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

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

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

    Coverage provided by Dave Meltzer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Scores:  All three had it 29-28 Namajunas

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

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

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

  • Daily pro wrestling history (04/16): Chris Benoit wins Super J Cup; Roddy Piper wins NWA US Title

    1943

    St. Joseph, Missouri:
    – Orville Brown beat Abe (King Kong) Kashey 
    – Jimmy Coffield drew Ronnie Etchison 
    – Sailor Fred Blassie drew Al Getz 
    – Wild Bill Dusen beat Bad Boy Brown (dq)

    1959

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Lou Thesz beat Dick Hutton 
    – Bob Ellis and Roy McClarity beat The Australian Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) 
    – Farmer Don Marlin beat Lee Henning (DQ) 
    – Otto Von Krupp beat Tommy O’Toole 
    – Jim LaRock beat “Wild” Red Berry

    1960 

    – Jerry & Eddie Graham defeated Red & Lou Bastien to win the NWA Northeast United States Tag Team Titles

    1964

    Moline, Illinois:
    – AWA World Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher defeated Verne Gagne & Wilbur Snyder

    1970

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – K.O. Cox defeated Tor Kamata
    – Rufus R. Jones defeated Killer Cox
    – Baron Von Raschke defeated Gino Caruso
    – Harley Race & Roger Kirby fought Danny Little Bear & Tommy Martin to a double-CO in three falls
    – World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk, Jr. fought The Stomper to a draw in three falls (60:00)

    1977 

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
    – Verne Gagne & the Crusher beat AWA Tag Team Champions Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum (Bob Backlund was special referee, No title change, illegal man being pinned)
    – Bill Francis & Russ Francis & Greg Gagne beat Jimmy Valiant & Lord Alfred Hayes & Roger Kirby
    – Bobby Heenan beat Ray Stevens dq
    – Billy Robinson beat Moose Morowski
    – Frank Hill beat George Gadaski

    1978

    Macon, Georgia:
    – Dusty Rhodes beat Stan Hansen
    – Mr Wrestling II beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
    – Ole Anderson & Lars Anderson beat Rocky Johnson & Adrian Adonis (sub Wahoo McDaniel)
    – Abdullah The Butcher beat Tommy Rich
    – Jacques Goulet beat Pierre Lefebvre
    – Paul Ellering beat Ken Dillinger

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – Dusty Rhodes beat Superstar Billy Graham
    – Thunderbolt Patterson & Rocky Johnson beat Ole Anderson & Ernie Ladd
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mr. Wrestling II
    – Georgia Champion Stan Hansen beat Ric Flair
    – Abdullah The Butcher beat Tommy Rich
    – Raymond Rougeau & Pez Whatley beat Wolfgang Schmidt & Helmut Schmidt
    – Adrian Adonis beat John Ruggers

    1981

    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
    – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel via reverse decision
    – Baron Von Raschke & The Crusher no contest Jerry Blackwell & John Studd
    – Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis
    – Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal
    – Brad Rheingans drew Tito Santana
    – Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe

    1983 

    Chicago, Illinois:
    – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler 
    – Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura & Bobby Heenan
    – Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell dq
    – Wahoo McDaniel beat Sheik Adnan
    – Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter beat Judy Martin & Velvet McIntyre
    – Rick Martel beat John Tolos
    – Brad Rheingans beat Rocky Stone

    1983 

    Charlotte, North Carolina:
    – Roddy Piper defeated Greg Valentine to win the NWA United States Championship

    1994

    Tokyo, Japan:
    – Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) defeated Great Sasuke to win the Super J Cup

    2000 

    WCW Spring Stampede: Chicago, Illinois:
    – Chris Candido defeated The Artist, Juventud Guerrera, Shannon Moore, Lash Leroux and Crowbar to win the vacant WCW Cruiserweight Title
    – Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell defeated Ric Flair & Lex Luger to win the vacant WCW Tag Title
    – Scott Steiner defeated Sting to win the vacant U.S. Title
    – Jeff Jarrett defeated Diamond Dallas Page to win the vacant WCW World Title

  • UFC on FOX 19 Observer Panel Picks : Teixeira vs Evans

    After our panel took a beating at UFC 196, we’ve taken a month and a bit to regroup and we’re back for the UFC’s return to big FOX. This card looks a lot different than it did when it was originally scheduled and really may be the weakest overall card in FOX history in terms of star power. But it’s UFC and with a sporadic schedule the last six weeks, I know that I at least am jonesing for some UFC action.

    At least two  fights on the card should have title implications in the next year or so with the Tecia Torres-Rose Namajunas fight probably determining the next strawweight contender and the Beneil Dariush and Mike Chiesa fight sending one of them into the top 5. The main event is two men on the downsides of their careers but still top contenders. A title fight for either of Rashad Evans or Glover Teixeira would be a tough sell but an impressive performance from one of them, particularly Evans, could spark some interest in a title program, should they need a challenger on short notice. The remaining two fights we’ll be picking from are between top 15 contenders in both the featherweight and women’s bantamweight divisions.

    Here’s our panel with the 2016 records in parenthesis. We’ve also added a running tally of the records of the favorites going into the fights and the panel consensus picks 

    • John Pollock (20-10; .667) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
    • Mike Sawyer (18-12; .600) – Tough Talk MMA
    • Josh Nason (18-12; .600) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
    • Mike Sempervive (17-13; .567) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
    • David Bixenspan (17-13; .567) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
    • Consensus picks (15-13; .536)
    • Ryan Frederick (16-14; .533) – WrestlingObserver.com UFC reporter, WON Twitter guy
    • Favorites (16-14; .533)
    • Dave Meltzer (15-15; .500)– Wrestling Observer founder
    • Steve Juon (15-15; .500) – MMA Mania/Wrestling Observer writer. Angry Marks founder
    • Front Row Brian (13-17; .433) – MMA newsbreaker, Beloved internet personality, Podcast host
    • Paul Fontaine (12-18; .400) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer

    Main Event – Light Heavyweights Rashad Evans (19-4-1) vs Glover Teixeira (21-4)

    Evans has only been stopped one time in his long career, having been knocked out in a title loss versus Lyoto Machida in 2009. He’s coming off a decision loss against Ryan Bader which snapped a two fight win streak for the former champion and TUF Season 2 winner. Glover Teixeira took this fight on just a couple week’s notice and agreed to a five round stipulation. He’s hoping it won’t go that long as 11 of his last 12 wins have been by stoppage. It seems likely that Evans will ether outpoint his way to a decision win or Glover will hand Rashad the second stoppage loss of his career.

    Evans – FRB, Sempervive

    Teixeira (moderate favorite)  – Juon, Frederick, Fontaine, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Bix, Meltzer

    Strawweights Tecia Torres (7-0) vs Rose Namajunas (4-2)

    This is a rematch of a 2013 fight in Invicta that Torres won by decision. Despite that and also despite Torres still being unbeaten in her career, Namajunas comes in as the higher ranked fighter. Torres did have two losses in the TUF 20 strawweight tournament but those were not considered official fights and are not counted against her record. It’s interesting to note that all of her career fights have gone the distance. By contrast, “Thug” Rose has submissions in every one of her pro wins. She had a star-making performance last time out against Paige VanZant in the main event of a Fight Pass  show in December. This fight was bumped to the co-main position after Lyoto Machida was pulled from his fight with Dan Henderson after a violation of the UFC’s drug policy.

    Namajunas (moderate favorite) – Juon, Fontaine, FRB, Pollock, Nason, Bix, Meltzer

    Torres –   Frederick, Sawyer, Sempervive

    Featherweights Cub Swanson (21-7) vs Hacran Dias (23-3-1)

    Since a 2011 loss to Ricardo Lamas, Swanson has only lost twice and both were to top 5 fighters Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. Along the way, he’s beaten the likes of Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver, Ross Pearson and Dustin Poirier, among others. But he did take a beating at the hands of Edgar and how he fares in this fight could show just how much that took out of him. Against lesser competition than Swanson has face, Dias is just 3-2 in UFC but he is on a two fight win streak. He scored a split decision win over Levan Makashvili in his last fight, which followed a dreadfully boring decision win over Darren Elkins.

    Swanson (slight favorite) – Fontaine, FRB, Frederick, Sawyer, Nason, Sempervive, Bix, Meltzer

    Dias  – Juon, Pollock

    Lightweights Mike Chiesa (13-2) vs Beneil Dariush (12-1)

    This might be the most interesting fight on the card. Both are rising contenders just under the elite in the stacked 155 lb division. Both have recent wins over veteran Jim Miller, a tough out for anyone. Chiesa has a little more UFC experience and is a former TUF winner but Dariush has faced a higher level of competition in his 7 UFC fights. He most recently beat top 5 contender (at the time) Michael Johnson. The winner here should move into the top 5 or at the very least get a top 5 opponent next time out. Dariush is a training partner of the lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos and is on record as saying he won’t fight him.

    Dariush (moderate favorite) – Fontaine, Sawyer, Sempervive, Bix, Meltzer

    Cheisa – Juon, Frederick, FRB, Pollock, Nason

    Women’s Bantamweights Bethe Correia (9-1) vs Raquel Pennington (6-5)

    Just looking at the records here, you’d almost think this was a mismatch and it might be…just in the other direction. Correia worked her way through Ronda Rousey’s 4 Horsewomen and talked her way into a title shot but was dismantled by the former champion in vicious fashion. Pennington, meanwhile, took Holly Holm to the limit in a fight many feel she actually won. That loss looks a lot better with hindsight. She followed that up with a submission victory over Jessica Andrade last September to cement her top 10 status in the division. This is an important fight for both as they are just outside the fringe of title contention.

    Correia – FRB

    Pennington (moderate favorite) – Juon, Frederick, Fontaine, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Sempervive, Bix, Meltzer

    We’ll have coverage of the entire show on the site starting at 4:30 pm eastern with the Fight Pass prelims with action moving over to FOX for 8 fights starting at 6 pm. In the meantime, check out the UFC on FOX 19 Draft Kings Playbook. If you missed the weigh-ins yesterday, we’ve got you covered there as well.

  • Ascension member Konnor, Adam Rose fail Wellness tests

    The WWE announced this morning that Ray Leppan (Adam Rose) and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) have both been suspended for 60 days for a second Wellness program violation.

    The suspension is effective immediately.

    All violations are supposed to be announced publicly.

    Both men were not on the current tour but did work the television tapings earlier in the week.  The Ascension lost in the tag team tournament taped Tuesday in a first round match to Enzo & Big Cass.

    WWE has in the past delayed suspensions to tie up booking issues and in the case of these two there wouldn’t have been the need for much of a delay.

    Parmeter (Konnor) was suspended on a Wellness policy violation the first time in 2006 and Leppan (Rose) was suspended on a Wellness policy violation the first time in 2013.

    Rose is part of the Social Outcasts group, but only Heath Slater and Bo Dallas were sent to Dubai.  It is possible that Los Matadores, who haven’t been used of late and are already doing vignettes for a new gimmick without masks, were on that same tour as replacements because The Ascension would have fit into that spot.

    Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez will discuss this on tonight’s new edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

  • Makhachev fails USADA drug test, fight against Drew Dober canceled

    Yet another fight was eliminated from what has become a snake-bit UFC show on FOX tomorrow.

    The Islam Makhachev vs. Drew Dober fight is off because shortly after weigh-ins, UFC was informed by USADA that Makhachev had a potential anti-doping violation involving Meldonium, which is listed as of this year as a banned performance enhancing agent.

    Meldonium was developed clinically for heart ailments like angina, but like insulin, was discovered to have performance enhancing properties.  Like Insulin, it has been listed since the start of the year as a banned Metabolic Modulator.  It is the same drug the tennis star Maria Sharapova was recently suspended for.

    This marks the second fight on the show in the last three days to be canceled due to the anti-doping policy, the other being the Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson fight, as Machida was suspended for admitting usage of a substance that he didn’t realize was on the banned list which contained DHEA.

    Last week the scheduled main event with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson full through due to a training injury suffered by Ferguson.

    The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting and confirmed by a UFC release tonight.

  • WOL: Dr. Lucha talks Lucha Underground, CMLL, AAA, more, plus news!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with special guest Dr. Lucha Steve Sims to talk all the news south of the border: CMLL, AAA, ELITE, Lucha Underground and more! Plus, the latest news on John Cena, Undertaker, HHH lacing up the boots again and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

    Right click save

  • WWE Global Cruiserweight matches announced for Evolve and Progress

    Today WWE announced qualifying matches for their Global Cruiserweight series.

    Announced for the Evolve show on 5/7 in Queens, NY, with Drew Gulak vs. Tracy Williams and Fred Yehi vs. TJ Perkins.  Gulak and Williams are the current Evolve tag team champions.  The show takes place at La Boom in Queens, NY and will air on iPPV at www.WWNlive.com

    Also, announced for the PROGRESS on Sunday April 24th in Camden Town, London, Zach Sabre Jr. will face Flash Morgan Webster.  Jack Gallagher will go up against “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne.

    The names WWE has announced thus far for the tournament are Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Noam Dar, Akira Tozawa, Ho Ho Lun and Lince Dorado.  Swann, Ciampa and Gargano are already under contract to WWE.  Dar is an independent wrestler from the U.K., Tozawa is a star with Dragon Gate, Lun is from Hong Kong and Dorado is a Florida-based Lucha style independent wrestler.

  • Daily pro wrestling history (04/15): Stainslaus Zbyszko wins World Title; Sandman wins ECW World Title

    1925 

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
    – Stainslaus Zbyszko defeated Wayne Munn to win the World Heavyweight Title 
    – Johnny Meyers defeated Len Talaber for the World Middleweight Title

    1933 

    Brisbane, Australia:
    – Billy Meeske defeated Joe Dawson to win the Australian Heavyweight Title 

    1943 

    Montreal, Quebec, Canada:
    – John Katan defeated Yvon Robért for the Montreal World Heavyweight Title

    1946 

    Hollywood, California;
    – Danny McShain defeated Ernie Piluso win the World Light Heavyweight Title

    1958 

    Dallas, Texas:
    – Fritz Von Erich defeated Bull Curry for the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title 
    – Omaya Kato won the NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Title from Larry Chene

    1959

    Honolulu, Hawaii:
    – Joe Blanchard and Lord James Blears defeated Koukichi Endo and Rikidozan to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Titles

    1960 

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – Fred Blassie defeated Dick Gunkel (subbing for Ray Gunkel) for the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title

    Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
    – Oattem Fisher and Luther Lindsay defeated John Foti and Don Kindred for the Stampede International Tag Team Titles

    1961

    Honolulu, Hawaii:
    – Luigi Macera defeated Sam Steamboat to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title 

    1963 

    – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz defeated “Jersey” Joe Walcott in the fifth round of a wrestler vs. boxer match

    1968

    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:
    – The Assassins (Jody Hamilton and Tom Renesto) defeated Don Leo Jonathan and Sky Hi Jones (Grizzly Smith) for the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles

    1969

    Tampa, Florida:
    – Ciclón Negro defeated Hans Mortier to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title 

    1971

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Bob Orton defeated Ronnie Etchison
    – Baron Von Heisinger defeated Bobby Whitlock
    – The Great Sakaguchi fought Pat O’Connor to a draw
    – North American Tag Team Champions Bob Geigel & The Stomper defeated Harley Race & Baron Von Raschke via CO in three falls
    – Texas Death Match: Danny Little Bear defeated Dory Funk, Sr.

    1972

    Chicago, Illinois:
    – Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan beat the Crusher & Bill Watts
    – Billy Robinson no contest Ivan Koloff
    – Dusty Rhodes beat Bull Bullinski
    – Wilbur Snyder beat Big K
    – Moose Cholak beat Chris Markoff
    – Paul Christy beat Treach Phillips

    1974

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Jerry Lawler defeated Tommy Gilbert for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title 

    Shreveport, Louisiana:
    – Siegfried Steinke and Bob Sweetan defeated Bob Kelly and Rocket Monroe for the Gulf Coast NWA United States Tag Team Titles

    1977 

    Huntsville, Alabama:
    – The Executioner defeated Ken Lucas for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title 

    1983 

    St. Louis, Missouri:
    – Jerry Blackwell defeated Kerry Von Erich to win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title 

    Austin, Texas:
    – Adrian Adonis defeated Bob Sweetan for the Southwest Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title 

    1985

    Nagasaki, Japan:
    – Takashi Ishikawa and Akio Sato defeated Animal Hamaguchi and Masanobu Kurisu to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles

    1985 

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – The PYT Express (Norvell Austin and Koko Ware) won the AWA Southern Tag Team Title by defeating The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and
    Stan Lane) 

    1989 

    San Juan, Puerto Rico:
    – Invader I defeated Abdullah the Butcher for the WWC North American Heavyweight Title 

    Portland, Oregon:
    – The Grappler (Len Denton) defeated Carl Styles to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title 

    1991

    WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event: Omaha, Nebraska:
    – The Ultimate Warrior defeated Sgt. Slaughter by disqualification 
    – WWF Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) to retain the title
    – Ted DiBiase (with Sensational Sherri) and Bret Hart fought to a double-countout
    – The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) pinned Tito Santana 
    – WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect won a 20-man battle royal

    1995 

    ECW Hostile City Showdown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
    – Mikey Whipwreck pinned Stevie Richards (with Raven)
    – Tsubo Genjin pinned Tony Stetson 
    – Ian Rotten pinned Axl Rotten in a Bad Breed Death match 
    – Tommy Dreamer fought Raven (with Beulah McGillicutty and Stevie Richards) to a no-contest 
    – ECW World Television Champion Eddie Guerrero fought Dean Malenko to a 30-minute time-limit draw to retain the title
    – The Sandman pinned ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas (with Woman) to win the title

    1995

    Tokyo, Japan:
    – Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Akira Taue to win the annual AJPW Champion’s Carnival

    Mexico City, Mexico:
    – Rey Misterio, Jr., Super Muñeco and Octagón defeated Tony Arce, Rocco Valente and Vulcano to win the Mexican National Trios Title

    1996

    San Bernardino, California:
    – Savio Vega defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust (with Marlena) to win the title (WWF President Gorilla Monsoon held up the title and scheduled a rematch the following week)

    Memphis, Tennessee:
    – Samantha defeated Miss Texas (Jackie Moore) to win the USWA Women’s Title 

    2001

    Tokyo, Japan: 
    – Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Yoshihiro Takayama in the finals of a 16-man tournament to become Pro Wrestling NOAH’s first GHC Heavyweight Champion

    2006

    Cleveland, Virginia:
    – Tracy Smothers defeated Stan Lee to win the NWA All-Star Wrestling Heavyweight Title 

    Carolina, Puerto Rico:
    – Romeo Roselli defeated El Bronco for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title 

    Bayamón, Puerto Rico:
    – Mr. Big and Cruzz defeated Thunder and Lightning to win the IWA World Tag Team Titles

    2007 

    TNA Lockdown: St. Charles, Missouri:
    – Team 3D defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions The Latin American Exchange to win the title
    – TNA X Division Champion Chris Sabin defeated Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal (with Kevin Nash), Shark Boy and Alex Shelley in an Escape match to retain the title
    – Robert Roode (with Ms. Brooks and Eric Young) pinned Petey Williams 
    – Gail Kim pinned Jackie Moore 
    – Senshi pinned Austin Starr 
    – James Storm pinned Chris Harris in a blindfold match 
    – Christopher Daniels pinned Jerry Lynn
    – Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino, Samoa Joe and Sting) defeated Team Cage (NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage, Abyss (with James Mitchell), Scott Steiner, A.J. Styles and Tomko) in a Lethal Lockdown match

    2012

    TNA Lockdown: Nashville, Tennessee:
    – Lethal Lockdown Match: Garett Bischoff & AJ Styles & Rob Van Dam & Mr. Anderson & TNA X-Division champ Austin Aries defeated Eric Bischoff & Gunner & Bully Ray & Kazarian & Christopher Daniels
    – TNA Tag Team champions Samoa Joe & Magnus defeated The Motor City Machineguns to retain the titles
    – TNA TV champion Devon defeated Robbie E to retain the title
    – TNA Knockouts champion Gail Kim defeated Velvet Sky to retain the title
    – Crimson defeated Matt Morgan
    – Jeff Hardy defeated Kurt Angle
    – TNA champion Bobby Roode defeated James Storm to retain the title

  • Rafael dos Anjos will defend UFC title against Eddie Alvarez

    UFC’s attempts to build the audience of Fight Pass with bigger fights continued with the announcement of the first men’s title fight as an exclusive in the U.S. on the service.

    The company announced that its Fight Pass exclusive show on July 7, which is the Thursday of UFC 200 weekend and the first of three straight nights of fight shows in Las Vegas, would be headlined by Rafael dos Anjos vs. Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title.

    The show takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.  UFC will run the Grand Garden Arena on Thursday night with the lightweight title fight, then will run Friday night in the same building for the TUF finals and a strawweight title fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk defending against Claudia Gadelha in a fight that will be built up starting this coming week as the two are rival coaches on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter that debuts on FS 1 on Wednesday night.  The Friday show also features the TUF tournament finals which will be men’s light heavyweight fighters and women strawweight fighters.

    UFC 200 will take place on July 9 at the T-Mobile Arena, which is basically across the street and will be the new premiere destination for the biggest events in the city with a 20,000-seat set up.  That show will feature three major main events, with Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz in a rematch of their 3/5 fight, plus Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title and Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title.  It will be promoted as the biggest UFC event in history, and also has such undercard fights as Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne, Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum, Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson, Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez and Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Pena.

    UFC’s annual convention and the International Fight Week convention also take place that week in Las Vegas.

    The UFC’s Hall of Fame ceremony will also be taking place that weekend.

    This is essentially UFC’s version of WrestleMania weekend.

  • John Cena’s American Grit least watched show of the big 4 networks

    The debut of “American Grit,” the reality show hosted by John Cena, did not make a ratings splash last night.

    The show was the least watched show of the four major networks last night, doing 2.43 million viewers and an 0.8 rating in the key 18-49 demo.  Of the major broadcast networks, it only beat out the CW programming for the night.  Of the four broadcast network shows going head-to-head, the lowest rated in the time slot was NBC, which ran The Blacklist doing 6.56 million viewers and a 1.3 in the demo.  The highest rated was Grey’s Anatomy on ABC which did 7.97 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the demo.

    The other bad news for the show is that it barely did half the audience of its lead in, Bones, which did 4.36 million viewer and a 0.9 in the demo.