wrestling: It aired at 4 p.m. eastern time, so it was perfect for after-school viewing… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
A look at the prospective UFC sale is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The issue looks at the main bidders, what kind of money is being bid, how much the Fertittas have made from the endeavor, the situation with Dana White, what is and isn’t expected to change, why the sale is coming now and who exactly owns what percentage of the company, plus a look at just how deep the UFC 200 show is.
Pluse there is a major story on the gamble of Brock Lesnar in UFC 200, the most in-depth look at the Ariel Helwani situation that you’ll find anywhere, full coverage of NXT Takeover, UFC 199, WWE Money in the Bank, and the details of TNA’s struggle to stay alive, its PPV and its future. There is also a breakdown on the WWE cruiserweight classic, and monthly WWE and TNA business figures.
This issue looks at Michael Bisping’s unlikely title win, all the ramifications of the Lesnar deal, what it shows about WWE, a look back at the last time WWE risked one of their stars against an outsider without scripting, how Ariel Helwani got to be a star reporter and how that played into what happened last week, and what aspects of the story that are really more important that haven’t been covered or have been overlooked.
Inisde this week, there is also a look at the death of a key WWE musician, more on what Ali learned from pro wrestling, Bryan Danielson attends WWE event, Bobby Roode’s debut, notes on SummerSlam, new WWE executive hire, new WWE announcer, WWE looking for new members of creative, who is expected to return shortly, another animated WWE movie, update on Paul Heyman plus a full rundown on all the WWE & NXT live events this past week and business notes on the shows.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
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These are the first round results from last night’s Elite tournament at Arena Mexico. The winners advance to a second show on Saturday:
Bram b Zumbi (who decided against doing the WWE tournament to do this tournament)
Lio Rush b David Tita
DJZ b Hio Hop Man
Tama Tonga b Chicano
Sabu b Veneno
Michael Elgin b Jinder Mahal
Kushida b Heddi Karaoui
Volador Jr. b PJ Black
The next round will take place on Saturday night with Bram vs. Sabu, Elgin vs. Rush, DJZ vs. Kushida and Tonga vs. Volador Jr.
Shinsuke Nakamura & Finn Balor team up against Samoa Joe & Austin Aries on Sunday’s WWE house show in Orlando. This will be Nakamura, Joe & Aries’ main roster debuts. Balor has done main roster shows in the past. Nakamura will also be working main roster shows in Honolulu and Tokyo this next week. Asuka’s main roster debut will be on Wednesday night in Honolulu.
This is the updated list of fighters and UFC celebrities coming to the UFC Fan Expo 7/8 to 7/10 in Las Vegas at the Convention Center: Jhenny Andrade, Luciana Andrade, Carly Baker, Dennis Bermudez, Michael Bisping, Chrissy Blair, Kahli Bundell, C.M. Punk, Bryan Caraway, Johnny Case, Arianny Celeste, Henry Cejudo, Donald Cerrone, Mark Coleman, Carlos Condit, Dominck Cruz, Red Dela Cruz, John Dodson, Rashad Evans, Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt, Jamillette Gaxiola, Forrest Griffin, Uriah Hall, Vanessa Hanson, Dan Hardy, Max Holloway, Kyoji Horiguchi, Matt Hughes, Cris Cyborg Justino, Dong Hyun Kim, Ricardo Lamas, Chuck Liddell, Neil Magny, Guy Mezger, Stipe Miocic, Rose Namajunas, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Camilia Oliveria, Alistair Overeem, Brittney Palmer, Raquel Pennington, Kedra Perez, Anthony Pettis, Sergio Pettis, Dustin Poirier, Ovince Saint Preux, Luke Rockhold, Yair Rodriguez, Ben Rothwell, Junior Dos Santos, Dan Severn, Ronaldo Jacare Souza, Jeremy Stephens, Aljamain Sterling, Stephen Thompson, Tecia Torres, Chris Weidman, Don Frye, Brian Ortega, Pete Williams and Paige VanZant.
The most-read stories on the Los Angeles Times sports site were LeBron James wearing an Ultimate Warrior T-shirt, Roman Reigns being suspended and C.M. Punk’s fight with Mickey Gall being announced.
Spike TV’s one-hour documentary on the life of Kimbo Slice airs at 7 p.m. tonight.
WWE
WWE is taping NXT tonight at Full Sail University which includes Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Balor. Lots of last minute changes based on who is and isn’t getting called up. If key people lose unexpectedly, that may be a hint.
Dwayne Johnson will be producing a Sony Pictures film Son of Shalin through his Seven Bucks Entertainment company. He will also be launching his own YouTube channel on 7/18.
UFC
Glover Teixeira has pulled out of the 7/23 FOX show in Chicago. He was to face Anthony Rumble Johnson, but Johnson had already pulled out of that fight. This moves Edson Barboza vs. Gilbert Melendez to the semifinal.
Mark Hunt will be the guest on Inside MMA tonight at 12:30 a.m.
MISCELLANEOUS
World Series of Fighting announced a new partnership with www.TicketGalaxy.com for buying and selling tickets to its events starting with its next show on 7/30 in Everett, WA, headlined by Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Hill for the bantamweight title.
Resurrection Fighting Alliance on 7/29 in San Antonio at Cowboys Dance Hall will be headlined by middleweights Joe Gigliotti vs. Trevin Giles, both undefeated and having never gone the distance. The show will air live on AXS.
Battlewar 36 is on 7/31 in Montreal at Les Foufounes Electrqiues.
Ricochet will be debuting for House of Hardcore on 9/16 in New York and 9/17 in Philadelphia at the Arena.
CMLL from Tuesday night in Guadalajara: Oro Jr. & Pegasso & Stigma b Escandalo & Metalico & Sangre Azteca Jr., Furia Roja & Hechicero & Sagrado b Angel de Oro & Esfinge & Triton, Diamante Azul & Rush & Titan b La Mascara & Rey Bucanero & Vangellys-DQ, Atlantis & Maximo Sexy & Mistico b Ephesto & Luciferno & Mr. Niebla (thanks to Kris Zellner)
There is a legends show on 7/10 in Ciudad Juarez at Gimnasio Josue Neri Santos with Dandy & Negro Casas & Octagon vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Pirata Morgan & El Satanico, plus Apolo Dantes, Mascara Ano 2000, Universo 2000, Blue Panther, Fantasma, Mano Negra, Jaque Mate and Rambo appear.
Promociones Cholo on 7/15 in Tijuana at the Auditorio has Caristico & Mascara Aerea & Mascara Dorada vs. Mr. Elektro (Electroshock) & Rey Escorpion & Rush. The next Tijuana show is Promociones del Valle on 7/1 with Psycho Circus vs. Averno & Chessman & Villano IV and Damian 666 & Nicho vs. Joe Lider & Pentagon Jr.
A preview of the TV show Gladiators Unleashed. Luke Caudillo, former UFC & Strikeforce Lightweight and now coach at Grudge Training Center in Denver, is the host of a new show where he takes fighters into the outdoors. The show is scheduled to air on Sportsman Channel the first quarter of 2017 but show in New Zealand with Chad Mendes & TJ Dillashaw to shoot for the 1st couple episodes.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA! The Cruiserweight Classic, how Vince McMahon taught Kelly Kelly to dance, Draft notes, plus Jay Lethal appears to talk the ROH Best in the World PPV coming up TONIGHT! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Columbus, Ohio: – Bobby Roscoe defeated Matty Matsuda for the World Welterweight Title
1936
Columbus, Ohio: – George McCloud defeated Frank Sexton to win the Ohio Heavyweight Title
1950
Akron, Ohio: – Buddy Rogers defeated Bozo Brown for the World Heavyweight Title
1958
Dallas, Texas: – Duke Keomuka and John Tolos defeated Larry Chene and Pepper Gomez to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Titles
1964
Bradford, England: – Alan Colbeck defeated Jack Dempsey for the European Welterweight Title
Houston, Texas: – Tokyo Tom defeats Joe Blanchard to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1965
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bob Geigel and Dutch Savage beat Dick the Bruiser and Mongolian Stomper 2 falls to 1 – Pat O’Connor beat Missouri Mauler by dq – Ronnie Etchison beat Ken Hollis
1966
Los Angeles, California: – Luis Hernandez and Pedro Morales defeated Buddy Austin and El Mongol for the World Wrestling Association World Tag Team Titles
Chicago, Illinois: – Wilbur Snyder went to a 60:00 time limit draw with AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon – AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher no contest The Assassins – Chris Markoff beat Doug Gilbert – Ernie Ladd beat the Alaskan
1967
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – In a Cage match; Johnny Powers beat The Crusher – AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Rene Goulet & Lou Thesz dq – Johnny Valentine beat Billy Wicks
1968
Davenport, Iowa: – Dr X no contest AWA Champion Verne Gagne – Dutch Savage & Bill Watts beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race
1970
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Ripper Collins defeated Sam Steamboat to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title
1971
Kansas City, Kansas: – North American Tag Team Champions Buddy Austin & Bob Orton defeated Rufus R. Jones & The Viking – The Stomper defeated Baron Von Raschke via DQ – Central States Heavyweight Champion Harley Race defeated Dick the Bruiser in three falls
1972
Chicago, Illinois: – Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan no contest Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher – Baron Von Raschke beat Sailor Art Thomas – Ivan Koloff beat Don Muraco – Bobby Heenan beat Billy Red Cloud
NWA Big Time Wrestling Parade of Champions: Irving, Texas: – Billy Red Lyons defeated NWA American Heavyweight Champion The Spoiler to win the title – Stan Stasiak defeated NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion Red Bastien to win the title – Dory Funk, Jr. wrestled Fritz Von Erich to a time-limit draw to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship – El Santo and Jose Lothario defeated Terry Funk and Mr. Fuji – George Scott and Tommy Siegler wrestled to a time-limit draw
Akron, Ohio: – Abdullah the Butcher defeated Ernie Ladd for the National Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title
Jacksonville, Florida: – Boris Malenko and Johnny Walker defeated The Professional (Doug Gilbert) and Mike Webster to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Titles
1974
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jackie Fargo defeated Jerry Lawler for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title
1975
Omaha, Nebraska: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Ivan Putski – Dusty Rhodes dcor Baron Von Raschke – Chris Taylor beat Sgt Jacques Goulet (sub Horst Hoffman) – Jim Brunzell drew Buddy Wolff
1976
Mexico City, Mexico: – El Halcón defeated El Gran Markus for the Mexican National Heavyweight Title
Kansas City, Kansas: – Omar Atlas defeated Dr. X – Jerry Kozak fought The Super Intern to a draw – Harley Race fought Abdullah the Butcher to a no contest – in a Fence Match; Mike George defeated Central States Heavyweight Champion Bob Brown via DQ in three falls
1977
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Verne Gagne & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum to win the title (The decision was later reversed when it was pointed out that Gagne applied his sleeper on Lanza who was not the legal man in the ring) – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel went to a 60 minute draw with Billy Robinson – Super Destroyer beat Pedro Morales – Larry Hennig ddq Angelo Mosca – Greg Gagne beat Bulldog Bob Brown – Jim Brunzell drew Bob Backlund – Steve Olsonoski beat Roger Kirby dq
1978
San Francisco, California: – Roddy Piper defeated Moondog Mayne to win the San Francisco NWA United States Heavyweight Title
1979
Tijuana, Mexico: – El Signo defeated Bobby Lee for the UWA World Welterweight Title
1983
Houston, Texas: – King Kong Bundy & Kamala beat Junkyard Dog & Hacksaw Duggan dq – In a Non Title Texas Bullrope match; Dusty Rhodes beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel – Chavo Guerrero beat Mr Olympia – Ted Dibiase beat Tito Santana – Mil Mascaras beat Super Destroyer – Butch Reed beat Tim Horner – Mr Wrestling II beat Art Crews – Magnum TA beat Rip Rogers – Johnny Rich drew Boris Zurkov
1984
Greensboro, North Carolina: – Wahoo McDaniel defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
Mexico City, Mexico: – Canek won the UWA World Heavyweight Title from Dos Caras
1985
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: – Dino Bravo & King Tonga beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors in a non title match – Raymond Rougeau & Jacques Rougeau Jr no contest Jimmy & Ronnie Garvin – Tony Parisi beat Abdullah the Butcher via forfeit (Abby no showed) – Gino Brito Jr drew Leo Burke
Fort Worth, Texas: – Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez defeated The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) to win the NWA American Tag Team Titles
Memphis, Tennessee: – Bota the Witch Doctor defeated Jerry Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1987
Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico: – Cien Caras defeats MS-1 for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title
1988
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Johnny Smith defeated Chris Benoit to win the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
Osaka, Japan: – Shiro Koshinaka defeated Owen Hart to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title – Tatsumi Fujinami won the IWGP Heavyweight Title by defeating Riki Choshu
Mexico City, Mexico: – Fabuloso Blondie defeated Lizmark for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title
New Haven, Connecticut: – AWA Tag Team Champions Badd Company Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond dcor Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson – AWA Champion Jerry Lawler beat Curt Hennig – Wahoo McDaniel dcor Manny Fernandez – Madusa Macelli beat Heidi Lee Morgan
1989
Caguas, Puerto Rico: – Chicky Starr defeated Super Medico I to win the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title
1990
Mexico City, Mexico: – Los Villanos (I, IV and V) defeated Khaos, Rambo and Zandokhan to win the UWA World Trios Title
1992
Dorado, Puerto Rico: – The Southern Rockers (Rex King and Steve Doll) defeated Doug Masters and Ron Starr for the WWC World Tag Team Titles
1993
Hazard, Kentucky: – Brian Lee defeated SMW Heavyweight Champion Tracy Smothers to win the King of Kentucky Tournament
1995
Williamstown, New Jersey: – Tommy Cairo defeated Devon Storm in a tournament final for the vacant NWA North American Heavyweight Title
1996
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Lex Luger & Sting and The Steiner Brothers in a three-way match to win the titles
2001
East Rutherford, New Jersey: – Edge pinned Kurt Angle to win the King of the Ring tournament – Jeff Hardy defeated X-Pac to retain the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship – The Undertaker vs Diamond Dallas Page Ended in a no contest – Kurt Angle defeated Shane McMahon in a Street Fight – Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho to retain the WWF Championship
2007
WWF Vengeance | Houston, Texas: – Johnny Nitro pinned CM Punk to win the vacant ECW World Title – Candice Michelle defeated WWE Women’s Champion Melina to win the title – WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter pinned Ric Flair to retain the title – WWE Tag Team Champions Deuce and Domino (with Cherry) defeated Sgt. Slaughter and Jimmy Snuka to retain the title – World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated Batista by countout to retain the title – WWE Champion John Cena defeated King Booker (with Queen Sharmell), Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton to retain the title
2012
ROH Best in the World: New York City: – The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe) defeated The Guardians of Truth (with Truth Martini) – Homicide defeated Eddie Edwards – Adam Cole defeated Kyle O’Reilly – Michael Elgin (with Truth Martini) defeated Fit Finlay – Mike Mondo defeated Mike Bennett (with Bob Evans and Maria Kanellis) – Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini) defeated Jay Lethal and Tommaso Ciampa in a Three-Way Elimination match to retain the ROH World Television Championship – Kevin Steen (with Jimmy Jacobs) defeated Davey Richards in an Anything Goes match to retain the ROH World Championship – All Night Express defeated World’s Greatest Tag Team to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles
Before Ring of Honor’s annual Best in the World PPV takes place tonight in Concord, North Carolina, I talked with ROH’s “Last Real Man” Silas Young about his career, what makes him a man’s man in the wrestling world, and why he doesn’t think ACH measures up to that standard.
Here are a few transcripted highlights:
On how he almost wound up in WWE in the late 2000’s:
I started in 2002 up in the Wisconsin area, and then in 2007, I got offered a developmental deal. I did like a week long training thing at OVW and did a handful of house shows with them. About a month later, I got offered a job in WWE. In the hiring process I was just finishing up getting all of my paperwork and stuff done. I had done all of the drug and cardiovascular testing that they do and all of that stuff had come back fine.
I was just waiting for my passport to come in so I could send that because you have to have a passport when you work for WWE. I was waiting for that to come in and I saw online that OVW’s developmental deal had ended with WWE. I thought ‘Oh boy, that’s not good news. That’s where I’m supposed to be going.’ The next day I got a call that said, ‘We’re not going to be forward with your contract.’ So I kind of got a job there but never really worked there.
On how that didn’t crush his pro wrestling aspirations:
Maybe not so much then, but nowadays, wrestling is so hot right now. There’s so many good places to work. It used to be the big two you know, WWE and WCW (and) maybe ECW. Now you got WWE, TNA, Ring of Honor, you have Lucha Underground, that’s just in the states. You also have places over in Europe – WXW is on par to have 80 shows this year. Rev Pro UK, Preston City Wrestling, tons of really good talent and a lot of work over in Europe, then along with New Japan Pro Wrestling there’s a lot of places to work so it’s awesome right now.
On his time away from Ring of Honor from 2009-2012:
(I was) just doing smaller indie stuff, just trying to wrestle, make a name for myself – that’s about it. You know in wrestling, there’s so many guys trying to get a spot and there’s (only) so many spots. I was just wrestling mainly around the Midwest area and I had occasionally done a few things here and there for EVOLVE at the time but it was mostly just Midwest stuff.
On his friendship with the Beer City Bruiser:
Ring of Honor is built a lot on athletic prowess, the athletic ability of the guys in the ring. You look at Bruiser, and Bruiser is about 6’2″ and probably about 300 pounds. He’s not 300 pounds of muscle, but for being a guy his size, he can really move. People are always really impressed, but he’s not a guy that’s out there trying to impress people. He’s a guy that’s gonna grind someone into the mat and pound them. Plain and simple he’s just going to beat you like a man. You look at the Ring of Honor locker room and he’s the only guy that makes sense to be my tag partner.
On how well received his feud with Dalton Castle was:
I thought that whole thing me and Dalton did together was done really well. I thought everybody came out of it looking really good and the fans enjoyed it. I think Dave Meltzer or Bryan Alvarez was talking about how it was the most entertaining storyline that was going on in wrestling at the time. With all the wrestling in the world to have guys like that say that about what you’re doing is pretty cool.
On why he trying to bring back “real manhood” in wrestling:
I talk a lot about how men aren’t real men nowadays. Right now, the whole superhero movie (thing), I don’t know whether it’s DC or Marvel or maybe both of them are putting out movies, it’s a real hot subject right now. People love it. You can’t go anywhere without seeing some dude wearing a Spider-Man or a Batman t-shirt. That’s been my gripe – men don’t wear superhero t-shirts. Men don’t sit and argue about what superhero would beat what superhero in a fight.
On how he plans to teach that lesson to ACH at ROH Best in the World:
Basically, what’s going to happen with ACH is he’s just going to learn it’s not all fun and games. Life isn’t all about video games and action hero movies, and we’re going to see how far his video games get him when he steps in the ring with me at Best in the World.
On what’s next if he defeats ACH on Friday in Concord:
“For the rest of the year, I’m looking to just get out and wrestle as many places as possible. In the last few months, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to go over and wrestle in Germany, England and Canada, so just keep traveling, keep having good matches, get to wrestle as many new places as possible. I’m getting to go to Newfoundland in a month and a half, I’ve never been there before, so that should be cool. That’s about it. Get out, work, grind, meet different people work different guys, that’s the goal for me.”
See what happens with Silas Friday night at ROH’s Best In The World ppv. Our live coverage begins at 8 PM EST.
Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa return to talk Dean Ambrose, the Cruiserweight Classic & ROH’s Best in the World PPV w/special guest BJ Whitmer!
We’ll start with Ohio becoming the state of champions between LeBron & and Cavs along with Dean Ambrose. Les shares some of his history with Dean (5:45), which dates back to the beginning of Dean’s career.
We talk about the WWE CWC Opening Ceremonies (10:32) and segue into talking about some guys Les has worked with who are in the tournament. Note, there are tournament spoilers from the 13:46 mark to the 19:12 mark, so if you don’t want to know who won their 1st round matches, you’ve been warned!
After that, there’s a run-in from ROH’s BJ Whitmer (23:52) at Charlotte Douglas International Airport to talk about his Fight Without Honor with Steve Corino taking place tonight at ROH’s Best in the World PPV. We’ll also discuss Roderick Strong finishing up with ROH (41:12), memories of the soon to be torn down Cincinnati Gardens (46:38) and Roman Reigns suspension (54:29); specifically, whether or not he should return in the exact same spot on the card from which he left.
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