Key Takeaway: NXT heads down to Texas for a sold-out three city tour, while Josh tries to parlay his Tough Enough win into a WWE career.
Show Recap: The NXT tour of Texas provided the framework for an unusually focused edition of Breaking Ground this week. The entirety of the episode was split between getting to know Josh, who won Tough Enough this summer, and following the NXT veterans on their three-city Texas trip.
We meet Josh in the gym, where Jason Albert tells him he needs to take yoga because he’s in the rookie class. His big-money contract is briefly mentioned, and Albert tells him to get his banking and living situation set up and then it’s time to get to work. Later, Josh helps set up the ring at Full Sail for the NXT tapings and talks about having a huge desire to get in the ring. He says he has to trust in the coaches and their plan for him.
Later on, we join Josh at the grocery store. His wife and daughter call (via Facetime) and he talks about uprooting his family from Colorado so he can follow his dreams and how much it motivates him. He’s in the process of finding a place for them all to live so he can move them down to Florida. Later, we join Josh in promo class. He kind-of sucks, and delivers an awkward, meandering promo, trying to use his Tough Enough persona “the Yeti.” William Regal’s obviously disappointed (after 10 weeks on the mic in Tough Enough), advising him to be flexible and to ditch the Yeti thing. The coaches discuss Josh’s lack of progress in a meeting. At the end of the episode, Josh delivers a slightly better version of the same bad promo. Regal looks displeased. Josh doesn’t come across well, despite having a cute daughter.
The other two-thirds of the episode, focusing on the NXT shows in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, was really good. In Houston, they spent some time with Tyler Breeze and his history – he grew up on WWE and wanted to be a wrestler, but nearly got cut after years in developmental before falling into the Tyler Breeze character. He’s been in NXT for five years, and we get a montage of the 50+ wrestlers who have been called up from developmental since he’s been there. He’s hoping his call-up is coming soon and he seems really into his character, even staying in his persona backstage in Austin when Jason Jordan ribs him about wearing amateur wrestling boots. We hang out backstage as Sara Amato and Adam Pearce produce a show, paying a lot of attention to the Tyler Breeze/Samoa Joe match. Everyone praises Breeze’s match afterwards. There’s some downtime afterwards in Austin for the talent, so Baron Corbin goes to a bar to unwind and watch a band (but he has to deal with fans taking photos with him). Breeze and Tye Dillinger go looking for bats and find some under a bridge.
The segment in San Antonio spends a lot more time out of the ring. Breeze and Corbin argue about specific details of Texas history at the Alamo. Carmella and Colin Cassady, who seem to be a couple though it’s never stated, go to buy cowboy boots and cowboy hats. Apollo Crews’ sister visits him backstage and marvels at how far he’s come in his career – she says the last time she saw him, he was in Japan. Corbin’s cousin and nephew also visit. At the show, Carmella’s a little blown away that people cheer for her. Corbin loses to Joe (as Breeze did the previous night), and tells a story about his cousin texting him after the show to say his nephew wanted to beat up Samoa Joe because he was mad that he lost. After the show, everyone flies home – including Carmella with a spectacular (and complete in-character) leopard-print neck pillow.
Final Thoughts: If the goal of the first few episodes of Breaking Ground was to convince you that the NXT wrestlers that make it on TV are hard-working and that the Tough Enough guys are lazy and terrible, mission accomplished. The more time they spend on the up-and-coming NXT television performers – particularly Dana Brooke, Tyler Breeze and Apollo Crews – the more they come across as really likeable, enjoyable personas. Heck, Baron Corbin even seems like a relatable human even though he seems pretty obnoxious at times. But the time spent with ZZ (last week) and Josh (this week) seems wasted by comparison, and it waters the show down quite a bit.
If only the whole 30-ish minutes were solely devoted to the main NXT crew.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor is back today with a shocking amount of stuff to talk about, especially for this show! We’ve got the WWE Title Tournament, Tom’s own Filthy Invitational 2015 tourney for a copy of WWE 2K15, the Smackdown finish and whether it was the worst ever, previews of Retro Raw and Retro Nitro this week, some comedy regarding the RUMBLR app, Bellator and UFC notes for last weekend and this weekend, Shamrock vs. Gracie, RIZIN fights, fun moves Tom has successfully applied to people and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Big Takeaway: HHH announced a 16-man tournament for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the wake of Seth Rollins’ injury that forced him to vacate the championship. HHH tried and failed to get Reigns to join the Authority, even offering him the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Kane and the Undertaker made their return for revenge against the Wyatt family, laying out Wyatt with a chokeslam to end the show. Only one good match on the three hour show.
Show recap:
HHH came out and put over Seth Rollins strong as a great WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but acknowledged his knee injury that will cause him to vacate the championship. The mention of Rollins’ name got a strong babyface reaction from the fans in England. HHH brought out the number one contender, Roman Reigns.
HHH said the tournament that will determine the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion will start tonight, but it seems unfair that Reigns just earned the #1 contendership, but now has to start over again in a tournament. HHH said all the other guys in the tournament could step in the ring to fight Reigns at the Survivor Series for the title. HHH told Reigns before they picked Rollins as the chosen one, they scouted Reigns first. The only thing that Reigns lacks is the willingness to do anything to be the man, which is why Reigns hasn’t been the WWE champion.
HHH asked Reigns how it felt to watch Rollins walk out of WrestleMania as the WWE Champion, and that Reigns will never know if he could have defeated Brock Lesnar. He said Reigns has run into wall after wall, then asked him if he wanted to be the man. HHH offered Reigns the chance to join the Authority. Reigns asked if that meant he had to sell out.
HHH said Reigns will never be liked by everybody and he was offering Reigns everything he ever wanted. HHH talked about setting up Reigns’ grandchildren for life in exchange for Reigns being his man. Reigns said everything he’s ever done he’s earned, he didn’t need a handout. He told HHH to take his offer and to shove it.
HHH thanked Reigns for reminding him why he didn’t chose him in the first place and said Reigns’ first round tournament match would start immediately against the Big Show. It sounded like there was some crowd sweetning at work in this segment and Reigns got some boos when he spoke, which wasn’t much.
Roman Reigns defeated the Big Show in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title tournament (14:32)
Reigns kicked out of a choke slam. Show teased the knockout punch, but Reigns blocked it with a punch of his own, followed with the Superman’s Punch and pinned the Big Show with a spear. Boring match where the crowd wasn’t behind Reigns’ comeback. He sold most of the way.
Reigns faces either Cesaro or Sheamus, who wrestle later tonight. It’s a 16-man tournament.
Michael Cole announced that Bray Wyatt will eulogize the Undertaker and Kane later tonight.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was showed at ringside.
Kevin Owens did a prematch promo encouraging fans to buy his entrance music on iTunes. Owens ran down the fans for believing the Royal Family and said he was going to bring about the change the company needs, and said he was doing it for himself. Fans cheered him anyway.
Kevin Owens defeated Titus O’Neil in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title tournament (6:52)
Owens escaped the Clash of the Titus and pinned Titus O’Neil with the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Owens advances to face the winner of the Neville/King Barrett match, which takes place on Thursday’s Smackdown.
Paige did an interview with Renee Young. Paige is wrestling Becky Lynch tonight. Paige called Lynch a rat. What the hell does that imply?
They showed highlights of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania 13 main event against Sid Vicious. Isn’t it amazing the Bret Hart-Steve Austin I Quit match wasn’t the main event of that show? Surprisingly, they didn’t mention the fact that WrestleMania drew about 70,000 fewer PPV buys than the WCW Uncensored show later that same month in 1997. If you recall, WCW Uncensored headlined with a horrendously booked Team NWO vs. Team Piper vs. Team WCW match. I guess that says all you need to know about how deep a hole the WWE was in at that point.
Becky Lynch defeated Paige (4:57)
Paige hit the Rampage but Lynch grabbed the ropes. Paige tried the PTO, but Lynch again grabbed the ropes. So Paige tried a Rolling Reverse Cradle, but Lynch reversed it to get the pin. I guess it was Paige’s turn to job in her home country. Paige attacked Lynch afterwards and put her in the PTO on the table, to which Cole screamed “NOT ON THE TABLE!” What difference did doing the PTO on the table make? Is Paige the new Sabu or something?
Next week is the Undertaker week on the WWE Network, which will include a Legends Roundtable with JBL, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and HHH talking about their memories of the Undertaker. Wonder if Bryan Clark will be invited for memories of Kronik vs. the Brothers of Destruction?
There was a package highlighting the first day of ticket sales for WrestleMania in Texas last Friday. They claimed there was a record-breaking amount of tickets sold. There was also an NXT show where Samoa Joe walked out. Booker T. and Austin did brief interviews.
Dolph Ziggler pinned the Miz in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (4:59)
Dolph Ziggler pinned the Miz with a Superkick out of nowhere. Miz had just used the Figure Four leglock. Ziggler faces either Dean Ambrose or Tyler Breeze in the round of 8. Ziggler sold his leg great.
They continued the flashbacks of the Undertaker and Kane, which included Daniel Bryan and Kane winning the WWE World Tag Team championships over Kofi Kingston and R. Truth when Bryan threw Kane off the top rope, only to have him land on Kingston and score the pin.
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Coulter came out. Coulter said MexAmerica believes Mexico and America should band together as two countries but band together as one. Coulter says Germany tells England what to do and even Scotland doesn’t want anything to do with England anymore. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if Vladimir Putin tells England what to do in the future. Del Rio said England is only populated by haters. Coulter said Del Rio was given an opportuniy by HHH to be in the WWE World Title Tournament and become the first MexAmerica world heavyweight champion.
Natalya defeated Naomi (2:06)
Natalya threw Naomi into Tamina and scored the pin with a schoolgirl cradle. Naomi appeared to injure her leg while rolling out of the ring in the opening seconds. Fans chanted “We Want Sasha” to taunt Naomi. So they’re teasing dissension with Team BAD. That’s two Divas groups who will break up within three months of forming. What is this, TNA?
Postmatch, Banks jumped Natalya, which the crowd cheered. Natalya turned the tables and put Banks in the Sharpshooter. Fans booed the babyface. Tamina jumped Natalya and Banks put her in the Bank Statement. Natalya tapped repeatedly while Naomi put Tamina’s sunglasses on her face.
Cesaro defeated Sheamus in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (15:28)
Easily the best thing on the show so far. Cesaro pinned Sheamus with the Inverted Chikara Special. Sheamus was distracted when Barrett got slapped by Rooney at ringside. Earlier, Cesaro hit Sheamus with a European Uppercut on the floor and high-fived Rooney. Best Sheamus match in a while. It’s Reigns vs. Cesaro next week so Cesaro fans can get back to reality. On the WWE website, under the caption of Sheamus winning the Money in the Bank briecase last June is the caption “Can we get a booking mulligan on this move?”
Barrett ran down Rooney during a prematch promo, challenging him to get in the ring. Barrett said he would hate to see Rooney’s son watch his father fail, but then again his son does that every Sunday on the football pitch. Rooney had a slight grin on his face, but this was the English equivalent of Lebron James shooting an angle.
They congraulated Sheamus for “Spectre” being the #1 movie in the world this weekend.
Breeze did a promo saying Prince Pretty would send Ambrose back to the trash heap he came from. Summer Rae said Breeze would be a blessing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Breeze said he would be the new face of the WWE at Survivor Series.
Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (11:07)
Ambrose won with a small package in a pretty good match. Finish was abrupt. Ambrose sold his left arm after hitting a missile dropkick. Breeze promptly rammed Ambrose’s arm into the ringpost three times and clamped on a Fujiwara Armbar. Ambrose teased a tope but Breeze moved. Ambrose stopped before he hit Rae, who let out a scream worthy of the next Friday the 13th sequel. Rae and Breeze have the potential to be a great act.
It’s Ambrose vs. Ziggler next week.
The next Undertaker-Kane flashback was Undertaker winning over HHH in their final WrestleMania match. Kane’s highlight was the 2001 Royal Rumble, when he eliminated 11 men. It was the final Rumble won by Austin.
New Day came out to a good pop. Kingston was unhappy that the New Day was left out of the tournament. Xavier Woods bragged about New Day laying out John Cena and the Dudley Boyz. Woods dedicated tonight’s match to their fallen captain, Seth Rollins, who again got cheered. Woods said European magic is garbage, to which Kingston added “And so is Harry Potter.”
The New Day defeated Neville and the Usos (8:43)
Woods pinned Neville with a cradle with his feet on the ropes after Big E. tripped Neville, who was going for the Red Arrow. How the ref missed Woods feet on the rope was unbelieveable. Big spot was Neville doing a twisting moonsault plancha onto all five other men. The spot where the New Day takes turns stomping on an opponent in the corner has now been renamed “The Unicorn Stampede.” JBL called them “The Gleebirds.”
Main Event segment was Wyatt coming out. Crowd in England was still singing “He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands.” Wyatt said change wasn’t easy, but it was inevitable. And how you deal with change is how you tell who you really are. He wanted to celebrate the spirit of Kane and the Undertaker tonight. They have been the benchmark of power for over two decades, and they reigned supreme.
He told everyone watching to bow their heads and pay respect to the legends of Kane and the Undertaker. After a moment of the fans chanting “Undertaker,” Wyatt laughed at them saying there will be no more respect paid for them. Wyatt said he owns the spirits of Undertaker and Kane, because their power is now running through his veins.
Wyatt says the apocalypse is here. He got down on his knees and said “Follow…” Before he could finish, a video of Kane and Undertaker played on the TitonTron, ending with the Undertaker saying “Rest in Peace.” Thunderbolts shot down into the ring and from the stage. Then the Undertaker’s music played as Wyatt looked confused and uncertain. Undertaker’s video played and the fans reacted like he was coming out. And he did come out with Kane. Wyatt was stunned.
Undertaker looked like he had spent too much time under a tanning bed. Wyatt’s flash music played, and Braun Strowman, Eric Rowan and Luke Harper appeared. Fans chanted “This is awesome.” Wyatt charged at Undertaker, who decked him. Rowan and Harper were quickly taken out. Strowman approached the Brothers of Destruction. Rowan and Harper ran in to get destroyed with chokeslams. Strowman clotheslined the Undertaker and Kane, but both rose up and clotheslined Strowman over the top. Strowman was thrown over the announcer’s table. Wyatt was left alone in the ring, and Undertaker and Kane gave him a double chokeslam, then stood over him.
SUMMARY: Considering how newsworthy the last week has been, this was a disappointing show. There isn’t anyone who stands out as a larger than life star ready to be the next superstar. The tournament just felt like a series of matches, with only Cesaro’s standing out as anything special. Giving Reigns a win over the Big Show is understandable since he’s now in the legends emeritus role, but it was hard to get a good match out of Show when he was in his 20s. Imagine what it was like tonight, going 14 mintues to boot. Crowd was dead most of the way.
– HHH came out with the WWE title belt on a table in the ring. He said that Seth Rollins was injured, the title is vacant, and there will be a tournament starting tonight. Roman Reigns came out and vowed to win the tournament. HHH invited him to join The Authority and take Rollins’ spot. Reigns turns him down, so HHH announces Reigns has to face Big Show in the first round.
– Tournament Match: Roman Reigns beat Big Show with a spear. The crowd did everything but pay attention to this match. It was the crowd getting themselves over here.
– Tournament Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens beat Titus O’Neil with the power bomb.
– Becky Lynch beat Paige with a roll-up. Paige attacks her after the match and lays her out with the PTO on a table. Big reaction to that.
– Tournament Match: Dolph Ziggler b Miz with a superkick.
– Natalya beat Naomi
– Tournament Match: Cesaro beat Sheamus when Wayne Rooney of Manchester United fame distracted Sheamus.
– Tournament Match: Dean Ambrose beat Tyler Breeze with a schoolboy to advance in the tournament.
– WWE Tag Team Champiosn The New Day beat Neville & The Usos in a six-man.
– Bray Wyatt did an interview with the Wyatt Family out. Undertaker & Kane came out to confront them, and cleaned house.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Saturday’s New Japan Power Struggle show, 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 Saturday night’s NXT show in Largo, FL at Dave Meltzer
Raw is tonight in Manchester, England. They will be starting the tournament for the title on tonight’s show.
Smackdown is Tuesday in Manchester, England. Undertaker is being advertised for this show.
Our most talked about issue of the year, the 2015 Hall of Fame issue is up on the site right now. This is a double-issue featuring notes on the seven new inductees, the complete balloting results for the year along with last year, plus how the top candidates did with reporters, historians, and those who are currently and formerly in the business. You’ll see how the different groups voted, as well as notes on everyone who went in, what kept those who came close from getting in, thoughts on next year’s ballot, and a look at the careers of the inductees. There is also a super history of Montreal wrestling in the new issue, as well as a story on the modern Mexican scene.
The issue features a ton of old Southern history, coverage of one of the top heels of the 70s, the biggest matches ever held in Puerto Rico, a complete WWE business rundown with reactions from Vince McMahon and George Barrios, what the numbers say, profits in every category, the Wall Street reaction to the numbers, lots of network information broken down including who watches what, the current WWE profitability level vs. historical levels, as well as where the money comes from, and the last three years of PPV business being charted and the surprising staying power of PPV. We also look at every other aspect of WWE business.
We also have an in-depth update on the situation with Alberto Del Rio, WWE, AAA, TNA, Lucha Underground, Rizin and everyone else that had interest in him. We look at how things changed in the last week, have comments from WWE regarding what he can and can’t do, both sides of contradictory stories, the big move AAA made this past week due to his leaving, what the situation is with the AAA Mega heavyweight title, the good and bad of working with WWE vs. indies from a short and long-term financial situation, what Mexican star did WWE show interest in, and how this affects AAA and Lucha Underground.
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
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
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.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio, talking Raw, and the rest of the latest news. You can send e-mail questions for the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
Raw is going on at this writing. The show will have early tournament matches in the WWE title tournament that will be finalized at Survivor Series.
Dorian Roldan of AAA stated today that while Alberto Del Rio would have liked to have dropped the title, he will not be coming back to AAA and his contract wouldn’t allow it. So for those keeping score, WWE, TNA & AAA’s heavyweight title are all in tournaments, although the TNA tournament is actually over, even though on television it’ll last forever. Roldan said their tournament would be at Guerra de Titanes.
Today is the 18th anniversary of the Montreal screw job. Hopefully no angle on Raw commemorating it tonight.
Rizin announced today a battle of third generation members of famous families as the grandson of Ikuei Yamamoto (former Japanese wrestling Olympian whose two daughters were world champions and whose son is Kid Yamamoto), Asen Yamamoto, faces Kron Gracie, the grandson of Helio Gracie.
Undertaker is already in the U.K. He’s advertised for tomorrow night’s show but it would make sense for him to appear on tonight’s show as well. Finn Balor and Bayley are both there but that’s because they are on tour.
Matches announced officially for the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show:
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for IWGP title
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. A.J. Styles for IC title
Kushida vs. Kenny Omega for jr. title
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta vs. Young Bucks for IWGP jr. tag title
The retirement show of Genichiro Tenryu, one of the biggest stars in Japanese wrestling history and an easy Hall of Famer, will air live on New Japan World starting at 1 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, or right after the conclusion of the UFC show.
WWE
John Cena was on The Today Show earlier today. He hosted a segment. This is the third time he’s done that so NBC really seems to have plans for him to try and mainstream him to the non-wrestling audience.
Roman Reigns segment on the NBC affiliate in the Bay Area talking about the 49ers and pro wrestling including clips of Leo Nomellini.
Breaking Ground airs tonight after Raw on the WWE Network.
After the Columbus Crew beat the Montreal Impact 3-1 last night to advance to the semifinals of the Major League Soccer playoffs, Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark started doing the Daniel Bryan pointing to the sky “Yes” chant leading the crowd. (thanks to Jonathan Weber)
Former TUF fighter Angela Hill was cut after losses to Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres in her last two fights.
MISCELLANEOUS
Troy Westwood, a former star on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL team, will make his pro wrestling debut on 12/4 in Winnipeg for the CWE promotion, teaming with Danny Duggan against Outlaw Adam Knight and Shane Madison.
Tito Ortiz appears on Spike’s Sweat Inc. tomorrow night at 11 p.m., which is the Spike show with Jillian Michaels as they look at fight workouts.
AAW from Friday night in Merrionette Park, IL: Matt Cage b Shynron, Kongo Kong b Machete & Conor Braxton, Tommaso Ciampa b Michael Elgin, Matt Cross & Shane Hollister & Markus Crane b ACH & Davey Vega & Paco, Allysin Kay b Heidi Lovelace, Devin & Mason Cutter b Dan Berry & Bill Carr (Team Tremendous), Abyss b Christian Faith, Trevor Lee & Eddie Kingston lasted 30:00 to a draw in a four-way with Silas Young and Louis Lyndon. This sets up a show on 11/28 where Ethan Page defends the AAW title against both Lee and Kingston, plus Devin & Mason Cutter defend the tag titles against Dave & Jake Crist, Chris Hero vs. Pentagon Jr., Christian Faith vs. Gregory Iron, plus Louis Lyndon, Tommaso Ciampa, Alex Shelley, Fenix, ACH, Tyson Dux and more.
Premier Wrestling on 11/28 in Gilroy, CA at the IFDES Lodge-Portuguese Hall will have a round-robin tournament using European round rules featuring Jeff Cobb (6-3-1) vs. Timothy Thatcher (4-2-1) vs. Joe Graves (2-1-1). All three will wrestle the other two. JR Kratos (9-2) defends the Premier title against Marcus Lewis (5-4), and there will be a woman’s title tournament with Nicole Savoy (3-1), Kahmora (1-1), Raze (0-2) and Kikyo Nakamura (0-1) and catch wrestler Vito Rea makes his debut against Buddy Royal. Tickets are available atwww.premierwrestle.com and are $5 off in advance.
Shayna Baszler appeared on Nick Dinsmore’s Midwest All Pro Wrestling show on Saturday night in Sioux City, IA. She’s originally from the area. She actually only did a musical chairs match, taken from the Raw segment from years ago, which she cheated to win. She posed for photos with the money going to the local VFW.
In Your Face Wrestling from Saturday night in Delanson, NY: Roman Dominguez & Salvatore Morocco b Sebastian Kelly & Kameron Yates, Jamar Justice & Gabriel Soul & Axel Lennox & Mattick b Zane Maverick & Vince Valor & Maximo Suave & Rickety Rocket, Damon Ravage b Dewey Murray, Zack Clayton DCOR Garrett Holiday, C.J. Scott b Fronz Roddy in a loser leaves wrestling street fight, Eric Emanon & Thomas Brewington d Vigo & Sgt. Fury, Elite Terrel & Ron & Jordan Falco & Rex Atkins & Lenn Oddity b Ricky Williams & Trip & Benjamin Blackwell & Jimmy Jact Cash & Surma in an elimination match, Chip Stetson & Hellcat b Jet Rebel & Anthony Gaines to win tag titles, Drake Evans b Cassius Cutcher to keep IWFW title.
Southern Pro Wrestling New Zealand from Saturday night in Queenstown, NZ: Johnny Idol b Travis Banks, James Shaw b King Wilbur, Vinny Dunn & Kingi b Slade Mercer & Jade Diamond, Shane Sinclair b Idol, Charlie Roberts b Hustla, Marcus Kool b T-Rex (thanks to Steve Ogilvie)
Travis Banks from that group is leaving New Zealand to go to the U.K. to get more experience.
Ad Hutchinson, who trained at Santino Marella’s Battlarts Academy and has wrestled there as The British Brawler, has moved to Japan and is going to be working with Zero-One (thanks to Dave Musgrave)
NWA Mid South Wrestling on 12/4 in Robinsonville, MS at the Resorts Casino with Matt Sydal vs. Kincaid, NWA North American champion Tim Storm vs. Moose, plus appearing include Jim Cornette, Matt Riviera, Rob Conway and referee James Beard.
NSW One Night Only on 1/31 at 2 p.m. in Hamilton, ONT at the Knights of Columbus. It’s a one-night revival of the promotion.
Renegade Promotions from yesterday in Burlington, ONT: Sebastian Suave b Brent Banks, Beautiful Beaa b Kaitlin Diemond, Brandon Thurston b Rex Atkins, Ryan Swift b Rip Impact, Jimmy King & Derek Platinum b Reggie Marley & Juan Ortiz to win tag titles, Xandra Bale b Leah Von Dutch, Scotty O’Shea b Ethan Page (thanks to Steven Ashe)
Lucha Toronto from yesterday: Trent Gibson & Channing Decker b Gabriel Fuerza & Vaughn Vertigo, Kid Canuck b Pepper Jack, Carter Mason won four-way over Alexia Nicole, Will White and Sebastian Suave, Craneo b Grimbo, America (Pantera, longtime Lucha star) b Sombracito, Vampiro & Louis Lyndon & Mark Andrews b Jack Evans & Angelico & Maybach Beta. L.A. Park will be on the next show in January.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1968 – Tex McKenzie beat Toru Tanaka in Melbourne to win the IWA heavyweight title
1968 – Kintaro Oki beat Buddy Austin in Seoul, South Korea to win the All Asia title
1973 – Wahoo McDaniel beat Shozo Kobayashi in Wakayama to win the IWE heavyweight title
1981 – Yumi Ogura & Mimi Hagirawa (a famous singer and actress) beat Nancy Kumi & Ayori Hori in Yokohama to win the WWWA tag titles
1982 – Marty Jones beat Bobby Graham in Croydon to win the world mid-heavyweight title
1982 – Fit Finlay & Skull Murphy (the U.K. version, not the famous U.S.version) beat Johnny & Peter Wilson to win the World of Sports tag team tournament
1996 – Lance Storm & Yuji Yasuraoka beat Jushin Liger & El Samurai in Aomori to win the Int. jr. tag titles
2013 – In a three-way match with Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Rob Conway & Jax Dane, Conway & Dane won the first fall for the NWA tag titles and Smith & Archer won the second fall or the IWGP tag titles, and then Smith & Archer won both titles in the third fall.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of spoiler-free notes on the WWE World Title tournament which starts tonight on Raw. That includes the full brackets and some thoughts on where they could be going leading into the finals at Survivor Series. Plus, full notes on the New Japan Tokyo Dome line-up, John Cena return to TV today, your calls, emails and text messages on a number of different topics and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
This show is part two of a series of biographies on some of the wild and craziest wrestlers in history. Very few were more wild and crazy than the Madman from the Sudan, Abdullah the Butcher. The WWE Hall-of-Famer’s story is a complicated one. From his days to team with and battling against The Sheik to his time as a territorial bounty hunter and, of course, his insane brawls with Bruiser Brody and Carlos Colon. We also look at how his career ended in controversy.
Enjoy today’s biography featuring Abdullah the Butcher.
New Japan announced the teams for this year’s World Tag League tournament, which starts on November 21st at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, with the finals on December 9th in Sendai.
Michael Bennett & Matt Taven Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii Tetsuya Naito & Evil Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale A.J. Styles & Yujiro Takahashi Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Last year’s finals saw Block B winners Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata beat Block A winners Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson.
The Tag League scoring system is identical to that used for the annual G-1 Climax singles tournament.
