Since 2005, Slammiversary has celebrated the company’s June debut and it has usually been one of its biggest events of the year. This year, we have a title-heavy show with the King of the Mountain, World Tag Team, and World Titles on the line.
Here’s the lineup:
TNA World Champion Drew Galloway vs Bobby Lashley in a submission or knockout only match
Lashley has cut the best promos of his career since turning heel and he is perfect in his role as an ass-kicking MMA world-beater who feels like he’s the best and just needs Drew’s gold to prove it to the world. Drew has been a fine white meat babyface champion, although his TNA matches haven’t given him as much of a chance to shine as they theoretically should. With this being his first PPV main event as a champion, we should get an outstanding match aided by the knockout or tapout stipulation.
Strangely, they haven’t really focused on that aspect in theh TV build. One would think that having Lashley, the badass MMA fighter, knock people out in squashes to hype him up would be done. Instead, they’ve tried to get over Drew’s crossface as his top finisher for submissions and the Sick Kick as his knockout shot. I guess since Lashley has the MMA credibility, they want to build Drew up as the badass since he’s facing a legit shooter – but it’s a bit odd.
Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy in a Full Metal Mayhem Match
The explosion of the former Hardy Boyz may not be the main event, but its build has certainly been the most interesting for every possible reason. They’ve had issues since Matt turned heel, and when Jeff broke Matt’s brain by swanton bombing him off of a balcony, we got the debut of Broken Matt Hardy – complete with a wacky accent and white streak in his hair. He plays piano, writes poetry, and despises Brother Nero. If you’ve missed their rivalry, you can get caught up on all the best (and worst) of it here.
Decay (Abyss/Crazzy Steve) vs The Bromans (Robbie E/Jesse Godderz) for the TNA Tag team titles
The Bromans and their new trainer Raquel just debuted and earned the number one contendership, so it would make sense to keep that momentum rolling by having them win. Decay hasn’t done a thing with the titles yet anyway, and this kind of match just shines a light on how minimal the tag division is in TNA right now.
The rest of the card:
Maria and Gail Kim have been feuding for months now, with their rivalry coming to a head in Maria’s first PPV match in the company. Her husband Michael Bennett’s issues with EC3 dominated television over the last few weeks and with Bennett being the first person to pin EC3, one would expect an EC3 win here.
Eli Drake cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase to win the King of the Mountain Title and celebrated with some free champagne. With the title win just happening, it seems too early to take the title off of Eli Drake – but it’s the KOTM Title, so it doesn’t really matter who holds it. Former champion Bram will attempt to wrest the belt away from Drake.
Knockouts Champion Jade doesn’t have a match set for the card. The same goes for X Division Champion Trevor Lee – although they could do another Ultimate X match to further the issues between Lee and Andrew Everett. Any or all of these can probably be expected to be added to the PPV on the go-home show that airs this coming Tuesday.
The build-up for the show has been largely enjoyable even if it wasn’t always for good reasons. As hilarious as the Matt vs. Jeff build has been, Raquel’s acting is even worse. The Matt and Jeff stuff has gotten more eyeballs on the product via Youtube, so that’s a plus. It’s doubtful that it will translate to an increase in buys, but it should be a fun way to spend an evening. It should certainly be far better than their last live PPV, which was done with three days notice and full of last-second matches.
We’re still on the road to UFC 200, but we have to make a stop in sunny Los Angeles, CA, first for a fun-looking UFC 199 event that is full of bad blood.
On this week’s edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, Bleacher Report senior MMA analyst & Washington Post contributor Patrick Wyman drops by the show to go over the event and much more like…
– Why he feels like it would take an alien invasion for Michael Bisping to best Luke Rockhold
– If Urijah Faber has a real path to victory against Dominick Cruz
– What he feels should be next for bantamweight rising star Cody Garbrandt
– A little bit of UFC 199 true/false
– What MMA fans can watch for in order to get more educated on the nuance of the sport
– Patrick’s background and how he came to prominence as a striking analyst
– And so much more.
Click below to listen or right click to save to your computer, techno partners.
Kansas City, Kansas: – Lee Wykoff beat Dick Raines via dq – Joe Corbett beat Bull Curley
1961
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Leo Nomellini & Wilbur Snyder beat Stan Kowalski & Tiny Mills in 2 out of 3 falls
1964 – Dr. Jerry & Crazy Luke Graham defeated Vittorio Apollo & Don McClarty for the WWWF U.S. Tag Championship
1965
Denver, Colorado: – The Crusher & Verne Gagne & Reggie Parks beat Larry Hennig & Chris Markoff & Harley Race
Kansas City, Kansas: – The Mongolian Stomper beat Dick the Bruiser – Bob Geigel and Dutch Savage beat Steve Bolus and Sonny Myers – Pat O’Connor drew Ron Reed – The Missouri Mauler beat Don Soto
1973
Green Bay, Wisconsin: – The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel beat Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff in 2 out of 3 falls – Dusty Rhodes went to a double count out with Billy Robinson – Geoff Portz beat Dick Murdoch – Greg Gagne beat Rene Goulet via dq
1976
Kansas City, Kansas: – Mike George defeated Ed Wiskoski – The Super Intern defeated Pat O’Connor – Harley Race defeated Bob Brown in three falls
1979
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Mad Dog Vachon went to a draw with AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel – Super Destroyer Mark II beat The Crusher – Greg Gagne beat Pat Patterson – Paul Ellering beat Jesse Ventura
1991
Birmingham, Alabama: – Steve Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for the WCW Television Title
2003
Anaheim, California: – Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeated Matt Hardy for the WWE Cruiserweight Title
2004
Orlando, Florida: – America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) defeated Kid Kash and Dallas to win the TNA World Tag Team Titles
First reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Rusev and Lana have set a date! The couple known in their real lives as Catherine Jo Perry and Miroslav Barnyashev have announced that they will be married on September 2nd. With Perry joining the cast of Total Divas for the next season, it would have to be assumed that the wedding will be a big part of that show, as weddings generally are good for ratings to that audience.
Lana will be known as CJ on that show and will not use the accent that she floats in and out of on RAW and Smackdown. The couple announced their engagement earlier this year at the time that Rusev was injured and Lana was linked in storyline to Dolph Ziggler. The announcement forced plans to change and it was acknowledged on RAW that the two were engaged. The push of Lana seemed to stall after that point and it’s only been recently when she’s appeared with Rusev onscreen.
From this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
“The Rusev and Lana wedding, actually Miroslav and Catherine, will be on 9/2. It would be almost a lock that their wedding would air on Total Divas since that show, aimed at the women’s audience, is all about engagements and marriages.”
The experiment with earlier weigh-ins went well from a fighter perspective today. Just about everyone weighed in before Noon so the weigh-ins at 7 p.m. Eastern time on television are just for show. The fighters were, as a rule, far happier, to the point almost everyone wants the early weigh-in rule to stay in place going forward.
The odds tumbled down for Luke Rockhold when word got out he suffered a torn MCL early in camp and has done no grappling training.
These are the odds from 5Dimes
Luke Rockhold -660
Michael Bisping +540
Dominick Cruz -430
Urijah Faber +380
Max Holloway -310
Ricardo Lamas +280
Hector Lombard -400
Dan Henderson +355
Dustin Poirier -192
Bobby Green +177
Rockhold was a pretty consistent -1100 favorite two days ago. Cruz was -500 to -600, so his odds have closed slightly as well.
*WWE in Odessa, TX (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto De Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Baron Corbin)
*NXT in Nashville
*NXT in Crystal River, FL
*ROH in Collinsville, IL (Jay Briscoe & War Machine vs. Jay Lethal & Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, Adam Cole vs. Kamaitachi, Roderick Strong vs. Silas Young vs. Stevie Richards vs. Moose)
NEW JAPAN WORLD FRIDAY NIGHT ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M. FOR A TWO HOUR G-1 SPECIAL
Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr. & Titan vs. Cavernario & Felino & Mr Niebla
La Mascara vs. Pierroth
Atlantis & Marco Corleone & Valiente vs. Negro Casas & Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero
RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE TONIGHT FROM COSTA MESA, CA AT 10 P.M. EASTERN ON AXS
Jason Gonzalez (155.8) vs. Chris Padilla (154)
Mario Israel (135.8) vs. Albert Morales (134.6)
Nick Barnes (169.4) vs. Jose Diaz (169.4)
Karen Darabedyan (155.2) vs. Christos Giagos (154.8)
Vinicius Zani (135.4) vs. Joe Murphy (137.2)
Jamall Emmers (154.8) vs. Thiago Moises (155) for the lightweight title
Saturday night we’re looking for reports from:
*WWE in Lubbock, TX (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto Del Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Cesaro)
*WWE in Tulsa (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)
*NXT in Atlanta at Center Stage
*NXT in Fort Pierce, FL.
*ROH in Indianapolis at the Harvest Pavilion (Adam Cole & Adam Page vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe non-title, Moose vs. Jay Briscoe, Roderick Strong vs. Kamaitachi vs. Jason Kincaid vs. ACH vs. Lio Rush vs. Will Ferrara)
UFC 199 SATURDAY FROM THE FORUM IN LOS ANGELES
Fight Pass at 6:15 p.m.
Maestro Dong Hyun Kim vs. Polo Reyes
Kevin Casey vs. Elvis Mutapcic
Luiz Henrique da Silva vs. Jonathan Wilson
Tom Breese vs. Sean Strickland
FS 1 at 8 p.m.
Jessica Andrade vs. Jessica Penne
Beneil Dariush vs. James Vick
Clay Guida vs. Brian Ortega
Alex Caceres vs Cole Miller
PPV at 10 p.m.
Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green
Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard
Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas
Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber for bantamweight title
Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping for middleweight title
NEW JAPAN WORLD SUNDAY AT 3 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM GUNMA
Ryusuke Taguchi & Jay White vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero
Yuji Nagata & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Kushida & Juice Robinson & Captain New Japan & Matt Sydal
Tiger Mask vs. Trent Baretta
Will Ospreay vs. Jushin Liger
Bobby Fish vs. Chase Owens
Ricochet vs. Volador Jr.
Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi
*WWE in Amarillo (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto Del Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Cesaro)
*WWE in Lawton, OK (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo, Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)
*ROH in Columbus, OH at the Ohio Expo Building (Jay Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian defend the tag title against War Machine, Adam Cole vs. Lio Rush, Dalton Castle vs. Kamaitachi)
NEW JAPAN WORLD MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
Volador Jr. vs. Will Ospreay
Ricochet vs. Chase Owens
Bobby Fish vs. Tiger Mask
Jushin Liger vs. Trent Baretta
Matt Sydal vs. David Finlay
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rocky Romero
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Gedo
Kushida vs. Bushi
Raw will be Monday in Oklahoma City. John Cena, Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are all booked on the show along with the usual regulars.
NEW JAPAN WORLD TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)
Best of the Super Juniors championship match
NXT TAKEOVER THE END ON WEDNESDAY AT 8 P.M. FROM FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY IN WINTER PARK, FL
Andrade Cien Almas vs. Tye Dillinger
Asuka vs. Nia Jax for women’s title
Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder for tag titles
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries
Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor cage match for the NXT title
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Wichita. John Cena is not scheduled but Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are scheduled.
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 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.
A huge double issue of the Observer is out this week, including the real catalyst behind the WWE brand split, a breakdown of the roster, justice denied again in the Jimmy Snuka case, Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay and the Super Juniors tournament plus a full rundown, the story behind Bill Goldberg and the WWE video game and the Brock Lesnar tease, famous boxer vs. pro wrestler fights, WWE schedule and injury rates, business rundowns from the past two months for WWE & TNA, updates on cable stations that carry wrestling and MMA, and one of the greatest territorial business runs in history in the life and career of Cowboy Frankie Laine.
Our lead story looks at the WWE brand split, why it happened, what is known that isn’t a secret, ads out post brand split, plans for the split two months ago and what the ad department was told then, what different arenas have been told this week, thoughts behind decisions having too be made, plus a roster rundown on what positions WWE is strong and weak in, and where NXT talent should fit in and who is ready, or who can fill a slot.
There is also an update on the Jimmy Snuka situation, with a realistic view if there will be a trial and what the time frame is and what happens next.
This issue also looks at the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match, Vader’s reaction, Super Juniors standings and rundowns of the shows plus looking at where things are going.
Updates on Money in the Bank, stars returning to television soon, how the NBA & NHL playoffs coincide with wrestling the next two weeks, an update on NXT, lots of WWE performers off TV for the next several weeks, notes from lawsuit depositions that are eye opening, Cena getting a gigantic endorsement deal, Rollins return news, injury updates, lots of Dwayne Johnson news, WrestleMania in the future notes, notes on how little talent gets told in advance about things, who watches what on WWE network, plus we’ve got rundowns of every WWE & NXT events over the past week and business notes on the shows, all included in in this issue.
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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The first round matches are tonight and the semifinals and finals of the men’s division are Sunday and finals of the women’s divsion are Sunday.
Men’s teams:
Team NOAH: Taiji Ishimori & Naomichi Marufuji & Maybach Taniguchi
Team Ouduo/Zero One: Akebono & Masato Tanaka & Ikuto Hidaka
Team AAA: Pentagon Jr. & El Texano Jr. & Psycho Clown
Team Lucha Underground Mexico: Rey Mysterio Jr. & Dragon Azteca Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr.
Team Lucha Underground U.S: Johnny Mundo & Brian Cage & Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Team TNA: Ethan Carter III & Tyrus & Eli Drake
Team International: Mil Muertes & Apolo & Rockstar Spud
Women’s teams:
Team Japan Wave & Oz Academy: Aja Kong & Yuki Miyazaki & Natsu Sumire
Team Mexico: Lady Apache & Fabi Apache & Mari Apache
Team U.S: Santana Garrett & Cheerleader Melissa & Sienna
Team Canada: Taya & Allie & K.C. Spinelli
Josh Matthews is in Puebla right now so he will be the lead announcer on the English broadcast. Weird when they already have Chris Cruise as the English language voice of AAA, not to mention Mike Tenay available.
So here’ the crazy thing about the show. I have received all kinds of promotional material and nowhere does it say the starting time. We were told it starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
A funny part of the promotion is how little the competitors were briefed. Rey Mysterio Jr. didn’t do the media day yesterday and the media was most interested in him. Tyrus was said to have hid in he back. Psycho Clown talked about looking forward to facing Takayama, except Takayama (who was in the World Cup last year) isn’t even in the tournament. The Team Mexico women said that the three Japanese women were real fighters while saying that the U.S. and Canadian teams were pretty girls.
WWE
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which features Sheamus, as well as Stephen Amell, debuts at the theaters tonight.
Scott Garland (Scotty 2 Hotty) was helping train the wrestlers this week at the Performance Center.
Brian Fritz talks to Dolph Ziggler about Swerved Season 2 which premieres Monday after Raw on the WWE Network, who is the worst WWE talent at taking a joke, the upcoming brand split and how the current era compares to others in WWE history.
The Fight Pass schedule for the next few weeks for live events:
6/4 EFN headlined by Ilja Skondric vs. Alexey Stoyan from Russia
6/4 Prelims before UFC 1999
6/4 Cage Warriors from England with Jack Marshman vs. Ali Arish
6/10 Titan Fighting Championships headlined by J.Z. Cavalcante vs. Pat Healy
6/11 Pancrase from Japan headlined by Hatsu Hioki vs. Yojiro Uchimura
6/17 Brace MMA with Kieran Joblin vs Greg Atzori
6/19 Vale Tudo Japan
6/24 Victory FC with two title fights
6/24 Glory 31 with Zack Mwekassa vs. Mourad Bouzidi
MISCELLANEOUS
Jim Ross will be broadcasting boxing on Saturday night on CBS Sports Network from Cancun, Mexico.
The German Wrestling League debuts on TV at 10 p.m. tonight on Fightbox HD. The GWL is Alex Wright’s promotion. The show will replay at 6:10 p.m. on Sunday.
NWAOnDemand.com has unearthed a match from the 60s with Johnny Valentine vs. Wild Bull Curry. I have a copy of this match and I’ll just say it is fascinating to watch. You’ll see very quickly why the top wrestlers of that era like The Funks and Jack Brisco all listed Valentine as one of the five best.
There is a match from Progress Wrestling with Hero vs. Tommy End that people are raving about.
TONIGHT – There is a big show at the Auditorio in Tijuana tonight with L.A. Park vs. Rush vs. Cibernetico and Extreme Tiger & Mistico & Rey Hours (Dragon Azteca Jr.) vs. Mr. Aguila & El Hijo del L.A. Park & Mephisto plus a TLC match with Mortiz vs. Aero Boy.
TONIGHT – Rockstar Pro Wrestling has an iPPV tonight at 7 p.m. from the Rockstar Pro Arena in Dayton, OH with Sami Callihan vs. Aaron Williams vs. Ethan Page plus Gregory Iron & Zach Gowen as a tag team and Jessicka Havok vs. Samantha Heights.
TOMORROW – ECWA on Saturday night in Woodbury Heights, NJ at the Community Center with Sean Carr vs. Papadon
TOMORROW – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
TOMORROW – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
TOMORROW – Aerostar vs. Flamita vs. Laredo Kid vs. Septimo Dragon headline tonight in Benbrook, TX at the Camp Bowie Bingo Hall. The same promotion has a tag match tomorrow night in Houston at the Atlantico Hall with Aerostar & Laredo Kid vs. Flamita & Ultimo Ninja.
TOMORROW – CWE in Morden, Manitoba at the Morden Block Party Street Festival has a free show with a 1 p.m. start time.
SUNDAY – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
SUNDAY – Silver Star Promotions at the 4 Ever Arena in Fort Worth has Caristico & El Hijo del Fishman vs. Silver Star & Psicosis Jr.
June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
June 11 – ECCW Port Coquitlam, BC at the Elks Hall #49.
June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title
June 24 – Isao Kobayashi vs. Justin Lawrence will appear on Spike.com as the top prelim fight Bellator Dynamite show in St. Louis. This will be a combination MMA and kickboxing show.
June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
July 2 – Stars of Wrestling from Alameda, CA at the Alameda Point Gym has Bobby Lashley, Carlito and The Boogeyman appearing.
July 2 – NWA Cajun Heat in Morgan City, LA at the Municipal Auditorium with Jax Dane vs. Mustang Mike for the NWA title, Rob Conway vs. Rodney Mack and an appearance by Kevin Nash.
July 9 – Smash Wrestling in Fort Erie, ONT at the Native Friendship Center. Chris Hero will headline this fund raising event to raise money for the Godson of Jeremy Elliott, who Hero will wrestle. Elliott’s Godson is a patient at the CPRI Treatment Center.
July 24 – Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr. headlines for Lucha Libre New York at Club LaBoom in Queens, NY.
August 13 – Rey Mysterio Jr. will headline a show at Montgomery High School in San Diego, his alma mater, for Viva La Lucha promotions. Also appearing are Konnan, Psicosis, Johnny Mundo, Teddy Hart and TJ Perkins.
Just how much has the injury bug that’s bitten WWE in recent years been a result of the schedule? That’s the main topic of discussion on Wrestling Weekly! Les and Vic will start the show with some sad news about Danny Miller, who is a longtime friend and former tag team partner with Les. After some quick talk about Roderick Strong and Zack Sabre Jr.(4:25) and the very few things that went well on Raw this week, (6:47) we’ll take a look at Dave Meltzer’s article in the new Observer regarding how many of the guys who work the most matches in WWE in recent years have suffered significant injuries the following year (13:41). Is it the schedule? Is it the style? Or is there something that has to do with one of those things that may not be talked about often enough? After that, we’ll open the mailbag and answer questions about Vader (40:09), adding talent to the WWE main roster for the brand split(44:00), Randy Orton being a bully (47:09), guys who didn’t speak great English during the territory days but got over big anyway (50:50), promotions that had split crews years ago (53:41), and whatever happened to the elbow drop (56:44)? Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with a packed show today! Tons of news, Slammiversary poll, Hiroshi Tanahashi injured and a New Japan update, Zack Gowen appears to talk his new Wrestling for Warriors charity project and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
There are literally no words that can do justice to the significance of Muhammad Ali.
It’s funny because a significant description, although perhaps overblown, came from WCW wrestlers in the late ’90s. There was an article interviewing many of the top stars of the promotion which asked who the most influential person in the history of the world was. While names like Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler received a significant number of votes, the person who received the most was Ali.
The New Era overload continues as Aiden English boasts that leaving the New Day laying “singlehandedly” on RAW proves, once and for all, that the “New Era” reflects the “Bygone Era”, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. Simon Gotch then introduces English’s “pre-emptive eulogy” for the New Day’s tag team titles “in the form of song”. English makes a unbelievably terrible World’s Fair reference before singing for a little while until Enzo & Cass interrupt.
Enzo does his “couple of haters” line, prompting Gotch to ask, non-rhetorically, if he remembers Payback. English reckons that the little man’s head is “S.O.F.T.” after the concussion he sustained on that particular Sunday. And then, Big Cass if forced to recite a line so awful that it almost matched the cruddy material he was given on this very show a few weeks ago. Cass threatens to beat their “rusty pipes….back into Prohibition” so they won’t be able to “speak easy”. Wow.
Enzo & Cass def. The Vaudevillains by pinfall
The usual 12 minute opening match, four minutes of which is (fortunately) lost to a commercial break. Gotch and English got the heat on Enzo for an absolute eon. Nobody cared. Eventually Cass did his brief hot tag schtick before setting up Enzo for the silly-looking Rocket Launcher.
Zack Ryder def. Viktor by pinfall
Viktor, now kitted out with Darth Maul-esque face-paint, delightfully poses the question, “Where’s your ‘woo woo’ now?”, during the heat. His smugness doesn’t last long however, with Ryder wrapping this one up in under five minutes. The finish saw Viktor get cut off while perched on the top rope. Ryder then hit a ‘rana, followed by the Broski Boot and an Elbro Drop.
Sasha Banks def. Summer Rae by submission w/ Dolph Ziggler on commentary
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who appreciated Ziggler’s over-exuberant contributions to the announce booth on last week’s show. Despite having no connection to any current Women’s division storyline, he’s back again to lend his thoughts on Banks’ first televised match since April 18. Ziggler does however reference his history with Summer Rae, which is a nice touch.
Summer cuts a promo before Banks’ entrance, following up a mention of the brand extension with a hilariously apt slip of the tongue: “New Error”. She reckons that the entire WWE Universe is wondering which show she will end up on. Meanwhile, all three announcers are laughing openly.
Sasha eventually interrupts, but is quickly cut off by Summer, who mocks her for failing at Wrestlemania. The Boss tells Summer that, despite her thoughts to the contrary, Summer “wouldn’t be Women’s champion at Wrestlemania…..you can’t even hold my mic!”. I guess that’s supposed to be a burn in the writers’ universe, but Summer ruins it by catching the thrown mic! The three announcers again laugh uproariously, with Dolph selling the catch like it was the greatest thing he’s ever seen: “BUT SHE HELD IT!”.
The match itself was short, at six minutes, but perfectly acceptable. Sasha’s comeback kicked off with running double knees into the face of Summer Rae, with The Boss hanging on for a subsequent pinfall attempt (Dolph: “It would be hard for me to kick out of that, King”). More knee-based offence got cut off by a vicious-looking DDT from Summer, before Sasha caught a spin kick attempt and transitioned straight into a Banks Statement. Summer tapped with both hands, which caused Dolph to lose his bowel contents again: “Double tap, TP!”. The final line uttered, as the show went off the air, was also Ziggler’s: “I love this so much!”.
Final Thoughts
As weird as it is to say, Dolph Ziggler’s announcing saved this show. I’m as surprised as you are. The guy’s overconfident, handsy, depth-free promos bug the hell out of me, but he appears to have an aptitude for this; more of an aptitude than he has for stand-up comedy, at least. Meanwhile, everything the Vaudevillains touch continues to turn to ice, as Enzo & Cass are finally involved in a segment so badly scripted that even Enzo’s delivery can’t save it.
