Tag: mainstory

We’re looking for reports from tonight’s NXT tapings in Winter Park, FL at Dave Meltzer  Austin Aries, Chad Lail (Gunner) and James Storm have all been backstage at the event.

Smackdown tonight on Syfy:

• Cesaro vs. The Miz
• Dudleys & Neville vs. The Ascension & Stardust
• Zack Ryder vs. Tyler Breeze
• Charlotte vs. Brie Bella non-title
• Kalisto vs. Big E
• Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio

Figure Four Weekly:

Figure Four Weekly (11/16/15): Rey Mysterio vs. Low-Ki and The Anatomy of a Dream Match
A road report for Jersey All-Pro Wrestling’s 19th Anniversary show takes a deep look at the latest match in Rey Mysterio’s dream match tour vs. Low-Ki.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

We have one of the biggest issues of the year, with such a huge news week this past week.  We look at exactly what went into Holly Holm’s victory over Ronda Rousey, a story on the life and times of Nick Bockwinkel, the Reid Flair angle and build to Survivor Series, Destination America dropping wrestling, and the 104-year-old attendance record being broken, as well as the story behind the firing of Billy Gunn, an update on The Rock at WrestleMania, La Sombra to WWE, the AAA world title gets decided and a lot more are headline stories in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which is on the site right now.

If you have an interest in history, this is a huge issue, as well as a perspective on what happened in the most talked about UFC fight in history.

We look at the fight, the background of Holly Holm, what is going on in Rousey’s life, what led to the upset, thoughts on a rematch, what it means for business, the early business notes on the fight including where PPV may come in, previous fights like this, and what happened after the fight. We look at UFC’s biggest upsets, the gambling perspective, rematch odds, business notes and match-by-match coverage with poll results.

The life and times of Nick Bockwinkel is one of the best bios we’ve done, with comments from people whose careers he has touched, my own personal thoughts on Bockwinkel, what current WWE superstar had his career path changed greatly because of a suggestion by Bockwinkel to an independent promoter, a look at his life, his career, some of his most famous matches, his career title history, the controversy over Hulk Hogan not getting the AWA title, his place in the business when it changed and life after wrestling.

We also look at the Reid Fliehr angle, how it was set up, comments by Ric Flair, how ESPN got exposed in its wrestling coverage, the Owen Hart DVD and more.

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

The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: November 23, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Holm defeats Rousey, Nick Bockwinkel passes away, 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@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

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If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

• This is the WWE statement regarding the Paige-Charlotte angle from Raw on Monday:

“Subject matter this personal is only approved as a result of the strong advocacy of the talent themselves.  Notwithstanding that, WWE is ultimately responsible for what airs in its programming.”

• On tonight’s Smackdown show, they will announce the Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze match added to Sunday’s Survivor Series show.
• Jon Jones on Instagram strongly suggested his return date would be 4/23, which is the day UFC has Madison Square Garden booked.
• Ratings on Destination America last night weren’t good. 

Impact at 9 p.m. did 202,000, the all-time low in the time slot. 

ROH at 11 p.m. did 114,000 viewers, the second lowest since ROH was cut to one airing

Impact at midnight did 78,000 viewers, on the low side but not near record lows.

• The USA Network announced the annual WWE week which will start on 12/20 with airing the movie “Santa’s Little Helper,” followed on 12/21 with Raw, which will be the Slammy Awards show, a live Smackdown on 12/22, and the two-hour version of the Tribute to the Troops special on 12/23.
• Sorry to report the death yesterday of Todd “Oly” Olsen, a regular for All-Star Wrestling out of Vancouver, who actually gave Bryan Alvarez his first pro wrestling lessons in 1995.
• The Fight Network in Canada announced they are going to be moving TNA to Tuesday night, so it will air in Canada the same day as in the U.S.
• POP TV, which is the new home of Impact starting on 1/5 only broadcasts in SD on DirecTV.
• Our Gary Juster interview talking Nick Bockwinkel and ROH will be up on the site later this afternoon.
• A nice Nick Bockwinkel story
• A story on the damage the loss on Saturday did to the Ronda Rousey brand
• And The Economist weighs in on Ronda Rousey
• Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber from last night’s Ultimate Fighter.  This was pretty much must-see
• T.J. Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz go back and forth here.  Very entertaining.  Cruz is awesome here
• ROH announced shows for 2/19 and 2/20 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. 
• On tomorrow night’s World Series of Fighting show in Phoenix, with a tournament for a lightweight title shot, the first round of the tournament will take place before the TV on NBC Sports Network start sat 11 p.m.  The tournament matches ill be available starting at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific on WSOF.com.  The semifinals and finals will air on NBC Sports.  First round has Islam Mamedov vs. Jorge Patino, Brian Cobb vs. Mike Ricci, Brian Foster vs. Zoao Zeferino, Luis Palomino vs. Rich Patishnock.
• The New Japan tag team tournament begins Saturday at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time at Korakuen Hall.
• With TNA moving to Pop TV, Paragon Pro, which had been on the channel, will start airing on 11/19 on Tuff TV at midnight Eastern time, as well as on Fight Net, Yoo Too America Dish Network and WADL in Detroit.

WWE

• WWE stock today lost 32 cents per share after a big day yesterday, closing at $17.12 per share.
• The Paterson Armory in Paterson, NJ, which was a regular stop during the territorial days, was taken down this past Friday.  It hasn’t been used for wrestling in forever.  Mike Omansky noted to us he was there for a sold out show with hundreds turned away, and loads of police having to be used to clear out people without tickets demanding to get in, for a show headlined by Bruno Sammartino vs. Dr. Jerry Graham and The Tolos Brothers vs. Gorilla Monsoon & Killer Kowalski in a battle of heels back in 1964.
• Lana is back training for a return. 
• Here’s a nice story on the making of The Wrestling Album 30 years ago in Rolling Stone this week (thanks to Henry Kassabian)

UFC

• Holly Holm appear on Inside MMA tomorrow night at 11:30 p.m., one hour eariler than usual.  She’ll be joined by coaches Mike Winklejon and Greg Jackson,  The show will feature a report from Albuquerque and also talk to Dave Oancea, who bet $20,000 on Holm and won $240,000.
• Michael Bisping started a new weekly Thursday talk show from 6-8 p.m. with comedian Luis J. Gomez called The Countdown today on Sirius XM Ch. 93.
• Good story by Shayna Baszler on Rousey, with a lot of pro wrestling references
• Here is the weekend UFC TV schedule:

Weigh-ins are tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. on FS 1

Prefight show is Saturday at 7 p.m. on FS 1

Live show is 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on FS 1

Post fight show is at 1 a.m  on FS 1

Ultimate Insiders with Daniel Cormier, Paige VanZant and Frankie Edgar on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

There will be a special on the Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum fight that Werdum won the title i airing on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on FS 1

Dennis Bermudez vs. Maximo Blanco was added to the 1/17 show in Boston on FS 1.

• UFC Fight Pass today announced a new deal with the Omaha based Victory Fighting Championship promotion.  They will have their entire tape library dating back to 2002 up in early January, and will run all VFC shows live, with the first on 1/29 headlined by Elvis Mutapcic vs. Anthony Smith for the middleweight title.

MISCELLANEOUS

• There is a ZZ Inc. show tonight in Leon with Fireball & Rey Hours vs. Speedball Miike Bailey & Willie Mack, Mr. 450 Hammet & Mickie James & Dinastia vs. Bestia 666 & Taya & Mini Charly Manson, Australian Suicide & Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Daga & Sonjay Dutt & Seiya Sanada, Fenix & Garza Jr. & El Hijo del Dos Caras vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Magnus (Nick Aldis, the GFW champion) & Psicosis, and Blue Demon Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Brodus Clay & Drew Galloway & Johnny Mundo. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
• Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Scotty 2 Hotty Garland, Gangrel and others will be appearing for Big Time Wrestling on 11/20 in Norfolk at the Scope Events Center and 11/21 in Powhatan, VA at the High School.  Promoter Tony Hunter noted strong advances for both shows and that he’s expecting 2,000 fans in Powhatan.  Photos and autographs are 6-8 p.m. on Friday and 5-7 p.m. on Saturday prior to the start of both shows.   
• Wrestledelphia with a three part interview with Bob Backlund
• AAW has an already sold out show on 11/28 in Chicago at the Logan Square Auditorium although there may be additional tickets at the door.  Check www.twitter.com/aawprothe day of the show. Ethan Page vs Eddie Kingston vs. Trevor Lee for the AAW title headlines, plus Devin & Mason Cutter vs. Dave & Jake Crist (Jake’s final AAW match) for the tag title, Chris Hero vs. Pentagon Jr., Christian Faith vs. Gregory Iron, Fenix vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Louis Lyndon vs. Alex Shelley, ACH vs. Davey Vega and Tyson Dux & Matt Cage vs. Shane Hollister & Markus Crane.
• A story on mixed gender wrestling
• CZW and WSU run Saturday in Voorhees, NJ at Flyers Skate Zone.  There will be a 4 p.m. show headlined by Jessicka Havok & Matt Tremont vs. Pepper Parks & Allysin Kay and Leva Bates vs. Solo Darling, as well as Marti Belle & Mia Yim (Jade) vs. Bill Carr & Dan Barry and other men vs. woman matches.  The 8 p.m. show has Tremont vs DJ Hyde for the CZW title and Team Tremendous vs. The Hooligans, Joey Janela vs. Lio Rush, Danny Havoc vs. AR Fox, Drew Gulak vs. Masada and more.
• The Pac 12 Network announced it will be airing wrestling starting with Penn State vs Stanford on Sunday at 1 p.m. Pacific time.  They will be airing seven meets this season culminating with the Pac 12 conference championship meet live from Arizona State on 2/27.  The second show will be Stanford vs. Cal State Bakersfield on 12/17.
• Absolute Intense Wrestling on 11/27 in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mount Carmel with Rickey Shane Page vs. Ethan Page, Alex Shelley vs. Louis Lyndon, Chris Hero vs. Tim Donst, Johnny Gargano vs. Candice LaRae vs. DJ Zema Ion vs Alex Daniels and more.  They also run 12/5 in Cleveland at the Martin Luther Church with Tracy Smothers vs. Grado, Cliff Compton vs. Frankie Flynn and more.
• There will be a major judo tournament, the Qingdao Grand Prix at www.ippon.tv on Sunday featuring eight time world champion Teddy Riner of France returning to international competition. 
• Pro Wrestling Eclipse on 11/28 in Oshawa, ONT at the Oshawa Legion 43 with Xandra Bale vs. Jewels Malone in a falls count anywhere match.
• UWC on 12/5 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Banquet Hall.  Admission is free if you donate an unwrapped toy with a suggested minimum value of $10 at the door.  There will be free door prizes.
• RFA on 12/11 with Andy Townsend vs. E.J. Chavez from the Orange County Fair and Event Center on Costa Mesa, CA, which also airs live on AXS.
• Tier 1 Wrestling on 12/4 in Deer Park, NY at the NYWC Sportatorium.
• NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on Saturday in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with Jax Dane defending the NWA title against national champion Arrick Andrews, plus Jason Kincaid defends the Southeastern title against ROH’s Ray Rowe.  
• Big West Wrestling on 12/11 in Kelowna, BC at Lake City Bowling & Billiards.  They also have dates there on 1/22, 2/19 and 3/18.
• Northern Championship Wrestling on 11/28 in Montreal at Centre Brussels.
• Alpha-1 Wrestling on 12/13 in Hamilton, ONT at 166 Greenmountain Road with Eric Young vs. Scotty O’Shea and Amazing Red vs. Alessandro del Bruno.

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

1906 – Clarence Weber beat Buttan Singh in Melbourne to become the first Australian born Australian heavyweight champion

1966 – Ray Stevens & Art Nelson beat George & Sandy Scott in Melbourne to win the IWA tag titles

1970 – Larry Hennig & Bob Windham (Blackjack Mulligan) beat Thunder Sugiyama & Great Kusatsu in Ashikaga to win the IWE tag titles

1974 – Alfonso Dantes beat El Halcon in Mexico City to win the Mexican national light heavyweight title

2004 – Hector Garza & Tarzan Boy & El Terrible beat Canek & Black Warrior & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in Mexico City to win the CMLL trios titles

2006 – Mistico beat Black Warrior in the tournament final to win the IWRG super welterweight title

2011 – Takeshi Morishima beat KENTA in Tokyo to win the Global tournament

2011 – Ricochet beat Pac (Neville) in Osaka to win the Open the Brave Gate title