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  • WWE RAW live results 1/4: Roman Reigns vs Sheamus and the possible return of Jericho

    The Big Takeaway: Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a match where Vince McMahon was special referee. Of course, it wasn’t Vince who counted the pinfall. Afterwards, Vince announced that Reigns would defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Royal Rumble match itself. It’s the first time since 1992 that the championship will be on the line in the Royal Rumble match. Chris Jericho returned in a disappointing segment with New Day. Brock Lesnar returns next week. 

    Show Recap: 

    Stephanie McMahon started to come out but Roman Reigns’ music played as she was making her entrance. So they were in the ring together. Reigns said they didn’t need her out there, it was about Vince McMahon, who he called out. Stephanie said Vince wasn’t in the building yet, and the odds weren’t in his favor tonight. Reigns said the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was his life because it’s how he supports his family. Stephanie said no one competes with Vince McMahon and wins in the end. She mentioned the charges against Vince from last week have been dropped because you can’t keep a good billionaire down. Well, multi-millionaire. 

    Stephanie said once Reigns loses the championship tonight, she’ll use him over and over until his body wears out. Reigns said if Vince screws him over tonight, Stephanie won’t be picking him up from jail, she’ll be picking him up from the hospital. 

    Dean Ambrose came out to do commentary for the match with Kevin Owens and Neville. Reigns waited through a video package to slap hands with him, which may be foreboding the Ambrose turn we’ve waited months for. 

    Brock Lesnar is back next Monday in New Orleans. Another example of buidling things a week in advance. Next week is also the College Football Playoff National Championship game with Clemson vs. Alabama. Considering how disappointing the CFP semifinal ratings were, it’ll be interesting to see how much of a hit Raw will take. 

    Kevin Owens defeated Neville (9:13) 

    Solid match. Kevin Owens won after he crotched Neville on the top rope. He finished Neville off with the Pop-Up Power Bomb. Neville did a 450 from the apron to the floor. Neville is still carrying around his Slammy for Newcomer of the Year. Strikes me as odd since that was usually a heel move in the past, namely with Owen Hart. JBL compared Neville to Too Cold Scorpio and Owens to Otto Wanz in the span of 30 seconds. 

    Owens tried to attack Neville afterwards, but Ambrose stopped it with a tope. Well, it was a tope that he largely whiffed on. They fought to the announcers table, where Owens teased power bombing Ambrose through the table again. Instead, Ambrose turned the tables and gave Owens an elbow drop off the barricade through the table. 

    Vince walked out of a limousine where Jojo stopped him. Vince said the charges against him were dropped because he has a good attorney. The irony of it all is last week he was arrested by the law, and this week he is the law. 

    They showed a vignette to promote the Taratino movie The Hateful Eight counting down the eight superstars people love to hate. Number three was Owens. Number 2 was the New Day (?). And tops was Sheamus. Only if Vince was doing the countdown, which may have been the case. 

    Titus O’Neal defeated Stardust (4:14) 

    Titus O’Neal won with the Clash of the Titus. Of all the matches I’ve seen, this was the most recent one. 

    Charlotte approached Becky Lynch backstage. The two are wrestling tonight and Charlotte wasn’t happy about it. She asked Lynch if she asked for the rematch. Lynch said she didn’t, but she was excited about it. Charlotte said she had already beaten Lynch once on Raw. They agreed to meet again tonight in the spirit of competition. Ric Flair came up from behind Lynch and made her jump when he yelled “Whoo!” I don’t want to ask why Flair would have been waiting behind Lynch for so long, but I can speculate. 

    Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte (C) in a nontitle match (10:45) 

    They teased the finish from November where Flair tried to trip Lynch, leading to Charlotte winning via schoolgirl cradle. Except this time, Lynch escaped the cradle and pinned Charlotte with a Oklahoma Side Roll while holding the trunks. To complete the heel turn, Charlotte attacked Lynch in the postmatch, giving Lynch a spear and laying the boots to her. Flair cheered her on. They wrestled scientifically until Charlotte leveled Lynch with a punch. Charlotte was a straight heel from that point forward. 

    McMahon talked with Sheamus backstage to explain prefight instructions. No biting, no outside interference, no low blows and to obey his commands. McMahon added with a grin “may the luck of the Irish be with you.” 

    Ryback and the Big Show went to a no contest (1:04)

    Ryback was tossed over the top rope by the Big Show when the Wyatt Family appeared. Braun Strowman put Ryback out with the choke. Then the Wyatts surrounded the ring on Show, who clotheslined Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Strowman had a staredown with Show that was supposed to generate heat, but didn’t. The three heels jumped Show from behind and Harper left Show laying with a superkick. Looks like another babyface turn for Big Show, who has to hold the all-time record by now. 

    Rusev and Alberto Del Rio defeated the Usos (13:21) 

    Alberto Del Rio pinned Jimmy Uso with the top rope stomp. Very good match. Earlier, Del Rio had Jey Uso set up for the stomp, but somehow missed. Jimmy followed with a top rope splash that was broken up by Rusev in the first of several good near falls. Rusev gave Jey Uso a belly-to-belly superplex for the heat. Again, no Lana and no mention of her, except by the crowd. 

    Heath Slater pinned Dolph Ziggler (4:37) 

    Heath Slater was joined by Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose. Can someone explain where Damien Sandow is and why isn’t he on my TV? Slater, who has a haircut, won after Rose and Axel distracted Dolph Ziggler, and Slater won with a rollup. 

    Postmatch, Rose, Axel, Slater and Dallas cut promos invidually. They’ve now started a group called “Social Outcasts.” 

    Ziggler cut a inset promo about being in the Royal Rumble. For a better promo, search “Josh Norman” under Youtube. The sad part is Josh Norman is not a pro wrestler. He’s a cornerback for the Carolina Panthers who cuts better promos than anyone in pro wrestling aside from Paul Heyman. That’s exhilarating and depressing all at once. 

    Steve Austin will have Flair on his podcast next week. 

    Vince approached Reigns backstage. Vince, again playing the role of John McCarthy, had a rules meeting with him. Vince didn’t wish him good luck as he left. 

    The New Day, which has a new video that features them in animated form riding unicorns with rainbows in the background, came out. Big E. laughed over Mike Tyson falling down while riding a Hoverboard. Then they pointed to the TitonTron, where they started to have a countdown. But the countdown was interrupted by Chris Jericho’s countdown, who came out to a good, but not great, pop. 

    No one remembered Jericho going heel at Night of Champions on Ambrose and Reigns. He did various catchphrases before Xavier Woods stopped him saying they’ve already saved the WWE in 2015. Jericho said live attendance, ratings and WWE Network numbers need a boost. That was weird. He called them Green Day and tried to get fans to chant “Rooty Tooty Booty.” That sounded cringeworthy but the fans chanted it as long as New Day was out there. Jericho announced that he would be in the Royal Rumble.  Of all the Jericho returns, this was easily the least remarkable and felt flat. Feels like New Day needs a new spark because they’ve hit a dry spell.  

    The New Day defeated The Dudley Boyz and Kalisto (16:36) 

    Big E. pinned Devon Dudley after the Midnight Hour. Your weekly six-man match that went too long. Bubba Ray Dudley threw Kalisto onto all three members of New Day outside the ring. Kalisto was taken out by Big E. at ringside. The Dudleys tried to set up Wazzup on Kofi Kingston, but Woods broke it up by dumping Devon to the mat. 

    Vince came out where the tightest referee t-shirt imaginable for any 70-year-old that has the physique that he has. Apparently, he’s not counting on Al-Jazerra calling anytime soon. He did look a little skinnier. Somebody had a “Cranky Vince” sign that lasted about as long as one of Kim Kardashian’s undershirts. That twitter account hasn’t been updated in over two years. 

    Roman Reigns (C) defeated Sheamus to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with Vince McMahon as special referee (18:17) 

    Vince played heel ref from the start, trying to fast count Reigns. Sheamus threw Reigns into the ring steps, then threw the steps at him. He later suplexed Reigns onto the announcer’s table. Sheamus used a Rolling Senton for a two count. When Reigns covered Sheamus after a Samoan Drop, Vince counted slower than the Great Kabuki’s ring entrance this morning. Then Reigns had the cover with a Backland lift, but Vince faked an eye injury. Reigns hit the Superman punch, but Vince didn’t even count. He was still faster than Bronco Lubich. Reigns told Vince “Watch this.” He teased giving Sheamus the Superman punch, but instead he punched Vince. Then Reigns speared Sheamus and pinned him, but no ref. 

    An incensed Reigns threw Sheamus over the announcer’s table as Vince recovered. Vince try to scramble away but Reigns threw him down and told him Vince was screwing with his life. Stephanie came out. Reigns threw Vince into the ropes, and Stephanie wound up rebounding into the ring. Reigns stalked over her but she got out of the ring. Reigns teased spearing Vince, Sheamus came back in the ring and hit Reigns with two Brogue kicks. For some reason, Vince didn’t count Sheamus out. Instead, Scott Armstrong ran out. It was explained that Armstrong was a heel referee who had worked with the Authority for years. Who remembers that? He hasn’t been on TV in years. Reigns kicked out. 

    Armstrong then held Reigns up for Sheamus to Brogue Kick him again. But Reigns sidestepped him, hit Armstrong with a Superman’s punch, flattened Sheamus with another Superman’s punch. Referee John Coleman (they actually identified him on TV) ran down and counted the pin for Reigns. 

    Vince knocked down Coleman. Vince’s physique looks great. As for his punches, all I can say his physqiue looks great. Afterwards, he announced that Reigns would defend the title in the Royal Rumble match against 29 other men. 

    SUMMARY: Since the horrendous show a month ago when I said that Reigns wasn’t the guy, the WWE has booked him very well. He’ll be the first man ever to defend the WWE Championship in a Royal Rumble. If he emerges with the belt, it’ll make him all that much stronger. Not sure what other option makes sense. A pretty good show. 

  • Chris Jericho making return to WWE?

    Chris Jericho is expected back tonight at WWE RAW

    Jericho was in San Antonio last night, the site of Raw. It’s also being reported he is backstage at the show. Jericho had said that he wasn’t coming back on Twitter, but he does stuff like that every year, whether he does or doesn’t.  A key is that there are no touring dates for Fozzy listed going forward.

    Jericho’s wrestling schedule is usually built around his touring dates and if he’s got nothing scheduled for months, unless there is another entertainment gig, it would be expected he’d return in some fashion.  His last few returns have been specifically for house shows only, but if he’s backstage, that would mean a return as a regular television character, perhaps coming off his walking off on Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose when he was a mystery partner at the Night of Champions show on 9/20 in Houston with them against The Wyatt Family.

    Follow our live coverage of WWE RAW.

    Signup now!  Dave Melzer and Bryan Alvarez will be back tonight to talk the Chris Jericho news and tonight’s WWE RAW.  

  • WOL 1/4: New Japan Tokyo Dome, Matt Hardy talks POP TV, more!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Matt Hardy returns today with tons to talk about including Mike’s full recap of the New Japan Tokyo Dome event, your thoughts on the show and more, plus Matt Hardy appears to talk TNA’s debut on POP TV Tuesday night live! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Q & A

    The first DragonKingKarl Show of 2016 is a question and answer show so the good DragonKingKarl can clear out some email questions to get the year started off right! 

    Several of them deal with off-topic discussions from recent shows including the ever controversial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not only that but there is even a touch of After Dark related subjects. Then we shift gears into pro wrestling discussion and one of the best questions we have ever debated here: who has legitimately had the most number of matches in wrestling history plus a sub-question, who has had the most in-ring time in pro wrestling history? The question is far more complicated than it sounds, and has been debated on The Board~! and elsewhere. Together, we will try to pin down the answer.

    The second part of the question is also very interesting as it really is a different question. While some of the top “most matches” candidates will have near 10,000 matches, there may be wrestlers with much fewer actual matches that have much more time spent inside the ring.  We will even look back at some of the legendary longest matches featuring people like Ed “Stranger” Lewis and Joe Stecher.  But the answer to who has had the most number of matches is probably someone in the modern era.  We will look at schedule differences between the United States, Japan, and Mexico which could greatly influence the answer. (It should lead to a nice research project for someone.)

    Email Karl with your thoughts, and enjoy today’s show with a variety of topics!

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  • B&V 1/3: ROH on Sinclair, Bryan loses $100, NWA/WCW, more!

    The Bryan & Vinny Show is back today with tons to talk about including full reviews of ROH on Sinclair, how Bryan lost $100 to Brutal Bob Evans, another great NWA/WCW show from 30 years ago this week, bonus Christmas presents, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • Wrestle Kingdom 10 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

    Jan 4th marks the second biggest pro wrestling event of the year, only behind WrestleMania, WrestleKingdom 10.

    In the main event, Kazuchika Okada will defend his championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi for the third time at a WrestleKingdom event. The story heading into the match is if Okada can beat Tanahashi in the Tokyo Dome, as the last two times they squared off in the arena he came up short, leaving in tears last year. Although the match feels familiar, every match they’ve had is spectacular so far.

    The rest of the card, besides a Tetsuya Naito/Hirooki Goto singles bout, are title matches. Jay Lethal will defend the Ring of Honor title against Michael Elgin. Tomohiro Ishii will defend the NEVER title against Katsuyori Shibata. Kushida battles Kenny Omega for the IWGP Jr. Championship. Shinsuke Nakamura defends the Intercontinental title against a not-so-healthy AJ Styles. Toru Yano and The Briscoes will face Bullet Club members Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi to crown the inaugural NEVER openweight six man tag team titles.

    Rounding it off are the two tag title matches as Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows defend against Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma, while reDragon defend the junior tag team titles in a four way also involving Roppongi Vice, Matt Sydal and Ricochet and The Young Bucks. There will also be a New Japan Rumble on the pre-show featuring everyone else not on the main card plus a few surprises.

    We are looking for your thoughts on the event, so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.

    NEW JAPAN RUMBLE

    We’re opening with Jushin Liger vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara.  The crowd is pretty empty at this point. 

    Long match that wasn’t very good.  It came down to Jado with the hip attack guys from different generations, Koshinaka and Taguchi.  Jado, who was accompanied by Momoka, a famous rock star, eliminated both to win.  She then announced the release of her new album in February.  The match is all about the ring entrances.  Some of the surprises in wre Hiro Saito, Cheeseubrger, who was in third and worked mosst of the way.  Shiro Koshinaka got a good nostalgia pop.  King Haku came out to the Bullet Club music wearing a  Bullet Club shirt, as his son is Tama Tonga.  It was funny as Striker was in his Gorilla Monsoon copying saying how Haku would never submit, and seconds later Tenzan made him submit to the Anaconda vise.  Kazushi Sakuraba got the biggest pop but he was only in for a few seconds.  He squared off with Great Kabuki, who also got a big reaction, and Kabuki blew mist in Sakuraba’s eyes and got DQ’d. Taguchi then pinnd Sakuraba.  None of the young guys like Yohei Komatsu, Sho Tanaka, Juice Robinson, Jay White, Dave Finlay or Cody Hall were in the match,  Everybody was no selling Cheeseburger’s offense but he was in the match for 25 minutes before Yoshi-Hashi pinned him.

    BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY VS. YOUNG BUCKS VS. ROCKY ROMERO & BARETTA VS. MATT SYDAL & RICOCHET FOR THE IWGP JR. TAG TITLES

    The Bucks won the title with More Bang for Your Buck on Romero.  Great match with so many moves you couldn’t him track of them.  Cody Hall interfered a lot to help the Bucks.  Sydal & Ricochet did their double shooting star press spot on Romero & Baretta but the Bucks pulled them out of the ring to keep them from getting the pin.  Nick Jackson gave a shout out to Kevin Owens, Neville and all their friends at the Fed.  Romero was put over a lot during the match doing forever clotheslines to everyoen since he was losing the fall.  The Bucks before the match looked at the cameras, said four-times jr. champs and winked.    

    MARK & JAY BRISCOE & TORU YANO VS. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & BAD LUCK FALE & TAMA TONGA FOR NEVER TRIOS TITLES

    The Briscoes & Yano won the titles when the Briscoes used the Doomsday device on Tonga for the pin.  Mark was really good here but the match didn’t build well.  A lot of Yano’s usual comedy.  Jay was struggling with Tonga on his shoulders when Yano hit Tonga with a chair and Mark came off the top with a clothesline and Jay pinned Tonga. 

    JAY LETHAL VS. MICHAEL ELGIN FOR ROH TITLE

    Lethal retained using the Lethal injection after Elgin went for a power bomb afer a Falcan arrow off the middle rope.   Truth Martini tired to interfere but Elgin nailed him and his book went flying.  Lethal grabbed i and when Elgin had him up for the power bomb, Lethal hit Elgin with the book and followed with a Lethal injection for the pin.

    KENNY OMEGA VS. KUSHIDA FOR THE IWGP JR. TITLE

    Great match, with Kushida turning the One Winged Angel into a Kimura and then a cradle for the pin to win the title.  Kushida wa great here and Omega did a tremendous job of selling the left arm during this match.  The Bucks interfered helping Omega.  Ryusuke Taguchi came out as Doc Brown from Back to the Future with Kushida.  The Bucks took him out early with a double superkick.  He came back and took out the Bucks with garbage can shots.  Both did big dives and suepr crisp wrestling.

    DOC GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON VS.  TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA FOR IWGP TAG TITLES

    Another title change in a really good match.  Crowd was really into Makabe & Honma from the start.  The finish saw Makabe & Honma use the kokeshi impact (double impact with Honma using the head-butt spear off the top rope on Anderson, then Honma used the kokeshi off the top rope on Gallows, followed by Makabe using the kneedrop off the top rope on Gallows for the pin.  Well timed well worked match.  This is Honma’s first title win in New Japan.

    Now it’s time for the 2016 scheudle.

    New Beginning in Oskaa on 2/11

    New Beginning in Niigat 2/14

    ROH shows on 2/19 and 2.20 at Kroakejn Hall

    ROH New Japan in Las Vegas 2/26 and 2/27

    New Japan Cup 3/3 opens and 3/12 ends

    Invasion Attack 4/10 at Sumo Hall

    5/3 Fukuoka Wrestling Dontaku

    6/6 Best of the Super Junior final in Sendai Sun Plaza Hall

    6/19 Dominion at Osaka Jo Hall

    G-1 Climax starts 7/18 in Sapporo

    8/12, 8/13 and 8/14 at Sumo Hall ends the G-1

    HIROOKI GOTO VS. TETSUYA NAITO

    Goto pinned him in a surprise using the shouten kai.  Very well wrestled match.  Bushi and Evil interfered after a ref bump.  Goto had blocked a low blow by Naito.  Bushi went to blow green mist at Goto, who moved and Evil got it inthe face.  Naito then hit the low blow and running cradle but Goto kicked out, used he head-butt and shouten kai.  The inteference is getting old by this point in the show.

    TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. KATSUYORI SHIBATA FOR NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE

    Shibata won the title clean with the penalty kick after a standing kick to the chest.  There two just killed each other with kicks and clotheslines and elbows.  I don’t know how these guys continue to do these kind of matches.  Just ridiculously physical.  The one thing I hated was they did some absolutely sick klunking head-butts to each other toward the end.  A lot of people won’t like this not being traditional pro wrestling with the fired up no sell spots throughout the match but this felt like a fight from start to finish.  It’s just hard to top some of the matches they’ve had in the past but a super match.

    SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. A.J. STYLES FOR  THE IC TITLE

    Nakamura retained the title after a falcon arrow off the top rope, the bom a ye to the back of the head and then a regular bom a ye for the pin.  After the match Nakamura offered his fist and Styles gave him a fist bump back.  This was a match of the year candidate.  There were so many great sequences and spots.  Styles kicked out of a bom a ye off the middle rope, Nakamura used a flying armbar after Styles tried a spinning chiop, Styles used a half Styles clash which Nakamura kicked out of, because the full Styles clash is protected.  Styles at one point acted like his back wass out and then got up and attacked Nakamura from behind.  This was two of the best wrestlers in the world determined to have an incredible match.  Styles seemed healthier than against Jay Lethal as he did more and was moving better.  He didn’t fly as much and relied more on his wrestling, but it didn’t hurt the match at all.

    KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS. HIROSHI TANAHASHI FOR IWGP TITLE’

    Another incredible match.  Okada retained the title after three rainmakers.  There were a lot of buffeirng issues throghout this match so it was hard to get a full grip of it but it felt like a match of the year going way over 30 minutes.  The crowd was so intense at the end but I’d have to rewatch to get the full effect of the match.  Among the highlights were Okada kicking out of two high fly flows,Tanahashi kicked out of the rainmaker, Okada did the high fly flow for a near fall and Tanahashi did a rainmaker.   Tanahashi went for a high fly flow late and Okada caught him with a dropkick which was right before the finish.  It felt like this was the classic passing of the torch as Tanahashi had to be helped out while Okada was the one closing the show at the Tokyo Dome.

    Gedo and Okada did promos after the match.  No challenges after the match.  The angles may be shot for the next top matches tomorrow night.

  • WOL 1/3: 2015 F4W Prediction Show Finale, plus Eric Young talks TNA on POP TV!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back and today WE CROWN A CHAMPION. It’s the finals of the 2015 F4W Prediction Show! Who was the BEST PROGNOSTICATOR of the entire year? We’ll read every prediction from 2015, put the final four in a Twitter poll, and away we go. Also, Eric Young drops by to talk TNA’s debut on POP TV coming up Tuesday at 9 ET/8 CT! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • Daily Update: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10, UFC 195 fall out

    We have a show up with Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor covering last night’s UFC show, the Rizin show from New Year’s Eve and some wrestling.  We will be doing a show on the Tokyo Dome tomorrow afternoon and then on Raw later that night.

    Hope everyone had a Happy New Year.  We’re very appreciative of all the support you’ve given us over the past year and hopefully this next year will be a good one for everyone. 

    We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 10 at the Tokyo Dome as well as last nights’ UFC, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer

    We’re also looking for reports on today’s WWE shows in  Hidalgo, TX (Roman Reigns vs Sheamus for WWE title) and Corpus Christi (Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens for IC title; Kane vs. Bray Wyatt).

    NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 10 – Follow along with Dave Meltzer here.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for IWGP heavyweight title is the main event of this year’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom show. AJ Styles will attempt to win the Intercontinental title from Shinsuke Nakamura, not Dean Ambrose. Wrestle Kingdom 10 will also have a large presence of ROH including some surprises in the New Japan Rumble. This could be a very long show given they do not have American PPV time constraints. It’s too early to say, but from the line up, this could possibly be the show of the year. Click here for a New Japan Rumble spoiler entrant…

    Check out Zach Dominello’s full preview series.

    NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM AT 2:15 A.M. LATE SUNDAY/EARLY MONDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

    There will be both a English and Japanese language feed for the show 

    New Japan Rumble

    Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Young Bucks vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta for IWGP jr. tag titles

    Mark & Jay Briscoe & Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale for Never trios championships

    Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin for ROH championship

    Kenny Omega vs. Kushida for IWGP jr. title

    Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma for IWGP tag team titles

    Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito

    Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata for Never Open weight championship

    Shinsuke Nakamura vs. A.J. Styles for IC title

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for IWGP heavyweight title

    Raw will be Monday night from San Antonio with Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for the WWE title with Vince McMahon as referee.

    NEW JAPAN NEW YEAR’S DASH AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TUESDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

    No matches have been announced for the “Raw after Mania” show, but Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker will be calling the show in English and there will also be the Japanese feed..

    The first Smackdown on the USA Network will be taped on Tuesday night in Laredo.  Mauro Ranallo debuts as announcer and John Cena will be on the show.

    TNA ON POP TV AT 9 P.M. FROM BETHLEHEM, PA

    Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III

    Bobby Lashley vs Eric Young

    Winners of these two matches meet for the vacant TNA title

    Figure Four Weekly

    Figure Four Weekly 12/28/2015: Gawker files to dismiss Hogan lawsuit
    Details on Gawker filing to dismiss the Hulk Hogan sex tape lawsuit, plus other news.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter

    We have our annual business year in review as the lead of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week. We cover our awards balloting year from 12/1/14 to 11/30/15 looking at the biggest events and biggest draws, with the year’s biggest crowds, records set in several different companies, Cena compared to those in similar positions on the all-time list, the year’s PPV buys for every wrestling, MMA and boxing show, how this year compared with other years.

    Dwayne Johnson returning for WrestleMania, different ideas of where he may fit in, and his recent track record of WrestleMania matches.

    The history of New Japan on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome. The first New Japan Tokyo Dome show and its main event, what drew the first house, what Lou Thesz said to Antonio Inoki after the show and why Thesz thought the result was a good thing and why it ended up being a waste. We look at how this year’s show will differ from last year as well as a match-by-match rundown and a look at the history of the New Japan big four, Tanahashi, Okada, A.J. Styles and Nakamura, with all of their previous Tokyo Dome matches.

    Jonathan Coachman on HGH usage in WWE, why usage is so prevalent in certain types of sports and entertainment.

    WWE injury coverage, why WWE stars are doing more NBC media, how movies with Sting are doing at the box office, how the WWE’s head of medical came across in the movie “Concussion” plus a concussion expert on Daniel Bryan situation. Update on Nikki Bella, NXT sellouts, Brock Lesnar’s next match, Cena facing a surprise opponent, Chris Jericho on future, Royal Rumble, Sin Cara injury update, NXT in Dallas, the go-home show for WrestleMania, two international stars about to start with WWE and the Bayley character on the main roster.

    The holiday show in Madison Square Garden coverage, Ben Askren talks about One’s possibly revolutionary weight cutting regulations that could be the catalyst for changing MMA.  We look at the first Rizin show, the sad spectacle of Sakuraba, the pro wrestlers on the show, the mentality behind why certain people were on the show and match-by-match coverage.

    PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

    The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: January 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Business year in review, Rock at Wrestlemania 32, tons more.

    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

    You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

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    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

    Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: November 9, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jesse Ventura wins Minnesota Governor election, WCW trailing WWF, more
    Jesse Ventura becomes the Governor of Minnesota, WCW begins trailing WWF, ECW November to Remember recap, plus tons of news.

    TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

    UFC 195 was No. 10 for most searched items on Google at 200,000, which would indicate a lower level PPV number, which most were expecting. 

    Carlos Condit’s talk about retirement last night wasn’t a spur of the moment emotional thing as he had talked about it for months, that if he didn’t win the title he was considering retiring. Condit landed 82 more significant strikes then Lawler, which is the greatest difference in strikes of any fighter who has ever lost a decision in UFC history.  What’s notable about the judging last night is that there were five close decisions, four splits and the unanimous decision win by Justine Kish over Nina Ansaroff.  Of those five fights, the media and judges disagreed on four of the five, all by significant margins.  For the Condit-Lawler fight, media scores were 15 for Condit, three for Lawler and two had it a draw.  We did our own poll which was 29% for Lawler, 64% for Condit and 7% had it a draw.   

    50,000 dollar performance bonuses were given Stipe Miocic and Michael McDonald. While Carlos Condit and Robbie Lawler earned fight of the night. 

    F4WOnline.com’s staff prediction results: John Pollock went 5-0, Josh Nason, David Bixenspan, Mike Sawyer, Steve Juon, Mike Sempervive and Ryan Fredrick were 4-1, Paul Fontaine, me and Front Row Brian were 3-2.

    Cheeseburger and Delirious are both in Japan.  Cheeseburger will be in the Rumble tonight (opener at the Dome).  Delirious is there for business reasons.

    The talk from TNA on “The Miracle” debuting refers to the debut of Michael Bennett.

    WWE

    • We’ll see how this turns out, but as of yesterday the plan was for heavy promotion of Smackdown on Raw tomorrow since it’s the week it moves to USA.
    • Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and HHH are at today’s Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium and they were publicizing WrestleMania at the game.  
    • Natalya, who hasn’t been in the ring in eight weeks, is in Corpus Christi for the house show. so that would seem like she’s starting back tonight.
    • Suggestions for WWE in 2016 from WhatCulture.com

    UFC/MMA

    • The T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao title change will air on Monday night on FS 1 at 10 p.m.
    • A Bellator 2015 highlight video
    • In Victoria, Australia, state licensed agencies can’t take best on MMA

    MISCELLANEOUS

    • We are looking for reports from last nights’ PWG show in Reseda but we did get this:

    *Sam Roberts, Marina Sharif and a singer from Tool were at the show

    *Brian Cage beat Chris Dickinson

    *Timothy Thatcher beat Drew Gulak in a good technical match

    *Sami Callihan beat  Trevor Lee in an okay match

    *Drew Galloway beat Jack Evans in a good match

    *Adam Cole beat Speedball Mike Bailey in a good match

    *Zack Sabre Jr. beat Akira Tozawa.  Huge reaction for both and a great match.  People chanted match of the year at them when it was over

    *Roderick Strong beat Chris Hero to retain the PWG title

    • There was a question on the audio show about the origin of the name Iron Mike, which has been a pro wrestling nickname for guys named Mike dating back to the 40s if not earlier.  It’s a slang term for a Marine that is believed to have originated in World War I.  It was at first the name of a piece of equipment on a ship but was later used for Marines that were really tough, and there are Iron Mike statues at various military bases and academies around the country. (thanks to Karl Stern).
    • Also, to make it clear, regarding Asen Yamamoto, I’ve confused at times his father because Miyu Yamamoto was married three times.  His biological father is Nobuyasu Ikeda, a famous soccer player.  The Olympic skier, Akira Sasaki, was his stepfather.  He was using the name Asen Sasaki as an amateur wrestler when competing internationally.  He got really over on the New Year’s Eve show, but as Tom Lawlor noted, if his goal is the 2020 Olympics, he really should stay away from MMA.  Because rules and tendencies and reflexes are different, a lot of great wrestlers have gone into MMA as regulars and it has taken the edge off their competition wrestling. (thanks to Robert Sandholzer)
    • Here are the names listed for the Icons of Pro Wrestling convention on 4/16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia (before a Tommy Dreamer House of Hardcore promotion show):  Mil Mascaras, Shawn Michaels, Dreamer, Ricky Steamboat, Stan Hansen, Ron Bass, Abyss, Billy Gunn, Bill Apter, Justin Credible, Brian Cage, Cliff Compton, Kevin Thorn, Maven, Curt Hawkins, Amber Gallows, Danny Cage, Blue Meanie, Sabu, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards.
    • MTV did a story on why your girlfriends love pro wrestling
    • LLE today at Arena Mexico has Caristico vs. Negro Casas in a singles match and Black Warrior & La Mascara & Rush vs. Cibernetico & Sharly Rockstar & Mephisto, who are the new Hell Brothers.
    • Real Sports on HBO highlighted stories from the last 20 years in its December episode available on VOD.  There was a clip of Vince McMahon that made it, as did Chris Nowinski in a 2007 story about football players and concussions.  Roddy Piper’s interview on the deaths of wrestlers wasn’t on it, nor was anyone from wrestling besides Vince (thanks to Jeff Cohen)
    • Masked Republic’s LuchaShop.com is having a 2016 sale with all merchandise 16% off through midnight Pacific time tonight using the code NY2016.  There is a ton of Lucha Libre merchandise there.
    • In Your Face Wrestling on 3/12 in Albany, NY at the Polish Community Center featuring Bob Holly, Scott Norton and Cody Deaner.  They also run on 1/16 in Albany at the Polish Community Center.
    • Magen Boys Entertainment and Action for Autism on 1/27 in Vaughan, ONT at The Avenue Banquet Hall with Nikolai Volkoff, Brodus Clay, Rhino, Brutus Beefcake and Virgil.
    • Acclaim Pro Wrestling on 1/16 in Ottawa, ONT at 379 Waverly St. with a 20 man Rumble.
    • Declaration of Anarchy III on 2/7 in Toronto at The Rockpile.
    • A show on 1/16 at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando is billing Santana Garrett vs. Barbi Hayden with the winner getting a tour to Japan in February.  Garrett is booked on the tour but she’s putting up her spot on the tour in a billed stipulation.  Results from last night’s show:  Santana Garrett & Lince Dorado b Slade Porter & Rex Bacchus, Tyranus b Alexx Light, Brandon Scherer b Steve Weiner, Braydon Knight b Chico Adams, Mike Reed & Josh Hess b Gabriel Black & Josh Parker, Rhett Ghiddins b Ace Andrews, Jonny Vandal & Aaron Epic b Michael Patrick & Leo Brien. (thanks to Al Haft)
    • Brain Buster Pro Wrestling on 2/13 in Hollywood, FL at VFW Post 2500.   
    • A story on the pro wrestling holiday tradition in Florida
    • A story on what live theater can learn from pro wrestling

    Here is today’s FULL Daily Pro Wrestling History including International history: Daily pro wrestling history (01/03): Freebirds win WCCW 6 Man Tag Team Titles

  • NJPW Festival 2016 report: New rookies debut

    Here is what went down tonight at NJPW Wrestling Festival 2016, a Axxess-like event featuring matches between wrestlers who are not on the main WrestleKingdom 10 card. It will also feature the debut of two new rookies, Kanemitsu Teruaki and Kawato Hirai as they face off against long time young lions Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu, respectively.

    Hirai Kawato  vs. Yohei Komatsu

    Hirai is only eighteen. Just to compare, Yohei is 27. Okada is 28. Weird how some guys start older while some start younger. He looked fine here as it was mostly a chain grappling match. People were behind Kawato immediately, chanting his name. I guess that’s because it’s his first match. Komatsu won with the Boston crab.

    Teruaki Kanemitsu vs. Sho Tanaka

    Same deal here. First part of the match was chain grappling. Kanemitsu busted out a dropkick and a gutwrench, but ultimately Tanaka got the win with a Boston crab. Interesting to see both of the older younger lions control the match. Kanemitsu looked fine here as well for his first ever match.

    Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Jay White vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay

    Another short match. It was good enough for what it was, which was a typical New Japan six man. White was pinned here via a Dorada Screwdriver by Mascara Dorada.

    Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Captain New Japan vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Juice Robinson

    This got more time than the other matches. Another solid match. CNJ, Nagata and Nakanishi worked as the heels. CNJ did the Mongolian chops to irritate Tenzan and the crowd booed. They all worked on Robinson for a bit. One funny spot was Robinson doing his punches, hit the last one, and Nagata responded by doing a Flair flop. Kojima got the pin for his team with a diamond cutter followed by a lariat.

    Other show notes:

    At one point Yuji Nagata came out and introduced two new young lions, Oka and Kitamura. Oka is a national wrestling champion that’s been in the dojo off and on for a while while Kitamura is a freestyle wrestler who was undefeated from 2008 to 2010. Kitamura in particular looks gigantic and already has a presence about him. Let’s just say WWE would probably sign him on the spot if he weren’t 5’11.

    The first Lion’s Gate show will be on 2/25. This was the concept introduced last year where young wrestlers would be brought in from various promotions. The new young lions debuting tonight (Kanemitsu and Kawato) will be a part of that show.

    Rest of the stream, besides a few comedy segments with celebrities and Ryusuke Taguchi, was dedicated to promos for tomorrow’s show. Nothing noteworthy other than good promos from Elgin and Tama Tonga. Kushida said his second was about to arrive in Japan for tomorrow’s show, which is probably Shelley if I were a betting man.

  • WOR 1/2: UFC 195, RIZIN, Tokyo Dome, Raw and TNA previews, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight with special guest Filthy Tom Lawlor to talk all of the matches from UFC 195 top-to-bottom, the amazing main event, RIZIN results and commentary, Tokyo Dome and TNA previews, Raw Monday and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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