Tulsa, Oklahoma: – Red Berry defeated Hugh Nichols to win the World Light Heavyweight Title
1940
Columbus, Ohio: – Jules Larance defeated Gil Knutsen for the Midwest Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title
Kansas City, Kansas: – World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Bruns beat Steve Brody (Brody was the World Junior Heavyweight Champion) – Orville Brown beat Karol Zbyszko (Zbyszko was billed as a nephew of Stanislaus and Wladek) – Ray Schwartz defeated Fritz Schnabel – Ronnie Etchison and Angelo Martini went to a time limit draw
1944
Mexico City, Mexico: – El Santo won the Mexican National Middleweight Title from Tuffy Truesdale in a tournament final
1951
Kansas City, Kansas: – Jerry Meeker defeated Hal Keen – Ray Eckert beat Bob Orton Sr – Dennis Clary beat Emil Dusek – The Dusek Brothers (Ernie and Joe Dusek) defeated Ronnie Etchison and Ralph Garibaldi in 2 out of 3 falls
1965
– Pepper Martin defeated The Mad Russian for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
1967
Denver, Colorado; – Verne Gagne (sub Danny Hodge) & Ernie Ladd beat Johnny Powers & Johnny Valentine on a 3rd fall dq – Lou Thesz beat Larry Hennig – Alberto Torres beat Bobby Duncum
1968
Atlanta, Georgia: – Alberto and Enrique Torres defeated El Mongol and Hans Schmidt to win the Georgia NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1969
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – Wilbur Snyder defeated Dr. X on a 3rd fall dq – in a Handicap Match, Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon beat The Crusher – Luis Martinez beat Kenny Jay – Rene Goulet beat Johnny Kace – Pampero Firpo beat Angelo Poffo
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Lars Anderson – Flying Redheads, Red Bastien & Billy Red Lyons beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race on a 3rd fall dq – Bill Watts beat Bob Geigel – Joe Scarpello drew Big K – Bob Kappel beat Kenny Yates
1969
Boston, Massachusetts: – Killer Kowalski defeated WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino in a Texas death match
1971
Shreveport, Louisiana: – Tom Jones and Billy Red Lyons defeated The Spoilers for the Tri-State NWA United States Tag Team Titles
1972
Nashville, Tennessee: – Karl and Kurt Von Brauner defeated Robert Fuller and Kevin Sullivan for the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Titles
Miami, Florida: – The Professional (Doug Gilbert) and Mike Webster won the NWA Florida Tag Team Titles from Boris Malenko and Bob Roop
1974
Atlanta, Georgia: – Gene and Ole Anderson defeated Bob Armstrong and Robert Fuller to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team Titles
1975
Kansas City, Kansas: – Ed Wiskoski (Col. DeBeers) defeated Jerry Oates for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Dusty Rhodes & Larry Hennig – Billy Robinson no contest Baron Von Raschke – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rock Riddle & Frankie Hill – Khosrow Vaziri (Iron Shiek) drew Buddy Wolff
1979
Noshiro, Japan: – Great Kojika and Motoshi Okuma won the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles from The Kiwis (Butch Miller and Sweet William)
1980
Indianapolis, Indiana: – Dick the Bruiser defeated King Kong (Bruiser) Brody for the World Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title
1981
Shreveport, Louisiana – Jake Roberts defeated The Grappler to win the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Title
1982
Memphis, Tennessee: – Ron Bass defeated Pat Hutchinson and Tom Maley in a handicap match – The Iron Sheik defeated Bobby Fulton – Koko Ware defeated Bill Dundee by disqualification – King Cobra defeated NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champion Bobby Eaton to win the title – AWA Southern Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Norvell Austin and Dennis Condrey) defeated The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) by disqualification to retain the title – AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler defeated Kamala by disqualification to retain the title
1986
Nassau, Bahamas: – Ron Bass defeated Tyree Pride to win the NWA Bahamas Heavyweight Title
Bayamon, Puerto Rico: – Eric Embry won the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title by defeating Super Medico I
1991
Naucalpan, Mexico: – Los Villanos (I, IV and V) defeated The Hawaiian Beasts (Kokina (Yokozuna), Fatu and the Samoan Savage) for the UWA World Trios Titles
Dallas, Texas: – Bill Dundee defeated Tom Prichard (subbing for Eric Embry) for the USWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1992
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Chi Chi Cruz (Corey Peloquin) defeated Gerry Morrow to win the West Four Wrestling Alliance Canadian Heavyweight Title
1998
WWF Over the Edge: Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – LOD 2000 (Animal and Hawk (with Sunny and Droz)) defeated The Disciples of Apocalypse (8-Ball and Skull (with Chainz)) – Jeff Jarrett (with Tennessee Lee) pinned Steve Blackman – Marc Mero pinned Sable with a cradle – Kaientai (Funaki, Teioh and Togo) defeated Bradshaw and Taka Michinoku in a handicap match – WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock pinned Faarooq to retain the title – Kane (with Paul Bearer) pinned Vader in a mask vs. mask match – The Nation (D’Lo Brown, Owen Hart and Kama Mustafa (with Mark Henry)) defeated D-Generation X (Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and Triple H (with Chyna and X-Pac)) – WWF Champion Steve Austin defeated Dude Love in a no disqualification, falls count anywhere match to retain the title
1999
Houston, Texas: – Bam Bam Bigelow and Diamond Dallas Page defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Kanyon and Saturn (subbing for Raven) to win the title
Moline, Illinois: – Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion The Godfather to win the title – The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Kane and X-Pac to win the titles
2002
OVW Summer Sizzler Series: Louisville, Kentucky: – Flash Flanagan and Trailer Park Trash defeated OVW Southern Tag Team Champions The Lords of the Ring (Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore) to win the titles – Redd Dogg (Rodney Mack) defeated Sean O’Haire – Shelton Benjamin defeated Chris Kanyon – David Flair defeated Bull Buchanan – Seven (Kevin Thorn) defeated Leviathan (Batista) – OVW Heavyweight Champion Nova defeated The Prototype (John Cena) to retain the title (Mick Foley was the guest referee)
2003
Carolina, Puerto Rico: – Carly Colón won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title by defeating Sabu – Alex Montalvo defeats Pablo Marquez for the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title – Eddie Colón won the vacant WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title by defeating Dominican Boy in a tournament final
2004
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: – La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier) defeated WWE World Tag Team Champions Edge and World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit to win the titles
2015
WWE Elimination Chamber: Corpus Christie, Texas: – Stardust defeated Zack Ryder – The New Day (Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) defeated The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara), Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (with Natalya), The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O’Neil), The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) and Los Matadores (Primo and Epico) (with El Torito) in an Elimination Chamber tag team match to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship – Nikki Bella defeated Paige and Naomi to retain the WWE Divas Championship – Kevin Owens defeated John Cena – Neville defeated Bo Dallas – Ryback defeated Sheamus, R-Truth, King Barrett, Dolph Ziggler and Mark Henry in an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship – Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins (with Jamie Noble, Joey Mercury and Kane) by disqualification, Rollins retained the title
There’s nothing like a new 2K trailer on Raw to get the blood pumping, is there?
On an otherwise lackluster episode of the flagship show Memorial Day evening, the eyes had to widen a bit when 2K aired a spot for the upcoming WWE 2K17 video game featuring none other than Bill Goldberg.
Video game chatter aside, this is notable for a few reasons. One is that Goldberg is going to be in a WWE video game for the first time since WWE 2K14, and was on their airwaves in a new capacity for the first time in over a decade. Two is that in recent memory, two past stars that did similar spots — Ultimate Warrior and Sting — later found their way in the McMahon fold in memorable ways.
At 49 years old and with a long list of projects, the prospect of Goldberg returning to the ring for a regular schedule is obviously slim to none. But after years of saying there was no interest in going back, perhaps there’s a chance of at least one more match on a major event?
Dave & Bryan will have more on this tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Huge pop for Enzo and Cass when the music hit. They were one of the most over acts of the night. Lots of crowd interaction with the Dudleys and fans as well as with Enzo & Cass and the fans. Several hot tags with Enzo & Cass. Lots of “Oh Enzo Amore,” “How You Doin” chants. Enzo was in really good form, excellent selling. Big Cass was also really over with the crowd. Enzo’s charisma is magnified in person, easily one of the most charismatic people on the roster.
– Titus O Neil def. Viktor
A pop for Titus when he came out. Viktor was also interacting with the crowd at ringside, which was something I did not expect. It was a good match, seemed to be shorter than the others.
– Goldust def. Tyler Breeze
Big pop for Goldust when he came out. Tyler was booed. It was a solid match. Fandango attempted to interfere which led to R-Truth coming out as well. Huge pop for R-Truth. Following the match, R-Truth did his rap, and several tried to throw Truth off by saying he was in Milwaukee or Green Bay. It was a really fun segment.
– Anderson & Gallows def. The Hype Bros
Good match. Mojo got a big pop from the crowd and there was a “Let’s Go Packers” chant that started. (Mojo was with the Packers pre-WWE for a short time). Anderson & Gallows were booed, but also got a good mix of cheering for them as well.
– Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens
This was an excellent match match. Great promo by Owens who played off of the crowd and how he wanted to “get out of this town” Zayn and Owens both had some incredible selling during the match and kept the crowd engaged and going for the match.
– Apollo Crews def. Sheamus
Sheamus got a big pop, and cut a really good promo before the match. Apollo is super agile, had a near fall on Sheamus with a standing moonsault that got a huge pop. There was a CM Punk chant that started to which Sheamus responded with the “go to sleep” gesture which was funny.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte def. Natalya
Charlotte is really good at interacting with the crowd. There was a “Charlotte sucks” chant again, which she played off of perfectly. Lots of submission work by both, which got huge pops. atalya had excellent selling, really great technical work. Charlotte won by pinfall by putting her foot on the ropes for stability
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns def. AJ Styles
Odd thing is that Reigns and Styles both had a mixture of being booed and cheered for. The match spilled out to ringside where Roman was thrown into the steel steps by AJ. This match kept the crowd really engaged, great selling by Reigns and Styles.
After sitting on the sidelines since January recovering from shoulder surgery, the Memorial Day edition of Raw from Green Bay, WI, will feature the return of former WWE Champion and top draw John Cena to action.
Unlike the return of Seth Rollins last week, Cena’s reemergence has been hyped for weeks with vignettes and an appearance on the Today show this morning. (Also, remember that we just saw him do a run-it at Wrestlemania.) With the brand split coming up in July, it will be interesting to see if they will start the buildup to the July 11th draft show tonight, or give it time to build and wait after the Money in the Bank PPV.
If this show does a poor rating, expect blame to be placed on Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA playoff series. There is also Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals between San Jose and Pittsburgh that kicks off tonight — more of a regional ratings hit.
Our coverage starts at 8 ET. Join us!
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The Big Takeaway: A.J. Styles reunited with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in what may be the angle of the year. It happened during John Cena’s return. Styles came out to put over Cena and welcome him back to Raw. Anderson and Gallows came out to accuse Styles of kissing Cena’s ass. Just when it seemed they were gearing up for a tag team match, Styles jumped Cena, and the Club joined together for a collective beatdown. Styles repeatedly left the ring, then ran back in to beat up Cena some more. Only other news of note was Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon acknowledging Smackdown’s move to Tuesdays starting in July and the upcoming brand extension.
Shane & Steph Open The Show
They opened with a 10-bell salute in tribute to the soldiers for Memorial Day with all of the roster’s superstars lined up on the ramp. Vince, Stephanie and Shane McMahon were out there, but there was no HHH. They replayed a speech that Ronald Reagan gave on Memorial Day in 1982 with various personalities reciting the address.
Shane came out, but was cut off by Stephanie. They were more antagonistic towards each other this week. Stephanie was wearing shorts so brief, they wouldn’t have been able to wipe up a small amount of milk spilled on your kitchen floor. Shane announced that Smackdown would go live every Tuesday in July. Stephanie announced John Cena’s return, which got mostly cheers.
The New Day showed up. They all put over Smackdown going live. Then they mentioned the brand extension, showing mainstream news publications about the looming split. Kofi Kingston said he was new era, which Big E. and Xavier Woods laughed at. Woods said Kingston was his favorite wrestler in middle school. Kingston asked where is the New Era going?
Stephanie said they didn’t know yet. Kofi accused her of dodging the question. New Day asked to not be split up. Shane said nothing is off the table. Big E. was worried. Woods didn’t want Francesca the Trombone to be raised without her three fathers, and said trombones raised without a father don’t have as good a track record.
Kingston said Shane and Stephanie hadn’t decided who will run which brand, but Big E. sensed there was a sibling rivalry brewing. So Big E. called for a dance contest. Shane started dancing to the New Day’s music while Stephanie stood back in the corner and laughed at him. Stephanie acted like she was going to dance, which she did to the New Day’s music last year with HHH watching on. Before she could begin, the Vaudevillains came out for a match with the New Day. Michael Cole said going into the break that Smackdown live would return. JBL busted his chops over later.
WWE Tag Champs The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.) defeated the Vaudevillains by DQ in a non-title match (8:50)
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows came through the crowd and jumped New Day for the DQ. Gallows threw Woods into the dasherboards, then Anderson gave Kingston a Yakuza Kick. While this was going on, Simon Gotch kicked Big E. from behind. Vaudevillains left Big E laying so Gallows and Anderson could deliver the Magic Killer on him. Crowd is already dead and we’re only 35 minutes in.
Anderson and Gallows were backstage. Renee Young asked them what that was all about. Anderson said that was to show they could inflict as much damage without A.J. Styles than with him. He said they were just getting started.
Apollo Crews met with Big Show backstage. Show said he liked Crews and told him Sheamus was a bully. Show said he didn’t mind the New Era because he’s been knocking out guys since the Jurassic Era and it didn’t matter to him. Show said Sheamus is in desperation mode and he jumped Crews last week because he wanted to see if Crews would back down. Show told Crews the question is whether Crews will back down.
The Usos defeated Breezango (1:43)
Jey Uso pinned Fandango with a crucifix. Goldust and R-Truth were at ringside. Truth was all the place, calling Byron Saxton “Coach.” To which JBL shouted “Byron’s not Coach. Coach has talent!” Tyler Breeze and Fandango started jawing off to the Golden Truth and the two sides brawled. Truth threw Fandango into the barricade. Goldust gave Breeze a powerslam on the floor. The gimmick with the Golden Truth is they’ve lost both matches to Breezango so far, and JBL makes fun of them for being a babyface tag team that loses.
Roman Reigns came out before the Warriors-Thunder game could tip off.
He got his usual reception. He talked about how Seth Rollins sold out two years ago when he broke up the Shield. Rolins said he was calling himself “The Man”, but how can he be The Man when he’s running from The Guy? He challenged Rollins to come out.
Rollins came out to noticeably more cheers, even after his heel promo last week. He teased getting into the ring, came down the ramp, then went back up the ramp. He acted like he was going to speak for about a minute, but stopped before he could utter a word. He threw the mic down like he was going to fight, but then held up. He kept starting and stopping. I was getting flashbacks to the Sheamus-Reigns angle from last December. Some fans chanted “boring.” Then he picked up the microphone again, threw it down and left. Reigns music played. Rollins ran down again, but stopped when Reigns turned his back and caught his eye. Not a great segment.
The most newsworthy thing of the night happened during the commercial after this for 2K17. In an ad you can see here, Goldberg appeared walking with security to his WCW theme music, looking in great shape for a 49-year-old. The setting, scenery and placement after that abysmal Reigns-Rollins angle made him look like more of a star than anyone so far tonight.
U.S. Champion Rusev defeated Zack Ryder via submission in a non-title match (2:33)
Rusev won with the Accolade, which looks more like a rear naked choke now than a Camel Clutch. Ryder had just hit the Broski Boot and went for the Rough Ryder, but Rusev tossed him over and Ryder landed on his ass. Lana’s outfits get skimpier by the week. She’s now relegated to just introducing Rusev, but didn’t even get in the ring for his postmatch promo.
Rusev cut an anti-American interview afterwards where he called the Green Bay fans “Cheese gobbling cheese…whatever you call yourselves.” Titus O’Neal walked out and did a robotic promo about the nerve of Rusev running down America on Memorial Day. O’Neal said he comes from America, where they fight. O’Neal decked Rusev with one forearm to send him out of the ring.
Primo and Epico did another interview putting over Puerto Rico.
There was a piece reviewing the Charlotte-Ric Flair breakup from last week. Various wrestlers weighed in on Charlotte. Dean Ambrose said he felt Charlotte wanted to humiliate her father. Dolph Ziggler said he felt Charlotte kind of told the truth. What? Becky Lynch said Ric always wanted the best for him. Ambrose got another quip saying Flair may have taught Charlotte everything she knows, but not everything he knows. Cole, JBL and Saxton read off various tweets. Then they showed an angle from earlier today where Stephanie dressed down Charlotte, saying she was embarrassed to have her as champion and screamed how Charlotte was spoiled and privileged. Basically, the entire segment was to get Charlotte over as a heel. Then in the last minute of said angle, they made the entire thing moot by having Stephanie berate her and she came off as another wounded pup under the Authority’s rule.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass came out to the biggest pop of the show. Enzo said since they were in Green Bay, they reeled off a list of cheeses. Cass scrolled them off one by one while making a double entendre about you know what.
Enzo and Cass defeated The Dudley Boyz (9:16)
Third tag team match in two hours. I thought the Jim Crockett Cup had broken out. Enzo pinned Devon Dudley after the Rocket Launcher. Just a month after suffering the concussion at Payback, Enzo got the heat after falling off the top rope. Bubba Ray got slammed off the top rope by Cass, but had to wait forever for him to get up. Match had the most heat of the night.
The main event will be a six-man tag involving the known participants in the Money in the Bank match, with Ambrose, Cesaro and Sami Zayn facing Alberto Del Rio, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. Ambrose, Cesaro and Zayn talked privately backstage. Ambrose said you couldn’t trust Owens because he was a Canadian. Zayn started to point out he was a Canadian, then Cesaro said Jericho was also dangerous. Ambrose derided Jericho as also being Canadian. Zayn spoke up and asked Ambrose if he knew he was Canadian. Ambrose looked like that was a revelation and said “That explains everything.” Zayn looked confused.
John Cena Returns
John Cena returned to a nice pop. He got a short “welcome back” chant, but it was surprisingly very brief. Of course, he got his usual share of boos. He started very serious reciting the Ronald Reagan speech earlier, then said there were many brave heroes who had fallen. Memorial Day was a celebration of that sacrifice and he was very thankful to be back home. On this day, it was with the utmost respect that he honored the heroes who helped keep liberty intact. Cena said liberty was freedom, and freedom was our lifeblood. It enabled pople to dress how you want, listen to whatever music you wanted, stand on your chair and scream at the top of your lungs.
Now, the question was whether he still belonged on Monday Night Raw? Cena said a new era arrived in his absence. That means new names and new faces. All of those people had the same thought: that Cena’s best days were over. Cena said he wouldn’t go quietly into the night. And if the future is upon us, then the future must go through him.
Styles came out. Cole put over seeing Styles and Cena in the same building was something many thought we would never see. At first, the crowd seemed quiet. Then it turned into a lengthy battle of dueling chants. Styles and Cena just let the fans take over the show for a few minutes. It built and built to where it was really loud and made this potential program feel like something special.
Styles said he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Cena said, judging by this crowd, so has everyone else. Styles said Cena has kind of a bad rep. Styles said he always heard Cena was the first guy to get to the building and the last to leave. Styles said they have been in two different worlds, but he respected Cena’s hard work. Styles said he wanted to be the first one to say “Welcome back.” They shook hands.
Gallows and Anderson then walked out. Gallows told Styles they agreed to go their separate ways, and he saw what they did with the New Day. He accused Styles of sucking up to Cena. Anderson said he thought that was beneath Styles, but apparently not. Anderson said, unlike Styles, they were not there to kiss ass, but to kick it. That included Styles.
Just as Anderson and Gallows were ready to square off and an impromptu tag match was about to take place, Styles jumped Cena. Anderson and Gallows then jumped in and they all put the boots to Cena. Styles, Gallows and Anderson stood over Cena and gave each other Clique signs to some real heat. A fantastic angle to turn Styles heel. Styles ran back in to pound on Cena some more while Anderson said that’s the A.J. they love. Styles left, then ran back in again to lay the punches in some more. Crowd was incensed. After the referees came in, Styles came back in to pummel Cena some more. Styles screamed he was doing the world a favor and “You’re welcome, world.”
Dana Brooke defeated Natalya (1:20)
Brooke won after Charlotte distracted Natalya, which led to Brooke winning with a Samoan Driver. Cole called it a Michinoku Driver. Charlotte and Brooke put the boots to Natalya. Lynch ran down for the save. For someone who was supposed to be a heavy heel after last week, Charlotte got a disappointing response, probably because the star of the show stole her heat last hour.
Ziggler did a promo saying he was going to outwrestle Baron Corbin tonight. He brought up Jericho’s 1004 holds promo from 1998 Nitro. To show how badly it bombed, Ziggler bragged he had 1006 holds and starting naming them just like Jericho did 18 years ago. He listed armbar 3 times. He stopped after seven and said “He’s Dolph Ziggler and Corbin isn’t.”
Baron Corbin defeated Dolph Ziggler by DQ (:33)
The announcers built up Ziggler’s amateur record, including a school record 121 wins at Kent State University. When the bell sounded, Ziggler put on amateur wrestling headgear. So the first thing he did was kick Corbin in the balls for an immediate DQ. Ziggler announced he had been disqualified, but the loser of the match was still Corbin. JBL mentioned the original man of “1,000 holds” was Earl Caddock, who wrestled Joe Stecher in 1920 in the oldest known pro wrestling match that has footage.
Maryse introduced the Miz, who is on location shooting the Marine 5. He talked about how he’ll return soon to his adoring public to defend his Intercontinental Championship.
Jericho, Del Rio and Owens argued in the back over who should start their match tonight. Jericho finally got them to agree they should make sure Zayn, Ambrose and Cesaro don’t make it to Money in the Bank. After they left, Jericho called his teammates “idiots.”
Cesaro, Dean Ambrose & Sami Zayn defeated Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio (17:51)
Good match with an excellent finishing sequence ending with Ambrose pinning Owens after Dirty Deeds. Jericho hit a codebreaker on Ambrose, but Owens made a blind tag trying to get the pin. That led to Owens and Jericho arguing, which they had done throughout the match. Zayn hit the Helluva Kick on Del Rio, moments after Del Rio caught Cesaro with the Back Stabber.
Earlier, Ambrose hit a tope as the heels bickered with each other some more. Felt like a house show match just thrown out on live TV because the company knew they were going to get creamed by the NBA Finals, but the main event slot hasn’t felt like the true main event of the show lately.
SUMMARY:
It says a lot for Cena’s presence that frequently has memorable swerve angles. Mark Henry’s career highlight was the angle in 2013 where he teased a retirement speech, but jumped Cena instead. Styles’ heel turn tonight could be every bit as memorable. It was extremely well done and the only thing worthwhile in an otherwise forgettable 3 hours.
While there is a lot of talk about Raw ratings, which, unless John Cena’s drawing power is really strong for his return, they would hit seasonal record lows going against both the Warriors vs. Thunder game seven and the Sharks vs. Penguins game one in the NHL finals, another story has started to surface: TicketMaster and the WWE’s web site have pulled the planned SummerSlam weekend NXT show off their schedule.
Decisions and schedule changes happen all the time though. If you remember, last year’s show in Brooklyn was NXT’s biggest success in history, drawing a legit sellout with the Bayley vs. Sasha Banks match that may have been the best women’s match in company history. Even internally, people have been asking questions and right now there are no answers other than the show is no longer on the schedule. At least some in NXT are very concerned about that and the billing of the 6/8 show as “The End.”
We’re looking for live reports from Raw tonight in Green Bay, featuring the return of John Cena to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM HIROSHIMA ON TUESDAY (taped for New Japan World available later in the day)
Bushi vs. David Finlay
Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero
Kushida vs. Gedo
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Rockford, IL We’re also looking for reports on this show.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM NAGOYA ON THURSDAY (taped for New Japan World, available later in the day)
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With two of the biggest news stories of the year, the WWE brand split and the UFC sale both in play, we’ve got a new issue of the Observer packed with news.
Our lead story looks at the brand split, with what we do know, what has and hasn’t been decided and the background of how it went down. There’s also more info on the UFC sale talks. Plus there is coverage of the return of Seth Rollins, the build to Money in the Bank and have coverage of Extreme Rules, the negotiations for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight and look more at the Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor rumors. Take an in-depth look at the departure of Cody Runnels (Rhodes) from WWE and his future prospects, plus look at his complaints regarding people in the company. All this plus a look at the New Japan Super Juniors tournament, the funding of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, the World Cup trios tournament coming up and a feature on the last PWG show.
The lead story looks at every aspect of the brand split. It looks at the original goals and reasons for it and what did and didn’t work, plus how it’ll be different this time, how the touring will work, and an examination of what talent knows and tentative plans in place. Vince McMahon’ reaction is a big part of this, and this issue explains how the deal went down, the story behind the story and other aspects to be considered. There’s also a look at Smackdown going live, the affect on the fan base, the affect on TNA and why it was important to get Smackdown away from Thursday.
Another big story in this issues is Extreme Rules, the decision to make Seth Rollins a heel and current plans for Money in the Bank, and also match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Details about what’s going on with Conor McGregor, including Colin Cowherd’s claim that Mayweather vs. McGregor is happening, as well as a look at the Nate Diaz negotiations last week and what McGregor has said publicly.
Finally, this issue looks at Cody Runnels leaving WWE, what he said was the reason why, and a look into those reasons, and a look at the realities of WWE business decisions and his background.
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.
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Before starting, I just want everyone to spend a moment thinking of & honoring those who Memorial Day was named for: people who lost their lives in service to this country. That is the supreme sacrifice, and hopefully we all recognize that because of their efforts, we are able to live the type of lives we are able to right now.
NXT is booking shows outside Florida going forward. In fact, they just announced a tour in July with shows on 7/14 in Indianapolis, 7/15 in Cincinnati and 7/16 in Louisville.
The record low Raw number for non-football season would be 3,116,000 viewers on April 25. Without Cena’s return, I don’t think there’s a chance they get that number.
Tonight’s Raw show should not only introduce the seventh person in the Money in the Bank match but also start some build for the key matches on the undercard. Enzo & Cass vs. The Dudleys and a technical match with Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin were scheduled as of earlier today. Another tease is The Hatch happens tonight and lots more social media activity from Bray Wyatt, who should be back any week now if not tonight.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio covering all the news on the brand split, Raw and take email questions that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.
Today’s Super Juniors results from Yonago:
Chase Owens (2-2) beat Trent Baretta (2-2)
Tiger Mask (2-2) beat Will Ospreay (1-3)
Bobby Fish (2-2) beat Volador Jr. (2-2)
Ricochet (3-1) beat Jushin Liger (2-2)
WWE
John Cena said he would be wearing shorts that were given to him by Ellen Degeneres.
Seth Rollins will be headlining “the Reigns tour” this coming weekend with multiple person title matches, usually with A.J. Styles, on dates in Odessa, Lubbock and Amarillo.
The Marine 5 starts production tomorrow in Vancouver and will include The Miz, Maryse, Naomi, Heath Slater, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. In theory, some or all of those names should be out for several weeks. If Miz loses the title tonight, that would be why. If he doesn’t, the title may be on ice for a little while.
Dwayne Johnson officially announced he was going to star in the Sony Pictures adaption of “Doc Savage” as well as produce the movie through his Seven Bucks Entertainment company. Savage is a DC superhero comic book character with super strength and intelligence.
The Seth Rollins documentary starts right after Raw on the WWE Network.
The TakeOver go-home show featuring the contract signing for Asuka vs. Nia Jax will be on NXT on Wednesday night. The big show featuring Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe in a cage match and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries will be a week from Wednesday from Full Sail University.
Summer Rae threw out the first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game on Friday.
UFC
Lots of surprises last night so this is how the picks went
3-2 – Mike Sawyer, John Pollock, Paul Fontaine
2-3 – Josh Nason, David Bixenspan, Front Row Brian
1-4 – Steve Juon, me, Ryan Frederick
0-5 – Mike Sempervive
UFC Bad Blood TV special at 9 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night on FS 1 runs down the nine year long feud between Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz which comes to a head on Saturday night.
MISCELLANEOUS
Lineup for tomorrow night’s Impact is:
Mike Bennett vs. James Storm
Gail Kim & Jade vs. Sienna & Allie
Robbie E & Jessie Godderz vs. Rockstar Spud & Tyrus with Mike Bennett as referee
Bram vs. Bobby Lashley for the King of the Mountain title
Drew Galloway vs. Abyss & Crazzy Steve in a handicap match.
This is also the next to last episode of Impact before the 6/12 Slammiversary PPV show.
TNA announced a VIP experience for Slammiversary for $129 with priority seating at the show and the tapings over the next few days, as well as a post-show party with the wrestlers a poster, and nighty meet and greets and autograph sessions.
A.J. Brooks, the former A.J. Lee, on Twitter wrote, “Just finished my book. No co-writer. No ghost writer. Just me, lots of carbs and an adorably evil mind.”
Progress Wrestling from yesterday in London, England at the Electric Ballroom for the Strong Style 16 tournament: Mark Haskins b Pete Dunne, Mikey Whiplash b Damon Moser, Zack Gibson b Kenny Williams, Jack Gallagher b TK Cooper, Big Daddy Walter b Dave Mastiff, Chris Hero b Mark Andrews, Sami Callihan b Matt Cross (Son of Havoc in Lucha Underground), Tommy End b Rampage Brown, James Davis & Rob Lynch b Nathan Cruz & El Ligero
Smash Wrestling vs. Progress Wrestling takes place in Toronto on 9/17 and 9/18 at the Franklin Horner Community Centre. Nothing has been announced but the push is the stars of Progress like Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, Mark Andrews, Jimmy Havoc and Marty Scurll and the stars of Smash like Courtney Rush (Rosemary in TNA), Pepper Parks (TNA), Cherry Bomb (TNA), Matt Cross and Johnny Gargano.
A story on Cowboy Frankie Laine, who passed way last week, can be read here, from his hometown newspaper.
World Series of Fighting on NBC Sports has this show scheduled for 7/30 in Everett, WA at the Xfinity Arena:
Marlon Morales vs. Josh Hill for the bantamweight title
Alexandre Almeida vs. Lance Palmer for the featherweight title
Phoenix Jones vs. Caros Fodor in the battle of adopted brothers from Seattle
In Your Face Wrestling on 6/11 in Delanson, NY at the Duanesburg YMCA features Brutal Bob Evans and HC Loc.
I Believe in Wrestling from Saturday night in Orlando for the Florida J Cup: Jonny Vandal b Jay Rios, Kota Sekifuda b CT Brown, Aaron Epic b Slade Porter, Jon Cruz b Xander Vargas, JD Amazing & Brandon Scherer & Chico Adams b Braydon Knight & Tyranus & Josh Parker, Jonny Vandal b Kota Sekifuda, Aaron Epic b Jon Cruz, Santana Garrett & MJ Knight & Nova Girl b Queen Raquel (TNA) & Dominique Fabiano & Jenson Fratelli, Jonny Vandal b Aaron Epic to win tournament. Next show is 6/18 with Rhett Giddins vs. JD Amazing and Santana Garrett vs. Thea Trinidad (Rosita in TNA).
CWF presents a free wrestling show at Tim Horton’s on 145 Hazel Rd. in St. Catherines, ONT on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to support Tim Horton’s Camp Day 2016.
Another free event takes place tonight in the parking lot of Tim Horton’s at 1495 Regent Ave. in Winnipeg with donations accepted for Tim Horton’s Children Foundation to send underprivileged children to camp put on by Canadian Wrestling Elite..
Conflict Wrestling on 6/12 in Kitchener, ONT features a tribute show for Edith Marie Marsh, headlined by Will White vs. John Atlas and Kaitlin Diemond vs. Jennifer Blake.
CZW Tournament of Death on 6/11 in Townsend, DE at 2 p.m. at 179 Ebenzer Church Rd. features these tournament matches
Alex Colon vs. Danny Havoc in a light tube death match
Masada vs. Conor Claxton in a barbed wire madness match
Tim Donst vs. Rickey Shane Page in a stipulation of Donst’s choice match
Jeff Cannonball vs. Matt Tremont in a Home Run Derby match.
There will also be non-tournament matches including:
Devon Moore vs. Dale Patricks in a scaffold match
DJ Hyde vs. Josh Crane in a panes of glass match
Maryland Championship Wrestling on 6/10 in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena feature Jimmy’s Seafood Slamboree with Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Damien Sandow appearing at 6 p.m. for a meet and greet. Sandow will also wrestle on the show.
CWE from last night in Fort William, ONT: Jason Kincaid b Joe Keys, Silas Young b Robby Royce, Anderson Tyson Moore b Travis Cole to keep the CWE title, Lio Rush b Tyler Colton-DQ so Colton keeps the TV title, Danny Duggan b Wildman Firpo, Lio Rush & Jason Kincaid & Anderson Tyson Moore b Silas Young & Tyler Colton & Travis Cole. Next tour is 9/22 to 10/2 featuring Ethan Carter III.
St. Louis, Missouri: – Joe Stecher defeated Stanislaus Zbyszko for the World’s Heavyweight Wrestling Title
1943 Mexico City, Mexico: – Joe Silva defeated Adolfo Bonales to win the Mexico National Lightweight Title
1945 Toronto, Iowa: – Marshall Estep defeated Ken Fenelon for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
1956 Montreal, Quebec, Canada: – Killer Kowalski defeated Yvon Robert for the Montreal World Heavyweight Title
1963 Amarillo, Texas: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne drew with Amarillo World Champion Dory Funk Jr when the 60 minute time limit expired in the 3rd fall – Tokyo Tom beat Dory Funk Sr in 2 out of 3 falls – Bob Ellis & Wahoo McDaniel & Ricky Romero beat Killer Karl Kox & Mike DiBiase & Sputnik Monroe
Kansas City; Kansas: – In a Lumberjack match, Masked Medic #1 and Masked Medic #2 beat Steve Bolus and Steve Kovacs – Bob Geigel beat Sonny Myers – Larry Hamilton beat Roy Collins – Joe Scarpello beat Rock Hunter via dq
1964 Manchester, England: – Bobby Steele defeated Chick Purvey to win the European Middleweight Title
Mexico City, Mexico: – Benny Galant defeated El Rayo de Jalisco to win the NWA World Middleweight Title
1966 Memphis, Tennessee: – Herb Welch and Al Costello defeated Karl and Eric von Brauner in a tournament final to win the vacant Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Titles
1970 Minneapolis, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Dr. X on a reverse decision 3rd fall dq – Blackjack Lanza & Lars Anderson beat Red Bastien & Pepper Gomez
Memphis, Tennessee: – Bobby Hart defeated Johnny Valentine for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title
1973 Hamburg, Pennsylvania: – Tony Garea & Haystacks Calhoun defeated Professor Tanaka & Mr. Fuji for the WWWF World Tag Team Titles
1974 Kansas City; Kansas: – The Interns (w/ Dr. Ken Ramey) defeated Omar Atlas & The Viking – Bob Geigel & Rufus R. Jones defeated Bob Brown & Lord Alfred Hayes – Don Fargo defeated Mike George
1978 Osaka, Japan: – Antonio Inoki defeated Andre the Giant by countout to win the first-annual New Japan Pro Wrestling MSG League
1980 Denver, Colorado: – The Crusher beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel in a non Title Cage Match – Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Greg Gagne & Wahoo McDaniel – Jerry Blackwell went to a no contest with Dino Bravo
1981 San Juan, Puerto Rico: – Jack Brisco defeated Kim Song for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title
Charlotte, North Carolina – Sweet Ebony Diamond defeated Greg Valentine to win the NWA Television Title
1983 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: – Little Tokyo defeated Cowboy Lang for the NWA World Midgets Title
1984 Tampa, Florida: – Angelo Mosca defeated Mike Rotundo to win the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1986 Houston, Texas: – Terry Gordy defeated Hacksaw Duggan in a tournament final to win the UWF title
1986 Des Moines, Iowa: – The Shadow (Jaymie Knight) won a 13-man battle royal to win the vacant NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
Oakland, California: – Jerry Blackwell won a battle royal – Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko – in a non title match, Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
1996 Caguas, Puerto Rico: – Sean Morley (Val Venis) defeated El Bronco for the WWC Television Title
1998 – Hysteria defeated Vance Nevada to win the Canadian Wrestling Federation Junior Heavyweight Title
2000 Nampa, Idaho: – Sean Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo defeated Kronik (Brian Adams and Brian Clark) for the WCW World Tag Team Titles
2001 Santa Ana, California: – Evolution (Nova and Frankie Kazarian) won a tournament for the vacant UPW Tag Team Title
A battle of former UFC heavyweight champions was announced as the main event for UFC’s return to Germany.
Andrei Arlovski (25-12) will face Josh Barnett (34-8) in the main event on 9/3 in Hamburg, Germany at the Barclaycard Arena. The event will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass with a 2 pm eastern main card start time.
While both are long-term veterans of the sport, they have never faced each other in the past. Arlovski was back in title contention with a six-fight winning streak until losing his last two fights via knockout, a quick loss to new champion Stipe Miocic, and a knockout loss to next title contender Alistair Overeem.
Barnett suffered a shocking loss to Ben Rothwell on the January FOX show. While losing to Rothwell isn’t shocking, Barnett lost via submission, and Barnett was considered one of the best submission heavyweights in the world, having never lost via submission in MMA competition (he submitted once due to shoulder injury against Mirko Cro Cop, but never to an actually submission move), and, when facing some of the best grapplers in the world in grappling matches, he hadn’t lost via submission in more than 15 year, since a 2000 match with Ricardo Almeida, and from a skill standpoint, that wasn’t even the same guy.
Barnett is also a pro wrestler in Japan, although has not done pro wrestling in 17 months.
Byron Saxon was the host, ring announcer and bell ringer.
1. Kane & Big Show defeated Eric Rowan & Braun Strowman clean pinfall.
2. Sasha Banks defeated Summer Rae with the bank statement.
3. Baron Corbin defeated Cesaro via pinfall.
4. Rusev w/Lana defeated Sin Cara with the camel clutch.
5. Paige & Becky Lynch defeated Lana & Dana Brooks.
6. Vaudevillians vs. Shining Stars vs. New Day in an elimination match: Vaudevillians first to be eliminated by Shining Stars and then New Day defeated Shining Stars.
7. Alberto Del Rio vs. Dean Ambrose: Dean Ambrose won via pinfall.
Best spots of the night were in the Ambrose match also. (Dean superplexed ADR off the top rope. Also Dean flew threw the middle ropes onto ADR on the floor.)
Overall a very entertaining show and the crowd seemed very pleased with the talent’s efforts.
WWE is not taking its somewhat perilous competition situation lying down.
John Cena was on NBC’s The Today Show Monday in New York, a mainstream promo stop before he was to head to Green Bay, WI, to return on Raw later Monday night. The appearance was to promote his return as a special thing.
But is a hot dog a sandwich?
Given the second and third hours are going head-to-head with the seventh game of the Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA playoff semifinal, and the game one of the Stanley Cup finals, this will be the toughest competition Raw will face from other programming in 2016 until the Olympics later this year.
The question becomes where to place Cena on the show. The first hour is the only one not against the game, but the first hour on Memorial Day weekend is often low. But if Cena is on early and he’s not in the main event segment as well, it could lead to a big falloff late in the show due to the competition.
The NBA finals, which will affect ratings far more than the Stanley Cup, open on Thursday against Smackdown. Games five and six will be on June 13 and June 16, so if needed, they would go against Raw and Smackdown that week. The expectation is a Golden State vs. Cleveland finals rematch will do monstrous numbers because of the stars involved (LeBron James, Steph Curry, etc).
If there is a game seven needed, it would go head-to-head with Money in the Bank, but that’s not as big a deal with the network economy as it would be with the PPV economy.
