Kansas City, Kansas: – Larry Hamilton and Sonny Myers beat Joe Dusek and Roy Shire 2 falls to 1
1957 —
Atlanta, Georgia: – Ray Gunkel and Don McIntyre defeated Kurt Von Brawner & Fritz Von Brawner to win the International Tag Team Title
1960 —
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Hard Boiled Haggerty & Len Montana defeated Murder Inc. (Tiny Mills & Stan Kowalski) to win the AWA World Tag Team Title – Bob Geigel beat Guy Hill
1968 —
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Tommy Martin defeated Bob Brown to win the Central States Title
1969 —
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Flying Redheads Red Bastien & Billy Red Lyons beat AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon on a 3rd fall dq – Bill Watts beat Larry Hennig – Blackjack Lanza beat Rene Goulet
1972 —
Tokyo, Japan: – Antonio Inoki defeated Karl Gotch for the New Japan Real World Heavyweight Title
1974 —
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Horst Hoffman – Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell – Larry Heiniemi beat Larry Hennig
1975 —
Bayamon, Puerto Rico: – Tosh Togo defeated Jose Miguel Perez to win the WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Title
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – In a Lumberjack Match, Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan – Pampero Firpo no contest Jimmy Valiant – Billy Robinson beat Kim Duk
1979 —
Tokyo, Japan: – Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Ryuma Go to win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion
1981 —
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Sgt. Slaughter won a one night tournament to win the United States Championship by defeating Ricky Steamboat in the finals (The title was vacated by Wahoo McDaniel when he was injured by Abdullah the Butcher
Houston, Texas: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Junkyard Dog dq – Gino Hernandez and Dos Caras went to a double count out – Manny Fernandez beat Ken Patera to win the Brass Knuckles Title
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell by countout – Sheik Adnan beat Baron Von Raschke – Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan – Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Billy Robinson & Tito Santana
1985 —
Los Angeles, California: – Stan Hansen won battle royal – Sgt. Slaughter drew Boris Zhukov – Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Baron Von Raschke & Jerry Blackwell – Greg Gagne beat Jimmy Garvin – Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts) beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
1991 —
Dallas, Texas: – Eddie Gilbert defeated The Handsome Stranger (Marcus Bagwell) in a tournament final to win the Global Wrestling Federation Television Title
1993 —
Columbus, Georgia: – Marcus Alexander Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio defeated The Nasty Boys to win the WCW World Tag Team Title
Jellico, Tennessee – Tim Horner defeated Juicy Johnny for the SMW “Beat The Champ” Television Title – Chris Candido defeated Bobby Blaze for the SMW U.S. Junior Heavyweight Title
2009 —
Newark, New Jersey: – The Undertaker defeated CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell Match to win the WWE World Championship – Randy Orton defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match
Submitted by Jon Alba, Sports Anchor for ABC7/Fox22
Cesaro vs. Miz
Cesaro and Miz kicked us off with Miz doing a schtick about not wanting to take his sunglasses off until the crowd shut up, delaying the match about 3-4 minutes. Cesaro even went and sat in the crowd waiting for Miz to take the sunglasses off. Eventually did, and they put on a decent starting match with them teasing the swing a few times. Cesaro got his hands on Miz’s glasses and wrestled with them on for a little bit, and ended up hitting the swing into the Neutralizer for the win. 8-10 minutes or so.
Heath Slater vs. Fandango
Heath Slater came out and Fandango followed him. Fandango wins with a quick roll-up about two minutes into the match, if that. Slater left in shock not believing he lost that quickly. Crowd didn’t care much for this.
Jack Swagger vs. Braun Strowman
Swagger was out next, and the lights went dark and Braun Strowman appeared in the ring. This one went about 3.5-4 minutes, with Strowman passing Swagger out. He did not hit his slam, instead going right to the sleeper.
Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores vs. The Ascension in a triple-threat tag match
The Ascension actually got a decent response from the locals, but Lucha Dragons were most over. OK match, with almost all the action centered around Lucha Dragons, and more specifically, Kalisto. The Matadores kept teasing El Torito wasn’t there and were egging on the crowd about it, because they apparently don’t like him anymore. Eventually, “Bad to the Bone” hit over the loudspeakers, and Torito came out to a big pop. He distracted the Matadores, and Kalisto picked up the pinfall win after his finisher over one of them. Crowd was into the finish, but match was really long (probably 11 minutes or longer). People are talking about reports of a Matadores getting in a scuffle with a fan, but I did not see such.
Natalya vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha getting a nice response. Natalya may have gotten the biggest pop of the night, and was SUPER over. She even posted about it on her Instagram after the show, seeming to be surprised by how big of a pop she received. They put on a good match, with Sasha playing the chicken-shit heel well. Nattie picked up the win with The Sharpshooter about 7-8 minutes in.
Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper
Good match between the two as expected, went probably about 10 minutes or so. Very physical, lots of false finishes. The two did a flexing showdown in the middle of the match, where they tried to see who had bigger muscles. A little strange for these two. Finish saw Ambrose pick up momentum after turning a superkick into a clothesline off the ropes, and then going off the ropes again and locking Harper in Dirty Deeds. Ambrose was very over as well.
Adam Rose vs. R-Truth
R-Truth came out next doing his thing, but Adam Rose interrupted with the Party Pooper gimmick. He had the most heat of anyone, though it seemed like a lot of the casual fans in the audience didn’t even know who he was until he announced himself as Adam Rose. He and the crowd shouted “You suck” at one another, and he did so in the tune of R-Truth’s theme song. They did a quick little sequence, before Rose rolled out and told Truth he could dance better than him. He started to dance, then R-Truth went to follow, but Rose attacked him as he started. This match went another minute or so, before Truth hit his finisher for the win.
King Barrett vs. Ryback
Ryback and Barrett were out next, with Ryback getting a very big response from the audience as well (kid-friendly). This one went about 6-7 minutes, with Ryback picking up the win after Barrett missed The Bull-hammer. He did hit Wasteland, which Ryback kicked out of. Ryback hits the Meathook and Shell-Shocked for the win.
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt street fight
Main event was a very physical one between Reigns and Wyatt (No DQ). A few minutes in, they broke out the singapore cane, which at some point in the far corner it seemed (out of my view), Wyatt’s hand got sliced open pretty hard. A lot of dirtsheets used tweets of mine that noted his head got busted open too, but I’m not sure if it was all that bad or if it was just his hand from my angle. His hand was gushing blood, definitely a very deep cut.
They continued the match for a couple minutes, before Reigns went down and they stopped it so doctors could tend to Wyatt. The crowd began booing, and once he got taped up, Wyatt grabbed the microphone and belittled them for booing him while he was getting taped up. Strowman would eventually come out to assist Wyatt, before Ambrose hit the ring making the save. The two of them took out Strowman, before Reigns set up Wyatt for the spear for the win.
All in all, decent show given most of the “A” crew was in NYC. Fans went home happy.
We are awaiting more details on this, but Bray Wyatt suffered a bad hand cut and a head cut in his WWE house show match Saturday night with Roman Reigns in Bangor, ME.
The injuries took place during the match which was stopped while the trainer taped up his hand after it was nailed with a Kendo stick. The hand injury, which was said to be bleeding more than his head, seemed worse than the head injury. The match resumed and Reigns won the match as he does at all the house shows. Doctors came out to inspect both cuts.
Welcome to tonight’s live coverage of the WWE live from Madison Square Garden, airing on the WWE Network. The entire show is scheduled to air on the network and will be headlined by a steel cage match for the United States championship as champion John Cena takes on Seth Rollins.
Two other matches — Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar, and WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day versus the Dudley Boyz have also been heavily promoted. In addition, Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho vs. I-C Champion Kevin Owens and Randy Orton vs. Sheamus are on the bill.
Show opens with a short video highlighting the steel cage match tonight, as well as the Brock Lesnar/Big Show match.
Rich Brennan, JBL and Bryon Saxton are on commentary.
Sheamus and Rusev vs. Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler
Sheamus/Orton and Ziggler/Rusev were both promoted as singles bouts previously. I guess this is another one in the plans change department. Ziggler was worked on for a lot of the match. Orton made the hot tag but Sheamus took him down quickly. Ziggler came back with a superkick and Sheamus walked right into an RKO, giving Orton the win. Pretty good, basic opening bout.
Rusev got a mic and called Sheamus a stupid non-American and blamed him for the loss. Called him useless. He shoved him out of the ring and started to cut a promo on Lana when Sheamus came back and gave him a brouge kick. Sheamus got a mic and told him to kiss his arse.
They aired a recap video from Raw where Seth Rollins destroyed Corporate Kane’s leg, then Demon Kane came out of the ambulance and destroyed him. Renee then interviewed Corporate Kane and asked about his bum leg. He said he looks at challenges like this as an oppertunity for growth. His voice then grew quiet and mean and mentioned he was here for Seth, and to see the steel cage match, then said he would look for this demon that’s been terrorizing Seth and make sure it wouldn’t bother him tonight. So much for a steel cage match with no interference.
Neville vs. Stardust
Neville did some great spots early. He’s easily one of the most fluid wrestlers in the WWE right now. Stardust got the heat but Nevillve cut him off. Stardust came back and wore Neville’s cape and did a Bo Dallas victory lap. He wore the cape over his head like he was the Green Arrow but Neville cut him off and hit the Red Arrow for the bing. Solid match, but too short to be anything more.
Renee interviewed Paul Heyman. He brought up that as a native New Yorker, this place is special. He compared Big Show to coming in here like he was the Boston Celtics. Tonight, Madison Square Garden becomes city hall for suplex city.
Another recap video is shown from Raw where Paige abanonded Charlotte and Becky Lynch, leaving Charlotte to be pinned by Nikki.
Team Bella vs. Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Paige
So despite cutting mean promos on them and abandoning them on Raw, Paige is back teaming with Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Makes sense in the WWE Universe! They had heat on Becky Lynch for a while before Charlotte tagged in. She was about to put the figure eight on Brie but Paige tagged herself in and they argued. Paige and Alicia Fox worked a bit, then Paige went for a tag and this time it was Lynch and Charlotte who jumped to the floor, refusing to tag. This causes Paige to turn around and walk into a rack attack by Nikki for the win. Match was fine.
Paige cut a tearful promo saying she couldn’t believe her teammates did this to her and she would never do anything like that to her friends, the irony being here that in fact she did do just that on Monday.
Another video package, this time from Smackdown where Reigns merely says “Hell in a Cell”. Then it was confirmed that they would be fighting inside Hell in the Cell at the pay-per-view.
Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho talked before the match mentioning how today marked 25 years in the business and how he wrestled in a ten minute draw with Lance Storm in his first match. Jericho mentioned Storm was here and he waved to the audience, as well as Don Callis who was also in attendance. Jericho also mentioned watching his father here play for the New York Rangers, then said win or lose he’ll celebrate with the Jerichoholics after the match. This was good, but it felt like they were doing a 6-8 minute version of a 20 minute match as they were going for big moves and finishes very early. Owens went for a senton but Jericho got the knees up. He goes for the walls of Jericho but Owens escapes. Jericho hits the codebreaker but Owens grabs the ropes. The referee grabbed Jericho back which allowed Owens to hit a superkick. He went for the pop up powerbomb but Jericho turned it into a hurricanrana. Owens poked him in the eye when Jericho went to grab him and rolled him up to retain the title. This was good while it lasted, but felt way too short and rushed.
Big Show was shown looking mean.
WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz
The New Day came out an cut a promo about the Dudleyz, mentioning how they wear glasses without lenses and shamed them for putting Xavier through a table. Today, the New Day will save the tables. Dudleyz came out but didn’t get that big of a pop. Mostly back and forth until the Dudleyz were going for the wuzzup spot and Xavier shoved D-Von off, allowing them to get the heat on Bubba. He made the hot tag to D-Von as he made a comeback. Kofi was going for a springboard but instead was cut off and given the 3D for what looked to be the win, but then Xavier just ran in and broke it up for the DQ. Hideously lame finish to an otherwise good match.
The New Day set up a table like they were going to put D-Von through a table, but Bubba Ray came back and threw them out of the ring. Xavier was on the top rope celebrating and didn’t see this, so when he jumped off and turned around he, in fact, got a 3D through the table.
Brock Lesnar vs. The Big Show
Big Show started off strong and dominated the match early. He back body dropped Lesnar to the floor. When he came back, couldn’t outpower the Big Show and Show continued to dominate, laying him out with three chokeslams for the nearfall. Lesnar came back and gave him German suplexes but couldn’t get him up for the F5 in what looked like a botch. He hit one more German then pinned Show with the F5. Fun for what it was.
After the announcers plugged that Lesnar would be on Raw, he walked back to the ring where Show gave him the up yours gesture. In response, Lesnar gave him a belly to belly and another F5. They showed Show struggling to get up and get out of the ring. The ring announcer then said “Let’s hear it for the Big Show!” which got a mixed, at best, response as he made his exit.
WWE United States Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Seth Rollins
They teased a spot earl where Rollins climbed over the top but Cena was crawling through the door and grabbed him before he could exit. Mostly some really good back and forth for a lot of the match. Cena started doing his comeback spots but Rollins cut him off with a kick to the shoulder. Rollins taunted him by doing his “You can’t see me” gesture but Cena kicked him in the face, did his comeback and went for the AA but Rollins climbed on the cage. He jumped off but Cena grabbed his ankle and hit the STF. Cena was going to escape through the door but Rollins slammed the door on his head. Rollins went for the pedigree but Cena countered, throwing off Rollins but Rollins ended up climbing the cage again. After throwing off Rollins, Rollins came back and gave Cena the superplex into another suplex spot. Seth climbed to the top but Cena dragged him back to the cage and hit a tornado DDT. Cena went to escape again but Seth climbed on top of the cage and hit Cena with the door. He started to climb over but Cena’s miraculous healing powers kicked in, immediately got up and stopped him. Rollins finally laid him out and was climbing the cage when, as expected, Demon Kane came out and stood where Seth was going to climb off. Seth went for a frog splash instead but Cena dodged it, got up and hit the AA to retain the title. Easily the best match of the show, wouldn’t say it was as great as other matches they’ve had over the summer but this was a really good steel cage match.
Cena made his exit as Kane climbed in and closed the cage door. Seth tried to escape but couldn’t as Kane chokeslammed him then gave him the tombstone. He held the WWE title up high, then exited the cage to close out the show.
You still have time to catch a preview of tonight’s UFC 192 with yours truly and SI.com and the Washington Post’s Jeff Wagenheim with this week’s Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, free this week for non-subscribers!
*****
I gotta say it: Rashad Evans is one of the most underrated and underappreciated fighters in UFC history.
When he was more active, Evans was one of those guys who got more boos than cheers and didn’t carry the fanbase that many other top fighters at the time did. I never understood that. He dresses well, is a great talker, knocks people out, and generally has that NFL quarterback swagger that we love in our athletes.
He fought the best of the best in Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, the infamous rivalry with both Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson, and more. And he’s won. A lot, only losing three times over a span over an 18-fight UFC career that started 10 years ago. He’s won a UFC light heavyweight title, lost the title, and fought for it again.
Maybe him being overlooked is because he’s also been part of a few stinkers in recent years, notably a dreadful loss against Lil’ Nogueira, and a blah affair against Dan Henderson. It could be because he was so aggressively KO’d by Machida and never got that immediate validation rematch in a time when the belt was trading waists quite frequently. Unfortunately, it also could be because of Evans’ skin color. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above.
He returns tonight after a two year absence due to multiple knee injuries, and we don’t know exactly where the 36-year-old fits in the grand scheme of things. Even with a win, he may be waiting in line for a title shot depending on when Jones is ready to return. The age is a concern. The knee is a concern. The excitement level in his fights is a concern.
But what shouldn’t be a concern is Evans’ place in history. His accomplishments deserve a lot more recognition than what they’re getting. Hopefully Saturday night is the beginning of a few more sweet ones for ‘Suga’.
*****
Our panel:
– Jack Encarnacao (87-35 | .713): Sherdog Rewind host, The Lapsed Fan podcast co-chair
– Josh Nason (72-50 | .590): Wrestling Observer digital media and content guy, WON Twitter enabler
*****
Note that because Tyron Woodley vs. Johny Hendricks was canceled due to Hendricks’ unfortunate weight cut issues, we’re doing just four picks on the main card tonight. Joe Benavidez is a fairly big favorite, so it didn’t seem that interesting to throw that in there for everyone to pick Benavidez.
*****
> UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Champion Daniel Cormier (16-1) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (16-3)
We talk a lot about this fight on the JNPO show with Jeff, but this fight is a lot closer than even myself originally gave it credit for. Gustafsson’s takedown defense is great (86.67% takedowns defended) and if Cormier can’t get this to the ground and the big Swede finds his range, we could have a new champion. I’m assuming this is going to be our most competitive 205-pound title fight since Jon Jones vs. Gus.
> Ryan Bader (19-4) vs. Rashad Evans (19-3-1) Light Heavyweights
With four straight wins, the 32-year-old Bader earned a title shot but his fighting style (all straight decisions) puts him in the co-main event slot instead. Evans returns for the first time in two years after several knee injuries kept him on the shelf, and there’s a lot of questions about who we’ll see on Saturday. There’s a really good chance this is a 15-minute grinder that have the fans booing.
> Shawn Jordan (18-6) vs. Ruslan Magomedov (13-1) Heavyweights
The 30-year-old Jordan is back on a roll, and has picked up three straight wins — all by T/KO. He’s coming off a June 2nd round beatdown of Derrick Lewis, and is doing just fine beating up the dregs of the division. Magomedov is riding an eight-fight win streak, and is 2-0 in the UFC with a pair of forgettable decisions.
> Julianna Pena (6-2) vs. Jessica Eye (11-3-0-1) Bantamweights
For the love of God, I hope they don’t rush Pena into a Ronda Rousey buzzsaw title match if she wins. Pena is talented, but needs a few more wins before getting into the Rousey conversation. She returned after a near two-year absence and dusted Milana Dudieva in four minutes. She faces Eye, a loser in two of her last three. She’s coming off a decision loss to Miesha Tate in July, and I think people believe she could get a title shot with a win.
An informal Twitter poll today on this weekend and what people are watching reveals these tendencies.
62 percent said they were watching UFC 192 64 percent said they were watching WWE in Madison Square Garden.
This was the second poll as an earlier one also had both almost identical with UFC in a slight lead. Essentially two different polls were almost identical and those watching the two shows from our readership looks to be almost identical.
The first poll led to a second poll, as there were a lot of people asking for the Lucas Matthysse vs. Viktor Postol boxing match on HBO, TNA Bound For Glory for tomorrow as well as the Adrien Broner vs. Khabib Alliakhverdiev fight from Cincinnati on Showtime.
So in the poll, 10 percent said they were watching Bound for Glory, 20 percent listed Matthyse vs. Postol and only four percent said they were watching Broner vs. Alliakhverdiev.
As far as the crossover between different events:
Those watching UFC 192 & TNA Bound for Glory 4 percent Those watching UFC 192 and WWE from Madison Square Garden 40 percent Those watching UFC 192 and Matthyse vs. Postol 14 percent Those watching WWE & TNA Bound for Glory 10 percent Those watching WWE and Matthyse vs. Postol 18 percent
Welcome to our live coverage of UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event is headlined by UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier making his first title defense against Alexander Gustafsson. In the co-main event, it will be light heavyweight contenders Ryan Bader and Rashad Evans squaring off. The original co-main event, Johny Hendricks against Tyron Woodley, was removed from the card prior to weigh-ins due to Hendricks weight cut issues.
The action kicks off with preliminary card fights at 6:30 PM eastern time on UFC Fight Pass. The action moves over to FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM eastern time with additional preliminary fights before the main card kicks off on PPV at 10 PM eastern time. We are looking for your thoughts on the show, so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle as well as a best fight and worst fight to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
Fight Pass Prelims —
HEAVYWEIGHTS- DERRICK LEWIS VS. VIKTOR PESTA
ROUND 1- Lewis is from Houston so he got a big reaction from the crowd. Lewis gets a quick takedown against the fence and they clinch against the fence. Big foot stomps by Pesta. Pesta gets a takedown and moves into side control. Pesta with punches from side control but not doing much otherwise. Lewis rolls out from bottom and they get to their feet. Lewis trips Pesta down but they get up and Pesta scores a takedown. Lewis looking for a kimura from the bottom. They get tp their feet and and tie up against the fence. Pesta gets a big takedown. Lewis rolls to his feet. Pesta with some knees to the body. Both men battling against the fence. Lewis tries a trip but Pesta stays on his feet as the round ends. 10-9 Pesta.
ROUND 2- Lewis lands a big right hand that stumbles Pesta. Pesta goes for a takedown but Lewis sprawls up against the fence. Petsa trips Lewis down to the mat and goes into the half-guard. Pesta moves into full guard and landing punches as the crowd boos. Pesta doing enough to keep the fight from being stood up but not a lot of damage. They are stood up by Kerry Hatley. Pesta goes right back for the takedown and gets it. Lewis works it back to the feet as both men are visibly tired. They break and Lewis lands a big punch. Pesta goes for a takedown but eats some punches from Lewis. Lewis gets Pesta down and is landing from the top but eating upkick. Lewis with some hammerfists and looking for the finish. Lewis lands a big punch and close to finishing. The round ends just before he can get it done though. Pesta may be done as he is slow to get up. 10-9 Lewis, 19-19.
ROUND 3- The crowd comes alive as Lewis came close to finishing. Lewis with a big leg kick. Lewis with a head kick and a punch and he defends a takedown. Lewis landing some fists from the sprawl. Lewis gets in the guard and lands big punches. Lewis gets into mount and is landing big punches and looking to finish. He gets it. Lewis with the big TKO win and the crowd gets loud.
Official Result- Derrick Lewis def. Viktor Pesta by TKO (punches) at 1:15 of Round 3
> FLYWEIGHTS- CHRIS CARIASO VS. SERGIO PETTIS
ROUND 1- Big fight for the younger Pettis against a ranked former title challenger. Cariaso with a body kick and Pettis catches the leg and trips him to the mat. Pettis goes into the guard. Cariaso looking for the neck. Pettis remains in the guard of Cariaso. They get to their feet against the fence. They break. Each land some punches. Cariaso with a body kick and they clinch but break. Cariaso with a body kick and another two. Pettis with a body kick and a jab. They trade strikes. Cariaso with a solid kick-punch combo. Pettis with a body kick and then drops Cariaso with a right hand. Pettis with a series of punches looking for the finish but Cariaso survives. Pettis goes into half-guard and lands a big elbow. Back into full guard for Pettis. Pettis with more punches from the top but Cariaso kicks him away. Pettis ends the round with more punches from the top. 10-9 Pettis.
ROUND 2- Cariaso with a body kick as Pettis pushes him towards the fence. Cariaso with a solid combo. They tie up and Pettis gets a nice trip takedown and into the half-guard. Pettis with some body punches from the top as he looks to pass guard. We have our first round of Ric Flair “Woooo”‘s from the crowd. They are stood up as not much happened on the mat. Cariaso with a leg kick. Solid combo from Cariaso. Pettis lands a leg kick after blocking a head kick. Pettis scores a takedown after ducking a punch. Pettis in side control. Pettis stands on his feet and lands a big butt kick. 10-9 Pettis, 20-18 Pettis.
ROUND 3- Pettis looking very sharp in the first two rounds. Pettis gets a takedown They get to their feet but go back to the mat as Cariaso tries to pull guard. They reverse and Cariaso is in the half-guard and lands a big punch. Cariaso with some punches from the top. Cariaso remains in the half-guard as he tries to pass. Cariaso goes into the guard and lands some punches. Cariaso taking over the final round. Pettis looks for the neck. Cariaso postures up but eats an upkick. Pettis looks like he’s just trying to hold on for the decision. Each man going for a leg lock. Cariaso going for an armbar with ten seconds left but can’t get it. 10-9 Cariaso, 29-28 Pettis.
Official Result: Sergio Pettis def. Chris Cariaso by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
LIGHTWEIGHTS- FRANCISCO TREVINO VS. SAGE NORTHCUTT
ROUND 1- Northcutt is 19-years-old, making his UFC debut, and got a huge reaction. You know, I’m fairly good-looking, but as Dave tweeted, Northcutt is proof life isn’t fair sometimes. Northcutt got an even bigger reaction when introduced, a lot of hype around him. Northcutt with a side kick. Trevino trips on a spin kcik and Northcutt is going for the finish against the fence. Northcutt gets the takedown and a ton of punches and it is over! Big finish for Northcutt, who backs up the hype in this fight. Trevino protested the stop but it just justified.
Official Result: Sage Northcutt def. Francisco Trevino by TKO (strikes) at :57 of Round 1
Fox Sports One Prelims —
Rose Namajunas def. Angela Hill by first round submission (2:47)
This was over quickly as Namajunas stood with Hill for a while and then took advantage of a Hill mistake, clamping on a rear naked choke on the ground. Hill stood up and Namajunas was her backpack, sinking in the choke as Hill tried to fight her off. Hill was tapping at air and Namajunas got the victory, her first after a very long time on the sidelines.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- ADRIANO MARTINS VS. ISLAM MAKHACHEV
Paul Fontaine here, taking over for RFred, who’s having IC issues in Houston.
Makhachev with early Octagon control. Martins with a nice punch combo at 1:15. Martins dropped him and Makhachev was out cold.
WINNER – ADRIANO MARTINS (28-7) by KO (punch) at 1:46
They showed the Northcutt fight in between fights. The guy could be the biggest star in the sport in a few years. I saw him fight on an AXS.TV show about four months back and it was quite obvious he had serious star potential and he did not disappoint in his UFC debut. Already talk that he could be back in a month or two as he took no damage here.
WELTERWEIGHTS- ALAN JOUBAN VS. ALBERT TUMENOV
Tumenov with a throwdown right away to start but lets Jouban back up. Tumenov staggers him with punches 30 seconds in. Jouban controlling the Octagon but Tumenov landing hard counter punches. Loud USA chants from the crowd at 1:30. Tumenov with a nice punch/kick combo. Jouban lands a series of jabs at 1:45. They exchange head kicks at 2:00 and Tumenov hit with a low blow. Tumenov drops him with a series of punches tothe head. Jouban protesting but he’s about to fall over.
WINNER – ALBERT TUMENOV (16-2) by TKO (punches) at 2:55
FEATHERWEIGHTS- YAIR RODRIGUEZ VS. DANIEL HOOKER
Kerry Hatley is the ref, this could be trouble. Lots of stalling at the start and the crowd booing 1:30 in. Rodriguez with a knockdown but lets Hooker back up. Cage clinch at 2:45 with Hooker in control. Rodriguez with a takedown and right into mount. Hooker escapes and to his feet fairly quickly. Rodriguez with knees from the clinch but Hooker maintains control. Hooker with a takedown at 4:30 but Rodriguez right up and they separate. 10-9 Rodriguez
Rodriguez with a throwdown early but lets Hooker up. Clinch on the cage at 1:15 with Hooker in control. Rodriguez pulled guard, going for a leglock. Hooker escapes and they’re to their feet at 2:00. Rodriguez lands a rolling upkick at 2:30. He had tried that at the end of the last round. Hooker controlling the Octagon but the standup is fairly weak from both guys in the middle part of the round. Rodriguez with a knockdown but lets Hooker up at 3:45. Rodriguez is starting to look tired at the end of the round. Rodriguez with a takedown with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Rodriguez
So if you’re wondering what I mean by a rolling upkick, it’s basically RVD’s Rolling Thunder. Rodriguez hit with a low blow early in the round, which will give him more time to recover. Hooker pressing the action on the restart. Hooker takes his back standing and takes him down at 1:00. Rodriguez takes the leg and working for a leglock. Rodriguez lets that go but takes an arm. Hooker escapes that but Rodriguez has his legs all tied up. Rodriguez landing elbows from the bottom and opens up a cut that starts bleeding heavily. Hooker landing weka punches form the top. Both guys landing a ton of punches at 2:30 but nothing terribly hard. Signficant strikes are 36-15 for Rodriguez. That must be a 3rd round stat, not the whole fight. Rodriguez really landing a ton of strikes to the head from his back heading into the last minute. This may be the rare case where Hooker has been on top the whole time but losing the round. Crowd booing heavily but explode when the ref stands them up at 4:30. Ref stops the action to look at Hooker’s cut. Doctor lets it go. I would hope so, with 30 seconds left. Hooker chases him around the Octagon for the last 3o seconds but Rodriguez should have this one easily. Rodriguez tried another Rolling Thunder at the end.
WINNER – YAIR RODRIGUEZ (6-1) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 2; 30-26)
Rodriguez’ foot was in terrible shape after the fight and she said in his post-fight promo that he may have broken it in the first round. Hell of a performance considering that.
MAIN CARD (PPV-10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHTS- JESSICA EYE VS. JULIANNA PENA
Both ladies throwing bombs early. Clinch in the centre early and Pena pulled guard 30 seconds in. Both ladies up 1:00 in and Eye with a standing guillotine. Pena pops out and in control of a clinch. Pena landing foot stomps from the clinch. Pena with a trip takedown at 2:30. Pena landing punches to the head but Eye up quickly. Another cage clinch with Eye in control at 3:00. Pena with a takedown at 3:45 and right into side control. Pena lands a series of hard elbows to the head. Pena takes her back at the end of the round. 10-9 Pena
Pena with some swelling around her right eye from the elbows at the end of the round. Eye goes right to a cage clinch early. Quick separation. Pena with a head kick and follows up with punches but Eye gets a takedown 45 seconds in. Eye not doing much from the top and Pena landing light body punches from the bottom. Crowd getting restless. Eye takes her back at 2:15. Pena works her to front position but Eye with a triangle choke. It’s in tight but Pena defending well. Pena out at 3:30. Pena landing elbows to the head from the bottom at 3:45. Pena tries to get to her feet but gets caught in another triangle choke but she’s on top. Eye gives up the choke and Pena on top in side control. Ref breaks it up due to an illegal knee from Eye. Eye loses a point but the ref starts them on their feet, which is bad for Pena. They trade punches to close the round. 9-9 round with the penatly deduction to Eye.
Pena with an early takedown. Eye looking for a sub from the bottom. Eye with a triangle choke at 2:00 but Pena escapes quickly. Pena takes her back at 2:30 and gets a rear naked choke. Eye escapes but that was close. Pena lands some hard shots to the head at 3:30. Pena with a neck crank at 4:30 but it’s a weird angle. Eye looked almost out but she was saved by the bell. Nearly a 10-8 but I’ll go 10-9 Pena
WINNER – JULIANNA PENA (7-2) by unanimous decision (29-27 x 3)
FLYWEIGHTS- JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS. ALI BAGAUTINOV
Bagautinov with early Octagon control. Very tentative standup. Benavidez is landing solid counter strikes while backing up and one of them caused some swelling on Ali’s cheek. Bagautinov with a nice punch combo at 3:15. Benavidez cut around his left eye in that exchange and it’s bleeding heavily. Benavidez falls while throwing a punch but gets up before Bagautinov can take advantage. Benavidez controlling the Octagon in the last minute. 10-9 Bagautinov but close
Corner did a good job stopping the bleeding on Benavidez’ cut. Benavidez pressing the action 1:00 in. Total strikes are 18-14 for Benavidez and both under 40% landed. Crowd starting to boo as neither guy is throwing much of anything and they’re just keeping their distance from each other. Benavidez slightly more aggressive so probably ahead with 1:00 left. Bagautinov tried for a takedown but stuffed by Benavidez at 4:15. Bagautinov with a knockdown, lets Benavidez up and then a takedown right before the round ends. Nothing else happened that round really so I think that steals it for him. 10-9 Bagautinov
Looking at people’s scores on Twitter and it’s all over the place so this is likely heading to a split decision if no one finishes. Neither guy looks good at all though. Bagautinov controlling things early in the third. Crowd booing heavily 1:45 in as it’s a repeat of the second round so far. Benavidez starting to control the Octagon 2:00 in. This fight is terrible. Bagautinov with a takedown at 4:15 but can’t hold him down. I’ve got it 30-27 Bagautinov but wouldn’t be surprised by any score, including 30-27 the other way.
WINNER – JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ (23-4) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 2; 29-28)
Crowd booing so hard you could barely hear Benavidez’ promo. “He’s a really tough guy, you try fighting him”, Benavidez says to the crowd, clearly rattled. Not surprisingly, that did not make the booing go away. In fact, quite the opposite.
HEAVYWEIGHTS- SHAWN JORDAN VS. RUSLAN MAGOMEDOV
Kerry Hatley is the ref again and he’s had a good night so I’m expecting a late stoppage here. Jordan initiates a cage clinch 1:00 in. Jordan with a takedown at 1:45. No one throwing any strikes. Magomedov to his feet at 3:00. Magomedov working for a standing Kimura but Jordan breaks free. Jordan bleeding around his nose. No idea how. Jordan controlling the Octagon at 3:45, stalking Magomedov. Magomedov with a nice kick/punch combo at 4:15. Magomedov with a punch combo at 4:30. 10-9 Jordan
Not sure what happened to my second round writeup but I had Magomedov taking the round rather easily. 10-9 Magomedov
Jordan backs up Magomedov with punches early and goes for a takedown but stuffed by Magomedov. Magomedov working for a choke and gets separation. Magomedov with a head kick and a spinning back kick to the head. Jordan bleeding around both eyes and in very rough shape but still pressing forward. Magomedov lands another head kick, followed by a kick to the body at 2:15. Magomedov up 51-13 in significant strikes. Jordan initiates a cage clinch at 3:00. Magomedov gets separation at 3:45 with a head kick. Magomedov with a takedown attempt but stuffed by Jordan. Magomedov with a nice jab combo at 4:30. 10-9 Magomedov, 29-28 overall
WINNER – RUSLAN MAGOMEDOV (14-1) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 2; 29-28)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS- RYAN BADER VS. RASHAD EVANS
Bader looks 2 weight classes bigger than Rashad. Like, I’ve seen welterweights that look bigger than Rashad does right now (Hendricks, for instance). Bader controlling the pace early. Bader badly misses a takedown attempt at 1:45. Neither guy landing much but Bader slightly more. Rashad controlling the pace in the second half of the round but Bader landing jabs while retreating. Bader with a kind of half-knockdown at 3:45 but lets Evans up. Evans backs him up with a punch combo and tries for a takedown but stuffed by Bader. Nice punch exchange at 4:45. Close round, 10-9 Bader
Rashad with early Octagon control. Bader with a takedown at 1:30. Bader takes his back but Evans to his feet right away. Bader with another takedown but Evans right back up. Evans’ eyes are both swollen. Evans pushing the pace but Bader again landing punches while retreating. Evans is landing punches of his own though and they’re definitely hurting Bader. Evans with a hard leg kick at 3:45. Head strikes are 19-13 for Bader. Evans rocks Bader with a punch combo at 4:30. Evans with a takedown attempt stuffed at the end of the round. Another very close round. 10-9 Evans
I’ve seen scores of 20-18 either way and some have it tied up. No way either guy can feel they’re comfortably up two rounds. Evans the aggressor early in the round. Evans backs up Bader with a punch combo at 2:15. Evans with another punch combo at 3:15 and tries for a takedown but Bader stuffs it. Bader lands a hard elbows as they break up. 1:00 to go and the round and fight are still up for grabs. Evans still pushing forward. Bader with a takedown at 4:30 but Evans right back up. Evans with a punch combo against the cage at 4:45. Another very close round, 10-9 Evans
WINNER – RYAN BADER (20-4) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- DANIEL CORMIER(C) VS. ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON
Cormier pushing the action early and landing leg kicks. Cormier with a slam takedown 45 seconds in and right into side control. Cormier landing rapid-fire punches to the head. Gustafsson works him back to guard. Gus briefly to his feet but brought right back down. Cormier landing body punches at 2:45. Total strikes 43-9 through 3:15. Gustafsson trying for a sub but Cormier fights it off easily and back into side control at 3:45. Gustafsson scrambles to his feet. Gustafsson’s face is all cut up. Gustaffson with a leg kick/body kick combo at 4:15. Cormier slips while defending a takedown at the end of the round. 10-9 Cormier
Cormier with Octagon control to start the round. Gustafsson bleeding under his left eye. Cormier cut as well and chasing Gustafsson around the Octagon. Cormier’s cut is bleeding heavily. Gustafsson with a takedown at 1:30 but Cormier right back up. Both guys siwnging wildly at 1:45 and Gus is hurt. Cormier trying for a takedown but eats a hard elbows to the head. Cormier’s right eye looks terrible. Clinch in the centre and Cormier landing hard uppercuts at 3:00. Nice punch exchange at 3:45. Total strikes in round 2 are 32-29 for Cormier. Gustafsson with a takedown at 4:30 and takes Cormier’s back. Cormier right to his feet but Gus still on his back. Very close round. 10-9 Gustafsson
Again, somehow my third round writeup disappeared but I had it 10-9 Cormier.
Cormier asked his corner “who won that round” and they said “I don’t know”. I’m seeing 29-28 either way on Twitter. Gustafsson shoots for a takedown early but stuffed by Cormier. Gus wants no part of a clinch and backs away. Gustafsson lands a hard body kick at 1:15. Cormier chasing Gustafsson around at 1:30. Cormier bleeding from under his right eye and also from his nose now. Custafsson with a significant cut on the bridge of his nose. Loud DC chants from the crowd. Cormier stalking him at 3:!5. Gus with a hard body kick at 3:30. Gustafsson lands a hard knee to the head at 4:00. This round is really close. Clinch in the centre and Cormier lands more uppecuts. Gustafsson with a trip takedown but lets Cormier right back up at 4:45. Cormier with a punch combo right before the buzzer. 10-9 Gustafsson so all tied up going into the fifth.
Cormier controlling the Octagon early in the round. Cormier with a punch/kick combo at 1:15. They put up a distance travelled stat and Gustafsson had travelled about 30% more than Cormier because he has been retreating most of the fight. Crowd booing at 2:00. No idea why, this fight is great. Cormier chasing him around the Octagon and catches him in a clinch in the centre at 2:30 and lands a few shots before Gus breaks away. Cormier catches him again at 2:45 and lands more uppercuts and knees to the body. Gus breaks away at 3:00. Another clinch in the centre at 3:30 and both guys landing uppercuts. Gus bleeding very heavily. With a minute left, Cormier is winning this round and the fight. 30 seconds left and Cormier peppering him with uppercuts. Gustafsson lands a hard knee to the head with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Cormier, 48-47 overall
WINNER – DANIEL CORMIER (17-1) by split decision (47-48, 48-47 and 49-46)
Scorecards for Cormier vs Gustafsson
This is how the judges saw tonight’s Daniel Cormier vs. AlexanderGustafsson light heavyweight title fight.
Judge Sal D’Amato gave rounds one, three and five to Daniel Cormier.
Judge Kerry Hately gave rounds one, three, four and five to Cormier.
Judge Derek Cleary, the lone judge for Gustafsson, gave Gustafsson rounds two, three and four.
Cormier put over Gustafsson in his post fight promo. Said Gus made him a better fighter and a better man. Said he couldn’t see out of his right eye in the second round but once his vision cleared, he was okay. No call out or mention of Jon Jones.
Gustafsson was interviewed as well. Gustafsson said Cormier can box, he can wrestle and he’s the real champion. He walked out of the cage with his head down.
Thanks for joining Ryan and I tonight. Hope you enjoyed the coverage!
So, after the main event, they aired a promo for UFC 193. This may be the best promo I’ve ever seen. “Every revolution starts with a fight” has got to be a dig at WWE and anyone who sees this will want to watch the fight. Go out of your way to see this promo video.
Show notes for tonight and the rest of a ridiculously busy weekend:
UFC 192 from the Toyota Center in Houston:
Main Card on pay-per-view at 10:00 p.m. ET: Daniel Cormier [c] (205) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (204) in a five round fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Ryan Bader (206) vs. Rashad Evans (205) Shawn Jordan (265) vs. Ruslan Magomedov (236) Joseph Benavidez (126) vs. Ali Bagautinov (125) Jessica Eye (136) vs. Julianna Pena (135)
Prelims on Fox Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET: Yair Rodriguez (145) vs. Dan Hooker (146) Alan Jouban (170) vs. Albert Tumenov (170) Adriano Martins (156) vs. Islam Makhachev (156) Rose Namajunas (115) vs. Angela Hill (115)
Prelims on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET: Francisco Trevino (160) vs. Sage Northcutt (156) Chris Cariaso (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (126) Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Viktor Pesta (237)
Even with the original semi-main event of Johny Hendricks vs. Tyron Woodleybeing cancelled due to Hendricks being hospitalized during his weight cut, this is a really deep card for good fights. That’s pretty impressive given the sheer size of this card and the UFC roster. The odds for the main event have been surprisingly wide all things considered, unless you think Gustafsson has benefitted immensely from Jon Jones’ bad training camp in their fight and it’s boosted his career. Even if that’s the case, and that’s questionable, he’s still, at worst, just behind the top guys and a very tough stylistic matchup for Cormier. Make sure to check out the Fox Sports 1 prelims as the top contenders for Fight of the Night are on there, espcially Tumenov vs. Jouban.
WWE at Madison Square Garden as part of the Brock Lesnar Go to Hell Tour live on WWE Network at 8:00 p.m. ET: Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show John Cena vs. Seth Rollins in a cage match New Day vs. Dudleys for tag titles Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for IC title Randy Orton vs. Sheamus Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
Shine 30 IPPV live on WWNLive.com at 9:00 p.m. ET Santana vs. Evie for Shine Championship Allysin Kay vs. Sweet Saraya Knight anything goes Jessicka Havok vs. Kay Lee Ray Madison Eagles vs. Su Yung Leah Von Dutch vs. Malia Hosaka Kimber Lee vs. Taylor Made Leva Bates (Blue Pants) & Mia Yim (Jade) vs. Rhia O’Reilly & Sammi Baynz Ivelisse vs. Thunderkitty Jayme Jameson vs. Shazza McKenzie vs. Kellyanne vs. Liberty
Tonight we’re looking for reports from:
* WWE in Bangor, ME (Ryback, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Wyatt Family)
* TNA in Salem, VA (Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title, Kurt Angle vs Eric Young, Bobby Roode vs. Andrew Everett for King of the Mountain title, Wolves vs. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz for tag title, Ken Anderson vs Tyrus and Earl Hebner Hall of Fame Ceremony)
* NXT’s matinee in Louisville, Kentucky at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival
On Sunday night…
TNA Bound for Glory PPV on Sunday at 8 p.m. from Concord, NC Ethan Carter III (c) vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Jeff Hardy the special guest referee Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards (c) vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers for the TNA Tag Team Championship Abyss, Aiden O’Shea, Chris Melendez, Jesse Godderz, Ken Anderson, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Eli Drake and Robbie E in a Gauntlet for a title shot Gail Kim (c) vs. Awesome Kong for the TNA Knockouts’ Championship Tigre Uno defends the TNA X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match Bobby Roode (c) vs. Bobby Lashley for King of the Mountain title Kurt Angle vs Eric Young in Angle’s first match back from his tumor surgery
AAA Heroes Inmortales iPPV at 7:00 p.m. ET on InternetTVLuchaLibreAAA.com from San Luis Potosi Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo for AAA Mega Heavyweight Championship Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psycho Clown & ? vs. El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr. & Myzteziz Antonio Pena Cup tournament: Aero Star, Blue Demon Jr., Nino Hamburguesa, La Parka, Averno, Chessman, Cibernetico, Electroshock, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan, & TBA Joe Lider & Pentagon Jr. defend AAA tag titles against Jack Evans & Angelico and Steve Pain & Daga Taya Valkyrie defends Queen or Queens title against Goya Kong, Hiedra and two mystery women
Also on Sunday, we’re looking for reports from:
* WWE house show in Worcester, MA (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler, New Day vs. Dudleys).
* WWE house show in Portland, ME (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Ryback, The Wyatt Family).
* Another NXT matinee in Louisville at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival.
Raw on Monday night will be at the TD Garden in Boston. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are advertised.
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com: for major shows, best match/worst match/thumbs up or down or in the middle poll responses should be sent to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
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Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring a look back at how exactly WWE lost the WWF name. Forget the stories you’v heard, this detailsexactly what the World Wildlife Fund objected to, what WWE agreed to and why, what scandals worried the fund, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recent Figure Four Weeklywith a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
If you saw the JBL interview with Eric Bischoff, or even if you didn’t, we have what is already one of the most talked about and praised issues of the Wrestling Observer this year up on the site right now. The main theme is fact vs. fiction, covering both the WWE historical view of the Monday Night Wars and the Eric Bischoff version, going through every point and cutting through things like outright B.S., faulty memories and interesting truths.
The new double issue also covers SummerSlam in Brooklyn, the real story behind the UFC announcing a show in Madison Square Garden, Jon Jones’ legal punishment and future, coverage of both of the New Japan PPV shows this past week as well as a look at their direction as they build toward King of Pro Wrestling and later, the Tokyo Dome show, UFC in Japan and a look at that business, the retirement of Rich Franklin, a Hall of Famer running for Mayor, the retirement show of Genichiro Tenryu, more concerning drug testing questions, SummerSlam PPV numbers and what we can learn from them, as well as the death of German legend Axel Dieter Sr.
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
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.
The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
We look at Eric Bischoff and his role, both good and bad, in what the pro wrestling industry has turned into. We look at the WCW boom, the creation of Nitro, the early war, the NWO era, the peak and the fall of WCW.
We look at the mistakes made, the fall of WCW, the emergence of Bill Goldberg, the real origination of the streak idea, We look at the rapid decline of the company and why. We look at how and when things went down, as well as why, how history shows the merger excuse doesn’t hold water, the complete b.s. of the WWE’s Monday Night War narrative. We look at the dying days of WCW and Eric Bischoff’s plan he never got a chance to implement.
We look at Eric Bischoff’s background, how he got into wrestling, his first meeting with Verne Gagne, his WWF tryout as an announcer, his connection with Japan, the unique case of Sonny Onoo, and the death of the AWA.
We look at the sale of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon’s one-year run on TBS and problems with Ted Turner, where Bill Watts fit into the scene then, and the scene prior to the launch of Nitro.
We look at WCW before Bischoff got power, what really happened with Jim Ross and WCW, , moves by Bill Watts, . We look at the first Nitro, the real story behind Lex Luger, what Lex Luger really got, what really happened in WCW with HHH and Mick Foley, Foley getting into WWF, the story behind Bischoff’s firing of Steve Austin, the cruiserweight division and its double-edge sword, what was the point of no return, the Montreal screw job and why so many, even in wrestling, missed key points in that story, Mike Tyson at WrestleMania, Kevin Nash as a booker, DX invades Nitro and the Bischoff vs. McMahon challenge to a fist fight and the story behind the PPV that went 30 minutes over.
In the UFC Madison Square Garden announcement, we look at the thought process behind the strategy.
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.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. 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.
Saturday Daily Update
On Thursday, the judge in the Hulk Hogan/Gawker lawsuit effectively ruled against the latest motions to unseal a number of filings in the case, though one filing (it’s not clear what) did get unsealed. While Hogan’s FBI casefile has gotten the most attention, there are are numerous other sealed filings in the case, including material that’s already public like internet and magazine articles. Hogan’s side also got the judge to approve a third party forensic investigqation of Gawker’s computers stemming from the allegations that they leaked Hogan’s racist comments to the National Enquirer and Radar Online. Gawker’s lawyers claimed they didn’t have that evidence (which sounds off) and actually accused Hogan’s side of the leak, which was not a great look. Gawker could lose the equivilent of a summary judgment if found to be behind the leak.
Gawker issued this statement:
Given the obvious public interest in this case, it is truly unfortunate that a large number of records remain hidden, and that the public is prevented from seeing both sides’ arguments and the basis for many of the court’s most significant rulings, The public should be able to know what happens in its court system.
Anyone checking out the screenings of The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts in and around New York? Talked to a friend who went to last night’s screening in Yonkers and was told it was excellent. The post-screeing Q&A was only about 10 minutes long and covered their interactions with WWE. They were asked about how they got so much WWE footage and it was explained that WWE had turned them down (too much swearing in the movie, apparently), but their lawyer told them that they were covered by the fair use exemptions pertaining to documentaries.
Bill Apter’s book is now available at Amazon as both a paperback and Kindle download. It’s “officially” out a week from Tuesday, but ECW Press books always tend to be available early. This is the the first time I can recall the Kindle version being available before the street date, though. From what I’ve read of it so far, I highly recommend it. It’s designed to be a “bathroom read,” with chapters not in chronological order so you can just jump around at your leisure. Lots of great stories and Bill covers everything you’d hope to read about, from his role in the Jerry Lawler/Andy Kaufman angle to his departure from the Pro Wrestling Illustrated family for WOW Magazine to all of the things you’ve wondered about the magazines he was the face of.
Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling presents its 15 year anniversary event as the longest running wrestling promotion in Detroit history (XICW 200) tonight (7:00 p.m.belltime) at The Imperial House in Clinton Township, Michigan ft. Midwest Champion Rhino vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis, Xtreme Intense Champion Hakim Zane w/ Truth Martini vs Orlando Christopher in a Steel Cage, Silas Young vs Jake Something, Taeler Hendrix vs Ashley America, DBA and MM3 vs Tag Team Champions The Scarboni’s in a Fans Bring The Weapons Match, Zach Gowen vs Amazing N8, plus more! For the complete card and ticket info, visit XICWDetroit.com
WWE’s next home video release is Sting: Into the Light on DVD and Blu-Ray, which comes out a week from Tuesday and is available for pre-order. The Blu-Ray version of WWE’s “Owen: Hart of Gold” Owen Hart DVD set is now available for pre-order, joining the DVD aftr it had been listed on its own for a week or so. The most recent release is SummerSlam 2015, which came out on Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray. The next archival/specialized release is Sting: Into the Light, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 13th. They also have a special collectible “coffin edition” of “Undertaker: The Streak” coming out on November 17th.
1957 Kansas City, Kansas: – Richard Brown, Bobby Bruns and Sonny Myers beat Wild Red Berry, Ernie Dusek and Joe Dusek 2 falls to 1 – Thor Hagen beat Tommy O’Toole
1962 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Gene Kiniski beat Bill Miller – AWA Champion Verne Gagne drew Hard Boiled Haggerty – Hercules Cortez beat Tiny Mills
1963 Amarillo, Texas: – The Sheik beat Dory Funk Jr by countout – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Dale Lewis 2 out of 3 falls – Sputnik Monroe drew Ricky Romero
1964 St. Paul, Minnesota: – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Rene Goulet & Reggie Parks in 2 out of 3 falls – Moose Cholak beat Jack Lanza – Eddie Sharkey beat Bob Green – Rocky Hamilton defeated Butch Levy
1967 Dallas, Texas: – Brute Bernard & Mike Paidousis defeated Fritz & Waldo Von Erich to win the NWA American Tag Team Title
1968 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – Bill Watts & Verne Gagne & The Crusher beat Dr. X & Larry Hennig & Harley Race – Chris Markoff beat Luke Brown – Billy Red Lyons beat Angelo Poffo – Frankie Laine beat Big K
1969 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon beat Dick the Bruiser & Moose Cholak – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Bill Watts dq
1974 Greensboro, North Carolina: – Mid-Atlantic champion Johnny Valentine pinned Wahoo McDaniel – Mid-Atlantic TV champion Paul Jones pinned Ivan Koloff – Swede Hanson & Tiger Conway Jr. defeated Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions Rip Hawk & Ric Flair by DQ
1975 Atlanta, Georgia: – Mr. Wrestling II defeated Nikolai Volkoff to win the Georgia Heavyweight Title
1980 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan beat Greg Gagne & Super Destroyer Mark II – AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon
1981 Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Sheik Adnan – Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Ed Boulder (sub Jesse Ventura) & Adrian Adonis – Tito Santana drew Billy Robinson – Buck Zumhofe beat Ed Boulder dq
1982 Atlanta, Georgia: – Paul Orndorff defeated the Super Destroyer to win the National Heavyweight Title
1983 – Austin Idol defeated Stan Hansen for the AWA International Heavyweight Title
1988 Memphis, Tennessee: – Ronnie Garvin beat AWA Champion Jerry Lawler dq – Bill Dundee no contest Buddy Landell – Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden beat Jeff Jarrett & Brickhouse Brown – Jimmy Valiant beat Tommy Rich dq – Bill Dundee & Todd Morton beat RPMs – CWA Champion Phil Hickerson beat Scott Steiner
1988 Birmingham, Alabama: – Tom Prichard defeated Tony Anthony in a tournament final to become to the CWF Champion
2003 Ontario, Canada: – WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam pinned Randy Orton to retain the title – WWE Raw Tag Team Champions the Dudley Boyz defeated Rob Conway & Rene Dupree in a tables match
2004 – John Cena defeated Booker T in the final match of a best of five series to win the United States Title – JBL defeated The Undertaker in a Last Ride Match to retain the WWE Title
2010 – Daniel Bryan retained the US Title in a submissions match over John Morrison and The Miz – Randy Orton retained the WWE Title in a Hell in a Cell match over Sheamus – Kane retained the WWE Title over the Undertaker
UFC 192 comes your way on Saturday night from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Headlined by the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on the line when Daniel Cormier defends against Alexander Gustafsson, the show brings a stacked card, but went through a last-minute change. Hopefully that didn’t make too much of a difference to those drafting their teams on DraftKings for this week. Let’s take a look at some studs, duds and value plays as you set up your team for Saturday night.
First off, let’s briefly recap last week. We had our studs as Diego Brandao and Takeya Mizugaki. Brandao won quick by knockout in the first round, and he had the highest point total. Mizugaki won a decision, scoring a solid amount of points. Our value plays were Roy Nelson and Yusuke Kasuya, both of whom lost, but Nelson did score a good amount of points as his fight went five rounds. We told you to avoid Gegard Mousasi and Katsunori Kikuno, and we hope you did because they scored the two lowest point totals last week.
STUDS
Rose Namajunas ($10,600)
I like Rose Namajunas in her bout against Angela Hill. While Namajunas is just 2-2 in her career and has lost two straight fights, she meets someone who she actually has the experience edge over in Hill. Hill is just 2-1 in her career and is coming off a loss to Tecia Torres where she didn’t look all that impressive (neither did Torres for that matter). You can attribute that to the altitude of Mexico, but Hill has been suspect to submissions in her short career, as seen on TUF 20 when she lost to Carla Esparza. Namajunas has excellent submission skills, and I expect her to be able to score a finish on a fight card that may not see a lot of them.
Sage Northcutt ($10,500)
Sage Northcutt is getting a lot of hype coming into the UFC as a 19-year-old, but he has the skills to back it up. He is getting a bout against a tough opponent in Francisco Trevino, but one who is near the bottom of the list when you rank all of the lightweights. It is a showcase to see if Northcutt is the real deal, or if this is all coming too quick for him. He has finished all five of his opponents, and only one fight has gone past the first round. Trevino only has one loss in his 13 professional fights, so he is no easy match-up. I do expect Northcutt to finish him though. Also, Trevino missed weight on Friday by a large margain.
VALUES
Alan Jouban ($9,100)
Alan Jouban is relatively cheap on this card, and a good look for an underdog. He has a tough fight against Albert Tumenov, who has shown solid striking and good wrestling. Jouban has power and is good on the feet, and the betting odds are a lot longer than I expected. That made the salaries of the two a greater distance than I expected, so Jouban shot to the top of my list of value plays. He has a solid chance at finishing Tumenov with the power in his hands.
Jessica Eye ($8,700)
Jessica Eye has something to prove when she meets Julianna Pena on Saturday night, and she wants to get that win and that finish. She is a big underdog to Pena, who is only 6-2 in her career, and lost two fights to lesser competition before she joined the UFC. Eye has fought tougher competition and is hungry to get back into the win column. Pena is too big of a favorite here, and she gets a tough opponent. This fight likely goes the distance, but with Eye’s boxing, you have the chance to score a lot of points with significant strikes. She is worth a play at the price tag.
AVOID
Viktor Pesta ($10,000)
I’m avoid Viktor Pesta in his bout with Derrick Lewis. It is a heavyweight bout and those guys hit hard, but Lewis hits extremely hard. Pesta has good finishing abilities, or at least he did before joining the UFC. He hasn’t shown that power in his two UFC bouts, whereas Lewis always shows that power. I actually expect Lewis to score a finish in the fight, and it gives me all the reason to avoid Pesta.
Ryan Bader ($9,300)
Ryan Bader hasn’t finished an opponent since submitting Vladimir Matyushenko in January 2013. He has won four straight fights, but all have been lackluster decision wins. His fight against Rashad Evans will likely go the distance. I think Evans wins the fight too. Evans may have missed two years of action, but he is still a top-level fighter unless those days are behind him after the knee injuries. Bader likely will not be able to finish him, unless we see a completely different Ryan Bader. I’m not counting on it.
OUR LINEUPS
RYAN FREDERICK- Daniel Cormier ($11,000), Sage Northcutt ($10,500), Yair Rodriguez ($10,400), Alan Jouban ($9,100), Jessica Eye ($8,700)
I like Northcutt, Jouban and Eye for the reasons stated above. I like Cormier to finish Gustafsson in the middle rounds, and with Gustafsson leaving himself open to eat punches, I see Cormier scoring some solid points on significant strikes. I like Rodriguez to score a finish as well as he has excellent skills and a good submission game. I do like Northcutt and Jouban to score finishes as well, and Eye to land a lot of volume on an opponent who likes to eat punches.
PAUL FONTAINE- Sage Northcutt ($10,500), Albert Tumenov ($10,300), Rashad Evans ($10,100), Adriano Martins ($9,700), Derrick Lewis ($9,400)
Martins is one of the most underrated fighters in the division, who’s only lost to Donald Cerrone in his UFC career. He’s also a finisher. Lewis is likely to score a knockout and pick me up some big bonus points. He’s a bit of a front runner, so fighting against a fighter ranked lower than him is probably a recipe for an early KO. Tumenov has two first round KO’s in his four UFC fights and the other two went to the judges but he landed a lot of strikes so he should be good to rack up some points and likely to win against Alan Jouban. Sage Northcutt is a future star and a finishing machine and I think he’ll make an auspicious debut against an overmatched Francisco Trevino. Rashad is likely grind out a decision win over Ryan Bader and probably land a lot of strikes in the process.
PEACH MACHINE- Daniel Cormier ($11,000), Joseph Benavidez ($10,900), Rashad Evans ($10,100), Chris Cariaso ($9,200), Jessica Eye ($8,700)
You have to take the champ. This is going to be a frustrating night for the Mauler, and with this expected to last five rounds, that’s a lot of points. A volume striker vs. a plodder, Benavidez should pay off big points with his high speed combos. I love Rashad. I even named my one of my dogs after him. (My dogs names are Hendo, Shogun, Sugar, and Rowdy.) This is more a pick with my heart. Normally I would not touch a potential boring wrestling match up, but Sugar fell within my salary cap, so I had to pick him. I thought Cariaso looked good against Cejudo, a superior opponent. I expect him to get back on a win streak. Eye looked good in round one against Tate, another superior opponent. I like the fast turn around here because she has something to prove. I expect her to come out strong and get a first round finish. I think she hits harder than Pena. I don’t like picking one round knock out fights in the heavyweight division. You either win big, or get nothing, and it’s basically a coin toss. My strategy is to score in every pick, even if it’s not the max. Just get in the money (which I failed to do last time). Luckily, living in the great state of Tennessee, DraftKings won’t let me sign up because we have antiquated laws here.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS RYAN- 279.00 PAUL- 266.00 PEACH- 212.50
