Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight with tons of news! Dada 5000 health update, whether anything is going on with CM Punk, a full Fast Lane WWE PPV review, UFC Fight Night, tons of WWE and UFC news notes, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back with our post-Fastlane rundown, all the matches and angles — well, all the matches — leading to the WWE’s biggest show of the year! Plus, Vinny watches KIMBO VS. DADA 5000. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today to talk all the news from the weekend, most notably Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000, Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock, the WWE Fast Lane pre-show and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Welcome to the F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of WWE FastLane! Tonight’s show takes place at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio, which traditionally means bad news for The Miz. The last stop before WWE Wrestlemania is here with the winner of tonight’s triple threat main event going to the big show to face WWE World Champion Triple H.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show as well as Friday’s Bellator show, so you can leave a thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle plus a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.
Your main card:
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
WWE Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch vs Tamina Snuka/Naomi
Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles
Big Show/Ryback/Kane vs. The Wyatts (Braun Strowman/Erick Rowan/Luke Harper)
WWE U.S. Champion Kalisto vs. Alberto del Rio (2/3 falls, kickoff show)
Also, Edge and Christian will interview WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day to help promo the debut of their new show after Fastlane.
This is just the second ever Fastlane after last year’s debut show at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN. On that show, Reigns took on the recently retired Daniel Bryan in a no. 1 contender’s match. Also on that show. then-U.S. Champion Rusev downed John Cena by DQ, and Sting had a confrontation with HHH.
KALISTO VS. ALBERTO DEL RIO FOR THE U.S. TITLE 2/3 FALLS
Del Rio was disqualified in the first fall for hitting Kalisto with a chair as Kalisto went for a springboard move. Del Rio won the second fall with a double foot stomp. The third fall saw Del Rio miss the double foot stomp after doing it outside the ring. Kalisto flipped Del Rio into the corner and schoolboyed him to take the third fall and retain. This was a good match.
SASHA BANKS & BECKY LYNCH VS. NAOMI & TAMINA
Banks & Lynch won with a double submission with Banks with the bank statement on Tamina while Lynch used the disarmer on Naomi. The first part of the match was pretty sloppy with Lynch getting beaten on but it got good when Banks was in. Banks kicked out of the rear view and was also saved by Lynch when Tamina used a superkick. The impression with the double win to me would be a three-way at Mania, but we’ll see.
KEVIN OWENS VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER FOR THE IC TITLE
Good match. The crowd was pretty hot with it being in Cleveland which is Ziggler’s home town. Owens retained and they said they were on the road to KO Mania. There was some commentary talking about how Owens never beat Ambrose to win the title. The finish was clean with Ziggler missing a superkick and Owens using the pop up power bomb.
BIG SHOW & KANE & RYBACK VS. BRAUN STROWMAN & ERICK ROWAN & LUKE HARPER
Show & Kane & Ryback won when Ryback pinned Harper clean with the shellshock. The match was better than it sounds as it was solid even when Strowman and Rowan were in. Show pressed Harper overhead and three him out of the ring on Rowan & Strowman. It wasn’t a complete press. Show then gave Strowman a great looking spear on the floor.
Roman Reigns did a promo with JoJo. The fans booed him a lot. He vowed to win and said a lot of things will change with he and Ambrose. Ambrose showed up and was cheered heavily. Ambrose said one of them will be on the road to WrestleMania and the other will have to hitchhike. Amborse said he’s already booked his travel on Priceline. Amborse said that Lesnar won’t win but one of us will.
CHARLOTTE VS. BRIE BELLA FOR THE DIVAS TITLE
The crowd was super behind Brie because of the Daniel Bryan sympathy. In fact, they were super into this late, more than anything on the show so far when she got a near fall with the X-factor, as well as near submissions with the Yes lock and a half crab. The story is that Brie hurt her left leg doing a missile dropkick, and she couldn’t continue the half crab and Charlotte powered out and Brie caught her neck on the roipes. Charlotte then won with the figure eight. Again, better than you’d think. Rough early but the last few minutes were quite good.
Chris Jericho did an interview and said Styles’ future rides in his hands because if he loses review to him it’ll be his second straight loss and it could derail him. He made the wins and losses aspect of this match feel important.
A.J. STYLES VS. CHRIS JERICHO
As far as the layout and intensith at the finish, this was great. The crowd was super into it with dueling chants early as well as into it big the last few minutes. Some spots were scary, some in a good way and just being off on a couple of spots inlcuding a Jericho power bomb spot where he dropped Styles in a scary way. Some good innovative spots including a Styles plancha into a dropkick by Jericho on the floor. The finish saw Jericho kick out of the Styles clash, which was weird doing it this early, and then Styles put him in the calf crusher and Jericho. Jericho did a tremendous job selling the submission before he tapped.
After the match Jericho stared him down and teased attacking him. Jericho pulled back his fist and AJ respohnded but then Jericho offered his hand.
Edge & Christian were out with The New Day. Edge & Christian plugged their TV show and Edge said he wanted to get serious for a minute and referenced Lance Storm. The crowd chanted “JNew Day Rocks.” Edge said when you showed up at first I’ve never seem so much chocolate sound so vanilla. Said they copied every Edge & Christian segment, replacing awesomeness with booty, sunglasses with unicorn horns. Said we don’t rip on sports teams and then said LeBooty James will never win a title in this city. They made fun of Kingston dropping his Jamaican accent. Who is better than the New Day. Made fun of Ascension, Usos, Dudleys and the League of Booty. Seemed to push League of Nations vs. New Day. Woods said say they’re trying to stir the pot but we already cooked the meal Woods called the League of Nations are hot garbage. Woods said we’ll say it to their face if they were here. Then all four of them came out and we’ve got a new program. The New Day left. King Barrett then threatened Edge & Christian. Sheamus called them hip replacement candidates and Justin Beiber candidates. Del Rio said I kicked your ass an forced you to retire. Edge joked he did more in the last five years than Del Rio. Edge & Christian left the ring and called them the International House of Dumbassees. They plugged their show right after Fast Lane. Edge & Christian had some great lines in this, but it went way too long.
R-TRUTH VS. CURTIS AXEL
The other three Outcasts were running around the ring. Goldust came out. Goldust threw Slater into the barricade and threw Adam Rose into the ring. Rose being in the ring distracted R-Truth and Axel pinned him with a schoolboy with tights. R-Truth was mad at Goldust when it was over. It was over in 2:00.
The Vince face on the award makes it seem like it’s an angle to show up Vince.
BROCK LESNAR VS. ROMAN REIGNS VS. DEAN AMBROSE
Crazy great match. Lesnar destroyed both of them with German suplexes early until he made a mistake and then The Shield power bombed Lesnar through a table. When Lesnar started to recover they put him through a second table. The crowd was super into Ambrose vs. Reigns and they were great working together. The crowd was completely behind Ambrose of course. Reigns was booed heavily here and Lesnar was cheered the most of the three. Reigns kicked out of Dirty Deeds. Reigns had Ambrose up for the Samoan drop when Lesnar German suplexed both. Ambrose landed right on Reigns’ head. The finish saw Reigns hit the spear on Lesnar, but Lesnar, who was booked as a Super monster, grabbed a Kimura. Reigns was about to tap but powered Lesnar up. Ambrose came in and nailed both guys with about five chair shots each. Lesnar rolled out of the ring. Reigns then hit the spear on Ambrose for the pin.
The show ended with Reigns and HHH in the ring doing a staredown with the Mania sign in the background.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 83: Cowboy vs. Cowboy from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event is headlined by a five-round bout in the UFC’s welterweight division as former lightweight title challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone moves up to 170 pounds to take on Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira in a battle of fighters sharing the same nickname. Oliveira is a late replacement for Cerrone’s original opponent, Tim Means, who was pulled from the bout due to a potential violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 5:30 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
HEAVYWEIGHTS- ANTHONY HAMILTON (14-4, 2-2 UFC) VS. SHAMIL ABDURAKHIMOV (15-3, 0-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Abdurakhimov lands an uppercut. Aburdakhimov throws Hamilton to the ground and lands some punches but Hamilton gets up. Uppercuts from Abdurakhimov in the clinch. They trade punches and Abdurakhimov lands a spin kick. More uppercuts from Abdurakhimov and then lands a left hand. They clinch for a moment with nothing happening. Abdurakhimov lands two right hands and they clinch. Hamilton is able to land a big right hand. They clinch and both land knees. Hamilton with a right hand before the break. 10-9 Abdurakhimov.
ROUND 2- Both men land some punches and Hamilton lands some good ones. Abdurakhimov lands a nice combo and an uppercut. Abdurakhimov ducks a punch but misses a takedown attempt but is able to land some uppercuts. They clinch and both land short knees. They break and Abdurakhimov lands a short left hook. Hamilton with a leg kick then a side kick to the body. Hamilton misses some punches and they clinch against the fence. Abdurakhimov with some uppercuts and escapes the clinch. 10-9 Abdurakhimov, 20-18 Abdurakhimov.
ROUND 3- Hamilton misses some punches and they clinch. Abdurakhimov is cut on the head, possibly from a headbutt. They break the clinch. Abdurakhimov lands a big jab. Hamilton goes for some punches but Abdurakhimov ducks and they clinch. Nothing happens before the break. Hamilton lands a right hand. Abdurakhimov lands a big right hand and Hamilton counters with body punches. They clinch and Abdurakhimov with a big knee followed by uppercuts. They clinch again as both men are tired. Body punches from both men. Uppercuts from Abdurakhimov and they break. Abdurakhimov lands a spinning back fist and a solid jab. Hamilton lands a right hand. Better round from Hamilton but this fight belongs to Abdurakhimov. 10-9 Abdurakhimov, 30-27 Abdurakhimov.
Official Result- Shamil Abdurakhimov def. Anthony Hamilton by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHTS- LAUREN MURPHY (8-2, 0-2 UFC) VS. KELLY FASZHOLZ (3-0, 0-0 UFC)
ROUND 1- Faszholz took this fight earlier this week as an injury replacement. Faszholz lands a right hand early on. Faszholz landing early. They clinch against the fence. Faszholz lands a Superwoman punch that knocks Murphy to the mat. Murphy gets up and lands a leg kick but Faszholz is able to continue landing punches on Murphy. More right hands from Faszholz. Murphy comes back and lands a big right hand and lands some more. She has Faszholz in trouble. Faszholz bleeding out of her nose as they clinch against the fence. Murphy with knees to the legs of Faszholz. Great round. Murphy made a rally but still belongs to the short-notice fighter. 10-9 Faszholz.
ROUND 2- Faszholz lands an overhand right and they clinch against the fence. Murphy reverses position and both landing knees. Both ladies land a bunch of punches as they trade. Faszholz is bleeding quite a bit. Faszholz with a high kick. Faszholz lands some nice punches. Faszholz lands a big right hand. Murphy lands two big right hands. They trade punches. Murphy with a leg kick and right hand and then another. They clinch. Murphy with knees and short uppercuts against the fence. Faszholz lands some body punches. Murphy with a front kick and Faszholz catches the leg and gets a brief takedown just before the round ends. 10-9 Murphy, 19-19.
ROUND 3- Both ladies come out quick with strikes as this round could decide it. Murphy with a right hand and ducks and scores a takedown and is in the guard of Faszholz. Murphy with some body punches from the top position. Murphy with more short punches from the top as she is suffocating from the top position. Faszholz bleeding heavily on the bottom. Murphy pushes the fight against the fence and lands more heavy punches from the top. Murphy looks to pass guard as she continues with punches from the top. Murphy switches to landing elbows to the head and body. Murphy passes and takes the back and has mount and is landing big from the top. Murphy laying on a beating this round. Murphy with elbows from the top and looking to finish with seconds left in the fight. More big punches from the top by Murphy. She finishes it with just seconds left! Big TKO win for Murphy in a dominant round.
Official Result- Lauren Murphy def. Kelly Faszholz by TKO (strikes) at 4:55 of Round 3
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHTS- (#12) MARION RENEAU (6-2, 2-1 UFC) VS. ASHLEE EVANS-SMITH (3-1, 0-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Reneau with a front kick to start. Evans-Smith with a body kick. Reneau with a straight left. Evans-Smith with a body kick and Reneau counters with a combo. They trade punches and Evans-Smith with a nice combo and body kick. Reneau with a big right hand that hurts Evans-Smith and she starts teeing off for a finish. Evans-Smith survives and escapes. Evans-Smith with a body kick. Reneau with a head kick. Reneau with a leg kick. Evans-Smith with a body kick and then another. Evans-Smith with a front kick and then another but Reneau catches it and takes her down. Reneau grabs a guillotine choke and looks for the finish but the bell sounds and saves Evans-Smith. 10-9 Reneau.
ROUND 2- They trade punches. Reneau with a leg kick and Evans-Smith counters with a body kick. They trade punches. Reneau with a body kick. They trade punches as the pace has slowed a little. Reneau with a big right hand. Reneau with a leg kick and Evans-Smith lands one in a counter. Reneau with more body kicks as this has turned into a sparring fight. Evans-Smith with a body kick. Evans-Smith with a combo. Reneau with a left hook. Close round. 10-9 Reneau, 20-18 Reneau.
ROUND 3- Reneau with a leg kick and Evans-Smith counters with a body kick. They trade kicks. Reneau with a right hand. Reneau with a big leg kick. Reneau with a left hook and a front kick but Evans-Smith catches the leg and throws Reneau to the mat. Evans-Smith looking to go in the guard and kicks the legs of the downed Reneau. Quick stand-up of Reneau by the referee. That was a terrible call. Reneau with a leg kick. They trade leg kicks. Evans-Smith with a body kick and catches a kick attempt from Reneau. They trade kicks and Reneau attacks the legs. They trade punches. Evans-Smith starts a clinch against the fence and lands a big elbow. Evans-Smith with some knees and an elbow and both land on the break. Close final round. 10-9 Evans-Smith, 29-28 Reneau.
Official Result- Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Marion Reneau by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-27)
OK, that is a bad, bad decision. There was no way Evans-Smith won all three rounds. She was nearly finished in the first. Rounds 2 and 3 were close. What round was a 10-8 for Evans-Smith? That doesn’t make any sense.
ROUND 1- They trade punches to start off the fight. Webb misses a big overhand right. Webb with a straight right hand and a head kick. Webb with some more right hands as he ducks under a head kick from Coy. Head kick from Webb. Webb with a right hand. Webb just misses a head kick. Coy keeps missing with his strikes but is able to land a right hand and then a left. Coy looks for a combo and Webb goes for a takedown but it is defended and Coy has a front headlock on. COy with a knee and some uppercuts. They break the clinch. Webb with a front kick and both miss body kicks. 10-9 Webb.
ROUND 2- Webb goes to the mat and is looking for an armbar on Coy but Coy manages to escape. They scramble and Coy grabs the neck and looks to set up a D’Arce choke. They get to their feet and each land knees in the tie-up. They break. Webb with a head kick. Coy lands a nice combo. They clinch and Webb with some knees. Webb grabs the neck and Coy goes to the mat to play defense. Coy is able to score a takedown and takes the back of Webb. They get to their feet. Webb looking for a kimura attempt. Coy escapes and takes the back again. Coy is able to get the mount and is looking for a choke but the fence is in the way. Coy still going for it. Coy with punches from the mount. Coy abandons and Webb claims Coy bit him. Webb escapes and the round ends. 10-9 Coy, 19-19.
ROUND 3- This round could decide it. Both men trading punches and Coy lands a nice left hand. Webb gets a takedown and has the back and is looking for the armbar. Coy scrambles out and Webb takes the neck as they get to their feet. Coy scores a takedown but Webb still has the neck. Coy is on top and applying pressure from the position. Coy with some punches from the top. Coy is able to transition to the back. Coy still has the back and is looking for an opening for a choke but landing punches. Webb able to get to his feet but Coy takes the fight back down. Coy with punches from the top as Webb looks exhausted. Webb looks for a knee bar but Coy able to free his leg from danger. Webb grabs the neck but Coy in side control and lands elbows to end. 10-9 Coy, 29-28 Coy.
Official Result- Nathan Coy def. Jonavin Webb by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
SCORING UPDATE- We have the scorecards for the Reneau vs. Evans-Smith fight. The 29-27 scorecard for Evans-Smith was a mistake as there was an addition error. It was actually a 29-28 scorecard for Evans-Smith. Two judges gave Evans-Smith the first round, which makes absolutely zero sense since she was nearly finished at the end of the round, and would likely have been if not for being saved by the bell. Still a bad decision.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- ANTHONY SMITH (24-11, 0-1 UFC) VS. LEONARDO AUGUSTO LELECO (11-1 1 NC, 0-0 UFC)
ROUND 1- Smith is another fighter who took this fight just this week. Smith with a leg kick and then a body kick. Leleco with a big right hand. Smith with a combo and a knee against the fence and then a leg kick. Head kick from Smith. Smith with a leg kick and then a combo and lands a big elbow. Combo from Smith ends with a knee to the body. Smith with some leg kicks. Leleco with a leg kick. Smith with a flying knee and then a high kick. Another high kick from Smith. Leleco with a right hand. Smith lands a nice right hand and then another. Smith with a nice combo and then trade punches. Leleco is cut open. Leleco with a combo to end the round. 10-9 Smith.
ROUND 2- They trade punches and Smith hurts Leleco. Leleco comes back and rocks Smith with a right hand and Smith counters with a takedown. Smith takes the back of Leleco and looks for a choke. He swweps and tries to find mount. Leleco scrambles and lets Smith into his half-guard. Smith takes the back again and lands punches that are hurting Leleco. Smith looking for a choke from the back. Smith postures and lands a knee to the body. Not much going on but Smith still looking to find the choke. They get to their feet and Smith with a big suplex on Leleco. Both men looking tired. Smith landing big punches as Leleco turtles up. For some reason they are stood up, another bad call. That could cost Smith the fight as he had Leleco in trouble. They trade punches and Leleco gets the advantage on the ground and is landing punches as the round ends. 10-9 Smith, 20-18 Smith.
ROUND 3- Leleco hurts Smith with some punches as Smith looks tired. Leleco takes the fight to the mat and has Smith in trouble. Leleco with punches but Smith scrambles out and looks to grab the legs of Leleco. Leleco looks to take the back and lands some punches. Leleco looks for the arm. Leleco landing big punches on Smith as Smith looks to survive. Leleco looking for the choke as he lands more punches. They are stood up again, another bad stand-up. Leleco with a right hand and Smith comes back with a body kick. Leleco with a nice combo on Smith, who is clearly gassed out. Leleco with right hands against the fence. Smith goes for a desperation takedown but Leleco stuffs it and takes the back. Leleco with some punches. Leleco goes to side control looking for a choke but the round ends. Leleco rallied in that round and we’ll see if it was enough. 10-9 Leleco, 29-28 Smith.
Official Result- Anthony Smith def. Leonardo Augusto Leleco by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- DANIEL SARAFIAN (9-5, 2-3 UFC) VS. OLUWALE BAMGBOSE (5-1, 0-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Bamgbose with a leg kick to start. Bamgbose drops Sarafian with a head kick and then knocks Sarafian out with a couple of punches on the ground. Huge stoppage for Bamgbose and that might get him a bonus tonight.
Official Result- Oluwale Bamgbose def. Daniel Sarafian by knockout (head kick & punches) at 1:00 of Round 1
WELTERWEIGHTS- ALEX GARCIA (13-2, 3-1 UFC) VS. SEAN STRICKLAND (16-1, 3-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Garcia gets a quick takedown but Strickland scrambles and reverses and takes the back. Strickland with some knees as they get to their feet. Strickland throws Garcia to the mat. Garcia lands an upkick. Strickland is able to get on top and is in the half-guard of Garcia. Strickland stands and eats another upkick from Garcia. Strickland goes back into half-guard. Strickland with some elbows from the top and Garcia is bleeding from the mouth. Strickland with some punches from the top and Garcia is in trouble. It was almost stopped there. Strickland gets to his feet and Garcia is able to reverse and takes Strickland down. Garcia with punches from the top. Garcia with some more punches from the top as the round ends he lands a big right hand. 10-9 Strickland.
ROUND 2- Strickland with a high kick then a low kick. Garcia with a right hand and then a left jab. Strickland with a high kick and a right hand. Garcia’s nose is bleeding. Strickland with a right hand. Garcia with a nice combination. Strickland with a left hand. They trade punches. Garcia lands a left hand. Strickland with a nice jab. Garcia misses some punches and Strickland is able to land a right hand. The pace has definitely slowed this round. Garcia scores a takedown with less than a minute to go in the round. Both land soft punches on the mat. Strickland has control of the wrists and the posture on the ground. Garcia unable to land but got one punch in to end the round. 10-9 Strickland, 20-18 Strickland.
ROUND 3- Strickland with an inside leg kick. Strickland lands a left hand. Garcia just misses a right hand. Garcia goes for a takedown and gets it against the fence. Strickland scrambles to the feet and lands a jab and right hand. Strickland with another jab. Strickland landing some more jabs as Garcia is unable to land anything. Now he lands two left hands and shoots and doesn’t get the takedown. Strickland lands a left hand and Garcia lands one as well. Strickland defends a takedown attempt from Garcia. Strickland lands a big right hand and has Garcia in trouble. Strickland looking for the finish and drops Garcia with a right hand and it is over! Strickland with the knockout win in the last minute of the fight.
Official Result- Sean Strickland def. Alex Garcia by TKO (punches) at 4:25 of Round 3
MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 9 PM ET/6 PM PT)
LIGHTWEIGHTS- JAMES KRAUSE (22-7, 3-3 UFC) VS. SHANE CAMPBELL (12-3, 1-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Campbell lands a solid right hand to start. Krause clinches with Campbell against the fence. Campbell with a knee and Krause pulls guard. They scramble to their feet. Krause misses a takedown. Krause lands a right hand. Krause working hard for a takedown. Krause with a nice combo. Krause lands a nice right hand. Both men trade heavy right hands and they clinch against the fence. Krause with a nice combo. Krause with a big body kick. Campbell with a head kick and lands a huge right hand. Krause ducks down and scores a takedown and grabs the back. Not a lot of time to work. Campbell tries to roll out but Krause has the choke locked in. Campbell is saved by the bell! That was in deep but the round ends. Second time tonight a fighter has been saved by the bell to end a round. 10-9 Krause.
ROUND 2- Campbell attacks the body to start the round. Campbell foot sweeps Krause to the mat and it ends with Campbell in the guard of Krause. Krause looks for an armbar and rolls over and they get to their feet. Krause lands a big right hand and they clinch. They each land knees against the fence. Krause gets the back of Campbell and takes the fight to the mat and switches to side control on the top. Krause looks for another choke. Krause transitions to the back and looks for the choke. Krause with punches from the back. Krause has the choke in and its in deep but Campbell somehow escapes. They scramble and Campbell lands a knee to the chest. They get to their feet. Krause gets another takedown but Campbell scrambles up. Krause with a big knee. Campbell sweeps Krause to the mat but Krause ends up on top in the guard. Fun round there. 10-9 Krause, 20-18 Krause.
ROUND 3- They trade kicks to the body. They clinch against the fence. Campbell misses a spinning kick. They trade leg kicks. They trade kicks again. Krause looks for the takedown and gets to the back of Campbell. They break and trade strikes. Campbell stuffs a takedown attempt from Krause. They scramble and Campbell gets the back and is looking for the choke. Great pace from both men. Krause spins and Campbell ends up on top. Campbell with shoulder strikes from the top and finishes the round with many punches from the top. Good fight. 10-9 Campbell, 29-28 Krause.
Official Result- James Krause def. Shane Campbell by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- CHRIS CAMOZZI (22-10, 7-7 UFC) VS. JOE RIGGS (41-16 1 NC, 5-6 UFC)
ROUND 1- Camozzi with a leg kick to start. Camozzi stuns Riggs with a jab and then a barrage of knees and he finishes Riggs quickly! Big, violent finish from Chris Camozzi as he gets his second straight win and a possible performance bonus there.
Official Result- Chris Camozzi def. Joe Riggs by TKO (knees) at :26 of Round 1
FEATHERWEIGHTS- (#8) DENNIS BERMUDEZ (14-5, 7-3 UFC) VS. (#12) TATSUYA KAWAJIRI (35-8-2, 3-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Bermudez with a leg kick. Kawajiri with a spinning back fist. Kawajiri with a left hook but Bermudez grabs his back and looks for a choke in a standing position. They go to the mat and Bermudez is looking for a kimura. Kawajiri looks to get his arm free. Not much happening and the crowd is booing. Bermudez lets go and Kawajiri takes the back and lands some knees to the body. They get to their feet and Kawajiri goes for the takedown. Kawajiri is able to finish it and looks to flatten Bermudez out on the mat. They get to their feet and Kawajiri gets another takedown. He hasn’t done much with them yet. They get to their feet again. Kawajiri gets another takedown but they get right back up. Not much of a round. 10-9 Kawajiri.
ROUND 2- Bermudez looks to land punches and they clinch up. They get to the mat and Bermudez is on top and landing some punches. They get back to their feet. They break the clinch. Bermudez with a body kick. Kawajiri going back for a takedown but Bermudez defends. Kawajiri drives him towards the fence. Bermudez with punches from the top but Kawajiri continues to go for the takedown. Bermudez with punches and elbows as Kawajiri keeps going for a takedown. More punches from Bermudez. They scramble and Bermudez takes the back but moves to a front headlock. Bermudez moves to the back and lands more punches. Bermudez looking to set up a submission but the round will end. 10-9 Bermudez, 19-19.
ROUND 3- This round could decide it on the scorecards. Bermudez throws a Superman punch and a right hand which pushes Kawajiri against the fence. Bermudez gets the takedown. They scramble and Kawajiri has a takedown attempt stuffed. They get back to their feet. Bermudez with body punches against the fence. They break. Bermudez slips as he lands a body kick. Kawajiri goes for a guillotine but Bermudez slips out. They get to their feet and Bermudez lands a leg kick. Kawajiri misses a spinning back fist and eats a leg kick and right hand from Bermudez. Bermudez gets another takedown. They get back to their feet. Bermudez with a knee and some right hands. Bermudez gets another takedown. Bermudez with some punches from the guard. Not an exciting fight. 10-9 Bermudez, 29-28 Bermudez.
Official Result- Dennis Bermudez def. Tatsuya Kawajiri by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
142-POUND CATCHWEIGHT- CODY GARBRANDT (7-0, 2-0 UFC) VS. AUGUSTO MENDES (5-0, 0-0 UFC)
ROUND 1- Mendes is a third fighter who took a fight on this card this week. Garbrandt with a leg kick and he lands a left hook. Mendes with a leg kick but eats a right hand from Garbrandt. They go to the mat for a moment but Garbrandt gets to his feet quickly and Mendes is ordered to his feet. Garbrandt with a leg kick. Mendes with a leg kick and Garbrandt counters with a nice combo. Garbrandt with another nice combo that lands. Garbrandt with a quick combo but Mendes is able to land an uppercut. Garbrandt drops Mendes with a big right hand and it is over. Garbrandt gets the knockout win!
Official Result- Cody Garbrandt def. Augusto Mendes by TKO (punches) at 4:18 of Round 1
ROUND 1- Brunson with a left hand. Carneiro slips to the ground and Brunson ends up on top and starts throwing a ton of punches and is looking for a finish. He lands a barrage of punches but this fight keeps going on. Brunson lays back and then more big punches and it is over. Brunson with the quick first-round finish of Carneiro. That should have been stopped sooner as there were a ton of unanswered punches.
Official Result- Derek Brunson def. Roan Carneiro by TKO (punches) at 2:38 of Round 1
WELTERWEIGHTS- (#5 LW) DONALD CERRONE (28-7 1 NC, 15-4 UFC) VS. ALEX OLIVEIRA (14-2-1 1 NC, 3-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- They clinch and Oliveira lands some knees and Cerrone fires back some knees. Oliveira with a spinning back kick. Cerrone with a leg kick. They trade in close range. Oliveira lands a right hand. Cerrone gets a takedown and is in half-guard. Cerrone gets mount and he has a triangle choke locked in and Oliveira taps out! Cerrone with the submission win as he had Oliveira in all kinds of trouble on the mat.
Official Result- Donald Cerrone def. Alex Oliveira by submission (triangle choke) at 2:33 of Round 1
Dhafir Harris, who fought Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson) as Dada 5000, is now in stable condition after a scary night last night.
Harris had to be rushed to the hospital last night after collapsing, more out of exhaustion than punishment, in last nigtht’s fight that was stopped in the third round.
The Harris family released this statement:
The Harris Family would like to inform Dada’s friends and fans that Dada is ok and resting comfortably in a Houston area Hospital under the care of an incredible staff of doctors and nurses.
The doctors have now informed us that Dada had accumulated extremely high levels of potassium in his blood which led to severe dehydration, fatigue and renal failure. The high potassium levels were likely caused by his 40lbs weight loss in preparation for the fight.
Thanks to the EMTs and doctors, Dada is now recovering nicely.
Dada showed the heart of a lion in the cage- not backing down throughout. He worked extremely hard preparing for the fight and stepped forward for 3 rounds against a tough veteran. He kept digging through the adversity- leaving it all in the cage for his fans and supporters. You can never take that away from him.
We’d like to thank all those who have supported Dada as well as express our sincere appreciation to Scott Coker, and the good people at BELLATOR and Spike who have been on-site to visit Dada and support the family.
We ask for the public and media to respect Dada’s privacy as he recovers.
With the second-ever WWE Fastlane Sunday night, what better time to look at the state of WWE one year ago than by watching last year’s show? This is a read-a-long to be enjoyed while watching said WWE PPV on the WWE Network…or the DVD if you’re still buying those.
It’s interesting to look and see the positioning of guys on the card one year ago. As you may recall, the main event was a match between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. It’s sad to think that the recently retired Bryan was at the top of his game just a year ago — positioned as the guy to get Reigns over for his main event at Wrestlemania 31.
Let’s go back to February 22nd at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN, and look at the main talking points from each match.
The Authority (Seth Rollins/Kane/Big Show) w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury vs. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback
What a team of babyfaces. The reaction to Rowan was non-existent.
This was a fine match, but nothing special because nobody cares about anyone in this mix. Dolph got the mild tag from Ryback, and went wild until Big Show KO’d Ziggler and Kane pinned him.
Show’s punch was replayed in slow motion which showed how obviously Ziggler jumped into it. Hilarious.
Seth hit the curb stomp on Zig post match to get their heat back, until Randy Orton ran in and cleaned house. RKOs out of everywhere!
Stardust vs. Goldust
Finally the match between the Rhodes brothers nobody asked for!
Dusty was shown giving Goldust a pep talk before the match which was pretty cool.
Remember Cody’s new body from five years ago? He wrestled this match shirtless. My guess is that it was shortly after this match where big brother grabbed little brother’s ear and revealed to him the secret of longevity in wrestling: the full body suit. “It’s great, Cody. You never have to work out or tan or eat good. Sure you have to scrape paint flakes out of your eyes every morning, but look at me! I got Terri Runnels with this physique!”
This had a weird ending. Gold rolled up Star and the referee counted one, two, and then didn’t hit the mat for the three, but Star’s shoulders were definitely down for three and so the ref hopped up and said it was a three count and the match was over. I think the storyline was that the ref got paid off by Dusty to end the match early so that his sons would not get hurt. That, or they blew the finish.
Cody beat down Dustin after the match in front of the Dream.
WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey and James) w/ Naomi vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro w/ Natalya
Facts. Cats. Those are the words on Kidd’s kick pads, because he likes cats AND drops facts. What a gimmick.
Cesaro and Kidd were so great. What awful luck for both of these guys lately. Get well soon!
Cesaro did a one-legged swing with an Uso. That is freaky impressive.
Kidd hooked in the Sharpshooter and got superkicked. Jimmy got the visual fall on Kidd as the action spilled outside. This match is getting good.
Then, just like that, it’s over. Kidd hits an Uso with a spinning fisherman buster and gets the pin, and the belts. Your new champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro!
Kidd’s tan was Olympic level.
HHH and Sting Face-to-Face
Remember this? Me neither. Boy, Sting dropped off the radar fast.
HHH cut a mighty promo, especially blowhardy today.
Sting came out and got face-to-face with The Game
HHH went for the cheap shot and it broke down into a brawl, leading to a sledgehammer vs. baseball bat standoff. The baseball bat won, for now.
WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella w/ Brie vs. Paige
Paige’s outfit is completely black here. Reebok probably designed it. I like the addition of the blue these days though.
Is the Divas Revolution done? Is everyone good and revolted? I haven’t heard that used in a while. Good thing too. WWE nomenclature is infuriating.
The crowd was absolutely dead for this match, and remember, this is mid Nikki’s record-breaking title reign.
Nikki won with a roll up and a handful of tights.
WWE I-C Champion Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose
Barrett’s music is pretty cool. The League of Nations’ music suuuuuuuuuucks.
Dean Ambrose has the best gimmick. He gets to just show up and simply take off his shirt and he’s ready to wrestle. You know he wears those jeans everywhere, and he’s definitely a guy who really wears wife beater t-shirts. I’m wearing one now. It’s quite comfy. It’s pink too. #PinkLivesMatter #TeamViggity
Barrett is a good wrestler. He’s another guy who is really good but has had just terrible luck with injuries right when he was about to get pushed, along with Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, etc.
Ambrose got DQ’d for using the belt. He laid Barrett out, got caught, got DQ’d, then walked off with the belt anyway. Ha!
Unannounced, the Druids enter the arena. Then the gong hits. I think Glacier is making his debut! No. It’s a casket. Maybe Glacier is in the casket. Nope. It’s Bray Wyatt. Boooooooh.
WWE US Champion Rusev w/ Lana vs. John Cena
Rusev just whipped up on old Johnny boy for a while.
Rusev should have shoes on, specifically the Iron Shiek’s shoes. That would be awesome. (I know they are different countries but who cares?)
People didn’t make a big enough deal about Cena getting away from jorts. That topic needed its own Observer issue. Why did he do it? I predict that within the next five years, jean shorts will come back in style.
They did the yay/boo spot. Rusev needs to start doing the ten punches in the corner spot and count in Russian. It would be amazing if he could get the fans to actually learn to count to ten in Russian.
Rusev and Cena exchange some submissions. Good action.
This was when Rusev was undefeated with like six losses on his record.
Rusev won by technical submission as Cena was passed out in the Accolade so lil Naitch rang the bell.
Cena did this hokey selling post match that got booed. Ha!
Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan to determine the number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
They had a dang good match.
I’m still not sure why Reigns is allowed to wear body armor. That seems like cheating.
I love JBL: “Don’t forget, I know stuff about old boxing.”
It’s a shame Bryan never did the “I’ve got til FIVE!” spot in WWE. I’ll bet Vince nixed that.
Huge belly to back off the top by Bryan into the Yes lock!
Both guys took idiotic bumps outside the ring for a long double down.
I can’t help but believe the crowd is going to be unhappy with this finish.
Bryan with the running knee!
I missed some of the match researching gambling odds on the Oscars.
Does anyone get a redder face than Mike Chioda?
Bryan did the Brie Mode kicks (wink).
Reigns hit a monster spear for the clean pin.
Bryan does the rude put over, getting in Reigns’ face and telling him he’d better kick his (Brock’s) buns.
Summary:
I really don’t like the Fastlane name. It was much better when Elimination Chamber was the February show. I know the argument against doing a gimmick show for the sake of the gimmick, but the Elimination Chamber was always a draw, and Fastlane sounds like some group think garbage that’s been polished over to make it appealing to everyone. That’s a mistake. The more polished something feels, the less real it feels, and thus we find it phony. I hope WWE takes notice of the Daniel Bryan retirement speech and realizes that fans connect to realness, but they probably won’t.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with a special Friday Night episode! KIMBO VS. DADA 5000! KEN SHAMROCK VS. ROYCE GRACIE! DRUNK MIKE TYSON! AND MORE! Plus, MMA news notes, ROH in Japan recap, Fast Lane preview for Sunday and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with tons of things to discuss: Kimbo vs. Dada 5000, the weird odds swings, Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock, the Sunny DVD contest, Dr. Lucha on Rey Mysterio and Lucha Underground and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back tonight with tons to talk about! Granny is back with another contest, plus THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING, her new segment. We’ve got full reviews of NXT with an awesome main event, Lucha Underground with an awesome main event, and Raw from Monday! A fun show as always so check it out~!